Aristoula Georgiadou Plutarch's Pelopidas Beiträge zur Altertumskunde Herausgegeben von Michael Erler, Ernst Heitsch, Ludwig Koenen, Reinhold Merkelbach, Clemens Zintzen Band 105 B. G. Teubner Stuttgart und Leipzig Plutarch's Pelopidas A Historical and Philological Commentary Aristoula Georgiadou B. G. Teubner Stuttgart und Leipzig 1997 Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Georgiadou, Aristoula: Plutarch's Pelopidas: a historical and philological commentary / Aristoula Georgiadou. - Stuttgart; Leipzig: Teubner, 1997 (Beiträge zur Altertumskunde; Bd. 105) ISBN 3-519-07654-3 Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechts- gesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt besonders für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. © B. G. Teubner Stuttgart 1997 Printed in Germany Druck und Bindung: Röck, Weinsberg Preface This Commentary on the Life of Pelopidas originates with my doctoral dissertation of which it is a completely revised and expanded version. My aim has been to present and assess the information available on this Life and, where possible, to resolve its outstanding problems. In some cases, however, where I feel that the evidence does not allow for certainty, I follow Wittgenstein's precept "Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen". I wish to thank John Buckler of the University of Illinois for his many insightful suggestions and corrections which he provided with unfailing generosity; David Larmour of Texas Tech University, who offered numerous helpful comments and stylistic advice; Gerald Browne and David Sansone of the University of Illinois for their valuable advice, especially with regard to philological matters. I am also grateful to Ludwig Koenen, Christoph Konrad and an anonymous reader, all of whom made many essential corrections and saved me from several infelicities. It is also a pleasure to acknowledge my debt to Angeliki Tzanetou, who always gave most generously of her time and intellect, and to Carol Buckler, who has been a source of thoughtful and provoking conversation over the years. Work on the manuscript was greatly facilitated by the technical assistance of Devin Casenhiser, Mary Ellen Fryer and Walter Spencer. I would like to express my gratitude to Pennsylvania State University and the Fondation Hardt for financial support, and to the University of Illinois for granting access to its facilities and its remarkable Classics Library, where I was ably assisted by Mardell O'Brien and Bruce Swann. To Anabella I. Nefele who has become a source of immeasurable happiness. My sweetest debt goes to Stratis Gallopoulos of the University of Patras for all the grants and fellowships he has awarded me throughout the years. It is to him that this book is dedicated. ... άτάρ σύ μοί εσσι πατήρ και πότνια μήτηρ ήδέ κασίγνητος, σύ δέ μοι θαλερός παρακοίτης. Contents Preface V I. Introduction 1 1. Plutarch 1 [a] Life 1 [b] The Biographies 2 [c] The Lost Epameinondas/Scipio Pair 6 [d] Plutarch and Thebes 8 2. The Life ofPelopidas 9 [a] Scope and Methods 9 [b] Chronology 14 [c] Sources 15 [d] Comparison: Pelopidas and Marcellus 29 [e] Pelopidas and Epameinondas: a Pair within a Life 32 [f] Nepos' Pelopidas 37 [g] The Pelopidas and the De Genio 39 [h] Text 43 II. Commentary 45 ΙΠ. Bibliography 227 Introduction 1. Plutarch [a] Life Plutarch was born c.45 AD in Chaeronea, a small town in Boiotia in Central Greece. The plain near the town was associated with two major battles: the defeat of the Thebans and the Athenians by Philip Π in 338 BC, evoked by the biographer in the Pelopidas in his digression on the Sacred Band (18.7; cf. Alex. 9.2-4, Dem. 19-20.2, Thes. 27.8, Cam. 19.8), and Sulla's victory over the Pontic king Mithridates in 86 BC (Su. 15-19). The affluence of Plutarch's distinguished family gave him the opportunity to attain a high degree of learning by pursuing his studies at Athens, which was still a prominent cultural center in the Graeco- Roman world. There he must have attended classes in rhetoric, although he mentions nothing about his rhetorical training, probably because of the traditional contempt the Platonists showed to this discipline.1 He became the student of the Egyptian Academic philosopher Ammonios c.66/7 AD, and no doubt Plutarch owes to him his allegiance to Platonism and, at least in part, his own profound interest in religious matters.2 Plutarch travelled widely in Greece, Egypt, Italy, and Rome on 1 On Plutarch and rhetoric, see R. Jeuckens, Plutarch von Chaeronea und die Rhetorik (Strassburg 1907), F. Krauss, Die Rhetorischen Schriften Plutarchs und ihre Stellung im plutarchischen Schriftenkorpus, Diss. Munich 1912, Ziegler, 1964: cols. 291-301, J.R. Hamilton, 1969: xxi-xxiii, G.W. Bowersock, Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire (Oxford 1969) 110-112, C.P. Jones, 1971: 14-16, 67-71, Wardman, 1974: 221-244, G.W.M. Harrison, "Rhetoric, Writing and Plutarch", Ancient Society 18 (1987) 271-279, Städter, 1987: 251-269, esp. 251-252, Flacelifcre and Irigoin, 1987: ccvi-ccx. 2 On Plutarch's philosophy and religion, see R.M. Jones, 1916 [1980], Latzarus, 1920 [1987], Soury, 1942, Flacelifcre, 1959: 197-215, Barrow, 1969: 72- 118, Ziegler, 1964: cols. 301-308, Babut, 1969, id. 1994: 77-102, Russell, 1973: 63- 83, Dillon, 1977: 184-230, Brenk, 1977, id. 1987: 248-349, Donini, 1986b: 203- 226, U. Bianchi, "Plutarch und der Dualismus", ANRW 2.36.1 (1987) 350-365, Froidefond, 1987: 184-233, Gallo, 1988, Valgiglio, 1988, Hershbell, 1992a: 3336- 3352, id. 1992b: 3353-3383, Valdds, 1994, Opsomer, 1996: 165-194. On Ammonios, see C.P. Jones, 1966b: 205-213, id. 1971: 16-19, Dillon, 1977: 189- 192, Donini, 1986a: 97-110, Brenk, 1987: 257-260, Aalders and De Blois, 1992: 3384-3404. 2 Introduction political missions but also as a lecturer,3 and yet, notwithstanding the constraints that the limited library resources in Chaeronea imposed on his work (Dem. 2.2, De Ε αρ. Delph. 384Ε), he remained faithful to his native town. He became an honorary Athenian citizen and was enrolled in the tribe Leontis (Quaest. conv. 628A); he also received Roman citizenship probably through his friend L. Mestrius Floras. Among the various offices which he held (J.R. Hamilton, 1969: xv-xvii, C.P. Jones, 1971: 25-28), especially significant was his long tenure as priest at the temple of Apollo at Delphi, an office which appears to have had a considerable impact on his literary activity (cf. De Ε Delph., De Pyth. orac., De def. orac.).4 In fact, both "Delphi and Chaeronea were to be", in C.P. Jones' words "the twin poles of Plutarch's adult life" (1971: 4; for the various stages of Plutarch's career, ib. 13-38). [b] The Biographies The bulk of Plutarch's literary output was most likely produced in the later period of his career, after 96 AD, during the reigns of the emperors Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian.5 Previously his travels would have allowed him the opportunity to collect abundant material for his diverse writings. Later, far less burdened with public duties and travelling, he had more freedom to devote his leisure time to the composition of essays and dia- logues (Moralia)6—which cover a wide range of topics from philosophy to religion, and from ethics to rhetoric and mathematics—and the Parallel LivesΡ As a prominent citizen of the Roman empire enjoying a wide cir- cle of influential Greek and Roman friends (C.P. Jones, 1971: 39-64, 3 On Plutarch's travels, see Barrow, 1969: 36-50, C.P. Jones, 1971: 15-16, 20- 27, Buckler, 1992: 4799-4829. 4 On Plutarch's priesthood at Delphi, see Soury, 1941: 50-69, Flacelifcre, 1943: 72-111, C.P. Jones; 1971: 26, Brenk, 1987: 330-336. 5 On the dating of Plutarch's works, see Stoltz, 1929, Ziegler, 1964: cols. 71- 82, 262-268, C.P. Jones, 1966a [1995] 61-74, id. 1971: 28-38, 135-137, JR. Hamilton, 1969: xxxiv-xxxvii, Pelling, 1979 [1995] 80-81, Brenk, 1987: 255-256. 6 For a survey of his essays, see Russell, 1973: 63-99, C.P. Jones, 1971: 67- 71, 110-121, Flacelifcre and Irigoin, 1987: vii-cccii. 7 For general introductions to Plutarch's Parallel Lives, see Wilamowitz, 1926 [1967, 1995] 247-279, Flacelifcre, 1957: xix-xxvi, Ziegler, 1964: cols. 257-277, Rus- sell, 1966 [1995] 139-154, id. 1973: 101-116, Gossage, 1967: 45-77, Barrow, 1969: 51-65, C.P. Jones, 1971: 81-109, Wardman, 1974, Schneeweiss, 1985, Barigazzi, 1994: 287-301, and most recently, Scardigli, 1995: 1-46.