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Thimbron or Thibron (Greek: fl. 400–391)
was a Spartan general. He was sent out as harmost in 400, with an army of about
5,000 men, composed of 1,000 emancipated helots and 4,000 other Peleponesians,
to aid the Ionians against Tissaphernes, who wished to bring them into
subjection. In addition to this force, Thimbron recruited 2,000 local troops
upon his arrival, but was initially unable to face the Persian army in the
field. However, after he was joined by elements of the Ten Thousand, he was
able to seize several cities. He then, according to Xenophon, settled in to
besiege Larissa, but this proved fruitless, and Thimbron was ordered to abandon
it. Diodorus suggests that at some point, after taking Magnesia, Thimbron
attempted to conquer Tralles in Ionia, but was unsuccessful and returned to
Magnesia. He is then said to have withdrawn to Ephesus after Tissaphernes
arrived with a large force of cavalry. In any case, Thibron was recalled to
Sparta and replaced by another general,
Dercylidas, before he could launch his next campaign. Upon his return to
Sparta Thimbron was tried and exiled for allowing his troops to plunder
Sparta's allies in the region. In 391, during the
Corinthian War,
Thimbron was again dispatched to Ionia with orders to take aggressive action
against the Persian satrap Struthas, who was pursuing a pro-Athenian,
anti-Spartan policy. He was given an army of 8,000 men and launched a number of
successful raids into Persian territory. His raids tended to be poorly
organized, however, and Struthas took advantage of this to ambush one of these
expeditions. Struthas successfully lured Thimbron and his men into ideal
cavalry terrain before launching the attack. The Spartan army was routed and
most of them, including Thimbron, were killed. One source even indicates that
Thimbron was slain in personal combat by Struthas himself. What was left of his
army was subsequently incorporated into a new army under Diphridas. It is
likely that this Thimbron is the same one mentioned by Aristotle as writing a
treatise on the Spartan Constitution.
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