Taphoi wrote:Chris Bennett wrote: Aelian's excerpt from the Ephemerides uses the same format as Plutarch for the 28th but uses a regular forward count for the 24th. So does the decad count reflect Plutarch's or Aelian's representation of the dates rather than that of the Diarist?
Chris,
I had a look at Aelian 3.23 and I can see that you are possibly getting confused. You are translating "tetradi meta eikada" as the 24th in forward counting, but it is also backward count for the 27th (at least in the Athenian calendar from the late 4th century). In this instance I think it must be backward count, since the 28th is backward. See Samuel, Greek & Roman Chronology, p.60-1 on this point.
Best wishes,
Andrew
Thanks for the pointer, I'll check it out. I was following Robinson (C A R Robinson, The Ephemerides of Alexander's Expedition) who has the entries from Arrian, Plutarch and Aelian conveniently laid out side by side in a tabular form by date, and who takes "tetradi meta eikada" as the 24th. Robinson's interpretation seems pretty reasonable, since Aelian has Alexander dining with Bagoas, 10 stades from the palace, on that day, while in Plutarch and Arrian he is already on the verge of death on the 27th, with the soldiers parading by his deathbed. While sick on the 24th in Plutarch and Arrian, he is still capable of offering sacrifices. Unfortunately, neither of them mention Bagoas, which would nail the case.
As given by Robinson (I don't have a full Greek text handy) Plutarch's dates are ("h" = eta): 24th "ebdomh", 25th "th ekte", 26th "thn pempthn" 28th: "th de trith phthinontos" After the 24th (or 27th), Aelian only gives the 28th ("th trith") which matches Plutarch's style, if not this particular entry, so even if Aelian meant the 27th he seems to be changing convention, just less dramatically.
Chris