Irlandos: New page: '''Clearchus''' (Greek: ''Κλέαρχος''), the son of Rhamphias, was a Spartan general and mercenary. Born about the middle of the 5th century BC, Clearchus...

2008-03-13T10:18:32Z

New page: '''Clearchus''' (Greek: ''Κλέαρχος''), the son of Rhamphias, was a Spartan general and mercenary. Born about the middle of the 5th century BC, Clearchus...

New page

'''Clearchus''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: ''Κλέαρχος''), the son of Rhamphias, was a [[Sparta]]n general and mercenary.

Born about the middle of the [[5th century BC]], Clearchus was sent with a fleet to the [[Hellespont]] in [[411 BC|411]] and became governor of [[Byzantium]], of which town he was ''proxenus''. His severity, however, made him unpopular, and in his absence the gates were opened to the [[Athens|Athenian]] besieging army under [[Alcibiades]] ([[409 BC|409]]).

Subsequently appointed by the [[ephors]] to settle the political dissensions then rife at Byzantium and to protect the city and the neighbouring [[Greek colonies]] from Thracian attacks, he made himself tyrant of Byzantium, and, when declared an outlaw and driven thence by a Spartan force, he fled to [[Cyrus the Younger|Cyrus]].

In the "[[Anabasis (Xenophon)|expedition of the ten thousand]]" undertaken by Cyrus to dethrone his brother [[Artaxerxes II|Artaxerxes Mnemon]], Clearchus led the [[Peloponnesian]] delegation of the [[Ten Thousand (Greek)|Army of the Ten Thousand]], who formed the right wing of Cyrus’s army at the [[battle of Cunaxa]] ([[401 BC|401]]). On Cyrus’s death Clearchus assumed the chief command and conducted the retreat, until, being treacherously seized with his fellow-generals by [[Tissaphernes]], he was handed over to Artaxerxes and executed .

==References==
*''This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.''

{{Credit wikipedia}}

[[Category:Ancient Spartans]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek generals]]

Clearchus of Sparta - Revision history

Irlandos: New page: '''Clearchus''' (Greek: ''Κλέαρχος''), the son of Rhamphias, was a Spartan general and mercenary. Born about the middle of the 5th century BC, Clearchus...