Synchronizing Times II
Synchronizing Times II
West and East, Sicily and the Orient
The historian Ephorus felt that he could meaningfully link the affairs of Athens and Sicily and give some purposive significance to the synchronism by saying that in fact the barbarians to the west and the east had been sharing intelligence and were working together to attack the Greek world from either side simultaneously. However, even without trying to force the two battles to be part of what Aristotle might have seen as a linked chain of events, one can readily see why the potential symbolic significance of this synchronism was enormous, and virtually irresistible. The synchronization of the victories over barbarians is one of the many strategies adopted by Sicily, and especially by Syracuse, as they try to elbow their way into the top league of Hellenism. This context of keen cultural and military rivalry is important to bear in mind with what Herodotus says shortly afterwards about the synchronism between Himera and Salamis.
Keywords: Ephorus, Athens, Sicily, synchronism, barbarians, Aristotle, Hellenism, Herodotus, Himera, Salamis
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