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B.C. 411. To follow the order of events[1]. A few days later
Thymochares arrived from Athens with a few ships, when another sea
fight between the Lacedaemonians and Athenians at once took place, in
which the former, under the command of Agesandridas, gained the victory.
Another short interval brings us to a morning in early winter, when
Dorieus, the son of Diagoras, was entering the Hellespont with
fourteen ships from Rhodes at break of day. The Athenian day-watch
descrying him, signalled to the generals, and they, with twenty sail,
put out to sea to attack him. Dorieus made good his escape, and, as he
shook himself free of the narrows,[2] ran his triremes aground off
Rhoeteum. When the Athenians had come to close quarters, the fighting
commenced, and was sustained at once from ships and shore, until at
length the Athenians retired to their main camp at Madytus, having
achieved nothing.
Meanwhile Mindarus, while sacrificing to Athena at Ilium, had observed
the battle. He at once hastened to the sea, and getting his own
triremes afloat, sailed out to pick up the ships with Dorieus. The
Athenians on their side put out to meet him, and engaged him off
Abydos. From early morning till the afternoon the fight was kept up
close to the shore.[3] Victory and defeat hung still in even balance,
when Alcibiades came sailing up with eighteen ships. Thereupon the
Peloponnesians fled towards Abydos, where, however, Pharnabazus
brought them timely assistance.[4] Mounted on horseback, he pushed
forward into the sea as far as his horse would let him, doing battle
himself, and encouraging his troopers and the infantry alike to play
their parts. Then the Peloponnesians, ranging their ships in close-
packed order, and drawing up their battle line in proximity to the
land, kept up the fight. At length the Athenians, having captured
thirty of the enemy's vessels without their crews, and having
recovered those of their own which they had previously lost, set sail
for Sestos. Here the fleet, with the exception of forty vessels,
dispersed in different directions outside the Hellespont, to collect
money; while Thrasylus, one of the generals, sailed to Athens to
report what had happened, and to beg for a reinforcement of troops and
ships. After the above incidents, Tissaphernes arrived in the
Hellespont, and received a visit from Alcibiades, who presented him
with a single ship, bringing with him tokens of friendship and gifts,
whereupon Tissaphernes seized him and shut him up in Sardis, giving
out that the king's orders were to go to war with the Athenians.
Thirty days later Alcibiades, accompanied by Mantitheus, who had been
captured in Caria, managed to procure horses and escaped by night to
Clazomenae.
B.C. 410. And now the Athenians at Sestos, hearing that Mindarus was
meditating an attack upon them with a squadron of sixty sail, gave him
the slip, and under cover of night escaped to Cardia. Hither also
Alcibiades repaired from Clazomenae, having with him five triremes and
a light skiff; but on learning that the Peloponnesian fleet had left
Abydos and was in full sail for Cyzicus, he set off himself by land to
Sestos, giving orders to the fleet to sail round and join him there.
Presently the vessels arrived, and he was on the point of putting out
to sea with everything ready for action, when Theramenes, with a fleet
of twenty ships from Macedonia, entered the port, and at the same
instant Thrasybulus, with a second fleet of twenty sail from Thasos,
both squadrons having been engaged in collecting money. Bidding these
officers also follow him with all speed, as soon as they had taken out
their large sails and cleared for action, Alcibiades set sail himself
for Parium. During the following night the united squadron, consisting
now of eighty-six vessels, stood out to sea from Parium, and reached
Proconnesus next morning, about the hour of breakfast. Here they
learnt that Mindarus was in Cyzicus, and that Pharnabazus, with a body
of infantry, was with him. Accordingly they waited the whole of this
day at Proconnesus. On the following day Alcibiades summoned an
assembly, and addressing the men in terms of encouragement, warned
them that a threefold service was expected of them; that they must be
ready for a sea fight, a land fight, and a wall fight all at once,
"for look you," said he, "we have no money, but the enemy has
unlimited supplies from the king."
Now, on the previous day, as soon as they were come to moorings, he
had collected all the sea-going craft of the island, big and little
alike, under his own control, that no one might report the number of
his squadron to the enemy, and he had further caused a proclamation to
be made, that any one caught sailing across to the opposite coast
would be punished with death. When the meeting was over, he got his
ships ready for action, and stood out to sea towards Cyzicus in
torrents of rain. Off Cyzicus the sky cleared, and the sun shone out
and revealed to him the spectacle of Mindarus's vessels, sixty in
number, exercising at some distance from the harbour, and, in fact,
intercepted by himself. The Peloponnesians, perceiving at a glance the
greatly increased number of the Athenian galleys, and noting their
proximity to the port, made haste to reach the land, where they
brought their vessels to anchor in a body, and prepared to engage the
enemy as he sailed to the attack. But Alcibiades, sailing round with
twenty of his vessels, came to land and disembarked. Seeing this,
Mindarus also landed, and in the engagement which ensued he fell
fighting, whilst those who were with him took to flight. As for the
enemy's ships, the Athenians succeeded in capturing the whole of them
(with the exception of the Syracusan vessels, which were burnt by
their crews), and made off with their prizes to Proconnesus. From
thence on the following day they sailed to attack Cyzicus. The men of
that place, seeing that the Peloponnesians and Pharnabazus had
evacuated the town, admitted the Athenians. Here Alcibiades remained
twenty days, obtaining large sums of money from the Cyzicenes, but
otherwise inflicting no sort of mischief on the community. He then
sailed back to Proconnesus, and from there to Perinthus and Selybria.
The inhabitants of the former place welcomed his troops into their
city, but the Selybrians preferred to give money, and so escape the
admission of the troops. Continuing the voyage the squadron reached
Chrysopolis in Chalcedonia,[5] where they built a fort, and
established a custom-house to collect the tithe dues which they levied
on all merchantmen passing through the Straights from the Black Sea.
Besides this, a detachment of thirty ships was left there under the
two generals, Theramenes and Eubulus, with instructions not only to
keep a look-out on the port itself and on all traders passing through
the channel, but generally to injure the enemy in any way which might
present itself. This done, the rest of the generals hastened back to
the Hellespont.
Now a despatch from Hippocrates, Mindarus's vice-admiral,[6] had been
intercepted on its way to Lacedaemon, and taken to Athens. It ran as
follows (in broad Doric):[7] "Ships gone; Mindarus dead; the men
starving; at our wits' end what to do."
Pharnabazus, however, was ready to meet with encouragement the
despondency which afflicted the whole Peloponnesian army and their
allies. "As long as their own bodies were safe and sound, why need
they take to heart the loss of a few wooden hulls? Was there not
timber enough and to spare in the king's territory?" And so he
presented each man with a cloak and maintenance for a couple of
months, after which he armed the sailors and formed them into a
coastguard for the security of his own seaboard.
He next called a meeting of the generals and trierarchs of the
different States, and instructed them to build just as many new ships
in the dockyards of Antandrus as they had respectively lost. He
himself was to furnish the funds, and he gave them to understand that
they might bring down timber from Mount Ida. While the ships were
building, the Syracusans helped the men of Antandrus to finish a
section of their walls, and were particularly pleasant on garrison
duty; and that is why the Syracusans to this day enjoy the privilege
of citizenship, with the title of "benefactors," at Antandrus. Having
so arranged these matters, Pharnabazus proceeded at once to the rescue
of Chalcedon.
It was at this date that the Syracusan generals received news from
home of their banishment by the democratic party. Accordingly they
called a meeting of their separate divisions, and putting forward
Hermocrates[8] as their spokesman, proceeded to deplore their
misfortune, insisting upon the injustice and the illegality of their
banishment. "And now let us admonish you," they added, "to be eager
and willing in the future, even as in the past: whatever the word of
command may be, show yourselves good men and true: let not the memory
of those glorious sea fights fade. Think of those victories you have
won, those ships you have captured by your own unaided efforts; forget
not that long list of achievements shared by yourselves with others,
in all which you proved yourselves invincible under our generalship.
It was to a happy combination of our merit and your enthusiasm,
displayed alike on land and sea, that you owe the strength and
perfection of your discipline."
With these words they called upon the men to choose other commanders,
who should undertake the duties of their office, until the arrival of
their successors. Thereupon the whole assembly, and more particularly
the captains and masters of vessels and marines, insisted with loud
cries on their continuance in command. The generals replied, "It was
not for them to indulge in faction against the State, but rather it
was their duty, in case any charges were forthcoming against
themselves, at once to render an account." When, however, no one had
any kind of accusation to prefer, they yielded to the general demand,
and were content to await the arrival of their successors. The names
of these were--Demarchus, the son of Epidocus; Myscon, the son of
Mencrates; and Potamis, the son of Gnosis.
The captains, for their part, swore to restore the exiled generals as
soon as they themselves should return to Syracuse. At present with a
general vote of thanks they despatched them to their several
destinations. It particular those who had enjoyed the society of
Hermocrates recalled his virtues with regret, his thoroughness and
enthusiasm, his frankness and affability, the care with which every
morning and evening he was wont to gather in his quarters a group of
naval captains and mariners whose ability he recognised. These were
his confidants, to whom he communicated what he intended to say or do:
they were his pupils, to whom he gave lessons in oratory, now calling
upon them to speak extempore, and now again after deliberation. By
these means Hermocrates had gained a wide reputation at the council
board, where his mastery of language was no less felt than the wisdom
of his advice. Appearing at Lacedaemon as the accuser of
Tissaphernes,[9] he had carried his case, not only by the testimony of
Astyochus, but by the obvious sincerity of his statements, and on the
strength of this reputation he now betook himself to Pharnabazus. The
latter did not wait to be asked, but at once gave him money, which
enabled him to collect friends and triremes, with a view to his
ultimate recall to Syracuse. Meanwhile the successors of the
Syracusans had arrived at Miletus, where they took charge of the ships
and the army.
It was at this same season that a revolution occurred in Thasos,
involving the expulsion of the philo-Laconian party, with the Laconian
governor Eteonicus. The Laconian Pasippidas was charged with having
brought the business about in conjunction with Tissaphernes, and was
banished from Sparta in consequence. The naval force which he had been
collecting from the allies was handed over to Cratesippidas, who was
sent out to take his place in Chios.
About the same period, while Thrasylus was still in Athens, Agis[10]
made a foraging expedition up to the very walls of the city. But
Thrasylus led out the Athenians with the rest of the inhabitants of
the city, and drew them up by the side of the Lyceum Gymnasium, ready
to engage the enemy if they approached; seeing which, Agis beat a
hasty retreat, not however without the loss of some of his supports, a
few of whom were cut down by the Athenian light troops. This success
disposed the citizens to take a still more favourable view of the
objects for which Thrasylus had come; and they passed a decree
empowering him to call out a thousand hoplites, one hundred cavalry,
and fifty triremes.
Meanwhile Agis, as he looked out from Deceleia, and saw vessel after
vessel laden with corn running down to Piraeus, declared that it was
useless for his troops to go on week after week excluding the
Athenians from their own land, while no one stopped the source of
their corn supply by sea: the best plan would be to send
Clearchus,[11] the son of Rhamphius, who was proxenos[12] of the
Byzantines, to Chalcedon and Byzantium. The suggestion was approved,
and with fifteen vessels duly manned from Megara, or furnished by
other allies, Clearchus set out. These were troop-ships rather than
swift-sailing men-of-war. Three of them, on reaching the Hellespont,
were destroyed by the Athenian ships employed to keep a sharp look-out
on all merchant craft in those waters. The other twelve escaped to
Sestos, and thence finally reached Byzantium in safety.
So closed the year--a year notable also for the expedition against
Sicily of the Carthaginians under Hannibal with one hundred thousand
men, and the capture, within three months, of the two Hellenic cities
of Selinus and Himera.
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