Leucon, Archon of Olbia
(The Tyrant)

Leucon is actually based loosely on the great Spartokid king of the Bosporus who successfully made war on Heraclea and forged the fourth century BC Kingdom of the Bosporus. Certainly, with his Getae alliance and family connections, my Leucon is a Spartokid, and his ties to Athens and to the rest of the Hellenic world are emblematic of the way that power politics operated in the Hellenistic era. Leucon has more friends in the world than Diodorus, and he receives news from everywhere. Men like Leucon arranged to be made citizens of Athens through grain donations; they hosted games, gave great sums of money to the major temples, and arranged to participate in every part of Greek life from fairly remote colonies.

One of the ironies of the books is that Leucon is not a “bad” man. He’s a man who has lost the will to be ruthless while still having his ambition for power. Quite early he understands what a threat Kineas will offer to him, but after one attempt to murder him, Leucon chooses to use him instead.

Tyranny was not always a bad thing in the ancient world, as any reader can see by reading Plutarch, especially about Timoleon of Corinth. However, when a Greek referred to a man as a tyrant — especially Alexander — it wasn't meant as a compliment.

The title of the book Tyrant has more to do with the tyranny of war in the Hellenistic Age than the tyranny of Leucon the Spartokid. If any person is the “Tyrant” it would be Alexander, who, despite all his good press, murdered his friends, made aggressive war, and lied when he lost — the very picture of a modern tyrant.

The day I first set finger to keyboard to test the idea I had that ended up as this series, I listened to Donald Rumsfeld draw some parallel between Bush and Alexander on the radio, and the title was born.