Sicyon
Sicyon (
Ancient history
Sicyon was built on a low triangular
In
After the
For some centuries the suzerainty of Argos remained, but after 676 BC Sicyon regained its independence under a line of tyrants called the Orthagorides after the name of the first ruler Orthagoras. The most important however was the founder's grandson Cleisthenes, the grandfather of the Athenian legislator Cleisthenes, who ruled from 600 to 560 BC.[4] Besides reforming the city's constitution to the advantage of the Ionians and replacing Dorian cults with the worship of Dionysus, Cleisthenes gained a reputation as the chief instigator and general of the First Sacred War (590 BC) in the interests of the Delphians.[1]
His successor Aeschines was expelled by the Spartans in 556 BC and Sicyon became an ally of the Lacedaemonians for more than a century. During this time, the Sicyonians developed the various industries for which they were known in antiquity. As the abode of the sculptors
During the
Later in the 5th century BC, Sicyon, like Corinth, suffered from the commercial rivalry of Athens in the western seas, and was repeatedly harassed by squadrons of Athenian ships.[1] The Sicyonians fought two battles against the Athenians, first against their admiral Tolmides in 455 BC and then in a land battle against Pericles with 1000 hoplites in 453 BC.
In the
In 369 BC Sicyon was captured and garrisoned by the Thebans in their successful attack on the Peloponnesian League.[1] From 368 to 366 BC Sicyon was ruled by Euphron who first favoured democracy, but then made himself tyrant. Euphron was killed in Thebes by a group of Sicyonian aristocrats, but his compatriots buried him in his home town and continued to honour him like the second founder of the city.
O: walking chimera; ΣΙ below | dove ; pellet above
|
silver hemidrachm struck in Sicyon 360–330 BC
ref.: BMC 124, Sear sg2774, SNG Cop. 64/65 |
During the 4th century BC, the city reached its zenith as a centre of art: its school of painting gained fame under
In 323 BC
In 303 BC Sicyon was conquered by
Demetrius left a garrison in the castle to control the city, and the commander Cleon established another tyrannical regime. After some twenty years he was killed by two rivals, Euthydemus and Timocleidas, who became the new joint tyrants of Sicyon. Their rule ended, probably around the start of the Chremonidean War in 267 BC, when they were expelled by the people who elected their leader Cleinias to govern the city on a democratic ground. Two magistrates of these years were the hieromnemoi Sosicles and Euthydamos, known from an inscription at Delphi. The democratic government's most important achievement was the construction of the gymnasium which is attributed to Cleinias. During the same time Xenokrates of Sicyon published his history of art which contributed to spreading the fame of Sicyon as an undisputed capital of ancient art.
Even this time democracy did not last more than a few years, and in 264 BC Cleinias was slain by his cognate
In 251, Aratus of Sicyon, the 20-year-old son of Cleinias, conquered the city with a night assault and expelled the last tyrant. Aratus re-established democracy, called back the exiles and brought his city into the Achaean League. This move ended the internal strife and Aratus remained the leading figure of Achaean politics until his death in 213 BC, during a period of great achievements. The prosperity and peaceful condition of Sicyon was only interrupted by an Aetolian raid in 241 BC and an unsuccessful siege at the hands of king Cleomenes III of Sparta in early 224 BC.
As a member of the Achaean federation Sicyon remained a stable democracy until the dissolution of the League by the Romans in 146 BC. In this period Sicyon was damaged by two disastrous earthquakes in 153 BC and 141 BC.
The destruction of Corinth (146 BC) brought Sicyon an acquisition of territory and the presidency over the
In the 4th century BC the people of Sicyon were the subject of a popular comedy by Menander titled Sikyonioi.
Friedrich Hölderlin's novel Hyperion from 1797 starts at the "paradisiac plain of Sicyon".
Ancient monuments
- Temple of Apollo or Artemis
- Theatre of Sikyon
- Palaestra - Gymnasium
- Stadium of Sikyon
- Bouleuterion of Sikyon
Medieval history
During the early Middle Ages, Sikyon continued to decline. It became a bishop's seat and, judging by its later designation "Hellas," it appears to have become a haven for populations seeking refuge from the settlement of
A village named until 1920 Vasiliko (described by the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica as "insignificant") lies next to the site of ancient and medieval Sikyon. It is now named Sikyona, reflecting the name of the ancient city.
Mythological rulers
Kings largely according to Eusebius's chronicle and other Greco roman sources are:
- 1st:Aegialeus
- 2nd:Europs
- 3rd:Telchis
- 4th:Apis of Sicyon
- 5th: Thelxion of Sicyon
- 6th:Aegyrus
- 7th:Thurimachus
- 8th:Leucippus
- 9th:Messapus
- 10th:Eratus
- 11th:Plemnaeus
- 12th:Orthopolis
- 13th:Marathonius or Coronus
- 14th:Marathus
- 15th:Echyreus or alternatively Coronus(which claims descent from Orthopolis according to Pausanias)
- 16th:Corax
- 17th :Epopeus of Sicyon
- 18th:Lamedon
- 19th:Sicyon
- 20th:Polybus of Sicyon(succeeded by Adrastus according to Pausanias)
- 21st:Inachus
- 22nd:Phaestus
- 23rd:Adrastus
- 24th:Zeuxippus of Sicyon(some sources see as direct succession of Phaestus)
- 25th:Pelasgus
- 26th:Polypheides,lord Before Agammemnon
7 priests of [Apollo] Carneius [ruled].that follow these kings as rulers according to Eusebius are:
- 1st:Archelaus [who ruled] one year.
- 2nd: Automedon, one year.
- 3rd: Theoclytus, four years.
- 4th: Euneus, six years.
- 5th: Theonomus, nine years.
- 6th: Amphigyes, twelve years.
- 7th:Charidemus, one year. He could not bear the expense, and went into exile. He was priest 352 years before the first Olympiad [i.e. 1128 BCE].
Notable people
Ancient
- Aegialeus (21st century BC) legendary founder[11]
- Tellis (8th century BC), runner (Olympic victor 708 BC)
- Butades (7th century BC) sculptor
- Canachus (6th century BC) sculptor
- Aristocles (5th century BC) sculptor
- Praxilla (5th century BC) poet
- Ariphron (5th century BC) poet
- Alypus (5th to 4th century BC) sculptor
- Alexis (5th or 4th century BC) sculptor
- Eupompus (4th century BC) painter
- Pamphilus (4th century BC) painter
- Melanthius (4th century BC) painter
- Pausias (4th century BC) painter
- Eutychides (4th century BC) sculptor
- Lysippos (4th century BC) sculptor
- Lysistratus (4th century BC) sculptor
- Sostrates(4th century BC) pankratiast (thrice Olympic champion)
- Canachus the Younger (4th century BC) sculptor
- Xenokrates (3rd century BC) sculptor and art historian
- Machon (3rd century BC) playwright
- Timanthes (3rd century BC) painter
- Nealkes (3rd century BC) painter
- Anaxandra (3rd century BC) painter
- Pythocles (3rd century BC), runner (Olympic victor 236 BC)
- Aratus of Sicyon (271–213 BC) strategos of the Achaean League
- Baccheidas, a dancer and teacher of music[12]
- Daetondas of Sicyon, sculptor[13]
- Bycelus, Olympic victor[14]
Modern
- Sotirios Krokidas, jurist and PM
Mythology: Identification with Mecone
Sicyon has been traditionally identified with the mythical Mecone or Mekone,[15][16] site of the trick at Mecone carried out by Prometheus. Mecone is also described by Callimachus as "the seat of the gods", and as the place where the brother deities Zeus, Poseidon and Hades cast lots for what part of the world each would rule.[17]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j public domain: Caspari, Maximilian (1911). "Sicyon". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 37. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Pausanias 2.5.6-6.7.
- ^ Felix Jacoby on Castor in Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker 250 F 2, noted with approval by Robertson 1999:65 and note 36.
- ^ Herodotus 6.121
- ^ Bon 1969: 104, 476, 482.
- ^ Topping 1975: 138.
- ^ Bon 1969: 250.
- ^ Bon 1969: 270; Topping 1975: 158.
- ^ Bon 1969: 481.
- ^ Fine 1987: 565.
- Wallchart of World History, Sicyon was founded in 2081 BC by Aegialus
- ^ A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Baccheidas
- ^ A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Daetondas
- ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 6.13.7
- ^ page 116, M.L. West, The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 122 (2002), pp. 109-133 (25 pages) Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies
- ^ Themis, Jane Ellen Harrison, page 373 https://archive.org/details/themisstudyofsoc00harr/page/372 retrieved 4/02/2019
- ^ Quoted st page 115, M.L. West, The Journal of Hellenic Studies Vol. 122 (2002), pp. 109-133
- Bon, A., La Morée franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d'Achaïe, Bibliothèques de l'Ecole française d'Athènes et de Rome - Série Athènes, 1969.
- Fine, J., The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, Ann Arbor, 1987.
- Topping, P., The Morea, 1311–1364 and The Morea, 1364-1460, in K. Setton and H. W. Hazard (eds.), A History of the Crusades, vol. 3, Madison, 1975: 104-140 and 141-166.
External links
- "Sicyon: The most ancient Greek city-state (via archive.org)", Ellen Papakyriakou/Anagnostou. Contains a great deal of information on ancient and present-day Sicyon.
- "The Greco-Roman Theatre at Sicyon", The Ancient Theatre Archive. Theatre specifications and tour of the ancient theatre.