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Antiochus of Athens was a commander of
ancient Greece during the Peloponnesian War who was left by the Athenian
commander Alcibiades at
Notium in command of the Athenian fleet in
407, with strict injunctions not to engage the Spartan commander
Lysander. Antiochus was
the master of Alcibiades' own ship, and his personal friend; he was a skilful
seaman, but arrogant and heedless of consequences. His intimacy with Alcibiades
had first arisen upon an occasion mentioned by the writer Plutarch, who tells
us that Alcibiades in one of his first appearances in the popular assembly
allowed a tame quail to escape from under his cloak, which occurrence suspended
the business of the assembly, till it was caught by Antiochus and given to
Alcibiades. Antiochus gave no heed to the injunctions of Alcibiades, and
provoked Lysander to an engagement in what came to be known as the Battle of
Notium, in which fifteen Athenian ships were lost, and Antiochus himself was
killed. This defeat was a small but symbolic victory for the Spartans, and one
of the main causes that led to the second banishment of Alcibiades. It firmly
established Lysander as a commander who was capable of defeating the Athenians
at sea.
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