DEXILEOS OF THORIKOS: A BRIEF LIFE

Nic Fields (University of Edinburgh)

Young men are not natural-born soldiers any more than they are natural-born
carpenters or tax collectors. Yet it is a trade almost anybody can learn because it
works with the same raw material that has always been available, namely
teenage boys with a fair amount of aggression, a strong tendency to hang
around in groups, and an absolutely desperate desire to fit in. It does not take a
special kind of person. In truth, any mother’s son will do. A poem of Siegfried
Sassoon, Reconciliation, shows this as well as any one poem can:
When you are standing at your hero’s grave,
Or near some homeless village where he died,
Remember, through your heart’s rekindling pride,
The German soldiers who were loyal and brave.

Men fought like brutes; and hideous things were done;

And you have nourished hatred harsh and blind.
But in that Golgotha perhaps you’ll find
The mothers of the men who killed your son.

The aim of this paper, therefore, is an attempt to present a biography of such a

young man, Dexileos of Thorikos.

Grave Monument of Dexileos

Discovered during the German excavations of the Kerameikos, the Dexileos
Monument1 is an imposing, if not unique, Athenian funerary monument. Now
housed in the site’s museum, the large marble relief for Dexileos originally stood
on an artificial terrace in the grave precinct belonging to the family of Lysanias
from the deme of Thorikos. The epigram (IG 22 6217 = Harding 19C) below the
relief reads:
Dexileos, son of Lysanias, from Thorikos | born in the archonship of Teisandros |
died in the archonship of Euboulides | one of the five hippeis who fell at Corinth
The inscription records the dates of Dexileos’ birth and death, information
absolutely unique in surviving Attic epitaphs. The archon dates prove that
Dexileos was born in 414/3 and died in 394/3.2 Dexileos, then, died in the
summer of 394 while fighting against the Spartans and their Peloponnesian allies
at the battle of Nemea River not far from Corinth. He was just twenty years old.
1
Athens, Kerameikos P 1130.
2
The name of the archon Teisandros (IG 22 6217.2, cf. 4960.23) is corrupted to ‘Peisandros’
in Diod. 13.7.1. For text and commentary, see Todd 1948: 20-1, and Martin 1886: 415-17.
All dates are BC.

AHB 17.3-4 (2003) 108-126

 Dexileos of Thorikos 109

Xenophon (Hell. 4.2.17) informs us that there were some 600 Athenian
horsemen present at this decisive encounter, part of an anti-Spartan coalition
force consisting of contingents from Argos, Athens, Boiotia, Corinth and
Euboia. Elsewhere, Xenophon (Eq. mag. 1.9-12) also emphasises the
youthfulness of Athenian horsemen. He himself was once a member of the
Athenian cavalry corps in his youth (b. ca. 428), an association that was to have
far reaching consequences upon his own life.3
Although he fell in combat, the young Dexileos is portrayed as a glorious
victor on horseback, thrusting his spear into the chest of his naked opponent,
who lies cowering under the prancing hooves of Dexileos’ rearing stallion.4
Originally the sculpture of Dexileos would have had bronze attachments. These
included a petasos — the Thessalian ‘sun hat’ much favoured by Greek
horsemen before they adopted the Boiotian helmet5 — and long cavalry spear
known as a doratos kamakinou or kamax.6 Dowel holes indicate that the
representation of Dexileos had once gripped the butt-end of the kamax in his
upraised right hand, which is held back to impel the thrust. The shaft of the
weapon then followed the line of his right thigh, which left the spearhead poised
to puncture the chest of Dexileos’ opponent.
The word kamax literally means “reed”, and was a nickname given first to
long, thin vine-poles, and then to the long, thin cavalry spears that resembled
them. The kamax was primarily designed for use against infantry, its length
being designed to enable the horseman to ‘pig-stick’ enemy foot soldiers.7
3
In later life Xenophon, probably during the 360s, wrote two other works of professional
military interest. One is the Hipparchikos (Eq. mag.), a description of the duties and functions of
a cavalry commander, the other, the Peri Hippikes (Eq.), is a more general work on
horsemanship, together with its military applications. Composed in an epoch when the
importance of cavalry in Greek warfare was being increasingly realised, these works are often
illuminating, though curiously enough Xenophon seems to under-estimate rather than
exaggerate the importance of the cavalry arm. However, according to Hyland (1993: 27, cf. 31-
4), much of Xenophon’s advice on training horses is still followed today.
4
Frel and Kingsley (1970: 205-7) attribute this work to the Aristandros sculptor, an
identification that is challenged by Clairmont (1972: 51-2). For a discussion of the relief, see
Karouzou 1968: 78-9, and Hölscher 1973: 102.
5
The petasos, which was a broad-brimmed hat, offered protection against the sun and dust
rather than against the enemy. Xenophon (Eq. 12.3), on the other hand, strongly recommends
the use of the Boiotian helmet, which can be best described as a bronze hat with a down-turned
brim that has been bent into elaborate folds. For cavalry use it had the advantage that the face
was open and the wearer could hear commands without difficulty.
6
A convenient shorthand term for what Xenophon (Eq. 12.12) calls the doratos kamakinou,
adopted by Sekunda (1986: 16) and followed by Spence (1995: 51).
7
Xenophon rejects the use of the kamax, “seeing that it is both weak and awkward to
manage”, recommending instead “two Persian javelins of cornel wood” (Eq. 12.12). His advice
here seems based upon an incident he witnessed where Greek horsemen were worsted in a mêlée
because their inferior weapons broke when thrust at their Persian opponents (Hell. 3.4.14). His
110 Nic Fields

Horsemen, who were ineffective against hoplites in formation, became

formidable opponents when riding down fleeing infantry. Greek horsemen were
not equipped for shock action, but were employed in a skirmishing role, used to
scout, drive off the enemy cavalry and ride down skirmishers. The kamax would
sometimes be used in conjunction with a pair of javelins (palta) and a kopis, the
short, broad, curving sword much favoured by Xenophon (Eq. 12.11). Its
curved blade with a single cutting edge along its inner side was relatively heavy
at the point of impact and could deliver a hefty cutting blow, especially from
horseback, and the scabbard strap drawn across Dexileos’ chest suggests he
carried a kopis.8
Although hard to detect as this part of the relief is damaged, Dexileos appears
to wear high soft-leather boots (embades) of an originally Thracian style now
popular with Greek horsemen. Xenophon (Eq. 12.10) recommended this type of
footwear for the horseman as they protected both his shins and feet. Dexileos
also wears a short tunic (chiton), girded at the waist and pinned at the shoulder,
and a short cloak (chlamys) but no body-armour. At this date Greek horsemen
in general wore little or no armour and did not carry shields.9
Dexileos’ whole costume was in no sense a uniform as hunters (whether on
horseback or on foot), shepherds, travellers, or anybody else whose occupation
called him to vigorous outdoor activity commonly wore it. If by no other article
of dress, the horseman might be definitely distinguished by his spurs.
Theophrastos characterises the “man of petty ambitions” as follows:
When he has ridden in the cavalry parade he gives his slave everything else to
carry home, but walks around the Agora in his spurs, wearing his riding cloak.
(Char. 21.8)
As noted previously, this part of the relief has unfortunately suffered slight
damage. However, to imagine the young Dexileos proudly wearing spurs is not
inconceivable, especially as he is depicted with his riding cloak billowing behind
him. The Greeks used a simple prick spur, with a short but sharp point, fastened

theories were refuted a generation after his death by the long spears (kontoi) of the Macedonian
companion cavalry (hetairoi), and he himself may have had second thoughts (Cyr. 6.2.16).
8
Artistic evidence reveals that the kopis was characteristically used in an over arm stroke
brought down from above the head or shoulder. It is noteworthy that the Hippokratic treatise
On Head Wounds (11) records that wounds delivered from above, as would be the case of those
inflicted from horseback upon foot soldiers, are worse than ones inflicted from the same level.
On head wounds, see especially Salazar 2000: 13-15.
9
Although Xenophon (Eq. 12.1-7) provides a complete list, and a discussion of each item, of
the essential body-armour required by an aspiring horseman, sculptural and ceramic evidence
suggest that horsemen disdained protection. For example, on the Parthenon frieze only sixteen of
the 114 cavalry figures in a reasonable state of preservation wear body-armour. The protective
benefit of body-armour could make a rider feel safer and more eager for combat, yet it was hot,
heavy and cumbersome and made manoeuvring on a horse extremely difficult, particularly
without the aid of saddle or stirrups.
 Dexileos of Thorikos 111

either to the bare heel or to a boot. They were certainly in use at Athens in the
late fifth century BC, for Pollux quotes the comic poets Pherekrates and Krates
for riders binding “goads round their feet at the heels” and using “a whip on the
ankle bones” (Onom. 10.53-4). Also, Xenophon is quick to point out that a
rider who is teaching his horse to jump should “touch him with the spur” (Eq.
8.5, cf. 10.1).

The Horsemen of Athens

Although there is no mention of Greek horsemen during the Persian Wars, by
the time of the Peloponnesian War cavalry, albeit in small numbers, was in
regular use. Cavalry was provided for polis armies by the wealthiest of their
citizens since they furnished their own horse and equipment, though, in Athens
at least, with the help of a state subsidy. Normally riding a small horse — with
good pastureland at a premium, Greece could not produce large horses10 — the
Greek horseman had neither stirrups, nor saddle, nor curb bit to assist him.
Sitting well back to maintain control of his horse, which was ungelded, unshod
and prone to biting, the horseman rode a mount that was a troublesome
creature to handle. Given the conditions, although cavalry was not always an
efficient arm in the field, it is a mistake to suppose the individual Greek rider
was a poor horseman. For despite Xenophon (Eq. 3.12, 7.5-7) suggesting that
the horseman’s main preoccupation was staying on the horse, he does assure his
reader that horses may be safely ridden downhill without “dislocating their
shoulders” (Eq. 8.6). Consequently, cavalry were invariably confined to
occasional pre-battle and post-battle skirmishing, and even in Athens horsemen
made up less than five per cent of the adult citizenry eligible for military
service.11
The Athenians only instituted a proper mounted arm after the Persian Wars,
its members being recruited from those wealthy enough to maintain a horse.
And so, by the mid-fifth century BC there was a body of 300 (Andoc. 3.5, cf.
10
See Hyland 1990: 16-17, cf. 41-4. What little osteological evidence there is indicates a
range from 10.4 hh to 14.1 hh (110 cm to 145 cm at the withers), with most being around or
13.1 hh (134 cm). A horse of around 13.1 hh is some 2.1 hh smaller than the average cavalry
charger in the early part of the last century. A good comparison in terms of horse size,
workload, climate, and to some extent topography, would be with the small horse or the
mounted infantry pony on field service in India during the Great War. Incidentally, Roman war-
horses stood on average only 14.3 hh (150 cm) as against 15.7 hh (160 cm) of modern horses
(Anderson 1961: 15, Hyland 1990: 68, cf. Dixon and Southern 1997: 165-73). Bökönyi (1974:
257) notes that the introduction of the blood of eastern horses, Scythian by Philip II of Macedon
and Persian by Alexander the Great, was to greatly improved the Greek horse. He (1974: 263)
also says that the so-called Roman ‘military horse’ probably evolved by interbreeding Scythian
horses via the Greek and Persian or Iberian ones.
11
An estimation based upon the figures given by Thucydides (2.13.6, 8) for the size of the
Athenian military forces in 431.
112 Nic Fields

Syll.3 51, Aesch. 2.173), rising either to 1200 (Thuc. 2.13.8, Ath. pol. 24.3,
Andoc. 3.7, Aesch. 2.174) or 1000 (Ar. Eq. 225, cf. Xen. Eq. mag. 9.3, Dem.
14.13) by the start of the Peloponnesian War.12 Owning a horse was very costly,
Aristotle remarks that “horse-breeding requires the ownership of large
resources” (Pol. 1321a 11, cf. 1289b 33-6). Xenophon also stresses the need for
“ample means” (Eq. 2.1), and adds that such men should also have an interest
in the affairs of the state.13 The horsemen of Athens, therefore, were drawn
mainly from the second of Solon’s four census classes, the hippeis, comprising
citizens whose land yielded between 300 and 500 measures (medimnoi) of grain
or the equivalent in other produce (Ath. pol. 7.3-4). It seems likely, therefore,
that Dexileos was a member of the hippeis.
According to Xenophon (Eq. mag. 1.11) preparation for service in the cavalry
corps began while a youth was still under the control of his legal guardian
(usually his father), in other words before the age of eighteen. So Dexileos
would have learned the difficult art of riding under the tutelage of Lysanias, his
father. It was Lysanias, also, who would have provided Dexileos with his first
mount. For some fathers, despite their wealth, this paternal duty undoubtedly
caused them to have sleepless nights. Aristophanes describes the troubles of a
father whose son has too-expensive tastes in horses: “Creditors are eating me up
alive... and all because of this horse-plague!” (Nub. 243-5). We know Dexileos
had at least two siblings, for the grave precinct of his family also contains the
stelae of Dexileos’ brother and sister, Lysias and Melitta, who died around the
middle of the fourth century BC.14 Another brother was possibly Lysistratos of
Thorikos, a man who had lent money to another horseman from the same deme,
Mantitheos, for his father’s funeral in 357 or thereabouts ([Dem.] 40.52, cf. Lys.
16.13).15 With two, or presumably three, sons the outlay for Lysanias would
have been considerable to say the least. On coming of age in 396/5, however,
Dexileos was presented before an assembly of demesmen and his name added to
the list of deme members (katalogos) to constitute proof of his citizenship. As a
citizen he was now liable for military service. For Dexileos, being a young
aristocrat, this meant performing his military service on horseback rather than
on foot as a hoplite.

12
The scholiast to Ar. Eq. 627 informs us that “at first the number of Athenian horsemen
was 600. Afterwards, after the polis had grown in size, the number was increased to 1200”. The
latter figure is supported by Thucydides (2.13.8), but it also includes horse-archers
(hippotoxotai). For a discussion on the number of Athenian horsemen, see Bugh 1988: 39-52,
and Spence 1995: 97-102.
13
For wealth as one of the main characteristics of the hippeis, see especially Spence 1995:
191-3.
14
Knigge 1991: 111-12. See also PA 3229.
15
Davies (1971: 364-5), however, is disinclined to identify Mantitheos as the father of
Mantias of Thorikos.
 Dexileos of Thorikos 113

An Élite Band of Brothers

Athenian horsemen, unlike their lowly brothers the hoplites, were members of a
well-organised and a well-trained outfit. Xenophon (Eq. mag. 2.2) clearly states
that each of the ten Athenian tribes furnished a tribe (phyle) of cavalry, each
with a nominal strength of 100 horsemen and headed by a phylarchos (lit.
“tribal leader”). As Dexileos belonged to the Akamantis tribe, he would have
recruited into the phyle that bore its name. Within the phyle, every ten-man
group or file was led by a dekadarchos (lit. “leader of ten”), and Xenophon tells
us that these formed the front rank, implying a depth of ten ranks, which is
deeper than Greek horsemen normally fought.16 He then adds that an
experienced trooper should be posted at the rear of each file, as “iron has most
power to cut through iron when its edge is keen and its back reliable” (Eq. mag.
2.3). The ten phylai of horse were under the overall command of two
hipparchoi, each of who would command in battle a wing made up of five
phylai (Ath. pol. 61.4), and this is supported by Xenophon’s accounts (Eq. mag.
3.6, 11) of the equestrian displays in the Lykeion and the Hippodrome. The
senior officers would be elected annually, the two hipparchoi from the whole
citizen body and the phylarchoi one from each tribe (Ath. pol. 1.3, 61.4-5, cf.
4.2). The dekadarchoi, on the other hand, were personally selected by the
phylarchoi from “sturdy men, who are bent on winning fame by some brilliant
deed” (Xen. Eq. mag. 2.2).
The horsemen, like the hoplites, were not paid a regular wage (misthos), but
unlike the hoplites they were given a stipend of one drachme per day for fodder
(sitos) in times of war (Thuc. 5.47.6, Dem. 4.29).17 On entering service with the
cavalry corps the young aristocrat would also be paid an establishment grant
(katastasis) to cover the cost of his mount, which, along with his equipment, he
provided himself. The grant had to be paid back on leaving the corps, unless the
mount had been killed or crippled during active service. To avoid fraudulent
claiming of allowances an inspection (dokimasia) was performed annually by
the Council of Five Hundred (boule), which enabled Xenophon to make the
generalisation, “the polis… has charged the boule with the duty of taking a
share in the management of the cavalry” (Eq. mag. 1.8). And so, each rider,
whether he was a new recruit or an existing horseman, and his horse would be
scrutinised for fitness for service. Mounts that failed to pass the inspection were
branded on the jaw with the sign of a wheel in order to prevent them being
slipped through on another occasion (Ath. pol. 49.1-2). If passed, the riders’
names would be entered on the cavalry list, which would be passed on to the
16
See Arr. Tact. 16.6-11 for a discussion on the relative merits of tetragonal and wedge-
shaped cavalry formations.
17
In an inscription (IG 12 304A = Fornara 154) recording monthly payments made by the
Treasurers of Athena in 410/9 the item “grain for horses” recurs at irregular intervals. Anderson
(1961: 138) reckons the sixteen-and-a-half talents spent on fodder was more than adequate to
feed 1000 horses.
114 Nic Fields

taxiarchoi, the commanders of the tribal infantry units. The taxiarchoi would
delete the names of those entered on the cavalry list from the tribal recruitment
rolls, which were kept by archon year, to ensure that no-one became liable for
both hoplite and cavalry service.
An Attic red-figure kylix, by the Dokimasia Painter and dated to circa 470,
provides excellent pictorial evidence for this scrutiny.18 It shows an inspection of
horsemen as a continuous scene, where a defile of young men, dressed in
chamydes and petasoi and carrying two javelins each, escort their stallions
towards two individuals, one standing and one seated. The seated man, who
wears a long chiton under his draped mantle (himation) and is bearded, appears
to be jotting something down on a writing tablet resting on his lap.
As a new recruit Dexileos would have made his way to the Agora and
assembled along with other recruits and the existing horsemen before the boule,
shortly after the new hipparchoi and phylarchoi had taken office (i.e. after I
Hekatombaion, around July 1). The officers first opened the tablet (pinax) on
which were inscribed the names of existing horsemen (Ath. pol. 49.2). The
names of those who requested release from service on the basis of bodily
incapacity and were willing to swear an oath to that effect, were now deleted
from the cavalry register. The new recruits, Dexileos amongst them, were now
summoned before the boule, which then judged their fitness for service, mount
included, and those whom they approved were duly inscribed on the pinax, and
the others are dismissed. The next step in the process was the granting of the
katastasis to the new recruits (Lys. 16.6-7, Ath. pol. 49.1).
Material evidence relevant to the cavalry corps has been unearthed from two
locations in Athens, namely the Agora and the Dipylon Gate some 400 metres to
the north-west. This evidence is none other than the actual archives of the unit.19
These take the form of thin lead tablets, either folded or rolled, inscribed with
the name of an Athenian in the genitive case on the outside, and the colour of
20
his horse, a description of the horse’s brand and a sum in hundreds of
drachmae on the inside face:
21
Of Arkesos, black, with a snake, 700 drachmae
18
Berlin, Staatliche Museen F 2296 (vase 32, exterior).
19
See Braun 1970: 129-269 (Kerameikos tablets), and Kroll 1977: 83-140 (Agora tablets).
20
Cf. Ar. Eq. 603, Nub. 1298. It is interesting to note that brand-marks are shown on a
number of fourth-century south Italian red-figure vases. For instance, the Lucanian pelike
(Karneia Group, Policoro 35304) depicting Poseidon on horseback accompanied by a young
horseman wearing a short tunic and Oscan broad belt. The horseman is unarmed but wears a
crested Attic helmet. On the right rump of his horse appears a brand-mark (caduceus). Again, on
a Campanian kalyx-krater (Horseman Group, Naples 1985/82410) we see a young horseman,
wearing a wreath, standing beside his horse in a naiskos. He wears a short purple tunic and
Oscan broad belt, and carries two javelins. On the left rump of his horse appears a brand mark
(circle).
21
Kroll 1977: no. 36.
 Dexileos of Thorikos 115
22
Of Konon, a chestnut, with a centaur, 700 drachmae
In the fourth-century sample the values range from 100 to 700 drachmae, with
the median (the middle price in the total range) and the mode (the most
frequently paid price) both at 500 drachmae.23 Such tablets were clearly used for
the annual inspection of the cavalry corps already mentioned above. Although
these lead tablets belong to the cavalry archives of the fourth and third centuries
BC, the first extant reference to the katastasis is contained in two lines from a
comic play by Eupolis entitled Philoi whose production is dated between 429
and 425. The lines translate “You have not displayed good sense, old man, by
rashly accepting the katastasis before learning horsemanship” (Eupolis fr. 293,
Kassel-Austin).24
The katastasis was a loan, not a gift, the money being repaid to the state
upon retirement from service. Xenophon (Eq. mag. 9.3, cf. Oik. 2.5) remarks
that Athenians were less than enthusiastic to serve in the cavalry corps because
of the expense of mounted service. Service in the corps was not for poor men,
nor even those with a moderate amount of wealth.25 By law the horsemen of
Athens should have mustered 1000 men, a phyle of 100 men from each of the
ten tribes, but was badly under strength.26 In fact, Xenophon recommends
recruiting 200 mercenaries to bring the force up to establishment and raise its
fighting capabilities. He cites by way of example the Spartan cavalry, which he
claims first gained its repute with the incorporation of “foreign horsemen” (Eq.
mag. 9.4).27 To defray the cost of the horses for these mercenaries, Xenophon
suggests that the money could be secured from those who vehemently resist
serving in the cavalry corps, as well as from those current horsemen who might
22
Kroll 1977: no. 69.
23
In Athens a manual labourer could guarantee to earn one drachme a day by working on a
civic building project such as the construction of the Erechtheion (Austin and Vidal-Naquet
1980: 276-7). As a comparison, we can note that during the lengthy siege of Potidaia, Athenian
hoplites are said to have received one drachme a day each, with another drachme in addition for
their attendants (Thuc. 3.17.4). Or again, the Thracian peltasts hired by Athens in 414 who
were considered too expensive a luxury to be kept for the war in Attica as “each man was paid a
drachme a day” (Thuc. 7.27.2). Indeed, Aristophanes’ ‘two-drachmae-a-day-Thracians’ (Ach.
159-60) was undoubtedly a joke directed against the lavish expenditure of Athenians on military
pay.
24
Kroll (1977: 99) connects the first use of the katastasis with the creation of the 1000-man
Athenian cavalry corps, whereas Bugh (1982: 309-11) argues for an earlier date, namely at the
time of the establishment of 300 horsemen.
25
For discussion of horse prices, see Anderson 1961: 136-7, Kroll 1977: 89, and Spence
1995: 274-7.
26
1000 hippeis plus 200 hippotoxotai, following Bugh 1988: 40, and Spence 1995: 98.
27
Xenophon is talking as an eyewitness here, as he is clearly referring to the highly effective
mounted arm created by Agesilaos in Anatolia (Hell. 3.4.15, Ages. 9.3-4) and not the native
horsemen of Sparta that he disparages at the time of the Leuktra campaign (Hell. 6.4.10-11, 13,
cf. 4.5.16).
116 Nic Fields

wish to pay a fee to gain release. In addition, money could be raised “from rich
men who are physically unfit” (Eq. mag. 9.5).28 Xenophon (Eq. mag. 1.9-10)
stresses the importance of physical fitness for mounted service, and Lykophron,
a hipparchos in the 330s, tells his audience that in the eager, civic minded
involvement with the corps, he has continuously taxed his strength and his
estate (Hypereid. 1.16).
We know that equestrian displays formed part of these inspections and took
place at various locations such as the Academy, the Lykeion, at Phaleron, and in
the Hippodrome (Xen. Eq. mag. 3.1). One particularly famous equestrian
display was the anthippasia, which Xenophon (Eq. mag. 3.10-13) places in the
Hippodrome. It is a mock cavalry battle. The cavalry corps split into two
squadrons of five phylai, each commanded by a hipparchos, with one side taking
on the role of pursers while the other flees. Presumably the two sides then switch
roles and the manoeuvre is thus repeated. Xenophon, however, recommends
that the anthippasia be a more practical exercise. When a trumpet sounds the
two sides ought to charge one another at the gallop and ride through each
other’s ranks. This manoeuvre should be repeated three times, successive charges
being conducted at a quicker pace. Xenophon, as an expert horseman, visualises
his modified anthippasia not only offering a more spectacular display, but also
the best way of training horsemen to battle efficiency without the ultimate peril
of a real enemy.
As well as the eyewitness account of Xenophon, we also possess two fine
artistic representations from the fourth century BC that celebrate tribal victories
in the anthippasia. The first29 is signed by Bryaxis, one of the sculptors of the
Mausoleum of Halikarnassos, and shows on each of three sides a horseman
approaching a tripod, symbol of victory. The fourth side carries the artist’s
signature along with the inscription (IG 22 3130) that publicises Demainetos and
his two sons, Demeas and Demosthenes, each of whom was victorious in the
30 31
anthippasia as the phylarchos of Erechtheis. The second equestrian piece is a
double-sided sculptured relief. One side carried the figure of a lion, only
28
A scheme devised by Agesilaos so as to raise his new cavalry corps. Xenophon says that the
king issued a proclamation to the wealthiest Ionian Greek citizens declaring “that whoever
produced a horse, arms and a good man would be exempted from military service himself”
(Hell. 3.4.15). The experiment succeeded, for in the campaign of 395 Agesilaos won a decisive
victory over Tissaphernes, and, according to Xenophon (Hell. 3.4.23-4, cf. Hell. Oxy. 11.3-6),
the horsemen played a decisive part.
29
Athens, National Museum 1773.
30
What little evidence we have of membership at this time suggests sons followed fathers into
the cavalry corps. This is illustrated by the two known sons of Xenophon, both of whom served
in the Athenian cavalry corps at Second Mantineia (362). Diodoros came safely home from the
battle, but Gryllos, his twin-brother, was killed (Paus. 1.3.4, 22.4, 8.9.10, 11.6, Diog. Laert.
2.52, 54, cf. Xen. Hell. 7.5.17). For the evidence that indicates family traditions of cavalry
service in Athens, see especially Spence 1995: 289-93.
31
Athens, Agora I 7167.
 Dexileos of Thorikos 117

partially preserved, and intended as a punning reference to the name of the

winning tribe, Leontis, which is inscribed alongside the lion together with the
word enika (“was victorious”). The other side depicts the display itself. Here
several young men are seen riding forth at a canter followed by a bearded older
man wearing what appears to be a helmet. Although the monument is badly
damaged, presumably we have here an illustration of normal cavalry corps
procedure, whereby the phylarchos is up front, leading the phyle, and his
second-in-command rides in the rear (cf. Xen. Eq. mag. 2.5).
The need for continued practice at this kind of work is emphasised again and
again by Xenophon. However, equitation was very much an individual’s
responsibility as it was one for the state. The young horseman should develop
his own skill in riding, for Xenophon advises that when riding out to his estate
he should make the most of the opportunities offered him for training himself
and his horse. He should not stay quietly on the roads, but practise “galloping
over all sorts of ground” (Eq. mag. 1.18, cf. Eq. 8.1). It is not hard for us to
imagine Dexileos doing exactly this as he rode to and from the family estate in
Thorikos.32 It is important to note here that the equestrian displays would have
taken place on the flat, and the chief fact that underlies Xenophon’s advice is
horsemen should be capable of operating in broken terrain. In setting out their
operational duties he speaks of patrols, reconnaissances, ambushes, raids and
attacks on stragglers. Indeed, Xenophon believes that horsemen should learn
from hawks, who will “grab unguarded plunder and get away to a place of
safety before they can be caught”, and wolves, who “prey on anything left
unprotected” (Eq. mag. 4.18).
It is highly conceivable that Dexileos served as a prodromos (literally: “front-
runner”). So Dexileos, who was recruited into the cavalry corps either in the
summer of 396 or that of the following year, could be counted among the first
members of this special troop of horse. The prodromoi were initially raised in
the winter of 395/4 to replace the horse-archers, which were disbanded after the
battle of Haliartos as part of the possible reforms of Iphikrates. These horse-
archers were not the 300 barbarian mercenaries, Scythians usually, mentioned
by Andokides (3.5), but 200 Athenian citizens who enrolled in the hippotoxotai,
a unit introduced as part of the same reform that resulted in the increase of the
Athenian cavalry from 300 to 1000 men.33
With reference to a special troop of horse, it is Xenophon (Eq. mag. 1.25)
who first mentions the term prodromoi. In a later passage (Eq. mag. 4.4-5) he
32
Each day Xenophon’s exemplary Athenian aristocrat, Ischomachos, mounts his horse and
practices “the exercises needed in warfare”, avoiding “neither slope nor steep incline, ditch nor
watercourse” (Oik. 11.17).
33
Bugh (1988: 221-3), using Lysias (15.5-8, 11), sees the 200 hippotoxotai as citizens, while
Spence (1995: 57) advocates mercenaries with a stiffening of citizens. For citizen archers
(toxotai), see IG 12 929 = Fornara 78, Thuc. 2.13.8, Ath. pol. 24.3.
118 Nic Fields

actually lists their duties as riding on difficult ground in advance of the army
and in hostile country as scouts for reconnaissance purposes. The failure of
Greeks to develop saddle, stirrups and horseshoes makes the question of terrain
that much more relevant.34 Anyone who has ridden bareback knows how
immensely more difficult it is to stay mounted than with the aid of the simple
device of stirrups. Aristophanes (Lys. 676-80) makes a ribald joke about falling
off when ‘riding’ and Theophrastos (Char. 27.10-11) parodies the “late-learner”
who foolishly borrows a horse to ride in the countryside but falls off and cracks
his head. Similarly, the orator Andokides (1.61) suffers a tumble from a colt
while riding at a gymnasium outside Athens; he breaks his collarbone and
fractures his skull, and has to be carried home on a litter. An experienced
horseman himself, Xenophon (Cyr. 6.3.2) fully realises the military importance
of the prodromoi on campaign. The prodromoi, consequently, took on the
venturesome duties of skirmishers, scouts and couriers that the hippotoxotai had
previously performed.35 They were probably internally recruited among the
tribal horse units, for Dexileos is described in his funerary inscription as “one of
five”. This can be interpreted as indicating that each phylai of horsemen selected
five of its best troopers to serve as prodromoi, and, therefore, each of the two
hipparchoi would have had a small troop of twenty-five at his disposal.36
The author of the Athenaion politeia (49.1) tells us that the prodromoi were
inspected annually by the boule. Any of the prodromoi who were found unfit
for service would be promptly demoted back into the ranks of the ordinary
horsemen. The youthful Dexileos, it seems, had the skill, strength and stamina
to ride without stirrups and saddle in sometimes difficult equestrian manoeuvres
on uneven and hazardous ground, the right stuff for service in the prodromoi.37
Exceptional rider that he was, Dexileos would have also needed a racily built,
speedy mount. The question of equine stamina would have been another key
factor here, and Xenophon recommends that horsemen presenting their horses
34
Spence (1995: 41-3) argues that it is perfectly possible to do without horseshoes in
countries where ground is dry and hard, however, I would disagree with his statement that the
difference between riders of the pre-stirrup era and stirrup-equipped horsemen of later times has
been over-emphasised. As Hyland (1990: 130, cf. 116-19), a long-time professional horse-
woman and trainer, so rightly puts it, to ride bareback at full gallop in a straight line “is
relatively easy for a good horseman”. On the other hand, “the picture changes once the same
rider is armed and armoured”, and this extra weight tending to unbalance the rider and, in the
extreme, unseat him. Donning reconstructed armour and weapons, Hyland conducted riding
trials using Roman riding tack on her horse.
35
From a fictitious conversation between Sokrates and a young hipparchos, we learn that the
hippotoxotai “ride ahead” of the hipparchoi (Xen. Mem. 3.3.1).
36
Sekunda 1986: 54. Todd (1948: 20) rightly dismisses the suggestion that Dexileos was
“one of the five horsemen who lost their lives at Corinth”, because we know that at least eleven
did (IG 22 5222).
37
As a rider Dexileos probably fell into Hyland’s fourth category, namely “the brilliant
horseman who is at one with his horse” (1990: 113).
 Dexileos of Thorikos 119

before the boule should ride the usual course twice, “and that any horse unable
to keep up should be rejected” (Eq. mag. 1.13, cf. Oik. 9.15). Service in the
prodromoi was not a duty without inherent risk, and thus needed spirited and
courageous men and horses. Dexileos and his horse, it seems, fulfilled both
criteria.

A Class Apart
By virtue of their wealth and prominence in Athenian life, the hippeis in general,
and the serving horsemen in particular, formed a distinct and readily identifiable
group within Athenian society. This high public profile arose from private horse
usage, collective and individual training, public equestrian displays, religious
festivals and processions. The phylarchos in Aristophanes’ Lysistrata (561-2),
for example, remains mounted even while eating the porridge he had just
purchased from an old woman’s stall in the Agora. Conversely, in a speech
Lysias wrote for a client trying to get a disability pension restored, the speaker
claims that he rides a horse around Athens “through necessity and not through
arrogance” (Lys. 24.11). The linking of the hippeis with arrogance was partly
determined by their image as wealthy and aristocratic, but it was also tied in
with the perception of them as an essentially youthful organisation.
The horsemen of Athens formed a largely homogeneous group whose
members shared a similar outlook and a common social milieu. They are
typically portrayed as wealthy, aristocratic, longhaired, and youthful section of
society. This view, for instance, occurs frequently in both comedy and prose.
The horsemen of Aristophanes’ comedy Equites (580, 731, 1121, cf. Lys. 561,
Nub. 14) are identified as longhaired, aristocratic young men, which are
perfectly exemplified by Mantitheos of Thorikos, a litigant in the late 390s.38
Sculpture and vase painting also present the view that the Athenian horsemen
were youthful. Only two of the horsemen on the Parthenon frieze are portrayed
as bearded, the others are youths.39 This pattern is repeated on grave stelae and
other sculpture where bearded, and hence older horsemen, are much less
common than beardless youths. This is hardly surprising, for young men have
the skill, strength and stamina to ride horses without saddles and stirrups in
sometimes difficult equestrian manoeuvres on uneven and hazardous terrain. In
38
See Lysias, In Defence of Mantitheos, a speech dated between 393 and 389. At the
examination subsequent to his election to the boule, Mantitheos’ opponents demanded that he
be barred from that body on the ground that he had served as a member of the cavalry under the
Thirty.
39
West frieze, slab IV figure 8, slab VIII figure 15. Martin (1886: 149-50) notes direct
statements of cavalry involvement in specific festivals are rare, however, Xenophon lists among
the civic duties of the hipparchos state festivals “worth seeing” (Eq. mag. 3.1, cf. Dem. 4.26,
Plut. Phok. 37.1). Spence (1995: 267-71) justly criticises the theories that the mounted
participants are the heroised dead from Marathon or mounted epheboi.
120 Nic Fields

the recruiting of horsemen, Xenophon (Eq. mag. 1.9, cf. Ath. pol. 49.2) clearly
emphasises that physical endurance is as important as possession of wealth.
The social homogeneity of the cavalry corps indubitably engendered an esprit
de corps and a sense of corporate identity, but it also created the potential for
social upheaval in Athens. In the latter part of the fifth century BC longhair was
commonly associated with anti-democratic and pro-Spartan sympathies (Ar.
Vesp. 463-70, 474-6, Av. 1281-3, Lys. 16.18). The cavalry corps was not
however collectively prominent in the oligarchic revolution of 411, but the same
cannot be said for the coup d'état staged by the Thirty Tyrants in 404. Not
noted for their democratic leanings, these aristocratic horsemen, who were in
the prime of their youth, aped Spartan habits: they not only wore their hair
long, but also wore crimson military cloaks and happily engaged in boxing and
other contact-sports. It was because of these practices their detractors
disparagingly called them “the lads with the cauliflower ears” (Plat. Gorgias
515e, Protag. 342b). This negative attitude towards the horsemen was evoked
because they were perceived as arrogant and out of step with the democratic
ideal. It comes as no great surprise to find, during their short reign of terror, the
Thirty Tyrants being backed by the Athenian cavalry corps, the young
Xenophon amongst them.40

The Thirty Tyrants

The uncertain months that followed Athens’ surrender to Sparta in April 404 are
an ugly period in Athenian history. Thirty men, with the overt backing of
Sparta, were chosen to create a constitution based on the ancestral laws (Xen.
Hell. 2.3.2). The Thirty Tyrants promptly appointed sympathetic members to a
new boule and abolished the popular juries, but refused to carry out the mission
for which they had been selected, namely to frame a new constitution (Xen.
Hell. 2.3.11). And so, once the populace had been rendered harmless, a reign of
terror commenced in Athens. The Thirty and their supporters exiled or executed
many Athenians either because of personal enmity or simply to acquire their
wealth. They likewise targeted many resident aliens (metoikoi) as a means of
financing the Spartan garrison encamped on the Acropolis (Xen. Hell. 2.3.21). It
is said that the purge resulted in the unlawful deaths of 1500 people, citizens
and metoikoi alike, while many others fled Athens. As it was dominated by
aristocratic young men the cavalry corps had acquired definite sympathy for
oligarchic rule and thus the unit as a whole heavily involved itself in the regime,
including involvement in their atrocities (Xen. Hell. 2.4.8, cf. 26).
40
His detailed narrative dealing with the events at Mounychia strongly suggests that he wrote
it as an eyewitness, but as a witness on the wrong side (Hell. 2.4.10-19). When the Thirty fled to
Eleusis, we also gain the distinct impression that he was still them, and was not among the
seventy hippeis who deserted to Thrasyboulos after the latter’s victory at the Peiraieus (Hell.
2.4.24, 25). For Xenophon’s political views, see Anderson 1974, 40-5.
 Dexileos of Thorikos 121

Democracy was restored in September 403 and amnesty was immediately

extended to all but the Thirty and a few others (Xen. Hell. 2.4.38, 42-3, Lys.
16.8, Ath. pol. 39.5, cf. 40.1).41 However, although individual horsemen who
had served under the Thirty Tyrants were protected by the amnesty, the cavalry
corps as an institution did not get off quite so lightly. The unanimity of its
members’ support for the regime, the atrocities committed by some of the more
zealous horsemen, and its willingness to obey the commands of a foreign power
against fellow-citizens. All of these crimes combined to evoke an intense hatred
towards the cavalry corps that persisted at least a generation after the event. So
the restored democracy took immediate measures to vent its displeasure, and it
did so by attacking the financial foundation of the organisation. The stipend of
the horsemen was reduced from a drachme to four Attic obols per day, while
that of the hippotoxotai was raised from two Attic obols to eight (Lys. fr. 6,
Grenfell and Hunt). In addition, those who had served under the Thirty were
forced to pay back the grant that the state had provided them upon entry into
the cavalry corps, and which they were expected to repay upon retirement.42
Nevertheless, if this last measure was designed to force the guilty into an early
retirement, Xenophon provides proof that some of those who had served under
the tyrants were still serving in 400/399. The Spartans had decided to despatch
an expeditionary force to Anatolia ostensibly to ensure the freedom of the
Ionian Greeks, who were being harassed by the Persian satrap Tissaphernes. The
commander of the enterprise, Thibron, requested the Athenians contribute 300
horsemen, whom he offered to pay himself. Xenophon dryly comments that the
Athenians sent some of those that had served under the Thirty, thinking it to be
“a boon to the democracy if these horsemen went abroad and perished there”
(Hell. 3.1.4). There is no further mention of these 300 Athenian horsemen. For
many of the younger horsemen who had not seen service under the Thirty, the
inherited guilt must have been particularly galling. When the eighteen year old
Dexileos joined the ranks of the cavalry corps, either in the summer of 396 or
that of the following year, this collective feeling of shame and the associated
stigma would have been uppermost in the minds of its members, new and old
alike. Moreover, the political events that would lead to his untimely death were
already unfolding.
By 396 the Spartans, under the command of Agesilaos, were planning to
invade the interior of the Persia itself. However, Persian gold helped to organise
an anti-Spartan coalition back in Greece, which threatened to invade the
Peloponnese in the absence of Agesilaos. Nonetheless, in the spring of 394 the
Spartans mobilised an army under Aristodemos and the two opposing forces
were soon approaching each other along the south shore of the Gulf of Corinth.

41
For a discussion on the date of the amnesty, see especially Dorjahn 1946: 7-15.
42
Harp. s.v. katastasis, a gloss on Lys. 16.6-7.
122 Nic Fields

The Battle
According to Xenophon (Hell. 4.2.18) the Boiotians unashamedly waited until it
was someone’s else’s turn in the days prior to the battle to face the seemingly
invincible Spartans, and then announced that the omens were favourable and
that the engagement would be fought. They then led off the deployment, and not
only disregarded the agreed sixteen deep formation and went much deeper, but
also led off well to the right, ensuring their deep phalanx would handsomely
outflank their opponents, the allies of the Spartans. The result was that the
unhappy left wing contingent, the Athenians, were bound to be outflanked by
the Spartan phalanx, even if the Spartans had not (as they did) also led off too
far right to ensure that their wing was victorious. It is clear that both sides were
capitalising on the ‘rightward drift’ phenomenon of a hoplite phalanx.43
The result of the battle was thus that the right wings of both armies were
easily victorious, and the allied centre drove back the Spartan centre. But the
Spartans kept their phalanx well in hand, while each of the victorious allied
contingents merely returned towards the camp after defeating its opposite
numbers. The Spartans therefore swung across the battlefield, catching each
returning contingent on its unshielded flank and defeating it. According to
Xenophon (Hell. 4.3.1, cf. Diod. 14.83.2), the Spartans later claimed that only
eight of their own men were killed, as against “very many” of the enemy,
though they admitted that “not a few” of their allies had fallen.44 One of the
“very many” was the twenty-year old Dexileos.
When Dexileos’ remains were returned to Athens they were not buried in the
family plot. The young Dexileos was laid to rest in the nearby demosion sema,
the state burial ground for the war-dead, on the dromos in the direction of
45
which his grave relief faces.46 As a consequence, Dexileos’ name appears on
another funerary monument with those of his fallen comrades. Found not far
from the demosion sema this public monument is an ornately sculptured cornice
of Pentelic marble, which was designed to rest on another element, now lost but
probably an equestrian relief. Its epistyle contains an inscription (IG 22 5222 =
Harding 19B) the names of one phylarchos and ten horsemen, including that of
Dexileos, who died at Nemea River and one horseman who fell at Second
Koroneia, the other great battle of 394. It is believed that this monument lists
the fallen horsemen of a single tribe, Akamantis, and it is known that Dexileos
belonged to that tribe. To these two monuments from the Kerameikos cemetery,
43
All hoplite armies, we are assured by Thucydides, tended to edge to the right because the
man on the extreme right was anxious “to keep his own shieldless side away from the enemy,
and his fear spreads to the others who follow his example” (5.71.1).
44
For Xenophon’s full account of the battle, see Hell. 4.2.14-23. For an in-depth analysis of
the battle, see Lazenby 1985: 135-43.
45
On the demosion sema, see Knigge 1991: 11, 157-9.
46
Athens, National Museum 754.
 Dexileos of Thorikos 123

one public and one private, we may add yet a third, the official casualty list of
47
the campaigns at Corinth and Koroneia. Of this monument only the top right-
48
hand corner exists, including a battle relief and column headings of the last six
Athenian tribes, including that of Akamantis, the tribe to which Dexileos
49
belonged. An inscription (IG 22 5221 = Harding 19A) makes it certain that the
monument, which Pausanias (1.29.8) probably saw in the demosion sema,
50
commemorates the war dead of 394.
Conclusion
Five Attic red-figure oinochoai were found as sepulchral offerings for Dexileos,
one of which has a freely drawn representation of the famous statue of the
Tyrannicides.51 This subject matter is appropriate for the youth who died
fighting for Athens and was obviously used as a paradigm of democratic attitude
and civil courage.52 In a lecture that he delivered at the 1975 APA/AIA meeting
in Washington D.C., Professor Colin Edmonson offered an ingenious
explanation for Dexileos’ exceptional epitaph.53 He suggested that Dexileos’
parents wanted to announce publicly that their young son, only twenty years
old, had not only died bravely for democracy as a horseman but was also too
young to have participated in the cavalry corps and its disgrace in 404/3. The
exact dating stood as a testament to that fact.
47
Athens, National Museum 2744.
48
The surviving part of the relief depicts a horseman in Boiotian helmet and chiton with
slung bird-handled kopis and bare feet. Mounted on a rearing horse, he is poised to hurl a
javelin/thrust with a kamax (now missing) at two hoplites, one standing in a protective posture
over his fallen comrade. The relief continued on the left as indicated by the remains of a tail
belonging to a second horse, and this horseman is to be placed above the lost first portion of the
inscription. For a discussion of the relief, see Hölscher 1973: 105-7.
49
Smith (1919: 357) notes that tribal names always occur in the same order on the extant
Athenian casualty lists. In their official order, the names of the ten Kleisthenic tribes were
Erechtheis (I), Aigeis (II), Pandionis (III), Leontis (IV), Akamantis (V), Oineis (VI), Kekropis
(VII), Hippothontis (VIII), Aiantis (IX) and Antiochis (X) ([Dem.] 60.27-31, Paus. 1.5.2-4).
50
For text and commentary, see Todd 1948: 19.
51
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 98.936.
52
See Vermeule 1970: 103-7. The Tyrannicides themselves were buried in the demosion sema
and received their cult in this place; their famous statues, however, were not located there, but in
the Agora. For the religious and political importance of the Tyrannicides statues, see Shapiro
1994: 123-4.
53
“IG 22 6217: a footnote to the restoration of the Athenian democracy”. Edmonson’s
explanation is also accepted by Strauss (1986: 124), Bugh (1988: 139), and Spence (1995: 219).
124 Nic Fields

This type of defence is paralleled in two forensic speeches written by Lysias,

On the Scrutiny of Euandros and Against Theomnestos. In the first speech (Lys.
26.21), the accuser boasts that he had undergone scrutiny for manhood after the
oligarchy in Athens and, furthermore, that his father had died in Sicily long
before 404/3. A similar sentiment is expressed in the second speech (Lys. 10.1.4,
31-2, 2.2, 12), where the speaker repeatedly claims that he was only thirteen
years old when his father was executed by the Thirty Tyrants. Again, in two
works by Isokrates, the same sort of argument appears. In one passage (Isokr.
16.46), Alkibiades the Younger emphasises the fact that he was but a child in
404/3 and indeed was expelled from Athens by the Thirty Tyrants. In another
passage (Isokr. 20.11), the accuser has to admit that Lochites, a young
aristocrat, was too young to have participated in the oligarchy of the Thirty
Tyrants and has to fall back on a character assassination to link him with them.
Being a minor at the time of the Thirty Tyrants, therefore, removed a person
from complicity with the oligarchs and their bloody regime. Such is likely to
have been the intent of the Dexileos epitaph.
In addition, it is likely that the monument to the horsemen, Dexileos
included, killed at Nemea River and Second Koroneia was set up by the cavalry
corps and was designed to draw attention to their military contribution. The
survival of this inscription (IG 22 5222) is particularly interesting as the
Athenians who had died in the campaigns of 394 were already commemorated
on a state casualty list organised on the usual tribal basis (IG 22 5221). The
most plausible explanation for this apparent duplication is that, like the family
of Dexileos, the horsemen collectively felt their unpopularity and decided to
publicise their contribution to the polis’ war effort.
But old grievances are long remembered. In describing the performance of the
Athenian cavalry corps outside Mantineia during the campaign season of 362,
Xenophon rhetorically asks, “who would not admire the excellence (arete) of
these men?” (Hell. 7.5.16). These men were boldly attacking a larger force and
one composed of the best horsemen of Greece, namely the Thebans and the
Thessalians. In spite of this and the fact that the Athenian horsemen had just
engaged hostile forces near Corinth en route to Mantineia, they forthrightly
charged the enemy, “each man’s heart on fire to win back the glory of their
fathers” (Hell. 7.5.16). This is a telling remark on Xenophon’s part. To restore
something requires first the loss of it.

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