Scythes () was

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to ...

or ruler of

Zancle Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants in the city ...

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Regions of Italy, Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were Greek colonisation, extensively settled by G ...

, in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. He was appointed to that post in about 494 BC by

Hippocrates of Gela Hippocrates (; died 491 BC) was the second tyrant of Gela, Magna Graecia, and ruled from 498 BC to 491 BC. He was the brother of Cleander and succeeded him to the throne after his death in 498. With him, Gela began its expansion phase; Hippocrat ...

. The Zanclaeans had contacted

Ionia Ionia ( ) was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who ...

n leaders to invite

colonists A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...

to join them in founding a new city on the ''Kale Acte'' (), or north shore of Sicily. This offer had been accepted by a large number of Samians, together with some exiles from

Miletus Miletus (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, Mílētos) was an influential ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in present day Turkey. Renowned in antiquity for its wealth, maritime power, and ex ...

. But when the colonists arrived at

Locri Locri is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. Its name derives from that of the ancient Greek region of Locris. Today it is an important administrative and cultural center on the Ion ...

, Scythes and the Zanclaeans were engaged in hostilities against the

Sicel The Sicels ( ; or ''Siculī'') were an Indo-European tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily, their namesake, during the Iron Age. They spoke the Siculian language. After the defeat of the Sicels at the Battle of Nomae in 450 BC and the death of ...

s. Meanwhile, the Samians were persuaded by Anaxilas of

Rhegium Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the List of cities in Italy, largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As ...

to take advantage of Scythes' absence, and occupy the city of Zancle itself. In response, Scythes asked for the assistance of his ally,

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; ; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician and philosopher of the Classical Greece, classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referr ...

, tyrant of

Gela Gela (Sicilian and ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the regional autonomy, Autonomous Region of Sicily, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily. Gela is part of the Province o ...

. However, Hippocrates proved to be just as untrustworthy as the Samians. On his arrival, he placed Scythes and his brother, Pythogenes, in chains and sent them as prisoners to Inycum. He then betrayed his allies the Zanclaeans so that they fell into the hands of the Samians. Scythes, however, was able to escape from Inycum and made his way to

Himera Himera (Greek language, Greek: ), was a large and important ancient Greece, ancient Greek city situated on the north coast of Sicily at the mouth of the river of the same name (the modern Imera Settentrionale), between Panormus (modern Palermo) ...

. Once there he was able make his way to the court of Darius,

king of Persia The monarchs of Iran ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 7th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian king is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty () ...

, where he was received with much distinction and rose to a high place in the king's favour. Some time afterwards, Scythes was able to visit his native city, but again had to return to the

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

n court, where he died at an advanced age, and in the possession of great wealth, while he enjoyed general esteem for the probity of his character.

Claudius Aelianus Claudius Aelianus (; ), commonly Aelian (), born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222. He spoke Greek so fluently that he was called "h ...

, '' Varia Historia'' viii. 17

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

designates Anaxilas and

as tyrants () of their respective cities, but he styles Scythes as king () or monarch () of the Zanclaeans. Scythes is thought by some writers, including Perizonius, to have been the father of Cadmus of Kos. Others, such as

Lodewijk Caspar Valckenaer Lodewijk Caspar Valckenaer (Latinized as Ludovici Caspari Valckenaer; 7 June 1715, Leeuwarden – 15 March 1785, Leiden) was a Dutch classical scholar, at Leiden. He was a follower of Tiberius Hemsterhuis, and his successor in 1766 in the chair ...

, suppose that Scythes was the uncle of another Scythes in

Kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

, who was the father of Cadmus.

References

{{SmithDGRBM, title=Scythes Sicilian tyrants 5th-century BC Greek people Politicians from Messina Ancient Greek emigrants to the Achaemenid Empire