- 408 BC
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Events
By Place
Persian Empire
* King
Darius II of Persia decides to continue the war againstAthens and give support to theSparta ns. His wife,Parysatis , persuades him to appoint his younger son, Cyrus, assatrap (governor) ofLydia ,Phrygia , andCappadocia and commander in chief of theAchaemenian forces inAsia Minor in place ofTissaphernes .
* Tissaphernes' influence is limited to the satrapy ofCaria . Darius II also gives Cyrus funds to re-create the Spartan fleet and sends him toSardis with instructions to increase Persian support for Sparta. Cyrus begins to collect an army of mercenaries (including Greeks) for his own ends.Greece
*
Alcibiades entersAthens in triumph after an absence of 7 years. He leads the religious procession from Athens toEleusis , thus atoning for his alleged impiety in415 BC when he was held to have joined in profaning theSacred Mysteries . Alcibiades is appointed commander-in-chief with autocratic powers and leaves for Samos to rejoin his fleet.
* The Spartan admiralLysander arrives atEphesus in autumn and builds up a great fleet with help from the new Persian satrap, Cyrus.
* At the Panhellenic gathering at Olympia, the philosopherGorgias speaks out against the Spartan alliance with Persia.icily
* The city of
Himera is destroyed by the Carthaginians.By topic
Literature
*
Euripides ' plays "Orestes" and "The Phoenician Women " are performed. Euripides then leavesAthens in dissatisfaction and travels to the court ofArchelaus I of Macedon at the King's invitation.Births
*
Eudoxus of Cnidus , Greek astronomer, mathematician, physician, scholar and adherent ofPythagoras (d. c.355 BC )
* Dion,tyrant of Syracuse (d. c.354 BC )Deaths
*
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