Thrasybulus: The Ancient Greek General Who Restored Athens’ Democracy

Thrasybulus (c. 440–388 BCE) was an important ancient Greek general and politician, particularly known for his role in the restoration of democracy in Athens after the fall of the Athenian Empire in 404 BCE.

Early life and military beginnings

Little is known about the origins and childhood of the Athenian general Thrasybulus. His father’s name was Lykos, and he came from the municipality of Steiria (today’s Porto Rafti). Thrasybulus likely came from a noble family.

He was not initially among the most prominent figures of his time. Nonetheless, his military skills and leadership abilities eventually earned him a significant place in Athenian history. Plutarch mentions that he had “the loudest voice of all the Athenians.” As a politician, he advocated for Athenian imperialism and expansionism and was a strong supporter of Pericles’ democracy.

In 413 BCE a massive Athenian expeditionary force was annihilated in Sicily. The day after this defeat, Athens found itself facing a crisis of new severity. Various cities belonging to the Athenian Hegemony in the Aegean began to revolt. The Peloponnesian fleet started rushing to their aid. In an effort to limit the damage, Athens invested its spare money in rebuilding its fleet. It sent what was left to Samos to establish a naval base there.

The oligarchic plot and the recall of Alcibiades

In this atmosphere of general crisis, Athenian aristocrats who had long desired to overthrow the democracy began to openly show their intention of changing the government and transforming the polity into an oligarchy. Their plans included recalling Alcibiades, whom the democratic government had exiled. These oligarchs began to carry out their plan from the island of Samos. They encouraged a group of oligarchic residents to take similar action.

One of Thrasybulus’s first moves as a general was to bring up the issue of recalling Alcibiades. After convincing his sailors of the expediency of his plan, he sailed to find Alcibiades. He then returned with him to Samos. The aim of this policy was to win the favor of the Persians.

They allied with the Spartans, believing that Alcibiades greatly influenced Tissaphernes, a Persian satrap. Thrasybulus and others elected Alcibiades as general. Shortly afterwards, a revolution in Euboea led to the overthrow of Athens’ oligarchic government of the 400, replacing it first with a broader oligarchy and eventually restoring democracy.

Battle of Cyzicus and resistance against the Thirty Tyrants

A ship left for Athens to inform the citizens of this success against the oligarchs. However, once there, the crew was arrested. The news of the democratic victory was not welcomed by the new oligarchic government. Upon learning of this, the army of Samos deposed its generals and elected new ones.

These included Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus, whom they considered more decisive in defending democracy. The soldiers, claiming that they had not rebelled against the city but that the city had rebelled against them, decided to defend democracy while continuing the war against Sparta.

Thrasybulus again commanded a portion of the Athenian fleet at the Battle of Cyzicus, a stunning Athenian victory. In this battle, the Athenians lured the Spartan fleet to pursue a small group of ships led by Alcibiades. When the Spartans were far from land, two other groups of ships, under the command of Thrasybulus and Theramenes, appeared in their rear to cut off their retreat.

The Spartans retreated to a nearby beach, where Alcibiades landed his men in an attempt to capture the enemy ships. However, with the help of Persian troops, the Spartans began to push the Athenian forces back to the sea.

Seeing this, Thrasybulus landed his own forces to relieve the pressure on Alcibiades. He ordered Theramenes to join forces with Athenian infantrymen in the area to help the sailors on the beach. The Spartans and Persians, overwhelmed by the arrival of forces from all directions, were defeated and driven off, while the Athenians captured all the Spartan ships that were not destroyed.

Rebuilding Athens and resistance against the tyrants

After the defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War, Thrasybulus led the democratic resistance against the new oligarchic government, known as the Thirty Tyrants, which the Spartans, the victors of the war, had imposed on Athens.They warmly welcomed him and he received support from the Theban leader Ismenias and his followers. They helped him prepare for his return to Athens.

In 403 BCE he led a group of 70 exiles and captured Phyli, a fortified area on the border of Attica and Boeotia. A storm prevented the forces of the Thirty from immediately removing him, allowing numerous exiles to join his cause. When the Spartan garrison of Athens, supported by Athenian cavalry, was sent against him, Thrasybulus led his men, now numbering 700, in a surprise raid at dawn on the enemy camp. They killed 120 Spartans and forced the rest to surrender.

According to Xenophon, days later Thrasybulus led his group—which was now large enough to leave 200 behind and take 1,000 with him—to Piraeus, the port of Athens. There, he fortified himself at Munichia, a hill from which he could oversee the entire port, and awaited the attack of the oligarchs. The forces of the Thirty, with Spartan support, advanced on Piraeus to confront him.

Thrasybulus and his men were numerically inferior (outnumbered 5 to 1), but they had established themselves in a better position and perhaps benefited from confusion among the oligarchic forces. During the battle the exiles routed their opponents, killing Critias, the informal but essential leader of the Thirty.

Thrasybulus’s leadership and the restoration of Athenian democracy

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With his force of exiles, Thrasybulus then invaded Attica. After a number of battles he defeated the Spartan guard and then the oligarchic forces. As the leader of the reborn democracy, he passed a law granting pardons to all but a few of the oligarchs. The purpose was to prevent a bloody revenge by the democrats. For his actions, Thrasybulus was crowned with an olive wreath by his countrymen.

Thrasybulus proposed the restoration of payment for those holding political office to the Athenians. He tried to grant Athenian citizenship to the settlers and foreigners who fought by his side against the Tyrants.

Initially, he was careful not to offend Sparta, but when Athens gained access to Persian aid at the beginning of the Corinthian War, he became an advocate of a more aggressive policy, apparently regaining a leading role in Athenian politics. He began the rebuilding of the Long Walls, which the Spartans had destroyed at the end of the Peloponnesian War, and led the Athenians to Nemea and Coroneia.

However, these two defeats damaged his political prestige, and Conon, whose victory at Cnidus shattered Sparta’s dreams of an overseas empire, eventually sidelined him.

Death and legacy

Thrasybulus died in 388 BCE, though the exact circumstances of his death are not entirely clear. Ancient sources suggest that he died at Helmecus, a town in the region of Thrace, during a military campaign against the Boeotians.

According to the historian Plutarch, Thrasybulus received a fatal wound during the battle. His death was attributed to an injury sustained during the fight. Some sources also mention he died in a skirmish, rather than a full-scale battle, though the details remain somewhat vague.