Brasidas

Brasidas (died 422 BC in Amphipolis, Macedonia) was an ancient Spartan general who was very successful throughout his career, and son of a man named Tellis. Our main source for the life of Brasidas comes from the ancient historian Thucydides in his work The History of the Peloponnesian War. Accordingly, the reason why Thucydides switched from being a general himself to becoming a historian is because of his defeat to Brasidas, as he was unable to reach Amphipolis fast enough to save it from the invasion of Brasidas, and was therefore exiled and lost his position as a general. Brasidas inspired a number of Athenian cities to revolt against the ancient Athenians. The greatest successes of Brasidas on the battlefield is considered to be his capture of Amphipolis.

Early History

For the ancient general Brasidas, no history is known about this man presiding 431 BC, where he suddenly appears in the historical record as a general of Sparta defending his lands from the Athenians. The first events mentioned of the life of Brasidas are mentioned as the Athenians were invading Methone. The Athenians took with them a hundred ships, backed up by another squadrion of fifty ships from the region of Corcyraean. The Athenians noticed a weak wall at Methone, and thus planned to invade the city from there. However, the general Brasidas happened to be there at the time, and therefore quickly gathered a heavy infantry of a hundred men to assist the city of Methone as it was being sieged. The forces of Brasidas quickly plunged through the lines of the Athenians, scattering them across the battlefield, and eventually forcing them to withdraw. Because of the great deeds of Brasidas at Methone, we are told by Thucydides that he "won the thanks of Sparta by his exploit, being thus the first officer who obtained this notice during the war."

Later on in 429 BC, the Athenian fleets decisively won many engagements with the Spartans in the seas, as the Spartans were apparently incompetent at naval battle. Thus, the Spartans sent Brasidas along with two commissioners in order to advice the Spartan governor battling with the Athenians, and after reorganizing the fleet, they were able to win a small battle. This victory did not last long however, as the Athenians would return to deal many more heavy blows against the Spartans in the naval battles. In 427 BC, Brasidas was again sent to advise a Spartan admiral, this time by the name of Alcidas, as a civil war was breaking out in Corcyra. The efforts of the Spartans however, did not resolve the issue.

See Also

• Amphipolis
• Thucydides

External Links

• AncientEU - Brasidas