Thibron ( grc-gre, Θίβρων; died 391 BC) was a Spartan general. He was sent out as

harmost Harmost ( el, , "joiner" or "adaptor") was a Spartan term for a military governor. The Spartan general Lysander instituted several harmosts during the period of Spartan hegemony after the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC. They were sent int ...

in 400 BC, with an army of about 5,000 men, composed of 1,000 emancipated helots and 4,000 other Peleponesians, to aid the

Ionians The Ionians (; el, Ἴωνες, ''Íōnes'', singular , ''Íōn'') were one of the four major tribes that the Greeks considered themselves to be divided into during the ancient period; the other three being the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaea ...

against

Tissaphernes Tissaphernes ( peo, *Ciçafarnāʰ; grc-gre, Τισσαφέρνης; xlc, 𐊋𐊆𐊈𐊈𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 , ; 445395 BC) was a Persian soldier and statesman, Satrap of Lydia and Ionia. His life is mostly known from the works of Thuc ...

, who wished to bring them into subjection. In addition to this force, Thibron recruited 2,000 local troops upon his arrival, but was initially unable to face the Persian army in the field. However, after he was joined by elements of the

Ten Thousand The Ten Thousand ( grc, οἱ Μύριοι, ''oi Myrioi'') were a force of mercenary units, mainly Greeks, employed by Cyrus the Younger to attempt to wrest the throne of the Persian Empire from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Their march to the Bat ...

, he was able to seize several cities. He then, according to

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, 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 Greek mercenary armies o ...

, settled in to besiege Larissa, but this proved fruitless, and Thibron was ordered to abandon it. Diodorus suggests that at some point, after taking Magnesia, Thibron attempted to conquer Tralles in Ionia, but was unsuccessful and returned to Magnesia. He is then said to have withdrawn to Ephesus after Tissaphernes arrived with a large force of cavalry. In any case, Thibron was recalled to

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 ...

and replaced by another general,

Dercylidas Dercylidas (Greek: Δερκυλίδας) was a Spartan commander during the 5th and 4th century BC. For his cunning and inventiveness, he was nicknamed Sisyphus. In 411 BC he was appointed harmost at Abydos. In 399 BC, he was advised by Antisthen ...

, before he could launch his next campaign. Upon his return to Sparta Thibron was tried and exiled for allowing his troops to plunder Sparta's allies in the region. In 391 BC, during the Corinthian War, Thibron was again dispatched to Ionia with orders to take aggressive action against the

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 Struthas, who was pursuing a pro-

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

, anti-Spartan policy. He was given an army of 8,000 men and launched a number of successful raids into Persian territory. His raids tended to be poorly organized, however, and Struthas took advantage of this to ambush one of these expeditions. Struthas successfully lured Thibron and his men into ideal cavalry terrain before launching the attack. The

Spartan army The Spartan army stood at the center of the Spartan state, citizens trained in the disciplines and honor of a warrior society.Connolly (2006), p. 38 Subjected to military drills since early manhood, the Spartans became one of the most feared ...

was routed and most of them, including Thibron, were killed. One source even indicates that Thibron was slain in personal combat by Struthas himself. What was left of his army was subsequently incorporated into a new army under

Diphridas Diphridas was a Spartan general in the Corinthian War. In 391 BC, he was placed in command of Spartan forces in Asia Minor, whose previous commander, Thibron, had been killed in an ambush. Diphridas continued his predecessor's policy of launchin ...

. It is likely that this Thibron is the same one mentioned by

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

as writing a treatise on the Spartan Constitution.Aristotle's Politics 7.1333b12; Jacoby, FGrHist 581; Tigerstedt, Legend of Sparta 1.110

Notes

References

*Fine, John V.A. ''The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History'' (Harvard University Press, 1983) *Tober, Daniel. ""Politeiai" and Spartan Local History" in Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 59.4 (2010), 412 - 431. * {{DGRBM, author=EE, title=Thimbron or Thibron, volume=3, pages=1103-1104, url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/acl3129.0003.001/1111 Year of birth unknown 391 BC deaths 4th-century BC Spartans Ancient Greeks killed in battle Anabasis (Xenophon) Harmosts