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  ~ 413  BC D ESTRUCTION   OF   THE  A THENIAN   ARMY   AT  S YRACUSE Gylippus was a Spartan general of the 5th century  B . C . He was the son of Cleandridas, who had been expelled from Sparta for accepting Athenian bribes (446  B . C .) and had settled at Thurii. His mother was probably a helot, for Gylippus is said to have been, like Lysander and Callicratidas, a mothax (see Helot). When Alcibiades urged the Spartans to send a general to lead the Syracusan resistance against the Athenian expedition, Gylippus was appointed, and his arrival was undoubtedly the turning point of the struggle(414-413). Though at first his long hair, his threadbare cloak and his staff furnished the subject of many a jest, and his harsh and overbearing manner caused grave discontent, yet the rapidity and decisiveness of his movements, won the sympathy and respect of the Syracusans. Diodorus probably following Timaeus, represents him as inducing the Syra...

  Misplaced Aggression: The Athenian Defeat at Syracuse Seeking an advantage over its longtime Spartan reals, Athens launched an invasion of Sicily, only to have it falter outside the walls of Syracuse. This article appears in:  October 2007 By Barry Porter By the spring of 415 bc, a peace treaty between the warring city-states of Athens and Sparta had held firm for six years. The savage and unrelenting Peloponnesian War had come to the point where both sides realized that neither was in a position to vanquish the other. Peace seemed the logical choice—at least until the rivals could replenish their armed forces and come up with a new battle plan. That spring, Athens took a decisive step in that direction. The Athenian Invasion of Syracuse The year before, two cities on the island of Sicily had sent ambassadors to Athens to ask for help with their troublesome neighbor, Syracuse. Athens had intervened in the past to block Syracuse’s various expansions, but these attempts had be...

  World Tales   In 364 BC, Lais of Corinth was the most famous prostitute in the ancient world. She was so beautiful that paintings, comedies and even philosophical works were dedicated to her Despite her high fees, all the most popular people wanted to be her lovers. Among them, we must mention Diogenes the Cynic, who you may remember from the distant pill n.54. An anecdote tells that among this multitude of lovers, Lais fell in love with the athlete Eubotas of Cyrene (a rich Libyan city). Eubotas was in Greece to participate in the Olympics and therefore promised Lais that he would take her with him to Cyrene in case of victory. The Olympics were a great success for Eubotas, who achieved two victories. The athlete then "kept" his promise: he had a portrait of Lais made which he took with him to Cyrene. The prostitute (or rather the hetaera, for the more refined palates) became so desperate that she became an alcoholic, sinking her despair into wine until the last of her day...