Lysander (died 395 BC, ,
Lýsandros) was a
SpartaSparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the River Eurotas in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From c. 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...
n general who commanded the Spartan fleet in the Hellespont which defeated the Athenians at
AegospotamiThe naval Battle of Aegospotami took place in 405 BC and was the last major battle of the Peloponnesian War. In the battle, a Spartan fleet under Lysander completely destroyed the Athenian navy...
in 405 BC. The following year, he was able to force the Athenians to capitulate, bringing the
Peloponnesian WarThe Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 B.C., was an Ancient Greek war, fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...
to an end; he organized the dominion of Sparta over Greece in the last decade of his life.
Early life
Little is known of Lysander's early life. Lysander's father was Aristocleitus, who was a member of the Spartan
HeracleidaeIn Greek mythology, the Heracleidae or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles , especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira Other Heracleidae included Macaria, Lamos, Manto, Bianor, Tlepolemus, and Telephus...
; that is, like most
DorianThe Dorians were one of the three major tribes into which the ancient Greeks divided themselves. Herodotus gave the earliest historical expression of a three-fold division: ".....
men of good family, he claimed descent from
HeraclesIn Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles , Alcides or Alcaeus , was a divine hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
. Nevertheless, Lysander's family was poor and when he was young he needed sponsorship to be able to participate in the Spartan training to be a soldier.
The Battle of Notium
Lysander was appointed Spartan Nauarch (
AdmiralAdmiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above Vice Admiral and below Admiral of the Fleet/Fleet Admiral. It is usually abbreviated to "Adm." or "ADM"...
) for the
Aegean SeaThe Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey respectively. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
in 407 BC. It was during this period that he gained the friendship and support of
Cyrus the YoungerCyrus the Younger, son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis, was a Persian prince and general. The time of his birth is unknown, but he died in 401 BC. The history of Cyrus and of the retreat of the Greeks is told by Xenophon in his Anabasis. Another account, probably from Sophaenetus of...
, a son of
Darius II of PersiaDarius II , originally called Ochus and often surnamed Nothus , was king of the Persian Empire from 423 BC to 404 BC....
and
ParysatisParysatis was the 5th-century BCE illegitimate daughter of Artaxerxes I, Emperor of Persia and Andia of Babylon.She was the half-sister of Xerxes II, Sogdianus and Darius II...
.
Lysander then undertook the major project of creating a strong Spartan fleet based at
EphesusEphesus was an ancient Roman and Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek period....
which could take on the Athenians and their allies.
AlcibiadesAlcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides , was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War...
was appointed commander-in-chief with autocratic powers and left for
SamosSamos is a Greek island in the North Aegean sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor.-Geography:...
to rejoin his fleet and try and engage Lysander in battle. The Spartan nauarch Lysander refused to be lured out of Ephesus to do battle with Alcibiades. However, while Alcibiades was away seeking supplies, the Athenian squadron was placed under the command of Antiochus, his helmsman. During this time Lysander managed to engage the Athenian fleet and they were routed by the Spartan fleet (with the help of the Persians under Cyrus) at the Battle of Notium in 406 BC. This defeat by Lysander gave the enemies of Alcibiades the excuse they needed to strip him of his command. He never returned again to Athens. He sailed north to the land he owned in the
Thracian ChersoneseThe Thracian Chersonese was the ancient name of the Gallipoli peninsula, in the part of historic Thrace that is now part of modern Turkey....
.
The Battle of Arginusae
However, Lysander ceased to be the Spartan nauarch after this victory and, in accordance with the Spartan law, was replaced by
CallicratidasCallicratidas was a Spartan naval commander in the Peloponnesian War. In 406 BC, he was sent to the Aegean to take command of the Spartan fleet from Lysander, the first navarch....
.
In 406 BC, Callicratidas assembled a fleet and sailed to
MethymnaMithymna , ancient form Methymna, is the second most important town on Lesbos. Mithymna is also the seat of the municipality as well as the province. It is also known by the name Molyvos or Molivos used under the Ottoman Empire . Mithymna is located NE of Eressos, N of Plomari and NW of...
,
LesbosLesbos is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of 1632 km² with 320 kilometres of coastline, making it the third largest Greek island and the largest of the numerous Greek islands scattered in the Aegean. Administratively, it forms part of the Lesbos Prefecture...
, which he then besieged. This move threatened the Athenian grain supply. Athens sent their admiral,
CononConon was an Athenian general at the end of the Peloponnesian War, in charge during the decisive loss of the navy at the Battle of Aegospotami. He had been sent out following the recall of Alcibiades in 406 BC, and pursued the Peloponnesian fleet under Lysander to the Hellespont...
, to relieve the siege. When Callicratidas attacked him, Conon retreated to
MytileneMytilene is the capital city of Lesbos, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, and capital of Lesbos Prefecture and the Northern Aegean region. It is built on the southeast edge of the island...
, where he was blockaded by Callicratidas’ Spartan fleet.
To relieve Conon, the Athenians assembled a new fleet composed largely of newly constructed ships manned by inexperienced crews. While this fleet was inferior to the Spartans, the Athenians employed new and unorthodox tactics, which allowed them to secure a dramatic and unexpected victory in the
Battle of ArginusaeThe naval Battle of Arginusae took place in 406 BC during the Peloponnesian War just east of the island of Lesbos. In the battle, an Athenian fleet commanded by eight strategoi defeated a Spartan fleet under Callicratidas...
, near Lesbos. The blockade of Conon by the Spartans was broken, the Spartan force was soundly defeated and Callicratidas was killed during the battle.
The Battle of Aegospotami
After Sparta was severely defeated at the
Battle of ArginusaeThe naval Battle of Arginusae took place in 406 BC during the Peloponnesian War just east of the island of Lesbos. In the battle, an Athenian fleet commanded by eight strategoi defeated a Spartan fleet under Callicratidas...
and with the death of the Spartan nauarch, Callicratides, Sparta's allies sought to have Lysander reappointed as nauarch. However, Spartan law did not allow the reappointment of a previous nauarch, so Aracus was appointed as nauarch with Lysander as his deputy. Nonetheless, Lysander was effectively the commander of the Spartan fleet.
Once back in command, Lysander directed the Spartan fleet towards the
HellespontHellespont was the ancient name of the narrow strait, now known by the modern European term 'the Dardanelles'. It was so called from Helle, the daughter of Athamas, who was drowned here in the mythology of the Golden...
. The Athenian fleet followed him there. In 404 BC, the Athenians gather their remaining ships at
AegospotamiAegospotami or Aegospotamos is a small river issuing into the Hellespont, northeast of Sestos. At its mouth was the scene of the decisive battle in 405 B.C. by which Lysander destroyed the Athenian fleet, ending the Peloponnesian War.The ancient Greek township of that name, whose...
(near the
Thracian ChersoneseThe Thracian Chersonese was the ancient name of the Gallipoli peninsula, in the part of historic Thrace that is now part of modern Turkey....
). The Athenian fleet under Admiral Conon was then destroyed by the Spartans under Lysander in the Battle of Aegospotami. Conon withdrew to
CyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon....
.
Then, Lysander's forces went to the
BosporusThe Bosphorus or Bosporus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms part of the boundary between the European part of Turkey and its Asian part . It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles...
and captured both
ByzantiumByzantium was an ancient Greek city, which was founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas or Byzantas . The name "Byzantium" is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
and
ChalcedonChalcedon was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari . Today, in modern Turkish, Chalcedon is called Kadıköy, and is a district of Istanbul, Turkey...
. They expelled the Athenians living in those States. Lysander also captured
Lesbos IslandLesbos is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of 1632 km² with 320 kilometres of coastline, making it the third largest Greek island and the largest of the numerous Greek islands scattered in the Aegean. Administratively, it forms part of the Lesbos Prefecture...
.
The defeat of Athens
Following the victory at Aegospotami, the Spartans were in a position to finally force Athens to capitulate. The Spartan king,
PausaniasPausanias King of Sparta from 409 BC. In 395, Pausanias failed to join forces with Lysander, and for this was condemned to death and replaced as king by his son Agesipolis I....
, laid siege to Athens while Lysander's fleet blockaded the port city of
PiraeusPiraeus is a city in the periphery of Attica, Greece, and a municipality within Athens urban area, located 10 km southwest of its center....
. This action effectively closed the grain route to Athens through the Hellespont, thereby starving Athens. Realising the seriousness of the situation,
TheramenesTheramenes was an Athenian statesman, prominent in the final decade of the Peloponnesian War. He was particularly active during the two periods of oligarchic government at Athens, as well as in the trial of the generals who had commanded at Arginusae in 406 BC...
started negotiations with Lysander. These negotiations took three months, but in the end Lysander agreed to terms at Piraeus. An agreement was reached for the capitulation of Athens and the cessation of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC.
The Spartans required the Athenians to raze the walls of Piraeus as well as the
Long WallsThe Long Walls , in Ancient Greece, were walls built from a city to its port, providing a secure connection to the sea even during times of siege. Although long walls were built at several locations in Greece—Corinth and Megara being two of the best known examples—the phrase "long...
which connected Athens and Piraeus; that the Athenians should abandon their colonies, and that Athens should surrender all their ships to the Spartans. However, Theramenes did secure terms that saved the city of Athens from destruction. Greek towns across the
Aegean SeaThe Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey respectively. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
in
IoniaIonia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
were again to be subject to the
Achaemenid EmpireThe Achaemenid Empire or Persian Empire was the successor state of the Median Empire, ruling over significant portions of what would become Greater Iran. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire...
.
Lysander in Command in Athens
Lysander then put in place a puppet government in Athens with the establishment of the
oligarchyAn Oligarchy is a form of government in which power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royal, wealth, intellectual, family, military, or religious hegemony. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for "few" and "rule"...
of the
Thirty TyrantsThe Thirty Tyrants were a pro-Spartan oligarchy installed in Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC. Contemporary Athenians referred to them simply as "the oligarchy" or "the Thirty" ; the expression "Thirty Tyrants" is due to later historians. Its two leading members were...
under
CritiasCritias , born in Athens, son of Callaeschrus, was an uncle of Plato, and a leading member of the Thirty Tyrants, and one of the most violent. He was an associate of Socrates, a fact that did not endear Socrates to the Athenian public. He was noted in his day for his tragedies, elegies and prose...
which included Theramenes as a leading member. The puppet government executed a number of citizens and deprived all but a few of their former rights as citizens of Athens. Many of Athens' former allies were now ruled by boards of ten (decarchy), often reinforced with garrisons under a Spartan commander (harmost). The practice starting the period of
Spartan hegemonyThe period of Spartan hegemony is a moment in classical Greek history that extends from the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC to the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC....
.
After storming and seizing
SamosSamos is a Greek island in the North Aegean sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor.-Geography:...
, Lysander returned to Sparta. Alcibiades, the former Athenian leader, emerged after the Spartan victory at Aegospotami and took refuge in
PhrygiaIn antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
, northwestern
Asia MinorAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
with
PharnabazusPharnabazus was a Persian 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. According to a discovery by Theodor Nöldeke, he...
, its Persian
satrapSatrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of ancient Median and Persian empires, including the Achaemenid Empire and in several of their heirs, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires....
. He sought Persian assistance for the Athenians. However, the Spartans decided that Alcibiades must be removed and Lysander, with the help of Pharnabazus, arranged the assassination of Alcibiades.
Lysander was able to gain a huge fortune from his victories against the Athenians and their allies. Nonetheless, in accord with Spartan tradition, he wished to transfer this fortune to the
ephorAn ephor was an official of ancient Sparta...
s at Sparta. Lysander commanded the Spartan general
GylippusGylippus was a Spartan general of the 5th century BC; he was the son of Cleandridas, who was the adviser of King Pleistoanax and had been expelled from Sparta for accepting Athenian bribes in 446 BC and fled to Thurii, a pan-Hellenic colony then being founded in the instep of Italy with Athenian...
to undertake this task. However, Gylippus could not resist the temptation to enrich himself and stole a significant amount. When it was discovered what had happened, Gylippus went into exile and was condemned to death in his absence.
Resistance by Athens
The Athenian general
ThrasybulusThrasybulus was an Athenian general and democratic leader. In 411 BC, in the wake of an oligarchic coup at Athens, the pro-democracy sailors at Samos elected him as a general, making him a primary leader of the successful democratic resistance to that coup...
, who had been exiled from Athens by the Spartans' puppet government, led the democratic resistance to the new oligarchic government. In 403 BC, he commanded a small force of exiles that invaded
AtticaAttica is a periphery in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. Attica is subdivided into the prefectures of Athens, Piraeus, East Attica and West Attica.-Overview:...
and, in successive battles, defeated first a Spartan garrison and then the forces of the oligarchic government (which included the Spartan general, Lysander) in the
Battle of MunychiaThe Battle of Munichia was fought between Athenians exiled by the oligarchic government of the Thirty Tyrants and the forces of that government, supported by a Spartan garrison...
. The leader of the Thirty Tyrants, Critias, was killed in the battle.
The Battle of Piraeus was then fought between Athenian exiles who had defeated the government of the Thirty Tyrants and occupied Piraeus and a Spartan force sent to combat them. In the battle, the Spartans narrowly defeated the exiles, with both sides suffering large numbers of casualties. Despite opposition from Lysander, after the battle Pausanias the
Agiad King of SpartaSparta was an important Greek city-state in the Peloponnesus. It was unusual among Greek city-states in that it maintained its kingship past the Archaic age. It was even more unusual in that it had two kings simultaneously, coming from two separate lines...
, arranged a settlement between the two parties which allowed the reunification of Athens and Piraeus, and the re-establishment of democratic government in Athens. The remaining oligarchic Thirty Tyrants were allowed to flee to
EleusisElefsina is a town and municipality about 20 km NW of Athens. It is located near the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf and is the seat of administration of West Attica Prefecture. It is best known for having been the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the most famous religious center of...
. Thrasybulus restored democratic institutions to Athens and granted amnesties to all except the oligarchic extremists.
Involvement in Cyrus' revolt against the Persian King Artaxerxes II
During 401 BC Lysander still had a continuing influence in Sparta despite his setbacks in Athens. He was able to persuade the Spartans to select Agesilaus II as the new Eurypontid Spartan king following the death of
Agis IIAgis II was the 17th Eurypontid king of Sparta, the eldest son of Archidamus II by his first wife, and half brother of Agesilaus. He ruled with his Agiad co-monarch Pausanius....
. He was also able to persuade the Spartans to support Cyrus the younger in his unsuccessful rebellion against his older brother,
Artaxerxes II of PersiaArtaxerxes II Mnemon was king of Persia from 404 BC until his death. He was a son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis.-Reign:...
.
Cyrus started out with about 20,000 men, of whom around
10,000The Ten Thousand were a group of mercenary units, mainly Greek, drawn up by Cyrus the Younger to attempt to wrest the throne of the Persian Empire from his brother, Artaxerxes II...
were Greek mercenaries, including Spartans. When he reached the
EuphratesThe Euphrates is the longest and historically one of the most important rivers of Southwest Asia. Together with the Tigris, the Euphrates is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
River at
ThapsacusThapsacus , meaning ford or passage) was an ancient town along the western bank of the Euphrates river that would now lie in modern Syria or Turkey. Thapsacus was the Greek and Roman name for the town...
, he announced that he was marching against Artaxerxes II. He advanced unopposed into
BabyloniaBabylonia was a civilization in Lower Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad...
; but Artaxerxes II, warned at the last moment by
TissaphernesTissaphernes was a Persian soldier and statesman, grandson of Hydarnes.In 413 BC he was satrap of Lydia and Caria, and commander in chief of the Persian army in Asia Minor...
, hastily gathered an army.
The two forces met at the
Battle of CunaxaThe Battle of Cunaxa was fought in 401 BC between Cyrus the Younger and his elder brother Arsaces, who had inherited the Persian throne as Artaxerxes II in 404 BC. The great battle of the revolt of Cyrus took place 70 km north of Babylon, at Cunaxa, on the left bank of the Euphrates River...
, north of
BabylonBabylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, where Cyrus was slain. The Greek mercenaries fighting for Cyrus were left stranded after Cyrus’ defeat. They fought their way north through hostile Persians, Armenians, and Kurds to
TrapezusTrabzon, historically known as Trapezus and Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in...
, on the coast of the
Black Seaur a loser!The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to...
under
XenophonXenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens and Xenophon of Thebes, was a soldier, mercenary, and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...
. He was an Athenian who became their leader when Tissaphernes, Persian satrap of
CariaCaria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there...
and
LydiaLydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....
, had
Clearchus of SpartaClearchus or Clearch , the son of Rhamphias, was a Spartan general and mercenary.Born about the middle of the 5th century BC, Clearchus was sent with a fleet to the Hellespont in 411 and became governor of Byzantium, of which town he was proxenus...
and the other senior Greek captains captured and executed by Artaxerxes.
Xenophon's men made their way back to Greece, with most of the men enlisting with the
Spartan ArmyThe Spartan Army was the military force of Sparta, one of the leading city-states of ancient Greece. The army stood at the centre of the Spartan state, whose citizens' primary obligation was to be good soldiers. Subject to military drill from infancy, the Spartans were one of the most feared...
. Xenophon's successful march through the Achaemenid Empire encouraged Sparta to turn on the Persians and begin a series of wars against the Persians in Asia Minor.
Lysander's final years
Hoping to restore the juntas of oligarchic partisans that he had put in place after the defeat of the Athenians in 404 BC, Lysander arranged for Agesilaus II, the Eurypontid Spartan king, to take command of the Greeks against Persia in 396 BC. The Spartans had been called on by the Ionians to assist them against the Persian King Artaxerxes II. Lysander was arguably hoping to receive command of the Spartan forces not joining the campaign. However, Agesilaus II had become resentful of Lysander's power and influence. So Agesilaus II frustrated the plans of his former mentor and left Lysander in command of the troops in the Hellespont, far from Sparta and mainland Greece.
Back in Sparta by 395 BC, Lysander was instrumental in starting a war with
ThebesThebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
and other Greek cities to be known as the
Corinthian WarThe Corinthian War was an ancient Greek conflict lasting from 395 BC until 387 BC, pitting Sparta against a coalition of four allied states; Thebes, Athens, Corinth, and Argos; which were initially backed by Persia. The immediate cause of the war was a local conflict in northwest Greece in which...
. The Spartans prepared to send out an army against this new alliance of Athens, Thebes,
CorinthCorinth, or Korinth Corinth, or Korinth Corinth, or Korinth (Greek Κόρινθος, Kórinthos is a city in Greece. In antiquity it was a city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. To the west of the isthmus lies the Gulf of...
and
ArgosArgos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplion, which was its historic harbour .-Name:The region of Argos is known as the Argolis, Argolid, or Argeia...
(with the backing of the Achaemenid Empire) and ordered Agesilaus II to return to Greece. Agesilaus set out for Sparta with his troops, crossing the Hellespont and marching west through
ThraceThrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded on the north by the Balkan Mountains, on the south by the Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea and on the east by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara...
.
Death
The Spartans arranged for two armies, one under Lysander and the other under
Pausanias of SpartaPausanias King of Sparta from 409 BC. In 395, Pausanias failed to join forces with Lysander, and for this was condemned to death and replaced as king by his son Agesipolis I....
, to rendezvous at and attack the city of Haliartus,
BoeotiaBoeotia, also spelled Beotia and Bœotia , formerly Cadmeis, was a region of ancient Greece, north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It was bounded on the south by Megaris and the Kithairon mountain range that forms a natural barrier with Attica, on the north by Opuntian Locris and the...
. Lysander arrived before Pausanias and persuaded the city of Orchomenus to revolt from the Boeotian confederacy. He then advanced to Haliartus with his troops. In the
Battle of HaliartusThe Battle of Haliartus was fought in 395 BC between Sparta and Thebes. The Thebans defeated a Spartan force attempting to seize the town of Haliartus, killing the Spartan leader Lysander...
, Lysander was killed after bringing his forces too near the walls of the city.
Following his death, an abortive scheme by Lysander to increase his power by making the Spartan kingships collective and that the Spartan king should not automatically be given the leadership of the army, was "discovered" by Agesilaus II.
There is argument amongst historians as to whether this was an invention to discredit Lysander after his death. Any analysis of Lysander's life is made difficult by the strong hostility of many of the sources of Greek history at that time due to Lysander's strong support of oligarchic governments after the defeat of the Athenians.
Lysander remains an ambiguous figure. While the Roman biographer
Cornelius NeposCornelius Nepos was a Roman 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...
charges him with "cruelty and perfidy", Lysander – according to Xenophon – nonetheless spared the population of captured Greek
poleisA polis -- plural: poleis --is a city, a city-state and also citizenship and body of citizens...
such as
LampsacusLampsacus was an ancient Greek city strategically located on the eastern side of the Hellespont in the northern Troad. An inhabitant of Lampsacus was called a Lampsacene. The name has been transmitted in the nearby modern town of Lapseki.-History:Originally known as Pityusa or Pityussa , it was...
, perhaps in order to gain a useful reputation for mildness.
Cult
According to
Duris of SamosDuris of Samos ; probably born around 350 BC; died after 281 BC) was a Greek historian and was at some period tyrant of Samos.- Personal and political life :Duris claimed to be a descendant of Alcibiades, and was the brother of Lynceus of Samos...
, Lysander was the first Greek to whom the cities erected altars and sacrificed to him as to a god and the Samians voted that their festival of Hera should be called Lysandreia.
See also
- Battle of Aegospotami
The naval Battle of Aegospotami took place in 405 BC and was the last major battle of the Peloponnesian War. In the battle, a Spartan fleet under Lysander completely destroyed the Athenian navy...
- Lycurgus
Lycurgus was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, who established the military-oriented reformation of Spartan society in accordance with the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi...
- King Agesilaus II
Agesilaus II, or Agesilaos II was a king of Sparta, of the Eurypontid dynasty, ruling from approximately 400 BC to 360 BC, during most of which time he was, in Plutarch's words, "as good as thought commander and king of all Greece," and was for the whole of it greatly identified with his...
- Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey respectively. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
- Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Roman and Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek period....
- Cyrus
Cyrus the Younger, son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis, was a Persian prince and general. The time of his birth is unknown, but he died in 401 BC. The history of Cyrus and of the retreat of the Greeks is told by Xenophon in his Anabasis. Another account, probably from Sophaenetus of...
- Battle of Notium
The Battle of Notium in 406 BC, was a Spartan naval victory in the Peloponnesian War. Prior to the battle, the Athenian commander, Alcibiades, left his helmsman, Antiochus, in command of the Athenian fleet, which was blockading the Spartan fleet in Ephesus...
- Harmost
Harmost in ancient Greece is a Spartan term that means military governor. The Spartan general Lysander instituted several harmosts during the period of Spartan hegemony after the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC...
- Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 B.C., was an Ancient Greek war, fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...
- King Pausanias
Pausanias King of Sparta from 409 BC. In 395, Pausanias failed to join forces with Lysander, and for this was condemned to death and replaced as king by his son Agesipolis I....
- Theramenes
Theramenes was an Athenian statesman, prominent in the final decade of the Peloponnesian War. He was particularly active during the two periods of oligarchic government at Athens, as well as in the trial of the generals who had commanded at Arginusae in 406 BC...
- Thirty Tyrants
The Thirty Tyrants were a pro-Spartan oligarchy installed in Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC. Contemporary Athenians referred to them simply as "the oligarchy" or "the Thirty" ; the expression "Thirty Tyrants" is due to later historians. Its two leading members were...
- Ephor
An ephor was an official of ancient Sparta...
- Corinthian War
The Corinthian War was an ancient Greek conflict lasting from 395 BC until 387 BC, pitting Sparta against a coalition of four allied states; Thebes, Athens, Corinth, and Argos; which were initially backed by Persia. The immediate cause of the war was a local conflict in northwest Greece in which...
- Battle of Haliartus
The Battle of Haliartus was fought in 395 BC between Sparta and Thebes. The Thebans defeated a Spartan force attempting to seize the town of Haliartus, killing the Spartan leader Lysander...
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