caption death_date death_place birth_place allegiance battles birth_date rank image article_title name
marble century bc . the inscription translates `` alcibiades -lsb- son bust -rsb- of cleinias athenian '' . of alcibiades , dating from the 4th 404 bc mount elafos , phrygia classical athens athens 412 -- 411 bc persia -rrb- -lrb- 415 -- 412 bc sparta -rrb- -lrb- battle cyzicus -lrb- 410 bc -rrb- siege of byzantium -lrb- 408 of bc -rrb- abydos -lrb- 410 bc -rrb- battle of c. 450 bc general -lrb- strategos -rrb- bust alcibiades musei capitolini mc1160.jpg alcibiades
 alcibiades
alcibiades

alcibiades , son of cleinias , from the deme of scambonidae -lrb- ; greek : , transliterated `` alkibiádēs kleiníou skambōnidēs '' ; c. 450 -- 404 bc -rrb- , was a prominent athenian statesman , 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 -lrb- strategos -rrb- for several years , but his enemies eventually succeeded in exiling him a second time .
the sicilian expedition was the idea of alcibiades , and scholars have argued that , had that expedition been under alcibiades 's command instead of that of nicias , the expedition might not have met its eventual disastrous fate .
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 .
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 .
he favored unconventional tactics , frequently winning cities over by treachery or negotiation rather than by siege .
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 which he had helped to rekindle in the early 410s , his days of political relevance were a bygone memory .
