Eupolemus Simalou

This article is about an Ancient Greek general and Carian dynast. For other uses, see Eupolemus (disambiguation).

Eupolemus Simalou (in Ancient Greek: Eυπόλεμoς Σίμαλου) was a Macedonian officer in the fourth century BC. He would serve the Antipatrids as a strategos during the later Wars of the Diadochi. Scholarship suggests that he would act as a deputy to Cassander's brother, Pleistarchus, and would succeed him in the rule of Caria.

Asian Expedition

In 313 BC, Eupolemus accompanied Prepelaus as one of his lieutenants when Prepelaus was sent to aid Asander against Antigonus Monophthalmus in Asia Minor. After arriving in Caria (Asander's satrapy in Asia Minor), they started planning their campaign against Ptolemaeus, Antigonus's nephew and the commander of his forces in western Asia Minor. They decided upon a surprise attack during the winter (after the campaigning season had ended); Eupolemus was sent with 8,000 infantry and 200 cavalry to strike at Ptolemaeus after the latter had dispersed his forces into their winter quarters. However, some deserters from Eupolemus's strike force betrayed their plans to Ptolemaeus, who gathered 8,300 infantry and 600 cavalry from the nearest camps and marched against Eupolemus. In the middle of the night, Ptolemaeus launched a surprise attack on Eupolemus's camp, capturing the entire force, including Eupolemus. He must have been released straight away, as the next year (312 BC), Cassander named him strategos of Greece when he moved northward against Antigonus. Eupolemus would work closely with Pleistarchus who had been placed in control of Chalkis. Eupolemus next surfaces in 307 BC, fighting alongside Cassander and Pleistarchus in Attica.

Dynast of Caria

Bronze coin depicting three overlapping Macedonian shields, the outer two with spearheads in their centers / EYΠO-ΛEMOY, sword in a sheath, labrys (double axe) below; Mylasa mint. Struck under Eupolemos circa 295-280 BC

It has traditionally been assumed that this Eupolemus must have been the same as an Eupolemus Pόtalou Μαϰεδών noted from an inscription in Iasos, owing to both men being notable Macedonians in Caria and in possession of the same rare name. This (faulty) assumption previously led historians to erroneously conclude that Eupolemus the general had been awarded the title of proxenos and the epithet euergetes. According to Billows's chronology, Eupolemus served under Pleistarchus, the son of Antipater and brother of Cassander from 313 BC until Pleistarchus's death. Eupolemos likely administered Caria during the first few years of its nominal rule by Pleistarchus. When Pleistarchus died, Eupolemus, as his deputy, assumed control of a significant portion of Caria as an independent dynast. Eupolemos's rule of Caria is placed from 294 BC to at least 286 BC, although it may have continued well into the 270s. Eupolemus held sway over a significant portion of Caria, particularly in the west, and appears to have made Mylasa his capital. From here, he would issue exclusively bronze coinage, usually depicting Macedonian shields on the obverse and a sheathed sword with EYΠO-ΛEMOY (Eupolemos) featured on the reverse. A labrys (a double axe associated with Caria) often appears on these coins. Eupolemus appears to have employed a significant number of mercenaries to maintain control over his spear-won land. His policies of military colonization and heavy taxation, while pragmatic, may have evoked the ire of his subjects, presumably contributing to the rebellion of his garrison at Theangela.

Controversy

It is worth noting, however, that the chronology of Eupolemus's rule and his classification as a dynast is controversial. Raymond Descat argues that the evidence used by Billows to support the notion of Eupolemus reigning over Caria as a dynast (coinage and inscriptions) has been misdated, originating during Eupolemus's initial Carian campaign, and cannot be used to prove that Eupolemus's position exceeded that of an ordinary strategos. A recent study by Richard J. Ashton has suggested that the coins minted under Eupolemus date to the early third century, rather than the 310s BC like Descat argued. Recent paleography has suggested that the Iasos inscription mentioning Eupolemus Pόtalou Μαϰεδών was likely from the 270s-260s BC, precluding it from referring to the Eupolemus who had served under Cassander. However, epigraphic evidence from a more recently discovered dedication from Iasos of an andron to Artemis Astias by Eupolemos Simalou led Roberta Fabiani to conclude that the patronymic "Simalou" can thus be ascribed to Eupolemos with a reasonable degree of certainty that it refers to the man who was the general of Cassander. The style of the engraving dates the inscription to the early 3rd century BC. Fabiani states that the sheer volume of attestations to Eupolemus disqualifies chronologies that place his period of power from only around 315–313 BC as a mere strategos and that he ought to be regarded as having become a dynast of Caria by the 290s BC.

References

• González, Cristina M. (2021). The Macedonian army as a vehicle for change? Military presence in western Asia Minor during the early Hellenistic period: topography, agency and identity. University College London.
• Smith, William (editor); Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, "Eupolemus (1)" Archived 2005-12-31 at the Wayback Machine, Boston, (1867)
• Billows, Richard A. (1990). Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20880-3.
• Descat, Raymond (1998). La carrière d'Eupolemos, stratège macédonien en Asie Mineure. Revue des Études Anciennes.
• Fabiani, Roberta (2009). Eupolemos Potalou o Eupolemos Simalou. Epigraphica Anatolica.
• Ashton, Richard J. (1998). The Coins of the Macedonian Kings, Lysimachos and Eupolemos in the Museums of Fethiye and Afyon. Revue des Études Anciennes.
• Fabiani, Roberta (2009). Eupolemos Potalou o Eupolemos Simalou. Epigraphica Anatolica.
• Burnett; Wartenberg; Wischonke (1998). Coins of Macedonia and Rome: Essays in Honour of Charles Hersh. London: Spink. ISBN 1902040023.
• Siculus, Diodorus. "Bibliotheca". CH Oldfather, translator. Perseus Project. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.