Lacedaemonius

Lacedaemonius

Lacedaemonius

5th-century BC Athenian general

Lacedaemonius (Greek: Λακεδαιμόνιος)[n 1] was an Athenian general of the Philaid clan.[3] He served Athens, notably in the naval Battle of Sybota against the Corinthians in 433 BC.

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Biography

Lacedaemonius was the son of Cimon, a pro-Sparta general and Athenian political figure,[4] and Isodice who was the daughter of Euryptolemus I, a cousin of Pericles.[5][6] He was a grandson of the famous Miltiades IV. An account cited that he had a twin called Oulius.[5] He was also the brother of Miltiades V.[5]

Lacedaemonius came from Lacedaemon, another name for the city state of Sparta. His father so admired the Spartans that as a sign of goodwill he named his son after their city.  Lacedaemonius was also identified as the proxenos of the Spartans in Athens.[7]

Accounts cited Lacedaemonius as one of the Athenian generals sent to aid Corcyra in its conflict with Corinth after an alliance agreement concluded in 433.[8] This is part of the series of events that led to the Peloponnesian War.[8] According to Plutarch, Lacedaemonius sailed with ten ships and was sent forth against his will.[9] Lacedaemonius, who according to Thucydides was sent with three other generals: Diotimus, Strombichus, and Proteas, was ordered not to engage with the Corinthians unless they attacked Corcyra.[10] The Athenian fleet joined the Corcyraeans when the Corinthians finally invaded under Xenocleides.[10]

A view, which had been advanced by Plutarch, held that giving Lacedaemonius command with a meager fleet for his campaign was an insult to the sons of Cimon due their sympathy for Sparta.[11] Modern historians see Lacedaemonius appointment as a political move on the part of Pericles, who wanted to destroy political opposition by cementing his ties with the Cimonians.[12] There are also those who propose that Lacedaemonius appointment, his mission, and the size of his fleet was part of a strategy of "minimal deterrence" against Corinth.[13]

Notes and references

Notes
  1. [n 1]
    The most ancient attestation of this word in Greek, referring as an ethnonym to the Spartans, is the Mycenaean Linear B 𐀨𐀐𐀅𐀖𐀛𐀍, ra-ke-da-mi-ni-jo, found on many tablets at Thebes, e.g. on the TH Fq 229 tablet.[1][2]
References
  1. [1]
    "The Linear B word ra-ke-da-mi-ni-jo". Palaeolexicon. Word study tool of Ancient languages.
  2. [2]
    "TH 229 Fq (305)". DĀMOS Database of Mycenaean at Oslo. University of Oslo.
  3. [3]
    Thucydides History of the Pelopponesian War I.45
  4. [4]
    Thucydides (11 June 2009). The Peloponnesian War. Translated by Hammond, Martin. New York: OUP Oxford. p. 679. ISBN 978-0-19-282191-1.
  5. [5]
    Nails, Debra (2002). The People of Plato: A Prosopography of Plato and Other Socratics. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing. pp. 96, 339. ISBN 0872205649.
  6. [6]
    Smith, William (1861). Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Vol. I. London: Walton and Maberly. p. 751.
  7. [7]
    Rahe, Paul Anthony (2020). Sparta's Second Attic War: The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta, 446-418 B.C. Yale University Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-300-24262-1.
  8. [8]
    Rhodes, P. J. (2018). Periclean Athens. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-350-01495-4.
  9. [9]
    Plutarch (2013). Delphi Complete Works of Plutarch (Illustrated). Delphi Classics. ISBN 978-1-909496-62-0.
  10. [10]
    Thucydides (2013). Delphi Complete Works of Thucydides (Illustrated). Delphi Classics. ISBN 978-1-909496-76-7.
  11. [11]
    Jacobs, Susan G. (2017). Plutarch's Pragmatic Biographies: Lessons for Statesmen and Generals in the Parallel Lives. Leiden: BRILL. p. 149. ISBN 978-90-04-27660-4.
  12. [12]
    Kagan, Donald (2013). The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-8014-9556-4.
  13. [13]
    Thomsen, Ole; Friis-Jensen, Karsten; Isager, Signe; Skydsgaard, Jens Erik; Smith, Ole L.; Haastrup, Birger Munk Olsen og Gudrun (1994). Classica et Mediaevalia vol.45. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. p. 54. ISBN 978-87-7289-327-3.


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