Cycliadas ( grc, Κυκλιάδας) was an ancient Greek statesman and general. He was the son of Damaretos of
Pharae
Pharae ( grc, Φαραί), otherwise known as Phara (Φᾶρα), and Pherae, was a town and polis (city-state), situated by the Peiros River, approximately from the sea and from the town of Patras, in what is now southern Greece. It was one of ...
in
Achaea
Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...
. Elected as
strategos
''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek language, Greek to ...
of the
Achaean League
The Achaean League (Greek: , ''Koinon ton Akhaion'' "League of Achaeans") was a Hellenistic-era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea in the northwestern Pel ...
in 208 BC, he joined
Philip V of Macedon
Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon ag ...
at
Dyme
Dyme ( grc, Δύμη), or Dymae, was a town and polis (city-state) of ancient Achaea, and the most westerly of the 12 Achaean cities, from which circumstance it is said to have derived its name. The location of Dyme is near the modern Kato Achaia. ...
with the Achaean forces, and aided him in his invasion of
Elis
Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...
. In 200 BC, Cycliadas being made strategos instead of
Philopoemen
Philopoemen ( el, Φιλοποίμην ''Philopoímēn''; 253 BC, Megalopolis – 183 BC, Messene) was a skilled Greek general and statesman, who was Achaean strategos on eight occasions.
From the time he was appointed as strategos in 209 BC ...
, the
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 king
Nabis
Nabis ( grc-gre, Νάβις) was the last king of independent Sparta. He was probably a member of the Heracleidae, and he ruled from 207 BC to 192 BC, during the years of the First and Second Macedonian Wars and the eponymous "War against Nabis" ...
took advantage of the change to make war on the Achaeans. Philip offered to help them, and to carry the war into the enemy's country, if they would give him a sufficient number of their soldiers to garrison
Chalcis
Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...
,
Oreus
Oreus or Oreos ( grc, Ὠρεός, Ōreos), prior to the 5th century BC called Histiaea or Histiaia (Ἱστίαια), also Hestiaea or Hestiaia (Ἑστίαια), was a town near the north coast of ancient Euboea, situated upon the river Ca ...
and
Corinth
Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...
in the meantime. The Achaeans, however, mistrusted Philip and suspected that it was a ploy to obtain hostages from them and so to force them into a war with the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
. Cycliadas therefore answered, that their laws precluded them from discussing any proposal except that for which the assembly was summoned. In 199/8 BC, Cycliadas was expelled as a result of his position as leader of the pro-Macedonian party. In 198 BC he was an exile at the court of Philip, whom he attended in that year at his conference with
Flamininus
Titus Quinctius Flamininus (c. 228 – 174 BC) was a Roman politician and general instrumental in the Roman conquest of Greece.
Family background
Flamininus belonged to the minor patrician '' gens'' Quinctia. The family had a glorious pla ...
at
Nicaea
Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...
in Locris.
After the
Battle of Cynoscephalae
The Battle of Cynoscephalae ( el, Μάχη τῶν Κυνὸς Κεφαλῶν) was an encounter battle fought in Thessaly in 197 BC between the Roman army, led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, and the Antigonid dynasty of Macedon, led by Phili ...
in 197 BC, Cycliadas was sent with Demosthenes and Limnaeus as ambassador from Philip to Flamininus, who granted the king a truce of 15 days with a view to the arrangement of a permanent peace.
The Histories (Polybius)
Polybius’ ''Histories'' ( grc-gre, Ἱστορίαι ''Historíai'') were originally written in 40 volumes, only the first five of which are extant in their entirety. The bulk of the work was passed down through collections of excerpts kept in ...
br>18.34
/ref>
References
{{SmithDGRBM, title=Cycliadas
Ancient Greek generals
Second Macedonian War
Ambassadors of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
Achaean League