 Westlake, Cnemus was characterized by Thucydides in the "History of the Peloponnesian War" as a prototypical Spartan military leader in order to draw the general lesson of the inadequacy of conventional Spartan leadership.In Thucydides' characterization, Cnemus' similarities to the later Spartan fleet commander, Alcidas, may have been exaggerated to contrast and emphasize the superior leadership of the heterodox Brasidas.Thus, as Westlake argues, Cnemus may have been unfairly represented by Thucydides as largely responsible for Spartans' various military failures.