Nikias - Revision history

Irlandos at 12:01, November 28, 2008

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'''Nicias''' (d. [[414 BC]]), a soldier and statesman in ancient [[Athens]], inherited from his father Niceratus a considerable fortune invested mainly in the silver mines of [[Laurium]].

Evidence of his wealth is found in the fact that he had no fewer than 1000 slaves whom he hired out. He gravitated naturally to the aristocratic party, and was several times colleague with [[Pericles]] in the [[strategia]]. On the death of Pericles he was left leader of the aristocrats against the advanced party of [[Cleon]]. He made use of his wealth both to buy off enemies (especially informers) and to acquire popularity by the magnificent way in which he discharged various public services, especially those connected with the state religion, of which he was a strong supporter. In the field he displayed extreme caution, and prior to the great [[Sicilian expedition]] achieved a number of minor military successes. [[Plutarch]] states that "Nicias declined all difficult and lengthy enterprises; if he took a command, he was for doing what was safe."

In [[421 BC|421]] he took a prominent part in the arrangement of the "[[Peace of Nicias]]," which terminated the first decade of the [[Peloponnesian War]]. He now entered with varying success upon a period of rivalry with [[Alcibiades]], the details of which are largely matters of conjecture. So bitter was the strife that the [[ostracism]] of one seemed inevitable, but by a temporary coalition they secured instead the banishment of the demagogue [[Hyperbolus]] (417). In 415 he was appointed with [[Alcibiades]] and [[Lamachus]] to command the [[Sicilian expedition]], and, after the flight of Alcibiades and the death of Lamachus, was practically the sole commander, the much more capable Demosthenes (not the orator), who was sent to his aid, being apparently of comparatively little weight.

How far it is just to attribute to his excessive caution and his blind faith in [[omen]]s the disastrous failure it is difficult to say. At all events it is clear that the management of so great an enterprise was a task far beyond his powers. He was a man of conventional respectability and mechanical piety, without the originality which was required to meet the crisis which faced him. His popularity with the aristocratic party in Athens is, however, strikingly shown by the lament of [[Thucydides]] over his death: "He assuredly, among all Greeks of my time, least deserved to come to so extreme a pitch of ill-fortune, considering his exact performance of established duties to the divinity" (vii. 86, Crete's version).

Besides Thucydides see [[Plutarch]]'s ''Nicias and Diod.'' xii. 83; also the general authorities on the history of [[Greece]].

Nicias appears as a character in [[Plato]]'s dialogue ''Laches'', in which [[Socrates]] and others discuss the nature of courage without reaching any firm conclusions.

==References==

*[[Plutarch]]'s Parallel Lives
==External links==
*[http://www.livius.org Livius], [http://www.livius.org/ne-nn/nicias/nicias.html Nicias] by Jona Lendering

{{Credit wikipedia}}
[[Category:414 BC deaths]]
[[Category:Ancient Athenians]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek generals]]

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	In [[421 BC\|421]] he took a prominent part in the arrangement of the "[[Peace of Nicias]]," which terminated the first decade of the [[Peloponnesian War]]. He now entered with varying success upon a period of rivalry with [[Alcibiades]], the details of which are largely matters of conjecture. So bitter was the strife that the [[ostracism]] of one seemed inevitable, but by a temporary coalition they secured instead the banishment of the demagogue [[Hyperbolus]] (417). In 415 he was appointed with [[Alcibiades]] and [[Lamachus]] to command the [[Sicilian expedition]], and, after the flight of Alcibiades and the death of Lamachus, was practically the sole commander, the much more capable Demosthenes (not the orator), who was sent to his aid, being apparently of comparatively little weight.		In [[421 BC\|421]] he took a prominent part in the arrangement of the "[[Peace of Nicias]]," which terminated the first decade of the [[Peloponnesian War]]. He now entered with varying success upon a period of rivalry with [[Alcibiades]], the details of which are largely matters of conjecture. So bitter was the strife that the [[ostracism]] of one seemed inevitable, but by a temporary coalition they secured instead the banishment of the demagogue [[Hyperbolus]] (417). In 415 he was appointed with [[Alcibiades]] and [[Lamachus]] to command the [[Sicilian expedition]], and, after the flight of Alcibiades and the death of Lamachus, was practically the sole commander, the much more capable Demosthenes (not the orator), who was sent to his aid, being apparently of comparatively little weight.
		+
		+	The expedition turned out to be a disaster and Nikias himself was captured and taken prisoner. He was executed despite orders to the contrary by [[Sparta]]n commander [[Gylippus]]. His surviving troops were made slaves to work in the quarries of Sicily.

	How far it is just to attribute to his excessive caution and his blind faith in [[omen]]s the disastrous failure it is difficult to say. At all events it is clear that the management of so great an enterprise was a task far beyond his powers. He was a man of conventional respectability and mechanical piety, without the originality which was required to meet the crisis which faced him. His popularity with the aristocratic party in Athens is, however, strikingly shown by the lament of [[Thucydides]] over his death: "He assuredly, among all Greeks of my time, least deserved to come to so extreme a pitch of ill-fortune, considering his exact performance of established duties to the divinity" (vii. 86, Crete's version).		How far it is just to attribute to his excessive caution and his blind faith in [[omen]]s the disastrous failure it is difficult to say. At all events it is clear that the management of so great an enterprise was a task far beyond his powers. He was a man of conventional respectability and mechanical piety, without the originality which was required to meet the crisis which faced him. His popularity with the aristocratic party in Athens is, however, strikingly shown by the lament of [[Thucydides]] over his death: "He assuredly, among all Greeks of my time, least deserved to come to so extreme a pitch of ill-fortune, considering his exact performance of established duties to the divinity" (vii. 86, Crete's version).

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