Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today, we are
not just looking at a historical figure. We are,
uh, we're looking at a phenomenon. We are looking
at a human hurricane. Chuckles. That's a good
way to put it. You know, we often talk about
modern politics being chaotic. The scandals,
the flip -flopping, the intense cults of personality,
but honestly... If you think today's headlines
are wild, you haven't met the man we're talking
about today. It is a story that truly devised
belief. I mean, if you wrote this as a screenplay,
Hollywood producers would kick it back. Oh, for
sure. They'd say it's too unrealistic, the protagonist
is too overpowered, and the plot twists are,
you know, just too convenient. We're talking
about Alcibiades. The chameleon of Athens. Exactly.
The man who managed to be the most important
general for Athens and then, in a blink of an
eye, the most important advisor to their archenemy,
Sparta. And then Persia. And then, just to keep
things interesting, a key player for the Persian
Empire, only to circle back and become the savior
of Athens again, all in the span of one single
war. It is absolutely wild. And look, our mission
today is to really unpack this. We've got a massive
stack of sources here. We're pulling from the
usual places, of course. But we are going deep
into the heavy hitters like Thucydides, Plutarch,
Xenophon. Eudorus, yeah. We want to understand
not just what he did, but how on earth he got
away with it. Because fundamentally, this is
a story about the absolute limits of charisma.
And the cost of that charisma. That is the key.
Because while Alcibiades is... It's undeniably
fascinating. He's the rock star of the ancient
world, the Mick Jagger of the Peloponnesian War.
There's a very dark undercurrent here. This is
a case study on ambition and what happens when
a democracy falls in love with a man who believes,
correctly perhaps, that he's bigger than the
law. So let's set the scene properly. We are
in the fifth century B .C. The Peloponnesian
War is raging or at least simmering between the
two superpowers, Athens and Sparta. And onto
this stage steps Alcibiades. Who is this guy?
Because he didn't just come from nowhere, right?
He wasn't a self -made man in the modern sense.
Oh, far from it. In terms of advantages, he didn't
just win the lottery. He basically owned the
lottery commission. He was born around 450 B
.C. in Athens. His father was Clinius, a war
hero who was killed in the Battle of Choronea
when Alcibiades was just a toddler. But his mother,
Dynamache, was from the Elkmionid family. Which
is basically the Kennedys of ancient Athens,
but with more curses and more money. Even more
so. She was a cousin of Pericles. And after his
father died, Pericles... the man who essentially
built the golden age of Athens, the man who commissioned
the Parthenon, became his guardian. Wow. So Alcibiades
grows up in the house of the most powerful man
in the city. He is breathing rarefied air from
the moment he can walk. He inherits massive wealth,
and he has connections in every corner of the
Greek world. And when you say connections, it's
not just in Athens, right? I was reading about
his name, Alcibiades. It doesn't sound like the
other Athenian names. You have a good ear. It's
actually a name of Spartan origin. His family
had these old ties of Xenia. guest friendship
with the Spartan aristocracy. Exinia, right.
Can you break that down a little? What exactly
did that mean in practice? It's a crucial concept.
Xenia meant that even if our cities are at war,
you and I have a sacred personal bond of hospitality.
It's inherited. It means if you show up at my
door, I have to take you in, protect you, feed
you, and vice versa. So it's like a diplomatic
back channel, but it's personal. It's deeper
than that. It's a sacred trust. So even though
he is the golden boy of Athenian nobility, he
has this built -in backdoor link to the enemy.
That is going to become very important and very
dangerous later on. Okay, so he's rich, he's
powerful, he's connected. And according to every
source we have, he was... Well, incredibly good
looking. And ordinately vain about it, too. Plutarch
mentions that his physical beauty was famous
throughout his entire life, as a boy, as a youth,
and as a man. And he had this personality that
just drew people in like a gravitational well.
And he knew it? Oh, he knew it. Aristophanes,
the comic playwright who loved to roast politicians,
even mentions that Alcibiades had a lisp. A lisp.
Usually in the rough -and -tumble world of ancient
politics, wouldn't that be a liability? You would
think so. But for him, it wasn't a hindrance.
People found it charming. It became part of his
brand. It made his speech seem persuasive, unique,
sort of aristocratic. He weaponized it. He weaponized
everything about himself. He wore these long,
sweeping purple robes that dragged on the ground,
something the older conservative generation hated.
But the youth of Athens copied him. He was the
trendsetter. He was an influencer 2 ,500 years
early. But he wasn't just a pretty face. He had
a brain and he had some very interesting teachers.
And this is the part that always confuses me
and I think confuses a lot of people. He was
a student of Socrates. It is one of the great
paradoxes of history. Right. You have Socrates,
the father of moral philosophy, the guy walking
around barefoot asking about virtue and truth.
And his star pupil is Alcibiades, who, spoiler
alert, turns out to be pretty unscrupulous. How
did that happen? What was the dynamic there?
Well, the sources tell us they had a very intense,
almost obsessive relationship. Plutarch says
that Alcibiades feared and reverenced Socrates
alone, and basically despised everyone else who
tried to court his favor. So Socrates was the
only one he respected. I think Socrates saw the
potential in him, this brilliant, beautiful,
energetic young man, and thought... If I can
just teach him virtue, if I can just tame this
wild horse, he could be the perfect leader for
Athens. And for Alcibiades, what was in it for
him? I think for Alcibiades, Socrates was the
only challenge. Everyone else flattered him.
They told him how great he was. Socrates challenged
him. Socrates told him he was ignorant, that
he knew nothing. And that was attractive to him.
It was intoxicating for someone who had everything
handed to him. It was the one thing he couldn't
just buy or charm his way through. And it wasn't
just classroom learning either. They were war
buddies. Literally. At the Battle of Potidaea
in 432 BC, Socrates actually saved Alcibiades'
life. Alcibiades was wounded in the chaos of
the melee, and Socrates stood over him, shield
up, and defended him against the enemy. That
creates a bond of blood. Wow. And then, a few
years later, at the Battle of Delium, which was
a total disaster for Athens, Alcibiades, who
was in the cavalry, on horseback saw Socrates
retreating on foot. Instead of riding off to
safety, He stayed by him and covered his retreat.
So there was a deep, genuine bond there. Clearly,
the virtue part didn't fully stick. Because when
we look at his personal life, wow. The drama
with his wife, Hipparite. It's a tragic story,
really, and it tells us everything we need to
know about his view of the law. Hipparite was
a wealthy heiress, and she apparently loved him.
But Alcibiades was a serial philanderer. He was
constantly consorting with courtesans, bringing
them into the home, humiliating her. Just completely
shameless about it. Utterly. Eventually, she
had enough. In Athens, a woman could divorce
her husband. But the law was specific. She had
to go to the archon, the magistrate, to file
the papers in person. Okay, so it required a
public act. Exactly. So she summons the courage.
She goes to the agora, the public square, to
file for divorce. And word gets to Alcibiades.
He doesn't call a lawyer. He doesn't file a countersuit.
He just shows up at the agora, grabs her, and
physically carries her home through the marketplace.
He just carries her off in front of everyone.
In front of everyone. In front of the magistrate.
And no one stopped him? It shows you his attitude?
He felt he was above the law. He dared anyone
to challenge him. And because of his wealth and
his intimidating presence, no one did. And she
stayed with him. Sadly, she stayed with him until
she died shortly after. This is the man who is
about to enter politics. Someone who takes what
he wants and dares anyone to stop him. So let's
pivot to his political rise. The war with Sparta
has been going on for years. There's a truce,
right? The Peace of Nicias. Correct. Signed in
421 BC. It was an uneasy truce, a cold war period,
negotiated largely by the older, more conservative
General Onesius. He was sort of the anti -Alcibiades,
cautious, pious, respected. And Alcibiades is
not happy about this piece. He's furious. Not
because he loves war necessarily, but because
of his ego. He felt that because of his family's
old connections to Sparta, that Xenia we talked
about, the Spartans should have used him to negotiate
the treaty. But they didn't. The Spartans looked
at this wild, purple robe -wearing party boy
and thought, no thanks. They ignored him. They
went with Nicias, the steady hand. To Alcibiades,
this was a massive snub. So his ego is bruised
and he decides, if I can't be the peacemaker,
I'll be the guy who blows up the peace. Essentially.
And he does it with one of the most devious political
tricks I've... ever read about. It's known as
the affair of the Spartan ambassadors. Oh, this
is good. Walk us through this step by step because
it really shows his cunning. So tension is rising
again. Sparta sends ambassadors to Athens with
full powers to negotiate. That's a technical
diplomatic term. It means they can sign a deal
right then and there without checking back with
their government. OK, so they're serious. This
is a real chance for diplomacy. Very serious.
They arrive and they tell the Athenian council
privately. Yes, we have full powers. We're here
to make a deal. Sounds promising. If they have
full powers, peace can be maintained. Exactly.
Alcibiades sees this and panics. If they make
a deal, Nicaeus looks good, peace holds, and
Alcibiades remains on the sidelines. So that
night, he meets with the Spartans. He plays the
friend. He plays the friend. He invokes that
old family Xenia. He says, listen, I know the
Athenian assembly better than you do. They are
haughty and ambitious. If you tell them you have
full powers, they will bully you. They will wring
every concession out of you. You'll lose everything.
So he's giving them friendly advice. I'm looking
out for you guys. Exactly. He tells them, trust
me, when you go before the assembly tomorrow,
tell them you don't have full powers. Tell them
you're just here to talk. I will back you up
and I'll use my unmatched eloquence to get you
what you want. But we have to lower their expectations
first. And they believe him. They trust him completely.
He's charming. He has the Spartan family connection.
He seems sincere. So the next day, they stand
up in front of the thousands of Athenians in
the assembly. Nicias is there, expecting a smooth
meeting. And Alcibiades asks the question. Alcibiades
stands up and asks them, point blank, in front
of everyone, do you have full powers to negotiate?
And they say, just as he told them to, no. We
do not. And then he pounces. He goes absolutely
nuclear. He starts screaming, acting shocked
and betrayed. He calls them liars. He says, yesterday
you told the council you had powers. Today you
say you don't. You are dishonest. Sparta cannot
be trusted. How can we make peace with people
whose word is worthless? Oh, man. He just completely
destroys their credibility. In an instant. Yeah.
Theseus. He's humiliated. He looks like a fool
because he vouched for them. The peace talks
collapse. The Spartans are proud. practically
chased out of the city, and Alcibiades is suddenly
the leading voice in Athens, the war hawk. That
is, it's sociopathic, but it's brilliant. He
manufactured a crisis just to get a promotion.
And it worked. He was appointed general. And
he immediately started building an alliance against
Sparta and the Peloponnese. But the real turning
point, the moment that changes the course of
the war in history, is the Sicilian expedition
in 415 BC. This is the big one, Sicily. To the
modern listener, this might just sound like another
island, but back then, Syracuse, the main city
in Sicily, was huge. It was a powerhouse, almost
as big as Athens. Wealthy, strong military, a
major player. And Athens gets this idea to intervene.
There was a minor conflict between two Sicilian
cities, Segesta and Salinas. Segesta asked Athens
for help. A classic case of mission creep waiting
to happen. Now, Nicias, the cautious guy, the
guy who just wants everyone to calm down, he
says, don't do it. Right. The debate in the assembly
is legendary. Nicias gives a speech saying this
is costly. It's dangerous. We are barely holding
on to our own empire. Why go looking for trouble
halfway across the Mediterranean? It's a very
reasonable argument. Completely. He attacks Alcibiades
personally, saying he's just doing this for his
own glory and to pay off his massive debts from
horse racing. Which, to be fair, he probably
was. Oh, absolutely. But then Alcibiades gets
up and gives this fiery speech. He compares it
to the Persian Wars. He says, we have to expand
or we die. If we don't rule others, we risk being
ruled ourselves. He promises riches. He talks
about conquering not just Sicily, but Italy and
maybe even Carthage. He's selling them a dream
of empire. He paints this picture of absolute
unlimited power. He tells them that their navy
is invincible, that the Sicilians are a mixed
bunch with no real loyalty. He makes it sound
easy. And the crowd goes wild. They are drunk
on his confidence. They are. But then Nicias
tries one last trick. He thinks, OK, if I can't
persuade them not to go, I'll scare them with
the cost. Ah, the sticker shock strategy. Right.
So he tells the assembly, fine, if we go, we
need a massive force, not just a few ships. We
need 100 triremes. We need 5 ,000 hoplites. We
need archers, slingers, huge supplies. He's basically
naming numbers so huge he thinks they'll balk.
But this is Athens. They don't do sticker shock.
Laughs. No. It just completely backfired. They
loved it. They thought, with a force that big,
it's guaranteed to succeed. So they voted for
everything Nicias asked for. Oh, no. In a twist
of cruel irony, they appointed Nicias to lead
the expedition, along with Alcibiades. The guy
who hates the plan and the guy who loves the
plan stuck in a boat together? What could possibly
go wrong? Everything. But before they even set
sail, something happens in Athens, that is. Yeah.
Well, it's weird. It's terrifying. The scandal
of the Hermae. This is like a true crime mystery.
Explain what the Hermae are, because this context
is crucial. So a Herma... is a statue of the
god Hermes. They were these square stone pillars
with a head of Hermes on top and an erect phallus
on the front. They were everywhere in Athens.
Outside houses, temples, crossroads. They were
symbols of luck and protection. They were part
of the spiritual security system of the city.
And one morning, Athens wakes up. And almost
all of them have been mutilated. Their faces
smashed. The phallus is knocked off. It was a
mass act of vandalism. But to the Athenians,
this wasn't just vandalism. It was adesabia,
impiety. It was a terrifying bad omen right before
the biggest fleet in history was about to launch.
It felt like a conspiracy. It felt like a conspiracy
to destroy the democracy from within. The city
goes into a panic. And fingers start pointing
at Alcibiades. His enemies seize the moment.
They knew he had a reputation for wild parties,
for drinking, for mocking tradition. They accused
him of being behind the mutilation. And they
added a second charge. that he had been profaning
the Eleusinian mysteries, basically mocking the
most sacred religious rites in Greece by performing
them in a private home with his drunk friends.
Which may or may not have been true, but it was
believable. It fit his profile perfectly. Now,
Alcibiades sees the danger. He says, fine, put
me on trial right now. Which was a smart move.
Very smart. He knew he had the army's support
right then. The soldiers loved him. He wanted
to clear his name before he left. But his enemies
were cleverer. Would they do? They said, no,
no, you sail for Sicily now. We don't want to
delay the mission. We'll handle the trial when
you get back. That is a trap, if I ever heard
one. It was a death trap. They wanted him away
from his support base. They knew that once he
was gone, they could whip up public hysteria
and convict him easily. So the fleet sails. And
it must have been a magnificent sight. 140 galleys,
thousands of men, the hopes of the entire city.
But the whole time, this cloud is hanging over
him. The very dark cloud. And the moment they
arrive in Sicily, a state ship, the Salaminia,
arrives from Athens. The arrest ship. To bring
him back for trial. To recall him. The mood in
Athens had turned paranoid. They were seeing
conspiracies everywhere. Witnesses were coming
out of the woodwork. Some of them probably paid.
Alcibiades knew if he went back, he was the dead
man. So he gets on the ship to go back. He pretends
to. He says, I'll follow you in my own ship.
But when the ships stop at Thuri in Italy, he
slips away. He disappears into the Italian countryside.
And there's that famous quote when someone asks
him, Alcibiades, do you not trust your country?
Yes. He says, in everything else, yes. But when
it comes to my life. I wouldn't trust even my
mother lest she might by mistake cast the black
ballot instead of the white. The black ballot
being the vote for guilty. The vote for the death
penalty. And he was right. Athens convicted him
in absentia, condemned him to death and confiscated
all his property. There was a public curse put
on him by the priests. So he's on the run. He's
public enemy number one in Athens. He's an outlaw.
Where does he go? This is the audacity part of
our title. He goes to the one place that should
have killed him on site. Sparta. He walks right
into the lion's den. He contacts the Spartans
and says, I can help you. I can do you more good
as a friend than I did harm as an enemy. He promises
to reveal all of Athens' secrets. And amazingly,
they let him in. This is the first great betrayal.
He doesn't just hide in Sparta. He actively helps
them win the war. He destroys Athens' war effort
from the inside out. He gives the Spartans two
pieces of advice that are absolutely fatal to
his home city. First, regarding Sicily. Right,
the expedition he starts. The Spartans were hesitant
to get involved. Alcibiades gives a speech where
he terrifies them. He exaggerates Athens' ambition,
saying they plan to conquer Italy, Carthage,
the whole world, and then come for Sparta. He
convinces Sparta to send one general, a man named
Berlipas, to take command of the defense of Syracuse.
And that one Spartan general makes the difference.
It changes everything. Xolopis is a professional.
He rallies the Syracusans, disciplines them,
builds counter walls. The Athenian expedition,
which was already struggling under Naces' indecisive
command, turns into a catastrophe. The whole
thing just collapses. Utterly. The fleet is trapped
in the harbor. Thousands of Athenians are slaughtered
in the river as they try to flee. The survivors
are thrown into stone quarries to die of exposure
and starvation. It's the greatest military disaster
in Athenian history. And it's partly because
of Alcibiades' advice. Wow. And what was the
second piece of advice? That was even worse,
wasn't it? Desilia. This is pure strategic genius.
He told the Spartans to take a fortified position
at a place called Desilia, which is in Attica,
just within sight of Athens. I remember you mentioning
that before this, Spartans would just raid and
leave. Right. They'd invade for a few weeks in
the summer, burn some crops, and go home. Athens
could just hide behind its walls and wait them
out. But by fortifying Desilia, the Spartans
could stay there year -round. What did that do
to Athens? It strangled them. It was a permanent
knife at their throat. They were cut off from
their farmlands permanently. They lost access
to their silver mines at Laurium, which was their
bank account. 20 ,000 slaves escaped from the
mines to the Spartan fort. 20 ,000. Athens had
to live entirely inside the long walls, relying
on imported food from the sea. It turned Athens
into a fortress under permanent siege. It was
a strategic masterstroke, and it came from one
of their own. So he is living the high life in
Sparta. He's adopted their customs, right? I
read he grew his hair long, took cold baths,
ate the famously gross black broth. He was a
chameleon. Plutarch marvels at this. He says
that Alcibiades could out -drink the Thracians,
out -ride the Persians, and out -starve the Spartans.
In Athens, he was witty and luxurious. In Sparta,
he was austere and disciplined. He couldn't change
his nature completely. The womanizing. The hubris.
The absolute unrestrained arrogance. King Aegis
II of Sparta was away leading the army at Dessalia,
ironically, on Alcibiades' advice. While the
king was away, Alcibiades allegedly seduced the
queen, Timaea. You have to laugh. The man has
a death wish. Why? Just because he could. It
seems so. It's the ultimate power move. There
were rumors that the queen's son, Leotachius,
was actually Alcibiades' child. Plutarch says
Alcibiades wasn't even ashamed of it. He boasted
about it. He claimed he did it because he wanted
his descendants to rule Sparta. Oh, come on.
The arrogance of that is just off the charts.
It's unbelievable. Naturally, King Aegis finds
out, or at least hears the rumors, and he is
not pleased. The political tide turns. He has
worn out his welcome. An order is sent to a Spartan
admiral. Kill Alcibiades. But Alcibiades being
Alcibiades has his ear to the ground. He always
does. He finds out about the assassination order
and runs again. Defection number two. From Athens
to Sparta and now, where does he go? He flees
to the Persian Empire. Specifically to Tisiphanes,
the Persian satrap, the governor in Asia Minor.
This is a whole new world. Persia is the traditional
enemy of all Greeks. And here is Alcibiades charming
his way into the court of their local commander.
And once again, he elapsed. He trades the rough
Spartan cloak for Persian silk. He starts living
like a grandee, luxury, splendor, feasts. And
he becomes Tisiphone's chief advisor on Greek
affairs. And what's his advice this time? His
advice here is pure Machiavellian brilliance.
He tells the Persians, don't help the Spartans
too much. Wait, Persia was supporting Sparta
against Athens, right? With money. Yes, they
were paying for the Spartan fleet. It was Persian
gold that was allowing Sparta to challenge Athens
at sea. But Alcibiades says, let them wear each
other out. If Sparta wins too quickly, they'll
just become the new threat to Persia. Keep them
balanced. Reduce the payments. Delay the ships.
Let the Greeks destroy each other. And then Persia
can pick up the pieces. That is cold. He's playing
both sides against the middle. It's pure real
politic. But for Alcibiades, it was just a lever.
He didn't care about Persia. He wanted to get
back to Athens. Back to Athens. After the Hermae.
After Decelea. After destroying their army in
Sicily. How could he possibly think they would
take him back? Because he had something they
needed. Persian money. Or at least the promise
of it. Athens was on its last legs. They were
broke. They were desperate. Alcibiades saw an
opportunity. This leads us to the coup of 411
B .C. This is a complicated bit of history, so
let's break it down. Right. So the main Athenian
fleet is stationed at the island of Samos. They
are the last real power Athens has left. Alcibiades
sends messages to the commanders there, the generals.
He says, I can get Tisaphernes to switch sides.
I can bring the Persian fleet and all its gold
to help Athens. But Tisaphernes doesn't trust
democracy. He won't deal with a mob. So he's
blackmailing them. Change your government or
lose the war. Exactly. He demands Athens become
an oligarchy. The commanders at Samos, who are
mostly aristocrats themselves, are intrigued.
They sent envoys to Athens to push this plan.
And incredibly, the Athenian people, who are
desperate and beaten down, vote to dissolve the
democracy and install a council called the 400.
They voted away their own freedom. They voted
away their own freedom just to get Alcibiades
and his Persian gold. It shows you how dire the
situation was. Yes. But here's the catch. Alcibiades
was bluffing. He was completely bluffing. Tisaphernes
wasn't going to switch sides. He liked Alcibiades'
advice to stay neutral. So when the Athenian
andoys came to Tisaphernes to finalize the deal,
Alcibiades had to put on a show. To cover his
tracks. Right. He made crazy demands on behalf
of Persia demanding islands, demanding the right
to sail wherever they wanted in the Aegean. He
made the demands so impossibly high that the
Athenians had to walk away in disgust. So he
made it look like they failed, not him. Precisely.
Oh, you can't meet these terms. What a shame.
But meanwhile, the coup had happened in Athens.
The 400 were in charge. But the sailors and soldiers
at Samos, the rank and file, they were Democrats
to the core. They hated the oligarchy. So you
have a split. Oligarchs in the city, Democrats
in the fleet. And the fleet at Samos is furious.
They declare themselves the true government of
Athens. They're ready to sail back to Athens
and attack the city. A civil war is about to
start. Which would be the end. Sparta would just
walk in. It would be the end of Athens. And this
is where Alcibiades does perhaps the one truly
noble thing in his career, or at least the most
strategically sound thing for Athens. The fleet
elects him general. Right. They embrace him.
They do. They still think he has the Persian
connection. They recall him from exile and elect
him general. And the soldiers scream, lead us
to Athens. Let's kill the tyrants. A lesser man
would have done it for the power. A lesser man
absolutely would have. But Alcibiades stands
up and stops them. He gives a speech. He calms
them down. He forbids them from sailing to Athens.
He says, our enemy is Sparta, not our brothers.
Thucydides says that at this moment, Alcibiades
saved Athens. No one else could have controlled
that angry mob. So he is now the general of the
democracy in exile, essentially. Yes. And eventually,
the 400 in Athens collapse under their own incompetence,
more moderate government takes over, and they
officially recall Alcibiades. He is no longer
an outlaw. But he hasn't gone home yet. No. He's
too smart for that. He knows he can't just go
back with promises. He needs to bring home a
win, a big one. And this kicks off his redemption
tour. And what a tour it is. We move to the Hellespont,
the modern Dardanelles. The vital trade route
for grain coming from the Black Sea. This is
the jugular vein of Athens. If Sparta cuts off
the grain, Athens starves. The fleets are clashing
there. Let's talk about the Battle of Abydos.
This is like a scene out of a movie. The Athenian
Spartan fleets are fighting. It's a grinding
battle lasting all day. Neither side can break
the other. Then, in the evening, they see 18
ships sailing into the straits. And both sides
are thinking, is that help for me? Exactly. But
then they see the red flag raised on the flagship.
It's Alcibiades. He charges in, smashes into
the Spartan ships, drives them ashore. He turns
a stalemate into a decisive victory. But the
big one is Sisychus in 410 BC. Sisychus is a
masterpiece. This is his tactical genius on full
display. Break down the tactics for us. The main
Spartan fleet under their commander Mendarus
is at Sisychus. Alphabides uses the weather storm
and rain to hide his fleet's approach. Then he
takes a small decoy force of about 40 ships and
sails right in front of the harbor. He makes
himself look weak and isolated. He's baiting
them. And Mendoza takes the bait, hook, line,
and sinker. He sees a small force, thinks easy
pickings, and sails out with his whole fleet
to chase them. He gets far enough out to sea,
and then the trap springs. The rest of the Athenian
fleet appears. Two other Athenian commanders.
The Recibulus and Theramenes pop out from behind
the cover to cut off the Spartans' retreat to
the harbor. They're surrounded. Completely surrounded.
It's a slaughter. Mendarus is killed fighting
on the beach. The entire Spartan fleet is captured
or destroyed. And the message the Spartans sent
back home was intercepted by the Athenians. It's
one of the most famous dispatches in history.
Short and brutal. What did it say? Ships lost.
Mendar is dead. Men starving. Know not what to
do. Know not what to do. That is total defeat.
That's a cry for help. It's the sound of an entire
war strategy collapsing. Alcibiades has basically
won the naval war. He then goes on to take Salimbria
and Byzantium -Modern Istanbul, and he does it
mostly through negotiation and trickery, saving
lives and money. He is unstoppable. So now finally,
in 407 BC, three years later, he feels safe to
go home. He sails into Piraeus, the harbor of
Athens. But he's nervous. Xenophon describes
the scene. He doesn't dock immediately. He stands
on the deck of his ship looking for friends in
the crowd. He's afraid a mob might still stone
him. After all those victories. He knows how
fickle his city is. He waits until he sees his
cousin and other allies who can protect him.
But that's not what happens. The mob isn't angry.
No. It's a hero's welcome. People are crowding
the docks, weeping, throwing garlands. They call
him the only man capable of saving the city.
They blame his enemies for his exile. They say,
if only we had listened to him, we wouldn't have
lost in Sicily. It's mass amnesia. All is forgiven.
Instantly. All the charges are dropped. His property
is restored. The priests have to publicly revoke
the curses they put on him. He pulls a great
PR move with the religion thing. The Eleusinian
Mysteries again. Oh. Remember, he was accused
of mocking them. Well, for years, the sacred
procession to Eleusis had to go by sea because
the Spartans at Dessalia controlled the road.
The Dessalia he told them to build. The irony
never ends. But Alcibiades takes the army, surrounds
the priests and the initiates, and marches them
to Eleusis by land, right under the Spartans'
noses. He dares the Spartans to attack. They
don't. He proves his piety and his military power
in one brilliant stroke. He has reconciled with
the guys and shown he has mastered the land again.
He is named Strategos Autocrater, Supreme Commander.
He has absolute power. He is at the peak of his
career. But in Athens, the higher you fly, the
harder you fall. And the fall happens incredibly
fast. It's the Battle of Notium, 406 BC. And
here's the tragedy. Alcibiades wasn't even there.
What happened? He had to leave the main fleet
to go raise money and deal with a siege elsewhere.
He left his personal pilot, his helmsman, a man
named Antiochus, in charge of the fleet in Oceum.
He gave him one specific order. Do not attack
the Spartans. Why? Because the new Spartan admiral
was Lysander. And Lysander was dangerous. He
was smart, cunning, deeply funded by the Persian
prince Cyrus the Younger, and he had a strong,
refitted fleet. Alcibiades knew not to mess with
him until the time was right. But Antiochus...
Antiochus was his friend, a drinking buddy, and
he wanted to be a hero. He tried to mimic Alcibiades'
decoy tactics against Lysander. He sailed a couple
of ships past the Spartan fleet to taunt them.
But Lysander wasn't Mendarus. Not even close.
Lysander didn't take the bait. He launched his
whole fleet, caught the Athenians disorganized
and unprepared, and sank about 15 of their ships.
It wasn't a huge defeat strategically, was it?
No, not in terms of numbers. It was a minor skirmish.
But politically, it was a disaster. Alcibiades'
enemies in Athens screamed, look, he's negligent,
he's arrogant, he's leaving command to his drinking
buddies. And the people listened. The people
turned on him instantly. The hero of yesterday
was the bum of today. They stripped him of command.
Just like that, after saving the city. Athenian
democracy was a brutal beast. If you didn't deliver
a win every single day, you were out. Alcibiades
realized the game was up. He didn't wait for
a trial. He got on a boat and sailed to his private
castles in the Thracian Chersonese. He had private
castles. He was Alcibiades. Of course he had
backup castles. He went into voluntary exile.
He never saw Athens again. But he makes one last
appearance in the war, doesn't he? A cameo before
the end. This is the most painful part of the
story. It's 405 BC. The war is almost over. The
entire remaining Athenian fleet is parked at
a place called Aegospotami. Which is... A terrible
location. It's a disaster. It's not a harbor.
It's just an open beach. The men have to scatter
for miles to find food and water. And the Spartan
fleet, under Lysander, is right across the water
in a proper harbor. And Alcibiades is watching
this from his castle nearby. Yes. He can see
the danger. He rides down to the beach on horseback.
He finds the Athenian generals. He tells them,
you are in a death trap. Move the fleet five
miles down the coast to Sestos. You need a harbor.
You are vulnerable here. Does he offer to help?
Some sources say he offered to bring Thracian
soldiers to help them fight on land. But the
generals, they were arrogant. They were his political
rivals. They basically told him, we are in command
now, not you. Go away. Go back. So he rode away.
A few days later, Lysander watched the Athenians
scatter to find food, then launched a surprise
attack and annihilated the entire fleet. 160
ships captured, 3 ,000 men executed on the spot.
The war was effectively over. Athens surrendered
shortly after. Alcibiades was the only one who
saw it coming, and they ignored him out of pride.
And now, with Athens defeated, Alcibiades is
a hunted man. Sparta rules Greece. And Lysander,
the Spartan victor, wants him dead for good.
We're in the final act now. The death of a chameleon.
He flees to Phrygia, in Persia, seeking refuge
with another satrap, Pharnabosus. He's always
got another plan. He thinks he can get to the
Persian king Artaxerxes and start over one more
time. But the Spartans aren't taking any chances.
No. Lysander sends a message to Pharnabosus.
Get rid of him. It's me or him. And Pharnabosus,
wanting to stay on Sparta's good side, agrees.
The scene of his death is cinematic. It's 404
B .C. He's with his mistress, a woman named Tamandra.
Assassins sent by the Setraps surround the house
at night and set it on fire. They won't go in.
They are too afraid of him. Even one man, alone,
armed with just a dagger. They were terrified
of fighting him hand to hand. So what does he
do? He grabs his dagger. He wraps his cloak around
his arm to use as a makeshift shield. And he
runs out of the burning building, straight at
them. Wow. And they panic. They fall back. They
don't dare face him. They just stand back and
unleash a shower of arrows and javelins. They
kill him from a distance. He falls. And that
was the end of Alcibiades. It feels fitting.
A violent, dramatic end for a violent, dramatic
life. It was the only way he could have gone.
You couldn't fade away into old age. So let's
wrap this up. How do we assess this guy? Thucydides
has a famous take on him, right? Thucydides puts
his finger on the central tragedy. He says that
publicly, Alcibiades' conduct of the war was
brilliant even. But his private life, his arrogance,
his lawlessness, it offended everyone so much
that they couldn't trust him. They entrusted
the war to others, which ruined the city. Exactly.
They hated the center more than they loved the
savior. His personal failings were so great they
overshadowed his public genius. And in the end,
it destroyed both him and the city he could have
saved. I mean, he's a Rorschach test, isn't he?
Some see him as a traitor and an opportunist.
People like the historian Meigs, yeah. Yeah.
They just see a selfish monster. But others see
him as a brilliant scapegoat, a patriot who was
brought down by lesser men. Diodorus, even Demosthenes
later on, sort of rehabilitated his image. Some
modern psychologists have looked at his profile
and seen a classic psychopath. It really depends
on what you choose to focus on. So a final provocative
thought for our listeners. Alcibiades was very
likely the only man who could have won the war
for Athens, yet he was also the man who did the
most to help them lose it. That's the paradox.
So here's the question. If a democracy produces
a genius who refuses to follow its rules, does
the democracy have to destroy him to save its
own soul, even if it means losing the war? That
is the question, and it's one we're still asking
today. Thanks for taking this deep dive with
us.