The idealization of the Athenian Conon in fourth-century BCE oratory and historiography

This article examines the battle of Cnidus in 394 BCE and the rebuilding of the Athenian Long Walls through the prism of fourth-century BCE idealization of the Athenian commander Conon. After assessing Xenophon’s and Diodorus Siculus’s accounts, it highlights that work on the fortifications began prior to Conon’s return to Athens in spring 393 BCE. Fourth-century BCE oratorical and historiographical treatments of Cnidus and Conon are then analyzed to show a progressive, selective idealization that downplayed Persian participation and cast Conon as the savior not only of Athens, but of all of Greece. Finally, it is argued that Theopompus’ views on Conon and Cnidus converge with Isocrates’ portrayal of the 340s, showing the political significance of Conon’s idealization in the mid-fourth century BCE.