a small fiefdom for himself. Unfortunately for him, Artabazus was soon released and gathered an army to attack him. Holed up in a land-locked fortress with no way to import supplies, Charidemus was faced with the prospect of a long siege and eventual starvation. To forestall this, he wrote to the Athenian general Cephisodotus, who was then on campaign against Cotys in the Chersonese, promising to assist him in securing control of the region if he would only get him out of his current predicament. Hearing of this and seeing a way out of the situation without resorting to war, Memnon and Mentor persuaded Artabazus to give Charidemus and his forces free passage to the coast, after which, instead of joining forces with Cephisodotus, the mercenary went straight to Cardia to assist Cotys in its defense against the Athenians. Advisor to Cersobleptes In 360, Cotys was assassinated and his son Cersobleptes assumed control of eastern Thrace – his brothers, Berisades and Amadocus, ruling over the central and western portions of the region. Charidemus attached himself to the young king as a trusted advisor, most effectively by marrying his sister, and during the ensuing years, he and his army of mercenaries preyed repeatedly on Athenian forces in the Propontis (now Sea of Marmara), the Hellespont, and Chersonese. Athens sent a series of generals to deal with the situation. When they had the upper hand, Cersobleptes and Charidemus would agree to terms, but then violate them when Athenian forces were withdrawn. Athenian citizenship In 357 BC, on the arrival of Chares with considerable forces, the Cersobleptes finally ceded the Chersonese Peninsula to Athens under terms acceptable to Athens. In this he was no doubt motivated by Philip of Macedon's taking of Amphipolis and its implied threat to all of Thrace. As a reward for this commitment and at his request, Athens granted Charidemus citizenship and other unspecified honors. Charidemus’ relationship with Athens, however, continued to be problematic for the city, most especially in the attempts he and Cersobleptes subsequently made to conquer the whole of Thrace, in violation of their agreement. Among those most concerned was the orator Demosthenes. On the other hand, Charidemus also had his supporters. In 352, one of these, Aristomachus, proxenos (representative) for Cersobleptes at Athens, declared before the Assembly that “Charidemus was the only man in the world who could recover Amphipolis for Athens, and advised you