ISBN: 83-233-1242-7
Description: softcover, 153 pp., (24x17 cm), map
Condition: new
Weight: 275g.

Slawomir Sprawski, Jason of Pherae, A Study on History of Thessaly in Years 431-370 BC, Jagiellonian University Press, Cracow 1999

Preface
Introduction: Jason of Pherae in the Ancient Sources
Chapter I. The Tagos and the Political System of Thessaly in the 5th Century BC
Chapter II. Thessaly at the Turn of the 4th Century BC
Brasidas in Thessaly. Daochus. Prometheus and Critias.
Herodes, Peri politeias. Lycophron
Chapter III. Jason and Pherae
Jason's Family. Tyranny in Pherae
Chapter IV. Prelude, 379-375 BC
The Case of Histiaea. Jason and the Thebans. War with the Thessalian Cities. Jason's Plans in 375 BC
Chapter V. Election and the Difficult Years, 375-373 BC
Election. Closer Relations with Athens. Jason and IG II2 43. Timotheus
Chapter VI.   Tagos of Thessaly, 373-370 BC
Expedition to Boeotia in 371 BC and its Consequences. At the
Height of Power. Army
Chapter VII. Epilogue
Death of Jason. Expedition to Delphi. Isocrates and the Plans for the War with Persia
Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index of ancient sources
General index

 

This book is devoted to the Thessalian tyrant, the gifted military commander and successful politician, to a man whom Xenophon named the greatest of his contemporaries, a man who made Thessaly, for a short period, the leading power in northern Greece. It is not a biography, for such is not possible with the limited material at our disposal. It is mainly an analysis of the connections between Jason's foreign policy and his endeavours to gain the confidence and co-operation of Thessalians. I have also attempted to outline the political events in Thessaly from the beginning of the Peloponnesian War to the murder of Jason and to make some remarks on Thessalian society in this period.

A new study of Jason of Pheare is warranted. The last major studies devoted to this period of Thessalian history are those by H.D. Westlake (Thessaly in the Four Century London 1935) and M. Sordi (La lega tessalafino ad Alessandro Magno. Roma 1958). The last monographs on Jason are the dissertation of K. Lemmermann (Jason van Pherai. Jena 1927) and an article by J. Mandel (Jason: The Tyrant of Pherae, Tagus of Thessaly, as Reflected in Ancient Sources and Modern Literature. The image of the 'New Tyrant'. RSA 10 (1980): 47-77.