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Cleon
Sign in to saveCleon (; 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.
Key facts
- Military person.name
- Cleon
- Military person.native_name
- Κλέων
- Military person.death_date
- 422 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
- Conflict
- Battle of Amphipolis
- Military rank
- strategos
Show 8 more facts
- date of death
- 0422-00-00
- date of birth
- 0500-00-00
- described by source
- Pauly–Wissowa
- time period
- classical antiquity
- member of the deme
- Kydathenaion
- different from
- Cleone
- name in native language
- Κλέων
- significant place
- Classical Athens
via Wikidata · CC0
~12 min read
Encyclopedic overview
13 sectionsContents
- 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.
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