Brasidas captured Amphipolis for Sparta during the Peloponnesian War in 424 BCE.
Brasidas was a prominent Spartan general whose campaign in northern Greece damaged Athenian influence. He advanced into the region of Thrace and persuaded Amphipolis, an important Athenian colony on the Strymon River, to surrender. His comparatively moderate treatment of the city helped encourage other communities to consider abandoning Athens.
Athens sent the general Cleon to recover Amphipolis. The resulting Battle of Amphipolis in 422 BCE ended with victories for Brasidas and the Spartans, but both commanders were killed. Their deaths removed two influential advocates of continuing the war and helped make the Peace of Nicias possible in 421 BCE. Brasidas is therefore remembered both for battlefield success and for diplomatic skill, not only for the battle in which he died.