Diphridas 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 general in the

Corinthian War The Corinthian War (395–387 BC) was a conflict in ancient Greece which pitted Sparta against a coalition of city-states comprising Thebes, Athens, Corinth and Argos, backed by the Achaemenid Empire. The war was caused by dissatisfaction with ...

. In 391 BC, he was placed in command of Spartan forces in Asia Minor, whose previous commander,

Thibron ''Thibron'' is a genus of insect in the family Tetrigidae (the groundhoppers), tribe Tetrigini, from the central part of Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At abou ...

, had been killed in an ambush. Diphridas continued his predecessor's policy of launching plundering raids into the territory of

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...

in the region,

Struthas Struthas was a Persian satrap for a brief period during the Corinthian War. In 392 BC, he was dispatched by Artaxerxes II to take command of the satrapy of Sardis, replacing Tiribazus, and to pursue an anti-Spartan policy. Accordingly, Struthas ...

. These raids were highly successful; Diphridas at one point captured Struthas's son-in-law, and with the plunder he took he was able to hire mercenaries to enlarge his force.

References

*Fine, John V.A. ''The Ancient Greeks: A critical history'' (Harvard University Press, 1983) *{{cite wikisource , title=Hellenica , wslink=Hellenica (Xenophon) , author=

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...

, translator=

Henry Graham Dakyns Henry Graham Dakyns, often H. G. Dakyns (1838–1911), was a British translator of Ancient Greek, best known for his translations of Xenophon: the ''Cyropaedia'' and ''Hellenica'', ''The Economist'', '' Hiero'' and ''On Horsemanship''. Life Henry ...

, year=1890s , origyear=original 4th century BC 4th-century BC Spartans Ancient Spartan generals Spartan hegemony Spartans of the Corinthian War