Diodorus in the context of "Ptolemaic cult of Alexander the Great"

Pythia (/ˈpɪθiə/; Ancient Greek: Πυθία [pyːˈtʰíaː]) was the title of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi in central Greece. She served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was sometimes historically glossed in English as the Pythoness.

The Pythia was established at the latest in the 8th century BC (though some estimates date the shrine to as early as 1400 BC), and was widely credited for her prophecies uttered under divine possession (enthusiasmos) by Apollo. The Pythian priestess emerged as pre-eminent by the end of the 7th century BC and continued to be consulted until the late 4th century AD. During this period, the Delphic Oracle was the most prestigious and authoritative oracle among the Greeks, and she was among the most powerful women of the classical world. The oracle is one of the best-documented religious institutions of the classical Greeks. Authors who mention the oracle include Aeschylus, Aristotle, Clement of Alexandria, Diodorus, Diogenes, Euripides, Herodotus, Julian, Justin, Livy, Lucan, Nepos, Ovid, Pausanias, Pindar, Plato, Plutarch, Sophocles, Strabo, Thucydides, and Xenophon.

Eion (Ancient Greek: Ἠϊών, Ēiṓn), one of two ancient cities named Chrysopolis, was an ancient Greek Eretrian colony in Thracian Macedonia specifically in the region of Edonis. It sat at the mouth of the Strymon River which flows into the Aegean from the interior of Thrace. It is referred to in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War as a place of considerable strategic importance to the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War.

Athenians for the first time attempted to capture Eion in 497 BC during the Ionian Revolt, which was unsuccessful as the revolt ended with Persians re-establishing control over the Thrace, including Eion, and a Persian fortress meant for permanent stay was built there, probably in 492 BC. Eion functioned as one of the main Achaemenid cities in Thrace where food was stored for the Persian king Xerxes I and his great armies. Herodotus and Diodorus speak of Persian garrisons, of which the one at Eion was amongst them, which meant that its senior commander was apparently ethnically Persian. Xerxes had recalled most of the Persian troops from the area in the winter of 480/479 BC. It was then captured by the Delian League in 476 BC under the leadership of the Athenian general Cimon, the son of Miltiades the Younger, who started a siege on the city. Refusing Cimon's offer of an honorable withdrawal, the Persian commander Boges destroyed the treasure, killed his family, and committed suicide as the food ran out. Cimon turned the course of the River Strymon so that it flowed against the city walls, causing the mud brick fortifications to dissolve. The inhabitants were enslaved. The capture of Eion was the beginning of a military campaign undertaken by the newly formed Delian League, whose objective was to clear the Aegean Sea of Persian fleets and pirates in order to facilitate Athenian access to the Hellespont.

Cleonae or Kleonai (Ancient Greek: Κλεωναί) was a city in ancient Peloponnesus, described by writers of the Roman period as a city of Argolis, but never included in the Argeia or territory of Argos, in the flourishing period of Greek history. Cleonae was situated on the road from Argos to Corinth, at the distance of 120 stadia from the former city, and 80 stadia from the latter. There was a narrow pass through the mountains, called Tretus, leading from Argos to Cleonae. Cleonae stood in a small plain upon a river flowing into the Corinthian Gulf a little westward of Lechaeum. In its territory was Mount Apesas, now Mount Phoukas, connected with the Acrocorinthus by a rugged range of hills. Both Strabo and Pausanias describe Cleonae as a small place; and the former writer, who saw it from the Acrocorinthus, says that it is situated upon a hill surrounded on all sides by buildings, and well walled, so as to deserve the epithet given to it by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad – ἐϋκτιμένας Κλεωνάς ('well-built Cleonae'). Statius also speaks of "ingenti turritae mole Cleonae."

Cleonae possessed only a small territory. It derived its chief importance from the Nemean Games being celebrated in its territory, in the grove of Nemea, between Cleonae and Phlius. Hence the festival is called by Pindar ἀγὼν Κλεωναῖος ('the Cleonaean games') Heracles is said to have slain Eurytus and Cteatus, the sons of Actor, near Cleonae; and Diodorus mentions a temple of Heracles erected in the neighbourhood of the city in memory of that event. The ruins of this sanctuary, a Prostyle of Doric order, still exist.

Pleurias (Ancient Greek Πλευρίας; ruled c. 337 – 335 BC) was an Illyrian king. According to some scholars Pleurias was probably king of the Autariatae. An Illyrian king called Pleurias is mentioned only in Diodorus (16.93.6). The name is elsewhere unattested in ancient sources, hence some scholars have identified him with Pleuratos, which is on the contrary a very common name among Illyrians.

According to Diodorus' historical account, in 337 BC Pleurias almost succeeded in killing Philip II of Macedon when he was on his Balkan campaigns.

Xanthippus (Ancient Greek: Ξάνθιππος) of Lacedaemon, or of Carthage, was a Spartan mercenary general employed by Carthage during the First Punic War. He led the Carthaginian army to considerable success, compared to previous failure, against the Roman Republic during the course of the war, training the army to a professional standard before defeating the Romans at the Battle of Tunis, where Carthaginian forces routed the Roman expeditionary force and captured the Roman consul Marcus Atilius Regulus in 255 BC.

Diodorus says that Xanthippus was the leader of a small band of Spartan mercenaries drafted by Carthage during the war. Xanthippus was hired as a Spartan drillmaster by the Carthaginians in 255 BC. Polybius tells us that he first came to the attention of the Carthaginian leaders when he criticized the behaviour of Carthage's generals, arguing that it was they, and not the Romans, who were causing setbacks. Having been summoned to explain himself to Carthage's elite, he successfully argued his case and was placed in command of the Carthaginian army. Despite initial concern amongst the Carthaginians that Xanthippus would not be up to the task, he swiftly proved himself by successfully drilling the Carthaginian army and gained the approval of the soldiery.