# Tissaphernes — History of the Peloponnesian War character guide

> Tissaphernes in History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0002-book-i

## Snapshot

The Persian satrap who funds Sparta's fleet while quietly calculating how much Athens and Sparta can be made to bleed.

## Who they are

Tissaphernes enters the war as the Great King's agent in the Aegean, holding the purse strings that both Greek powers covet. He plays Sparta and Athens against each other, trimming subsidies and promising ships he never delivers, because a divided Greece serves Persia better than a victorious one. His cold, transactional diplomacy exposes how the war's outcome increasingly depends on non-Greek money.

## In the story

### [Book VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/history_of_the_peloponnesian_war_se/chapters/book-viii)

Persian satrap who negotiates with Sparta and later with Alcibiades, playing a key role in the shifting alliances.

### [Nineteenth and twentieth years of the war — Revolt of Ionia — Intervention of Persia — The War in Ionia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/history_of_the_peloponnesian_war_se/chapters/xxiv)

Persian satrap who cooperates with the Peloponnesians, captures Amorges, and negotiates the treaty with Sparta.

### [Intrigues and Oligarchic Conspiracies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/history_of_the_peloponnesian_war_se/chapters/xxv)

Persian satrap courted by both Alcibiades and the Peloponnesians; ultimately leans toward Athens after Alcibiades' persuasion.

### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/history_of_the_peloponnesian_war_se/chapters/xxvi)

Goes to Aspendus for the Phoenician fleet but does not bring it, deepening Peloponnesian distrust; his motives are debated, but he appears to aim at wearing out both sides.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/history_of_the_peloponnesian_war_se/characters/tissaphernes
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/history_of_the_peloponnesian_war_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/history_of_the_peloponnesian_war_se/characters