Pantauchos, Son of Balakros, from Beroia and his Family
Kuzmin Yuri N.
The article is a continuation of the work about the Harpaloi–Polemaioi family from Beroia in Macedonia (VDI. 2008. No 3. P. 152–161). In the Hellenistic period literary and epigraphic sources attest several generations of another noble family. Its representatives bore the names of Pantauchos and Balakros. 1. Pantauchos, priest of Asclepius. His father was, apparently, Balakros (ca. 250–200 BC). 2. Pantauchos, son of Balakros, a diplomat and one of the closest philoi of the last Antagonid Perseus. He was, most probably, grandson of Pantauchos (1). 3. Balakros, son of Pantauchos (2), was a hostage given to the Illyrian king Genthios, Perseus ally. It was also suggested that Pantauchos, one of the best generals of Demetrios I Poliorketes could have been connected with the family from Beroia. This is not improbable, thought the name Pantauchos is attested in other Macedonian towns as well. The fact that the members of the family in question are not to be found in Antogonos III Doson’s and Philip V’s retinue makes it possible to suppose that the family became part of the court elite under Perseus. Evidently, Pantauchos (2) and his son Balakros were deported to Italy in 167 BC together with other philoi of Perseus and the Greek hostages. According to F.W. Walbank’s hypothesis, Pantauchos and other philoi of Perseus living in Italy could have been Polybius’ sources in his description of the events which took place in the later part of Philip V’s reign and under his son (Polyb. 29.8.10).