Battle of Cyzicus
Battle of Cyzicus | |
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Part of the Hellespont, modern Turkey 40°23′N 27°53′E / 40.38°N 27.89°E | |
Result | Athenian victory |
Territorial changes | Cyzicus and other cities in the region captured by Athens |
Achaemenid Empire
Thrasybulus
Theramenes
Chaereas
Hippocrates
Clearchus
Hermocrates
Pharnabazus
The Battle of Cyzicus (Greek: Kyzikos) took place in May or June 410 BC during the
Prelude
Athens had been debilitated after the
In the wake of the Athenian victory at
Command structure and strength of the opposing forces
Pharnabazus controlled large Persian land forces in his
Alcibiades, as the senior general, was in command of the united Athenian fleet, Theramenes and Thrasybulus acting as his juniors.[8] Alcibiades was supported by the democrats, having been elected by the Athenian fleet on Samos.[9] Theramenes had been appointed by the oligarchic ‘5,000’ in Athens.[10] Donald Kagan disputes Alcibiades's supreme command stating that Thrasybulus, as commander of the whole fleet and victor of Cynossema and Abydos, probably had the strategic command at Cyzicus while Alcibiades was only in command of his own squadron.[11] As Cornelius Nepos states: "In the Peloponnesian War Thrasybulus accomplished many victories without Alcibiades; the latter accomplished nothing without the former, yet he, by some gift of nature gained all the credit."[12] Nevertheless the generals were, at this stage, cooperating closely. The Peloponnesians were unaware of the consolidation of the Athenian fleets and the increase in their number. The Athenian fleet is estimated to have been 86 triremes.[13]
The battle
The Athenian force entered the Hellespont, and, passing the Spartan base at Abydos by night so as to conceal their numbers, established a base on the island of
Alcibiades's troops, leading the Athenian pursuit, landed and attempted to pull the Spartan ships back out to sea with grappling hooks. Pharnabazus sent his Persian soldiers to intervene; numerically superior and on firmer ground, they began to drive the Athenians into the sea.
Aftermath
In the wake of this dramatic victory, the Athenians had full control of the waters of the Hellespont. The next day, they took Cyzicus, which surrendered without a fight. An intercepted letter from the Spartan troops stranded near Cyzicus reads “The ships are gone. Mindarus is dead. The men are starving. We know not what to do."[18] Demoralized by the devastation of their fleet, the Spartans sent an embassy to Athens seeking to make peace; the Athenians rejected it.[19]
At Athens, the oligarchic government that had ruled since 411 gave way to a restored democracy within a few months of the battle. An expeditionary force under Thrasyllus was prepared to join the forces in the Hellespont. This force, however, did not depart until over a year after the battle, and although the Athenians eventually recaptured Byzantium and resumed collecting tribute from Chalcedon, they never truly pressed the advantage that Cyzicus had given them. Largely, this was a result of financial inability; even after the victory, the Athenian treasury was hard pressed to support large-scale offensive operations.[3] Meanwhile, the Spartans, with Persian funding, quickly rebuilt their fleet, and would go on to undermine the Athenian advantage. Athens would win only one more naval battle in the war, at Arginusae, and their defeat at Aegospotami in 405 BC would bring the war to a close. Although Cyzicus was a dramatic victory for the Athenians, the Spartans were eventually able to recover their strength and end the war in their favour, with the surrender of Athens and its allies 6 years later.
References
- ^ D. H. Kelly, Xenophon’s Hellenika: a Commentary (ed. J. McDonald), vol. 1, Amsterdam, 2019, p. 76 (Table 13) following K. J. Beloch, Griechische Geschichte, vol. 2.2, Strassburg, 1912, pp. 245-6, 392. But H. Lohse, Quaestiones chronologicae ad Xenophontis Hellenica pertinentes, Leipzig, 1905, pp. 4-5, 10-11 argues for March 410.
- ^ Thucydides, 8.107.1. See L. Breitenbach, Xenophons Hellenica, vol. 1, Berlin, 1884, p. 91; A. Andrewes ‘Notion and Kyzikos: the Sources Compared’, Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 102, p. 23.
- ^ a b Donald Kagan, The Peloponnesian War
- ^ Xenophon, Hellenica, 1.1.11-14. See D. H. Kelly, Xenophon’s Hellenika: a Commentary (ed. J. McDonald), vol. 1, Amsterdam, 2019, pp. 78-81.
- ^ Xenophon, Hellenica, 1.1.13.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 13.49.6.
- ^ Xenophon, Hellenica, 1.1.16; Diodoros Siculus, 13.49.2, 50.2.
- ^ É Delebecque,. Xénophon, Helléniques, Livre I, Paris, 1964, p. 36; cf. D. H. Kelly, Xenophon’s Hellenika: a Commentary (ed. J. McDonald), vol. 1, Amsterdam, 2019, p. 76.
- ^ Thucydides, 8.82.1
- ^ C. W. Fornara, The Athenian Board of Generals, from 501 to 404, Wiesbaden, 1971, pp. 35-6, 67-9.
- ^ D. Kagan, The Fall of the Athenian Empire, Cornell University, 1987, p. 245.
- ^ Cornelius Nepos, Thrasybulus 1.3.
- ^ Xenophon, Hellenica 1.1.11-15. See L. Breitenbach, Xenophons Hellenica, vol. 1, Berlin, 1884, p. 91.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 13.49.5; cf. Xenophon, Hellenica, 1.1.14-15.
- ^ Xenophon, Hellenica, 1.1.17-18; Diodorus Siculus, 13.50.1-2.
- ^ Xenophon, Hellenica, 1.1.18; Diodorus Siculus, 13.50.4-7
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 13.50.5-6
- ^ Xenophon, Hellenica 1.1.23
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, Library 13.52-53
Sources
- Diodorus Siculus, Library
- ISBN 0-670-03211-5
- Xenophon (1890s) [original 4th century BC]. . Translated by Henry Graham Dakyns – via Wikisource.