Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1122

Rh 1110 THRASYLLUS. of his feHow-citizens and a proxenus of Lacedae- nion), obtained an interview with Agis, and in- duced hira by the hope of a permanent peace to grant them a truce for four months. Thrasyllus and Alciphron, however, had taken this step with- out being authorized ; and the Argives, who ima- gined that they had been on the point of gaining an easy victory over the Lacedaemonians, shut in as the latter were between them and the city, were highly exasperated, and began to stone Thrasyllus in the military court which was always held just outside the walls of Argos after an expedition. He saved his life only by taking refuge at an altar, and he was punished by the contiscation of his property. (Thuc. v. 59, 60.) 2. An Athenian, was serving as a hoplite in the army at Samos, in b. c. 411, and was one of those who persuaded the soldiers and sailors to aid the Saraian people against the expected attempt of the oligarchical conspirators to put down democracy in the island. The consequence was the defeat of the revolutionists. Shortly after, when CHAEREAshad brought to Samos an exaggerated account of the tyranny and violence of the 400 at Athens, Thra- syllus and Thrasybulus bound the army by an oath to be faithful to democrac)', zealous in the war with the Peloponnesians, and ever hostile to the revolutionary government at home ; and, in the election of new generals which ensued, these two ■were included in the number. In the same year, B.C. 411, Thrasyllus commanded the left wing of the fleet at the battle of Cynossema, in which the Athenians defeated the Peloponnesians ; and some- what later, after the victory gained by the Athe- nians over the Lacedaemonian fleet near Abydus, he was despatched to Athens to bear the good news and to ask for supplies. Some time after his arrival, Agis having, in a foray from Deceleia, ad- vanced too near the walls of the city, Thrasyllus led out the Athenians against him and obtained a slight advantage, in consequence of which his countrymen the more readily voted hira a rein- forcement both of men and ships. With these he hailed early in B.C. 409 to Samos, whence he pro- ceeded to the coast of Asia and attacked the town of Pygela without success. Within a few days, however, Colophon surrendered to him, and he then advanced into Lydia, and having ravaged the country, proceeded by sea against Ephesus, but here he was defeated and driven back to his ships by the forces of the Ephesians, united with those of Tissaphernes and the Syracusans ; and after sailing to Notium where he buried his dead, he steered his course for Lesbos. Here, while anchoring at Methymna, he observed the Syra- cusan squadron sailing by, whereupon he attacked it, captured four ships with their crews, and chased the rest back to Ephesus. He then continued his voyage to Sestus, where he joined the force under Alcibiades,and the whole fleet crossed over together to Lampsacus ; but the troops of Alcibiades, who had not sustained any defeat, refused to serve in the same ranks with those of Thrasyllus, conquered as tney Iiad been at Ephesus ; nor was this feeling removed till their common success in the ensuing winter against Pharnabazus near Abydus. In B. c. 408 Tiirasyllus was engaged with Alcibiades in the successful operations at Chalcedon, which induced Pharnabazus to accept terms of accommo- dation from the Athenians. He probably shared also in the siege and reduction of Byzantium in the THRASYMACHUS. same year, and in b. c. 407 he led home to Athens a portion of the triumphant armament. ^J ot long after, he was one of the generals who were appointed to supersede Alcibiades after the battle of Notium, and was present in that capacity at Arginusae in B.C. 406. After the battle it was he who proposed to leave 47 galleys behind to save the men from the wrecks, while the main body of the fleet should sail against the ships of the enemy, which were blockading Mytilene. He was also among the six genenils who returned to Athens and were shame- fully put to death by the people through the in- trigues of Theramenes. It should be observed that Diodorus, in his account of several of the above events, substitutes, by an error, the name of Thra- sybulus for that of Thrasyllus. (Thuc. viii. 73, 75, 76, 104, 105 ; Xen. Hell i. 1. §§ 8, 33, 34, 2. §§ 1—17, 3. §§4, &c., 14, &c., 4. § 10, 5. § 16, 6- § 30, 7. §§ 2, 29, 34 ; Plat. Tlmag. p. 129 ; Plut. Ale. 29—31 ; Diod. xiii. 64, '^G, 74, 101, 102 ; Palm, and Wess. ad Diod. xiii. 74.) [E. E.] THRASYLLUS {©pdcrvKKos), a musician of Phlius, is mentioned by Plutarch {de Mus. 21, p. 1137, f.), in connection with Tyrtaeus of Manti- neia and Andreas of Corinth, as having purposely abstained from many of the artificial refinements which were introduced at an early period into Greek music. From the way in which he is men- tioned by Plutarch, he seems to have lived in the early part of the fifth century b. c. [P. S.] THRASYLLUS, was a celebrated astrologer at Rhodes, with whom Tiberius became acquainted during his residence in that island, and ever after- wards held in the highest honour. It was said that Tiberius had intended to kill him after con- sulting him respecting his future destinies ; but that Thrasyllus, when he had predicted the empire to Tiberius, said that he perceived from the ob- servation of the stars that his own death was near at hand, by which announcement he so convinced Tiberius of the truth of his art, that Tiberius no* only gave up his intention of murdering him, but admitted him to his intimate friendship. Thrasyllus accompanied Tiberius to Rome, when he was recalled by Augustus, and appears to have always lived with him. He died in a. d. 36, the year before Tiberius, and is said to have saved the lives of many persons whom Tiberius would otherwise have put to doath by falsely predicting for this very purpose that the emperor would live ten years longer. (T&c. Ann. vi. 20 — 22; Dion Cass.lv 1 1, Ivii. 15, Iviii. 27 ; Suet. Aug. 98, Tib. 14, 62, Cal. 19 ; Schol. ad Juv. vi. 576 ; Julian. Ep. ad T/iemist. p. 265, Spanh.) The son of this Thrasyllus succeeded to his father's skill, and is said to have predicted the empire to Nero. (Tac. Ann. vi. 22, comp. xiv. 9 ; Dion Cass. Ixi. 2.) THRASY'MACHUS {Qpaaijfiaxos), a native of Chalcedon, was a sophist, and one of the earliest cultivators of the art of rhetoric. He was a con- temporary of Gorgias. (Cic. Orat. 12, 13,52; Quintil. iii. 1. § 10.) He is introduced by Plato as one of the interlocutors in the Politeia, and is referred to several times in the Phaedrus. Like Prodicus and Protagoras, he discoursed and wrote on sui jects of natural philosophy (Cic. de Oral. iii. 32. § 128) ; Plutarch (S?/mp. p. 616, d.) mentions a work by him on lUusirious Men {'Tirep§dovT€s). Quintiliaft speaks of him as one of the first who wrote on comtnon plcicei (probably in the a,<popfjLa.l ^rjTopiKal mentioned by