Iphicrates

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Iphicrates

Iphicrates (d. c. 353 BC, Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
: ?f????t??) was an Athenian

Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
general, the son of a shoemaker, who flourished in the earlier half of the 4th century BC.

He owes his fame as much to the improvements he made in the equipment of the peltast

Peltast

A peltast was a type of light infantry in Ancient Greece who often served as skirmishers....
s or light-armed mercenaries (named for their small pelte shield) as to his military successes. Historians have debated about just what kind of "peltasts" were affected by his reforms; one of the most popular positions is that he improved the performance of the Greek skirmisher

Skirmisher

Skirmishers are infantry or cavalry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside of a larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish line to either harass enemy troops or to protect their own troops from similar attacks by the enemy....
s so that they would be able to engage in prolonged hand-to-hand fighting as part of the main battle line, while another strong opinion posits that he worked his changes upon the mercenary hoplite

Hoplite

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Iphicrates'

Start a new discussion about 'Iphicrates'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Iphicrates (d. c. 353 BC, Greek

Greek language

Athens

Peltast

Skirmisher

Hoplite

The word hoplite derives from hoplon , meaning an item of armour or equipment, thus 'hoplite' may approximate to 'armoured man'. Hoplites were the citizen-soldiers of the Ancient Greece City-states....
s that were an important factor in late 5th- and early 4th-century B.C. Greek land warfare.

A third possibility is that his reforms were limited to hoplites serving as marines on board ships of the Athenian navy.

His "Iphicratean reforms" consisted of increasing the length of their spears and swords, substituting linen cuirasses in place of heavier bronze armor, and introducing new footwear (later called iphicratids) that were easier to don and remove than previous models. In addition, he replaced the heavy hoplon/aspis with a lighter pelte that could be strapped to the forearm, freeing the left hand to help hold the lengthened spears. By these changes he greatly increased the rapidity of their movements. He also paid special attention to discipline, drill and maneuvers; the longer weapons, combined with the lighter armor and shield, forced his troops to take a more aggressive approach in tactical situations. With his peltasts Iphicrates dealt the Sparta

Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
ns a heavy blow in 392 BC-390 BC by almost annihilating a mora (a battalion of about 600 men) of their famous hoplites.

Following up success, he took city after city for the Athenians; but in consequence of a quarrel with the Argives he was transferred from Corinth

Corinth

Corinth, or Korinth Corinth is now the capital of the Prefectures of Greece of Corinthia. The city is surrounded by the coastal townlets of Lechaio, Isthmia, Kechries, and the inland townlets of Examilia and the archaeological site....
to the Hellespont

Hellespont

Hellespont was the ancient name of the narrow strait, now known by the modern European term 'Dardanelles'. It was so called from Helle , the daughter of Athamas, who was drowned here in the mythology of the Golden Fleece....
, where he was equally successful. After the peace of Antalcidas

Antalcidas

Antalcidas was a Spartan soldier and diplomat, the son of Leon.In 393 BC he was sent to Tiribazus, History of Persia satrap of Sardis, to undermine the friendly relations then existing between Athens and Persia, offering to recognize Persian claims to the whole of Asia Minor and supremacy over Ancient Greece cities there....
(387 BC) he assisted Seuthes, king of Thracian Odrysae, to recover his kingdom, and fought against Cotys, with whom, however, he subsequently concluded an alliance. About 378 BC, he was sent with a force of mercenaries to assist the Persians to reconquer Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
; but a dispute with Pharnabazus

Pharnabazus

File:Pharnabaze.jpgFile:Pharnabazus silver stater as Satrap of Cilicia 379 374 BC.jpgPharnabazus was a Persian Empiren soldier and statesman. He was the son of Pharnaces, son of Pharnabazus of Phrygia, son of Artabazus; his male ancestors had governed the satrapy of Phrygia on the Hellespont from its headquarters at Dascylium since 478 BC....
led to the failure of the expedition. On his return to Athens he commanded an expedition in 373 BC for the relief of Corcyra, which was besieged by the Lacedaemonians.

After the peace of 371 BC, Iphicrates returned to Thrace

Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. Today the name Thrace designates a region spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey ....
and somewhat tarnished his fame by siding with his father-in-law Cotys in a war against Athens for the possession of the entire Thracian Chersonese

Thracian Chersonese

The Thracian Chersonese was the ancient name of the Gallipoli peninsula, in the part of historic Thrace that is now part of modern Turkey.The peninsula runs in a south-westerly direction into the Aegean Sea, between the Hellespont and the bay of Melas ....
. The Athenians, however, soon pardoned him and gave him a joint command in the Social War

Social War (357-355 BC)

The Social War, also known as the War of the Allies, was fought from 357 BC to 355 BC between Athens with its Second Athenian Empire and between the allies of Chios, Rhodes, and Kos as well as the independent Byzantium....
against some of their allies from the second Athenian Empire

Delian League

The Delian League was an association of approximately 150 5th-century BC Ancient Greece city-states under the leadership of Classical Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plataea at the end of the Greco?Persian Wars....
. He and two of his colleagues were impeached by Chares

Chares

Chares is the name of three prominent ancient Greeks:*Chares of Athens of Athens - a famous 4th century BC general;*Chares of Mytilene of Mytilene - a History who lived at the court of Alexander the Great III of Macedon;...
, the fourth commander, because they had refused to give battle during a violent storm.

Iphicrates was acquitted but sentenced to pay a heavy fine. Afterwards, he remained at Athens (according to some he retired to Thrace) until his death in about 353 BC.

Sources

External links

, by Cornelius Nepos
Cornelius Nepos

Cornelius Nepos was a Roman Empire biographer. Supposedly he was born at Hostilia, a village in Cisalpine Gaul not far from Verona. His Gallic origin is attested by Ausonius, and Pliny the Elder calls him Padi accola ....
, from the Moralia
Moralia

The Moralia of the first-century Greek priest Plutarch of Delphi is an eclectic collection of 78 essays and transcribed speeches. They give an insight into Roman and Greek life, but often are also fascinating timeless observations in their own right....
of Plutarch
Plutarch

Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 ? 120 ? commonly known in English as Plutarch ? was a Ancient Rome historian , biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonism....
, from Book 3 of Polyaenus
Polyaenus

Polyaenus or Polyenus was a 2nd century Macedonian author, known best for his Stratagems in War , which has been preserved. The Suda calls him a rhetorician, and Polyaenus himself writes that he was accustomed to plead causes before the emperor....