Aristonicus
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Aristonico Proper-name noun: masculine ablative singular, Proper-name noun: masculine dative singular of Aristonicus
- A son of Eumenes II., king of Pergamus, who carried on war with the Romans, but was conquered by the consul M. Perpenna, and slain in prison, Flor. 2, 20; Vell. 2, 4; Just. 36, 4; Eutr. 4, 9.—
- II Tyrant of Methymnae in Lesbos, Curt. 4, 5 sqq.
(Ἀριστόνικος).
1. A tyrant of Methymnae in Lesbos. In B. C. 332, when the navarchs of Alexander the Great had already taken possession of the harbour of Chios, Aristonicus arrived during the night with some privateer ships, and entered it under the belief that it was still in the hands of the Persians. He was taken prisoner and delivered up to the Methymnaeans, who put him to death in a cruel manner. (Arrian, Arr. Anab. 3.2; Curtius, 4.4.)
2. A natural son of Eumenes II. of Pergamus, who was succeeded by Attalus III. When the latter died in B. C. 133, and made over his kingdom to the Romans, Aristonicus claimed his father's kingdom as his lawful inheritance. The towns, for fear of the Romans, refused to recognise him, but he compelled them by force of arms; and at last there seemed no doubt of his ultimate success. In B. C. 131, the consul P. Licinius Crassus, who received Asia as his province, marched against him; but he was more intent upon making booty than on combating his enemy, and in an ill-organized battle which was fought about the end of the year, his army was defeated, and he himself made prisoner by Aristonicus. In the year following, B. C. 130, the consul M. Perperna, who succeeded Crassus, acted with more energy, and in the very first engagement conquered Aristonicus and took him prisoner. After the death of Perperna, M. Aquillius completed the conquest of the kingdom of Pergamus, B. C. 129. Aristcnuicus was carried to Rome to adorn the triumph of Aquillius, and was then beheaded. (Justin, 36.4; Liv. Epit. 59; Vell. 2.4; Flor. 2.20; Oros. 5.10; Sail. Hist. 4; Appian, App. Mith. 12, 62, de Bell. Civ. 1.17; V. Max. 3.4.5; Diod. Fragm. lib. 34, p. 598; Cic. de Leg. Agr. 2.33, Philip.11.8; Ascon. ad Cic. pro Scaur. p. 24, ed. Orelli.)
3. A eunuch of Ptolemy Epiphanes, who had been brought up with the king from his early youth. Polybius speaks of him in terms of high praise, as a man of a generous and warlike disposition, and skilled in political transactions. In B. C. 185, when the king had to fight against some discontented Egyptians, Aristonicus went to Greece and engaged a body of mercenaries there. (Plb. 23.16, 17.)
4. Of Alexandria, a contemporary of Strabo (i. p.38), distinguished himself as a grammarian. Works
Aristonicus is mentioned as the author of several works, most of which related to the Homeric poems.-- 1. On the wanderings of Menelaus (περὶ τῆς Μενελάου πλάνης
Strab. l.c.). 2. On the critical signs by which the Alexandrine critics used to mark the suspected or interpolated verses in the Homeric poems and in Hesiod's Theogony. (Περὶ τῶν σημείων τῶν τῆς Ἰλιάδος καὶ Ὀδυσσείας
Etym. M. s. vv. λύχνος, ἔρσαι and ὀπή; Suidas, s. v. Ἀριστόνικος; Eudoc. p. 64; Schol. Venet. ad Hom. Il. 9.397.) 3. On irregular grammatical constructions in Homer
consisting of six books ἀσυντάκτων ὀνομάτων βιβλία; Suidas, l.c.). Other Works
These and some other works are now lost, with the exception of a few fragments preserved in the passages above referred to. (Villoison, Proleg. ad Hom. p. 18.)
5. Of Tarentum, the author of a mythological work which is often referred to. (Phot. Bibl. 190; Serv. ad Aen. 3.335; Caes. Germ. in Arat. Phaen. 327; Hygin. Poet. Astr. 2.34.) He is perhaps the same as the one mentioned by Athenaeus (i. p. 20), but nothing is known about him. (Roulez, ad Ptolem. Hepihaest. p. 148.) [L.S]
(Ἀριστόνικος). A natural son of Eumenes II. of Pergamus. Upon the death of his brother Attalus III., B.C. 133, who left his kingdom to the Romans, Aristonicus laid claim to the crown. He defeated in 131 the consul P. Licinius Crassus; but in 130 he was himself defeated and taken prisoner by M. Perperna, was carried to Rome by M'. Aquillus in 129, and was there put to death.