11. Incredibly, Athens Welcomed Alcibiades Back After He Had Betrayed Her So Disastrously
Alcibiades fled from Sparta to the Persians. He convinced them to opportunistically intervene in the Peloponnesian War in order to prolong it, and keep Athens and Sparta too busy fighting each other to challenge Persia’s interests. In the meantime, Athens fell into chaos that culminated in an oligarchic coup. However, Athens’ fleet, composed predominately of the lower classes, remained pro-democracy, and in the turmoil, Alcibiades managed to persuade the fleet to take him back.
Between 411 – 408 BC, Alcibiades led the Athenian navy to a series of stunning victories that turned the war around, and suddenly it was Sparta that was reeling and on the verge of collapse. He returned to a hero’s welcome in Athens, his earlier treasons forgiven and temporarily forgotten. However, the Athenians turned on Alcibiades a few months later, after a minor naval defeat during his absence from the fleet. He fled again, and having burned bridges with all sides, took refuge in Phrygia. There, a Spartan delegation persuaded Phrygia’s Persian governor to murder Alcibiades in 404 BC.