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Alcibiades: Athenian Playboy, General and Traitor
Alcibiades is one of the most famous (or infamous) characters of Classical Greece. A young Athenian aristocrat, he came to prominence during the Peloponnesian War (429-404 BC) between Sparta and Athens. Flamboyant, charismatic (and wealthy), this close associate of Socrates persuaded the Athenians to attempt to stand up to the Spartans on land as part of an alliance he was instrumental in bringing together. Although this led to defeat at the Battle of Mantinea in 418 BC, his prestige remained high. He was also a prime mover in Athens' next big strategic gambit, the Sicilian Expedition of 415 BC, for which he was elected as one of the leaders. Shortly after arrival in Sicily, however, he was recalled to face charges of sacrilege allegedly committed during his pre-expedition revelling. Jumping ship on the return journey, he defected to the Spartans.
Alcibiades soon ingratiated himself with the Spartans, encouraging them to aid the Sicilians (ultimately resulting in the utter destruction of the Athenian expedition)and to keep year-round pressure on the Athenians. He then seems to have overstepped the bounds of hospitality by sleeping with the Spartan queen and was soon on the run again. He then played a devious and dangerous game of shifting loyalties between Sparta, Athens and Persia. He had a hand in engineering the overthrow of democracy at Athens in favour of an oligarchy, which allowed him to return from exile, though he then opposed the increasingly-extreme excesses of that regime. For a time he looked to have restored Athens' fortunes in the war, but went into exile again after being held responsible for the defeat of one of his subordinates in a naval battle. This time he took refuge with the Persians, but as they were now allied to the Spartans, the cuckolded King Agis of Sparta was able to arrange his assassination by Persian agents.
There has been no full length biography of this colorful and important character for twenty years. Professor Rhodes brings the authority of an internationally recognised expert in the field, ensuring that this will be a truly significant addition to the literature on Classical Greece.
Alcibiades soon ingratiated himself with the Spartans, encouraging them to aid the Sicilians (ultimately resulting in the utter destruction of the Athenian expedition)and to keep year-round pressure on the Athenians. He then seems to have overstepped the bounds of hospitality by sleeping with the Spartan queen and was soon on the run again. He then played a devious and dangerous game of shifting loyalties between Sparta, Athens and Persia. He had a hand in engineering the overthrow of democracy at Athens in favour of an oligarchy, which allowed him to return from exile, though he then opposed the increasingly-extreme excesses of that regime. For a time he looked to have restored Athens' fortunes in the war, but went into exile again after being held responsible for the defeat of one of his subordinates in a naval battle. This time he took refuge with the Persians, but as they were now allied to the Spartans, the cuckolded King Agis of Sparta was able to arrange his assassination by Persian agents.
There has been no full length biography of this colorful and important character for twenty years. Professor Rhodes brings the authority of an internationally recognised expert in the field, ensuring that this will be a truly significant addition to the literature on Classical Greece.
160 pages, Paperback
Published August 26, 2021
About the author
P.J. Rhodes
37 books8 followersP. J. Rhodes is Honorary Professor and Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at the University of Durham. He has written widely on Thucydides and ancient Greece; one of his most recent books is A History of the Classical Greek World 478-323 BC (2005).
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 8, 2021
As someone who is trying to learn about Ancient history- particularly those of Greek and Rome, and when I saw this available on netgalley I immediately requested this.
When I first clicked on request I not realise this was a republished book when I first requested it but was still very curious to see what I could learn.
I must admit that I know nothing of Alcibiades, but saw he was around in Ancient Greece and a major player in the Peloponnesian wars, and this was enough for me to press request. In addition, the plot description of this man as “flamboyant... infamous” piqued my interest.
Unfortunately, when I first opened this on my kindle the maps would not show fully but as completely fragmented and Misty/cloudy- I was not able to make out what this was meant to be showing.
Due to this it took ages to get to the preface/beginning and I was getting fed up flicking through these cloudy pages (maybe they need to have a version so maps are compatible with kindle?)
Going into the book I was not expecting a full on chapter on the sources used and recounting Thucydides as a person and relationship to Alcibiades. Thucydides is not the only one that was mentioned, but other names had deep delved history as well, making me lose track of Alcibiades as a whole. I felt a lot of these would’ve been better placed as a footnote or perhaps a short sentence.
Not only does the author use ancient sources but also modern ones and they proceed to list them- again I can’t help thinking that maybe this would’ve been so much better at the back of the book, or as footnotes.characterise Alcibiades history.
The chapter then delved into Alcibiades childhood but altogether I was just finding this book very difficult to read. It was not really an insight into Alcibiades; which I was expecting. The book tended to go off topic or delve into other things such as voting rights in Athens and Athenian changes over time. In addition, some words were hard to understand, definitions and translations of the Ancient Greek words would’ve benefitted a lay person like me.
However, despite the DNF I did did learn some facts such as Alcibiades being exiled due to to his profanities of the Eleusinian mysteries. I also learned about male childhood and certain ceremonies that rich Athenian males would undertake. I also learned that Alcibiades knew Socrates and Pericles, and Pericles later became Alcibiades guardian after Alcibiades father died in war.
Overall, this book was not engaging enough for me to continue. It definitely is not aimed at the lay person like me and you would’ve probably had to have studied Ancient Greek wars and Alcibiades beforehand to understand and appreciate this. Unfortunately, this was lost on me.
When I first clicked on request I not realise this was a republished book when I first requested it but was still very curious to see what I could learn.
I must admit that I know nothing of Alcibiades, but saw he was around in Ancient Greece and a major player in the Peloponnesian wars, and this was enough for me to press request. In addition, the plot description of this man as “flamboyant... infamous” piqued my interest.
Unfortunately, when I first opened this on my kindle the maps would not show fully but as completely fragmented and Misty/cloudy- I was not able to make out what this was meant to be showing.
Due to this it took ages to get to the preface/beginning and I was getting fed up flicking through these cloudy pages (maybe they need to have a version so maps are compatible with kindle?)
Going into the book I was not expecting a full on chapter on the sources used and recounting Thucydides as a person and relationship to Alcibiades. Thucydides is not the only one that was mentioned, but other names had deep delved history as well, making me lose track of Alcibiades as a whole. I felt a lot of these would’ve been better placed as a footnote or perhaps a short sentence.
Not only does the author use ancient sources but also modern ones and they proceed to list them- again I can’t help thinking that maybe this would’ve been so much better at the back of the book, or as footnotes.characterise Alcibiades history.
The chapter then delved into Alcibiades childhood but altogether I was just finding this book very difficult to read. It was not really an insight into Alcibiades; which I was expecting. The book tended to go off topic or delve into other things such as voting rights in Athens and Athenian changes over time. In addition, some words were hard to understand, definitions and translations of the Ancient Greek words would’ve benefitted a lay person like me.
However, despite the DNF I did did learn some facts such as Alcibiades being exiled due to to his profanities of the Eleusinian mysteries. I also learned about male childhood and certain ceremonies that rich Athenian males would undertake. I also learned that Alcibiades knew Socrates and Pericles, and Pericles later became Alcibiades guardian after Alcibiades father died in war.
Overall, this book was not engaging enough for me to continue. It definitely is not aimed at the lay person like me and you would’ve probably had to have studied Ancient Greek wars and Alcibiades beforehand to understand and appreciate this. Unfortunately, this was lost on me.
March 3, 2025
A biography on the colourful and controversial life of Athenian statesman Alcibiades.
Alcibiades was one of the most important figures in late 5th century BC Athens, being instrumental in both the alliance with Argos and the disastrous Sicilian expedition. He was also a traitor (although this idea was perhaps not as well defined at this time), having served as an advisor to Sparta after his banishment from Athens and, after falling out with the Spartans, as an advisor to Persian Satrap Tissaphernes. Alcibiades would return to Athens a few years later, where he gained success as a naval commander until his final major role in the battle of Notium, after which he was exiled and killed two years later.
Rhodes's biography on Alcibiades is critical and well-sourced, clearly, not a lazy attempt to pander to the more surreal claims about Alcibiades' life. The trouble is that his account mostly ignores Alcibiades, and he spends far too much time elaborating on the wider Peloponnesian war, even from well before Alcibiades was involved in politics. If this is intended as filler, it seemed to me to be unnecessary given Alcibiades is included in many ancient accounts such as Plutarch, who devotes a whole book to him, Thucydides, histories for whom Alcibiades is a main figure and the writings of Diodorus and Xenophon. Not to mention his litany of portrayals in Greek comedy and tragedy, which give an idea of how Alcibiades was viewed by the public at large. Suffice to say that a great deal is known about Alcibiades, and Rhodes could have included a lot more information about him. Additionally, adding excerpts of his speeches, which were recorded in Thucydides' histories, would have helped enormously in understanding who Alcibiades was and the type of rhetoric he used, even if these speeches were only loosely recorded.
Some areas of Alcibiades' life are covered well, such as the stories about his personal life, which was a common source of ridicule in Greek plays. His tumultuous marriage, private scandals and relationship with Pericles and Socrates are all covered with sufficent depth. Conversely, I found Rhodes is quite bare in his narrative of Alcibiades' military campaigns, especially with regard to the Sicilian expedition.
Overall, this is a well-researched account of Alcibiades' life, which could have been greatly improved by focusing more on Alcibiades himself instead of the wider Peloponnesian war, as well as including direct excerpts in his speeches, which would have given the reader a greater understanding of who Alcibiades was.
Alcibiades was one of the most important figures in late 5th century BC Athens, being instrumental in both the alliance with Argos and the disastrous Sicilian expedition. He was also a traitor (although this idea was perhaps not as well defined at this time), having served as an advisor to Sparta after his banishment from Athens and, after falling out with the Spartans, as an advisor to Persian Satrap Tissaphernes. Alcibiades would return to Athens a few years later, where he gained success as a naval commander until his final major role in the battle of Notium, after which he was exiled and killed two years later.
Rhodes's biography on Alcibiades is critical and well-sourced, clearly, not a lazy attempt to pander to the more surreal claims about Alcibiades' life. The trouble is that his account mostly ignores Alcibiades, and he spends far too much time elaborating on the wider Peloponnesian war, even from well before Alcibiades was involved in politics. If this is intended as filler, it seemed to me to be unnecessary given Alcibiades is included in many ancient accounts such as Plutarch, who devotes a whole book to him, Thucydides, histories for whom Alcibiades is a main figure and the writings of Diodorus and Xenophon. Not to mention his litany of portrayals in Greek comedy and tragedy, which give an idea of how Alcibiades was viewed by the public at large. Suffice to say that a great deal is known about Alcibiades, and Rhodes could have included a lot more information about him. Additionally, adding excerpts of his speeches, which were recorded in Thucydides' histories, would have helped enormously in understanding who Alcibiades was and the type of rhetoric he used, even if these speeches were only loosely recorded.
Some areas of Alcibiades' life are covered well, such as the stories about his personal life, which was a common source of ridicule in Greek plays. His tumultuous marriage, private scandals and relationship with Pericles and Socrates are all covered with sufficent depth. Conversely, I found Rhodes is quite bare in his narrative of Alcibiades' military campaigns, especially with regard to the Sicilian expedition.
Overall, this is a well-researched account of Alcibiades' life, which could have been greatly improved by focusing more on Alcibiades himself instead of the wider Peloponnesian war, as well as including direct excerpts in his speeches, which would have given the reader a greater understanding of who Alcibiades was.
August 22, 2021
Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Alcibiades is a layman accessible historical biography of the Athenian general by Dr. P.J. Rhodes. First published in 2011, this reformat and re-release from Pen & Sword is due out 30th Aug 2021. It's 160 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.
This is an academically rigorous but (mostly) layman accessible study of the infamous Athenian general which concentrates on his life through anecdotes and histories contemporaneous and written after his lifetime. The book contains numerous illustrative maps and illustrations to help readers orient themselves with the various battles and travels in which Alcibiades and his compatriots took part. Quite apart from the text, I found the maps, illustrations, photos, and background explanations from the author concerning sources and methodology to be fascinating and enriching. I am not (nor have I ever been) an antiquities scholar, but I find the ancient world fascinating and this was an enlightening (if difficult) read for me.
The book is written with chapters in more or less chronological order: background, childhood, Sicily and first exile, Sparta Persia & Athens, Athenian navy, and his final years and death. The book is meticulously annotated throughout and the chapter notes and bibliography will provide readers with many (many!) hours of further reading. I personally found the text difficult to assimilate in places (mostly because all the battle locations and casts of thousands listed in detail overwhelmed me). It's academically rigorous and will undoubtedly prove a valuable resource to readers who are interested in ancient history and Athens or more specifically the Peloponnesian War.
Four stars for me personally. For fans of the specific era and/or Alcibiades himself, I cannot imagine a more in-depth biography, five stars. There are also numerous black & white photos with captions which I found engaging and instructive.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Alcibiades is a layman accessible historical biography of the Athenian general by Dr. P.J. Rhodes. First published in 2011, this reformat and re-release from Pen & Sword is due out 30th Aug 2021. It's 160 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.
This is an academically rigorous but (mostly) layman accessible study of the infamous Athenian general which concentrates on his life through anecdotes and histories contemporaneous and written after his lifetime. The book contains numerous illustrative maps and illustrations to help readers orient themselves with the various battles and travels in which Alcibiades and his compatriots took part. Quite apart from the text, I found the maps, illustrations, photos, and background explanations from the author concerning sources and methodology to be fascinating and enriching. I am not (nor have I ever been) an antiquities scholar, but I find the ancient world fascinating and this was an enlightening (if difficult) read for me.
The book is written with chapters in more or less chronological order: background, childhood, Sicily and first exile, Sparta Persia & Athens, Athenian navy, and his final years and death. The book is meticulously annotated throughout and the chapter notes and bibliography will provide readers with many (many!) hours of further reading. I personally found the text difficult to assimilate in places (mostly because all the battle locations and casts of thousands listed in detail overwhelmed me). It's academically rigorous and will undoubtedly prove a valuable resource to readers who are interested in ancient history and Athens or more specifically the Peloponnesian War.
Four stars for me personally. For fans of the specific era and/or Alcibiades himself, I cannot imagine a more in-depth biography, five stars. There are also numerous black & white photos with captions which I found engaging and instructive.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
July 23, 2021
Destined from a young age for, if not quite greatness, then certainly for something, the ward of Pericles, a renowned speaker (despite a speech impediment), the subject of plays, a possible lover of Socrates, fearless warrior, seducer, occasional demagogue - meet the “shamelessly outrageous” man known as Alcibiades (III).
PJ Rhodes begins by giving us a clear background to the structure of Athenian society, democracy and its ongoing rivalry with Sparta, the two great city states in Greece in the 5th century BC. Attempting to make lucid sense of Alcibiades’ complicated life, PJ Rhodes is unafraid to point out discrepancies in the many tall stories attributed to him, which early on give an impression of an often violent, arrogant and unfeeling man who ignored the conventions of polite society.
Soon Alcibiades is trying to engineer a new alliance against Sparta and commanding armies in battle. Alcibiades escaped the threat of ostracism (exile) by manipulating his rival to vote against the initiator of the threat. After being sentenced to death for religious crimes, he fled the country and threw his lot in with Sparta. Soon falling out of favour there, he found himself accepted once again by the Athenians. This stage of his life ended in self-imposed exile.
If nothing else, Alcibiades was a skilful manipulator and was described by a contemporary as being able to adapt quickly to his present situation, and he knew the power of good publicity. Always engendering ambivalent opinion in others, Athens “longed for him, it hated him, it wanted to have him”.
Such was the see-saw life of Alcibiades, a man who, somehow, always managed to “gain the credit for everything”. PJ Rhodes skilfully navigates the confusing history of Alcibiades in a complex but lucid narrative. The sources available are untrustworthy and prone to exaggeration, often relating events that their author wasn’t a witness to, so this book cannot be a strict biography, but it is an erudite examination of a remarkable character in a remarkable era.
PJ Rhodes begins by giving us a clear background to the structure of Athenian society, democracy and its ongoing rivalry with Sparta, the two great city states in Greece in the 5th century BC. Attempting to make lucid sense of Alcibiades’ complicated life, PJ Rhodes is unafraid to point out discrepancies in the many tall stories attributed to him, which early on give an impression of an often violent, arrogant and unfeeling man who ignored the conventions of polite society.
Soon Alcibiades is trying to engineer a new alliance against Sparta and commanding armies in battle. Alcibiades escaped the threat of ostracism (exile) by manipulating his rival to vote against the initiator of the threat. After being sentenced to death for religious crimes, he fled the country and threw his lot in with Sparta. Soon falling out of favour there, he found himself accepted once again by the Athenians. This stage of his life ended in self-imposed exile.
If nothing else, Alcibiades was a skilful manipulator and was described by a contemporary as being able to adapt quickly to his present situation, and he knew the power of good publicity. Always engendering ambivalent opinion in others, Athens “longed for him, it hated him, it wanted to have him”.
Such was the see-saw life of Alcibiades, a man who, somehow, always managed to “gain the credit for everything”. PJ Rhodes skilfully navigates the confusing history of Alcibiades in a complex but lucid narrative. The sources available are untrustworthy and prone to exaggeration, often relating events that their author wasn’t a witness to, so this book cannot be a strict biography, but it is an erudite examination of a remarkable character in a remarkable era.
July 3, 2023
At the time I'm writing this, I'm only the 4th person to review this book. Two of the other reviews describe it as a good lay person's biography of Alcibiades, while the third reviewer, a clear lay person, seems to have been confused by this book. I think this a good book, but I'm not sure I agree with the lay person comments.
Rhodes is professor of Classical History and I think he assumes that anyone picking up a biography specifically about Alcibiades - whose entire life was wrapped up in the Peloponnesian War - will already have a basic understanding of the War and our sources of knowledge for the war. I would not pick this book up unless you already having a passing familiarity with this era.
Rhodes has essentially taken everything about Alcibiades from Thucydides, Xenophon, Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus, Nepos, and various public inscriptions and monuments and put it into a short (roughly 100 pages) biography of Alcibiades. When these sources tell different versions of the event, Rhodes discusses the differences and offers his opinion on what the most likely truth was. Rhodes also does a thorough job of trying to resolve dating discrepancies among the various sources.
If you already have a basic understanding of the causes and events of the Peloponnesian War, then this is a great, short resource on everything related to Alcibiades. If you don't already have that basic knowledge, I would start with something more general about the war before moving on to this.
Rhodes is professor of Classical History and I think he assumes that anyone picking up a biography specifically about Alcibiades - whose entire life was wrapped up in the Peloponnesian War - will already have a basic understanding of the War and our sources of knowledge for the war. I would not pick this book up unless you already having a passing familiarity with this era.
Rhodes has essentially taken everything about Alcibiades from Thucydides, Xenophon, Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus, Nepos, and various public inscriptions and monuments and put it into a short (roughly 100 pages) biography of Alcibiades. When these sources tell different versions of the event, Rhodes discusses the differences and offers his opinion on what the most likely truth was. Rhodes also does a thorough job of trying to resolve dating discrepancies among the various sources.
If you already have a basic understanding of the causes and events of the Peloponnesian War, then this is a great, short resource on everything related to Alcibiades. If you don't already have that basic knowledge, I would start with something more general about the war before moving on to this.
December 28, 2024
A very dull biography on a subject who is anything but dull.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews