DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0353
1188 Appendix N
Further on he adds1:
' The whole thing was ordained of God. Forty furlongs from this city of ours
there was a city bearing the name of Antigonos and built by Antigonos. Here
Seleukos was sacrificing after his victory2. The bull had been slaughtered, the
altars had received their customary portion, the fire was already licking up the
sacrifice and burning fiercely, when, lo, Zeus moved from his sceptre3 his own
companion and favourite bird and despatched him to the altar. He flew down
into the midst of the flame, caught up the thigh-pieces all ablaze, and bore them
off4. As the event attracted the looks and thoughts of all and was manifestly
due to divine interposition, Seleukos bade his son5 mount a horse, pursue the
flight from the ground, and guide his horse by the bridle according to the route
taken by the bird ; for he wished to know what it would do with its booty.
Seleukos' son riding his horse, with upturned eyes, was led by the flight to
Emathia. There the eagle stooped and deposited his burden on the altar of Zeus
Bottiaios, erected by Alexander when he was cheered by the sight of the spring0.
So all men, even without special powers of interpretation, could see that Zeus
meant them to build a city on the spot. And thus it came about that the settle-
ment intended and commenced by Alexander was carried to completion, while
the chief of the gods7 by means of his own omen became our founder.'
Similar tales were current with regard to Alexander's foundation of Alexandreia8
and Seleukos'foundation of Seleukeia Pieria9. Ioannes Malalas. of whose sixth-
century chronicle a Greek abridgment (not to mention the fuller Slavonic
version10) is extant, gives the Antiochene story11, adding a touch or two of his own
to heighten the interest. Thus, instead of connecting Zeus Bottiaios with the hill
Emathia, he harrows our feelings by the assertion that at Bottia, a village over
against Iopolis, Seleukos, when founding Antiocheia, sacrificed a maiden named
Aimathe {sic) by the hand of the chief priest and initiator Amphion, between the
city and the river, on Artemisios, i.e. May, 22, at daybreak, as the sun rose—a
most circumstantial narrative. He goes on to say that Seleukos founded also
the sanctuary of Zeus B6ttiosvl. Again, Antiochos iv Epiphanes built for the Antio-
chenes, presumably on Mount Silpion, a magnificent temple of Iupiter Capitolinus,
of which we are told, not only that its roof had gilded coffers, but that its walls
were overlaid with beaten gold13. Tiberius either completed or restored the
structure14. Antiochos Epiphanes also erected in the temple, which he had built,
or more probably beautified, for Apollon at Daphne, a copy of the Olympian
Zeus, said to have been as large as the original15. This statue was perhaps in-
1 Liban. or. 11. 85—88 (i. 2. 464, 10 ff. Foerster).
2 Seleukos i Nikator, after vanquishing Antigonos in Phrygia (301 B.C.).
3 Supra p. 1132 ff. 4 Infra fig. 1001. 5 Antiochos i Soter.
6 See Io. Malal. chron. 10 p. 234 Dindorf.
7 (6 Zei)s) 6 twv 6eQv KopvcpaTos.
8 Iul. Valer. 1. 30 p. 39, 9ff. Kuebler, pseudo-Kallisth. 1-32 (context supra p. 1127 n. o).
9 Supra p. 981 n. 1.
10 Prof. J. B. Bury informs me that such a version exists, but is not yet published in
accessible shape. On Malalas see further K. Krumbacher Geschichte der byzantinischen
Litteraturvon Justinian bis zum Elide des Ostromischen Retches2 Miinchen 1897 p. 325 ff.,
Sir J. E. Sandys A History of Classical Scholarship2 Cambridge 1906 i. 390 f.
11 Io. Malal. chron. 8 p. 199 ff. Dindorf.
12 Id. ib. 8 p. 200 Dindorf.
13 Liv. 41. 20. Cp. Gran. Licin. 28 p. 6, 5 f. Flemisch duos colossos duodenum cubi-
torum ex aere unum Olympio, alteram Capitolino Iovi dedicaverat.
14 Io. Malal. chron. 10 p. 234 Dindorf 6 Se Tt/3eptos Kaiaap 'tKTusev iv rrj avr-rj' Avtlox^o.
irokei iepbp /j,eya Aibs Ka7reTu>Ai'ou. The word 'inTiaev must not be pressed.
5 Amm. Marc. 22. 13. 1 eodem tempore die xi Kalend. Novembrium amplissimum
Further on he adds1:
' The whole thing was ordained of God. Forty furlongs from this city of ours
there was a city bearing the name of Antigonos and built by Antigonos. Here
Seleukos was sacrificing after his victory2. The bull had been slaughtered, the
altars had received their customary portion, the fire was already licking up the
sacrifice and burning fiercely, when, lo, Zeus moved from his sceptre3 his own
companion and favourite bird and despatched him to the altar. He flew down
into the midst of the flame, caught up the thigh-pieces all ablaze, and bore them
off4. As the event attracted the looks and thoughts of all and was manifestly
due to divine interposition, Seleukos bade his son5 mount a horse, pursue the
flight from the ground, and guide his horse by the bridle according to the route
taken by the bird ; for he wished to know what it would do with its booty.
Seleukos' son riding his horse, with upturned eyes, was led by the flight to
Emathia. There the eagle stooped and deposited his burden on the altar of Zeus
Bottiaios, erected by Alexander when he was cheered by the sight of the spring0.
So all men, even without special powers of interpretation, could see that Zeus
meant them to build a city on the spot. And thus it came about that the settle-
ment intended and commenced by Alexander was carried to completion, while
the chief of the gods7 by means of his own omen became our founder.'
Similar tales were current with regard to Alexander's foundation of Alexandreia8
and Seleukos'foundation of Seleukeia Pieria9. Ioannes Malalas. of whose sixth-
century chronicle a Greek abridgment (not to mention the fuller Slavonic
version10) is extant, gives the Antiochene story11, adding a touch or two of his own
to heighten the interest. Thus, instead of connecting Zeus Bottiaios with the hill
Emathia, he harrows our feelings by the assertion that at Bottia, a village over
against Iopolis, Seleukos, when founding Antiocheia, sacrificed a maiden named
Aimathe {sic) by the hand of the chief priest and initiator Amphion, between the
city and the river, on Artemisios, i.e. May, 22, at daybreak, as the sun rose—a
most circumstantial narrative. He goes on to say that Seleukos founded also
the sanctuary of Zeus B6ttiosvl. Again, Antiochos iv Epiphanes built for the Antio-
chenes, presumably on Mount Silpion, a magnificent temple of Iupiter Capitolinus,
of which we are told, not only that its roof had gilded coffers, but that its walls
were overlaid with beaten gold13. Tiberius either completed or restored the
structure14. Antiochos Epiphanes also erected in the temple, which he had built,
or more probably beautified, for Apollon at Daphne, a copy of the Olympian
Zeus, said to have been as large as the original15. This statue was perhaps in-
1 Liban. or. 11. 85—88 (i. 2. 464, 10 ff. Foerster).
2 Seleukos i Nikator, after vanquishing Antigonos in Phrygia (301 B.C.).
3 Supra p. 1132 ff. 4 Infra fig. 1001. 5 Antiochos i Soter.
6 See Io. Malal. chron. 10 p. 234 Dindorf.
7 (6 Zei)s) 6 twv 6eQv KopvcpaTos.
8 Iul. Valer. 1. 30 p. 39, 9ff. Kuebler, pseudo-Kallisth. 1-32 (context supra p. 1127 n. o).
9 Supra p. 981 n. 1.
10 Prof. J. B. Bury informs me that such a version exists, but is not yet published in
accessible shape. On Malalas see further K. Krumbacher Geschichte der byzantinischen
Litteraturvon Justinian bis zum Elide des Ostromischen Retches2 Miinchen 1897 p. 325 ff.,
Sir J. E. Sandys A History of Classical Scholarship2 Cambridge 1906 i. 390 f.
11 Io. Malal. chron. 8 p. 199 ff. Dindorf.
12 Id. ib. 8 p. 200 Dindorf.
13 Liv. 41. 20. Cp. Gran. Licin. 28 p. 6, 5 f. Flemisch duos colossos duodenum cubi-
torum ex aere unum Olympio, alteram Capitolino Iovi dedicaverat.
14 Io. Malal. chron. 10 p. 234 Dindorf 6 Se Tt/3eptos Kaiaap 'tKTusev iv rrj avr-rj' Avtlox^o.
irokei iepbp /j,eya Aibs Ka7reTu>Ai'ou. The word 'inTiaev must not be pressed.
5 Amm. Marc. 22. 13. 1 eodem tempore die xi Kalend. Novembrium amplissimum