Aristonicus was a tyrant of Methymnae in Lesbos in the 4th century BCE. In 332 BCE, when the navarch

Navarch

Navarch is a Greek word meaning "leader of the ships", which in some states became the title of an office equivalent to that of a modern admiral.- Historical usage :...

s of Alexander the Great had already taken possession of the harbour of Chios

Chios

Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...

, Aristonicus arrived during the night with some privateer ships, and entered it under the belief that it was still in the hands of the Persians

Persian people

The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

. He was taken prisoner and delivered up to the Methymnians, who put him to death in a cruel manner.

(Arrian

Arrian

Lucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman historian, public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the 2nd-century Roman period...

, Anabasis 3.2; Curtius

Curtius

Curtius is a Roman nomen which may refer to:* Quintus Curtius Rufus, 1st century CE historian* Lacus Curtius, a mysterious hole in the ground in the Roman Forum* Curtius Curtius may also refer to:...

4.4.)