Aristeus (Ancient Greek: Ἀριστεύς), son of Adeimantus (Ἀδείμαντος; Adeímantos), was a Corinthian general who commanded the expedition to Potidaea in 432 BC.
[2] In 432 BC, Aristeus was appointed as commander of the Corinthian military expedition for the relief of their colony Potidaea, which had just seceded from Athens.
[3] He was able to recruit Corinthian volunteers and mercenaries from the rest of the Peloponnesus to fight alongside him due to his popularity, both domestically and in Potidaea.
[3] Forty days after the revolt in Potidaea, Aristeus, along with 1600 hoplites and 400 light troops, arrived in Thrace[1] and shortly thereafter encamped at Olynthus, where they prepared for battle.
[2] With the alliance with Perdiccas formalized, Athens withdrew its troops from Macedonia, via Beroea and Strepsa, and marched on Potidaea with 3000 hoplites and 600 Macedonian horsemen, with 70 ships following closely along the coast.
[1] In their preparation for the Athenian attack on their city, the citizens of Potidaea and the Peloponnesians encamped at Olynthus and chose Aristeus as general of all the infantry.
[1] Perdiccas, who had deputed Iolaus as his general, left the alliance with Athens, returned to that with Potidaea, and was made commander of the allied cavalry.
Phormio's troops defeated the Potidaeans in the field, built a wall on the Pallene side, and deployed Athenian ships around the peninsula, thus besieging Potidaea by land and sea.
[1] Athenian ambassadors happened to be with Sitalces at the time, and they convinced his son, Sadocus, to seize Aristeus and the other individuals as they traveled through Thrace to the ship in which they were to cross the Hellespont.
[1] Aristeus and the other envoys were killed immediately and cast into a pit, a familiar mode of death that the Spartans themselves were known for in the Peloponnesian War.