How Eteonicus Quashed the Conspiracy of the Reed
The troops that were at Chios under Eteonicus subsisted, so long as the summer lasted, upon the produce of the season and by working for hire up and down the island; when winter came on, however, and they were without food and poorly clad and unshod, they got together and agreed to make an attack upon Chios; and it was decided that those who approved this plan should carry a reed, so that they could tell how numerous they were. Now when Eteonicus learned of the plot, he was uncertain how to deal with the matter on account of the great number of the reed-bearers. To attack them openly seemed to him to be dangerous, for he feared that they might rush to their arms, gain possession of the city, turn enemies, and so ruin everything, in case they should prevail; while, in the other case, to be putting allied soldiers to death in such numbers was also clearly a serious matter, for in this way the Lacedaemonians might incur harsh criticism among the other Greeks as well, and the troops might be disaffected toward the cause. Accordingly he took with him fifteen men armed with daggers and proceeded through the city, and meeting a man suffering from ophthalmia as he was leaving a physician’s house, a reed in his hand, he put him to death. And when an uproar resulted and people asked why the man had been put to death, Eteonicus ordered his followers to give out word that it was because he had the reed. As a result of this announcement all those who were carrying reeds threw them away, each man as he heard the report being afraid that he might be seen with one. After this Eteonicus called together the Chians and bade them contribute money, in order that the sailors might get their pay and not attempt anything seditious; and the Chians did so. At the same time he ordered his men to embark upon their ships; and going along past each ship in its turn he encouraged and advised them at length, as though he knew nothing of what had happened, and distributed a month’s pay to all hands.
Lysander and the Fall Of Athens
The Chians and the rest of the allies sent ambassadors, and envoys from Cyrus with them, to Lacedaemon to ask for Lysander as commander of the fleet, a man who was in high favour among the allies as a result of his former command, when he won the battle of Notium. And the Lacedaemonians granted them Lysander as vice-admiral, but made [another] admiral; for it was contrary to their law for a man to hold the office of admiral twice; nevertheless, they put the ships under the command of Lysander—the war having now lasted twenty-five years.
In the following year—Archytas being now ephor, and Alexias archon at Athens–Lysander arrived at Ephesus and sent for Eteonicus to come thither from Chios with the ships, while he also gathered together all the other ships that were anywhere to be found; then he occupied himself with refitting these vessels and building more. Meantime he went to Cyrus and asked for money…Cyrus assigned to Lysander all the tribute which came in from his cities and belonged to him personally, and gave him also the balance he had on hand… Lysander distributed pay to his men… sailed from Rhodes along the coast of Ionia to the Hellespont, in order to prevent the passing out of the grain-ships and to take action against the cities which had revolted from the Lacedaemonians.
The Decisive Battle
Lysander coasted to Lampsacus, which was an ally of the Athenians, attacked the city and captured it by storm, whereupon the soldiers plundered it. It was a wealthy city, full of wine and grain and all other kinds of supplies. But Lysander let go all the free persons who were captured. Now the Athenians, who had been sailing in the wake of Lysander’s fleet, sailed to Aegospotami, which is opposite Lampsacus. There they took dinner. And during the ensuing night, when early dawn came, Lysander gave the signal for his men to take breakfast and embark upon their ships, and after making everything ready for battle and stretching the side screens, he gave orders that no one should stir from his position or put out. At sunrise the Athenians formed their ships in line for battle at the mouth of the harbour. Since, however, Lysander did not put out against them, they sailed back again, when it grew late in the day, to Aegospotami. Thereupon Lysander ordered the swiftest of his ships to follow the Athenians and, when they had disembarked, to observe what they did, and then to sail back and report to him; and he did not disembark his men from their vessels until these scout-ships had returned. This he did for four days; and the Athenians continued to sail out and offer battle. Meantime Alcibiades, who could discern from his castle that the Athenians were moored on an open shore, with no city near by, and were fetching their provisions from Sestus, a distance of fifteen stadia from their ships, while the enemy, being in a harbour and near a city, had everything needful, advised them to shift their anchorage to Sestus and thus gain a harbour and a city; “for if you are there,” he said, “you will be able to fight when you please.” The generals, however, bade him be gone; for they said that they were in command now, not he. And now Lysander, on the fifth day the Athenians sailed out against him, told his men, who followed them back, that as soon as they saw that the enemy had disembarked and had scattered up and down the Chersonese, —and the Athenians did this far more freely every day, not only because they bought their provisions at a distance, but also because they presumed to think lightly of Lysander for not putting out to meet them,—they were to sail back to him and to hoist a shield when midway in their course. And they did just as he had ordered. Straightway Lysander gave a signal to his fleet to sail with all speed, and Thorax with his troops went with the fleet. Now when [a general] saw the oncoming attack, he signalled the Athenians to hasten with all their might to their ships. But since his men were scattered here and there, some of the ships had but two banks of oars manned, some but one, and some were entirely empty; [eight ships] were fully manned, put to sea in close order, and the Paralus with them, but all the rest Lysander captured on the beach. He also gathered up on the shore most of the men of their crews;
After this Lysander gathered together the allies and bade them deliberate regarding the disposition to be made of the prisoners. Thereupon many charges began to be urged against the Athenians, not only touching the outrages they had already committed and what they had voted to do if they were victorious in the battle, —namely, to cut off the right hand of every man taken alive,—but also the fact that after capturing two triremes, they had thrown the crews overboard to a man. …It was finally resolved to put to death all of the prisoners who were Athenians… Now the Athenian garrisons, and in fact every other Athenian whom he saw anywhere, Lysander sent home to Athens, giving them safe conduct if they sailed to that one place and not if they went to any other; for he knew that the more people were collected in the city and Piraeus, the more quickly there would be a scarcity of provisions. Then, after leaving a Laconian as governor, he sailed back to Lampsacus and occupied himself with refitting his ships.
The Fall of Athens Walls
It was at night that the Paralus arrived at Athens with tidings of the disaster, and a sound of wailing ran from Piraeus through the long walls to the city, one man passing on the news to another; and during that night no one slept, all mourning, not for the lost alone, but far more for their own selves, thinking that they would suffer such treatment as they had visited upon many other Greek peoples… Indeed, the rest of the Greek world also had fallen away from the Athenians immediately after the battle, with the exception of Samos; there the people slaughtered the aristocrats and held possession of their city. … Now the Athenians, being thus besieged by land and by sea, since they had neither ships nor allies nor provisions, thought that there was no way out, save only to suffer the pains which they had themselves inflicted… On this account they held out steadfastly, refusing to make overtures for peace even though many were dying in the city from starvation. … When [someone] said in the Senate that it was best to make peace with the Lacedaemonians on the terms they offered—that they should tear down the two long walls,—he was thrown into prison, and a decree was passed forbidding the making of a proposal of this sort. This being the condition of affairs in Athens, Theramenes, upon being sent [as ambassador], stayed with Lysander three months and more, waiting for the time when, on account of the failure of provisions, the Athenians would agree to anything and everything which might be proposed. …When the ambassadors arrived at Lacedaemon, the ephors called an assembly, at which the Corinthians and Thebans in particular, though many other Greeks agreed with them, opposed making a treaty with the Athenians and favoured destroying their city. The Lacedaemonians, however, said that they would not enslave a Greek city which had done great service amid the greatest perils that had befallen Greece, and they offered to make peace on these conditions: that the Athenians should destroy the long walls and the walls of Piraeus, surrender all their ships except twelve, allow their exiles to return, count the same people friends and enemies as the Lacedaemonians did, and follow the Lacedaemonians both by land and by sea wherever they should lead the way. So the ambassadors reported to the Assembly at Athens the terms on which the Lacedaemonians offered to make peace; …It was voted to accept the peace.
Lysander sailed into Piraeus, the exiles returned, and the Peloponnesians with great enthusiasm began to tear down the walls to the music of flute-girls, thinking that that day was the beginning of freedom for Greece.
References:
- Xenophon. Xenophon in Seven Volumes, 1. Translated by Carleton L. Brownson. Perseus Digital Library. Accessed January 3, 2022. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0206.