Brasidas

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Brasidas ( Greek Βρασίδας Brasídas ; † 422 BC near Amphipolis in northern Greece) was a Spartan general who worked in the first half of the Peloponnesian War .

Life

Brasidas came from a respected Spartan family. His father was Tellis, who lived in 421 BC. Swore the peace Nicias, his mother Argileonis. During the war he operated very successfully as a general. He acted as an advisor in the early phase of the war, he received high honors for the dismissal of Methone, he was appointed 431/30 BC. Chr. Relatively young eponymous ephor . Against the resistance of influential circles in Sparta who were striving for an understanding with Athens , he spoke out in favor of an alliance with Macedonia . 429 BC He advised the Nauarch Knemos in the second naval battle of Naupaktos and an attack on Salamis, 427 the nauarchs of Alcias during the unsuccessful attempt to occupy Kerkyra . As a trierarch, he took part in the battle against the new Athenian base Pylos in 425 .

In 424 BC He intervened from Corinth in the battle for Megara and saved the city from an attack by Athens. Then he marched with an army of 1,700 men, 700 of them helots and the rest of them mercenaries, to Thrace in order to threaten Athens' supply of grain from the Black Sea region.

In the winter of 424/423 BC He succeeded in taking the Athenian colony Amphipolis on the Strymon , an important base for Athens. He suggested moderate conditions for the surrender. So all citizens should be allowed to keep their property or to leave with their property. Strategos Thucydides , who rushed to the defense of Amphipolis from the island of Thasos and did not arrive in time before the surrender and was only able to secure the nearby port city of Eion, later had to pay for this loss with exile.

At the Battle of Amphipolis, which was victorious for the Spartans in 422 BC. Brasidas and his Athenian opponent Kleon perished, which paved the way for the peace of Nicias of 421 BC. Chr. Vacated. The amphipolitans buried the fallen within the walls. They regarded him as the second founder of their city and worshiped him with games and cultic celebrations as a hero and savior.

Thucydides describes Brasidas as energetic, fair and measured. His reputation, which preceded him, made it much easier for him to persuade Athens' allies to apostate, especially when he declares that he was supposedly sent to free Hellas. Brasidas was anxious to equalize in order to facilitate the integration of the conquered areas. This is how Thucydides described the capture of the city of Torone :

“When it was now day and Brasidas had the city firmly in his hand, he sent a herald to the Toronians who had fled with the Athenians: whoever wanted to, could safely return to his property and his civil rights; [..] He also gathered the Toronians and spoke like in Akanthos ; It was not right to despise the men who had helped him to take the city and to regard them as traitors: they did not do it for servitude or for money, but for the good and for the freedom of the city; just as little should one want to exclude the bystanders from equality. He did not come to ruin any city or citizen. That is why he reported his offer to those who fled to the Athenians, because he did not despise them for the sake of that friendship; [..] "

The characteristics of Brasidas as a general and his personal behavior during the battle are described very positively by Thucydides. His well thought-out plan and personal bravery stand in sharp contrast to what Thucydides describes Kleon, which the historian, however, also viewed generally negatively.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 2:25; 5, 19; 5, 2, 24.
  2. ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 4, 78.
  3. ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 4, 80.
  4. ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 4, 105-106.
  5. ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 4, 104-106.
  6. ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 5:11.
  7. ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 4, 81.
  8. ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 4, 108.
  9. ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 4, 114. Translation after Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War. Edited and translated by Georg Peter Landmann. dtv, Munich 1973, ISBN 3-423-06019-0 , p. 351.
  10. ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 5, 9.
  11. ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 5, 10.
personal data
SURNAME Brasidas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spartan general
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 422 BC Chr.
Place of death at Amphipolis in Northern Greece