Ancient History Competion 34
Manolis is on holidays… again… but he has not forgotten us completely.
This man was an ancient pirate, a precursor of Henry Morgan and Blackbeard! But he was worse than them: he founded altars to Impiety wherever he landed! Who was he?
Dikaiarkhos, whom Philip of Macedon appointed to the command of his fleet against the Hellespont and Cyclades, according to Polybios 18.54.
Absolutely yes!
Dikaiarchos is mentioned also by Diodorus Siculus (28.1).
According to Polybios, wherever landed this Aetolian adventurer would erect two altars, one to Asebeia (Impiety) and one to Paranomia (Lawlessness). His piratical activities are dated in 205-204 BC.
In 196 BC Dikaiarchos was executed at Alexandria by Aristomenes of Alyzia, a regent and then chief minister in Ptolemaic Egypt. Aristomenes was of Acarnanian origin.
A bit of on-line digging reveals that Dikaiarkhos also had a starring role in a 2008 historical novel: http://www.paul-waters.com/of-merchants-and-heroes.htm