1. Biographical data

Polemon -who was later characterized as “Periegetes” due to his many travels and his geographical and historical writings- was one of the most prolific authors of traveling accounts. The relatively little information we have on his life and travels comes from the Suidas lexicon and maybe from a proxeny decree in his honour from Delphi.¹ However, several ancient writers such as Strabo (64/62 B.C.-24 A.D.), Athenaios (3rd century A.D.) and Plutarch (1st-2nd century A.D.) inform us also on his work.²

Polemon was born in the village of Glykeia, in the territory of Ilion at the Troad, at the end of the 3rd or the beginning of the 2nd century B.C. Suidas' lexicon relates that he was a contemporary of Ptolemy Epiphanes (203-180 B.C.), thus refuting the allegation of Asclepiades from Myrleia that he was a student of Panaitios. If his identification with Polemon mentioned on the Delphic inscription is correct, then he was son of Milesius³ and he served as a proxenos at Delphi during the years 177-176 B.C.

2. Action

Polemon traveled extensively, as attested by his nickname, in areas such as Magna Grecia and Sicily, mainland Greece and Asia Minor. The basic incentive for these travels was his personal interest. Often, however, as was the case with many intellectuals in the Hellenistic period, his travels may have had also a political character, as attested by the aforementioned inscription from Delphi. Large part of his work is dedicated to Athens, where Polemon had acquired political rights.

3. Evaluation

His contemporaries, Plutarch in particular, considered Polemon as “indefatigable” and “prolific” writer with multiple interests. His works focus on the area of mainland Greece, but were also related to the coastal areas of Asia Minor. His simultaneous presence as an intellectual and a politician as well as his inquisitive mind, make him a genuine representative of the Hellenistic era and thought.

4. Work

Polemon's works are known to us mainly through mentions and short quotations by other writers. In some cases we are not even sure whether they are authentic or not. They are divided in three categories: a) periegetic, historiographic and archaeological texts, b) compilations or commentaries on works by other authors, c) letters or treatises on hermeneutic, cultic, linguistic and other issues. Both the choice of his topics and the way he treated his material attest to the fact that he was mainly oriented towards geography, with some historical nuances. Most of his works were descriptions of cities, where references to their history and their monuments run in parallel. In fact, with his work “On the inscriptions of the cities” Polemon actually became the father of epigraphy, since he collected and published inscriptions, mainly those which accompanied dedications to important cities and cultic centres, such as Sparta, Delphi etc.⁴