Alcibiades's military and political talents frequently proved valuable to whichever state currently held his allegiance, but his propensity for making powerful enemies ensured that he never remained in one place for long and by the end of the war that he had helped to rekindle in the early 410s, his days of political relevance were a bygone memory. He favored unconventional tactics, frequently winning cities over by treachery or negotiation rather than by siege. Once restored to his native city, however, he played a crucial role in a string of Athenian victories that eventually brought Sparta to seek a peace with Athens. In the years when he served Sparta, Alcibiades played a significant role in Athens's undoing the capture of Decelea and the revolts of several critical Athenian subjects occurred either at his suggestion or under his supervision. Scholars have argued that had the Sicilian expedition been under Alcibiades's command instead of that of Nicias, the expedition might not have met its eventual disastrous fate. He then served as an Athenian general ( strategos) for several years, but his enemies eventually succeeded in exiling him a second time. There he served as an adviser to the satrap Tissaphernes until his Athenian political allies brought about his recall. However, Alcibiades soon made powerful enemies in Sparta too, and felt forced to defect to Persia. After his political enemies brought charges of sacrilege against him, he fled to Sparta, where he served as a strategic adviser, proposing or supervising several major campaigns against Athens. In his native Athens in the early 410s BC, he advocated an aggressive foreign policy and was a prominent proponent of the Sicilian Expedition. He played a major role in the second half of that conflict as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician.ĭuring the course of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades changed his political allegiance several times. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. 450–404 BC), from the deme of Scambonidae, was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. Alcibiades Being Taught by Socrates (1776) by François-André Vincent ( Musée Fabre)Īlcibiades, son of Cleinias ( c.
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