- Eunus
Eunus (d. 132 BC), a slave from
Apamea inSyria , became leader of the slave uprising in theFirst Servile War inSicily . Eunus rose to prominence in the movement through his reputation as a wonder-worker and prophet. In addition to an alleged ability to blow fire from his mouth, Eunus claimed to receive visions and communications from the goddessAtargatis , a prominent goddess in his homeland, whom he came to identify with SicilianDemeter . One of his prophetic predictions was that the rebel slaves would successfully capture the city ofEnna .Eunus participated in the storming of
Enna , and Diodorus Siculus provides a description of him standing in the front ranks of the assault, blowing fire from his mouth. dubious|date=May 2008 Upon the capture ofEnna , Eunus was crowned king. He subsequently took the name Antiochus, a name used by theSeleucids who ruledSyria , and called his followers, who numbered around 70,000, his "Syrians". After the slave army was defeated by a Roman army under the leadership ofPerperna , Eunus, with members of his "court," took refuge in a cavern, where he was subsequently captured.Most of the literary evidence for Eunus and the First Servile War comes from the writings of
Diodorus Siculus , who usedPosidonius as his primary source.Florus ' "Epitome", which provides excerpts from lost portions ofLivy is the most detailed Latin account. Both Diodorus and Posidonius were sympathetic to the Romans. Diodorus lived inRome andCicero asked Posidonius to write an account of the former's consulate. Since Eunus was a defeated enemy of Rome, their accounts of both the slave uprising and its leader were likely biased. On the other hand,Posidonius , like Eunus, was from SyrianApamea , and the details about Eunus' worship ofAtargatis probably arise from his personal knowledge of the goddess's mendicant priests.Archaeologists have found a small bronze coin, minted at Enna, which bears the inscription "King Antiochus." It is likely that the Antiochus in question is Eunus.
External links
* [http://www.livius.org/es-ez/eunus/eunus.html Livius.org: Eunus]
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