text: thrasybulus thrasybulus ( / / ; greek : , " brave - willed " ; c . 440 – 388 bc ) was an athenian general and democratic leader . in 411 bc , in the wake of an oligarchic coup at athens , the pro - democracy sailors at samos elected him as a general , making him a primary leader of the successful democratic resistance to that coup . as general , he was responsible for recalling the controversial nobleman alcibiades from exile , and the two worked together extensively over the next several years . in 411 and 410 , thrasybulus commanded along with alcibiades and others at several critical athenian naval victories . after athens ' defeat in the peloponnesian war , thrasybulus led the democratic resistance to the new oligarchic government , known as the thirty tyrants , which the victorious spartans imposed on athens . in 404 bc , he commanded a small force of exiles that invaded the spartan ruled attica and , in successive battles , defeated first a spartan garrison and then the forces of the oligarchy . in the wake of these victories , democracy was re - established at athens . as a leader of this revived democracy in the 4th century bc , thrasybulus advocated a policy of resistance to sparta and sought to restore athens ' imperial power . he was killed in 388 bc while leading an athenian naval force during the corinthian war . personal life and early career almost nothing is known of thrasybulus 's background or early life . his father was named lycus , and he was a native of the deme of in athens . he was probably born between 455 and 441 bc , although a date as late as the late bc cannot be ruled out . he was married , and had two children . several facts make it clear that he was from a wealthy family ; he held the office of trierarch , which involved significant personal expenditures , on several occasions , and in the 4th century bc , his son was able to pay a substantial fine of 10 talents . by 411 bc , thrasybulus was clearly established to some degree as a pro - democracy politician , as events discussed below make clear . he is not mentioned in any sources before 411 , so it is impossible to present a picture of his actions . as a politician , thrasybulus consistently advocated several policies throughout his career . he was an advocate of athenian imperialism and expansionism , and a strong supporter of periclean democracy . he seems to have been an unspectacular public speaker , although plutarch notes that he had " the loudest voice of the athenians . " during his period of prominence within the democracy , he seems to have led what might now be termed a populist faction . according to the historical account provided by xenophon , he is murdered as an acting general of a military expedition on its way to rhodes , on a stopover in aspendus on the eurymedon river during the night by angry inhabitants of that area , for his soldiers ' recent transgressions of excess against local farmers and their farmsteads . coup of 411 bc in 413 bc , a massive athenian expedition force was completely obliterated in sicily . in the wake of this defeat , athens found itself facing a crisis of unprecedented magnitude . cities throughout its aegean empire began to rebel , and a peloponnesian fleet sailed to assist them . seeking to contain the crisis , athens tapped its reserve fund to rebuild its fleet and dispatched what ships it had to establish an advance naval base at samos . in this general atmosphere of crisis , aristocrats at athens who had long desired to overthrow the democracy there began to agitate publicly for a change of government , and formed a conspiracy to bring an oligarchy to power in athens . their plans included recalling alcibiades , who had been exiled by the democratic government . these oligarchs initiated their plans at samos , where they successfully encouraged a number of samian oligarchs to begin a similar conspiracy . a dispute has arisen among modern historians over thrasybulus ' involvement in this plot . donald kagan has suggested that thrasybulus was one of the founding members of the scheme and was willing to support moderate oligarchy , but was alienated by the extreme actions taken by the plotters . r. j. buck , on the other hand , maintains that thrasybulus was probably never involved in the plot , possibly because he was absent from samos at the time of its inception . upon their return to athens , the conspirators succeeded in ending democratic rule and imposing an oligarchy of 400 rulers . at samos , however , the coup did not go forward so smoothly . samian democrats learned of the conspiracy and notified four prominent athenians , the generals leon and , thrasybulus , and thrasyllus , at that time a hoplite in the ranks . with the support of these men and the athenian soldiers in general , the samian democrats were able to defeat the conspirators when they attempted to seize power . a ship was dispatched to athens to notify the city of this success against the oligarchs . upon its arrival , however , the crew was arrested , as the news of a democratic victory was far from welcome to the new oligarchic government . learning of this , the army at samos deposed its generals and elected new generals who were believed to be more steadfast in their support of democracy , thrasybulus and thrasyllus among them . the army , stating that they had not revolted from the city but that the city had revolted from them , resolved to stand by the democracy while continuing to prosecute the war against sparta . one of the first actions thrasybulus took as general was to bring about the recall of alcibiades , a policy that he had supported since before the coup . after persuading the sailors to support his plan , thrasybulus sailed to retrieve alcibiades and returned with him to samos . the aim of this policy was to win away persian support from the spartans , as it was believed that alcibiades had great influence with tissaphernes . alcibiades was elected as general alongside thrasybulus and the others . shortly after this , following the revolt of euboea , the government of the 400 at athens was overthrown and replaced by a broader oligarchy , which would eventually give way to democracy . in command in the months following these events , thrasybulus commanded the athenian fleet in several major engagements . at the battle of , he commanded one wing of the fleet and prevented athenian defeat by extending his flank to prevent encirclement ; the battle ended in athenian victory . shortly afterwards thrasybulus again commanded a wing of the athenian fleet at abydos , another athenian victory . thrasybulus was again in command of a squadron of the athenian fleet at the battle of cyzicus , a stunning athenian victory . in this battle , the athenians drew the spartan fleet out to pursue a small force led by alcibiades ; when the spartans had gotten a good distance from land , two squadrons under the command of thrasybulus and theramenes appeared in their rear to cut off their retreat . the spartans were forced to flee to a nearby beach , where alcibiades landed his men in an attempt to seize the spartan ships . the spartans , however , with the assistance of a persian army , began to drive this athenian force into the sea ; seeing this , thrasybulus landed his own force to temporarily relieve pressure on alcibiades , and meanwhile ordered theramenes to join up with athenian land forces nearby and bring them to reinforce the sailors and marines on the beach . the spartans and persians , overwhelmed by the arrival of multiple forces from several directions , were defeated and driven off , and the athenians captured all the spartan ships which were not destroyed . in 409 and 408 , thrasybulus remained in command , but his actions are difficult to trace . he appears to have spent much of the time campaigning in thrace , recapturing cities for the empire and restoring the flow of tribute from the region . in 407 bc , he was in command of a fleet sent to besiege phocaea ; this siege had to be lifted , however , after the spartans under lysander defeated the main athenian fleet at notium . this defeat led to the downfall and exile of alcibiades . thrasybulus was either removed from command on the spot by alcibiades or not reelected at the end of his term ; either way , he was out of office from then until the end of the war . thrasybulus did return to action , however , at the battle of arginusae in 406 bc . there , he was a trierarch in the athenian relief fleet sent out to assist the admiral conon , who was blockaded at mytilene . that battle was a major athenian victory ; after the battle , the generals in charge took the majority of their ships to attack the peloponnesian fleet blockading conon , leaving behind a force under thrasybulus and his fellow trierarch theramenes to rescue the survivors . this operation was thwarted , however , by a sudden storm which drove the rescue force to land , and a great number of athenians — estimates as to the precise figure have ranged from near 1 , 000 to as many as 5 , 000 — drowned . the result was one of the great athenian political scandals of the war , which culminated in a vicious debate between theramenes and the generals at athens over who was to blame for the disaster , after which the generals were executed . thrasybulus , for unknown reasons , seems to have had very little involvement in this debate . the thirty tyrants in 404 bc , following a defeat at the battle of aegospotami , athens was forced to surrender , ending the peloponnesian war . in the wake of this surrender , the spartan lysander imposed a strict oligarchic government on athens , which came to be known as the thirty tyrants . this government executed a number of citizens and deprived all but a few of their rights , eventually growing so extreme that even the moderate oligarch theramenes fell afoul of the government and was executed . fearing for their lives , numerous athenians fled to thebes . thrasybulus had been one of the first to oppose the oligarchy and had been exiled to thebes shortly after its rise to power . there , he was welcomed and supported by the theban leader ismenias and his followers , who assisted him in preparing for a return to athens . in 403 bc , he led a party of 70 exiles to seize phyle , a defensible location on the border of attica and boeotia . a storm prevented the forces of the thirty from expelling him immediately , and numerous exiles flocked to join him . when the spartan garrison of athens , supported by athenian cavalry , was sent out to oppose him , thrasybulus led his force , now 700 strong , in a surprise daybreak raid on their camp , killing 120 spartans and putting the rest to flight . five days later , thrasybulus led his force , which had already grown to the point that he could leave 200 men at phyle while taking 1 , 000 with him , to piraeus , the port of athens . there , he fortified the , a hill that dominated the port , and awaited the coming attack . the forces of the thirty , supported by the spartan garrison , marched to piraeus to attack him . thrasybulus and his men were outnumbered 5 to 1 , but held a superior position and presumably benefited from consternation amidst the ranks of the oligarchs . in the battle , the exiles put the oligarchic forces to flight , killing critias , the leader of the thirty . after this victory , the remainder of the thirty fled to eleusis , and the oligarchs within athens began squabbling amongst themselves . new leaders were selected , but were unable to deal with thrasybulus , and were forced to send to sparta for help . from sparta , however , came not the aggressive lysander , but the more conservative pausanias . pausanias ' force narrowly defeated thrasybulus ' men , but only with great effort , and , unwilling to push the issue , he arranged a settlement between the forces of thrasybulus and the oligarchs in the city . democracy was restored , while those oligarchs who wished to do so withdrew to eleusis . in power , thrasybulus pushed through a law which pardoned all but a few of the oligarchs , preventing a brutal reprisal by the victorious democrats . for his actions , thrasybulus was awarded an olive crown by his countrymen . later actions in the revived democracy established in 403 bc , thrasybulus became a major and prestigious leader , although he was soon superseded at the head of the state by . thrasybulus seems to have advocated a more radically democratic policy than the populace was willing to accept at the time ; he called for reinstating pay for political service , and sought to extend citizenship to all the metics and foreigners who had fought alongside him against the thirty . he was initially cautious about offending sparta , but , when persian support became available at the start of the corinthian war , he became an advocate of aggressive action , and about this time seems to have regained his preeminence in athenian politics . he initiated the rebuilding of the long walls , which had been demolished at the end of the peloponnesian war , and commanded the athenian contingents at nemea and coronea ; these two defeats , however , damaged his political stature , and he was replaced at the head of the state by conon , whose victory at cnidus had ended sparta 's dreams of naval empire . thrasybulus largely faded from view for several years as conon led the athenian fleet to a series of victories , but in 392 bc conon was imprisoned by the persian satrap tiribazus while attending a peace conference at sardis ; although released , he died in cyprus without returning to athens . thrasybulus , leading the faction that sought to reject the peace offer , regained his position atop athenian politics . in 389 bc , he led a force of triremes to levy tribute from cities around the aegean and support rhodes , where a democratic government was struggling against sparta . on this campaign , thrasybulus relaid much of the framework for an athenian empire on 5th century bc model ; he captured byzantium , imposed a duty on ships passing through the hellespont , and collected tribute from many of the islands of the aegean . in 388 bc , as he led his fleet south through the aegean , his soldiers ravaged the fields of aspendus . in retaliation , the raided the athenian camp by night ; thrasybulus was killed in his tent . the gains that thrasybulus made on this campaign were soon reversed , however , by persian intervention . alarmed by the sudden reappearance of something resembling the athenian empire that had driven them from the aegean in the 5th century bc , the persians began supporting sparta , and a persian fleet was soon in the hellespont , threatening athens ' grain supply . peace was quickly concluded , on the same terms that the athenians had rejected in 392 bc ; thrasybulus ' campaigns , though impressively successful in spreading athenian influence , had little long - term effect , since they prompted persia to force the athenians to give up what they had gained . historical opinions thrasybulus has been widely recognized as a successful military commander . most of the major ancient historians assigned credit for the dramatic athenian victories of 411 bc to alcibiades , but a few , such as cornelius nepos , pointed to the decisive role that was played in these battles by thrasybulus . more recent historians , such as donald kagan and r. j. buck , have tended to support this analysis , pointing to the role that thrasybulus played in crafting athenian strategy in all these battles , and specifically to the decisive action he took at cyzicus , which saved alcibiades 's force from being swamped , and turned a potential athenian defeat into a stunning victory . r. j. buck has suggested that thrasybulus suffered from an " anti - democratic tradition of ancient historiography , " which led many writers to minimize the accomplishments of one of democracy 's strongest advocates . throughout his career , thrasybulus defended democracy at athens against its opponents . he was one of the few prominent citizens whom the samians trusted to defend their democracy , and whom the fleet selected to lead it through the troubled time of conflict with the 400 . later , in his opposition to the thirty tyrants , thrasybulus risked his life when few others would , and his actions were responsible for the quick restoration of democracy . in the words of cornelius nepos , this most noble action , then , is entirely thrasybulus 's ; for when the thirty tyrants , appointed by the lacedaemonians , kept athens oppressed in a state of slavery , and had partly banished from their country , and partly put to death , a great number of the citizens whom fortune had spared in the war , and had divided their confiscated property among themselves , he was not only the first , but the only man at the commencement , to declare war against them . john fine points to the clemency shown by thrasybulus and other democrats in the wake of their victory over the thirty as a key contribution towards reestablishing stable government in athens . while many city - states throughout the greek world broke down into vicious cycles of civil war and reprisal , athens remained united and democratic , without interruption , until near the end of the 3rd century bc , and democracy , albeit interrupted several times by conquest or revolution , continued there until roman times , several centuries later . the second - century travel writer pausanias called thrasybulus " the greatest of all famous athenians " for overthrowing the thirty as well as his other exploits , making clear that he thought him greater than even pericles . thus thrasybulus won praise as an athenian patriot and staunch , principled democrat . he has been criticized by modern historians , however , for failing to recognize that athens in the 4th century bc could not sustain an imperial policy . r. j. buck suggests that thrasybulus , who came of age in the heady days when the democracy and empire under pericles were at their fullest extent , never accepted that the devastating losses athens had suffered in the peloponnesian war made the return of those times impossible . thrasybulus was a capable general , particularly successful in naval warfare , and a competent speaker , but was frequently overshadowed or pushed aside by more charismatic or spectacularly successful leaders . buck has compared him to winston churchill , another advocate of imperial policies who held fast to his beliefs after the tide of history had turned against him , and who rose to his peak of prominence at his country 's darkest hour . throughout his two decades of prominence , whether in or out of leadership , thrasybulus remained a steady advocate of traditional athenian imperial democracy , and he died fighting for the same cause he was advocating on his first appearance in 411 . ancient sources demosthenes . 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