Maximilian Otto Bismarck Caspari

“ He cultivated friendly relations with the tyrants of Miletus and Mytilene, and maintained a connexion with the kings of Lydia, of Egypt and, possibly, of Phrygia In spite of these varied achievements Periander never entirely conciliated his subjects, for he could not trust himself without a bodyguard. ”

“ In contrast with his father Cypselus, the founder of the dynasty, he is generally represented as a cruel despot, or at any rate as having used all possible devices for keeping his city in subjection. Among numerous anecdotes the following is characteristic. Periander, on being consulted by the tyrant Thrasybulus of Miletus as to the best device for maintaining himself in power, by way of reply led the messenger through a cornfield, and as he walked struck off the tallest and best-grown ears (a legend applied to Roman circumstances in Livy i. 54) . ”

“ At the same time he sought to check excessive accumulation of wealth in individual hands and restricted the influx of population into the town. Employment was found for the proletariat in the erection of temples and of public works. ”