Editing Alcibiades (section)

===Death===
[[File:Hellespontine Phrygia.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.35|Alcibiades finished his days in [[Hellespontine Phrygia]], an [[Achaemenid Empire]] satrapy ruled by Satrap [[Pharnabazus II]].]]

With one exception, Alcibiades's role in the war ended with his command. Prior to the [[Battle of Aegospotami]], in the last attested fact of his career,<ref name="Perrin25-37">B. Perrin, ''The Death of Alcibiades '', 25–37.</ref> Alcibiades recognized that the Athenians were anchored in a tactically disadvantageous spot and advised them to move to [[Sestus]] where they could benefit from a harbor and a city.<ref name="Hellenica2.1.25">Xenophon, ''Hellenica'', 2.1.[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0206&query=section%3D%23217 25].</ref> Diodorus, however, does not mention this advice, arguing instead that Alcibiades offered the generals Thracian aid in exchange for a share in the command.{{efn|Plutarch mentions Alcibiades's advice, writing that "he rode up on horseback and read the generals a lesson. He said their anchorage was a bad one; the place had no harbor and no city, but they had to get their supplies from Sestos".<ref name="Plut36">{{cite Plutarch|Alcibiades36}}</ref><ref name="Coriolanus2">Plutarch, ''Comparison with Coriolanus'', 2</ref> B. Perrin regards Xenophon's testimony as impeachable<ref name="Perrin25-37" /> and prefers Diodorus's account.<ref name="Diodorus105" /> According to A. Wolpert, "it would not have required a cynical reader to infer even from Xenophon's account that he (Alcibiades) was seeking to promote his own interests when he came forward to warn the generals about their tactical mistakes".<ref name="Wolpert5">A. Wolpert, ''Remembering Defeat'', 5.</ref>}} In any case, the generals of the Athenians, "considering that in case of defeat the blame would attach to them and that in case of success all men would attribute it to Alcibiades", asked him to leave and not come near the camp ever again.<ref name="Hellenica2.1.25" /><ref name="Diodorus105">Diodorus, ''Library'', xiii, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084&query=chapter%3D%23357&layout=&loc=13.104.1 105].</ref> Days later the fleet would be annihilated by Lysander.

[[File:La mort d'Alcibiade Philippe Chéry 1791.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|In 404 BC, Alcibiades, exiled in the [[Achaemenid Empire]] province of [[Hellespontine Phrygia]], was assassinated by Persian soldiers, who may have been following the orders of Satrap [[Pharnabazus II]], at the instigation of [[Sparta]]. ''La mort d'Alcibiade''. [[Philippe Chéry]], 1791. Musée des Beaux-Arts, [[La Rochelle]].]]
After the Battle of Aegospotami, Alcibiades crossed the Hellespont and took refuge in [[Hellespontine Phrygia]], with the object of securing the aid of the [[Achaemenid]] King [[Artaxerxes II of Persia|Artaxerxes]] against Sparta.<ref>{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Alcibiades|volume=1|page=522}}</ref> Alcibiades was one of several Greek aristocrats who took refuge in the [[Achaemenid Empire]] following reversals at home, other famous ones being [[Themistocles]], [[Hippias (tyrant)|Hippias]], [[Demaratos]] and [[Gongylos]].<ref name="MM"/> For the most part, they were generously welcomed by the Achaemenid kings, and received land grants to support them, and ruled in various cities of [[Asia Minor]].<ref name="MM"/>

Much about the circumstances of Alcibiades's death is uncertain, as there are conflicting accounts. According to the oldest of these, the Spartans and specifically Lysander were responsible.<ref name="Isocrates 16.40">Isocrates, ''Concerning the Team of Horses'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0144&layout=&loc=16.40 16.40]</ref>  Though many of his details cannot be independently corroborated, Plutarch's version is that Lysander sent an envoy to [[Pharnabazus (5th century BC)|Pharnabazus]] who then dispatched his brother to Phrygia where Alcibiades was living with his mistress, Timandra.{{efn|According to Plutarch, some say that Alcibiades himself provoked his death, because he had seduced a girl belonging to a well-known family.<ref name="Plut39"/> Thus there are two versions of the story: The assassins were probably either employed by the Spartans or by the brothers of the lady whom Alcibiades had seduced.<ref>H.T. Peck, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062%3Aid%3Dalcibiades ''Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities''] and W. Smith, ''New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography'', 39.</ref> According to Isocrates, when the Thirty Tyrants established their rule, all Greece became unsafe for Alcibiades.<ref name="Isocrates40">Isocrates, ''Concerning the Team of Horses'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0144;query=section%3D%231774;layout=;loc=16.42 40].</ref>}}

In 404 BC, as he was about to set out for the Persian court, his residence was surrounded and set on fire. Seeing no chance of escape he rushed out on his assassins, dagger in hand, and was killed by a shower of arrows.<ref name="Plut39">{{cite Plutarch|Alcibiades|39}}</ref>  According to [[Aristotle]], the site of Alcibiades's death was Elaphus, a mountain in Phrygia.<ref name="Aristotle 578">Aristotle, ''History of Animals'', [http://www.tcnj.edu/~chai2/literature/piece/151_History-of-Animals--Book-6,-Part-3.htm 578b27] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013120423/http://www.tcnj.edu/~chai2/literature/piece/151_History-of-Animals--Book-6%2C-Part-3.htm |date=13 October 2007 }} ; cf. John & William Langhorne, ''Plutarch's Lives'' (1819), vol. 2, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=90FZb4WVFMUC&pg=RA1-PA172&dq=elaphus+Phrygia 172, n. 99].</ref>