Chabrias was a celebrated Athenian general of the 4th century BC. In 388 BC he defeated the Spartans at Aegina and commanded the fleet sent to assist Evagoras, king of Cyprus, against the Persians. In 378, when Athens entered into an alliance with Thebes against Sparta, he defeated Agesilaus II near Thebes. On this occasion he invented a manoeuvre, which consisted in receiving a charge on the left knee, with shields resting on the ground and spears pointed against the enemy.

In 376 he gained a decisive victory over the Spartan fleet off Naxos, but, when he might have destroyed the Spartan fleet, remembering the fate of the generals at Arginusae, he delayed to pick up the bodies of his dead. Later, when the Athenians changed sides and joined the Spartans, he repulsed Epaminondas before the walls of Corinth.

In 366, he and Callistratus were accused of treachery in advising the surrender of Oropus to the Thebans. He was acquitted, and soon after he accepted a command under Teos, king of Egypt, who was defending his country against Persian reconquest. But on the outbreak of the Social War (357), he joined Chares in the command of the Athenian fleet. He lost his life in an attack on the island of Chios.