Battle of Cynossema
Battle of Cynossema | |
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Part of the 40°08′33″N 26°23′16″E / 40.142369°N 26.38775°E | |
Result | Athenian victory |
Thrasybulus
The naval Battle of Cynossema (
Prelude
In the wake of Athens' defeat in the
By withdrawing their ships from the Hellespont to Samos, the Athenians were able to reestablish their naval superiority in the Aegean,
Battle
With a substantial Peloponnesian fleet operating in the Hellespont, the crucial trade route through which Athens' grain supply passed, the Athenian fleet had little choice but to pursue Mindarus.[9] Accordingly, Thrasybulus, assuming overall command, led the fleet to Elaeus on the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, where the Athenians spent five days preparing to challenge the 86 Spartan ships at Abydos with their 76 ships.[10] The Athenian fleet sailed in column into the Hellespont, following the northern shore, while the Spartans put out from Abydos on the southern shore. When the Athenian left had rounded the point of Cynossema, the Spartans attacked, planning to outflank the Athenian right and trap the fleet in the Hellespont while driving the center aground on Cynossema.[11] The Athenian center was quickly driven aground, and the left under Thrasyllus, beset by Syracusan ships and unable to see the rest of the fleet around the sharp point, was unable to come to its aid. Thrasybulus on the right, meanwhile, was able to avoid encirclement by extending his line westward, but in doing so lost touch with the center. With the Athenians divided and a substantial portion of their fleet incapacitated, a Spartan victory seemed assured.[12]
At this critical juncture, however, the Peloponnesian line began to fall into disorder as ships broke line to pursue individual Athenian vessels. Seeing this, Thrasybulus turned his ships abruptly and attacked the Spartan left. After routing these ships, the Athenian right bore down on the Peloponnesian center, and, catching them in a state of disorganization, quickly routed them as well. The Syracusans on the right, seeing the rest of their fleet in flight, abandoned their attack on the Athenian left and fled as well.[12] The narrowness of the straits, which ensured that the Peloponnesians had only a short way to go to safety, limited the damage the Athenians could inflict, but by day's end they had captured 21 Spartan ships to the 15 of theirs that the Spartans had taken in the early fighting. The Athenians set up a trophy on Cynossema and put in at Sestos, while the Peloponnesians made their way back to Abydos.[13]
Aftermath
In the days after the battle, the Athenians refitted their ships at Sestos and dispatched a small detachment to Cyzicus, recapturing that town and seizing 8 triremes encountered along the way.[14] A trireme was dispatched to Athens, where the unexpected good news restored the people's confidence in the war effort.[13] Historian Donald Kagan has emphasized the effect this victory had on the Athenians. Forced to fight on terms chosen by their enemies, at a time when the city lacked the resources to build another fleet, the Athenians could have lost the war on that day at Cynossema. Instead, they won a victory that allowed them to continue fighting, with victory still seeming possible.[15]
References
- ^ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 8.14-17
- ^ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 8.17-18
- ^ Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 340-354
- ^ Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 359
- ^ Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 387
- ^ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 8.80. Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 394 provides the late July date.
- ^ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 8.99
- ^ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 8.101-103
- ^ Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 404
- ^ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 8.103
- ^ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 8.104
- ^ a b Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 8.105
- ^ a b Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 8.106
- ^ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 8.107
- ^ Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 406
Sources
- ISBN 0-670-03211-5
- Thucydides. . Translated by Richard Crawley – via Wikisource.