Anchimolus ( grc-gre, Ἀγχίμολος ; died 511 BC) was a

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 referre ...

n military commander who died while leading an unsuccessful expedition against the Athenian tyrant

Hippias Hippias of Elis (; el, Ἱππίας ὁ Ἠλεῖος; late 5th century BC) was a Greek sophist, and a contemporary of Socrates. With an assurance characteristic of the later sophists, he claimed to be regarded as an authority on all subjects ...

in 511 BC. He was possibly the first

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 sp ...

Life

Anchimolus, son of Aster, was a

Spartiate A Spartiate (cf. its plural Spartiatae 'Spartans') �spärshēˈātē(z)or Spartiate �spärshēˌāt(from respectively the Latin and French forms corresponding to Classical- el, and pl. Σπᾰρτῐᾱ́ται) or ''Homoios'' (pl. ''Homoioi ...

who received command of Sparta's first expedition against the Athenian tyrant

. The incursion on

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean S ...

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 Phalerum or Phaleron ( ''()'', ; ''()'', ) was a port of Ancient Athens, 5 km southwest of the Acropolis of Athens, on a bay of the Saronic Gulf. The bay is also referred to as "Bay of Phalerum" ( el, Όρμος Φαλήρου '').'' The ...

, while Hippias recruited the aid of 1000 allied

Thessalian Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thess ...

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, unprepared to face this strong body of cavalry, were defeated and driven back to their ships. Anchimolus was among the dead, and afterwards buried in

Alopece Alopece (Ancient Greek: Ἀλωπεκή, romanised: Alopeke, also spelt as Alopecae) was an asty-deme of the city of Athens, but located exterior to the city wall of Athens. Alopece was situated only eleven or twelve stadia from the city, and n ...

near the temple of

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

Cynosarges Cynosarges ( grc-gre, Κυνόσαργες ''Kynosarges'') was a famous temple of Heracles, public gymnasium, and surrounding grove located just outside the walls of Ancient Athens on the southern bank of the Ilissos river and near the Diomeian ...

. It has been suggested that Anchimolus was the first Spartan to hold the office of

navarch Navarch ( el, ναύαρχος, ) is an Anglicisation of 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 Not all states gave their naval ...

(leader of ships). The name Anchimolus, which means 'close at hand', is an extremely rare name in recorded ancient Greek history.

References

* * * * * {{wikicite , reference=Toepffer, Johannes (1894), " Anchimolos 1", '' Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft'' (''RE'', ''PW''), volume 1, part 2, column 2105., ref={{sfnref, Toepffer 510s BC deaths 6th-century BC Spartans Ancient Spartan generals