Ancient Athens' Colourful Warlord and Deserter - Alcibiades (Animated History Documentary)

During the 5th century BC, Athens was a city-state to be reckoned with. Together with Sparta, it was one of the two great powers of classical Greece. When in 431 BC the Peloponnesian War broke out, it was a showdown between the democratic naval power Athens and the oligarchic, militaristic Sparta. On the Athenian side was a rather colourful strategist or general. This relatively young man's name was Alcibiades, and his life story reads like a novel about an anti-hero. Works about his life have lauded him as a fortunate and brilliant young man, possessing of unheard beauty and charm. But regardless of his charm, he did not necessarily have a moral compass. It resulted in him doing everything he could to satisfy his hunger for power and honour. He played a vital yet incredibly controversial role during the Peloponnesian War. Initially serving as a general on the Athenian side, after a drunken mishap he deserted to the Spartans mid-war. But following a romantic escapade with the Spartan king's wife, he deserted to the Persians, the mutual enemy of Athens and Sparta. He finally returned to Athens, attempting to instigate an oligarchic coup to become a fleet commander. And surprisingly enough, successfully so. This is the story of an arguably brilliant loose cannon. Alcibiades was born in 450 BC in the democratic city-state Athens. His father, Cleinias, was a well-known politician and his mother, Denoumache, belonged to the Alcmaeonids, a powerful Athenian noble family. In his early childhood, his father was killed in the Battle of Choronea during the First Peloponnesian War. Subsequently, his uncle Pericles raised him. You may know Pericles as the prominent Athenian politician, general, and one of the most influential statesmen being responsible for the flourishing of the city-state. Alcibiades became an intimate friend of the philosopher Socrates. Socrates saw Alcibiades' unconstrained behaviour and tried to restrain and curb it to no avail. The boy was intelligent, supposedly had great looks and had a natural charm, disregarding some sources indicating he had a lisp. Some sources describe young Alcibiades as spoiled and rich, rebelling and opposing the established order. His eloquence blossomed from a young age, and throughout his life he would become known as a very gifted orator. In 434 BC the Peloponnesian War between Athens, Sparta and their respective allies broke out. Pericles commanded Athenian military operations, and Alcibiades too served in the military. Athens retreated behind their long city walls to keep the Spartans out, who didn't besiege the city and instead raided the agricultural land. Still, staying inside the city had its effects on the population. In 429 BC, a plague epidemic raged through Athens. Pericles too was infected and passed away that same year. During this war, the bond between Socrates and Alcibiades strengthened. Both men saved each other's life. At the Battle of Potidae, young Alcibiades was supposedly injured, upon which Socrates came forward to protect him and carry him away to safety. Eight years later, at the Battle of Delium, the roles were reversed. The battle took place after an Athenian fleet under command of Hippocrates sailed to Boeotia, a region in Greece with Thebes as its largest city. When the Boeotian attack was more swift than anticipated, the Athenians were put on the defensive. Alcibiades served in the cavalry, while Socrates served as a hoplite. Although the cavalry was quicker in retreating, Alcibiades refused to leave Socrates behind at the mercy of the army chasing them. Alcibiades himself commanded forces too during the war. In 418 BC, he commanded the Athenian army units sent to crush multiple Spartan allies, leading to the Battle of Mantinea. However, the Athenians were crushed by the powerful Spartan force, and the cavalry had to be sent in to save the struggling infantry. At any rate, all these events certainly made an impact on Alcibiades' life. He lost his uncle, who raised him, he nearly lost his mentor, and he came very close to losing his own life as well. It wasn't all war though, at least not when you consider the strict definition of war. Because the same year as the Battle of Delium, Alcibiades married Hipparite, a wealthy Athenian. Rumours state Alcibiades once hit her father after being challenged by his friends. Because Athenians considered it a disgraceful act, he came to the man to apologise. Surprised at the apology her father supposedly offered, Alcibiades the hand of his daughter. It wasn't a happy marriage though, because Alcibiades kept visiting other women, and Hipparite even tried to divorce him, albeit in vain. She remained unhappy and passed away not too long after. During these years of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades managed to take the limelight several times. Democratic Athens tended to elect ten generals, so-called strategoi, annually. These strategoi were responsible for Athens' defence and military, and in 420 BC the Athenians selected Alcibiades to be one of the ten. But he couldn't attain honour and prestige through the war as he had hoped, because a year before the warring parties negotiated the so-called Peace of Nicias. The peace was named after one of Athens' proponents for peace, Nicias, a fellow general. He would go on to become Alcibiades' arch-nemesis. Likely seeing a window of opportunity to attain power, Alcibiades rejected the peace negotiations, the eventual settlement, and became a proponent of a hardline, anti-Spartan and imperialist sentiment. He used lies and deceits to discredit Nicias, already during earlier stages, when he attempted to gather support for his proposed peace. Now, despite Alcibiades' efforts, the parties established peace, or rather a truce, eventually. He did not refrain from his anti-Spartan rhetoric, though. Six years later, in 415 BC, Alcibiades managed to convince and persuade the people of Athens to support a military expedition to Sicily. It would be the greatest imperial adventure the city-state had ever undertaken. The goal was to capture Syracuse, a rich and independent town on the island. Alcibiades was the commander of the expedition, but shared his position with two other men. One of them was General Lamarchus, and the other was Nicias. The exact same one who brokered for peace earlier, and perhaps unsurprisingly, vehemently opposed the campaign. Fortunately for Nicias, things didn't exactly go according to plan for the war-mongers. The night before the planned expedition, the Athenians held a feast and Alcibiades got drunk, together with friends. In their drunkenness, they went on an adventure through Athens. Now, essential to know is that Hermae were traditional sculptures, with a head and a male private part at the appropriate height. While Alcibiades and friends knocked off certain extensions of the statues in Athens, it is disputed whether this was not just a conspiracy by people opposed to him. Regardless, even if it was a conspiracy, it certainly was a good one. By morning, all of Athens knew of Alcibiades' vandalism. Leaving the next day, Alcibiades realised Athens' court would bring charges against him. But he would have to return in the middle of military campaign, certainly raising suspicion among troops regarding his absence. Basically, many troops would probably already consider him guilty before he was convicted or acquitted. So he took quite an ultimate gamble and began preparing his defection. And not in a very subtle way either. So he made sure information about the planned attack on Syracuse reached the Syracusians. Having received the information on Athenian tactics, Syracuse managed to defend themselves. And the entire expedition was in a complete shambles. And where did Alcibiades defect to? He defected to the archenemy of Athens that Alcibiades had been preaching against for the past years, Sparta. The Athenians sentenced him to death in absentia and appropriated all his properties. For the next three years, Alcibiades provided the Spartan king a second with crucial information regarding Athenian military and tactics. On one such occasion, he convinced the Spartans to capture the fortress of Thessalia, which they captured in 413. Thanks to this, the Spartans became a consistent threat to the Athenians, controlling their rural territories and cutting off food imports from the fortified city. Sparta fortified and controlled Thessalia, increasing the expenditure of maintaining an Athenian army and making it more challenging to have a consistent stream of food flowing into the city. Eventually, this became one of the critical factors for Athens losing the Peloponnesian war. But Alcibiades wouldn't stay in Sparta forever. Within a few years, there too, he managed to get himself into trouble. Three years after he deserted, a romantic mishap involving Alcibiades, the wife of King Aegis, Tamia, and her child, meant Alcibiades was in trouble again. According to Plutarch, Tamia bore not Aegis' son, but the son of Alcibiades. Suspicion arose because of the similarities between the kid and the Athenian general. And frankly, considering the way Alcibiades lived his life up until now, him seducing the wife of the Spartan king certainly was something he was capable of doing. When Aegis II got wind of this, he ordered his execution. But by then, Alcibiades had already fled. He could not return to Athens because they too sentenced him to death. The only logical conclusion was to defect to the mutual enemy of both Athens and Sparta, Persia. Satrap Thesophoronus of Lydia welcomed Alcibiades, the fallen from grace to Tigray, who would spend the next few years advising this Persian statesman. In contrast to his earlier advice, this time he actually convinced Satrap to maintain good relationships with both Athens and Sparta. During this time in Persia, Alcibiades attempted to re-establish contact with Athens. He wasn't eager to remain at Thesophoronus' court forever. After getting in touch with several Athenian politicians, he promised them Persian riches and a war fleet if they would commit an oligarchic coup against the democratic government. One of the critical points was that they should vouch for his return. Well, the coup did take place. In 411 BC the oligarchs overthrew the democratic government of Athens. But that wasn't necessarily good news for Alcibiades. He had a falling-out with the oligarchs before the coup took place and he now wasn't allowed to return to Athens. But our general was still homesick and still wanted to return to his native city-state. Although the coup was successful, the island of Samos withstood the oligarchs and retained its democratic government. Thrasybulus, an Athenian general and democratic leader, received Alcibiades, who requested that speak to Samos' troops. He was allowed to and apparently gave such an incredible motivational speech that he was elected as general of the army. After a revolt that overthrew the oligarchic regime in Athens, Alcibiades was installed as a fleet commander and Athenian general. The government reinstated his property and they dropped all charges against him. It is worth it to ponder on these exceptional events. Alcibiades defected to Sparta mid-war, only to have a child with the Spartan king's wife. He then fled to the mutual enemy of Athens and Sparta, Persia. From there, he managed to push several military commanders to launch a coup against the democratic government. But before the coup succeeded, their bond was soured and instead Alcibiades simply switched sides to the democratic side and joined the last stronghold standing, offered his services and beat the oligarchs. Alcibiades returned to Athens amidst the continuation of the Peloponnesian War. As Athens' fleet commander, he won impressive victories against the Spartans. One of the most impressive ones, surely, was the Battle of Sisychus, where he destroyed an entire Spartan fleet. However, fate, karma or whatever you want to call it caught up with him. By this time, an ambitious and talented Spartan admiral, Lysander, had risen to power. When Alcibiades triumphantly returned to Athens after his victory, Lysander made clever use of the commander's absence. A subordinate of Alcibiades, Antiochus, was in charge of the Athenian fleet. Now, Alcibiades strictly ordered Antiochus not to attack a Spartan fleet, as they were vastly outnumbered. Not entirely surprisingly, Antiochus did exactly that. He attacked the numerically superior Spartan fleet. At Notium, Lysander completely annihilated his fleet, and Alcibiades was seen as the one responsible for this absolute disaster, disregarding his earlier orders. Realising his precarious situation, Alcibiades fled to the north of Thracia. He tried to return from exile one more time, but the Athenians refused him. Sparta won the Peloponnesian War, and Alcibiades eventually met his end in exile. In 404 BC, Culprit set his house on fire, and when he ran out with a knife to defend himself, he was shot with multiple arrows. Sources point to different perpetrators, with some stating it was on the orders of a Persian satrap, and others saying Lysander and Dörtig, Spartan generals, ordered the hit. Yet another source claims he was simply killed by the brother of a Persian woman he seduced. Also, not entirely unlikely. One thing is for sure, he managed to make many enemies along the way. He entered history books as someone who was extraordinarily opportunistic, and managed to use his charm and good looks to get further in life, disregarding those around him. It makes him a fascinating character to read up on and talk about, mainly because his life literally reads like a ridiculous novel. Classical writers such as Plato and Thucydides wrote about his life, and Plutarch dedicated an entire biography to him. Thank you for watching this video. If there's a topic or event you would like to know more about, let me know your thoughts in a comment. I would also like to thank all my Patrons and channel members for their generous support. If you enjoy House of History and want to support my work consider joining me on Patreon. For just 1$ a month you will gain access to the exclusive Patreon series. Don't forget to subscribe.