Editing Clearchus of Sparta (section)

== Biography ==

=== Peloponnesian War ===
Born about the middle of the 5th century BC, Clearchus was sent with a Spartan fleet to the [[Hellespont]] in 412 BC<ref>Donald Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian Wars, The Fall of the Athenian Empire'', p. 37.</ref><ref name="Iranica">{{cite web|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/clearchus-of-sparta-b|title=Clearchus of Sparta|website=Encyclopedia Iranica|accessdate=8 June 2021|last=Schmitt|first=Rüdiger}}</ref> and took over [[Byzantium]], in which he was made [[Proxeny|proxenos]]. He soon established a relationship with [[Pharnabazus II]], the Persian [[satrap]] of [[Hellespontine Phrygia|Phrygia]], and the two entered into a military alliance against the [[Classical Athens|Athenians]]. He commanded the Spartan land forces at the [[Battle of Cyzicus]] in 410 BC, but he and his Persian allies were defeated. The Athenians were able to establish a base on the opposite coast of Byzantium, and began a naval blockade of the city along with conducting raids. Clearchus was given command of fifteen [[trireme]]s with the goal of breaking through the blockade, and after being engaged by the Athenian navy, he was able to reach Byzantium after losing three ships. Byzantium was [[Siegecraft in Ancient Greece|besieged]] and he travelled to [[Asia-Minor]] seeking money and more support from Pharnabazus. His severity and rationing of food for his soldiers, however, made him unpopular, and in his absence the gates were opened to the Athenians under [[Alcibiades]]. When he returned to Sparta, Clearchus was put on trial and fined for this loss.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Clearchus (d.400 BC) |url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_clearchus.html |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=www.historyofwar.org}}</ref>

He was present at the [[Battle of Arginusae]] and the Spartan commander [[Callicratidas]] claimed that if he died, Clearchus was most suited to take his place.

After the final defeat of Athens, Clearchus returned to Sparta and appealed to the [[ephors]], asking to be given a force to settle the political dissensions then rife at Byzantium and to protect the city and the neighboring [[Greek colonies]] from Thracian attacks. He was granted that force, but when the ephors learned that the citizens of Byzantium considered him a [[tyrant]], they recalled him through a messenger that reached Clearchus while he was still in the Isthmus of Corinth. Clearchus ignored the messenger and proceeded to Byzantium, and thus he was instantly declared an outlaw by the ephors. He fought the Thracian tribes successfully, in the process gaining the unofficial support of the Greek cities that were thus relieved. Clearchus, counting on his successes to gain him back the Spartan ephors' good graces, was ultimately disappointed in this expectation.<ref name="Iranica" /> After taking control of Byzantium, he ordered the execution of the chief magistrates, and had some of the wealthiest citizens strangled while he seized all their property. Sparta commanded him to leave Byzantium, but after he refused to, they sent an army to drive him out.<ref name=":0" />

When [[Cyrus the Younger|Cyrus]] learned that a Greek force in high fighting condition was so near Asia, he sent ambassadors with money (10,000 [[Persian daric]]s) asking Clearchus to help him claim the throne from his brother, the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] Emperor [[Artaxerxes II|Artaxerxes II Mnemon]]. Clearchus accepted not because of the money but because he knew that sooner or later he would have to face his fellow Spartans since he was still considered an outlaw by the ephors. He left the command of the garrison of Byzantium to Helixus of Megara (see [[Coeratadas]]).

=== The Ten Thousand ===
In the "[[Anabasis (Xenophon)|Expedition of the Ten Thousand]]" undertaken by Cyrus to dethrone his brother Artaxerxes, Clearchus led the [[Peloponnesian]] contingent of the [[Army of the Ten Thousand|Ten Thousand]], who formed the right wing of Cyrus's army at the [[Battle of Cunaxa]] (401 BC). He was instructed to attack the enemy center, but instead moved forward and pushed back the enemy's left wing, leaving Cyrus' flank vulnerable. Cyrus charged the enemy center and was killed in battle. On Cyrus's death Clearchus assumed the overall command of the Ten Thousand and conducted the retreat of the army, aiming to fall back to the [[Tigris]] river while parleying with the Persians. He was invited to a banquet by the [[satrap]] of [[Lydia]] and [[Ionia]] and general for Artaxerxes, [[Tissaphernes]], but he and his party were arrested and sent to the royal court at [[Babylon]], where he was executed on the orders of [[Stateira (wife of Artaxerxes II)|Queen Stateira]].<ref name="Iranica" />