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[5] An important festival held in October at Athens, and in nearly all
Ionic cities. Its objects were (1) the recognition of a common
descent from Ion, the son of Apollo Patrous; and (2) the
maintenance of the ties of clanship. See Grote, "Hist. of Greece,"
vol. viii. p. 260 foll. (2d ed.); Jebb, "Theophr." xviii. 5.

[6] I.e. in sign of mourning.

Now there came forward in the assembly a man, who said that he had
escaped drowning by clinging to a meal tub. The poor fellows perishing
around him had commissioned him, if he succeeded in saving himself, to
tell the people of Athens how bravely they had fought for their
fatherland, and how the generals had left them there to drown.

Presently Euryptolemus, the son of Peisianax, and others served a
notice of indictment on Callixenus, insisting that his proposal was
unconstitutional, and this view of the case was applauded by some
members of the assembly. But the majority kept crying out that it was
monstrous if the people were to be hindered by any stray individual
from doing what seemed to them right. And when Lysicus, embodying the
spirit of those cries, formally proposed that if these persons would
not abandon their action, they should be tried by the same vote along
with the generals: a proposition to which the mob gave vociferous
assent; and so these were compelled to abandon their summonses. Again,
when some of the Prytanes[7] objected to put a resolution to the vote
which was in itself unconstitutional, Callixenus again got up and
accused them in the same terms, and the shouting began again. "Yes,
summons all who refuse," until the Prytanes, in alarm, all agreed with
one exception to permit the voting. This obstinate dissentient was
Socrates, the son of Sophroniscus, who insisted that he would do
nothing except in accordance with the law.[8] After this Euryptolemus
rose and spoke in behalf of the generals. He said:--

[7] Prytanes--the technical term for the senators of the presiding
tribe, who acted as presidents of the assembly. Their chairman for
the day was called Epistates.

[8] For the part played by Socrates see further Xenophon's
"Memorabilia," I. i. 18; IV. iv. 2.

"I stand here, men of Athens, partly to accuse Pericles, though he is
a close and intimate connection of my own, and Diomedon, who is my
friend, and partly to urge certain considerations on their behalf, but
chiefly to press upon you what seems to me the best course for the
State collectively. I hold them to blame in that they dissuaded their
colleagues from their intention to send a despatch to the senate and
this assembly, which should have informed you of the orders given to
Theramenes and Thrasybulus to take forty-seven ships of war and pick
up the shipwrecked crews, and of the neglect of the two officers to
carry out those orders. And it follows that though the offence was
committed by one or two, the responsibility must be shared by all; and
in return for kindness in the past, they are in danger at present of
sacrificing their lives to the machinations of these very men, and
others whom I could mention. In danger, do I say, of losing their
lives? No, not so, if you will suffer me to persuade you to do what is
just and right; if you will only adopt such a course as shall enable
you best to discover the truth and shall save you from too late
repentance, when you find you have transgressed irremediably against
heaven and your own selves. In what I urge there is no trap nor plot
whereby you can be deceived by me or any other man; it is a
straightforward course which will enable you to discover and punish
the offender by whatever process you like, collectively or
individually. Let them have, if not more, at any rate one whole day to
make what defence they can for themselves; and trust to your own
unbiased judgment to guide you to the right conclusion.

"You know, men of Athens, the exceeding stringency of the decree of
Cannonus,[9] which orders that man, whosoever he be, who is guilty of
treason against the people of Athens, to be put in irons, and so to
meet the charge against him before the people. If he be convicted, he
is to be thrown into the Barathron and perish, and the property of
such an one is to be confiscated, with the exception of the tithe
which falls to the goddess. I call upon you to try these generals in
accordance with this decree. Yes, and so help me God--if it please
you, begin with my own kinsman Pericles for base would it be on my
part to make him of more account than the whole of the State. Or, if
you prefer, try them by that other law, which is directed against
robbers of temples and betrayers of their country, which says: if a
man betray his city or rob a sacred temple of the gods, he shall be
tried before a law court, and if he be convicted, his body shall not
be buried in Attica, and his goods shall be confiscated to the State.
Take your choice as between these two laws, men of Athens, and let the
prisoners be tried by one or other. Let three portions of a day be
assigned to each respectively, one portion wherein they shall listen
to their accusation, a second wherein they shall make their defence,
and a third wherein you shall meet and give your votes in due order on
the question of their guilt or innocence. By this procedure the
malefactors will receive the desert of their misdeeds in full, and
those who are innocent will owe you, men of Athens, the recovery of
their liberty, in place of unmerited destruction.[10]

[9] "There was a rule in Attic judicial procedure, called the psephism
of Kannonus (originally adopted, we do not know when, on the
proposition of a citizen of that name, as a psephism or decree for
some particular case, but since generalised into common practice,
and grown into great prescriptive reverence), which peremptorily
forbade any such collective trial or sentence, and directed that a
separate judicial vote should in all cases be taken for or against
each accused party." Grote, "Hist. of Greece," vol. viii. p. 266
(2d ed.)

[10] Reading {adikos apolountai}.

"On your side, in trying the accused by recognised legal procedure,
you will show that you obey the dictates of pious feeling, and can
regard the sanctity of an oath, instead of joining hands with our
enemies the Lacedaemonians and fighting their battles. For is it not
to fight their battles, if you take their conquerors, the men who
deprived them of seventy vessels, and at the moment of victory sent
them to perdition untried and in the teeth of the law? What are you
afraid of, that you press forward with such hot haste? Do you imagine
that you may be robbed of the power of life and death over whom you
please, should you condescend to a legal trial? but that you are safe
if you take shelter behind an illegality, like the illegality of
Callixenus, when he worked upon the senate to propose to this assembly
to deal with the accused by a single vote? But consider, you may
actually put to death an innocent man, and then repentance will one
day visit you too late. Bethink you how painful and unavailing remorse
will then be, and more particularly if your error has cost a fellow-
creature his life. What a travesty of justice it would be if in the
case of a man like Aristarchus,[11] who first tried to destroy the
democracy and then betrayed Oenoe to our enemy the Thebans, you
granted him a day for his defence, consulting his wishes, and conceded
to him all the other benefits of the law; whereas now you are
proposing to deprive of these same privileges your own generals, who
in every way conformed to your views and defeated your enemies. Do not
you, of all men, I implore you, men of Athens, act thus. Why, these
laws are your own, to them, beyond all else you owe your greatness.
Guard them jealously; in nothing, I implore you, act without their
sanction.

[11] See below, II. iii; also cf. Thuc. viii. 90, 98.

"But now, turn for a moment and consider with me the actual
occurrences which have created the suspicion of misconduct on the part
of our late generals. The sea-fight had been fought and won, and the
ships had returned to land, when Diomedon urged that the whole
squadron should sail out in line and pick up the wrecks and floating
crews. Erasinides was in favour of all the vessels sailing as fast as
possible to deal with the enemy's forces at Mitylene. And Thrasylus
represented that both objects could be effected, by leaving one
division of the fleet there, and with the rest sailing against the
enemy; and if this resolution were agreed to, he advised that each of
the eight generals should leave three ships of his own division with
the ten vessels of the taxiarchs, the ten Samian vessels, and the
three belonging to the navarchs. These added together make forty-
seven, four for each of the lost vessels, twelve in number. Among the
taxiarchs left behind, two were Thrasybulus and Theramenes, the men
who in the late meeting of this assembly undertook to accuse the
generals. With the remainder of the fleet they were to sail to attack
the enemy's fleet. Everything, you must admit, was duly and admirably
planned. It was only common justice, therefore, that those whose duty
it was to attack the enemy should render an account for all
miscarriages of operations against the enemy; while those who were
commissioned to pick up the dead and dying should, if they failed to
carry out the instructions of the generals, be put on trial to explain
the reasons of the failure. This indeed I may say in behalf of both
parites. It was really the storm which, in spite of what the generals
had planned, prevented anything being done. There are witnesses ready
to attest the truth of this: the men who escaped as by a miracle, and
among these one of these very generals, who was on a sinking ship and
was saved. And this man, who needed picking up as much as anybody at
that moment, is, they insist, to be tried by one and the same vote as
those who neglected to perform their orders! Once more, I beg you, men
of Athens, to accept your victory and your good fortune, instead of
behaving like the desperate victims of misfortune and defeat.
Recognise the finger of divine necessity; do not incur the reproach of
stony-heartedness by discovering treason where there was merely
powerlessness, and condemning as guilty those who were prevented by
the storm from carrying out their instructions. Nay! you will better
satisfy the demands of justice by crowning these conquerors with
wreaths of victory than by punishing them with death at the
instigation of wicked men."

At the conclusion of his speech Euryptolemus proposed, as an
amendment, that the prisoners should, in accordance with the decree of
Cannonus, be tried each separately, as against the proposal of the
senate to try them all by a single vote.

At the show of hands the tellers gave the majority in favour of
Euryptolemus's amendment, but upon the application of Menecles, who
took formal exception[12] to this decision, the show of hands was gone
through again, and now the verdict was in favour of the resolution of
the senate. At a later date the balloting was made, and by the votes
recorded the eight generals were condemned, and the six who were in
Athens were put to death.

[12] For this matter cf. Schomann, "De Comitiis Athen." p. 161 foll.;
also Grote, "Hist. of Grece," vol. viii. p. 276 note (2d ed.)

Not long after, repentance seized the Athenians, and they passed a
decree authorising the public prosecution of those who had deceived
the people, and the appointment of proper securities for their persons
until the trial was over. Callixenus was one of those committed for
trail. There were, besides Callixenus, four others against whom true
bills were declared, and they were all five imprisoned by their
sureties. But all subsequently effected their escape before the trial,
at the time of the sedition in which Cleophon[13] was killed.
Callixenus eventually came back when the party in Piraeus returned to
the city, at the date of the amnesty,[14] but only to die of hunger,
an object of universal detestation.

[13] Cleophon, the well-known demagogue. For the occasion of his death
see Grote, "Hist. of Greece," vol. viii. pp. 166, 310 (2d ed.);
Prof. Jebb, "Attic Orators," i. 266, ii. 288. For his character,
as popularly conceived, cf. Aristoph. "Frogs," 677.

[14] B.C. 403.

BOOK II

I

To return to Eteonicus and his troops in Chios. During summer they
were well able to support themselves on the fruits of the season, or
by labouring for hire in different parts of the island, but with the
approach of winter these means of subsistence began to fail. Ill-clad
at the same time, and ill-shod, they fell to caballing and arranging
plans to attack the city of Chios. It was agreed amongst them, that in
order to guage their numbers, every member of the conspiracy should
carry a reed. Eteonicus got wind of the design, but was at a loss how
to deal with it, considering the number of these reed-bearers. To make
an open attack upon them seemed dangerous. It would probably lead to a
rush to arms, in which the conspirators would seize the city and
commence hostilities, and, in the event of their success, everything
hitherto achieved would be lost. Or again, the destruction on his part
of many fellow-creatures and allies was a terrible alternative, which
would place the Spartans in an unenviable light with regard to the
rest of Hellas, and render the soldiers ill-disposed to the cause in
hand. Accordingly he took with him fifteen men, armed with daggers,
and marched through the city. Falling in with one of the reed-bearers,
a man suffering from ophthalmia, who was returning from the surgeon's
house, he put him to death. This led to some uproar, and people asked
why the man was thus slain. By Eteonicus's orders the answer was set
afloat, "because he carried a reed." As the explanation circulated,
one reed-bearer after another threw away the symbol, each one saying
to himself, as he heard the reason given, "I have better not be seen
with this." After a while Eteonicus called a meeting of the Chians,
and imposed upon them a contribution of money, on the ground that with
pay in their pockets the sailors would have no temptation to
revolutionary projects. The Chians acquiesced. Whereupon Eteonicus
promptly ordered his crews to get on board their vessels. He then
rowed alongside each ship in turn, and addressed the men at some
length in terms of encouragement and cheery admonition, just as though
he knew nothing of what had taken place, and so distributed a month's
pay to every man on board.

After this the Chians and the other allies held a meeting in Ephesus,
and, considering the present posture of affairs, determined to send
ambassadors to Lacedaemon with a statement of the facts, and a request
that Lysander might be sent out to take command of the fleet.
Lysander's high reputation among the allies dated back to his former
period of office, when as admiral he had won the naval victory of
Notium. The ambassadors accordingly were despatched, accompanied by
envoys also from Cyrus, charged with the same message. The
Lacedaemonians responded by sending them Lysander as second in
command,[1] with Aracus as admiral, since it was contrary to their
custom that the same man should be admiral twice. At the same time the
fleet was entrusted to Lysander.[2]

[1] Epistoleus. See above.

[2] "At this date the war had lasted five-and-twenty years." So the
MSS. read. The words are probably an interpolation.

It was in this year[3] that Cyrus put Autoboesaces and Mitraeus to
death. These were sons of the sister of Dariaeus[4] (the daughter of
Xerxes, the father of Darius).[5] He put them to death for neglecting,
when they met him, to thrust their hands into the sleeve (or "kore")
which is a tribute of respect paid to the king alone. This "kore" is
longer than the ordinary sleeve, so long in fact that a man with his
hand inside is rendered helpless. In consequence of this act on the
part of Cyrus, Hieramenes[6] and his wife urged upon Dariaeus the
danger of overlooking such excessive insolence on the part of the
young prince, and Dariaeus, on the plea of sickness, sent a special
embassy to summon Cyrus to his bedside.

[3] B.C. 406.

[4] Dariaeus, i.e. Darius, but the spelling of the name is correct,
and occurs in Ctesias, though in the "Anabasis" we have the
spelling Darius.

[5] These words look like the note of a foolish and ignorant scribe.
He ought to have written, "The daughter of Artaxerxes and own
sister of Darius, commonly so called."

[6] For Hieramenes cf. Thuc. viii. 95, and Prof. Jowett ad loc.

B.C. 405. In the following year[7] Lysander arrived at Ephesus, and
sent for Eteonicus with his ships from Chios, and collected all other
vessels elsewhere to be found. His time was now devoted to refitting
the old ships and having new ones built in Antandrus. He also made a
journey to the court of Cyrus with a request for money. All Cyrus
could say was, that not only the money sent by the king was spent, but
much more besides; and he pointed out the various sums which each of
the admirals had received, but at the same time he gave him what he
asked for. Furnished with this money, Lysander appointed captains to
the different men-of-war, and remitted to the sailors their arrears of
pay. Meanwhile the Athenian generals, on their side, were devoting
their energies to the improvements of their navy at Samos.

[7] The MSS. add "during the ephorate of Archytas and the archonship
at Athens of Alexias," which, though correct enough, is probably
an interpolation.

It was now Cyrus's turn to send for Lysander. It was the moment at
which the envoy from his father had arrived with the message: "Your
father is on his sick-bed and desires your presence." The king lay at
Thamneria, in Media, near the territory of the Cadusians, against whom
he had marched to put down a revolt. When Lysander presented himself,
Cyrus was urgent with him not to engage the Athenians at sea unless he
had many more ships than they. "The king," he added, "and I have
plenty of wealth, so that, as far as money goes, you can man plenty of
vessels." He then consigned to him all the tributes from the several
cities which belonged to him personally, and gave him the ready money
which he had as a gift; and finally, reminding him of the sincere
friendship he entertained towards the state of Lacedaemon, as well as
to himself personally, he set out up country to visit his father.
Lysander, finding himself thus left with the complete control of the
property of Cyrus (during the absence of that prince, so summoned to
the bedside of his father), was able to distribute pay to his troops,
after which he set sail for the Ceramic Gulf of Caria. Here he stormed
a city in alliance with the Athenians named Cedreae, and on the
following day's assault took it, and reduced the inhabitants to
slavery. These were of a mixed Hellene and barbaric stock. From
Cedreae he continued his voyage to Rhodes. The Athenians meanwhile,
using Samos as their base of operations, were employed in devastating
the king's territory, or in swooping down upon Chios and Ephesus, and
in general were preparing for a naval battle, having but lately chosen
three new generals in addition to those already in office, whose names
were Menander, Tydeus, and Cephisodotus. Now Lysander, leaving Rhodes,
and coasting along Ionia, made his way to the Hellespont, having an
eye to the passage of vessels through the Straits, and, in a more
hostile sense, on the cities which had revolted from Sparta. The
Athenians also set sail from Chios, but stood out to open sea, since
the seaboard of Asia was hostile to them.

Lysander was again on the move; leaving Abydos, he passed up channel
to Lampsacus, which town was allied with Athens; the men of Abydos and
the rest of the troops advancing by land, under the command of the
Lacedaemonian Thorax. They then attacked and took by storm the town,
which was wealthy, and with its stores of wine and wheat and other
commodities was pillaged by the soldiery. All free-born persons,
however, were without exception released by Lysander. And now the
Athenian fleet, following close on his heels, came to moorings at
Elaeus, in the Chersonesus, one hundred and eighty sail in all. It was
not until they had reached this place, and were getting their early
meal, that the news of what had happened at Lampsacus reached them.
Then they instantly set sail again to Sestos, and, having halted long
enough merely to take in stores, sailed on further to Aegospotami, a
point facing Lampsacus, where the Hellespont is not quite two miles[8]
broad. Here they took their evening meal.

[8] Lit. fifteen stades.

The night following, or rather early next morning, with the first
streak of dawn, Lysander gave the signal for the men to take their
breakfasts and get on board their vessels; and so, having got all
ready for a naval engagement, with his ports closed and movable
bulwarks attached, he issued the order that no one was to stir from
his post or put out to sea. As the sun rose the Athenians drew up
their vessels facing the harbour, in line of battle ready for action;
but Lysander declining to come out to meet them, as the day advanced
they retired again to Aegospotami. Then Lysander ordered the swiftest
of his ships to follow the Athenians, and as soon as the crews had
disembarked, to watch what they did, sail back, and report to him.
Until these look-outs returned he would permit no disembarkation from
his ships. This performance he repeated for four successive days, and
each day the Athenians put out to sea and challenged an engagement.

But now Alcibiades, from one of his fortresses, could espy the
position of his fellow-countrymen, moored on an open beach beyond
reach of any city, and forced to send for supplies to Sestos, which
was nearly two miles distant, while their enemies were safely lodged
in a harbour, with a city adjoining, and everything within reach. The
situation did not please him, and he advised them to shift their
anchorage to Sestos, where they would have the advantage of a harbour
and a city. "Once there," he concluded, "you can engage the enemy
whenever it suits you." But the generals, and more particularly Tydeus
and Menander, bade him go about his business. "We are generals now--
not you," they said; and so he went away. And now for five days in
succession the Athenians had sailed out to offer battle, and for the
fifth time retired, followed by the same swift sailors of the enemy.
But this time Lysander's orders to the vessels so sent in pursuit
were, that as soon as they saw the enemy's crew fairly disembarked and
dispersed along the shores of the Chersonesus (a practice, it should
be mentioned, which had grown upon them from day to day owing to the
distance at which eatables had to be purchased, and out of sheer
contempt, no doubt, of Lysander, who refused to accept battle), they
were to begin their return voyage, and when in mid-channel to hoist a
shield. The orders were punctually carried out, and Lysander at once
signalled to his whole squadron to put across with all speed, while
Thorax, with the land forces, was to march parallel with the fleet
along the coast. Aware of the enemy's fleet, which he could see
bearing down upon him, Conon had only time to signal to the crews to
join their ships and rally to the rescue with all their might. But the
men were scattered far and wide, and some of the vessels had only two
out of their three banks of rowers, some only a single one, while
others again were completely empty. Conon's own ship, with seven
others in attendance on him and the "Paralus,"[9] put out to sea, a
little cluster of nine vessels, with their full complement of men; but
every one of the remaining one hundred and seventy-one vessels were
captured by Lysander on the beach. As to the men themselves, the large
majority of them were easily made prisoners on shore, a few only
escaping to the small fortresses of the neighbourhood. Meanwhile Conon
and his nine vessels made good their escape. For himself, knowing that
the fortune of Athens was ruined, he put into Abarnis, the promontory
of Lampsacus, and there picked up the great sails of Lysander's ships,
and then with eight ships set sail himself to seek refuge with
Evagoras in Cyprus, while the "Paralus" started for Athens with
tidings of what had taken place.

[9] The "Paralus"--the Athenian sacred vessel; cf. Thuc. iii. 33 et
passim.

Lysander, on his side, conveyed the ships and prisoners and all other
spoil back to Lampsacus, having on board some of the Athenian
generals, notably Philocles and Adeimantus. On the very day of these
achievements he despatched Theopompus, a Milesian privateersman, to
Lacedaemon to report what had taken place. This envoy arrived within
three days and delivered his message. Lysander's next step was to
convene the allies and bid them deliberate as to the treatment of the
prisoners. Many were the accusations here levied against the
Athenians. There was talk of crimes committed against the law of
Hellas, and of cruelties sanctioned by popular decrees; which, had
they conquered in the late sea-fight, would have been carried out;
such as the proposal to cut off the right hand of every prisoner taken
alive, and lastly the ill-treatment of two captured men-of-war, a
Corinthian and an Andrian vessel, when every man on board had been
hurled headlong down the cliff. Philocles was the very general of the
Athenians who had so ruthlessly destroyed those men. Many other tales
were told; and at length a resolution was passed to put all the
Athenian prisoners, with the exception of Adeimantus, to death. He
alone, it was pleaded, had taken exception to the proposal to cut off
the prisoners' hands. On the other hand, he was himself accused by
some people of having betrayed the fleet. As to Philocles, Lysander
put to him one question, as the officer who had thrown[10] the
Corinthians and Andrians down the cliff: What fate did the man deserve
to suffer who had embarked on so cruel a course of illegality against
Hellenes? and so delivered him to the executioner.

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