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Jason of Pherae was the ruler
of Thessaly during the period just before
Philip II of Macedon
came to power. He had succeeded Lycophron I of Pherae, possibly his father, as
tyrant of Pherae and was appointed tagus, or king, of Thessaly in the 370s and
soon extended his control to much of the surrounding region. Controlling a
highly trained mercenary force as well as the famous Thessalian cavalry, Jason
briefly transformed Thessaly into a powerful Greek state and even spoke of
invading the Persian Empire. The figure of Jason makes a sudden appearance in
the history of classical Greece with Xenophon swiftly mentioning his name
during his commentary on Theban hegemony during the 370s. From seemingly out of
nowhere arose a very ambitious proto-Philip general with a large and competent
army. There was a very realistic threat posed by Jason to his neighbours and
arguably to all of Hellas. Whether or not Jason had ambitions to rule over the
entire Greek peninsula—as Philip II would after Chaeronea—can only be
left to speculation. Regardless, Jason epitomises how one autocrat could
suddenly rise to power through mercenary employment and threaten, both
politically and militarily, his neighbouring poleis. Jason was assassinated in
370 by a group of unidentified young men. Diodorus Siculus, records that
Jason's assassination was motivated either by the desire for fame or on the
orders of his brother Polydorus. Eventually Alexander, possibly his son,
inherited the title of tagus and ruled harshly before finally being defeated by
the Thebans. The inventor of hemithorakion (half-armour equipment) is believed
to be Jason of Pherae. He was a potentially major figure in Greek history whose
potential remained unrealized because of his early death. It is clear that he
intended to create a regional empire in northern and eastern Hellas similar to
the empire Dionysius I created in the west, and his career before it was cut
short by assassins indicated that he had the talent and resources to do so. If
he had lived longer, his empire might have assumed the dominant influence in
Greece which shortly afterwards was achieved by Macedonia.
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