NOTES ON THE DISARRAY IN THESSALY

This article focuses on several problems concerning the advancement of the Persian army through Thessaly in 480 BC. : the ill-advised departure from Tempe and the role played by Alexander of Macedon; the paralel tradition recorded in Damastes of Sygeum and Diodorus; the political fracas between the Aleuadai and the rest of Thessaly; and finally, the nature of the alleged message that Alexander gave the Thessalians. A careful analysis of the events, as well as of the way they are presented in our extant sources, testify that Alexander did indeed play a role in the events in Thessaly, and that the Tempe episode ought to retain its place in the traditional narrative; however, the content of his message to the Hellenes remains elusive, undoubtedly until the discovery of another source, different from those we have had up to now. 1. When it became known in Thessaly that Xerxes was planning to cross into Europe, the Thessalians sought and received help from the united Hellenic forces, who sent an infantry regiment to Halos by sea. This regiment, consisting of 10,000 soldiers, was accompanied by Thessalian cavalry; Herodotus claims that the soldiers ensconced themselves in Tempe and assumed strategic positions, from where they could control matters all the way to Heracleion. At that time, Xerxes was still in Abydos. The Hellenes, however, remained there for only a couple of days, after which they returned to Halos, and soon afterwards sailed homewards. Herodotus credits this turnabout to the advice given by Alexander I: “[. ] They remained there for only a few days, for messengers came from Alexander son of Amyntas, the Macedonian. These, pointing out the size of the army and the great number of ships, advised them to depart and not remain there to be trodden under foot by the invading host. When they had received this advice from the messengers (as they thought their advice was sound and that the Macedonian meant well by them), the Greeks followed –––––––– 1 Hdt. 7.174. 1. 70 V. Sarakinski, Notes on the disarray in Thessaly ŽAnt 61(2011)69–82 their counsel. To my thinking, however, what persuaded them was fear, since they had found out that there was another pass leading into Thessaly by the hill country of Macedonia through the country of the Perrhaebi, near the town of Gonnus; this was indeed the way by which Xerxes’ army descended on Thessaly. ” That was allegedly the reason why the Council of the united Hellenic forces decided to position the troops on the ground in Thermopylai, while keeping the fleet in Artemision. All Hellenes to the north of that line had to subject themselves “by force” to the enemy, and in anticipation of that moment, pro-Persian forces undoubtedly rose to power. This episode presents a classic impasse among contemporary historians: it arouses a number of conflicting opinions, both concerning the reason that troops were sent to Tempe, as well as the cause for their withdrawal. Yet, if there is one historiographer or historian who is truly perplexed as to this development of events – the withdrawal from Tempe a fair amount of time before the arrival of the Persians – then that is Herodotus, who himself is not convinced by the reason he provides. Indeed, the content of the message does not seem very convincing; if nothing else, the Hellenes were in a position to ascertain the size of the approaching army, perhaps even more so than Alexander could; even had they been made privy to some secret information by the king of Macedonia, that would sooner have led the Hellenes to hold on to and secure the passage even more rigorously – something they certainly had ample time to do – rather than withdraw in such a harried fashion. 2. Yet, Herodotus’ narrative is not the only one where this episode is made reference to. The same can be found in Damastes of Sygeum, who wrote not much later than Herodotus and, in this –––––––– 2 Hdt. 7.173. 2-4. ranslated by A. D. Godley, Harvard University Press,