Nearchus
(
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.