Lachares
(Λαχάρης), an Athenian, was one of the most influential demagogues in his native city, after the democracy had been re-established by Demetrius Poliorcetes. He was afterwards secretly gained over by Cassander, who incited him to aim at the acquisition of the tyranny, hoping to be able through his means to rule Athens. (Paus. 1.25.7.) He does not seem, however, to have been able to effect this purpose until Athens was besieged by Demetrius (B. C. 296), when he took advantage of the excitement of the popular mind to expel Demochares, the leader of the opposite party, and establish himself as undisputed master of the city. We know but little either of the intrigues by which he raised himself to power or of his proceedings afterwards; but he is described in general terms by Pausanias, as "of all tyrants the most inhuman towards men, and the most sacrilegious towards the gods." He plundered the temples, and especially the Parthenon, of all their most valuable treasures, stripping even the statue of Athena of her sacred ornaments. At the beginning of his rule he had procured a decree to be passed, forbidding, under pain of death, even the mention of treating with Demetrius; and he succeeded in inducing, or compelling, the Athenians to hold out until they were reduced to the last extremities of famine. At length, however, he despaired of doing so any longer, and, stealing out of the city in disguise, made his escape to Thebes. (Paus. 1.25.7, 29.10; Plut. Demetr. 33, 34, De Is. et Osir. 71, p. 379, Adv. Epicur. p. 1090e.; Polyaen. 4.7.5; Athen. 9.405f.) A story is told of him by Polyaenus (3.7.1), that being pursued by some horsemen of Demetrius, he escaped from them by dropping gold pieces along the road as he fled. According to the same author, he remained at Thebes until it was taken by Demetrius, when he fled from thence to Delphi, and afterwards to Thrace. Here he was again in danger of falling into the hands of his enemy, Demetrius having invaded Thrace during the captivity of Lysimachus, and besieged the town of Sestos, in which Lachares then happened to be; but he once more succeeded in making his escape to Lysimachia. (Polyaen. 3.7. §§ 2, 3.) We again hear of him at Cassandrea as late as B. C. 279, when he was expelled from that city by Apollodorus, on a charge of having conspired to betray it into the hands of Antiochus. (Id. 6.7.2.) Hence it appears clear that Pausanias is mistaken when he states that Lachares was murdered soon after his escape from Athens, for the sake of the wealth he was supposed to have accumulated. (Paus. 1.25.7.) [E.H.B]
(Λαχάρης), a rhetorician of Athens, who flourished in the fifth century of our era, under the emperors Marcianus and Leo. He was a disciple of Heracleon, and in his turn he was the instructor of many eminent men of the time, such as Eustephius, Nicolaus, Asterius, Proclus, and Superianus. (Suid s. vv. Λαχάπης, Σουπηριανός; Marinus, Vit. Procl. 11.) He is spoken of in terms of very high praise both by Suidas and Marinus, as a man of a noble character and an orator of great popularity in his time. Suidas mentions several works of his, but all are lost, and scarcely a single trace of them has come down to us. Their titles are: 1. Περὶ κώλου, καὶ κόμματος, καὶ περιόδου. (Comp. Schol. ad Hermog. in the Rhet. Graec. vol. iii. pp. 719, 721, vol. vii. p. 930.) 2. Διαλέξεις, or Disputations. 3. Ἰστορία ἡ κατὰ Κορνοῦτον: whether this was an historical or a rhetorical work is uncertain, no historian of the name of Cornutus being known. 4. Ἐκλογαὶ ῥητορικαὶ κατὰ στοιχεῖον, i. e. select passages from the Greek orators in alphabetical order. [L.S]
(Λαχάρης). An Athenian popular leader who in B.C. 296 made himself supreme in Athens at the time when that city was besieged by Demetrius. When the city was about to capitulate, Lachares escaped to Thebes with a great treasure, and was there murdered for his wealth (Pausan. i. 25, 7).
- Paus. 1.25.7, Paus. 1.29.10
- put down by Demetrius: Paus. 1.25.7
- carries off treasure: Paus. 1.29.16
- murdered at Coronea: Paus. 1.25.7