Clearchus, the son of Rhamphias, was a Spartan general and mercenary. Sparta (Grk. ... A mercenary is a soldier who fights, or engages in warfare primarily for private gain, usually with little regard for ideological, national or political considerations. ...

Born about the middle of the 5th century BC, Clearchus was sent with a fleet to the Hellespont in 411 and became governor of Byzantium, of which town he was proxenus. His severity, however, made him unpopular, and in his absence the gates were opened to the Athenian besieging army under Alcibiades (409). (6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) The 5th and 6th centuries BC are a period of philosophical brilliance among advanced civilizations. ... Hellespont (i. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC - 410s BC - 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 416 BC 415 BC 414 BC 413 BC 412 BC - 411 BC - 410 BC 409 BC 408... Byzantium was the original name of the modern city of Istanbul. ... The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... Alcibiades Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (ancient Greek: ΑΛΚΙΒΙΑΔΗΣ ΚΛΕΙΝΙΟΥ ΣΚΑΜΒΩΝΙΔΗΣ)¹ (c. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC Years: 414 BC 413 BC 412 BC 411 BC 410 BC - 409 BC - 408 BC 407 BC...

Subsequently appointed by the ephors to settle the political dissensions then rife at Byzantium and to protect the city and the neighbouring Greek colonies from Thracian attacks, he made himself tyrant of Byzantium, and, when declared an outlaw and driven thence by a Spartan force, he fled to Cyrus. An ephor was an official of ancient Sparta. ... Colonies in antiquity were city-states founded from a mother-city, not from a territory-at-large. ... A tyrant (from Greek τυραννος tyrannos) is a usurper of rightful power, possessing absolute power and ruling by tyranny. ... Cyrus the Younger, son of Darius II and Parysatis, was a Persian prince and general. ...

In the "expedition of the ten thousand" undertaken by Cyrus to dethrone his brother Artaxerxes Mnemon, Clearchus led the Peloponnesian delegation of the Army of the Ten Thousand, who formed the right wing of Cyrus’s army at the battle of Cunaxa (401). On Cyrus’s death Clearchus assumed the chief command and conducted the retreat, until, being treacherously seized with his fellow-generals by Tissaphernes, he was handed over to Artaxerxes and executed . Anabasis is the most famous work of the Greek writer Xenophon. ... Artaxerxes II (c. ... Peloponnesos (Greek: Πελοπόννησος, sometime Latinized as Peloponnesus or Anglicized as The Peloponnese) is a large peninsula in Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Isthmus of Corinth. ... The Ten Thousand were a group of mercenary units, mainly Greek, drawn up by Cyrus the Younger to attempt to wrest the throne of the Persian Empire from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Their march to the Battle of Cunaxa and back to Greece (401 BC-399 BC) was recorded by... The Battle of Cunaxa was fought in 401 BC between Cyrus the Younger and his elder brother Arsaces, who had seized the Persian throne as Artaxerxes II in 404 BC. Cyrus gathered an army of Greek mercenaries under the Spartan general Clearchus, and met Artaxerxes at Cunaxa on the left... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC Years: 406 BC 405 BC 404 BC 403 BC 402 BC - 401 BC - 400 BC 399 BC... Tissaphernes (Pers. ...

In character he was a typical product of the Spartan educational system, He was a warrior to the finger-tips, and his tireless energy, unfaltering courage and strategic ability made him an officer of no mean order. But he seems to have had no redeeming touch of refinement or humanity.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...