ALCIBIADES (c. B.C.), Athenian general and politician. He belonged to the family of the Alcmaeonidae, and was a near relative of Pericles. He was very handsome and pos sessed great wealth, which he squandered in every sort of dissipa tion and extravagance, including the upkeep of a fine stud of horses (Thuc. vi. 12, 16) . He was an admirer of Socrates, who saved his life at Potidaea (432), a service which Alcibiades repaid at Delium; but he could not practise his master's virtues, and there is no doubt that the example of Alcibiades strengthened the charges brought against Socrates of corrupting the youth (399). In 421 he came to the fore as the political opponent of Nicias and the peace-party, and engineered an anti-Spartan alliance between Athens and the democracies of Argos, Mantinea and Elis. Sparta was thus placed in a critical position, and the policy might have been successful had Athens given it whole-hearted support. But in 418 Alcibiades was not re-elected general, and Sparta broke up the confederacy by the crushing victory of Mantinea. On the failure of Nicias in Thrace (418-417) he became the chief advo cate of the Sicilian expedition, partly from policy and partly from private ambition, and was appointed commander jointly with Nicias and Lamachus. But on the day before the expedition sailed there occurred the mysterious mutilation of the Hermae, and Alcibiades was accused not only of being the originator of the crime, but also of having profaned the Eleusinian mysteries. He demanded an immediate inquiry, but his enemies obliged him to set sail with the charge still hanging over him. When he reached Sicily he was recalled to stand his trial, but on the journey home he escaped to Sparta. Learning that he had been con demned to death in his absence, he openly joined the Spartans and persuaded them to send Gylippus to assist the Syracusans and to fortify Decelea in Attica, advice which proved the ruin of Athens. He then passed over to Asia Minor, induced many of the Ionic allies of Athens to revolt, and made an alliance with the Persian satrap Tissaphernes. But in a few months he had lost the confidence of the Spartans and made an enemy of King Agis. He therefore retired to the court of Tissaphernes (412), and hoping to secure his recall to Athens, advised the satrap to withdraw his active support from Sparta. At the same time he conspired with the oligarchic party at Athens, who brought about a revolution in 411 but did not recall Alcibiades. He therefore attached himself to the fleet at Samos, which remained loyal to the democracy, and was recalled by Thrasybulus, but he did not at once return to Athens. Being appointed commander in the neighbourhood of the Hellespont, he defeated the Spartan fleet at Abydos (411) and Cyzicus (410), and recovered Chalcedon and Byzantium. These successes encouraged him to return to Athens, where he was welcomed with enthusiasm (407) ; pro ceedings against him were cancelled, and he was appointed general with full powers. But the Athenians did not fully trust him, and the defeat at Notium (4o7) led them to dismiss him from hip command. He thereupon retired to the Thracian Chersonesus. After the final defeat of Athens he took refuge in Phrygia with Pharnabazus, who was induced by the Spartans to have him mur dered (404).
Alcibiades possessed great charm and brilliant abilities but was absolutely unprincipled. His advice, whether to Athens or Sparta, oligarchs or democrats, was dictated by selfish motives, and the Athenians could never trust him sufficiently to take advantage of his talents. "They feared," says Thucydides, "the extremes to which he carried his lawless self-indulgence, and ... thought he was aiming at a tyranny . . . therefore, though his talents as a military commander were unrivalled, they entrusted the admin istration of the war to others; and so they speedily shipwrecked the state" (Jowett's trans.).
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Thuc. v., vi., vii. 18; viii.; Plato, Symposium; Xen.Bibliography.-Thuc. v., vi., vii. 18; viii.; Plato, Symposium; Xen. Hellenica I. and II.; Alcibiades, by Plutarch and Cornelius Nepos; Houssaye, Histoire d'Alcibiade (1873) ; G. Grote, History of Greece; E. F. Benson, The Life of Alcibiades (1929) ; Ed Meyer, and works quoted under GREECE: Ancient History; also PELOPONNESIAN WAR.