Athens was obliged to send a squadron in search of him with the extraordinary message, that "the Athenians were surprised that, while Philip was marching against the Chersonese, they did not know where their general and his forces were." It is likely that he had been engaged in some private expedition seeking plunder. When the Macedonian king, Philip, was preparing to march against Cersobleptes, complaints arrived at Athens from the Chersonese that Chares had withdrawn and was nowhere to be found. In 346 BC he was in command of Athenian forces again, this time in Thrace. On his euthyne (the public scrutiny to which every public officer was submitted after having discharged his duties) he was impeached by Cephisodotus, who complained, that "he was endeavouring to give his account after having got the people tight by the throat". During his second campaign he achieved a small victory against king Philip's mercenaries, and celebrated it by a feast given to the Athenians with a portion of the money which had been sacrilegiously taken from Delphi, and some of which had found its way into his hands. His command was then passed to Charidemus, who in the ensuing year (348 BC) was replaced by Chares again. In the Olynthian War (349 BC), he was appointed general of the mercenaries sent from Athens to the aid of Olynthus but he seems to have achieved very little. He took the town, massacred the men, and sold the women and children for slaves. In 353 BC, Chares was sent against Sestus, which, along with Cardia, had been unwilling to submit to Athens notwithstanding the ceding of the Thracian Chersonese to Athens in 357 BC. The quick end to the war was supported by Eubulus and Isocrates, but opposed by Chares and his party. In this regard, it is probable that the threat from Artaxerxes III to support the confederates against Athens hastened the termination of the Social War. The Athenians at first approved of this action, but afterwards ordered him to drop his connection with Artabazus following complaints from the Persian king Artaxerxes III Ochus. īeing left in the sole command, and needing funds, which he was unwilling to seek from Athens, Chares and his men entered the service of Artabazus, the rebellious satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia. In the subsequent prosecution he was aided by Aristophon. Then, in order to protect himself, he accused his colleagues of not supporting him. In contrast to Diodorus, Cornelius Nepos considered that Chares did attack the enemy in spite of the weather, but was defeated. In the second campaign of the War in 356 BC, following the death of Chabrias, he had joint command of the Athenian forces with Iphicrates and Timotheus.Īccording to Diodorus, when, despite Chares's eagerness to do so, his colleagues refused to fight the enemy because of a bad storm, Chares reported their failings to Athens, and they were recalled and subsequently brought to trial. In the following year, with the start of the Social War, he was appointed one of Athens's generals. He was able to force Charidemus to ratify the treaty which he had made with Athenodorus. In 358 BC Chares was sent to Thrace as general with full power (a strategos). As a result, the island was lost to the Athenians when the Social War broke out. He also failed to maintain good relations with the oligarchs themselves. With Chares's support the oligarchs gained control, unfortunately they achieved it only by a lot of bloodshed breeding animosity amongst Corcyra's democratic parties. Sailing to Corcyra, he supported the city's oligarchic party. In 361 BC, Chares was appointed to succeed the Athenian admiral Leosthenes, following Leosthenes's defeat by Alexander of Pherae. )Īfter his successful campaign, Chares was recalled to take the command against Oropus and the recovery of their harbour by the Sicyonians from the Spartan garrison, immediately on his departure, shows how important his presence had been for the support of the Spartan cause in the north of the Peloponnese. (It was during this campaign that Aeschines, the orator, first distinguished himself. His forces were successful in relieving the city. The city was hard pressed by the Arcadians and Argives, assisted by the Theban commander at Sicyon. He was also a well connected politician enabling him to procure the commands he desired, commands he primarily used to enrich himself and his adherents.Ĭhares is first mentioned in historical records in 367 BC, when he was sent to the aid of the city of Phlius. Coinage of Sigeion, Troas, Asia Minor, struck under Chares.Ĭhares of Athens ( Ancient Greek: Χάρης ὁ Ἀθηναῖος) was a 4th-century BC Athenian military commander ( Strategos), who for a number of years was one of Athens's foremost commanders.
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