Callicratidas
, Spartan admiral
Callicratidas
, Spartan admiral
- Stephen Hodkinson
Extract
Spartan admiral who succeeded and quarrelled with *Lysander in 406 bce. After cowing *Lysander's partisans and refusing to wait for Persian money, he assembled a large fleet (140–170 ships) from Greek resources, defeating and blockading an Athenian fleet under *Conon (1) at Mytilene. He drowned in his subsequent defeat by the Athenian relief fleet off the *Arginusae islands. Later sources applaud his forthright manner and ‘*panhellenism’, contrasting him favourably with Lysander; *Xenophon (1) depicts him as blustering and militarily impetuous, underrating his contribution in stretching Athens’ resources to the limit.
Subjects
- Greek History and Historiography
