Nearchus
- An admiral of Alexander the Great, who commanded the fleet sent on a voyage of discovery to India, and wrote the history of the expedition, Plin. 6, 23, 26, § 97; Curt. 9, 10, 2; 10, 1, 5; 10, 6, 6 al.—
- II A Tarentine, a host of the elder Cato, Cic. Sen. 12, 41.—
- III A beautiful youth, Hor. C. 3, 20, 6.
(Νέαρχος). A Greek writer of Crete, resident afterwards at Amphipolis. He was a friend of Alexander the Great in his youth, and, participating in his youthful intrigues, was banished by Philip. Later he administered the satrapy of Lycia for five years after the battle of the Granicus (B.C. 334). He then took part in the Indian expedition (B.C. 327), and returned, as commander of the fleet, down the Indus and along the coast of Asia to the mouth of the Tigris. After Alexander's death he attached himself to Antigonus, and under him governed the provinces of Lycia and Pamphylia. He wrote an account (Παράτλους) of his voyage, which was rich in geographical discoveries. Of this we possess, besides fragments, an abstract in Arrian's Indica. The investigations of later times have in many respects confirmed the trustworthiness of his statements concerning ancient India. See India.