This article is about the Greeks. For their Persian enemies, see Achaemenids.
Bust of Pericles in the British Museum, dated 1911. One of the most famous Alcmaeonidae, Pericles was an Athenian general, orator, and statesman.
The Alcmaeonidae (/ˌælkmiːˈɒnɪdiː/; Greek: Ἀλκμαιωνίδαι, Alkmaionidai; Attic: Ἀλκμεωνίδαι, Alkmeonidai) or Alcmaeonids (/ˌælkmiːˈoʊnɪdz/) were a wealthy and powerful noble family of ancient Athens, a branch of the Neleides who claimed descent from the mythological Alcmaeon, the great-grandson of Nestor.[1]
In the 7th through 5th centuries BC, the Alcmaeonidae played a significant role in the developments and events that occurred in Athens. Such developments included overthrowing an Athenian tyrant, helping to lay the foundations of Athenian democracy, and having generals for Athens during the Peloponnesian War. The Alcmaeonidae were mentioned frequently throughout Herodotus' The Histories, and many played a key role in shaping Athens. The first prominent Alcmaeonid was Megacles, who was exiled from the city and given a curse on him and his family. Furthermore, there was Cleisthenes, who became known as "the father of Athenian democracy" by numerous scholars and historians.[2] Another famous Alcmaeonid was Pericles, whom Thucydides would later call "the first citizen of Athens," as well as Alcibiades, who switched sides numerous times during the Peloponnesian War, and would end up being the last of the notable Alcmaeonidae.[3] The main aristocratic rival of the Alcmaeonidae in the 6th and 5th centuries BC were the Peisistratids.[4]
^Smith, Philip (1867). "Alcmaeonidae". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 105–106. Archived from the original on 2008-05-21.
^R. Po-chia Hsia, Julius Caesar, Thomas R. Martin, Barbara H. Rosenwein, and Bonnie G. Smith, The Making of the West, Peoples and Cultures, A Concise History, Volume I: To 1740 (Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007), 44.
^Strassler, R.B, ed. The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War. Trans. by R. Crawley. New York: The Free Press, 1996. pp. 6.61.
^Strassler, R.B, ed. The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories. Trans. by A.L. Purvis. New York: Anchor Books, 2009. p. 791.
The Alcmaeonidae (/ˌælkmiːˈɒnɪdiː/; Greek: Ἀλκμαιωνίδαι, Alkmaionidai; Attic: Ἀλκμεωνίδαι, Alkmeonidai) or Alcmaeonids (/ˌælkmiːˈoʊnɪdz/) were a wealthy...
maternal grandfather, Megacles. Cleisthenes came from the family of the Alcmaeonidae. He was the son of Agariste and grandson of Cleisthenes of Sicyon. Unlike...
Athens from 922 BC to 892 BC. The second Megacles was a member of the Alcmaeonidae family, and the archon eponymous in 632 BC when Cylon made his unsuccessful...
450 – 404 BC) was an Athenian statesman and general. The last of the Alcmaeonidae, he played a major role in the second half of the Peloponnesian War as...
Antilochus, his grandson. One notable offshoot of this family line was the Alcmaeonidae. Schmitz, Leonhard (1867). "Neleides". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary...
the Alcmaeonidae, were exiled from the city for violating the laws against killing suppliants. According to Herodotus (5.71), The Alcmaeonidae were cursed...
may refer to: Alcmaeon, the great-grandson of Nestor, from whom the Alcmaeonidae claimed descent Alcmaeon (mythology), one of the Epigoni Alcmaeon in...
with Cleomenes' help, expelled Cleisthenes and other members of the Alcmaeonidae family on pretext of the Alcmaeonidaean stain (see Megacles). Cleisthenes'...
suppliants and proceeded to stone them to death. Megacles and his genos, the Alcmaeonidae, were exiled from the city for violating the laws against killing suppliants...
was a member of the powerful and controversial noble family of the Alcmaeonidae, and her familial connections played a crucial role in helping start...
He later married Isodice, Megacles' granddaughter and a member of the Alcmaeonidae family. Their first children were twin boys named Lacedaemonius (who...
Trophonios and Agamedes. The 6th-century BC temple was named the "Temple of Alcmaeonidae" in tribute to the Athenian family who funded its reconstruction following...
In the late 6th century BCE, the Alcmaeonidae family strongly supported the rebuilding of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, so as to improve their standing...
rivals (he came from the Philaid clan, traditional rivals of the powerful Alcmaeonidae) and the general Athenian mistrust of a man accustomed to unfettered...
Gulistan and Afghanistan. Alkmeenon Delphi. Its name derives from the Alcmaeonidae, who funded construction the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, from which the...
opposition to Cleisthenes, the leader of the traditionally powerful Alcmaeonidae family, who considered themselves the natural heirs to the rule of Athens...
Κλεινίας), father of Alcibiades, brother of Axiochus, and member of the Alcmaeonidae family, was an Athenian who married Deinomache, the daughter of Megacles...
he re-spelled his last name Hathorne to Hawthorne. The curse of the Alcmaeonidae The Curse of the Braganzas (from John IV of Portugal to Louis Philip)...
Archon of Athens, reigning in the 9th century BC. Smith, William (1867). "Alcmaeonidae". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and...
opposition to Cleisthenes, the leader of the traditionally powerful Alcmaeonidae family, who considered themselves the natural heirs to the rule of Athens...
(Ancient Greek: Λειψύδριον), was a fortress of ancient Attica, in which the Alcmaeonidae fortified themselves after the death of Hipparchus, but was taken by...
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