Néarque

Néarque (in Greek old Νέαρχος / Néarchos ), born in Crete towards 360 av. J. - C., died on an unknown date, is a Companion ( hétère ) of Alexandre Large the. A time satrap of Lycie - Pamphylie, it becomes Navarque royal fleet in 325; it controls forwarding between the Indus and the Euphrate and explores the Mer of Oman and the Persian Gulf. The account of this tour is well-known for us thanks to Arrien and Strabon.

Biography

Probably originating in the city of Leto in Crete, Néarque is established with Amphipolis under the reign of Philippe II of which he becomes the adviser about it. Undoubtedly hardly older than Alexandre, it is one of the companions of youth. Towards 336 av. J. - C., it is indeed exiled with Ptolémée, Harpale, Laomédon and Érigyos after Alexandre quarreled with his father.

Néarque takes part in the forwarding of Alexandre and becomes, surely because of its experiment of navigator, satrap of Lycie - Pamphylie towards 334 av. J. - C. It is recalled towards 330 and is joined the sovereign in Bactriane towards 329 with the head of troops raised in Asia Mineure. After having taken part in the forwarding of India, it obtains in 325, under Navarque, the command of the fleet which must join the mouth of the Euphrate. He writes thereafter a report/ratio detailed on this tour carried out under conditions very difficult. He prepares to direct the fleet for the forwarding of Arabia when Alexandre disappears in June 323. Present at the time of the fatal banquet with Alexandre, Néarque was one of some Greeks (with in particular Eumène de Cardia and Médéios of Larissa) members of the entourage close to Alexandre. During the reign of Alexandre, Néarque married the girl of Barsine and Mentor, the brother of Memnon of Rhodos; it tries with dead of Alexandre to make recognize as king, Héraklès, the illegitimate son of Alexandre and Barsine.

At the time of the first conflicts for the division of the empire, Néarque takes the party of Antigone One-eyed the and takes part in the fight against Eumène de Cardia (321 - 316). He becomes thereafter the adviser of the son of Antigone, Démétrios Poliorcète, in Syria between 313 and 312. He probably takes part in the sides of Démétrios to the battle of Gaza, lost vis-a-vis Ptolémée. One is unaware of the exact date and the circumstances of his death; one can suppose that it is to withdraw in order to write the account of its maritime tour.

The tour of Néarque

In 325 av. J. - C., Néarque, assisted by Onésicrite (the future writer of the Alexandropédie ), is charged by Alexandre, to control a fleet of 120 ships, transporting close to: 10000 men. The Navarque has the role of establishing a new sea route between the Indus and the Persian Gulf, whereas Alexandre ambitionne to instigate the trade enters the India and the Mésopotamie. The boats used prove to be great qualities; some, very powerful, are still unknown Greek navy, of which the pentèreis , the tétrèreis or the kerkouroï of Cypriot inspiration phenician and . Alexandre indeed brought in India of the Cypriot manufacturers; these is the ships (the kerkouroï ) which were charged to descend the course from Indus into 325.

The fleet takes the sea with the mouth of Indus on October 23rd 325, with one month of delay because of the winds of Mousson. It skirts the coasts of the sea of Érythrée (current Mer of Oman) to rejoin the mouth of Euphrate. Exploring the shore with meticulousness, the sailors gréco-Macedonians meet for the first time of the whales and are confronted with several storms. They suffer hard from the hunger and thirst; Néarque is indeed constrained to maintain the fleet with the sea day and night because it fears the desertions. Moreover the littoral of Gédrosie, populated Ichtyophages poor wretches (“fish eaters”), is too poor to bring the supply necessary. As for the deposits of vivres left on the coast by Alexandre, they are attacked by Orites or then located too far in the grounds. After 80 days of navigation and: 1300 km traversed, the fleet of Néarque arrive at the Détroit of Ormuz. Néarque goes then in Carmanie to the front of Alexandre who receives it with transport of joy, persuaded of the disappearance of his fleet. Néarque sets out again then to the mouths of the Euphrate and rejoins Suse (beginning 324). There, it receives from the sovereign in reward of his merits a gold crown, just like Héphaistion, Léonnatos and Onésicrite, principal officers having organized the return of India.

The account of Néarque (with in complement that of Onéscrite) inspired very largely Arrien in its description of India ( Indica ) and Strabon in the Géographie (XV deliver), where Néarque is abundantly quoted. Faithful to the newspaper of navarque, Arrien tells with precision the adventures of the sailors of Alexandre, morons by heat, the hunger and thirst, frightened by the whales and astonished by food manners by Ichtyophages. This account was confirmed by the modern navigators. Néarque is regarded as the “creator” of the sea route of the spices which will follow from now on the Arab navigators mésopotamiens then and Indian.

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