Callias: A Tale of the Fall of Athens

by Alfred John Church

  CHAPTER XV.

  AEGOS POTAMI.

  Alcibiades had established a system of communication with all theprincipal stations in the AEgean which gave him early information of whatwas going on.

  Early in the new year (405) intelligence reached him at his castle, thatLysander was coming out from Sparta to assume the command of the alliedfleet. This news affected Alcibiades very considerably.

  "I anticipated this," he said to his guest after the evening meal on theday when the news had reached him, "and it is the worst thing that couldhave happened for Athens. There was just a chance that the Spartans,who, happily for us, are very stupid and obstinate, would stick to theirrule that no man should be appointed naval commander-in-chief thrice.But they had, as I heard from a friend in Chios, a very strongrequisition from the allies to appoint Lysander, and so they have senthim out again, saving their rule by appointing a nominal chief, a mancalled Arrachus, who, of course, is a mere figure head. Now Lysander isby far the ablest man that the Spartans have got; he is quiteunscrupulous; he is a bitter enemy of ours; and what is worst of all, hecan do anything that he pleases with Cyrus. You have not beencampaigning for two or three years without finding out that the Persianmoney bags are the real weights that make the scales of fate go up anddown. Last year Callicratidas was crippled because Cyrus, at this veryLysander's request, kept his purse strings tight. Now everything will bestraight and easy, and before two months are over the Spartans will haveas good a fleet as money can make." The year wore slowly on. The longThracian winter, which Callias, though not unused to cold weather inAthens found exceedingly severe, yielded at last to spring, and springin its turn to summer. All the while the news which reached Bisanthecontinued to have a gloomy complexion. At Miletus, as well as in otherof the mainland towns, thorough-going partisans of Lysander wereinstalled in power. Cyrus had been called away to Upper Asia, where theold king, his father, was lying sick to death, and had left all histreasuries at the disposal of the Spartan admiral. With this supply ofmoney the pay of the sailors had been increased, and new ships had beenlaid down on the stocks. In March the Athenian fleet sailed for the seatof war. It was larger than any that had been sent forth by the city inrecent years, for it numbered no less than one hundred and eighty ships;but private letters gave an unfavorable account of the way in which itwas equipped, and officered. This adverse opinion continued to be borneout by the news that arrived from time to time of its doings. It seemedto be moving about aimlessly and fruitlesly, always behind, always inthe wrong place. It offered battle to Lysander, who lay in harbor nearEphesus, but in vain. The wary Spartan had no mind to fight but at hisown time, and the Athenian admirals had no way of compelling him. Thenthe ships were scattered in plundering expeditions along the mainlandcoasts and among the islands which had accepted the Spartan alliance.The gain was small, for the booty was insignificant, but thedemoralization and relaxation of discipline were great. About midsummerfollowed a bold maneuver on the part of Lysander. He sailed across theAEgean to the coast of Attica, where his sudden appearance caused nolittle consternation. The Athenian commanders were as usual behind hand.If they had heard of this movement as soon as they ought, and had beenready to follow immediately, it is quite possible that they might haveinflicted a damaging blow on their adversaries. As it was, the news waslong in reaching them, and when it came, found them with their fleetscattered and unprepared. Accordingly they missed their chance offorcing Lysander to an engagement off an hostile shore, an engagement,too, which he would hardly have been able to decline. Lysander crossedand recrossed the AEgean without molestation, and shortly afterwardsailed northward.

  Alcibiades, whose intelligence department was, as has been said,admirably organized, received information that this movement wasintended, and in consequence took up his quarters at a little fort whichhe possessed at the extremity of the Chersonesus. He and his guest hadnot been there more than a day when the Spartan fleet came in sight. Hewatched it pass at a distance of two or three miles, with eagerinterest.

  "They have a very formidable appearance," he said to Callias when he hadscanned with his practical eye every detail of their equipment. "Ishall be agreeably surprised if our ships have anything as good toshow." On the following day the Athenian fleet appeared, showing onlytoo plainly how just had been Alcibiades' forebodings. The effects ofwind and weather--the ships had now been nearly six months at sea--wereplainly visible; the sails, which, as there was a slight breeze from thewest, they used to assist their progress, were dirty and ragged; therowers were deplorably out of time.

  "Things," he said to his companion, "are even worse than I expected;that fleet will be no match for its enemy, except under far moreskillful management than it is likely to have. Still let us hope for thebest; and it may be possible to give our friends some good advice, ifthey will take it." This, unfortunately, was the last thing that theAthenian admirals, certainly incompetent, and probably traitorous, werewilling to do. The progress of events, briefly described, was this:

  Lysander possessed himself, by a sudden attack, of the town ofLampsacus, which was in alliance with Athens. This conquest put him inpossession of abundant supplies, and of what was more valuable, a safeand convenient base of operations. While securing these materialadvantages, he also, with a generosity which he could always assume onoccasion, allowed the Lampsacenes to go unharmed. He gained thus notonly a strong position but a friendly population. On the other hand theposition occupied by the Athenians was by no means so favorable. Theymoved their fleet to the mouth of a little stream known by the name ofAEgos Potami, or the Goat's River. This spot was directly oppositeLampsacus--the Hellespont here is somewhat less than two milesbroad--but it had no conveniences for the purpose for which it waschosen. There was no harbor, the anchorage was indifferent, there wereno houses in the neighborhood, and the nearest point from which suppliescould be obtained was the town of Sestos, nearly two miles distant.

  The opportunity for offering advice which Alcibiades had foreseen hadnow occurred, and he promptly took advantage of it. The morning afterthe arrival of the fleet, he rode, with Callias in his company, to thespot where the Athenian generals had pitched their headquarters, andrequested an interview. He was introduced into the tent which they usedfor purposes of consultation, and saw the two officers, Menander andTydeus by name, who happened to be detailed that day for duty on shore.

  They received him with a coldness and hauteur which augured ill for thesuccess of his mission.

  "Allow me, gentlemen," he said, "to offer you a piece of advice which,from my knowledge of the country, I feel sure will be useful. Transferyour fleet from this position, which, you must allow me to say, hasnothing to recommend it, to Sestos. You must go to Sestos for yoursupplies; why not stay there altogether. The harbor is good and you willbe able to do what you please, fight, or not fight, as it may seem best.Here, if it comes on a blow from the south and--you will remember thatthe equinox is near--you will be in a very awkward predicament; and,anyhow, I do not see how you are to keep your men together when theyhave to forage in this manner for supplies."

  "We are obliged to you for the trouble you have taken in coming," saidMenander, "but you must allow us to remind you that it is we, and notyou whom the Athenian people have appointed to the command of thisfleet."

  "The gods prosper you in it," replied Alcibiades with unruffledcoolness. "And now, farewell."

  "I have done all that I could," observed Alcibiades to his companion,who had been expecting his return outside the tent. "Now we can onlyawait the event. As for these men, I would say of them that the godsstrike with madness those whom they are determined to destroy, but forone thing. There may be a method in their madness. They may _mean_ tobring about a disaster. In a word they may have sold their country. Itis a hard thing to say of any man, but could any admiral, not being amadman or a traitor, keep his fleet in such a place as this? And yet Ido not know. I have seen honest men act with a folly so outrageous thatone could not help suspecting something
more. Let us go home, andprepare for the worst. But stay--there is yet a chance. There is Conon.He must know better than this. Will you see him? I cannot, for there istoo deadly a feud between us. Do you know him?"

  "Yes," said Callias, "I was with him last year when he was shut up inMitylene, and he sent me with despatches to Athens."

  "And will you go to him?"

  "Certainly, if it would not seem too presumptuous."

  "You can give your authority; he will understand why I did not comemyself; and he is too sensible not to listen to good advice fromwhomsoever it may come."

  Conon was on board his ship in which he was practicing some maneuversabout half a mile from the shore. The young Athenian was rowed out tosee him, and returned in about an hour. The report which he brought backwas this:

  "Conon was very reserved, but courteous. He wished me to thank you foryour message, and to say he was sure you wished well to Athens. He woulddo what he could, but he was only one out of many, and he might beout-voted. Anyhow, he would keep his own men from straggling."

  "Then," said Alcibiades, "we have shot our last bolt, let us go back."

  For some days the two companions waited for news in a suspense that theyoften felt to be almost beyond bearing. One night--it was the night ofthe fifteenth of September--they had watched through the hours ofdarkness till the day began to show itself in the eastern sky. Both hadfelt the presentiment that their waiting was about to end, thoughneither had acknowledged it to the other.

  "Is it never coming?" said the elder man, as he rose from his seat, andlooked from the window across the sea, just beginning to glitter withthe morning light. In a moment his attitude of weariness changed to oneof eager attention.

  "Look!" he cried to Callias. "What is that?" and he pointed to a boatthat had just rounded the nearest point to the westward. It was afishing boat, manned, apparently, by seven or eight men, and making allthe speed it could with both oars and sails. The two men hurried down tothe castle pier, and awaited the arrival of what they were sure was thelong expected message.

  The boat was still about two hundred yards away when Alcibiadesrecognized the steersman.

  "Ah!" he cried, "it is old Hipparchus." And he waved his hand with afriendly gesture.

  "It is a bad news he brings," he said again after a quiet pause, "hemakes no reply."

  A few more strokes brought the boat alongside of the pier. Alcibiadesreached his hand to the steersman, and helped him to disembark. That hiserrand was bad was only too evident from his look. He was deadly pale,and in his eyes was the expression of one who had lately seen someterrible sight.

  "It is all over," he said, "Athens is lost."

  For a few minutes the three men stood silent. Perhaps it was then thatAlcibiades felt the keenest remorse of his life. After all, it was hewho, more than any living man, had brought this ruin to his country. Hehad led her into an enterprise which overmatched her strength; and hehad suggested to her enemies, the too successful policy that had endedin her overthrow. If Athens was indeed lost it was his doing--and yet heloved her. Much of this the younger man could guess at, for he had notbeen at Bisanthe for now nearly a year without learning something of hishost's inner thoughts. He turned away his face unwilling to witness theemotion which he felt could be seen in the other's countenance. Themessenger from the scene of the disaster stood with downcast eyes,absorbed in the dismal recollections of what he had lately witnessed.

  "Tell us how it happened," said Alcibiades.

  "For five days," so he began, "we manned our ships every morning aboutthe third hour, formed them in line of battle, and moved across thestrait to the harbor of Lampsacus. The Spartan fleet was ranged in lineoutside the harbor with their army drawn up upon the shore on eitherside. Our admirals did not venture to attack; and so we sailed back. Inoticed that a few quick-sailing galleys followed us at about half amile distance. When we got back to our station, our men used to scatterin search of provisions for their noonday meal--our commissariat, youmust know, was very ill-supplied. Some went up the country, but mostmade their way to Sestos. None of our admirals, except Conon, seemed tohave a notion that this was dangerous, though some of us old sailorscould have warned them if we had dared. Conon always kept his mentogether. Well, on the fifth day--our men, you must understand, had beengrowing more and more careless--about an hour after we got back, ashield was run up to the masthead of one of the Spartan swift-sailinggalleys. I saw it flash in the sunshine; and a few moments afterwardsthe whole Spartan fleet rowed from their anchorage and made their wayacross the strait. They caught us entirely unprepared. There was nobattle; scarcely a blow was struck. I can easily believe that they didnot lose a single man. Some of our ships they found absolutely deserted.None of them had more than two-thirds of their complement. No, I shouldnot say none; twelve were ready, Conon's eight and four others, one ofwhich was the Parelus.[51] I was on board Menander's own ship, of whichI was steersman. There were eight others with me. We hurried as fast aswe could to Sestos. There, the next day, I was able to hire this boat,and thought the best thing that I could do was to come here."

  "You say that twelve ships escaped," said Alcibiades, "how many thenwere taken?"

  "About a hundred and seventy," answered the man.

  "And how many prisoners?"

  "I cannot say, but certainly several thousand. Before we came away, aboat from Lampsacus brought an awful story of what had been done there.All the Athenian prisoners were put to death, between three and fourthousand. Only the admiral Adeimantus was spared."

  "Ah! I see," cried Alcibiades, "he was the traitor."

  FOOTNOTES:

  [51] The Parelus was one of the two consecrated ships, (the other beingthe Salanimia) which were used for such purposes as the conveyance ofambassadors, the carrying of offerings to shrines, and, in case of need,the conveyance of important tidings. They were always manned with pickedcrews.