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Thrasybulus "brave-willed"; c. 440
– 388) was an Athenian general and democratic leader. In 411 , in the wake
of an oligarchic coup at Athens, the pro-democracy sailors at Samos elected him
as a general, making him a primary leader of the ultimately successful
democratic resistance to the coup. As general, he was responsible for recalling
the controversial nobleman Alcibiades from exile, and the two worked together
extensively over the next several years. In 411 and 410, Thrasybulus was in
command along with Alcibiades and others at several critical Athenian naval
victories. After Athens' defeat in the Peloponnesian War, Thrasybulus led the
democratic resistance to the new oligarchic government, known as the Thirty
Tyrants, imposed by the victorious Spartans upon Athens. In 404 , he commanded
a small force of exiles that invaded the Spartan-ruled Attica and, in
successive battles, defeated first a Spartan garrison and then the forces of
the oligarchy. In the wake of these victories, democracy was re-established at
Athens. As a leader of this revived democracy in the 4th century, Thrasybulus
advocated a policy of resistance to Sparta and sought to restore Athens'
imperial power. He was killed in 388 while leading an Athenian naval force
during the Corinthian
War.
Personal life and early career:
Almost nothing is known of Thrasybulus's background or early life. His father
was named Lycus, and he was a native of the deme of Steiria in Athens. He was
probably born between 455 and 441 , although dates as late as the later 430s
have been suggested. He was married, and had two children. Several facts make
it clear that he was from a wealthy family; he held the office of trierarch,
which involved significant personal expenditures on several occasions, and in
the 4th century his son was able to pay a substantial fine of 10 talents. By
411 Thrasybulus had established a reputation as a pro-democracy politician.
Throughout his career, Thrasybulus consistently advocated several policies. He
was a proponent of Athenian imperialism and expansionism and a strong supporter
of Periclean democracy.
According to Demosthenes, Thrasybulus was one of the "great and
distinguished orators." Plutarch notes that he had "the loudest voice
of the Athenians." And the Athenian general
Conon described Thrasybulus
as a man who was "bold in counsel." During his period of prominence
within the democracy, he seems to have led what might now be termed a populist
faction. According to the historical account provided by Xenophon, he was
murdered by locals during the night while acting as general of a military
expedition on its way to Rhodes while on a stopover in Aspendus on the
Eurymedon River on account of his soldiers' recent transgressions against local
farmers and their farmsteads.
Coup of 411:
Main article: Athenian coup of 411"
In 413, a massive Athenian expedition force was completely obliterated in
Sicily. In the wake of this defeat, Athens found itself facing a crisis of
unprecedented magnitude. Cities throughout its Aegean empire began to rebel,
and a Peloponnesian fleet sailed to assist them. Seeking to contain the crisis,
Athens tapped its reserve fund to rebuild its fleet and dispatched what ships
it had to establish an advance naval base at Samos. In this general atmosphere
of crisis, aristocrats at Athens who had long desired to overthrow the
democracy there began to agitate publicly for a change of government, and
formed a conspiracy to bring an oligarchy to power in Athens. Their plans
included recalling Alcibiades, who had been exiled by the democratic
government. These oligarchs initiated their plans at Samos, where they
successfully encouraged a number of Samian oligarchs to begin a similar
conspiracy.
A dispute has arisen among modern historians over Thrasybulus' involvement in
this plot. Donald Kagan has suggested that Thrasybulus was one of the founding
members of the scheme and was willing to support moderate oligarchy, but was
alienated by the extreme actions taken by the plotters. R. J. Buck, on the
other hand, maintains that Thrasybulus was probably never involved in the plot,
possibly because he was absent from Samos at the time of its inception. Upon
their return to Athens, the conspirators succeeded in ending democratic rule
and imposing an oligarchy of 400 rulers. At Samos, however, the coup did not go
forward so smoothly. Samian democrats learned of the conspiracy and notified
four prominent Athenians, the generals Leon and Diomedon, Thrasybulus, and
Thrasyllus, at that time a hoplite in the ranks. With the support of these men
and the Athenian soldiers in general, the Samian democrats were able to defeat
the conspirators when they attempted to seize power. A ship was dispatched to
Athens to notify the city of this success against the oligarchs. Upon its
arrival, however, the crew was arrested, as the news of a democratic victory
was far from welcome to the new oligarchic government. Learning of this, the
army at Samos deposed its generals and elected new generals who were believed
to be more steadfast in their support of democracy, Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus
among them. The army, stating that they had not revolted from the city but that
the city had revolted from them, resolved to stand by the democracy while
continuing to prosecute the war against Sparta. One of the first actions
Thrasybulus took as general was to bring about the recall of
Alcibiades, a policy
that he had supported since before the coup. After persuading the sailors to
support his plan, Thrasybulus sailed to retrieve Alcibiades and returned with
him to Samos. The aim of this policy was to win away Persian support from the
Spartans, as it was believed that Alcibiades had great influence with
Tissaphernes.
Alcibiades was elected as general alongside Thrasybulus and the others.
Shortly after this, following the revolt of Euboea, the government of the 400
at Athens was overthrown and replaced by a broader oligarchy, which would
eventually give way to democracy.
In command:
In the months following these events, Thrasybulus commanded the Athenian fleet
in several major engagements. At the Battle of Cynossema, he commanded one wing of the fleet
and prevented Athenian defeat by extending his flank to prevent encirclement;
the battle ended in Athenian victory. Shortly afterwards Thrasybulus again
commanded a wing of the Athenian fleet at Abydos, another Athenian victory.
The Athenian strategy at Cyzicus. Left: Alcibiades' decoy force (blue) lures
the Spartan fleet (black) out to sea. Right: Thrasybulus and Theramenes bring
their squadrons in behind the Spartans to cut off their retreat towards
Cyzicus, while Alcibiades turns to face the pursuing force.
Thrasybulus was again in command of a squadron of the Athenian fleet at the
Battle of Cyzicus, a stunning Athenian
victory. In this battle, the Athenians drew the Spartan fleet out to pursue a
small force led by Alcibiades; when the Spartans had gotten a good distance
from land, two squadrons under the command of Thrasybulus and
Theramenes appeared in
their rear to cut off their retreat. The Spartans were forced to flee to a
nearby beach, where Alcibiades landed his men in an attempt to seize the
Spartan ships. The Spartans, however, with the assistance of a Persian army,
began to drive this Athenian force into the sea; seeing this, Thrasybulus
landed his own force to temporarily relieve pressure on Alcibiades, and
meanwhile ordered Theramenes to join up with Athenian land forces nearby and
bring them to reinforce the sailors and marines on the beach. The Spartans and
Persians, overwhelmed by the arrival of multiple forces from several
directions, were defeated and driven off, and the Athenians captured all the
Spartan ships which were not destroyed.
In 409 and 408, Thrasybulus remained in command, but his actions are difficult
to trace. He appears to have spent much of the time campaigning in Thrace,
recapturing cities for the empire and restoring the flow of tribute from the
region. In 407 , he was in command of a fleet sent to besiege Phocaea; this
siege had to be lifted, however, after the Spartans under Lysander defeated the
main Athenian fleet at Notium. This defeat led
to the downfall and exile of Alcibiades. Thrasybulus was either removed from
command on the spot by Alcibiades or not reelected at the end of his term;
either way, he was out of office from then until the end of the war.
Thrasybulus did return to action, however, at the Battle of
Arginusae in 406. There, he was a
trierarch in the Athenian relief fleet sent out to assist the admiral Conon,
who was blockaded at Mytilene. That battle was a major Athenian victory; after
the battle, the generals in charge took the majority of their ships to attack
the Peloponnesian fleet blockading Conon, leaving behind a force under
Thrasybulus and his fellow trierarch Theramenes to rescue the survivors. This
operation was thwarted, however, by a sudden storm which drove the rescue force
to land, and a great number of Athenians—estimates as to the precise
figure have ranged from near 1,000 to as many as 5,000—drowned.
The result was one of the great Athenian political scandals of the war, which
culminated in a vicious debate between Theramenes and the generals at Athens
over who was to blame for the disaster, after which the generals were executed.
Thrasybulus, for unknown reasons, seems to have had very little involvement in
this debate.
The Thirty Tyrants:
In 404, following a defeat at the Battle of Aegospotami, Athens was forced to
surrender, ending the Peloponnesian War. In the wake of this surrender, the
Spartan navarch Lysander imposed a strict oligarchic
government on Athens, which came to be known as the Thirty Tyrants. This
government executed a number of citizens and deprived all but a few of their
rights, eventually growing so extreme that even the moderate oligarch
Theramenes fell afoul of the government and was executed. Fearing for their
lives, numerous Athenians fled to Thebes. Thrasybulus had been one of the first
to oppose the oligarchy and had been exiled to Thebes shortly after its rise to
power. There, he was welcomed and supported by the Theban leader Ismenias and
his followers, who assisted him in preparing for a return to Athens. In 403 ,
he led a party of 70 exiles to seize Phyle, a defensible location on the border
of Attica and Boeotia. A storm prevented the forces of the Thirty from
expelling him immediately, and numerous exiles flocked to join him. When the
Spartan garrison of Athens, supported by Athenian cavalry, was sent out to
oppose him, Thrasybulus led his force, now 700 strong, in a surprise daybreak
raid on their camp, killing 120 Spartans and putting the rest to flight. Five
days later, Thrasybulus led his force, which had already grown to the point
that he could leave 200 men at Phyle while taking 1,000 with him, to Piraeus,
the port of Athens. There, he fortified the Munychia, a hill that dominated the port, and
awaited the coming attack. The forces of the Thirty, supported by the Spartan
garrison, marched to Piraeus to attack him. Thrasybulus and his men were
outnumbered 5 to 1, but held a superior position and presumably benefited from
consternation amidst the ranks of the oligarchs. In the battle, the exiles put
the oligarchic forces to flight, killing Critias, the leader of the Thirty.
After this victory, the remainder of the Thirty fled to Eleusis, and the
oligarchs within Athens began squabbling amongst themselves. New leaders were
selected, but were unable to deal with Thrasybulus, and were forced to send to
Sparta for help. From Sparta, however, came not the aggressive Lysander, but
the more conservative Pausanias. Pausanias' force
narrowly defeated Thrasybulus' men, but only with great effort, and, unwilling
to push the issue, he arranged a settlement between the forces of Thrasybulus
and the oligarchs in the city. Democracy was restored, while those oligarchs
who wished to do so withdrew to Eleusis. In power, Thrasybulus pushed through a
law which pardoned all but a few of the oligarchs, preventing a brutal reprisal
by the victorious democrats. For his actions, Thrasybulus was awarded an olive
crown by his countrymen.
Later actions:
In the revived democracy established in 403, Thrasybulus became a major and
prestigious leader, although he was soon superseded at the head of the state by
Archinus. Thrasybulus seems to have advocated a more radically democratic
policy than the populace was willing to accept at the time; he called for
reinstating pay for political service, and sought to extend citizenship to all
the metics and foreigners who had fought alongside him against the Thirty. He
was initially cautious about offending Sparta, but, when Persian support became
available at the start of the Corinthian War, he became an advocate of
aggressive action, and about this time seems to have regained his preeminence
in Athenian politics. He initiated the rebuilding of the long walls, which had
been demolished at the end of the Peloponnesian War, and commanded the Athenian
contingents at Nemea and Coronea; these two
defeats, however, damaged his political stature, and he was replaced at the
head of the state by Conon, whose victory at Cnidus had ended Sparta's dreams
of naval empire. Thrasybulus largely faded from view for several years as Conon
led the Athenian fleet to a series of victories, but in 392 Conon was
imprisoned by the Persian satrap Tiribazus while attending a peace conference
at Sardis; although released, he died in Cyprus without returning to Athens.
Thrasybulus, leading the faction that sought to reject the peace offer,
regained his position atop Athenian politics. In 389 , he led a force of
triremes to levy tribute from cities around the Aegean and support Rhodes,
where a democratic government was struggling against Sparta.
On this campaign, Thrasybulus relaid much of the framework for an Athenian
empire on 5th century model; he captured Byzantium, imposed a duty on ships
passing through the Hellespont, and collected tribute from many of the islands
of the Aegean. In 388 , as he led his fleet South through the Aegean, his
soldiers ravaged the fields of Aspendus. In retaliation, the Aspendians raided
the Athenian camp by night; Thrasybulus was killed in his tent. The gains that
Thrasybulus made on this campaign were soon reversed, however, by Persian
intervention. Alarmed by the sudden reappearance of something resembling the
Athenian empire that had driven them from the Aegean in the 5th century, the
Persians began supporting Sparta, and a Persian fleet was soon in the
Hellespont, threatening Athens' grain supply. Peace was quickly concluded, on
the same terms that the Athenians had rejected in 392; Thrasybulus' campaigns,
though impressively successful in spreading Athenian influence, had little
long-term effect, since they prompted Persia to force the Athenians to give up
what they had gained.
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Historical opinions Thrasybulus has been
widely recognized as a successful military commander. Most of the major ancient
historians assigned credit for the dramatic Athenian victories of 411 to
Alcibiades, but a few, such as Cornelius Nepos, pointed to the decisive role
that was played in these battles by Thrasybulus. More recent historians, such
as Donald Kagan and R. J. Buck, have tended to support this analysis, pointing
to the role that Thrasybulus played in crafting Athenian strategy in all these
battles, and specifically to the decisive action he took at Cyzicus, which
saved Alcibiades's force from being swamped, and turned a potential Athenian
defeat into a stunning victory. R. J. Buck has suggested that Thrasybulus
suffered from an "anti-democratic tradition of ancient
historiography," which led many writers to minimize the accomplishments of
one of democracy's strongest advocates.
Throughout his career, Thrasybulus defended democracy at Athens against its
opponents. He was one of the few prominent citizens whom the Samians trusted to
defend their democracy, and whom the fleet selected to lead it through the
troubled time of conflict with the 400. Later, in his opposition to the Thirty
Tyrants, Thrasybulus risked his life when few others would, and his actions
were responsible for the quick restoration of democracy. In the words of
Cornelius Nepos, This most noble action, then, is entirely Thrasybulus's; for
when the Thirty Tyrants, appointed by the Lacedaemonians, kept Athens oppressed
in a state of slavery, and had partly banished from their country, and partly
put to death, a great number of the citizens whom fortune had spared in the
war, and had divided their confiscated property among themselves, he was not
only the first, but the only man at the commencement, to declare war against
them.
John Fine points to the clemency shown by Thrasybulus and other democrats in
the wake of their victory over the Thirty as a key contribution towards
reestablishing stable government in Athens. While many city-states throughout
the Greek world broke down into vicious cycles of civil war and reprisal,
Athens remained united and democratic, without interruption, until near the end
of the 3rd century , and democracy, albeit interrupted several times by
conquest or revolution, continued there until Roman times, several centuries
later. The second-century travel writer Pausanias called Thrasybulus "the
greatest of all famous Athenians" for overthrowing the Thirty as well as
his other exploits, making clear that he thought him greater than even
Pericles. Thus Thrasybulus won praise as an Athenian patriot and staunch,
principled democrat. He has been criticized by modern historians, however, for
failing to recognize that Athens in the 4th century could not sustain an
imperial policy. R. J. Buck suggests that Thrasybulus, who came of age in the
heady days when the democracy and empire under Pericles were at their fullest
extent, never accepted that the devastating losses Athens had suffered in the
Peloponnesian War made the return of those times impossible. Thrasybulus was a
capable general, particularly successful in naval warfare, and a competent
speaker, but was frequently overshadowed or pushed aside by more charismatic or
spectacularly successful leaders. Buck has compared him to Winston Churchill,
another advocate of imperial policies who held fast to his beliefs after the
tide of history had turned against him, and who rose to his peak of prominence
at his country's darkest hour. Throughout his two decades of prominence,
whether in or out of leadership, Thrasybulus remained a steady advocate of
traditional Athenian imperial democracy, and he died fighting for the same
cause he was advocating on his first appearance in 411.
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