A proper name.
He flourished in the reign of Leo[1] who was emperor after Marcian.[3] He was illustrious for daring and very powerful in using his feet. As for his hands, he was better with the left. He excelled in swiftness of foot. For he was faster than Euchidas[3] and Assapos and Chrysomazos[4] and Echion[5] and whoever else was renowned for speed of foot. For this man appeared on the road and disappeared again, like a kind of lightning, resembling not a man running headlong but rather one flying. Indeed, a trip that a man with a change of horses could not complete in one day, they claim that he could accomplish without pain, running on his own feet. For from the wall of Cheris[6] in a single [day] he went into
Antioch[7], and back on the next day he was found at the aforementioned fortification; from here again, not needing a rest day, he came in one day to
Neapolis in
Isauria.[8]
*)/indakos: o)/noma ku/rion. h)/kmaze de\ e)pi\ *le/ontos tou= meta\ *markiano\n basile/ws, lampro\s th\n to/lman kai\ toi=s posi\ xrh/sasqai dunatw/tatos, tw=n xeirw=n th\n a)ristera\n a)mei/nwn, taxu/thti podw=n diafe/rwn. *eu)xi/dou ga\r kai\ *)assa/pou kai\ *xrusoma/zou kai\ *)exi/onos kai\ ei)/ tis e(/teros e)pi\ podw=n w)ku/thti dieboh/qh, o)cu/tatos h)=n. ou(=tos ga\r e)cefai/neto o(deu/wn kai\ h)fani/zeto au)=qis, oi(=a/ tis a)straph/, kata\ krhmnw=n ou) tre/xonti ma=llon a)lla\ petome/nw| e)oikw/s. h(\n ga\r ke/leuqon a)nh\r di' i(/ppwn a)moibh=s au)qhmero\n ou)k e)/sqene dra=sai, toi=s i)di/ois au)to\n posi\n i)sxuri/zonto a)nalgh/tws diatre/xein. a)po\ ga\r tou= e)ru/matos *xe/rews dia\ mia=s e)foi/ta e)s th\n *)antio/xeian, kai\ pa/lin th=| e(ch=s e)s to\ r(hqe\n eu(ri/sketo frou/rion: e)k de\ tou/tou au)=qis mh\ a)napau/lhs deo/menos dia\ mia=s h(me/ras ei)s *nea/polin e)gi/neto *)isauri/as.
After the opening gloss, this material is
Priscus fr.60 Bornmann, now fr.79 Carolla. See also
iota 370 (and
epsilon 3827,
epsilon 4014 and
chi 200, which incorporate part of the present entry). On Indakos, see PLRE II s.v. Indacus Cottunes. Bornmann finds the attribution to
Priscus uncertain, and Carolla (108) includes it among her
fragmenta dubia.
Indakos was an Isaurian bandit eventually suppressed by
Zeno. Isaurians (
iota 616) were apparently known for their running ability (web address 1).
See the web addresses for notes on Indakos in J.B. Bury,
History of the Later Roman Empire (1923). Web address 1 (note 2 in vol. I, ch. XII) comments on Isaurian talent at running; web address 2 (note 41 in vol. I, ch. XII), commenting on p.399 of vol. I, mentions Indakos' role in betraying the fortress of Cheris; web address 3 (note 23 in vol.I, ch.X), commenting on
Zeno's suppression of Indakos (vol. I, p.320), cites the Suda here as well as a fragment of John of
Antioch.
Further references to Indakos occur at Constantine Porphyrogenitus,
De Insidiis 130 & 139 and John of
Antioch frs. 206 & 214 FHG (now 298 and 306 Roberto).
[1] Leo I, emperor 457-474 (
lambda 267); cf. PLRE II s.v. Leo(6).
[2] Emperor 450-457 (
alpha 3803); cf. PLRE II s.v.
Marcianus(8).
[3] According to
Plutarch Aristides 20.5.3 ff., Euchidas (Euchides) ran from Plataea to
Delphi (a distance of some 104 km) and back on the same day but collapsed and died soon after his return; cf.
epsilon 3827.
[4] Carolla (op. cit.) identifies this part of her fr.79 as Priscan. The names of these two fleet-footed men, however, are not otherwise attested outside of lexicography: in the Suda (here and
epsilon 3827) and in pseudo-
Zonaras Lexicon epsilon904.19.
[5] A number of mythical heroes are named Echion, but being a strong runner does not seem to characterize any of them.
[6] Evidently the fortified town of Cherreos Eryma (Papirion, Papiriou Castellum), Barrington Atlas map 66 grid B3.
[7] Probably
Antiochia Castellum, near the modern-day village of Bucakkışla, Karaman Province, Turkey. It is approximately 12 km east of Cherreos Eryma (previous note); cf. Barrington Atlas op. cit.
[8] The location of this city is uncertain. It is included as one settlement within the
*deka/polis of Seleucia at Constantine Porphyrogenitus,
de thematibus 13.18. A recent study (Scarborough, 54) identifies it with ruins near the present-day town of Güneyyurt (Gargara), Karaman Province, Turkey. This would situate
Neapolis approximately midway between Germanicopolis and Dometiopolis, two other of the Ten Cities, and about 25 km south of Cherreos Eryma (note 6); cf. Barrington Atlas op. cit.
P. Carolla, ed., Priscus Panita: Excerpta et Fragmenta, (Berlin 2008)
J.R. Martindale, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, vol. II, (Cambridge 1980)
Y.E. Scarborough, The Funerary Monuments of Rough Cilicia and Isauria, (Oxford 2017)
Abram Ring (tweaked translation, added notes and web refs) on 6 May 2006@12:57:29.
Abram Ring (explained web refs) on 6 May 2006@20:47:02.
David Whitehead (more x-refs and another keyword; cosmetics) on 7 May 2006@04:15:53.
David Whitehead (tweaked tr; added chronological note and another keyword) on 7 May 2006@05:44:17.
David Whitehead (expanded note; cosmetics) on 11 January 2013@07:51:52.
David Whitehead (updated some refs) on 29 January 2015@09:28:57.
David Whitehead (updated a ref) on 31 January 2015@09:40:07.
Ronald Allen (name typo in translation) on 30 March 2026@20:50:27.
Ronald Allen (expanded primary note, added bibliography) on 1 April 2026@11:33:45.
Ronald Allen (added notes and cross-references) on 2 April 2026@12:47:51.
Ronald Allen (added further notes) on 4 April 2026@12:48:18.
Ronald Allen (added further notes) on 5 April 2026@14:00:21.
Ronald Allen (tweaked n.7; added note and bibliography item) on 9 April 2026@12:19:47.
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