Alcibiades was born in 450 BC in ancient Athens. He was the child of Cleinias and Deinomache. Through his mother, Deinomache, Alcibiades belonged to a very wealthy and powerful family. Alcibiades himself first began to develop into a powerful figure through deception. He was offended when the Spartans overlooked him due to his youth and settled on a treaty agreement with Nicias and Laches instead. Alcibiades seized the chance to go behind the Athenian Assembly’s back by taking ambassadors under his wing and turning them against the Assembly as well. Soon after, Alcibiades was appointed General and began to threaten Sparta’s authority by grouping with other nearby states in the Peloponnese. However, this union was eventually vanquished in the Battle of Mantinea. …show more content…
Instead of standing trial, he ran away and was condemned to death because of this. To avoid death, Alcibiades joined the Spartans as a military advisor and contributed very much to their advantage. Nevertheless, Alcibiades fell out of Sparta’s good graces after the retirement of his ally Endius. After a near-death experience in Sparta as well, Alcibiades fled to Persia and began making policy suggestions to Thucydides regarding the Persian court. However, Alcibiades secretly longed to return to Athens so he negotiated with the Athenian leaders for a long time and eventually returned, bringing Persian money and warships with