Alcibiades

Alcibiades
Marble bust of Alcibiades, dating from the 4th century BC. The inscription translates "Alcibiades [son] of Cleinias Athenian".
Born	c. 450 BC Classical Athens
Died	404 BC Mount Elafos, Phrygia
Allegiance	Athens (415–412 BC Sparta) (412–411 BC Persia)
Rank	General (Strategos)
Battles/wars	Battle of Abydos (410 BC) Battle of Cyzicus (410 BC) Siege of Byzantium (408 BC)

Alcibiades, son of Cleinias, from the deme of Scambonidae (/ˌælsᵻˈbaɪ.ədiːz/;Greek: Ἀλκιβιάδης Κλεινίου Σκαμβωνίδης, transliterated Alkibiádēs Kleiníou Skambōnídēs; c. 450 – 404 BC), was a prominent Athenian , orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in the second half of that conflict as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician.

During the course of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades changed his political allegiance several times. In his native Athens in the early 410s BC, he advocated an aggressive foreign policy and was a prominent proponent of the Sicilian Expedition, but he fled to Sparta after his political enemies brought charges of sacrilege against him. In Sparta, he served as a strategic adviser, proposing or supervising several major campaigns against Athens. In Sparta too, however, Alcibiades soon made powerful enemies and felt forced to defect to Persia. There he served as an adviser to the satrap Tissaphernes until his Athenian political allies brought about his recall. He then served as an Athenian general (Strategos) for several years, but his enemies eventually succeeded in exiling him a second time.