Patroclus (admiral)

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Patroclus, son of Patron
Native name
Πάτροκλος
AllegiancePtolemaic Kingdom
Activec. 271–261 BC
Rankstrategos
ConflictsChremonidean War

Patroclus (

Macedon. He may have been the defeated Ptolemaic commander at the Battle of Cos, which marked the end of Ptolemaic thalassocracy
.

Early life and career

Arsinoe II

Patroclus' early life is obscure; nothing is known of his family apart from the name of his father, Patron. He certainly held various offices in the service of

deified Alexander the Great and the Sibling Gods (Theoi Adelphoi, the deified Ptolemy II and Arsinoe) in 271/270 BC.[1] His appointment to that office has been seen by some scholars as either a reward, or an incentive, for his execution of the poet Sotades, who in his compositions denounced the incestuous marriage between Ptolemy II and Arsinoe. Sotades was imprisoned in Alexandria, but managed to escape to the "island of Kaunos", until Patroclus captured him and ordered him to be placed in a leaden box and dropped him into the sea.[2]

Chremonidean War

First stage of the Chremonidean War (267-265 BC), with Patroclus' possible route from Egypt to Attica.

The

epigraphical sources refer to him as strategos (general), which must have been his actual title. Indeed, according to the German classicist Hans Hauben, his Macedonian origin seems to argue for a previous career in the army rather than in the navy. The actual extent of Patroclus' authority is a matter of dispute in current scholarship, but it is clear that he enjoyed broad powers over the other Ptolemaic commanders and their allies in the Aegean Sea.[4][5]

In early 267 BC, he headed a large Ptolemaic embassy to

Kaudos", as he emends Kaunos, where he executed Sotades. Launey's emendation has long been accepted by most scholars, but the problems of chronology and geography render "a definitive solution impossible", according to Hauben.[6]

The "Island of Patroclus", seen from Sounion

Epigraphical evidence suggests that Patroclus then visited

Antigonid Macedonian garrison, he also fortified an uninhabited island off the coast of Attica, named after him "Isle of Patroclus".[9][10] At about this time, Patroclus dedicated a phiale to the panhellenic sanctuary at Delos.[11]

These moves served to tighten Ptolemaic control over the Aegean,

Mount Hymettus, and on the southwestern shores, at Vouliagmeni. This presence implies an attempt to neutralize the fortress of Sounion on the extreme south of Attica, which was probably also under Antigonid control, as well as an effort to supply Athens overland, bypassing the Antigonid-controlled Piraeus.[14] In the event, although the Spartan army may have come as close as Kamatero, they could not advance further, and withdrew. Patroclus' envisaged two-pronged attack on the Antigonid army did not materialize.[15] Epigraphical evidence from the coastal Athenian outpost of Rhamnous, which was being harassed by the Antigonid army and pirates collaborating with them, or simply taking advantage of the general chaos, also attests to the fact that Athenian and Ptolemaic attempts to safeguard Attica were not wholly effective.[16][12]

In 265/4 BC, Areus once again tried to cross the

Second Syrian War.[19][20] Whatever the actual events, it is clear that Cos marked the end of absolute Ptolemaic thalassocracy in the Aegean.[20]

References

  1. ^ Hauben 2013, pp. 46, 53.
  2. ^ Hauben 2013, pp. 53, 55.
  3. ^ a b Hauben 2013, p. 54.
  4. ^ Launey 1945, pp. 36–38.
  5. ^ Hauben 2013, pp. 53–54 (esp. note 99), 62–64.
  6. ^ Hauben 2013, pp. 55–56, 64–65.
  7. ^ Hauben 2013, pp. 56–58.
  8. ^ Hauben 2013, p. 58.
  9. ^ a b Hauben 2013, p. 61.
  10. ^ O'Neil 2008, pp. 71–72.
  11. ^ a b Hauben 2013, p. 59.
  12. ^ a b Hauben 2013, pp. 60–61.
  13. ^ O'Neil 2008, p. 65.
  14. ^ O'Neil 2008, pp. 74–75.
  15. ^ O'Neil 2008, pp. 75, 78–82.
  16. ^ O'Neil 2008, pp. 75–76.
  17. ^ O'Neil 2008, pp. 81–82.
  18. ^ O'Neil 2008, pp. 83–84.
  19. ^ O'Neil 2008, pp. 84–85.
  20. ^ a b Hauben 2013, p. 62.

Sources

  • Hauben, Hans (2013). "Callicrates of Samos and Patroclus of Macedon, champions of Ptolemaic thalassocracy". In Buraselis, Kostas; Stefanou, Mary; Thompson, Dorothy J. (eds.). The Ptolemies, the Sea and the Nile: Studies in Waterborne Power. Cambridge University Press. pp. 39–65.
    ISBN 9781107033351
    .
  • Launey, Marcel (1945). "Études d'histoire hellénistique, II: L'exécution de Sotades et l'expédition de Patroklos dans la mer Égée (266 av. J.-C.)". Revue des études anciennes (in French). 47: 33–45.
    doi:10.3406/rea.1945.3303
    .
  • O'Neil, James L. (2008). "A Re-Examination of the Chremonidean War". In McKechnie, Paul R.; Guillaume, Philippe (eds.). Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his World. Leiden and Boston: BRILL. pp. 65–90.
    ISBN 9789004170896
    .

Further reading
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