Alcaeus of Messene

Alcaeus (Gr. polytonic|Ἀλκαῖος) of Messene was the author of a number of epigrams in the Greek Anthology, from some of which his date may be easily fixed at around the late 3rd/early 2nd century BC.cite encyclopedia | last = Smith | first = Philip | authorlink = | title = Alcaeus of Messene | editor = William Smith | encyclopedia = Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology | volume = 1 | pages = 95 | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | location = Boston | year = 1867 | url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0104.html ] He was contemporary with Philip V, king of Macedon and son of Demetrius II of Macedon, against whom several of his epigrams are pointed, apparently from patriotic feelings. One of these epigrams, however, gave even more offense to the Roman general Flamininus than to Philip, on account of the author's ascribing the victory of the battle of Cynoscephalae to the Aetolians as much as to the Romans. Philip contented himself with writing an epigram in reply to that of Alcaeus, in which he gave the Messenian a very broad hint of the fate he might expect if he fell into his hands. [Plutarch, "Flamininus" 9] This reply was enough to lead French classical scholar Claudius Salmasius to suppose that Alcaeus was actually crucified by Philip. [Claudius Salmasius, "De Cruce", p. 449, ap. Fabric. "Biblioth. Graec." ii. p. 88] In another epigram, in praise of Flamininus, the mention of the Roman general's name, Titus, led John Tzetzes into the error of imagining the existence of an epigrammatist named Alcaeus under the emperor Titus. [John Tzetzes, "Proleg. in Lycophron"] Those epigrams of Alcaeus which bear internal evidence of their date were written between the years 219 and 196 BC.

Of the twenty-two epigrams in the Greek Anthology which bear the name of "Alcaeus," two are written "Alcaeus of Mytilene"; but most scholars take this to be the addition of some ignorant copyist. Others bear the name of "Alcaeus of Messene," and some of Alcaeus alone. But in the last class there are several which must, from internal evidence, have been written by Alcaeus of Messene, and, in fact, there seems no reason to doubt his being the author of the whole twenty-two.

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