Lysander (died 395 BC) was a Spartan military commander and statesman who defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War and was responsible for establishing a Spartan administration in the conquered territories.

Lysander, son of Aristocritus, was appointed naval commander in 407 B.C., when the Peloponnesian fleet had become demoralized by several defeats, and after previous Spartan commanders had quarreled with their Persian allies. Lysander restored confidence. He assembled a fleet at Ephesus and ingratiated himself with the Persian viceroy, Cyrus, who had received secret orders to support Sparta. Lysander hired mercenary rowers with high wages, manned 90 ships, and organized a network of personal supporters, who were to establish themselves as oligarchic rulers or dictators in any liberated states. He waited until the Athenian fleet was divided, and then early in 406 he defeated an Athenian flotilla at Notium.

When his term as commander expired, Lysander could not be reappointed by Spartan...