Battle Of Aegospotami Essay

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The Battle of Aegospotami occurred in 405 BC and was the battle that ended the Peloponnesian War. The Battle of the Arginusae Islands had happened a year before and had been a major Athenian victory. After the battle, six of the eight Athenian generals had been executed and the others had gone into exile. Conon, Adeimantus, and Philocles replaced them. The Spartans also required a new leader because their previous commander had been killed in the Battle of the Arginusae Islands. Lysander was a popular commander, but he had previously served in that position. It was not the Spartan custom to give someone the same post twice, so they made him second-in-command to Aracus. Lysander was, however, the one who was truly in charge. The most important Spartan figure of the battle was Lysander. Though he was second-in-command, Lysander was the real leader and one of his advantages was his friendship with Cyrus, a Persian prince. From Cyrus, he received the funds he needed to start rebuilding the Spartan fleet. When Cyrus was called away by his father, Lysander was left in charge of Asia Minor. With the riches of the province, he quickly rebuilt the fleet. The Athenian figures in the Battle of Aegospotami who had the biggest impact were; Philocles, Conon, Adeimantus, and Alcibiades. Alcibiades was an exiled general who lived in a castle close Aegospotami. He gave the Athenians certain advice that if they had followed, would have caused them to suffer a major blow against their forces. Both the Athenians and the Spartans spent time improving their fleets. Lysander eventually decided to attack Hellespont. The first success of the Spartans was at Lampsacus. At this point, the Athenians stationed themselves at Aegospotami, near Lampsacus. However, Lysander refused to fight and the Athenians returned to their base. To see their routine Lysander sent ships to follow them. This situation was repeated for the next four days, prompting Alcibiades’ concern. He advised the Athenians to give up their improvised base at Aegospotami. If the Athenians had followed his advice, they would have missed the departure of the Spartans and suffered a grave defeat. The major turning point of the battle occurred on the fifth day. …show more content…
Lysander told the men whom he had sent to follow the Athenians back to their base, to signal to the rest of the Spartan fleet when the Athenians had scattered. When the Athenians had scattered (which they did very freely because they underestimated Lysander because of his hesitation) and were unprepared, Lysander and his fleet attacked them, capturing and destroying one hundred and seventy of the hundred and eighty ships of the Athenian fleet. With the Athenian forces obliterated it was obvious that the Spartans had won the battle. In the aftermath of the battle, Lysander sailed back to Lampsacus. He slaughtered 3,000 prisoners, along with Philocles. Lysander and his allies Corinth and the Peloponnesian League, then started towards Athens, conquering city after city along the way. Without its fleet, Athens and the Delian League were unable to resist the Spartan forces and each city gave way as Lysander advanced. However, the democratic government at Samos resisted defeat and refused to surrender. Lysander left a besieging force behind him to combat them. After

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