- Aristodemus of Miletus
Aristodemus (in Greek Aριστoδημoς; lived
4th century BC ), native ofMiletus , was a friend and flatterer of Antigonus, king of Asia, who sent him, in315 BC , to thePeloponnese with 1000 talents, and ordered him to maintain friendly relations withPolyperchon and his son Alexander, to collect as large a body of mercenaries as possible, and to conduct the war againstCassander . On his arrival inLaconia , he obtained permission from theSparta ns to engage mercenaries in their country, and thus raised in the Peloponnese an army of 8000 men. The friendship with Polyperchon and his son Alexander was confirmed, and the former was made governor of the peninsula. The ruler ofPtolemaic Egypt Ptolemy, who was allied with Cassander, sent a fleet against the general and the allies of Antigonus, and Cassander made considerable conquests in the Peloponnese. After his departure, Aristodemus and Alexander at first endeavoured in common to persuade the towns to expel the garrisons of Cassander, and recover their independence. But Alexander soon allowed himself to be made a traitor to the cause he had hitherto espoused, and was rewarded by Cassander with the chief command of his forces in the Peloponnese. In314 BC , Aristodemus invited the Aetolians to support the cause of Antigonus; and having raised a great number of mercenaries among them, he attacked Alexander, who was besieging Cyllene, and compelled him to raise the siege. He then restored several other places, such asPatras inAchaea and Dyme inAetolia , to what was then called freedom. After this,306 BC , Aristodemus occurs once more in history. [Diodorus Siculus , "Bibliotheca", xix. 57-66;Plutarch , "Parallel Lives ", "Demetrius", [http://www.attalus.org/old/demetrius1.html#16 16] , [http://www.attalus.org/old/demetrius1.html#17 17] ]References
*Smith, William (editor); "
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology ", [http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0314.html "Aristodemus (5)"] ,Boston , (1867)Notes
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