Nicias

Nicias was an Athenian general and politician who negotiated the peace that carries his name and then presided over the greatest military disaster in the city's history. Born around 470 BC, he was extremely wealthy — his fortune came largely from hiring out slaves to work the silver mines at Laurium — and he spent lavishly on public religious display, which made him popular and reflected a genuine and ultimately fatal piety. He was the leading conservative after Pericles' death in 429 BC, opposed to the aggressive strategy of Cleon, and led several competent if unambitious campaigns during the Archidamian War. In 421 BC he negotiated the Peace of Nicias with Sparta, intended to last fifty years, which restored most captured territory and prisoners. It was undermined almost immediately by allies on both sides who refused to accept its terms, and never really held. In 415 BC the assembly debated an expedition to Sicily promoted by Alcibiades. Nicias opposed it, and then attempted to kill the proposal by insisting that it would require an enormous force. The assembly voted him the enormous force and appointed him one of its commanders. Alcibiades was recalled to face charges and defected to Sparta. Nicias, left in command, was cautious to the point of paralysis, delaying at Syracuse until the defenders recovered and Spartan help arrived. When the fleet was defeated in the harbour in 413 BC and retreat by sea became impossible, an eclipse of the moon occurred. On his seers' advice he waited twenty-seven days before withdrawing overland. The army was surrounded and destroyed, and he was executed.

• Lived: 470 BCE – 413 BCE
• Nationality: Greek
• Roles: general, statesman