Hipponicus III | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Ἱππόνικος |
| Born | c. 485 BC |
| Died | 422/1 BC (agedc. 63) |
| Allegiance | Athens |
| Children | Callias III,Hipparete and Hermogenes |
Hipponicus III (/hɪˈpɒnɪkəs/;Greek:Ἱππόνικος;c. 485 BC – 422/1 BC) was anAthenian military commander. He was the son ofCallias II of the deme Alopece andElpinice of Laciadae (sister ofCimon). He was known as the "richest man in Greece".[1]
Shortly after 455 BC, Hipponicus married the former wife ofPericles, whose name is unknown. By her, he had two children:Callias III and a daughter,Hipparete who later marriedAlcibiades.[2] A second son, Hermogenes was probably illegitimate since he received none of his father's estate.[3]
Hipponicus' wealth came from, among other things, his owning six hundred slaves working at the silver mines atLaurion in southern Attica.[4]
In 445/4 BC he was secretary of the Athenian Council (boule)[1] and was still active as late as 426 BC when he,Nicias andEurymedon commanded Athenian regiments in an incursion intoBoeotian territory where they successfully engaged Tanagran and Theban forces atTanagra.[5]
Hipponicus was reported byAndocides to have been slain at theBattle of Delium in 424 BC,[6] but this appears to have been an error, either on Andocides' part or a later transcriber, for Thucydides reported that the general at Delium was Hippocrates.[7] According toAthenaeus, Hipponicus died shortly beforeEupolis exhibited his comedyFlatterers during the archonship of Alcaeus ( 422/1).[8]
Aelian, in his Varieties of History, reports this anecdote about Hipponicus:[9]
Hipponicus son ofCallias would erect a Statue as a Gift to his Country. One advised him that the Statue should be made byPolycletus. He answered, "I will not have such a Statue, the glory whereof will redound not to the Giver, but to the Carver. For it is certain that all who see the Art, will admirePolycletus and not me."