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The Battle of Notium (or Ephesus) in 406,
was a Spartan naval victory in the Peloponnesian War. Prior to the battle, the
Athenian commander, Alcibiades, left his helmsman, Antiochus, in command of the
Athenian fleet, which was blockading the Spartan fleet in Ephesus. In violation
of his orders, Antiochus attempted to draw the Spartans into battle by tempting
them with a small decoy force. His strategy backfired, and the Spartans under
Lysander scored a small but symbolically significant victory over the Athenian
fleet. This victory resulted in the downfall of Alcibiades, and established
Lysander as a commander who could defeat the Athenians at sea.
Opponents:
Sparta versus Athens
Commanders and leaders:
Sparta - Lysander
Athens - Antiochus †
Strength:
Sparta - 90 ships
Athens - 80 ships
Casualties and losses:
Sparta - No Casualties
Athens - 22 ships (15 captured, 7 sunk)
Prelude:
In 407 BC, Lysander was appointed as navarch, commander of the Spartan fleet,
replacing the deceased Mindarus. Gathering a fleet as he went, he sailed east
across the Aegean from Sparta and eventually reached Ephesus, where he
established his base, with 70 triremes, which he increased to 90 through
shipbuilding efforts at Ephesus. In Ephesus, he established diplomatic
relations with Cyrus, a Persian prince. Lysander built a personal friendship
with Cyrus, and the prince agreed to provide funds out of his own purse to
increase the pay of Spartan rowers to 4 obols a day from 3.[1] With this
increased funding, the Spartan fleet could attract experienced rowers from the
Athenian fleet. Alcibiades, needing to force a battle with Lysander, brought
his fleet to Notium, where he could closely watch the Spartan fleet across the
water. Merely sitting at Notium, however, failed to bring Lysander out to
fight. Accordingly, Alcibiades sailed north with a few troopships to assist
Thrasybulus in the siege of Phocaea. The bulk of the fleet, which remained
behind him, was placed under the command of Alcibiades' kybernetes, or
helmsman. A fleet of this size (80 ships remained at Notium after Alcibiades'
departure) would traditionally have been commanded by several generals, or at
the least by a trierarch; Alcibiades' unconventional decision has been widely
criticized by both ancient and modern authors.[2] Antiochus was given one
simple order to govern his actions; "Do not attack Lysander's
ships."[3] For some reason, he chose not to obey this order, and attempted
to implement a stratagem that he thought would give the Athenians a victory.
The battle:
Seeking to draw the Spartans out to fight, Antiochus sailed out towards Ephesus
with 10 triremes.[4] His plan was to draw the Peloponnesians out in pursuit of
his small force, after which the rest of the Athenian force would ambush them.
This plan was very similar to that which had produced the stunning Athenian
victory at Cyzicus, but conditions at Notium were utterly different from those
at that battle.[2] In practice, Antiochus' ship was sunk, and he was killed, by
a sudden Spartan attack; the remaining nine ships of the decoy force were then
chased headlong back toward Notium, where the main Athenian force was caught
unprepared by the sudden arrival of the whole Spartan fleet. In the ensuing
fighting, 15 Athenian triremes were captured and seven more were sunk. The
Spartans sailed back to Ephesus, having won an unexpected victory, while the
Athenians returned to Notium to regroup.
Aftermath
Upon receiving news of the battle, Alcibiades lifted the siege of Phocaea and
returned south to reinforce the fleet at Notium; this restored rough numerical
parity between the two fleets. Further attempts to draw Lysander out into a
battle proved unsuccessful, however, and the two fleets continued to watch each
other across the water. The defeat at Notium caused the complete downfall of
Alcibiades in Athenian politics. Restored to favor after the victory at
Cyzicus, he had been placed in command with great expectations. When his
unorthodox appointment of Antiochus led to a messy defeat, his political
enemies saw their chance, and he was removed from office. Never again returning
to Athens, he sailed north to land he owned in the Thracian Chersonese; except
for a brief appearance at Aegospotami, his involvement in the war was over. The
commands of both fleets changed hands after Notium. Because of term limits on
the position of navarch, Lysander was replaced by Callicratidas; on the
Athenian side, the fall of Alcibiades also brought down his friends Thrasybulus
and Theramenes, and the overall command was given to Conon. Over the next year,
the fleets clashed twice, first in a battle where, with twice as many ships as
Conon, Callicratidas defeated the Athenians and trapped them in Mytilene; an
Athenian relief fleet then decisively defeated and killed Callicratidas at
Arginusae. These Athenian victories proved useless, however, for in 405 BC
Lysander returned to unofficial command and destroyed the Athenian fleet at
Aegospotami, thus ending the Peloponnesian War with Sparta the victor. Notium,
although not terribly significant in the number of ships won or lost by either
side (the gains made by the Spartan fleet were more than erased by their defeat
at Arginusae), had the significant effect of launching the career of Lysander
and ending that of Alcibiades. Lysander would go on to end the Athenian empire
and contend for several years for control of the Spartan empire that replaced
it; Alcibiades, meanwhile, would be assassinated in 403 BC, having never
returned to his native city. Donald Kagan, meanwhile, has suggested that the
most important effect of the battle on the Athenian side was the removal from
command of Thrasybulus, the talented commander who had helped plan all the
Athenian naval victories of 411 and 410 BC.[2] Notium, then, although not
decisive in itself, had large political ramifications, and played a significant
role in determining who would lead the forces of Athens and Sparta in the
upcoming decisive battles of the war.
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