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Spartan Navarch
The navarch ( gr, ναύαρχος, nauarchos) was the magistrate who commanded the fleet in Ancient Sparta. History and role The powers of the navarch were extensive and were not subordinate to the two Spartan kings.Thommen, "Xenophon und die spartanische Nauarchie", p. 314. The navarch commanded the fleet, but could also lead his embarked troops on land, performed the sacrifices, distributed wages and booty, negotiated with foreign states, and even administered the territories he captured. An ambitious man such as Lysander could therefore yield formidable influence in Sparta through his time as navarch at the end of the Peloponnesian War (431–404). As a result, Aristotle rightly described the navarchy as another kingship.Sealey, "Die spartanische Nauarchie", p. 337. Indeed, the navarch's powers were probably taken away from the kings at some point during the 6th century, because they had no authority on the sea. For example, Herodotus writes that in 480 king Leotychidas was als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece. Given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as the leading force of the unified Greek military during the Greco-Persian Wars, in rivalry with the rising naval power of Athens. Sparta was the principal enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), from which it emerged victorious after the Battle of Aegospotami. The decisive Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended the Spartan hegemony, although the city-state maintained its political independence until its forced integration into the Achaean League in 192 BC. The city nevertheless ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anchimolus
Anchimolus ( grc-gre, Ἀγχίμολος ; died 511 BC) was a Spartan military commander who died while leading an unsuccessful expedition against the Athenian tyrant Hippias in 511 BC. He was possibly the first Spartan navarch. Life Anchimolus, son of Aster, was a Spartiate who received command of Sparta's first expedition against the Athenian tyrant Hippias. The incursion on Attica was carried out by sea rather than on land as was Spartan custom, possibly to avoid opposition from the city of Megara during the march. This meant that the expedition was a small one, led as it was by a private citizen rather than one of Sparta's kings, and because ships could only carry a few troops, all on foot. Anchimolus and his force landed at Phalerum, while Hippias recruited the aid of 1000 allied Thessalian horsemen, led by a local king of theirs, Cineas. He felled some local woods to create a favourable terrain for them, and attacked the Spartans, who lacked a screening force. The Spartans, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Callicratidas
Callicratidas ( el, Καλλικρατίδας) was a Spartan navarch during the Peloponnesian War. He belonged to the mothax class so he was not a Spartiate, despite his status he had risen to prominence. In 406 BC, he was sent to the Aegean to take command of the Spartan fleet from the navarch Lysander. Biography Callicratidas's tenure as navarch was short, and he encountered a number of difficulties. Chief among these were the intrigues of his predecessor, who had apparently returned the money from which the fleet was supposed to be paid for to its source, the Persian prince Cyrus. Callicratidas needed money from Cyrus to pay his men, but, as a traditionalist Spartan, he was loath to request it from a Persian. His halfhearted attempts to secure funding from Cyrus fell through, and he was forced to find an alternative source of funds, which the city of Miletus eventually provided. After winning an initial victory against the Athenian admiral Conon at Mytilene, Callicratidas cam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tissaphernes
Tissaphernes ( peo, *Ciçafarnāʰ; grc-gre, Τισσαφέρνης; xlc, 𐊋𐊆𐊈𐊈𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 , ; 445395 BC) was a Persian soldier and statesman, Satrap of Lydia and Ionia. His life is mostly known from the works of Thucydides and Xenophon. According to Ctesias, he was the son of Hidarnes III and therefore the great grandson of Hydarnes, one of the six conspirators who had supported the rise of Darius the Great. Etymology ''Čiçafarnah'' (''čiça'' + ''farnah'') "with shining splendor": ''čiça'' is from the Proto-Indo-European adjective ''(s)koitrós'' 'bright'; ''farnah'' is equivalent to Avestan '' xvarənah'' 'fortune', 'glory', which appears as 'luminous'. ''čiθra'' means nature, specifically the animate nature. ''Čiça-'' is the Old Persian form of the Old Iranian term ''Čiθra-'', which is reflected in the Median form of the name, ''*Čiθrafarnah-'' ( grc, Τετραφέρνης). Family and early life Tissaphernes was born in 445 BC. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mindarus
Mindarus ( grc, Μίνδαρος) was a Spartan navarch who commanded the Peloponnesian fleet in 411 and 410 BC, during the Peloponnesian War. Successful in shifting the theatre of war into the Hellespont, he then experienced a string of defeats; in the third and final of these, he was killed and the entire Peloponnesian fleet was captured or destroyed. Relocation and early battles :''Main articles: Battle of Cynossema, Battle of Abydos'' Mindarus first took command of the fleet at Miletus, where the satrap Tissaphernes had promised the Spartans they would be joined by the sizeable Phoenician fleet under his command. After several months of waiting, Mindarus realized that no such fleet would be forthcoming, and made the strategic decision to relocate his fleet to the Hellespont, where the satrap Pharnabazus had promised him greater support than he was receiving from Tissaphernes. Mindarus set out from Miletus with 73 ships; a storm forced him ashore at Chios, but he remained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astyochus
Astyochus or Astyochos ( gr, Ἀστύοχος) was a Spartan Spartan navarch, navarch who served as commander of the collective Spartan naval forces along the coast of Asia Minor from 412–411 BC. He is regarded by many contemporaries and modern scholars as a key reason for Sparta's early failures in the Peloponnesian War, Ionian War. His expeditions consisting of involvements in Lesbos, Chios, Erythrae and Klazomenai, Clazomenae all proved unsuccessful. He also refused requests for help from Chios, causing the Spartan administration to become increasingly dissatisfied with his leadership. Thucydides portrays Astyochus as timid and inept, and also depicts him often in conflict with his peers in Ionia. Toward the end of his role of commander, he exhibited great reluctance to attack the Athenians and also failed to properly pay his troops, leading to riots and violence, and eventually, his removal as commander in 412 BC, to be replaced by the Spartan Mindarus. Involvement in the Pel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brasidas
Brasidas ( el, Βρασίδας, died 422 BC) was the most distinguished Spartan officer during the first decade of the Peloponnesian War who fought in battle of Amphipolis and Pylos. He died during the Second Battle of Amphipolis while winning one of his most spectacular victories. Biography Brasidas was the son of Tellis (Τέλλις) and Argileonis, and won his first laurels by the relief of Methone, which was besieged by the Athenians (431 BC). During the following year he seems to have been eponymous ephor, and in 429 BC he was sent out as one of the three commissioners to advise the admiral Cnemus. As trierarch he distinguished himself in the assault on the Athenian position at the Battle of Pylos, during which he was severely wounded In 424 BC, while Brasidas mustered a force at Corinth for a campaign in Thrace, he frustrated an Athenian attack on Megara. Immediately afterwards he marched through Thessaly at the head of 1,700 hoplites (700 helots and 1000 Peloponnesian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcidas
Alcidas ( grc-gre, Ἀλκίδας) was a Spartan navarch during the Peloponnesian War. He was first appointed to lead 40 allied ships in the Spartan expedition to Mytilene in 427 BC. This was part of a double movement meant to hinder the Athenians from sending help to Lesbos, the other part being an allied invasion of Attica. However, the rebellion of Mytilene was crushed before his force could arrive, largely due to the leisurely pace with which Alcidas led the fleet, and he was forced to put into Embatum in Erythrae seven days after the town capitulated. Alcidas was then urged by Teutiaplus, an Elean, to attack Mytilene anyway, as the Athenians would most assuredly be taken by surprise, but Alcidas acted with typical Spartan hesitance and refused. Trying another approach, some Ionian exiles advised him to capture a town in Ionia and use it as "a base for effecting the revolt of Ionia." Thucydides states that this idea had merit, as the Spartans were "welcome everywhere", ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acarnania
Acarnania ( el, Ἀκαρνανία) is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part of the regional units of Greece, regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. The capital and principal city in ancient times was Stratos, Greece, Stratos. The north side of Acarnania of the Corinthian Gulf was considered part of the region of Epirus. Acarnania's foundation in Greek mythology was traditionally ascribed to Acarnan, son of Alcmaeon (mythology), Alcmaeon. History Pre-Peloponnesian War The name of Acarnania appears to have been unknown in the earliest times. Homer (8th century BC) only calls the country opposite Homer's Ithaca, Ithaca and Cephalonia, under the general name of "Epeirus" (῎ηπειρος), or the mainland, although he frequently mentions the Aetolians. The country is said to have been origi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zakynthos
Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Zakynthos is a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and its only municipality. It covers an area of and its coastline is roughly in length. The name, like all similar names ending in , is pre-Mycenaean or Pelasgian in origin. In Greek mythology the island was said to be named after Zakynthos, the son of the legendary Arcadian chief Dardanus. Zakynthos is a tourist destination, with an international airport served by charter flights from northern Europe. The island's nickname is "the Flower of the Levant", bestowed upon it by the Venetians who were in possession of Zakynthos from 1484 to 1797. History Ancient history The ancient Greek poet Homer mentioned Zakynthos in the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', stating that i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medism
In ancient Greece, medism ( el, μηδισμός, ''medismos'') was the imitation of, sympathizing with, collaboration with, or siding with Persians. The ethnonym "Mede" was often used by the Greeks of the Persians although, strictly speaking, the Medes were a different Iranian people, subject to the Persians. It was not until the 470s that the Greeks began to refer to "Persians", with Aeschylus' play ''The Persians'' in 472 being an early example of this. Medism was considered a ''faux pas'', even a crime, in many ancient Greek city-states. However, it does not seem to have been specifically criminalised. For instance, in Athens suspected Medisers were charged with treason. The evidence suggests that this was true of other Greek city-states too: in Teos, for instance, a law from the classical period provided that anyone who betrayed the city should be punished by death, but failed to distinguish betrayal to the Persians from betrayal to any other group. Themistocles the Athe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pausanias The Regent
Pausanias ( grc-gre, Παυσανίας; died c. 477 BC) was a Spartan regent and a general. In 479 BC, as a leader of the Hellenic League's combined land forces, Pausanias won a pivotal victory in the Battle of Plataea ending the Second Persian invasion of Greece. One year after the victories over the Persians and the Persians' allies, Pausanias fell under suspicion of conspiring with the Persian king, Xerxes I to betray Greeks and died in 477 BC in Sparta starved to death by fellow citizens. What is known of his life is largely according to Thucydides' ''History of the Peloponnesian War'', Diodorus' ''Bibliotheca historica'' and a handful of other classical sources. Early life Pausanias like all Spartan citizens (Spartiate), would have gone through intense training from the age of seven and was required to be a regular soldier until the age of thirty. Pausanias was from the royal house of the Agiads. Yet this did not exempt him from going through the same training as every o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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