Teleutias () was the brother of the

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

n king

Agesilaus II Agesilaus II (; ; 445/4 – 360/59 BC) was king of Sparta from 400 to 360 BC. Generally considered the most important king in the history of Sparta, Agesilaus was the main actor during the period of Spartan hegemony that followed the Peloponn ...

, and a Spartan naval commander in the

Corinthian War The Corinthian War (395–387 BC) was a conflict in ancient Greece which pitted Sparta against a coalition of city-states comprising Thebes, Greece, Thebes, Classical Athens, Athens, Ancient Corinth, Corinth and Argos, Peloponnese, Argos, backe ...

. He first saw action in the campaign to regain control of the

Corinthian Gulf The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf (, ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isthmus of Corinth which includes the shipping-designed Corinth Canal and ...

after the Spartan naval disaster at

Cnidus Knidos or Cnidus (; , , , Knídos) was a Ancient Greece, Greek city in ancient Caria and part of the Dorian Hexapolis, in south-western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. It was situated on the Datça peninsula, which forms the southern side of the ...

in 394 BC, and was later active in the Spartan campaign against Argos in 391 BC. (It appears likely that Teleutias was navarch in 392/1 BC.) Later that year, he was dispatched to the Aegean to take command of a Spartan fleet harassing

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

. Once in command, he attacked and seized a small Athenian fleet sailing to aid

Evagoras I Evagoras or Euagoras () was the king of Salamis (411–374 BC) in Cyprus, known especially from the work of Isocrates, who presents him as a model ruler. History He claimed descent from Teucer, the son of Telamon and half-brother of Ajax, and ...

Salamis, Cyprus Salamis (; ; ) was an ancient Greek city-state on the east coast of Cyprus, at the mouth of the river Pedieos, 6 km north of modern Famagusta. According to tradition, the founder of Salamis was Teucer, son of Telamon, king of the Greek is ...

, then settled in to attack Rhodes with his newly augmented fleet. After being replaced in command of this fleet, Teleutias returned to Sparta to great acclaim, and was soon sent out again to take command of a fleet on the island of

Aegina Aegina (; ; ) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the mythological hero Aeacus, who was born on the island and became its king. ...

circa 389 BC. The Spartans had previously suffered several defeats in this theater, leaving the sailors greatly demoralized, and the Athenians had to some degree relaxed their vigilance in the area. Teleutias took advantage of this fact to launch a raid on

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

, the harbor of Athens, where he seized a number of merchant ships and fishing vessels. The raid resulted in a great deal of plunder for the Spartans, and the confidence the victory instilled in the sailors allowed Teleutias to operate more vigorously with his fleet.

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

, reporting a speech given by Teleutias to his men on Aegina, records the following piece of rhetoric:

George Cawkwell George Law Cawkwell (25 October 1919 – 18 February 2019) was a classical scholar who specialised in the ancient history of Greece in the 4th century BC. Life and career Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Cawkwell was educated at King's College, ...

has argued that this speech constitutes a direct attack on the policy of accommodation with Persia that would presently produce the

Peace of Antalcidas The King's Peace (387 BC) was a peace treaty guaranteed by the Persian King Artaxerxes II that ended the Corinthian War in ancient Greece. The treaty is also known as the Peace of Antalcidas, after Antalcidas, the Spartan diplomat who traveled to ...

, and on these grounds identifies Teleutias, along with Agesilaus, as part of a pan-Hellenist bloc at Sparta opposed to the accommodationist bloc represented by

Antalcidas Antalcidas (; died BC), son of Leon, was an ancient Greek soldier, politician, and diplomat from Sparta. __NOTOC__ Life Antalcidas came from a prominent family and was likely a relation by marriage to the Spartan king Agesilaus II. Antalc ...

. In 382 BC, Teleutias commanded an expeditionary force of 10,000 men on a campaign against the Chalkidian League headed by the city of

Olynthus Olynthus ( ''Olynthos'') is an ancient city in present-day Chalcidice, Greece. It was built mostly on two flat-topped hills 30–40m in height, in a fertile plain at the head of the Gulf of Torone, near the neck of the peninsula of Pallene, Cha ...

in northeastern Greece. Moving slowly through Greece, Teleutias augmented his force with contingents from allied states, At the head of the substantial army which he had thus acquired, he entered Olynthian territory and won an initial victory outside the walls of Olynthus. The next spring, however, while leading a pillaging expedition into Olynthian territory, Teleutias ran into difficulty when a group of his

peltast A ''peltast'' (, ) was a type of light infantry originating in Thracians, Thrace and Paeonia (kingdom), Paeonia and named after the kind of shield he carried.

s rashly crossed over a river and were attacked by Olynthian cavalry. Teleutias drove off the cavalry by bringing up his

hoplite Hoplites ( ) ( ) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The formation discouraged the sold ...

s and cavalry, but the Peloponnesians pursued too aggressively and came in under the walls of Olynthus, from where the enemy could fire down on them. A sudden attack by Olynthian infantry and cavalry routed Teleutias' force; he himself was killed, and his army suffered severe casualties.For the details of this battle, see Xenophon, ''Hellenica, 5.3.3-6

References

*Cawkwell, G.L. "Agesilaus and Sparta". ''Classical Quarterly'', 1976. Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 62–84 *Cawkwell, G.L. "The Imperialism of Thrasybulus". ''Classical Quarterly'', 1976. Vol 26, No. 2, pp. 270–277 *

Footnotes

{{reflist, 2 4th-century BC Spartans 380s BC deaths Ancient Spartan generals Ancient Chalcidice Year of birth unknown