Incidenza dell'antico Dialoghi di storia greca

The aim of this paper is to examine the difference between apeleutheroi and exeleutheroi, both freedmen for whom laws were enacted in classical Athens, according to Demosthenes. It seems that the former were freedmen with obligations, whereas the latter were «wholly free», the distinction between the two being the existence of a «debt owed by them for the cost of their manumission» to be paid in cash and/or to be worked off. In classical Athens, the transition from one status to the other seems to have been routinely effectuated through a judicial procedure known as the dike apostasiou. This procedure was probably linked to the Kynosarges, the gymnasium and sanctuary of Herakles. At the end of the 5th century BC, the end of the ‘path’ to complete freedom would have been the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios in the agora (built by exeleutheroi between 430 and 420 BC), whereas in the following century, at the time of Lycurgus, it appears to have been the sanctuary of Athena on the Acropolis, as evidenced by the phialai exeleutherikai.

Manumission | Dike apostasiou | ‘Wholly free’ | Zeus Eleutherios’ Stoa | Kynosarges

Recent scholarly debates about the origin and meaning of the term ‘demagogue’ in Classical Greece have overlooked an important passage of  Xenophon’s Hellenica. The debate between Critias and Theramenes allows us to see that even oligarchs made a distinction between ‘populist’ orators, called demagogues, whose policies harmed the interests of the elite, and democratic politicians who were inoffensive to the kaloi k’agathoi. With this distinction in mind, we see that the fifth-century sources present a uniformly negative view of the ‘demagogue’, a critical picture largely accepted by fourth-century and later authors.

Demagogue | Demagoguery | Xenophon | Athenian democracy | Class conflict

Oration 32 To the Alexandrians by Dion Chrysostom is a reprimand that the author delivered publicly following a riot in the city of Alexandria. Critics are divided between those who argue that the work dates to the Vespasian era and those who attribute it to the Trajan era. The central point of debate is the identification of ‘the excellent Conon’ with the prefect of Egypt L. Peducaeus Colonus (70-72/3 AD). This paper proposes an alternative identification with the Athenian strategos Conon, victor of the Battle of Cnidus (394 BC), and aims to demonstrate how he takes on the role of a metaphor for imperial power in Dion’s text. This interpretation offers a broader view of Dion’s models, shedding new light on their metaphorical use, on the borderline between the historical and the mythical; it highlights the peculiar way in which Dion represents the relationship between Rome and the provinces; finally, it offers food for thought in favour of the Trajanic dating.

Dion Chrysostom | Oration 32 | Roman Alexandria | Conon of Athens | Relationship between Rome and the provinces

Plutarch’s Quaest. Graec. 28 (297d-f) deals with the problem of the two ritual taboos that the Tenedians observe in the heroic shrine of their founder: prohibition of access to the auletai and prohibition of mention of Achilles. The two interdictions result related to the foundation account of the island community. The paper aims to investigate the context of elaboration and origin of this account – also thanks to the concurrence of the other sources that convey it –, through the analysis of this narrative and its connection with the two ritual taboos. Furthermore, it seeks to identify the source used by Plutarch and to evaluate the hypothesis of asserting the status of Aristotelian fragments from the Τενεδίων πολιτεία to Quaest. Graec. 28, Diod. 5.83, which turns out to be very close to it, and to De Pyth. or. 12 (399f-400a), where the Cheronaean mentions another peculiarity of Tenedos, the famous crabs.

Tenedos | Aristotle | Politeiai | Fragments | Local tradition

In late antiquity, the intellectual value of artistic experience is clearly established, with beauty regarded as a means of knowledge and a path to the divine. This perspective moves away from the conventional Platonic critique, which dismisses the arts as mere imitations of reality. The paper shows that the roots of this revaluation can be traced back to the second half of the 2nd century A.D. Discussions regarding the significance of painting, sculpture and dance appear especially in some works of Lucian of Samosata, emphasising their connection with the liberal arts. Evidence suggests that the presence of the emperor Lucius Verus in Antioch influenced this discourse; his appreciation of the arts and artists may have fostered a deeper reflection on the status of the mimetic disciplines and their role in education and politics. Shortly afterwards, a new generation of sophists (notably Philostratus) proved to have fully absorbed the paradigm shift.

Visual culture | Lucius Verus | Lucian of Samosata | Philostratus | Figurative arts

The identification of a possible Homeric subtext (Hom. Il. 19.95-133) in the Delphic oracle delivered to the Argives in Herodotus’ Histories (Hdt. 7.148) provides new insights into the interpretation of the Pythia’s words. This analysis also sheds light on the nature of  Herodotus’ oracular tale as a local Argive tradition concerning the Persian Wars.

Argos | Delphic oracle | Persian Wars | Homer | Herodotus

This note offers a new discussion of the evidence for Antipater of  Derbe, a significant regional player in the history of Asia Minor in the mid-first century BCE, and takes stock of some recent contributions. Strabo famously and influentially depicted Antipater as a bandit and a tyrant; an inscription from Central Phrygia fundamentally complicates the picture.

Antipater of Derbe | Cicero | Strabo | Cilicia | Lycaonia | Phrygia

Shortly after Procopius’s usurpation, who in 365 AD seized control of Constantinople and its surrounding regions, Themistius delivered a speech titled Περὶ τῶν ἠτυχηκότων ἐπὶ Οὐάλεντος, in which he strongly condemned the usurper. The author provided a terrible physical and character description, and to emphasize this, he cited historical and anecdotal material from the classical tradition. Central to this description is 7.90a-c, a passage in which Themistius considers Procopius to be worse than four Greek figures from the past: Φάλαρις, Ἀριστόμαχος, Ἀπολλόδωρος, and Διονύσιος. While critics agree that Διονύσιος and Φάλαρις are Dionysius I of Syracuse and Phalaris of Agrigento, the identities of Ἀριστόμαχος and Ἀπολλόδωρος have been variably interpreted by scholars. Here, we propose identifying them with Apollodorus, the tyrant of Cassandreia (ca 279-276 BC), and with the last of the Argive tyrants from the 3rd century BC, named Aristomachus, called Aristomachus ‘the Younger’ by Plutarch (Arat. 29.6).

Themistius | Procopius | Tyranny | Apollodorus of Cassandreia | Aristomachos of Argos

Si pubblicano qui di seguito due degli interventi tenuti in occasione della presentazione del volume di Mario Mazza, La lezione di un maestro. Scritti su Santo Mazzarino (Liguori, Napoli 2023), organizzata il 26 maggio 2025 da Umberto Roberto nell’ambito della rassegna Libri di Storia del Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici dell’Università di Napoli Federico II e coordinata da Edoardo Massimilla.

Si pubblicano qui di seguito due degli interventi tenuti in occasione della presentazione del volume di Mario Mazza, La lezione di un maestro. Scritti su Santo Mazzarino (Liguori, Napoli 2023), organizzata il 26 maggio 2025 da Umberto Roberto nell’ambito della rassegna Libri di Storia del Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici dell’Università di Napoli Federico II e coordinata da Edoardo Massimilla.