Clearchus of Sparta

Who is Clearchus of Sparta?

Clearchus or Clearch, the son of Rhamphias, was a Spartan general and mercenary.

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.

Subsequently Clearchus returned to Sparta and appealed to the ephors, asking to be given a force to settle the political dissensions then rife at Byzantium and to protect the city and the neighbouring Greek colonies from Thracian attacks. He was granted that force, but when the ephors learned that the citizens of Byzantium considered him a tyrant, they recalled him through a messenger that reached Clearchus while he was still in the Isthmus of Corinth. Clearchus ignored the messenger and proceeded to Byzantium, and thus he was instantly declared an outlaw by the ephors. He fought the Thracian tribes successfully, in the process gaining the unofficial support of the Greek cities that where thus relieved.