Hermocrates (Ancient Greek: Έρμοκράτης) was a general of Syracuse during the Athenians' Sicilian Expedition. Note: This article contains special characters. ... Syracuse (Italian, Siracusa, ancient Syracusa - see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a city on the eastern coast of Sicily and the capital of the province of Syracuse, Italy. ... The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian expedition to Sicily from 415 BC to 413 BC, during the Peloponnesian War. ...

His first appearance was at the congress of Gela in 424 BC, where he held a speech demanding the Sicilian Greeks to accommodate their quarrel.^[1] In 415 BC he recommend a coalition of even non-Sicilian cities (even non-Greek, like Carthago) against Athens.^[2] He was elected as one of Syracuse's three strategoi,^[3] but was decruited after a short period of time because of unsuccessfulness. Later he was one of the most important advisors to Gylippus, and thus made somewhat of a contribution to the victory over Athens. In 412 BC he was send out as an admiral in the battle of Cyzicus, but lost his vessels and as a result was banned in absentia.^[4] He returned to Sicily not until 408 BC. He died in a street fight after a failed coup de main on Syracuse in 407 BC. Gela is a commune in the province of Caltanissetta, in the island of Sicily, Italy. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC - 420s BC - 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC Years: 429 BC 428 BC 427 BC 426 BC 425 BC - 424 BC - 423 BC 422 BC... 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 Years: 420 BC 419 BC 418 BC 417 BC 416 BC - 415 BC - 414 BC 413 BC... This article is about the ancient city-state of Carthage in North Africa. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína IPA: ) is the capital of Greece and one of the most famous cities in the world, named after goddess Athena. ... The term strategos (plural strategoi; Greek στρατηγός) is used in Greek to mean general. In the hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor. ... Gylippus was a Spartan general of the 5th century BC; he was the son of Cleandridas, who had been expelled from Sparta for accepting Athenian bribes in 446 BC and had settled at Thurii. ... 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 417 BC 416 BC 415 BC 414 BC 413 BC - 412 BC - 411 BC 410 BC 409... The Battle of Cyzicus in 410 BC was a small-scale naval battle during the Peloponnesian War between an Athenian fleet led by Alcibiades and a Peloponnesian fleet led by Sparta. ... 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: 413 BC 412 BC 411 BC 410 BC 409 BC - 408 BC - 407 BC 406 BC... 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: 412 BC 411 BC 410 BC 409 BC 408 BC - 407 BC - 406 BC 405 BC...

Besides Thucydides, Hermocrates is mentioned by Xenophon^[5], Plutarch^[6] and Polyaenus^[7]. Hermocrates is one of the persons appearing in Plato's late dialogs Timaeus and Critias. Plato originally might have planned a third dialog named Hermocrates, but never wrote it. "Since the dialogue that was to bear his name was never written, we can only guess why Plato chose him. It is curious to reflect that, while Critias is to recount how the prehistoric Athens of nine thousand years ago had repelled the invasion from Atlantis and saved the Mediterranean peoples from slavery, Hermocrates would be remembered by the Athenians as the man who had repulsed their own greatest effort at imperialist expansion."^[8] Xenophon, Greek historian Xenophon (In Greek , c. ... Plutarch Mestrius Plutarchus (c. ... Polyaenus (died 278 BC), born in Macedonia, was a Greek rhetorician who served as military commander in the Roman army. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... Timaeus is a theoretical treatise of Plato in the form of a Socratic dialogue, written circa 360 B.C. The work puts forward speculation on the nature of the physical world. ... Critias, a dialogue of Platos, speaks about a variety of subjects. ...

References

• Cornford, F. M. (1937). Plato's Cosmology. London: Lund Humphries.
• Marchant, E. C. (1933). "The Speech of Hermocrates". The Classical Review 47: 65-66.
• Westlake, H. D. (1958/59). "Hermocrates the Syracusan". Revue bénédictine 41: 237-68.

Francis Macdonald Cornford (1874-1943) was an English classical scholar and poet. ...

Footnotes