Ara votiva di Pisistrato il Giovane

Abstract

The altar of the younger Peisistratos, son of the tyrant Hippias, was known thanks to the historian Thucydides (6.54.6), who provided the text of the inscription and stated that the altar was dedicated by Peisistratos as a memorial of his archonship in Athens during 522/1. Thucydidean dating, however, has been largely debated after the discovery of the Peisistratid Altar of Apollo Pythios in 1877: the controversy is based on epigraphical analysis of the text which judge the letter-forms and the layout as typical of the 5th century B.C. The arguments for an altar much later than 522/1, however, are not completely persuasive because they disclose several anomalies: infact, they seem to be in contradiction with architectural evidence and literacy testimonia; moreover, the presence in Athens of the son of the tyrant after the exile of his father in 511/0 is really problematic.

Keywords

• Apollo Pythios. Atene. Pisistratidi. Pisistrato il Giovane. Tucidide. arcontato