Conon
Conon (Greek: Κόνων) (before 443 BC – c. 389 BC)[1] was an Athenian general at the end of the Peloponnesian War, who led the Athenian naval forces when they were defeated by a Peloponnesian fleet in the crucial Battle of Aegospotami; later he contributed significantly to the restoration of Athens' political and military power.
Defeat at Aegospotami
Conon had been sent out to lead the Athenian forces following the recall of Alcibiades in 406 BC, and in 405 BC pursued the Peloponnesian fleet under Lysander to the Hellespont. Once there, the Peloponnesian took up a strong defensive position at Lampsacus and as they could not lure them out, the Athenians retreated to Aegospotami. Alcibiades came to warn them of the danger of their position, as they were based on an open beach without harbours, and advised them to move to Sestos about two miles away from where they were retrieving supplies. It seems that Alcibiades' advice was ignored and perhaps ridiculed.
On the fifth day of the stand-off, Lysander sent out scouts to spy on the Athenians. They signalled the main army once the Athenian crews had disembarked to take their meals. Thus when Lysander attacked almost the entire Athenian navy was caught unprepared and captured without resistance, and all the men taken were put to death. It was generally believed that some kind of treachery was involved, but Conon himself was never implicated. His ship was one of nine which escaped the disaster, boldly rushing to Lampsacus where the Spartans had left their fleet's sails (as was typical before a naval battle) and so preventing any effective means of pursuit. One of the nine Athenian ships to escape, the Paralus, returned to Athens, while Conon, with the other eight ships, fled to Evagoras of Cyprus, fearing the judgement of the Athenian people.
Aftermath and later career
As a result of this victory,
First Conon moved up to
After this success, Conon felt it was safe for him to return to Athens. Pharnabazus allowed him to retain part of the fleet, and supplied money for the fortification of
The next year the Spartans had opened negotiations with the Persians, and in order to secure their position in Greece offered to hand over all the cities in Anatolia to them. The Athenians sent delegates (including Conon) to announce this as unacceptable, which Tiribazus understood to mean that they still hoped to recover their empire and, outraged by this about-face, threw them in prison, Conon among them. Ancient writers give conflicting accounts of his end: some claim that he was sent into the interior of Asia and put to death; other accounts, probably more likely, record that he retired to Cyprus and died there.[2] His son Timotheus later became another prominent general.
References
Further reading
- Schmitt, Rüdiger (1992). "CONON OF ATHENS". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VI, Fasc. 2. pp. 133–134.
- Strauss, Barry S. (1984). "Thrasybulus and Conon: A Rivalry in Athens in the 390s B.C.". American Journal of Philology. 105 (1). The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 105, No. 1: 37–48. JSTOR 294624.
- Duane A. March, "Konon and the Great King's Fleet," Historia (Franz Steiner Verlag) vol. 46, no. 3 (1997), 257–269.
- Asmonti, Luca 2015, Conon the Athenian: Warfare and Politics in the Aegean, 414-386 B.C.. Historia: Franz Steiner Verlag.