Timotheus ( el, Τιμόθεος; died 354 BC) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

statesman and general who sought to revive Athenian imperial ambitions by making

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

dominant in a Second Athenian League. He was the son of the Athenian general, Conon.

Isocrates Isocrates (; grc, Ἰσοκράτης ; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education thro ...

considered that Timotheus was superior to the other commanders of his time and showed all the requisites and abilities of a good general.Isocrates. ''Antidosis'', Section 117.

Strategos

From 378 BC to 356 BC, Timotheus frequently held command as "

strategos ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek to mean military general. In the Hellenisti ...

" in the wars between Athens (in alliance with Thebes), and

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 ...

. At this time, Athens' ambition was to revive the

Delian League The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Pl ...

and to regain command of the sea. In 375 BC, during the Boeotian War, Timotheus was sent with a fleet to sail round Peloponnesus by way of a demonstration of Athens' power against

. He persuaded Cephallenia to side with Athens and secured the friendship of the Acarnanians and

Molossians The Molossians () were a group of ancient Greek tribes which inhabited the region of Epirus in classical antiquity. Together with the Chaonians and the Thesprotians, they formed the main tribal groupings of the northwestern Greek group. On t ...

. In 373 BC, Timotheus was appointed to the command of a fleet for the relief of Corcyra, then beleaguered by the Spartans, but his ships were not fully manned, and to increase their manpower he cruised in the Aegean. The delay upset the Athenians, who brought him to trial; but, thanks to the intervention of his allies –

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek mythology, mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was marri ...

, tyrant of Pherae, and Alcetas I of Epirus, King of the Molossians, both of whom went to Athens to plead his cause he was acquitted. In way of support, Amyntas, King of Macedon, sent timber to Timeotheus' house in the Piraeus. Upon his acquittal, he went to sea with his fleet and captured Corcyra and then defeated the Spartans at sea off Alyzia (Acarnania). However, with little money to his name—for he had used his own funds to build up the Athenian fleet—he left Athens and took service with the king of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...

as a mercenary.

Asia Minor

Having returned to Athens, in 366 BC he was sent to support Ariobarzanes,

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 cons ...

of Phrygia. But, finding that the satrap was in open rebellion against Persia ( Revolt of the Satraps), Timotheus, in line with his instructions, abstained from helping him and rather used his army against

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a sepa ...

, then occupied by a Persian garrison, and took it after a ten months' siege (366 BC-365 BC). He then took Sestus, Crithote, Torone,

Potidaea __NOTOC__ Potidaea (; grc, Ποτίδαια, ''Potidaia'', also Ποτείδαια, ''Poteidaia'') was a colony founded by the Corinthians around 600 BC in the narrowest point of the peninsula of Pallene, the westernmost of three peninsulas at ...

, Methone, Pydna and many other cities; but two attempts to capture Amphipolis failed.

Court case

An action was brought against him by Apollodorus, the son of the banker Pasion, for the return of money lent by his father. The speech for the plaintiff is still extant, and is attributed to

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual pro ...

(see also Pseudo-Demosthenes). It is interesting as it describes the manner in which Timotheus had exhausted the large fortune inherited from his father and the straits to which he was reduced by his sacrifices in the public cause.

The Social War

In 358 BC or 357 BC, an Athenian force, in response to a spirited appeal from Timotheus, crossed over to Euboea and expelled the Thebans in three days. In the course of the Social War Timotheus was dispatched with Iphicrates, Menestheus, son of Iphicrates, and Chares to put down the revolt. The hostile fleets sighted each other in the

Hellespont The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont ( ...

; but a gale was blowing, and Iphicrates and Timotheus decided not to engage. Chares, disregarding the advice of his colleagues, lost many ships.

Final years

In his dispatches after the battle, Chares complained so bitterly about Iphicrates and Timotheus that the Athenians put them on their trial. The accusers were Chares and Aristophon. Iphicrates, who had fewer enemies than Timotheus, was acquitted; but Timotheus, who had always been disliked for his perceived arrogance, was condemned to pay a very heavy fine. Being unable to pay, he withdrew to

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 f ...

, where he died soon afterwards. The Athenians later showed their sorrow over the treatment of Timotheus by forgiving the greater part of the fine that had passed onto his son Conon to pay. Timotheus was buried in the Ceramicus and statues were erected to his memory in the

Agora The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order ...

and the

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

Reputation

Timotheus inspired much jealousy among his rivals, his reputation somewhat tarnished by the record of his final years.

Claudius Aelianus Claudius Aelianus ( grc, Κλαύδιος Αἰλιανός, Greek transliteration ''Kláudios Ailianós''; c. 175c. 235 AD), commonly Aelian (), born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severu ...

sums up much of the negative perception of Timotheus' generalship. ''Note that the Athenian general Timotheus was reckoned to be fortunate. People said fortune was responsible, and Timotheus had no part in it. They ridiculed him on the stage, and painters portrayed him asleep, with Tykhe (Fortune) hovering above his head and pulling the cities into her net.'' This commentary is balanced by the credible picture (presented by

) of a skilled and cautious general, magnanimous victor and low-key diplomat.

References

Sources

*Se
Life by Cornelius Nepos

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...

xv., xvi.;

, ''De permutatione''; Pseudo-Demosthenes
Timotheum''
C. Rehdantz, ''Vitae Iphicratis, Chabriae, Timothei'' (1845); and especially Holm, ''History of Greece'' (English translation, Volume III.). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Timotheus 350s BC deaths Ancient Athenian admirals Ancient Athenian generals 4th-century BC Athenians Year of birth unknown Ancient Greek mercenaries in Achaemenid service