Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/325

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
loc cit.
loc cit.

I ARISTOMACHUS. ARTSTO'MACHE CApicrroiMixv). 1. The daiitrhter of Ilipparinus of Symcuse, and the sister of Dion, was married to the elder Dionysius on the same day that he married Doris of Locri. She bore him two sons and two daughters, with one of whom, namely Arete, she afterwards perished. (Plut. Dion, 3, 6 ; Diod. xiv. 44, xvi. 6 ; Aelian, V. JI. xiii. 1 0, who erroneously calls her Aristaenete ; Cic. Tttsc. v. 20 ; Val. Max. ix. 13, ext. 4.) Respecting her death, see Arete. 2. Of Erj'thrae, a poetess, who conquered at the Isthmian games, and dedicated in the treasury of Sicyon a golden book, that is, probablj* one written with golden letters. (Plut. St/mp. v. 2. § 10.) ARISTO'MACHUS ('AptffToVaxos). 1- A son of Talaus and Lysimache, and brother of Adrastus. (Apollod, i. 9. § 13.) He was the father of Hippomedon, one of the seven heroes against Thebes. (Apollod. iii. 6. § 3.) Hyginus (fhb. 70) makes Hippomedon a son of a sister of Adrastus. (Comp. Paus. x. 10. § 2.) 2. A son of Cleodemus or Cleodaeus, and great- grandson of Heracles, was the father of Temenus, Cresphontes, and Aristodemus. He marched into Peloponnesus at the time when Tisaraenus, the son of Orestes, ruled over the Peninsula; but his expedition failed as he had misunderstood the oracle, and he fell in battle. (Apollod. ii. 8. § 2 ; Paus. ii. 7. § 6; Herod, vi. 52.) Another Aris- tomachus occurs in Paus. vi. 21. § 7. [L. S.] ARISTO'MACHUSCApjjrrJ/iaxos). 1. Tyrant of Argos, in the reign and under the patronage of Antigonus Gonatas. He kept the citizens of Argos in a defenceless condition, but a conspiracy was formed against him, and arms were secretly introduced into the town by a contrivance of Aratus, who wished to gain Argos for the Achaean league. The plot was discovered, and the persons concerned in it took to flight. But Aristomachus was soon after assassinated by slaves, and was suc- ceeded by Aristippus II. (Plut. Arat. 25.) 2. Succeeded Aristippus II. in the tyranny of Argos, apparently towards the end of the reign of Demetrius, (b. c. 240 — 230.) He seems to have been reliited to some of his predecessors in the tyranny of Argos. (Polyb. ii. 59.) After the death of Demetrius, B. c. 229, he resigned his power, as Lydiades had done before, and several others did now, for the influence of Macedonia in Peloponnesus had nearly ceased, and the Aetolians were allied with the Achaeans. Aristomachus had been persuaded to this step by Aratus, who gave him fifty talents that he might be able to pay off and dismiss his mercenaries. Argos now joined the Achae.an league, and Aristomachus was chosen Btrategus of the Achaeans for the year B. c. 227. (Plut. Arat. 35 ; Polyb. iu 44 ; Paus. ii. 8. § 5 ; Plut. Cleom. 4.) In this capacity he undertook the command in the war against Cleomenes of Sparta, but he seems to have been checked by the jealousy of Aratus, in consequence of which he afterwards deserted the cause of the Achaeans and went over to Cleomenes, who with his assistance took possession of Argos. Aristomachus now again assiuned the tyranny at Argos. Aratus tried in vain to recover that city for the Achaean league, and the consequence only was, that the tyrant ordered 80 distinguished Argives to be put to death, as they were suspected of being favourable to- wards the Achaeans. Not long afterwards, how- ever, Argos was taken by Antigonus Doson, whose ARISTOMENES. 307 assistance Aratus had called in. Aristomachus fell into the hands of the Achaeans, who strangled him and threw him into the sea at Cenchreae. (Polyb. ii. 59, 60; Plut Arat. 44; Schom, Ge- schvMe Griechenl. p. 118, note 1.) 3. The leader of the popular party at Croton, in the Hannibalian war, about B. c. 215. At that time nearly all the towns of southern Italy were divided into two parties, the people being in favour of the Carthaginians, and the nobles or senators in favour of the Romans. The Bruttians, who were in alliance with the Carthaginians, had hoped to gain possession of Croton with their assistance. As this had not been done, they determined to make the conquest by themselves. A deserter from Croton informed them of the state of political parties there, and that Aristomachus was ready to surrender the town to them. The Bruttians marched with an army against Croton, and as the lower parts, which were inhabited by the people, were open and easy of access, they soon gained possession of them. Aristomachus, however, as if he had nothing to do with the Bruttians, withdrew to the arx, where the nobles were assembled and defended themselves. The Bruttians in conjunc- tion with the people of Croton besieged the nobles in the arx, and when they found that they made no impression, they applied to Hanno the Cartha- ginian for assistance. He proposed to the Croto- niats to receive the Bruttians as colonists within the extensive but deserted walls of their city ; but all the Crotoniats, with the exception of Aristoma- chus, declared that they would rather die than sub- mit to this. As Aristomachus, who had betrayed the town, was unable to betray the arx also, he saw no way but to tjike to flight, and he accord- ingly went over to Hanno. The Crotoniats soon after quitted their town altogether and migrated to Locri. (Liv. xxiv. 2, 3.) 4. A Greek writer on agriculture or domestic economy, who is quoted several times by Pliny. (//. A^. xiii. 47, xiv. 24, xix. 26. § 4.) [L. S.] ARISTO'MACHUS('Apj(rr<5(Uoxoy),ast;ituary, bom on the banks of the Strjnmon, made statues of courtezans. His age is not known. (AnthoL Palat. vi. 268.) [C. P. M.] ARISTOME'DES ('ApjcrTo/iTfSTjs), a statuary, a native of Thebes, and a contemporary' of Pindar. In conjunction with his fellow-townsman Socrates, he made a statue of Cybele, which was dedicated by Pindar in the temple of that goddess, near Thebes. (Paus. ix. 25. § 3.) [C. P. M.] ARISTO'MEDON {'Api(TTOfx45a>p an Argive statuary, who lived shortly before the Persian wars, made some statues dedicated by the Phocians at Delphi, to commemorate their victory over the Thes- salians. (Paus. x. 1. §§ 3—10.) [C. P. M.] ARISTO'MENES {'ApiaronevTis), the Messe- nian, the hero of the second war with Sparta, has been connected by some writers with the first war (Myron, ap. Fans. iv. 6 ; Diod. Sic. xv. 66, Fragin, X.), but in defiance apparently of all tradition. (Tyrt. ap. Paus. I. c. ; Muller, Dor. i. 7. § 9.) For the events of his life our main authority is Pausa- nias, and he appears to have principally followed Rhianus the Cretan, the author of a lost epic poem, of which Aristomenes was the hero. (Paus. iv 6.) The life of Aristomenes, therefore, belongs more to legend than to history, though the truth of its general outline may be depended on. (Paus. iv. 22 ; Polyb. iv. 33.)