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{{Short description|Athenian general and politician (c. 440 – 388 BC)}}
{{About|the Athenian general|the tyrant of Miletus|Thrasybulus (tyrant)|the tyrant of Syracuse|Thrasybulus of Syracuse}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Thrasybulus
| image = Thrasybulus1.gif
| caption = Thrasybulus receiving an olive crown for his successful campaign against the [[Thirty Tyrants]]. From [[Andrea Alciato]]'s [[Emblemata]].
| allegiance = [[Classical Athens|Athens]]
| rank = [[Strategos]]
| commands =
| death_date = 388 BC (aged 53-67)▼
▲|birth_date= c. 440 BC
| death_place = [[Aspendos]]<br />(modern-day [[Serik]], [[Antalya Province|Antalya]], [[Turkey]])
▲|death_date= 388 BC
| battles = {{tree list}}
**[[Battle of Cynossema]]
**[[Battle of Abydos]]
**[[Battle of Cyzicus]]
**[[Battle of Arginusae]]
*[[Phyle Campaign]]
**[[Battle of Phyle]]
**[[Battle of Munychia]]
**[[Battle of Piraeus]]
*[[Corinthian War]]
**[[Battle of Nemea]]
**[[Battle of Coronea (394 BC)|Battle of Coronea]]
{{tree list/end}}
}}
'''Thrasybulus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|θ|r|æ|s|ᵻ|ˈ|b|juː|l|ə|s}}; {{lang-grc-gre|[[wikt:Θρασύβουλος|Θρασύβουλος]]}}
After Athens' defeat in the [[Peloponnesian War]], Thrasybulus led the democratic resistance to the new oligarchic government, known as the [[Thirty Tyrants]], imposed by the victorious [[Sparta]]ns upon Athens. In 404 BC, he commanded a small force of exiles that invaded the Spartan-ruled [[Attica]] and, in successive battles, first [[Battle of Phyle|defeated]]
==Personal life and early career==
Almost nothing is known of Thrasybulus's background or early life. His father was named Lycus,<ref>[[Thucydides]], ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War|The Peloponnesian War]]'' [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 8#8:75|8.75.2]]</ref> and he was a native of the [[deme]] of Steiria in Athens.<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Xenophon]], ''[[Hellenica]]'' [[s:Hellenica (Xenophon)/Book 4/Chapter 8|4.8]]</ref> He was probably born between 455 and 441 BC, although dates as late as the later 430s BC have been suggested. He was married, and had two children. Several facts make it clear that he was from a wealthy family; he held the office of [[trierarch]],<ref>Thucydides, ''The Peloponnesian War'' [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 8#8:73|8.73.4]]</ref> which involved significant personal expenditures on several occasions, and in the 4th century BC his son was able to pay a substantial fine of 10 [[Attic talent|talents]].<ref>[[Demosthenes]], ''On the False Embassy'' [
By 411 Thrasybulus had established a reputation as a pro-democracy politician. Throughout his career, Thrasybulus consistently advocated several policies. He was a proponent of Athenian imperialism and expansionism and a strong supporter of [[Pericles|Periclean]] democracy.
According to the historical account provided by Xenophon, he was murdered by locals during the night while acting as general of a military expedition on its way to Rhodes while on a stopover in [[Aspendus]] on the [[Eurymedon River]] on account of his soldiers' recent transgressions against local farmers and their farmsteads.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
==Coup of 411 BC==
{{main|Athenian coup of 411 BC}}
In 413 BC, a massive [[Sicilian Expedition|Athenian expedition force]] was
In this general atmosphere of crisis, [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocrats]] at Athens who had long desired to overthrow the democracy there began to agitate publicly for a change of government, and formed a conspiracy to bring an [[oligarchy]] to power in Athens. Their plans included recalling [[Alcibiades]], who had been exiled by the democratic government. These oligarchs initiated their plans at Samos, where they successfully encouraged a number of Samian oligarchs to begin a similar conspiracy.<ref name="heightseven">Thucydides, ''The Peloponnesian War'' [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 8#8:73|8.73]]</ref>
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A dispute has arisen among modern historians over Thrasybulus' involvement in this plot. Donald Kagan has suggested that Thrasybulus was one of the founding members of the scheme and was willing to support moderate oligarchy, but was alienated by the extreme actions taken by the plotters.<ref>Donald Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian War'', 385</ref> R. J. Buck, on the other hand, maintains that Thrasybulus was probably never involved in the plot, possibly because he was absent from Samos at the time of its inception.<ref>R. J. Buck, ''Thrasybulus and the Athenian Democracy'', 27–28</ref>
Upon their return to Athens, the conspirators succeeded in ending democratic rule and imposing an oligarchy of 400 rulers. At Samos, however, the coup did not go forward
A ship was dispatched to Athens to notify the city of this success against the oligarchs.
One of the first actions Thrasybulus took as general was to bring about the recall of Alcibiades, a policy that he had supported since before the coup.
==In command==
In the months following these events, Thrasybulus commanded the Athenian fleet in several major engagements. At the [[Battle of Cynossema]], he commanded
[[File:Battle of Cyzicus.svg|thumb|right|250 px|The Athenian strategy at Cyzicus. ''Left'': Alcibiades' decoy force (blue) lures the Spartan fleet (black) out to sea. ''Right'': Thrasybulus and Theramenes bring their squadrons in behind the Spartans to cut off their retreat towards Cyzicus, while Alcibiades turns to face the pursuing force.]]
Thrasybulus was again in command of a squadron of the Athenian fleet at the [[Battle of Cyzicus]], a stunning Athenian victory. In this battle, the Athenians drew the Spartan fleet out to pursue a small force led by Alcibiades; when the Spartans had gotten a good distance from land, two squadrons under the command of Thrasybulus and [[Theramenes]] appeared in their rear to cut off their retreat. The Spartans were forced to flee to a nearby beach, where Alcibiades landed his men in an attempt to seize the Spartan ships. The Spartans, however, with the assistance of a Persian army, began to drive this Athenian force into the sea; seeing this, Thrasybulus landed his own force to temporarily relieve pressure on Alcibiades, and meanwhile ordered Theramenes to join up with Athenian land forces nearby and bring them to reinforce the sailors and marines on the beach. The Spartans and Persians, overwhelmed by the arrival of multiple forces from several directions, were defeated and driven off, and the Athenians captured all the Spartan ships which were not destroyed.<ref>Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian War'', 410–413. See also Diodorus Siculus, ''Library'' [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 13#13:50|13.50–51]]</ref>
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In 404 BC, following a defeat at the [[Battle of Aegospotami]], Athens was forced to surrender, ending the Peloponnesian War. In the wake of this surrender, the Spartan [[navarch]] [[Lysander]] imposed a strict oligarchic government on Athens, which came to be known as the [[Thirty Tyrants]]. This government executed a number of citizens and deprived all but a few of their rights, eventually growing so extreme that even the moderate oligarch [[Theramenes]] fell afoul of the government and was executed. Fearing for their lives, numerous Athenians fled to [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]].<ref>Xenophon, ''Hellenica'' [[s:Hellenica/Book 2/Chapter 3|2.3]]</ref>
Thrasybulus had been one of the first to oppose the oligarchy and had been exiled to Thebes shortly after its rise to power.<ref name="nepos">Cornelius Nepos, ''[http://www.ccel.org/p/pearse/morefathers/nepos.htm#Thrasybulus Life of Thrasybulus]'' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060127000925/http://www.ccel.org/p/pearse/morefathers/nepos.htm#Thrasybulus |date=2006-01-27 }}</ref>
Five days later, Thrasybulus led his force, which had already grown to the point that he could leave 200 men at Phyle while taking 1,000 with him, to [[Piraeus]], the port of Athens. There, he fortified the Munychia, a hill that dominated the port, and awaited the coming attack. The forces of the Thirty, supported by the Spartan garrison, marched to Piraeus to attack him. Thrasybulus and his men were outnumbered 5 to 1, but held a superior position and presumably benefited from consternation amidst the ranks of the oligarchs. In the battle, the exiles put the oligarchic forces to flight, killing [[Critias]], the leader of the Thirty.<ref>Buck, ''Thrasybulus and the Athenian Democracy'', 71–79. See also Xenophon, ''Hellenica'' [[s:Hellenica/Book 2/Chapter 4|2.4]]</ref>
After this victory, the remainder of the Thirty fled to [[Eleusis]], and the oligarchs within Athens began squabbling amongst themselves. New leaders were selected, but were unable to deal with Thrasybulus, and were forced to send to Sparta for help. The
==Later actions==
In the revived democracy established in 403 BC, Thrasybulus became a major and prestigious leader, although he was soon superseded at the head of the state by [[Archinus]]. Thrasybulus seems to have advocated a more radically democratic policy than the populace was willing to accept at the time; he called for reinstating pay for political service, and sought to extend citizenship to all the [[metics]] and foreigners who had fought alongside him against the Thirty. He was initially cautious about offending Sparta, but, when Persian support became available at the start of the [[Corinthian War]], he became an advocate of aggressive action, and about this time seems to have regained his preeminence in Athenian politics. He initiated the rebuilding of the [[
Thrasybulus largely faded from view for several years as Conon led the Athenian fleet to a series of victories, but in 392 BC Conon was imprisoned by the Persian satrap [[Tiribazus]] while attending a peace conference at [[Sardis]]; although released, he died in [[Cyprus]] without returning to Athens. Thrasybulus, leading the faction that sought to reject the peace offer, regained his position atop Athenian politics. In 389 BC, he led a force of [[trireme]]s to levy tribute from cities around the Aegean and support [[Rhodes]], where a democratic government was struggling against Sparta. On this campaign, Thrasybulus relaid much of the framework for an Athenian empire on 5th century BC model; he captured Byzantium, imposed a duty on ships passing through the [[Hellespont]], and collected tribute from many of the islands of the Aegean.<ref>Buck, ''Thrasybulus and the Athenian Democracy'', 115–118</ref> In 388 BC, as he led his fleet South through the Aegean, his soldiers ravaged the fields of [[Aspendus]]. In retaliation, the Aspendians raided the Athenian camp by night; Thrasybulus was killed in his tent.<ref>Xenophon, ''Hellenica'' [[s:Hellenica/Book 4/Chapter 8#8:25|4.8.25–30]]</ref>
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Throughout his career, Thrasybulus defended democracy at Athens against its opponents. He was one of the few prominent citizens whom the Samians trusted to defend their democracy, and whom the fleet selected to lead it through the troubled time of conflict with the 400. Later, in his opposition to the Thirty Tyrants, Thrasybulus risked his life when few others would, and his actions were responsible for the quick restoration of democracy. In the words of Cornelius Nepos,
{{
John Fine points to the clemency shown by Thrasybulus and other democrats in the wake of their victory over the Thirty as a key contribution towards reestablishing stable government in Athens. While many city-states throughout the Greek world broke down into vicious cycles of civil war and reprisal, Athens remained united and democratic, without interruption, until near the end of the 3rd century BC, and democracy, albeit interrupted several times by conquest or revolution, continued there until Roman times, several centuries later.<ref>J. V. Fine, ''The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History, 522–525</ref>
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The second-century travel writer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] called Thrasybulus "the greatest of all famous Athenians" for overthrowing the Thirty as well as his other exploits, making clear that he thought him greater than even Pericles.<ref>[http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1B.html Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'', paragraph 1.29.3]</ref>
Thus Thrasybulus won praise as an Athenian patriot and staunch, principled democrat. He has been criticized by modern historians, however, for failing to recognize that Athens in the 4th century BC could not sustain an imperial policy.<ref>Henry Dickinson Westlake and Simon Hornblower, "Thrasybulus
Thrasybulus was a capable general, particularly successful in naval warfare, and a competent speaker,{{cn|date=December 2020}} but was frequently overshadowed or pushed aside by more charismatic or spectacularly successful leaders.{{cn|date=December 2020}} Buck has compared him to Winston Churchill, another advocate of imperial policies who held fast to his beliefs after the tide of history had turned against him, and who rose to his peak of prominence at his country's darkest hour.{{cn|date=December 2020}} Throughout his two decades of prominence, whether in or out of leadership, Thrasybulus remained a steady advocate of traditional Athenian imperial democracy, and he died fighting for the same cause he was advocating on his first appearance in 411.{{cn|date=December 2020}}
==Notes==
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===Ancient sources===
* {{cite wikisource |author=
* [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[
* [[Cornelius Nepos]], ''[http://
* {{cite wikisource |title=History of the Peloponnesian War |author=
* {{cite wikisource |wslink=Hellenica (Xenophon) |title=Hellenica |author=
===Modern sources===
* {{cite book |title=Thrasybulus and the Athenian Democracy: the Life of an Athenian Statesman |series=Historia Einzelschriften |volume=120 |last=Buck |first=R. J.
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Thrasybulus|volume=26|first=Maximilian Otto Bismarck|last= Caspari}}
* {{cite book |title=The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientgreeks00john |url-access=registration |last=Fine |first=J. V. A.
* {{cite book |title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |last=Hornblower |first=S.
* {{cite book |title=The Peloponnesian War |last=Kagan |first=D. |
{{Ancient Athenian statesmen}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:388 BC deaths]]
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