Basileus: Encyclopedia II - Basileus - Ancient Greece

Basileus - Ancient Greece

The first written instance of this word is found on the baked clay tablets discovered in excavations of Mycenaean palaces originally destroyed by fire. The tablets are dated from the 15th century BC to the 11th century BC. They were inscribed with the Linear B script, which was deciphered by Michael Ventris in 1952 and corresponds to a very early form of Greek.

The word "basileus" is written as "qa-si-re-u" and its original meaning was "chieftain" (in one particular tablet the chieftain of the guild of bronzesmiths is referred to as "qa-si-re-u"). Its meaning later evolved to "king", as is attested in the works of Homer. The word can be contrasted with wanax, another word used for "king" and usually meaning "High King" or "overlord". The title "basileus" was used throughout the Greek-speaking world to signify the person and office of king, either in reality or when recounting Greek mythology. "Anax" was then used only in poetry and was particuralrly associated with the Olympian Gods, especially Zeus.

In classical times the use of "basileus" was limited to the very few states that never abolished the hereditary royal office in favor of democratic or oligarchic rule: namely the two hereditary Kings of Sparta (who served as joint commanders of the army), the Kings of Macedon and Epirus, various kings of "barbaric" (i.e. non-Greek) tribes in Thrace and Illyria, as well as the Achaemenid kings of Persia. The Persian king was also referred to as "Megas Basileus" (Great King) or "Basileus Basileon", a translation of the Persian title "Shâhanshâh" (King of Kings).

The term was also used in classical Athens in the title of the "Archon Basileus" (Lord King), which was an elected and purely ceremonial office supervising religious rites. In other city-states occasionally governed by authoritarian rulers the term "basileus" was never used, and the titles "tyrannos" (tyrant) or, more benignly, "archon" (lord) were preferred. This signifies that a ruling Greek "basileus" had to be an heir of a long-standing, legitimate dynasty.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Ancient Greece", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki