Chabrias

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Chabrias ( Greek Χαβρίας Chabrías ; † 357 BC ) was an important Greek general. The student of Plato was at times strategist in his hometown Athens , but was also in the service of the Egyptian pharaohs . He fought against both Sparta and the Persian Empire, and achieved some significant victories.

Life

Nothing is known about Chabrias' birth and youth.

In the Corinthian War he was involved in the military enterprise of the Athenian general Thrasybulus . At the beginning of the year 389 BC He replaced Iphicrates as a general in the Peloponnese.

In support of King Euagoras I against the Persian Empire, he broke in 387 BC. With an Athenian army, consisting of 800 Peltasts , to Cyprus . Supported by a contingent of hoplites under the command of Demainetos , he landed on Aigina , where he was able to inflict a bitter defeat on the Spartans. But after Cyprus in 386 BC BC was subordinated to the Persian Empire in the peace of the king , it was impossible for the Greek troops under Chabrias to remain on the island. The Athenian general then entered the service of the Egyptian pharaoh Hakor . With a mercenary army, he successfully defended Egypt against attempts by the Persians to reintegrate it into their empire as satrapy. Under Persian pressure, Chabrias was finally given in 380 BC. Called back to Athens.

378 BC BC succeeded a victory against the Spartan king Agesilaus II at Thebes . In this battle he successfully used a defense technique he had invented. But Chabrias was not only a successful commander of land troops - he had had in 376 BC. In addition, he had a very significant success as an Athenian naval commander. That year, during the Second Attic League, the League defeated under the command of Chabrias in 376 BC. At Naxos the Spartan fleet.

374 BC Chr. Chabrias' team of four won the Pythian Games in Delphi . The incidents around Neaira at the victory celebration in Athens would still be part of a process 30 years later.

From 369 onwards he fought against the Thebans - still on behalf of Athenians. In 366 he was charged. He was accused of treason in favor of Boeotia , but was acquitted.

After the trial was over, Chabrias returned to Egypt to take command of the navy for a planned campaign to the Near East. However, he returned to his homeland as early as 359, after the fall of the Egyptian king, to put himself back in the service of Athenians. When the so-called Alliance War began about two years later , as Diodorus reports, he took part in a battle against the island of Chios as the Athenian fleet commander ; according to Nepos, however, as a private person. He died in the attack on the island in 357, when he consciously turned down the opportunity to escape in a hopeless situation in order to end his life in battle.

reception

The Athenians honored Chabrias for his military successes with a monument. In modern research he has been referred to as the " condottiere of the 4th century" (BC).

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Xen. Hellenika V 1.10-12.
  2. ↑ Diodor , Greek World History, 16.7.
  3. ^ Nepos , Chabrias, 4.
personal data
SURNAME Chabrias
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Athenian general and trader
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 357 BC Chr.
Place of death Chios