klio 2015; 97(1): 59–80

B. Antela Bernárdez
Athenion of Athens Revisited*
Summary: The usual view historiography has taken into account about the con-
troversial data concerning the politician Athenion of Athens, mainly based in the
perspective of one of Posidonius’ extant fragments, has portrayed Athenion as a
tyrant. A close look at the information we have about him and his policies allows
to ask new questions and to get a deeper perspective about the complex age of
Athenian history that led the city to take part in the Ist Mithridatic War on the
Pontic side, against Rome.

Keywords: Athenion of Athens, Ist Mithridatic War, Aristion, Delos, Hoplite General,
Apellicon.

DOI 10.1515/klio-2015-0003

The controversial politician, Athenion of Athens, was the consequence of an

unstable period in Late Hellenistic Athens. In fact, the historical context involv-
ing the political activities of Athenion at Athens is mainly complex, both for
the incoherence of our sources and for the difficult times of the Ist  Mithridatic
War. Despite the evidences available for him, there are still some facts that need
further and detailed attention so that a clearer image of Athenion and his Athe-
nian government can be gleaned.
To understand Athenion’s motives, we need to examine the effects of Rome’s
conquest of Greece after the Achaean War of 148–146 BC¹. Greatly benefited from
the aftermath of the battle of Pydna and the destruction of Corinth, Athens

* Research developed within the Research Group HICOAN 2014SGR1111. The author would like
to acknowledge the many helpful comments and suggestions from the anonymous referees, all
of which have greatly improved this paper. Also, some colleagues had helped so much to im-
prove the perspectives of this research during a discussion of a conference at 2012, particularly
A. Marzanno and I. Rutherford at the University of Reading (UK), and J. Verdejo Manchado, from
the Universidad de Oviedo (Spain), who gave and gives continuous support in discussing first
hand evidences for the period. Finally, this paper is dedicated to my son, Max, and my daughter,
Frida, in order to encourage themselves to consider the facts by their own.
1 All dates are in B. C. unless stated otherwise.

B. Antela Bernárdez: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-Mail: borja.antela@uab.cat

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