Theopompus of Chios: History and Rhetoric in the Fourth Century BC 0198152434, 9780198152439

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Theopompus of Chios

Theopompus of Chios History and Rhetoric in the Fourth Century BC MICHAEL

CLARENDON

A TTY AH FLOWER

PRESS · OXFORD 1994

Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford ox2 6DP Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bombay Calcutta Cape Town Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madras Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi Paris Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York

© Michael Flower 1994 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press. Within the UK, exceptions are allowed in respect of any fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1()88, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms and in other countries should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Theopompus of Chios: history and rhetoric in the fourth century B.C./Michael Attyah Flower. Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral). Includes bibliographical references. 1. Theopompus, of Chios. 2. Historians-Greece-Biography. 3. Greece-History-To 146 B.C.-Historiography. 4. Historiography-Greece. I. Title. . DE9. T54F56 1994 938'.oT)µetv.I translate this as follows: 'I understand that Theopompus is also being very disagreeable at your court, and that he is slandering Plato. ' 31 It is not easy 29

Sozomenus, Ecclesiastica Historia, Praefatio 5, cited by Bickermann and Sykutris (1928), but missing in Jacoby, is of no independent value. 30 The letter is discussed more fully in Ch. 3. 31 This translation requires explanation, since it is different from the usual rendering. The sentence is incorrectly translated by Bickermann (1928: 17) as 'lch bore, daB auch Theopomp sich bei Euch aufhalt, ein frostiger~ Mensch, und daB ... ' 1tavu vuxp6v is not parenthetical, since 1tap' ~µiv µtv dvai 1tavu vuxp6v, is clearly co-ordinate to m:pi oeIl1'.a-rcovoc;JJA.aaq>flµeiv.It has been similarly mistranslated into Latin by Hercher (1873: 632), and into English by Wickersham and Verbrugghe (1973: 100), and by Lane Fox (1986: 111). Shrimpton (1991: 203) is merely a gloss on the Greek. vuxp6c;, however, is difficult to render. It is not here a literary critical term, as Bloch seems to argue (1940: 318- 19). It would hardly have made sense in the context for Speusippus to have accused

The Life of Theopompus

20

to determine exactly what Speusippus is intending to imply by mivu wuxp6v. Is he tactfully understating the situation, or is he attempting to insinuate a coolness in the relationship where none really existed? A very likely interpretation is that Theopompus was displeased with Macedonian court practice and was demonstrating his disapproval through a general ill humour. The fragments bear vivid testimony to the fact that Theopompus was appalled by the morally unrestrained behaviour of Philip and his compamons. After alluding to Plato's benefactions to Philip, Speusippus goes on to say, 'In order that Theopompus should cease being harsh [tpaxuv cru1..ri8tvnovxpriµcitrov. Wiebers, Muller, and Blass considered this to have been a digression within the Philippica, just as was the digression on marvels in bk. 8 and on the Athenian demagogues in bk. 10. But, as noted by Jacoby, FGrH ii(b), comm. 389, Athenaeus was careful in his manner of citation. Note how he introduces F.100: 'Theopompus says in the tenth book of the Philippica, the last part of which some have separated off, in which are to be found the things concerning the Athenian demagogues, that Eubulus ... ' 42 F 247-8 = Athen. 6o4f-6o5d. 41

The Works of Theopompus

37

the moral depravity and impiety of the Phocian generals in detail and at length. Moreover, other fragments indicate that he took a keen interest in Delphi and in the dedications on display there, 43 and so perhaps he had a personal interest in describing the items which were either melted down or given away to handsome boys and famous courtesans. Jacoby suggested that the treatise was circulated separately for its propaganda value. 44 Presumably this would have been to jqstify Philip's intervention in the Sacred War and his harsh treatment of Phocis. But concern for Philip's reputation is unlikely to have been Theopompus' motive, in light of his statement about the youth Physcidas, one of the boys to whom Onomarchus gave extravagant gifts. Theopompus says that this boy had previously been prostituted and abused at Philip's court, although he was under Philip's protection. 45 Thus, Theopompus seems to have been as candid about Philip's personal habits in this small treatise as he was in the monumental Philippica. Lastly, it is probably not coincidental that Callisthenes of Olynthus wrote a selfcontained work entitled On the Sacred War and that Ephorus' son Demophilus completed his father's history by adding a thirtieth book on the Sacred War. 46 This clearly shows that the topic was a popular one with a contemporary audience. We can well imagine that the destruction of the sacred dedications and the gross impiety of the perpetrators was a matter of great interest throughout the Greek world. 47 Another treatise was entitled Against the Teaching of Plato.48 43

See F 193, 336, and 344. FGrH ii(b), comm. 389. So too Will (1991: 133), who argues that Theopompus later incorporated it into the Philippica. 45 F 248, 'This boy was taken to Philip by his father, and there being prostituted was sent away without reward.' 46 FGrH 124, Callisthenes FI and FGrH 70, Ephorus T 9 and F 96. 47 Shrimpton ( 1991: 182) is plainly inaccurate when he writes: 'The shocking fate of Delphi seems to have disgusted him [Theopompus] more than any other writer of the time. In fact, it is astonishing to see how little space the ransacking of the oracle gets in the literature surviving from the fourth century.' Demophilus also detailed the items that had been stolen and the fate of the plunderers; see esp. FGrH 70, Ephorus F 96 on the fate of the women who had received the jewellery of Eriphyle and Helen. 48 Kata tft •A0T)vaicpKai 8eo6tKtTI tq> «l>aCJT)>..itn Kai NauKpcitet tq> 'Epu0paicp, Kai toutouc; liµa aotq> ta 1tpcotEia tile; tv >..6yo1c;1ta1odac; fxe1v tv toic; "E>..AT)CJlV. cU.M'IaoKpatT)Vµtv 61' d1topiav Piou Kai 8eo6tKtT)Vµ1CJ000 >..6youc; ypciq,e1vKai aoq,1ateue1v, tK1ta1oeuovtac;toi>c;vtouc; KdKti0ev Kap1touµtvouc;tac; d>0apµtvouc;) and 'worthless' (q>aulouc;),I take Theopompus to mean that they were enervated, as a result of which they could no longer manage their own affairs or offer political opposition to the tyrant. Likewise, the Thessalians were so intemperate and licentious that Philip had no need to win them over by bribery. He was able to gain their allegiance merely by providing symposia (F 162). And in the case of the Tarentines, one can guess that Theopompus mentioned their extravagance and laziness in connection with their appeal to Sparta for foreign military aid. 12 Perhaps he asserted that they were so thoroughly enervated by luxury that they were incapable of defending themselves against the indigenous populations. 13 The effect of luxury on the Athenian effort to resist Philip will be discussed more fully in Chapter 6. For the present it is enough to observe that Theopompus saw luxury and moral incontinence as a fundamental cause of the social and political turmoil of the fourth century. It is also possible, however, to say something about Theopompus' positive moral views. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, throughout the Philippica there were many reflections on justice, piety, and the other virtues (T 20a). Perhaps some of 12

F 233 comes from bk. 52 of the Philippica,which dealt with events of 338 ec. The decision of Archidamus, king of Sparta, to help Tarentum in response to their appeal is mentioned in F 232, also from bk. 52. 13 Indeed, this conclusion was reached by Strabo (6. 3. 4.), who perhaps was drawing on Theopompus.

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Moral and Political Outlook of Theopompus

these reflections were in story form, 14 and others took the form of gnomic utterances. 15 In any case, from fragments 49, 224, and 225b one can infer the primary feature of Theopompus' philosophical ideal. 16 He says that the Thessalians disregarded how they might make their lives 'well ordered'. Philip's companions 'lived not in an orderly fashion, but prodigally and in a manner similar to pirates' and Philip 'rejected as unworthy those who were well ordered in their habits and careful of their private affairs'. The well-ordered life (6 Pio