Hermolaus of Macedon
Encyclopedia
Hermolaus of Macedon , son of hipparch Sopolis of Macedon
, was one of the Macedonian youths who, according to a custom instituted by Philip II of Macedon
, attended Alexander the Great as pages.
It was during the residence of the king at Bactra in the spring of 327 BCE, that a circumstance occurred which led him, in conjunction with some of his fellow pages, to form a conspiracy against the life of Alexander. Among the duties of the pages, who were in almost constant attendance on the king's person, was that of accompanying him when hunting, and it was one of these occasions that he gave offence by slaying a wild boar, without waiting to allow Alexander the first blow. Highly incensed at this breach of discipline, the king ordered him to be chastised with stripes, and further punished by being deprived of his horse.
Hermolaus, a lad of high spirit, already verging on manhood, could not brook this indignity : his resentment was inflamed by the exhortations of the philosopher Callisthenes
, to whom he had previously attached himself as a pupil, and by the sympathy of his most intimate friend and eromenos among his brother pages, Sostratus
. The two youths in concert at length formed the scheme of assassinating the king while he slept, the duty of guarding his bed chamber devolving upon the different pages in rotation. They communicated their plan to four of their companions, and the secret was inviolably kept, though 32 days are said to have elapsed before they had an opportunity of executing their project. But all things having been at length arranged for a certain night, during which Antipater, one of their number, was to keep watch, the scheme was accident ally foiled, by Alexander remaining all night at a drinking party, and the next day the plot was divulged by another of the pages, to whom it was communicated, in hopes of inducing him to take part in it. Hermolaus and his accomplices were immediately arrested, and subsequently brought before the assembled Macedonians, by whom they were stoned to death
. It appears, however, that they had been previously submitted to examination by torture, when, according to one account, they implicated Callisthenes also in their conspiracy ; according to another, and on the whole a more probable one, they maintained that the plot had been wholly of their own devising. Some authors also represented Hermolaus as uttering before the assembled Macedonians a long harangue against the tyranny and injustice of Alexander.
Sopolis of Macedon
For other persons with the same name, see SopolisSopolis , son of Hermodorus, was hipparch of the ile of Hetairoi from Amphipolis, since at least the Triballian campaign of Alexander the Great 335 BC...
, was one of the Macedonian youths who, according to a custom instituted by Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...
, attended Alexander the Great as pages.
It was during the residence of the king at Bactra in the spring of 327 BCE, that a circumstance occurred which led him, in conjunction with some of his fellow pages, to form a conspiracy against the life of Alexander. Among the duties of the pages, who were in almost constant attendance on the king's person, was that of accompanying him when hunting, and it was one of these occasions that he gave offence by slaying a wild boar, without waiting to allow Alexander the first blow. Highly incensed at this breach of discipline, the king ordered him to be chastised with stripes, and further punished by being deprived of his horse.
Hermolaus, a lad of high spirit, already verging on manhood, could not brook this indignity : his resentment was inflamed by the exhortations of the philosopher Callisthenes
Callisthenes
Callisthenes of Olynthus was a Greek historian. He was the son of Hero and Proxenus of Atarneus, which made him the great nephew of Aristotle by his sister Arimneste. They first met when Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great...
, to whom he had previously attached himself as a pupil, and by the sympathy of his most intimate friend and eromenos among his brother pages, Sostratus
Sostratus of Macedon
For other persons with the same name, see SostratusSostratus son of Amyntas, a noble Macedonian youth, in the service of Alexander the Great...
. The two youths in concert at length formed the scheme of assassinating the king while he slept, the duty of guarding his bed chamber devolving upon the different pages in rotation. They communicated their plan to four of their companions, and the secret was inviolably kept, though 32 days are said to have elapsed before they had an opportunity of executing their project. But all things having been at length arranged for a certain night, during which Antipater, one of their number, was to keep watch, the scheme was accident ally foiled, by Alexander remaining all night at a drinking party, and the next day the plot was divulged by another of the pages, to whom it was communicated, in hopes of inducing him to take part in it. Hermolaus and his accomplices were immediately arrested, and subsequently brought before the assembled Macedonians, by whom they were stoned to death
Stoning
Stoning, or lapidation, is a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the...
. It appears, however, that they had been previously submitted to examination by torture, when, according to one account, they implicated Callisthenes also in their conspiracy ; according to another, and on the whole a more probable one, they maintained that the plot had been wholly of their own devising. Some authors also represented Hermolaus as uttering before the assembled Macedonians a long harangue against the tyranny and injustice of Alexander.