Amphoterus (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ) the brother of

Craterus Craterus or Krateros ( el, Κρατερός; c. 370 BC – 321 BC) was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great and one of the Diadochi. Throughout his life he was a loyal royalist and supporter of Alexander the Great.Anson, Edward M. (20 ...

, was appointed by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

commander of the fleet in the Hellespont in 333 BC. Amphoterus' appointment recognized his successful attempts to subdue the islands between

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

which had not acknowledged Alexander. Amphoterus cleared

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

of the

Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...

and pirates. He then sailed to the Peloponnese in 331 BC, where he put down an uprising against

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an Classical antiquity, ancient monarchy, kingdom on the periphery of Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. Th ...

ian control. Alexander sent

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

and Phoenician ships to help Amphoterus.

Rebellion in the Peloponnese

There is disagreement among historical sources concerning Amphoterus' efforts to quash the rebellion in the Peloponnese. The Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus claims that in 331 BC Amphoterus was sent from the Palestinian coast to Crete with orders to attack the Persians who were blockading the island. His contemporary, the Roman historian Arrian, claims that Amphoterus was already stationed in the vicinity of Crete, and was ordered to sail for the Peloponnese coast. A. B. Bosworth, Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Western Australia, believes that the conflict between the two accounts reflects different views as to the geographic location of Crete. He mentions that in the ''

Periplus A periplus (), or periplous, is a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. In that sense, the periplus wa ...

'', a work attributed to

Scylax of Caryanda Scylax of Caryanda ( el, Σκύλαξ ὁ Καρυανδεύς) was a Greek explorer and writer of the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE. His own writings are lost, though occasionally cited or quoted by later Greek and Roman authors. The peri ...

, it appears that Crete was considered part of the Peloponnese at the time. As a result, Bosworth argues, both Roman historians are actually referring to the same general area when describing Amphoterus' military activities.

References

*{{SmithDGRBM, title= Amphoterus Admirals of Alexander the Great Ancient Macedonian admirals Ancient Orestians 4th-century BC Macedonians