Hippocrates of Athens

Hippocrates of Athens (Greek: Ἱπποκράτης, Hippokrátēs; c. 459 – 424 BC), the son of Ariphron, was a strategos of the Athenians in 424 BC, serving alongside Demosthenes.

Hippocrates of Athens
Hippocrates bust in the Museum of Athens
Native name	Ἱπποκράτης
Born	c. 459 BC
Died	424 BC (aged 34-35) Delium, Boeotia
Allegiance	Athens
Years of service	424 BC
Rank	Strategos
Battles / wars	Peloponnesian War Battle of Delium †
Relations	Ariphron

In the summer of 424, Hippocrates and Demosthenes set out from Athens to seize the long walls of Megara (which connected the city with its port Nisaea). The Spartan garrison at Nisaea surrendered, but the Athenians were unable to capture Megara itself, and were compelled to withdraw when the Spartan general Brasidas arrived to relieve the Megarans.^[1] Hippocrates then commanded an Athenian force which invaded Boeotia. Hippocrates was given command of the land force that was to take Delium and he succeeded in doing so and fortifying a garrison there.^[2] When Hippocrates learned that the Boeotian army was approaching, Hippocrates began to retreat to Athens; he was unable to do so, and was defeated at the Battle of Delium by the Boeotian army under Pagondas. Hippocrates died near the beginning of the battle and nearly a thousand Athenians were slain alongside him. Only nightfall prevented further losses. After a siege of seventeen days, Delium fell to the Boeotians and at that point the bodies of Hippocrates and the other Athenian dead were returned to the Athenians.

References

1. Wylie, Graham (1993). "Demosthenes the General: Protagonist in a Greek Tragedy?". Greece & Rome. 40: 24. doi:10.1017/S0017383500022555. S2CID 161637399.
2. Wylie, Graham (1993). "Demosthenes the General: Protagonist in a Greek Tragedy?". Greece & Rome. 40: 24–25. doi:10.1017/S0017383500022555. S2CID 161637399.

• Thucydides iv. 76, 77, 89—101.
• Diodorus Siculus xii. 69, 70.
• Pausanias iii. 6. § 1, ix. 6. § 3.

Further reading

• Nails, Debra. The People of Plato. Hackett Publishing. p. 171. ISBN 978-1-60384-403-1.
• Curtius, Ernst (7 July 2011). The History of Greece. Cambridge University Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-108-02985-8.
• Smith, William (1872). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology by Various Writers. John Murray. p. 481.
• McGregor, Malcolm (November 2011). The Athenians and Their Empire. UBC Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-7748-4320-1.