RATIONES RERUM 20: Articolo Giovanni Parmeggiani

Descrizione

Rationes Rerum 20

GIOVANNI PARMEGGIANI
Il significato politico degli aristeia per Salamina e degli onori spartani a Temistocle. Uno studio sull’importanza di Diodoro

A detailed analysis of THUC. 1, 74, 1-2 and HDT. 8, 123-125 (cf. PLU T. Them. 17, 1-3) highlights the non-accidental nature of the complex “international political intrigue” traced by DIOD. 11, 27, 2-3 about the ἀριστεῖα for the battle of Salamis and the exceptional honors awarded by Sparta to Themistocles in 480 B C. However one judges its reliability, Diodorus’ account (which he uses to explain the reasons for Mardonius’ attempt at diplomacy with Athens in 479 B C : cf. 11, 28, 1) answers the questions raised by Herodotus and is certainly in line with the idea that the rivalry between Athens and Sparta for hegemony did not arise as a consequence of Xerxes’ war, but preceded it in time and extended through its developments, with great danger to the Greeks.