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The battle of Abydos in 411 was a second Athenian victory
won in the Hellespont during 411, and played a major part in securing Athens's
food supplies from the Black Sea and in restoring morale after the disaster at
Syracuse in 413 (Great Peloponnesian War).
This was the first battle to take place after Thucydides ends, and we thus
have to rely on the accounts of Xenophon and Diodorus Siculus. Their accounts
of the battle are similar in outline, but differ in some details. In both
versions the battle begins when Dorieus, son of Diagoras, a Rhodian serving on
the Peloponnesian side and commanding a fleet from Rhodes entered the
Hellespont. He was spotted by the Athenians, and a chase developed. The
Rhodians were forced to run for the shore, where they came under severe
pressure. Mindarus, the
Peloponnesian admiral in the Hellespont, saw this battle developed and sailed
out with his main fleet. A major naval battle then developed between the
Athenian and Peloponnesian fleets. This was a hard-fought battle until
Alcibiades arrived with
Athenian reinforcements. At this point the Peloponnesians made for the shore,
where they were saved from a total disaster by their ally the Persian satrap Pharnabazus. The
Athenians managed to capture a number of enemy ships and then withdraw having
won a victory. Both of our sources agree on the first moments of the battle.
Dorieus and his fleet entered the Hellespont where they were spotted by
Athenian lookouts. Xenophon gives Dorieus fourteen ships, Diodorus doesn't
mention the size of this fleet. We now come to our first disagreement. Both
sources agree that the Athenians put to sea to intercept Dorieus, but disagree
on the number of ships involved at this point. Diodorus gives a figure of
seventy four ships, the entire Athenian fleet. Xenophon puts the figure at
twenty, suggesting that only part of the Athenian fleet was involved at this
stage. Dorieus responded by making for the shore, landing at either Dardanus or
Rhoeteum. Both of these places were on the southern shore of the Hellespont,
and were south-west of the main Peloponnesian base at Abydos. The Athenians
followed Dorieus and attempted to capture his beached ships, but apparently
without success. According to Xenophon they eventually gave up and returned to
their own base. In both accounts the Peloponnesian admiral Mindarus saw the
fighting, and put to sea with his main fleet. Diodorus gives him eighty-four
ships in his own fleet and a total of ninety seven once the two fleets were
united, suggesting that Dorieus now had thirteen ships. Mindarus took command
of the right wing, and his Syracusan allies commanded on the left. The
Athenians responded by bringing their entire fleet to face the new threat.
Thrasybulus led their
right wing, facing Mindarus, and
Thrasyllus the left,
facing the Syracusans. Both of our sources agree that the resulting battle was
a hard fought and lengthy affair, lasting from early morning to mid-afternoon
according to Xenophon. It was decided by chance. Alcibiades, now back in
Athenian service, arrived in the Hellespont with either 18 or 20 ships. At
first neither side knew for certain whose side the new arrivals would join, but
it soon became clear that they were Athenians. The Peloponnesians reacted by
attempting to escape to safety back at Abydus, where they would be protected by
the Persian army of Pharnabazus. According to Diodorus the Athenians captured
ten ships during the pursuit, but a storm prevented them from pressing the
pursuit. By the time they caught up with the Peloponnesians, they had run
ashore and joined up with the Persians, and despite their best efforts the
Athenians were unable to capture any more ships. Xenophon doesn't mention the
storm, but he does agree that fighting took place on the shore, between the
Athenians attempting to capture ships, and the Peloponnesians and Persians. In
this account the Athenians are more successful, capturing thirty enemy ships
without their crews (presumably by towing them off the beach while their crews
were onshore). They also recaptured their own ships lost during the main
hard-fought naval battle. In either case the battle ended as an Athenian
victory, and combined with the earlier victory at
Cynossema in
411 helped to prevent the Peloponnesians cutting of Athens's crucial supply
lines to the Black Sea, where much of the city's food came from.
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The Battle of Abydos was an Athenian naval victory in the
Peloponnesian War. In the battle, the Spartan fleet under Mindarus attempted to
rescue a small allied fleet that had been driven ashore at Dardanus, but was
attacked by the Athenian fleet, under Thrasybulus. The fighting was evenly
contested for a great length of time, but towards evening the arrival of
Alcibiades with Athenian reinforcements tipped the balance in favor of the
Athenians, and the Peloponnesians were forced to flee back to their base at
Abydos, suffering heavy losses along the way.
Opponents: Athens versus Sparta and allies
Commanders and leaders:
Athens - Thrasybulus,
Thrasyllus
Sparta - Mindarus
Strength:
Athens - 74 ships + 18 ships (reinforcement)
Sparta - 97 ships
Casualties and losses:
Athens - Minimal
Sparta - 30 ships
Prelude:
After the Athenian victory at Cynossema,
the Athenian fleet established a base at Sestos, from where it could quickly
respond to any moves by the Spartan fleet at Abydos. Mindarus, the Spartan
navarch, summoned the Syracusan commander Dorieus, with his 14 ships, to join
him at Abydos, hoping to end the war with a decisive victory. Dorieus,
accordingly, sailed north from Rhodes towards the Hellespont. Before reaching
Abydos, however, he was spotted by Athenian lookouts and driven ashore.
Xenophon reports that he was trapped at Rhoeteum, while Diodorus Siculus
reports the location as Dardanus;
Donald Kagan suggests that Dorieus was driven ashore at Rhoeteum, then managed
to advance a little farther towards Abydos before being trapped a second time
at Dardanus. Learning of Dorieus's plight, Mindarus hurried from Troy, where he
had been sacrificing to Athena, to Abydos, while
Pharnabazus brought
his army up to support Dorieus from the land. Mindarus led his ships out from
Abydos to rescue Dorieus; the Athenians, observing this, set out from Sestos to
challenge him.
Battle:
Mindarus, after joining forces with Dorieus, had 97 ships under his command;
the Athenian fleet contained 74 ships. The Spartans lined up for battle with
the Asian shore of the Hellespont at their backs, with Mindarus commanding the
right and the Syracusans holding the left; the Athenians lined up opposite
them, with Thrasybulus commanding the right and Thrasyllus the left. The battle
began with a signal from the commanders, which was relayed to the fleet by
trumpeters. An evenly matched fight ensued, with pilots attempting to ram and
disable enemy triremes, while marines on the decks engaged their opposite
numbers whenever they came within range of an opposing ship. As the day wore
on, neither side was able to gain a decisive advantage until
Alcibiades appeared with
18 triremes from Samos. Initially, both fleets believed that the reinforcements
might be theirs, but as Alcibiades drew nearer he ran up a red flag, a
prearranged signal that told the Athenians the ships were their own.
Realizing this, the Spartan fleet fled to Abydos, but suffered heavy losses
along the way, as the Athenians attacked the strung out ships. All told, the
Athenians captured 30 Spartan ships and recovered the 15 of their own that the
Spartans had taken at the Battle of Cynossema.
Aftermath:
In the wake of this serious defeat, Mindarus and the Spartan fleet returned to
Abydos to repair and rebuild; Mindarus sent to Sparta for reinforcements and,
with Pharnabazus, planned for future campaigns. The Athenians, meanwhile, were
unable to press the advantage they had gained. With their treasury low and a
crisis ongoing at Euboea, which was in revolt, the Athenians were unable to
keep their entire fleet in the Hellespont, and instead dispatched 30 ships
under Theramenes to
attack the rebels on Euboea. Although unable to prevent the rebels from
building a causeway to Boeotia, he did succeed in raising a substantial amount
of money by plundering hostile territory in Euboea, Boeotia, and the Aegean.
Shortly after the battle, the satrap
Tissaphernes arrived
from Ionia. Alcibiades, who had served as Tissaphernes' assistant for a time
and wished to demonstrate that he was influential with the satrap, sailed to
meet him, bringing gifts.
It turned out, however, that Alcibiades had misjudged the situation. The
Spartans had complained to the Persian king about the tepid support they had
received from Tissaphernes, and the satrap, needing to demonstrate his
commitment to opposing actions, arrested Alcibiades and imprisoned him at
Sardis. Alcibiades escaped within a month, but his claims of influence with
Tissaphernes were destroyed.
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