Alexarchus or Alexarch (Greek: Ἀλέξαρχος) was an Ancient Macedonian scholar and officer, son of Antipater and brother of Cassander. He lived around 350 to 290 BC. He is mentioned as the founder of a utopian town called Ouranopolis, in Chalcidice. Here he is said to have introduced a number of neologisms, which, though very expressive, appear to have been regarded as slang or pedantic.
Glossary
- ἀπύτης aputes <caller> for keryx herald (Attic ἠπύω êpuô, Doric and Arcadian apuô, call to)
- ἀργυρὶς argyris <silver cup> for drachma
- βροτοκέρτης brotokertes <mortal-shaver> for koureus barber
- ἡμεροτροφὶς hemerotrophis <daily-food> for choinix dry measure
- ὀρθροβόας orthroboas <morning-shouter> for alektor, alektryon rooster
References
- Schmitz, Leonhard (1867). "Alexarchus (1)". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 128.
- Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae iii. p. 98
- Gera, Deborah Levine (2003). Ancient Greek ideas on speech, language, and civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 33. ISBN 0-19-925616-0.
Sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Alexarchus (1)". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. p. 128.