The Revenge of the Refugee: the Expulsion of Scholars in the Late Classical Period and the Power of their Reactions in Literature and Politics

Abstract

Numerous processes of large-scale human mobility (colonization, forced mass migrations) drastically altered the sociopolitical landscape of the Ancient Greek world. Small-scale migration, including the development of scholarly courts and philosophical communities, gathered intellectuals together from around the Mediterranean. While the courts of the Syracusan tyrants attracted many influential scholars, many of these men were expelled due to the jealousy or suspicion of the tyrants. Although they became political refugees and exiles who suffered rupture, fear, and shame, their elite status and access to personal networks changed the power dynamic with these rulers. This chapter will analyze the experiences of four scholars (Timaeus, Philoxenus, Plato, and Dion) to determine how this traumatic event affected both their literary works and/or political views. Their responses and ability to influence contemporary literature and politics thus transform their identity from a powerless refugee to a powerful actor who used their mobility to enact changes that questioned the authority of the tyrant.

Keywords

• migration
• tyranny
• Sicily
• Syracuse
• Dionysius I