Lacedaemonius

Lacedaemonius was the son of Cimon, a pro-Sparta general and Athenian political figure,{{Cite book|last=Thucydides|title=The Peloponnesian War|date=11 June 2009|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-282191-1|location=New York|pages=679|translator-last=Hammond|translator-first=Martin}} and Isodice who was the daughter of Euryptolemus I, a cousin of Pericles.{{Cite book |last=Nails |first=Debra |title=The People of Plato: A Prosopography of Plato and Other Socratics |publisher=Hackett Publishing |year=2002 |isbn=0872205649 |location=Indianapolis |pages=96, 339}}{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=William|title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Vol. I|publisher=Walton and Maberly|year=1861|isbn=|location=London|pages=751}} He was a grandson of the famous Miltiades IV. An account cited that he had a twin called Oulius. He was also the brother of Miltiades V.

Lacedaemonius came from Lacedaemon, another name for the city state of Sparta. His father so admired the Spartans that as a sign of goodwill he named his son after their city.  Lacedaemonius was also identified as the proxenos of the Spartans in Athens.{{Cite book|last=Rahe|first=Paul Anthony|title=Sparta's Second Attic War: The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta, 446-418 B.C.|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-0-300-24262-1|location=|pages=66}}

Accounts cited Lacedaemonius as one of the Athenian generals sent to aid Corcyra in its conflict with Corinth after an alliance agreement concluded in 433.{{Cite book|last=Rhodes|first=P. J.|title=Periclean Athens|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|year=2018|isbn=978-1-350-01495-4|location=London|pages=20}} This is part of the series of events that led to the Peloponnesian War. According to Plutarch, Lacedaemonius sailed with ten ships and was sent forth against his will.{{Cite book|last=Plutarch|title=Delphi Complete Works of Plutarch (Illustrated)|publisher=Delphi Classics|year=2013|isbn=978-1-909496-62-0|location=|pages=|language=en}} Lacedaemonius, who according to Thucydides was sent with 2 other generals: Diotimus (son of Strombichus), and Proteas (son of Epicles),History of the Peloponnesian War, 1.45 was ordered not to engage with the Corinthians unless they attacked Corcyra.{{Cite book|last=Thucydides|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E2obAgAAQBAJ&q=Lacedaemonius+athenian+general&pg=PT52|title=Delphi Complete Works of Thucydides (Illustrated)|publisher=Delphi Classics|year=2013|isbn=978-1-909496-76-7|location=|pages=|language=en}} The Athenian fleet joined the Corcyraeans when the Corinthians finally invaded under Xenocleides.

A view, which had been advanced by Plutarch, held that giving Lacedaemonius command with a meager fleet for his campaign was an insult to the sons of Cimon due their sympathy for Sparta.{{Cite book|last=Jacobs|first=Susan G.|title=Plutarch's Pragmatic Biographies: Lessons for Statesmen and Generals in the Parallel Lives|publisher=BRILL|year=2017|isbn=978-90-04-27660-4|location=Leiden|pages=149}} Modern historians see Lacedaemonius appointment as a political move on the part of Pericles, who wanted to destroy political opposition by cementing his ties with the Cimonians.{{Cite book|last=Kagan|first=Donald|title=The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-8014-9556-4|location=Ithaca, NY|pages=243}} There are also those who propose that Lacedaemonius appointment, his mission, and the size of his fleet was part of a strategy of "minimal deterrence" against Corinth.{{Cite book|last1=Thomsen|first1=Ole|title=Classica et Mediaevalia vol.45|last2=Friis-Jensen|first2=Karsten|last3=Isager|first3=Signe|last4=Skydsgaard|first4=Jens Erik|last5=Smith|first5=Ole L.|last6=Haastrup|first6=Birger Munk Olsen og Gudrun|publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press|year=1994|isbn=978-87-7289-327-3|location=Copenhagen|pages=54|language=en}}

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Category:Ancient Athenian generals

Category:5th-century BC Athenians

Category:Philaidae

Category:Athenians of the Peloponnesian War

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