Thrasybulus (tyrant)

Thrasyboulos of Miletus ( Θρασύβουλος ο Μιλήσιος ) was at the beginning of the 6th century BC rulers ( tyrant ) of the city of Miletus, on the west coast of Asia Minor, in present-day Turkey.

He is mentioned among others by Herodotus ( Hdt. 5.92f ), Aristotle ( Aristot. Pol. 3, 1284a & Arist. Pol. 5, 1311a ) and Dionysius of Halicarnassus. He is credited with the Machiavellian doctrine that one who wishes to assert itself as sole ruler, you must first kill all serious competitors. Throughout the ancient world, the anecdote was known, as he demonstrates this makes political principle to his friend Periander, the tyrant of Corinth, by the projecting beyond the mass of ears, he shows in a cornfield and uproots them. In some traditions the story is told and vice versa, so the cynical demonstration attributed to Periander, who was regarded as the inventor and main proponent of tyranny in ancient times.

Thrasyboulos considered as a contemporary of the Lydian ruler Alyattes II, against Miletus during the reign of 605 BC to 561 BC had several years of war.