With the overthrow of the oligarchy in Athens, the democrats were restored to power. They promised to avoid reprisals against ordinary citizens who had, willingly or unwillingly, collaborated with the Thirty in their brutal regime. Not all of those associated with the regime felt secure. One of those who did not remain at home was Xenophon, son of Gryllus, of the deme of Erchia. He was a follower of Socrates, probably in his late twenties, and “terribly good-looking.”[1] In his writings he tells a great deal about himself in subsequent years, but he says little about his early life in Athens—perhaps because he has something to hide. He was pro-Spartan throughout his life, and, like Socrates, critical of the excesses of democracy. He is likely to have been one of the Three Thousand, a knight who fought on the side of the Thirty.
Xenophon had a friend, Proxenus of Boeotia, who invited him to join him in an adventure. At about thirty years of age, Proxenus was ready to make a name for himself in the world. He had studied with Gorgias the sophist and now “considering himself ready to rule,” he signed up with a large army Cyrus the Persian was gathering.[2] He thought Cyrus’ campaign would provide a perfect opportunity for his friend Xenophon to develop his leadership abilities.
Cyrus, viceroy of the Great King of Persia, had been the moving force behind the Spartans’ victory in the Hellespont and hence in the Aegean rim (see chs. 19 and 21*). While he was advising and bankrolling the Spartans, he was recalled by the Great King of Persia to answer charges that he was overstepping his authority. When he arrived at Susa (one of four capitals of the Persian Empire) he found the king in failing health. After four months, King Darius passed away, in 404. Cyrus’ elder brother was hailed as Darius’ successor, Artaxerxes II, and traveled to the original Persian capital of Pasargadae to receive the ritual initiation for kings. There Tissaphernes the satrap (provincial governor) of Caria, who had been displaced by Cyrus from his original province and lost some of his other powers, accused Cyrus of planning to assassinate the king. According to the report, Cyrus was saved only by the intervention of the Queen Mother, who favored her younger over her elder son.[3] Cyrus returned to his provinces outraged and determined to take the throne for himself.
And here we need to bring to an end the story of Alcibiades, friend of Socrates, golden boy and bête noire of Athens. Exiled from Athens and driven out of the Hellenspont by the fortunes of war, he took refuge in Asia Minor, making a visit to Pharnabazus, the Persian satrap of the province. There are several versions of what happened next. According to Plutarch, he hoped to travel to Persia to offer his services to the new king Artaxerxes, in return for some kind of grant from the throne. He needed government permission to make the journey, and in the meantime set up housekeeping with a beautiful courtesan, originally from Sicily, named Timandra.
The Thirty in Athens worried that he might be scheming to overthrow their government; they asked the Spartan general Lysander to get rid of their enemy. He was not moved to do so until he received orders from Sparta to eliminate the threat.[4] This order may have emanated from King Agis, whom Alcibiades had cuckolded. In another version, Alcibiades wanted to travel to Persia to warn the king that Cyrus was plotting against him.[5] In any case, Alcibiades had made powerful enemies who saw him as a major liability to the new world order, including: Critias, Lysander, Agis, Tissaphernes, Pharnabazus, and last but not least, Cyrus.[6] According Plutarch’s soap-opera version, a squad of assassins sent out by Pharnabazus surrounded Alcibiades’ love nest, evidently at night, and set it on fire. Alcibiades grabbed his sword and ran out naked. The cowardly assassins, afraid to engage him in a sword fight, shot him down from afar with javelins and arrows. He was about forty-five years of age. Some sort of poetic justice decreed an ignominious end to a troubled life.[7]
[1].Diogenes Laertius 2.48.
[2].Xenophon Anabasis 2.6.16-20.
[3].Plutarch Artaxerxes 2.2-3.5; Xenophon Anabasis 1.1.3.
[4].Plutarch Alcibiades 38-39.
[5].Diodorus Siculus 14.11.1-4, based on Ephorus; Nepos Alcibiades 10; Justin 5.8. In Diodorus’ version Pharnabazus gets rid of Alcibiades so he himself can get credit for revealing Cyrus’s plot. See Ellis 1989:95-97; Romilly 1995:226-234.
[6].Ellis 1989:95.
[7].Romilly (1995:230) calls his end obscure et misérable, such that no melodrama could surpass it.