Lacedaemonius was the son of
Cimon, a pro-Sparta general and Athenian political figure,[4] and Isodice who was the daughter of Euryptolemus I, a cousin of
Pericles.[5][6] He was a grandson of the famous
Miltiades IV. An account cited that he had a twin called Oulius.[5] He was also the brother of Miltiades V.[5]
Lacedaemonius came from
Lacedaemon, another name for the
city state of
Sparta. His father so admired the Spartans that as a sign of goodwill he named his son after their city. Lacedaemonius was also identified as the proxenos of the Spartans in Athens.[7]
Accounts cited Lacedaemonius as one of the Athenian generals sent to aid
Corcyra in its conflict with Corinth after an alliance agreement concluded in 433.[8] This is part of the series of events that led to the
Peloponnesian War.[8] According to Plutarch, Lacedaemonius sailed with ten ships and was sent forth against his will.[9] Lacedaemonius, who according to Thucydides was sent with three other generals: Diotimus, Strombichus, and Proteas, was ordered not to engage with the Corinthians unless they attacked Corcyra.[10] The Athenian fleet joined the Corcyraeans when the Corinthians finally invaded under Xenocleides.[10]
A view, which had been advanced by Plutarch, held that giving Lacedaemonius command with a meager fleet for his campaign was an insult to the sons of Cimon due their sympathy for Sparta.[11] Modern historians see Lacedaemonius appointment as a political move on the part of Pericles, who wanted to destroy political opposition by cementing his ties with the Cimonians.[12] There are also those who propose that Lacedaemonius appointment, his mission, and the size of his fleet was part of a strategy of "minimal deterrence" against Corinth.[13]
Notes and references
Notes
^The most ancient attestation of this word in Greek, referring as an
ethnonym to the Spartans, is the
MycenaeanLinear B𐀨𐀐𐀅𐀖𐀛𐀍, ra-ke-da-mi-ni-jo, found on many tablets at
Thebes, e.g. on the
TH Fq 229 tablet.[1][2]
^Thucydides (11 June 2009). The Peloponnesian War. Translated by Hammond, Martin. New York: OUP Oxford. p. 679.
ISBN978-0-19-282191-1.
^
abcNails, Debra (2002). The People of Plato: A Prosopography of Plato and Other Socratics. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing. pp. 96, 339.
ISBN0872205649.
^Smith, William (1861). Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Vol. I. London: Walton and Maberly. p. 751.
^Rahe, Paul Anthony (2020). Sparta's Second Attic War: The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta, 446-418 B.C. Yale University Press. p. 66.
ISBN978-0-300-24262-1.
^
abRhodes, P. J. (2018). Periclean Athens. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 20.
ISBN978-1-350-01495-4.
^Plutarch (2013). Delphi Complete Works of Plutarch (Illustrated). Delphi Classics.
ISBN978-1-909496-62-0.
^Jacobs, Susan G. (2017). Plutarch's Pragmatic Biographies: Lessons for Statesmen and Generals in the Parallel Lives. Leiden: BRILL. p. 149.
ISBN978-90-04-27660-4.
^Kagan, Donald (2013). The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. p. 243.
ISBN978-0-8014-9556-4.
^Thomsen, Ole; Friis-Jensen, Karsten; Isager, Signe; Skydsgaard, Jens Erik; Smith, Ole L.; Haastrup, Birger Munk Olsen og Gudrun (1994). Classica et Mediaevalia vol.45. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. p. 54.
ISBN978-87-7289-327-3.
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