The Fall of the Athenian Empire-(A New History of the Peloponnesian War) Donald Kagan - (1987)

THE WAR IN THE HELLESPONT 243
Alcibiades pursued Mindarus to the shore, sinking some ships and
capturing others. The Peloponnesians managed to pull most of their
triremes up on the beach, so Alcibiades attached grappling hooks to
them and tried to pull tbem out to sea. Then Pharnabazus came to
the rescue with his army, which outnumbered the Athenians by far
and had tbe advantage of fighting from the firm footing of the land,
while the Athenians had to stand in the water. The Athenians fought
courageously and caused much slaughter, but they would have been
destroyed or driven off had tbey not received help. As Thrasybulus'
fleet approached from the northwest, he quickly grasped the situation
and the danger. He signaled Theramenes to join forces with the army
of Chaereas, which must have been in the neighborhood of Cyzicus
by tben, and hurried forward to join in the battle on land. He disembarked
with his marines and rushed to help Alcibiades. Athenian relief
columns, therefore, were soon moving toward the embattled Alcibiades
from two directions. As Mindarus struggled to prevent Alcibiades from
towing away his ships, he could see Thrasybulus' approach, so he sent
Clearchus witb a part of his own force and a contingentofPharnabazus'
mercenaries to stop it. With only tbe hoplites and archers from no
more than about twenty-five ships, Thrasybulus was badly outnumbered.
Although they fought well, his troops began to suffer significant
the city and the hospitable shore near it. The spot I have designated is the only nearby
place to the south not too rocky for landing. Diodorus' account fits this interpretation
well. Xenophon's version is further undermined, for if the Spartan ships were really
caught out at sea practicing and were surrounded by the Athenians, as he says, they
would either have been destroyed at sea or compelled to fight their way through the
Athenians to land. For his narrative to be consistent, it should mention some fighting
at sea while the Peloponnesians break out of the encirclement, but Xenophon speaks
of no fighting before the Peloponnesian ships reach land: "When the Peloponnesians
saw that the Athenian triremes were much more numerous that before and near the
harbor, they fled toward land; and anchoring the ships side by side they fought against
the enemy who sailed down against them" (1. 1. 17). Diodorus, on the other hand, does
mention fighting at sea in a way consistent with his version: "Finally, since the Athenians
were appearing from everywhere, and had cut the Peloponnesians off from the
return route to the city, Mindarus was forced to flee to the land to a spot near the
place called Cleri, where Pharnabazus also had his army. Alcibiades pursued eagecly,
sinking some ships and damaging and capturing others; on the greatest number, which
were anchored side by side, drawn up on the land itself, he threw grappling hooks
and tried to drag them from the land in this way" (q.50.2). This passage does not
describe a fight between two fleets, such as would need to have taken place if the
Peloponnesians were trying to break through an encirclement, but the kind of onesided
attack compatible with one fleet pursuing another that is in flight. This moment
in the battle shows as clearly as any the superiority of Diodorus' account, which is
detailed and consistent, over Xenophon's brief and vague version.