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The battle of Cyzicus in 410 was a
major Athenian victory won in the Propontis and that temporarily restored
Athenian control of the Hellespont and the sea routes to the Black Sea, as well
as restoring confidence and morale in Athens after the disaster at Syracuse in
the Peloponnesian
War. The build-up to the battle began with the main fleets facing each
other inside the Hellespont, with the Athenians at Sestus on the European shore
and the Peloponnesians at Abydus, on the on Asian shore. Despite their
successes in 411 (battles of
Cynossema and
Abydos), the Athenians were still outnumbered in the area, especially after the
Peloponnesian admiral Mindarus
began to gather all of his available ships in the Hellespont. In order to
avoid being trapped and having their fleet wiped out, the Athenians sailed out
of the Hellespont into the Aegean, and then around the northern shore of the
Chersonese (the Gallipoli peninsula), to Cardia, where they too began to
concentrate their fleets. Mindarus was actually planning to besiege the city of
Cyzicus, in the Propontis (the modern Sea of Marmora). He was joined by a
Persian army under the satrap
Pharnabazus, and the
city quickly surrendered. By this point the Athenian commanders
Alcibiades,
Theramenes and
Thrasybulus had all
reached the area, and the increasingly confident Athenians believed that they
had a chance to fight a decisive battle. Accordingly their fleet sailed back
into the Hellespont, passing Abydos at night to hide their numbers, and
approached Cyzicus. Our two sources, Xenophon and Diodorus Siculus, give very
different accounts of the resulting battle. According to Xenophon the Athenian
fleet approached Cyzicus under the cover of heavy rain. As the combined
Athenian fleet approached the city the rain cleared, and the Athenians sighted
the Peloponnesian fleet of 60 ships exercising at some distance from the
harbour. The Peloponnesians immediately realised that the Athenians had been
reinforced, and pulled back close to the shore, where they prepared to fight a
naval battle. Alcibiades sailed past the Peloponnesians with twenty ships and
landed. Mindarus followed him, and a land battle followed. Mindarus was killed
and his men fled. The Syracusans in the Peloponnesian fleet burnt their ships,
but the rest of the fleet was captured. Cyzicus itself fell to the Athenians on
the following day. According to Diodorus the Athenians decided to ambush the
Peloponnesians. The Athenian fleet was split into three. Alcibiades was given
twenty ships, and was to sail towards Cyzicus, hoping to trick the
Peloponnesians in coming out to attack him. He was then to retreat in an
attempt to drawn the Peloponnesians further away from safety. The rest of the
fleet was divided between Theramenes and Thrasybulus. Their squadrons were to
remain out of sight until Alcibiades signalled for them, and they were then to
emerge and cut the Peloponnesians off from the shore. The plan didn’t work
entirely as planned. Mindarus came out to chase Alcibiades, and the ambush was
triggered, but instead of being trapped at sea, the Peloponnesians fled to the
shore near Cleri, where they joined up with a Persian army under the satrap
Pharnabazus. A number of Peloponnesian ships were lost during the naval
pursuit, and the Athenians then attempted to capture the beached ships, using
grappling hooks to pull them off the land. A costly land battle then developed
around the ships. Alcibiades was facing Mindarus around the ships, while
Thrasybulus also landed his troops and was soon engaged in a battle with
Peloponnesians and Persians. Thrasybulus was surrounded and in great danger
when Theramenes arrived on the scene. Even after this, the battle continued for
some time, until the Persian mercenaries began to withdraw. The Peloponnesians
were soon forced to follow, and Theramenes was free to come to the aid of
Alcibiades. Mindarus was killed during this phase of the battle, and the entire
Peloponnesian fleet was captured. Whichever account of the battle is accurate
the result was a crushing Athenian victory. Xenophon quoted a Spartan dispatch
home, in which they stated 'the ships are gone. Mindarus has disappeared. The
men are hungry. We don't know what to do'. Athenian control of the
Hellespontine region had been restored, the corn supply to Athens from the
Black Sea had been secured, and morale in the city began to recover from the
setbacks of recent years. Indeed morale in the city recovered to such an extent
that a Spartan offer of peace was turned down. This would prove to be a great
mistake, for Persian support now meant that the Peloponnesians had the greater
resources, and despite a number of further successes the war would soon end in
defeat for Athens.
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