26 Facts About Lysander

Lysander was a Spartan military and political leader.

Lysander destroyed the Athenian fleet at the Battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC, forcing Athens to capitulate and bringing the Peloponnesian War to an end.

Lysander then played a key role in Sparta's domination of Greece for the next decade until his death at the Battle of Haliartus.

Lysander's father was Aristocritus, who was a member of the Spartan Heracleidae; that is, he claimed descent from Heracles but was not a member of a royal family.

From Sparta Lysander set out to gather ships at Rhodes, then sent for more from Chios, made his way through Cos and Miletus, and finally Ephesus, Sparta's main naval base in Ionia.

Lysander's arrival was shortly followed by that of Cyrus, young son of the Persian king Darius, who had been appointed by his father as governor of the provinces of Asia Minor in response to an earlier Spartan embassy requesting increased aid in the war against Athens.

Lysander promptly went to meet Cyrus at his headquarters in nearby Sardis, and with calculated deference made a deep impression on the young prince, developing with him a close friendship that was to have a decisive effect in the course of the war.

Once back in Ephesus, Lysander summoned a conference of influential oligarchs from all over the Greek cities in the Aegean, encouraged them to organize into political clubs, and promised to put them in power in their respective cities in the event of Athens' defeat.

In doing so, Lysander created in effect a network of clients who were loyal to him personally and contributed to Sparta's war effort with increased eagerness.

Lysander gave a timely order for his entire fleet to advance, and drove off the intruder before they had properly deployed for battle, inflicting modest losses.

However, Lysander ceased to be the Spartan navarch after this victory and, in accordance with the Spartan law, was replaced by Callicratidas.

Callicratidas' ability to continue the war at sea was neatly sabotaged when Lysander returned all the donated funds to Cyrus when he left office.

Lysander continued toward the Hellespont to threaten the route of grain transports to Athens from the Black Sea, forcing the Athenians to send their fleet, 180 ships, in pursuit.

Lysander set up anchor at Lampsacus and plundered it, while the Athenians took up a position at Aegospotami in the opposing shore of the straits.

For several days Lysander refused battle, studying the opponent's moves, until, during a moment of enemy carelessness, he surprised the Athenians and captured most of their vessels as they were still ashore and unmanned.

Now in full command of the seas, Lysander began touring the Aegean to receive the surrender of enemy strongholds, ordering all captured Athenian garrisons and cleruchs home in order to overcrowd the city and hasten its surrender through famine.

Lysander received the surrender of the last of Athens's allies, Samos, in the summer of 404, after which he went in person to Athens in response to an appeal by Athenian oligarchs.

Lysander oversaw a meeting of the Athenian assembly which effectively abolished Athens's democracy and replaced it with a governing board of thirty oligarchs.

Lysander amassed a huge fortune from his victories against the Athenians and brought the riches home to Sparta.

Lysander still had influence in Sparta despite his setbacks in Athens.

Lysander was able to persuade the Spartans to select Agesilaus II, his younger lover, as the new Eurypontid Spartan king following the death of Agis II, and to persuade the Spartans to support Cyrus the Younger in his unsuccessful rebellion against his older brother, Artaxerxes II of Persia.

Lysander was arguably hoping to receive command of the Spartan forces not joining the campaign.

Back in Sparta by 395 BC, Lysander was instrumental in starting a war with Thebes and other Greek cities, which came to be known as the Corinthian War.

Lysander arrived before Pausanias and persuaded the city of Orchomenus to revolt from the Boeotian League.

Lysander is one of the main protagonists of the history of Greece by Xenophon, a contemporary.

Lysander was the first Greek who had songs of triumph written about him.