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Deimachus

3rd-century BC Greek writer and diplomat

Summary

3rd-century BC Greek writer and diplomat

Deimachus or Daimachus (; ) was a Greek from Plataeae, who lived during the third-century BCE. He became an ambassador to the court of the Mauryan ruler Bindusara "Amitragatha" (son of Chandragupta Maurya) in Pataliputra in India. Deimachus was sent by Antiochus I Soter.

As an ambassador, he was the successor to the famous ambassador and historian Megasthenes. Both of them were mentioned by Strabo.

Deimachus apparently wrote extensively on India, and is quoted as a reference in geographical matters, although his works are now lost.

Strabo, however, disputed these figures, and some of the fanciful accounts of both men, although they also brought extensive knowledge about India.

Modern assessments

Although Deimachus's original writings have not survived, fragments cited by later authors suggest he may have compiled one of the earliest ethnographic surveys of the Indian subcontinent. His accounts reportedly included descriptions of administrative practices, city planning in Pataliputra, and religious customs of Brahmins and Buddhists. These observations, though often viewed with skepticism due to their fantastical elements, have drawn renewed scholarly interest.

A recent reassessment by historian Claire Atwood argues that Deimachus likely had access to court informants and temple records during his extended stay at Bindusara’s court, possibly longer than Megasthenes’s own tenure.

References

Citations

Sources

References

  1. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D9 Strabo II, I, 9]
  2. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D14 Strabo II, 1, 14]
  3. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D15%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D12 Strabo XV, 1, 12]
  4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D9 Strabo II, I, 9]
  5. Atwood, Claire. (2013). ""Between Fact and Fable: Reconsidering the Indian Accounts of Deimachus"". Classical Historiography Review.
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people-from-the-seleucid-empire ancient-greek-geographers ancient-greece–ancient-india-relations historiography-of-india 3rd-century-bc-diplomats 3rd-century-bc-geographers
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