They say ‘make love, not war’, but sometimes the former can lead to the latter, or, at least, can cause a great deal of intrigue and tension. In the early 5th century BCE, a dramatic series of gossip-worthy love affairs threw the Greek-populated Sicilian city of Syracuse into political turmoil. The chaos was sparked by two hedonistic men, described by the philosopher, Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE), as being “among those in sovereign power” in the city (Aristotle, Politics, 1303b). Both men were evidently bisexual, and therefore their juxtaposed affairs came in a colorful variety of forms. In short, the two statesmen became bitter enemies due to the tristes that they had with each other’s partners and friends. The breaking point was a back-and-forth set of affairs in which one of the men slept with a boyfriend of the other. In response, the aggrieved statesman achieved revenge by seducing his rival’s wife. Naturally, the drama escalated and factions arose behind the two feuding men. Aristotle described this bizarre state of affairs, writing, “at Syracuse in early times…the constitution changed as a consequence of faction between two young men, both from among the office-holders, caused by a love-affair. When one of the two was away from home, the other seduced the boy-beloved of his friend. He in turn showed his indignation by inducing the other’s wife to come to him. As a result, all members of the citizen-body were enlisted to one side or the other, and were divided into two factions” (Politics, 1303b). As noted by Aristotle, Syracuse experienced great political turmoil due to the chaos and factionalism brought by the affairs-driven feud, eventually leading to the city-state’s constitution being altered. Unfortunately, Aristotle did not elaborate any further on the factions or the transformation that Syracuse underwent following the alleged scandals. It is known, however, that approximately around this same timeframe, the general populace of Syracuse rose up against the land-owning elite, driving them out of the city. The revolution, nevertheless, was short-lived, as the city was soon conquered by the tyrant, Gelon (formerly the despot of Gela (r. 491–485)), who ruled Syracuse from 485–478 BCE.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Picture Attribution: (Spring, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (c. 1836 – 1912), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons and the Smithsonian.).
Sources:
- The Politics by Aristotle, translated by T. A. Sinclair and revised by T. J. Saunders. London: Penguin Classics, 1962, 1992.
