Alexis
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Alexidis Proper-name noun: feminine genitive singular, Proper-name noun: masculine genitive singular of Alexis
(Ἄλεξις).
1. A comic poet, born at Thurii, in Magna Graecia (Suidas s. v. Ἄλ.), but admitted subsequently to the privileges of an Athenian citizen, and enrolled in the deme Οἶον, belonging to the tribe Leontis. (Steph. Byz. s. v.) He was the uncle and instructor of Menander. (Suidas s. v. Ἄλεξις; Proleg. Aristoph. p. xxx.) When he was born we are not expressly told, but he lived to the age of 106 (Plut. Defect. Orac. p. 420e.), and was living at least as late as B. C. 288. Now the town of Thurii was destroyed by the Lucanians about B. C. 390. It is therefore not at all unlikely that the parents of Alexis, in order to escape from the threatened destruction of their city, removed shortly before with their little son to Athens. Perhaps therefore we may assign about B. C. 394 as the date of the birth of Alexis. He had a son Stephanus, who also wrote comedies. (Suidas l.c.) He appears to have been rather addicted to the pleasures of the table. (Athen. 8.344.) According to Plutarch (De Senis Administ. Reipubl. p. 785b.), he expired upon the stage while being crowned as victor. Works
By the old grammarians he is commonly called a writer of the middle comedy, and fragments and the titles of many of his plays confirm this statement. Still, for more than 30 years he was contemporary with Philippides, Philemon, Menander, and Diphilus, and several fragments shew that he also wrote pieces which would be classed with those of the new comedy.
He was a remarkably prolific writer. Suidas says he wrote 245 plays, and the titles of 113 have come down to us. The Μεροπίς, Ἀγκυλίων, Ὀλυμπίδωρος, and Παράδιτος, in which he ridiculed Plato, were probably exhibited as early as the 104th Olympiad. The Ἀγῶνις, in which he ridiculed Misgolas, was no doubt written while he was alive, and Aeschines (c. Timarch. pp. 6-8) in B. C. 345, speaks of him as then living. The Ἀδελφοί and Στοατιώτης, in which he satirized Demosthenes, were acted shortly after B. C. 343. The Ἵππος, in which he alluded to the decree of Sophocles against the philosophers, in B. C. 316. The Πύραυνος in B. C. 312. The Φαρμακοπώλη and Ὑοβολιμαῖος in B. C. 306.
As might have been expected in a person who wrote so much, the same passage frequently occurred in several plays; nor did he scruple sometimes to borrow from other poets, as, for example, from Eubulus. (Athen. 1.25f.) Carystius of Pergamus (apud Athen. vi. p. 235e.) says he was the first who invented the part of the parasite. This is not quite correct, as it had been introduced before him by Epicharmus ; but he appears to have been the first who gave it the form in which it afterwards appeared upon the stage, and to have been very happy in his exhibition of it. His wit and elegance are praised by Athenaeus (ii. p. 59f.), whose testimony is confirmed by the extant fragments. A considerable list of peculiar words and forms used by him is given by Meineke. His plays were frequently translated by the Roman comic writers. (Gel. 2.23.)
The fragments we possess of his plays have been preserved chiefly by Athenaeus and Stobaeus. Edition
Meineke, Fragm. Com. vol. i. pp. 374-403. Further Information
Clinton, Fasti Hellenici, under the years above given; Fabricius, Bibl. Gr. vol. ii. p. 406, &c.
2. A writer mentioned by Athenaeus(x. p. 418) as the author of a treatise περὶ Αὐταρκείας.
3. A Samian, the author of an historical work called Σάμιοι Ὧροι or Ὧροι Σαμιακοὶ (Samian Annals), which Athenaeus quotes. (xiii. p. 572f., xii. p. 540d.) [C.P.M]
(Ἄλεξις), a sculptor and statuary, mentioned by Pliny (34.8. s. 19) as one of the pupils of Polycletus. Pausanias (6.3.3) mentions an artist of the same name, a native of Sicyon, and father of the sculptor Cantharus. It cannot be satisfactorily settled whether these are the same, or different persons. Pliny's account implies that he had the elder Polycletus in view, in which case Alexis could not have flourished later than Ol. 95 (B. C. 400), whereas Eutychides, under whom Cantharus studied, flourished about Ol. 120, B. C. 300. (Pliny, Plin. Nat. 34.8. s. 19.) If the two were identical, as Thiersch (Epochen der bild. Kunst. p. 276) thinks, we must suppose either that Pliny made a mistake, and that Alexis studied under the younger Polycletus, or else that the Eutychides, whose date is given by Pliny, was not the artist under whom Cantharus studied. [C.P.M]
or Ale'xius I. Comne'nus (Ἄλεξις , or Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός), emperor of Constantinople, was most probably born in A. D. 1048. He was the son of John Comnenus, and the nephew of the emperor Isaac Comnenus, and received a careful education from his mother Anna. He accompanied the emperor Romanus Diogenes in the war against Alp-Arslán, sultan of the Turks-Seljuks, and was present at the battle of Malazkerd, where this emperor was made a prisoner by the sultan. After the deposition of Romanus Dio genes in 1071, Alexis Comnenus and his elder brother Isaac joined the party of the new emperor, Michael VII. Ducas, who employed Alexis against the rebels who had produced great disturbances in Asia Minor. In this war Alexis distinguished himself as a successful general, and showed that extraordinary shrewdness which afterwards became the principal feature of his character. He defended Michael VII. against the rebel Nicephorus Botaniates, but the cause of Michael having become hopeless, he readily joined the victorious rebel, who became emperor under the title of Nicephorus III. in 1077. The authority of Nicephorus III. was disobeyed by several rebels, among whom Nicephorns Bryennius in Epeirus was the most dangerous; but Alexis defeated them one after the other, and the grateful emperor conferred upon him the title of " Sebastos." Alexis was then considered as the first general of the Byzantine empire, but his military re nown made him suspected in the eyes of the emperor, who kept him at Constantinople and tried to get rid of him by base intrigues. But Alexis opposed in trigues to intrigues, and as he was not only the most gallant, but also the most artful among his shrewd countrymen, he outdid the emperor, who at last gave orders, that his eyes should be put out. Alexis now fled to the army on the Danube, and was proclaimed emperor by the troops. Assisted by his brother Isaac, who acted with great generosity, Alexis marched to Constantinople, obtained possession of the city by a stratagem, deposed the emperor, and ascended the throne in 1081.
The Byzantine empire was then at the point of ruin. While Alexis carried on the war against the rebel Nicephorus Bryennius, and afterwards during his forced sojourn at Constantinople, and the time of his differences with Nicephorus III., Melek-Shah, the son of Alp-Arslán, and the greatest prince of the Seljuks, had conquered the Byzantine part of Asia Minor, which he ceded to his cousin Solimán. The Bulgarians threatened to invade Thrace, and Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia, with a mighty host of Norman knights, had crossed the Adriatic and laid siege to Durazzo, the ancient Dyrrachium. In this critical position Alexis evinced extraordinary activity. He concluded peace with the Seljuks, ceding Asia to them; he made an alliance with Venice and Henry IV., emperor of Germany; and he sold the sacred vessels of the churches to pay his troops. His struggle with the Normans was long and bloody, but famine, diseases, civil troubles, and a powerful diversion of Henry IV., compelled the Normans to leave Epeirus in 1084. During this time the Seljuks had recommenced hostilities, and threatened to block up Constantinople with a fleet constructed by Greek captives. In this extremity Alexis implored the assistance of the European princes.
The conquest of Jerusalem by the Seljuks, the interruption of the pious pilgrimages to the holy grave, and the vexations which the Christians in the East had to endure from the infidels, had produced an extraordinary excitement among the nations in Europe. The idea of rescuing the town of our Saviour became popular; the pope and the princes shewed themselves favourable to such an expedition, and they resolved upon it after the ambassadors of Alexis had related to them at Piacenza in 1095 the hopeless state of the Christians in Asia. The first Crusaders appeared in Constantinople in 1096. They were commanded by Peter the Hermit and Walter the Pennyless, and were rather a band of vagabonds than an army. Alexis hastened to send them over to Asia, where they were massacred by the Turks. Soon after them came a powerful army, commanded by Godfrey of Bouillon, and their continued stay in the neighbourhood of Constantinople gave occasion to serious differences between the Latins and the Greeks. However Alexis, by the alternate use of threats and persuasions, not only succeeded in getting rid of the dangerous foreigners by carrying them over to Asia, but also managed the pride of Godfrey of Bouillon and his turbulent barons with so much dexterity, that they consented to take the oath of vassalage for those provinces which they might conquer in Asia, and promised to restore to the emperor the Byzantine territories, which had been taken by the Seljuks. In his turn he promised to assist them in their enterprise with a strong army, but the dangerous state of the empire prevented him from keeping his word. However, in proportion as the Crusaders, in 1097, advanced into Asia, Alexis followed them with a chosen body, and thus gradually reunited with his empire Nicaea, Chios, Rhodes, Smyrna, Ephesus, Sardes, and finally all Asia Minor. The descendants of Bohemond, prince of Antioch, did homage to Alexis, to whom they restored Tarsus and Malmistra. During the latter years of his reign, Alexis was occupied with consolidating the domestic peace of his empire, which was then often disturbed by religious troubles. He died in 1118, at the age of seventy, and his successor was his son John, generally called Calo-Joannes. Works λογαρικὴ Editions
Alexis was the author of a work entitled λογαρικὴ, which was published in the 4th volume of the Analecta Graeca, Par. 1688, and also from a later manuscript by Gronovius at the end of his work De Sestertiis, Lugd. Bat. 1691. Ecclesiastical Edicts
Respecting the ecclesiastical edicts of Alexius, several of which are extant, see Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vii. p. 729. Further Information
The life of Alexis has been carefully, though very partially, described by his daughter, Anna Comnena, in her Alexias, which is the principal source concerning this emperor. (Comp. Glycas, p. 4; Albertus Aquensis, 2.9-19; Wilhelmus Tyrensis, 2.5, 23; comp. S. F. Wilken, " Rerum ab Alexio I., Joanne, Manuele et Alexio II. Comnenis gestarum libri quatuor," Heidelberg, 1811.) [W.P]
or Ale'xius II. Comne'nus (Ἄλεξις or Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός), emperor of Constantinople, the son of the emperor Manuel Comnenus, was born in 1167, according to Nicetas. In 1179, he married Agnes or Anna, the daughter of king Louis VII. of France, and succeeded his father in 1180, under the guardianship of his mother Maria, the daughter of Raymond, prince of Antioch. They both became victims of the ambition of Andronicus Comnenus, who first compelled the young emperor to sign the death of his mother, and then put Alexis to death in 1183; whereupon he succeeded him on the throne. (Nicetas, Alexis Manuel. Comn. fil.; comp. Ducange, Familiae Byzantinae, p. 188.) [W.P]
or Ale'xius III. A'ngelus (Ἄλεξις or Ἀλέξιος Ἄγγελος), the brother of the emperor Isaac II. Angelus, whom he deposed and blinded in 1195. Being a descendant of Alexis I. Comnenus by Theodora, the youngest daughter of the latter, he assumed the family-name of his great ancestor, and is therefore commonly called Alexis Angelus-Comnenus. In 1197 and 1198, he carried on war with Persia and the Seljuks of Koniah, but his armies were defeated. Being base, rapacious, and cruel, he incurred the hatred and contempt of his subjects, and prepared his ruin. He lost the crown through his nephew, Alexis, the son of Isaac II. Angelus, who, having escaped from Constantinople, succeeded in persuading the Crusaders assembled in Venice to make an expedition against the usurper. Amounting to 20,000 men, and commanded by Dandolo, doge of Venice, they attacked Constantinople in the month of July, 1203; but before they had taken this city, Alexis III. abandoned his palace and fled to Italy, carrying with him 10,000 pounds of gold. After his flight, Constantinople was occupied by the Crusaders, who recognised as emperors the blinded Isaac and his son Alexis. [Alexis IV.] He afterwards returned to Greece, and treacherously blinded the emperor Alexis V. Murzuphlus, who after his deposition in 1204, had fled to Alexis III., whose daughter he had married. Meanwhile, Theodore Lascaris succeeded in making himself independent at Nicaea, but was involved in a war with Ghayáth-ed-dín, sultan of Koniah. In 1210, Alexis III. fled to this sultan, and persuaded him to support his claims to the throne of Byzantium, and to declare war against Theodore Lascaris. The war proved fatal for the sultan, who was killed in the battle of Antioch, and Alexis III. was made prisoner. Theodore Lascaris had married Anna Angela-Comnena, the second daughter of Alexis III., but this circumstance did not prevent him from confining his father-in-law to a monastery at Nicaea. (1210.) There Alexis III. died some years after at an advanced age; the exact year of his birth is not known. (Nicetas, Alexis Angelus, Isaacus Angelus, 3.8, &c.; Isaacius et Alex. fil. c. ] ; Villehlardouin, De la Conqueste de Constantinoble, Paris, 1838, c. 51, 56, &c.) [W.P]
or Ale'xius IV. A'ngelus (Ἄλεξις or Ἀλέξιος Ἄγγελος), was the son of the emperor Isaac II. Angelus. It is mentioned under Alexis III. that, after the deposition of this emperor, he and his father were placed on the throne by the Crusaders. Alexis IV. was crowned together with Isaac II. on the 29th of July, 1203, and, to secure himself on the throne, engaged the Crusaders to continue at Constantinople. He had promised them to put an end to the schism of the Greek Church, but did not do anything for that purpose, nor did he fulfil his other engagements towards the Crusaders. At the same time, he did not understand how to maintain his dignity among the turbulent and haughty barons of Italy, France, and Flanders, who were assembled in his capital. Serious differences consequently arose between him and his deliverers. Alexis Ducas, surnamed Murzuphlus, an ambitious and enterprising man, took advantage of these troubles, and suddenly seized the crown. By his order Alexis IV. was put to death on the 28th of January, 1204; Isaac II. died of grief. (Nicetas, Isaacius Angelus, 3.c. 8, &c.; Isaacius et Alexis fil.; Villehardouin, Ibid. c. 51, 56, 60, &c., 102-107.) [W.P]
or Ale'xius V. Ducas (Ἀλεξις or Ἀλέξιος Δούκα), surnamed "Murzuphlus," on account of the close junction of his shaggy eyebrows, was crowned emperor of Constantinople on the 8th of February, 1204, after having been present at the murder of Alexis IV., who was put to death by his order. His earlier life is almost unknown. Nicetas, however, states, that he had always been rapacious and voluptuous; on the other hand, he was a man of great courage and energy. Immediately after he had usurped the throne, the Crusaders, who were still assembled under the walls of Constantinople, laid siege to this city. Alexis V. disdained to conclude peace with them on dishonourable conditions, and prepared for resistance, in which he was vigorously assisted by Theodore Lascaris. However, courage suddenly abandoned him, and he fled to the deposed emperor Alexis III., whose daughter Eudoxia Angela-Comnena he had just married. Constantinople was taken by storm by the Crusaders (12th of April, 1204), who, after having committed those horrors, of which Nicetas, an eye-witness, gives such an emphatical description, chose Baldwin, count of Flanders, emperor of Constantinople, but leaving him only the fourth part of the empire. After being deprived of sight by his father-in-law, Alexis V. fled to the Morea, but was arrested and carried to Constantinople, where the Crusaders put him to death by casting him from the top of the Theodosian column. (1204.) (Nicetas, Murzuphlus; Isaacius Angelus et Alex. fil. c. 4, 5; Gesta Francorum, c. 94; Villehardouin, Ibid. c. 51, 56, 60, &c. 98, 106, 113-115, 127, &c.) [W.P]
(Ἄλεξις). One of the most prolific and important writers of the Middle Attic Comedy, and uncle to Menander (q.v.). He was born at Thurii, B.C. 392, and is said to have lived to the age of one hundred and six years, and to have died on the stage with the crown of victory on his head. Some two hundred and forty-five plays are attributed to him, of which numerous extracts are still extant and display both wit and elegance. They are edited by Hirschig (1840). See Comoedia.
- Paus. 6.3.6