LAMACHUS

'Lamachus' (Greek: ''Λάμαχος'') was an Athenian general in the Peloponnesian War. He commanded as early as 435 BC, and was prominent by the mid 420s.^[1] Aristophanes caricatured him in ''The Acharnians''.^[2] He was one of the three generals (alongside Nicias and Alcibiades) placed in command of the Sicilian Expedition; he proposed an aggressive strategy against Syracuse, which was rejected in favor of the more cautious strategy of Nicias. Donald Kagan has suggested that Lamachus's strategy might well have brought Athens a quick victory instead of the disaster that ensued.^[3] Lamachus died fighting in Sicily, after he and a handful of his men were trapped on the wrong side of a ditch and overwhelmed.

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References

Footnotes

References

★ Aristophanes, ''The Acharnians. From the Perseus Project

★ Kagan, Donald. ''The Peloponnesian War'' (Penguin Books, 2003). ISBN 0-670-03211-5

★ Fine, John V.A. ''The Ancient Greeks: A critical history'' (Harvard University Press, 1983) ISBN 0-674-03314-0

★ Hornblower, Simon, and Anthony Spawforth ed., ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (Oxford University Press, 2003) ISBN 0-19-866172-X

Footnotes

1. Henry Dickinson Westlake and Simon Hornblower, "Lamachus," from ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth ed.
2. Aristophanes, ''The Acharnians''
3. Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian War''