Coeratadas was a Theban

Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)

See Thebes, Greece for the modern city built on the ancient ruins.Ancient Thebes was a Boeotian city-state , situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain...

 who commanded some Boeotian

Boeotian

Boeotian may refer to:* The people from Boeotia, a region of central ancient Greece* One of several sub-dialects of the Aeolic Greek dialect of the Greek language, spoken by the Boeotians....

 forces under Clearchus

Clearchus of Sparta

Clearchus or Clearch , the son of Rhamphias, was a Spartan general and mercenary.Born about the middle of the 5th century BC, Clearchus was sent with a fleet to the Hellespont in 411 and became governor of Byzantium, of which town he was proxenus...

, the Spartan harmost

Harmost

Harmost in ancient Greece is a Spartan term that means military governor. The Spartan general Lysander instituted several harmosts during the period of Spartan hegemony after the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC...

 at Byzantium

Byzantium

Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...

, when that place was besieged by the Athenians in 408 BC

408 BC

Year 408 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Tribunate of Iullus, Ahala and Cossus...

. He was a general in the Peloponnesian War

Peloponnesian War

The Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 BC, was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...

 and made a "sensational" escape from Athens as a prisoner of war.

When Clearchus crossed over to Asia to obtain money from Pharnabazus, and to collect forces, he left the command of the garrison to Helixus, a Megarian, and Coeratadas, who were soon after compelled to surrender themselves as prisoners when certain parties within the town had opened the gates to Alcibiades

Alcibiades

Alcibiades, son of Clinias, from the deme of Scambonidae , was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War...

. They were sent to Athens, but during the disembarkation at the Piraeus, Coeratadas contrived to escape in the crowd, and made his way in safety to Decelea

Decelea

Decelea , modern Dekeleia or Dekelia, Deceleia or Decelia, previous name Tatoi, was an ancient village in northern Attica serving as a trade route connecting Euboea with Athens, Greece. The historian Herodotus reports that its citizens enjoyed a special relationship with Sparta. The Spartans took...

.

In 400 BC

400 BC

Year 400 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Tribunate of Esquilinus, Capitolinus, Vulso, Medullinus, Saccus and Vulscus...

, when the Cyrean Greeks had arrived at Byzantium. Coeratadas, who was going about in search of employment as a general, prevailed on them to choose him as their commander, promising to lead them into Thrace on an expedition of much profit, and to supply them plentifully with provisions. It was however almost immediately discovered that he had no means of supporting them for even a single day, and he was obliged accordingly to relinquish his command.

Source

• The expedition of Cyrus By Xenophon, Robin Waterfield, Tim Rood