Thrasybulus (Greek: Θρασύβουλος ὁ Μιλήσιος) was the tyrant of Miletus in the 7th century BC.
Under his rule, Miletus fought a lengthy war against Lydia.
This war ended without a decisive victor (a result that Herodotus credits to Thrasybulus's tricking Alyattes into making peace.[1]).
He features in a famous anecdote from Herodotus's Histories,[2] in which a messenger from Periander asks Thrasybulus for advice on ruling.
The message, correctly interpreted by Periander, was that a wise ruler would preempt challenges to his rule by "removing" those prominent men who might be powerful enough to challenge him; this story gave the name to tall poppy syndrome.