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Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (Greek: Ἀλκιβιάδης Κλεινίου Σκαμβωνίδης; English /ælsɪ'baɪədi:z/; c. 450 BC–404 BC), also transliterated as Alkibiades, was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. The last famous member of an aristocratic family that fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War, he played a major role in the second half of that conflict as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician.
During the course of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades changed his allegiance on several occasions. In his native Athens in the early 410s BC, he advocated for an aggressive foreign policy, and was a prominent proponent of the Sicilian Expedition, but fled to Sparta after his political enemies brought charges of sacrilege against him. In Sparta, he served as a strategic advisor, proposing or supervising several major campaigns against Athens. In Sparta too, however, Alcibiades soon made powerful enemies and was forced to defect to Persia. There, he served as an advisor to the satrap Tissaphernes until his political allies among the Athenians brought about his recall. He then served as an Athenian general (strategos) for several more years, but his enemies eventually succeeded in exiling him a second time.
The Sicilian expedition was Alcibiades' creation, and modern scholars have argued that, had that expedition been under Alcibiades' command instead of that of Nicias, the expedition might not have met its eventual disastrous fate. In the years that he served Sparta, Alcibiades played a crucial role in Athens' undoing; the capture of Decelea and the revolts of several critical Athenian subjects occurred either at his suggestion or under his supervision. Once restored to his native city, however, he played a crucial role in a string of Athenian victories that eventually brought Sparta to seek a peace with Athens. He favored unconventional tactics, frequently winning cities over by treachery or negotiation rather than by siege. Alcibiades' military and political talents frequently proved valuable to whichever state currently held his allegiance, but his capacity for making powerful enemies ensured that he never remained in one place for long, and, by the end of the war that he had helped rekindle in the early 410s, his days of political relevance were a bygone memory. (Read more...)
