The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan

Author:Donald Kagan [Kagan, Donald]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: History, Military, Ancient, Greece, Literary Criticism, Ancient & Classical, General
ISBN: 9780801467264
Google: z9garz74CJ0C
Publisher: Cornell
Published: 2013-01-18T13:55:21+00:00

MAP 10. THE BATTLE OF CYZICUS

Alcibiades pursued Mindarus to the shore, sinking some ships and capturing others. The Peloponnesians managed to pull most of their triremes up on the beach, so Alcibiades attached grappling hooks to them and tried to pull them out to sea. Then Pharnabazus came to the rescue with his army, which outnumbered the Athenians by far and had the advantage of fighting from the from footing of the land, while the Athenians had to stand in the water. The Athenians fought courageously and caused much slaughter, but they would have been destroyed or driven off had they not received help. As Thrasybulus’ fleet approached from the northwest, he quickly grasped the situation and the danger. He signaled Theramenes to join forces with the army of Chaereas, which must have been in the neighborhood of Cyzicus by then, and hurried forward to join in the battle on land. He disembarked with his marines and rushed to help Alcibiades. Athenian relief columns, therefore, were soon moving toward the embattled Alcibiades from two directions. As Mindarus struggled to prevent Alcibiades from towing away his ships, he could see Thrasybulus’ approach, so he sent Clearchus with a part of his own force and a contingent of Pharnabazus’ mercenaries to stop it. With only the hoplites and archers from no more than about twenty-five ships, Thrasybulus was badly outnumbered. Although they fought well, his troops began to suffer significant casualties. They were on the point of being surrounded and destroyed when Theramenes arrived in time at the head of his own troops and those of Chaereas. Thrasybulus’ exhausted men were revived by the sight of reinforcements, and a long and bitter battle ensued. Finally, Pharnabazus’ mercenaries turned to flight and broke the line, and the Spartans were driven from the field as well.

With Thrasybulus’ men safe, Theramenes was free to go to the aid of Alcibiades, still fighting for the ships at the shore. Mindarus now found himself caught between the troops of Alcibiades and Theramenes’ corps, approaching from another direction. With the boldness, courage, and leadership he had shown in the past, the Spartan com- mander calmy divided his army in half, sending one part to meet the approaching forces of Theramenes, while he formed a line against Alcibiades. He fought bravely and well but finally died fighting among the ships. His death deprived his men of all poise and courage, and both Peloponnesians and their allies panicked and fled. Only the arrival of Pharnabazus with his cavalry cut short the Athenian pursuit.

The Athenians went back to their ships and withdrew to Proconnesus for a night of rest and rejoicing while the Peloponnesians from within the city of Cyzicus and the survivors of the battle fled to safety at a camp of Pharnabazus’.112 The next day the Athenians could return at leisure to find that the enemy had abandoned Cyzicus, so its citizens had no choice but to return to their former allegiance. The Athenians took many prisoners, a vast

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