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Cleon

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Cleon (; Kleon ; died 422 BC) was an Athenian politician and general (strategos) during the Peloponnesian War. The son of Cleaenetus, a wealthy tanner, Cleon was among the first prominent Athenian politicians of the 5th century BC to obtain power from outside the established elite.

OverviewAI-generated

Cleon was a male politician and military personnel from Classical Athens. Born in Athens in 500 BCE, he was a member of the deme of Kydathenaion and held the position of strategos. He participated in the Peloponnesian War and the Battle of Amphipolis, where he died in 422 BCE. His name in the native language is Κλέων, and he spoke Ancient Greek.

The subject is distinct from Cleone and is described in sources including the Nordisk familjebok, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, The Nuttall Encyclopædia, and Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition.

Synthesized by Vinony from 34 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, OpenAlex, Open Library, Crossref, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
January 20, 1913
Died
January 9, 2006
Works
28

Top works

  • 赤裸裸的共產黨
  • The communist attack on U.S. police
  • The naked Communist
  • The Communist attack on the John Birch Society
  • The enemy

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
6,790
Total plays
22,511

Tags

francespotify

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Cleon">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · Cleon

Key facts

Military person.name
Cleon
Military person.native_name
Κλέων
Military person.death_date
422&nbsp;BC
Military person.death_place
Amphipolis
Military person.allegiance
Athens
Military person.rank
Strategos
Military person.battles
Peloponnesian War Battle of Sphacteria Battle of Amphipolis

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Gender
male
Citizenship
Classical Athens
Place of birth
Athens
Place of death
Amphipolis
Position held
strategos
Languages spoken
Ancient Greek
Military rank
strategos
Show 8 more facts
date of death
0422-00-00
date of birth
0500-00-00
described by source
Pauly–Wissowa
member of the deme
Kydathenaion
different from
Cleone
name in native language
Κλέων
significant place
Classical Athens
Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~12 min read

Encyclopedic overview

13 sections
Contents
  • Political and military career
  • Rise to power
  • Role in the Peloponnesian War
  • Mytilene revolt and debate
  • Battle of Pylos and Sphacteria
  • Battle of Amphipolis and death
  • Historical interpretations
  • Contemporary depictions
  • 19th and early 20th century scholarship
  • 21st century scholarship
  • Notes
  • References
  • External links

Cleon (; Kleon ; died 422 BC) was an Athenian politician and general (strategos) during the Peloponnesian War. The son of Cleaenetus, a wealthy tanner, Cleon was among the first prominent Athenian politicians of the 5th century BC to obtain power from outside the established elite.

As a political leader, Cleon aligned himself with the poor citizens and emerging commercial class of Athens, while also advocating for an aggressive military strategy against Sparta and its allies. He rose to prominence after the death of Pericles and was subsequently one of the most influential figures in Athenian politics, playing a central role in the Battle of Sphacteria, the Mytilenean Debate, and the failed Athenian campaign to retake Amphipolis in 422 BC, where he was killed.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Cleon” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (3)

On the map

12 mapped locations