Tyrants and Kings

Abstract

This chapter considers the question of whether monarchy was the logical evolution of tyranny. It argues that while Hellenistic monarchy was indeed a new phenomenon, it is not the case that all tyrants metamorphosed into kings once presented with the opportunity: in fact many were distinctly uneasy about adopting royal titles or symbols. Tyrants were a creation of the polis and ruled in concert with the polis; they often reshaped a city according to their own will, but even when ruling a wider area, retained their connection with their home city. They needed to be attentive to the people in a way that the Hellenistic kings did not, facing an ever-present possibility of overthrow from within. The chapter looks at three examples to illustrate this relationship – Agathocles, who reveals the complexity of classical Greek ideas about kingship; the Sicyonian tyrants of the third century, where the pressure of political circumstances actually fostered tyranny; and finally Hieron, the ‘good king’ of Sicily – all of whom had to negotiate the distinction between tyranny and monarchy.