Clearchus ( el, Kλέαρχoς, ''Klearkhos''; c. 401 BC – 353 BC; also spelled Cleärchus or Cleärch) was a citizen of Heraclea on the Euxine (

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

) who was recalled from exile by the oligarchy of that city to aid them in quelling the growing discontent and demands of the people. According to

Justin Justin may refer to: People * Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin * Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Rom ...

, Clearchus reached an agreement with Mithridates of

Cius Cius (; grc-gre, Kίος or Κῖος ''Kios''), later renamed Prusias on the Sea (; la, Prusias ad Mare) after king Prusias I of Bithynia, was an ancient Greek city bordering the Propontis (now known as the Sea of Marmara), in Bithynia and i ...

to betray the city to him on the condition that Clearchus would hold the city for Mithridates as governor. But, Clearchus then came to the conclusion that he could make himself master of the city without the aid of Mithridates. So he not only broke his agreement with the Mithridates, but also captured him and compelled him to pay a large sum for his release. Having deserted the side of the oligarchs, Clearchus put himself forward as the man of the people, and in around 365 BC obtained from the city's population the command of a body of mercenaries, and, having got rid of the oligarchs by murder and banishment, raised himself to the

tyranny A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to ...

. He was said to have used his power as badly and with as much cruelty as he had gained it and, as a sign of his arrogance, assumed publicly the attributes of

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

, and gave the name of ''Keraunos'' (i.e. "thunderer") to one of his sons. Thanks to his behaviour towards those he ruled over, Clearchus lived in constant fear of assassination, against which he guarded in the strictest way. But, in spite of his precautions, he was killed by Chion and Leon in 353 BC, after a reign of twelve years. He was said to have been a pupil of both

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

and Isocrates, the latter of whom asserted that, while he was with him, he was one of the gentlest and most benevolent of men.In addition to Smith's ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', see the list of classical testimonia following.

Notes

References

* Smith, William (editor); ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...

''
"Clearchus"

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, (1867) * Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca''
xv. 81xvi. 36
*

, ''Epitome of Pompeius Trogus''
4-5
*

Polyaenus Polyaenus or Polyenus ( ; see ae (æ) vs. e; grc-gre, Πoλύαινoς, Polyainos, "much-praised") was a 2nd-century CE Greek author, known best for his ''Stratagems in War'' ( grc-gre, Στρατηγήματα, Strategemata), which has been pr ...

, ''Stratagemata''
ii. 30
*Photius, ''Bibliotheca'', summarizing

Memnon of Heraclea Memnon of Heraclea (; grc-gre, Mέμνων, ''gen''.: Μέμνονος; fl. c. 1st century) was a Greek historical writer, probably a native of Heraclea Pontica. He described the history of that city in a large work, known only through the ''Excerp ...

, ''History of Heracleia''
1
*

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

, ''

Moralia The ''Moralia'' ( grc, Ἠθικά ''Ethika''; loosely translated as "Morals" or "Matters relating to customs and mores") is a group of manuscripts dating from the 10th–13th centuries, traditionally ascribed to the 1st-century Greek scholar Pl ...

'', "On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander", ii. 5, "A Discourse to an Unlearned Prince", 4; *

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...

, '' Deipnosophistae''
iii. 29
*Isocrates, ''To Timotheus''; *'' Suda'', s.v
"Klearchos"
* Aelian, ''Varia Historia''
ix. 13
*{{SmithDGRBM Ancient Greek tyrants Ancient Pontic Greeks 4th-century BC Greek people 400s BC births 353 BC deaths People from Heraclea Pontica

See also

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