Programme & Abstracts :: Registration Details :: Accommodation

THE CLOTHED BODY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
17-19 January 2002

Christopher Tuplin,
University of Liverpool

Treacherous hearts and upright tiaras

The title alludes to Xenophon Anabasis 2.5.23, where Tissaphernes says to Clearchus (translating literally) "the tiara on the head only the King may have upright (orthe), but the tiara in the heart someone else as well could perhaps, with your support, easily have [upright]". This observation forms part of the final conversation between Tissaphernes and Clearchus before the latter (along with 4 fellow-generals) paid his fatal visit to Tissaphernes' tent on the banks of the Great Zab. Its intention is apparently to suggest the possibility of long-term collusion or co-operation between the satrap and Cyrus' ex-mercenaries.

In the present context a number of questions arise. (1) What exactly is the observation supposed to hint at: outright rebellion or just a privately "royal" frame of mind (as though a Catholic cleric were to appoint himself a cardinal in petto)? (2) Did Persian Kings wear anything that could properly be called an "upright" tiara? (3) If, as may be thought prima facie to be the case, the answer to this is not a resounding yes, what did Greeks mean by saying they did? Did they always mean the same thing by it? How does their picture of royal hats relate to other perceived differentiae of royal dress? (4) What does Xenophon's willingness to attribute the metaphor to a Persian satrap say about his reliability as a source on Persian Realien? Discsussion of these questions will interact with several of advertised general topics (especially display, social control, identity and art).