Troezen Inscription

[Jona Lendering]

There's an interesting article on the Troezen Inscription here. The author argues that it is based on a source, written in c.300 BC, and also used by Plutarch and Aelius Aristides. Their evidence for the authenticity of the stela can, therefore, be eliminated. It is all new for me.

[Paralus]

The (in)famous "Themistocles Decree". The arguments about this have been interminable and it is good to see final nails finding their way to the coffin of the argument for authenticity.

Militarily supporters of the authenticity of this late composition or"forgery" have always struggled. Greece was to be defended - in the first instance - at Thermopylae. To do so meant the presence of the fleet to secure the eastern or seaward flank. That Athens would send - as in this decree - half the available fleet is not at all likely.

That Athens abandoned the city at this time also seems inherently improbable. The Athenians expected - as did the others of the Alliance - that Sparta would march into Boeotia in full force. This decree would see Athens give up any hopes north of the Isthmus before an oar broke water at Artemesium. Some message to the Phokians and vacillating Boeotians northwards!

On a slightly different note, I can't recall Kimon or Pericles ever committing any of their strategies to stone in the form of a decree, though a decree recording a vote to abandon the city and take to the ships (post Artemesium / Thermopylae) is more sensible.

It's all a bit like those wedded to the notion that there never was any "peace" of Kallias. It's terribly difficult to explain the forty odd year detente between Athens and Persia - temptations for Persia during the Peloponnesian War and all - without a diplomatic settlement that delineated "spheres of influence".

Thanks for the link.