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These passages are generally considered to be fragments of the
Constitution of Chalcidians mentioned above, which was supposedly
written by Aristotle or one of his disciples. This theory is
most strongly supported by the mention of an aristocratic government
of Chalcis. 8 It has even been suggested that this work was the
main source for Strabo when he wrote on history of Euboea. 9 Despite
such far-reaching conclusions it is worth noting that Strabo
used Aristotle's descriptions of constitution relatively rarely, since
— other than the above-mentioned fragments in Geographica —
only nine such quotations have been identified. Moreover, in the
mention quoted by Strabo, the Chalcidian aristocrats were referred
to as hippobotai, a term that did not appear in Aristotle's work —
either in Politics in the fragment in which he discusses the role of
cavalry in supporting the oligarchic systems of Chalcis and Eretreia,
or in any other of his works. Although this argument is not a
particularly strong one, as e.g. Athenaion Politeia lacks terms typical
for Aristotle, it does support the thesis that Strabo may have
preserved fragments of Peri Euboia. 10
If Aristoteles of Chalcis wrote about early Euboean colonisation,
he could also have been the Aristoteles mentioned by Aelianos
(Varia Historia 5.1.3): Aristoteles says that before the pillars of
Hercules were so called they were known as the pillars of Briareus.
This passage was listed by V. Rose (F 678) among other dubious
fragments written by Aristotle. Briareos was a powerful creature
of a hundred hands, summoned from the sea by Thetis to help
Zeus; Homer (Iliad 1.397) explains that he was called Briareos by
Gods and Aigaion by men. This figure was closely connected to
Euboea since, according to Solinus (11.16), Aigaion was worshipped
in Chalcis and Briareus in the Euboean town of Karystos. 11 In
local tradition, Briareos-Aigaion was also linked with the invention
of bronze weapons, Euboean thalassocracy and it was also suggested
that the hundred-handed Briareos could be a representation of a
8 Strabo 10.1.3 445C and 10.1.8 447 = Müller FHG. 2 105 and 106 = Aristoteles
Fragmenta 601 and 603 (Rose).
9 W. Aly, Strabon von Amaseia, Bonn 1957, 354—60.
10 E. Wheller, Ephorus and the Prohibition of Missiles, 172—175 and note
79; L. Tritle, Eretria, Argoura, and the road to Taminai. The Athenians in Euboea
348 B.C., Klio 74, 1992, 133 n. 9; J. McInerney, The Folds of Parnassos. Land
and Ethnicity in Ancient Phokis, Austin 1999, 130. B. Rossignoli, L'Adriatico Greco.
Culti e miti minori, Roma 2004, 299 n. 4. Cf P. Rhodes, A Commentary on the
Aristoteleian Athenaion Politeia, Oxford 1993, 58—63 for the authorship of Athenaion
politeia.
11 S. C. Bakhuizen, Chalcidian Studies I, 90.
110