The chief generals on the Athenian side were Demosthenes (not the great
orator of a later time) and Nicias; the Spartan chief was the famous
Brasidas, who had much success against the Athenian colonies on the
coast of Thrace. The brilliant Alcibiades began to display his powers as
a statesman at Athens. In 422 B. C. a battle near Amphipolis, on the
coast of Thrace, ended in the defeat of the Athenians, and the deaths of
Cleon and of Brasidas, the latter an irreparable loss to Sparta. In the
place of Cleon, the mild Nicias became one of the leading statesmen at
Athens, and his efforts resulted in a truce between Athens and Sparta,
in 421 B. C.