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Navarch (Sparta)

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The navarch (Greek: ναύαρχος, romanizednauarchos) was the magistrate who commanded the fleet in Ancient Sparta.

History and role

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The powers of the navarch were extensive and were not subordinate to the two Spartan kings.[1] The navarch commanded the fleet, but could also lead his embarked troops on land, performed the sacrifices, distributed wages and booty, negotiated with foreign states, and even administered the territories he captured.[2][3] An ambitious man such as Lysander could therefore yield formidable influence in Sparta through his time as navarch at the end of the Peloponnesian War (431–404).[4] As a result, Aristotle rightly described the navarchy as another kingship.[5][6][7] Indeed, the navarch's powers were probably taken away from the kings at some point during the 6th century, because they had no authority on the sea. For example, Herodotus writes that in 480 king Leotychidas was also navarch at the Battle of Salamis, so it means he had to be navarch to be able to command the fleet.[8]

Herodotus' description of Leotychidas as navarch in 480 is furthermore the first mention of the navarchy in the sources, but it was likely created earlier, perhaps in 512 for the first attack of Sparta against Athens by Anchimolus, likely the first navarch.[9][10][11] In the beginning the office was probably irregular and no navarch was appointed for most of the Pentecontaetia (479–431), as the Spartans did not launch any navy during this period.[6] In addition, the navarch was not a yearly magistrate; it depended on the mission given, because Cnemus—the first navarch of the Peloponnesian War—was elected in summer 430, but remained in power for more than 12 months, until the winter of 429/428.[12]

Following the defeat of the Spartan navy at Cyzicus in 410, a law was passed an established fixed terms from spring to spring.[13][14][15] In about 400 another law forbade iteration of the office, but repetition was apparently allowed, since Teleutias was probably navarch three times.[13][15] This law could furthermore be bypassed by appointing a secretary (ἐπιστολεὐς, epistoleus)—in effect vice-admiral—to the navarch; the influential Lysander therefore became secretary twice.[16] The navarchs were elected for one year by the Spartan assembly, supervised by the ephors.[17] One exception took place in 395, when the king Agesilaus II was granted the privilege to appoint the navarch.[1]

It seems the navarchy disappeared after the catastrophic defeat of Leuctra in 371.[1]

List of Spartan navarchs

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Year Name Service
c.512 Anchimolus Commanded an expedition against the Athenian tyrant Hippias[10][11]
481/480 Eurybiades Commanded at the battles of Artemision and Salamis.[10]
480/479 Leotychidas II Also king of Sparta.[10]
479/478 Pausanias Also Spartan regent. Removed from command for medism.[18]
478/477 Dorcis Replaced Pausanias, but his command was rejected by the Greek allies.[19][20]
430–429/428 Cnemus Led an expedition against Zakynthos, then the Acarnanians, but was defeated twice.[21]
427 Alkidas Brasidas was appointed as his adviser.[22]
426/425 Thrasymelidas
413/412 Melancridas
412/411 Astyochus Relieved from command for incompetence.[23]
411/410 Mindarus
410/409 Pasippidas Condemned for his dealings with the Persian satrap Tissaphernes.[15]
409/408 Cratesippidas
408/407[24] Lysander
407/406 Callicratidas Died during the battle of Arginusae.[25]
406/405 Eteonicus
405/404 Aracus Lysander served as his secretary.
404/403 Libys Brother of Lysander.[26]
403/402 Panthoidas?
402/401 Samius Sent to help the Ionian cities that revolted against Persia.[27]
401/400 Anaxibius
398/397 Pharax[28]
397/396 Archelaidas
396/395 Pollis
395/394 Cheiricrates
394/393 Podanemus
393/392 Herippidas?
392/391 Teleutias[15] First term. Half-brother of Agesilaus II.[29]
391/390 Ekdicus
390/389 Teleutias[15] Second term.
389/388 Hierax
388/387 Antalcidas Drafted the Peace of Antalcidas with Persia.[30]
387/386 Teleutias Third term.
377/376 Pollis Perhaps an homonym of the navarch of 396/395.[13]
376/375 Nicolochus
375/374 Aristocrates
374/373 Alcidas
373/372 Mnasippus

References

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  1. ^ a b c Thommen, "Xenophon und die spartanische Nauarchie", p. 314.
  2. ^ Sealey, "Die spartanische Nauarchie", p. 341.
  3. ^ Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 81.
  4. ^ Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 81, 82.
  5. ^ Aristotle, Politics, ii. 1271a § 37–41.
  6. ^ a b Sealey, "Die spartanische Nauarchie", p. 337.
  7. ^ Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 80.
  8. ^ Sealey, "Die spartanische Nauarchie", pp. 339, 340.
  9. ^ Thommen, "Xenophon und die spartanische Nauarchie", p. 313.
  10. ^ a b c d Sealey, "Die spartanische Nauarchie", pp. 339–340.
  11. ^ a b Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia, p. 126.
  12. ^ Sealey, "Die spartanische Nauarchie", pp. 341, 342.
  13. ^ a b c Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 79.
  14. ^ Hornblower, Commentary on Thucydides, Volume I, p. 349.
  15. ^ a b c d e Thommen, "Xenophon und die spartanische Nauarchie", p. 315.
  16. ^ Cartledge, Agesilaos, pp. 79, 95.
  17. ^ Sealey, "Die spartanische Nauarchie", p. 338, still mentions the possibility that the navarch was appointed, but does not really support it.
  18. ^ Rahe, Sparta's First Attic War, pp. 37, 38.
  19. ^ Poralla & Bradford, Prosopographie, p. 48.
  20. ^ Rahe, Sparta's First Attic War, p. 38.
  21. ^ Sealey, "Die spartanische Nauarchie", pp. 340, 341.
  22. ^ Sealey, "Die spartanische Nauarchie", p. 343.
  23. ^ Falkner, "Astyochus", p. 206.
  24. ^ Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 79, dates his accession to 407: "He came out, according to the chronology I follow, in spring 407, but his year of office may technically have begun late in 408".
  25. ^ Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 82.
  26. ^ Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia, p. 230.
  27. ^ Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia, p. 232.
  28. ^ Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia, p. 235.
  29. ^ Cartledge, Agesilaos, p. 223.
  30. ^ Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia, p. 245.

Bibliography

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Ancient sources

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Modern sources

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  • Paul Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia, A Regional History 1300–362 BC, London, Routledge, 2002 (originally published in 1979). ISBN 0-415-26276-3
  • Caroline Falkner, "Astyochus, Sparta's Incompetent Navarch?", Phoenix, Vol. 53, No. 3/4 (Autumn - Winter, 1999), pp. 206–221. JSTOR 1088984
  • Simon Hornblower, A Commentary on Thucydides, Volume I, Books I-III, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1991. ISBN 0-19-815099-7
  • Paul Poralla & Alfred S. Bradford, Prosopographie der Lakedaimonier, bis auf die Zeit Alexanders des Grossen, Chicago, 1985 (originally published in 1913). OCLC 1151065049
  • Paul A. Rahe, Sparta's First Attic War, The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta, 478–446 B.C., New Haven, Yale University Press, 2019. ISBN 978-0-300-24261-4
  • Raphael Sealey, "Die spartanische Nauarchie", Klio, 58, 1976, pp. 335–358. doi:10.1524/klio.1976.58.12.335
  • Lukas Thommen, "Xenophon und die spartanische Nauarchie", Historika, Storia Greca i Romana, V. 5: Great is the power of the sea, 2015, pp. 313–320.