Alcibiades' life, full of extremes and adventures, became the focal point of all political life at the end of the fifth century B.C. Motivated by his ambition and led by his talented personality, he became an influential figure in Athens, Sparta and the Persian Empire.

He was born in Athens in 450 B.C. and was murdered in Phrygia (Asia Minor) in 404 B.C. Because his father, Kleinias, died young, Alcibiades was brought up in the household of his guardian Pericles and became a pupil and intimate friend of Socrates. Thanks to his brilliance, he was able to become the leader of the democrats in 450 B.C.; he inspired an ambitious imperialism for Athens, which led the city first to a minor and then to a major disaster: the first was the Spartan victory at Mantinea (418 B.C.) and the second the utter failure of the Athenian expedition to Sicily (413 B.C.). Though Alcibiades temporarily allied with Nikias (Athenian politician and general -moderate and opponent to the aggressive imperialism) to avoid ostracism, the two were normally adversaries, and when the former advocated the Sicilian expedition, the latter opposed it. Both were appointed, together with Lamachos, to conduct the operation, with extraordinary power (415). Alcibiades was suspected of complicity in obscure offences of profanation at Athens (eg: mutilation of the Hermae, parodies of the Eleusinian Mysteries) and, soon after the Athenian fleet reached Sicily, he was recalled for trial. But he fled and, as he was condemned to death in Athens in absentia, he escaped to Sparta, where he advised the Spartans to send one of their generals to Syracuse and to establish a permanent post as far forward as Dekeleia (on the foothills of mount Parnes). In 412, the Spartans sent him on a propaganda mission to Ionia, which, in effect, caused many allies of Athens to revolt, but he soon lost the confidence of the Spartans and had to flee once more, this time to Persia. From there, he tried to be reinstated in Athens with Persian support preparing an oligarchic revolution but he could not convince the Persian king to abandon his alliance with Sparta. After some time, what he could not achieve in Athens he achieved in Samos, when the Athenian fleet there appointed him general and for five or six years he successfully commanded operations in Ionia and the Hellespont, thus securing a triumphant return to Athens in 407. However, he could not do much against the "unholy" alliance of Sparta and Persia and his enemies in Athens were waiting for his next mistake. The opportunity came a year later, following the defeat of the Athenians that was blamed on him, even though he had advised them otherwise. He then had to flee once more, seeking refuge with the Persian governor of Phrygia, who, at the insistent request of the Spartans, assassinated Alcibiades in 404 B.C.