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

THE BATTLE OF ARGINUSAE 333
ships was twice as large as Conon's force, and its quality was better.
The Athenians were making a major effort to put a large reinforcement
out to sea, and its arrival would change the balance of power to Sparta's
disadvantage. By attacking places under Athenian control, Callicratidas,
at the very least, could hope to gain easy victories while a cowed
Athenian fleet stayed in port. If he were more fortunate, he might lure
Conon out to sea and destroy the only Athenian naval force in being.
Any commander would have been attracted by these prospects, but
for Callicratidas they were irresistible. He was young and bold. His
rebuke to Lysander, moreover, blamed him for inactivity while the
Athenian fleet served as a barrier and stood as a challenge to Spartan
control of the sea. His own rhetoric called for action, and financial
necessity demanded that it be quick. Even if funds came from Sparta,
they would not be enough to compensate for the loss of Persian support.
If he won swift victories, on the other hand, he might raise funds more
easily among the Greek cities; besides, he might hope to destroy the
Athenian navy and win the war at a stroke. Even if that did not happen,
it would be better to eliminate Conon before the Athenian reinforcements
arrived. For all of these reasons Callicratidas set out at once.
His first target was Delphinium, a fort on the island of Chios held
by the Athenians (see Map 3). His overwhelming force persuaded the
mere 500 Athenians who held it to give it up without a fight and leave
under a truce. After destroying the fort, he sailed to Teos, where he
took that city by assault at night. 34 These actions quickly demonstrated
the young navarch's willingness to challenge the Athenian fleet at
Samos, for both places were north of the Athenian base, and the
Spartans were required to sail past Samos to reach them. The badly
outnumbered Conon, however, chose to stay in port. Next, the Spartans
sailed against the island of Lesbos, itself important to the Athenians
but critical in preventing the Spartans from returning to the
Hellespont. The first target was Methymna, a city on the northern
coast of Lesbos controlled by a faction friendly to Athens and by an
Athenian garrison of 500 men. Callicratidas took the city by assault,
with the help of traitors within the city, and allowed his troops to
plunder the place. He did not allow them to do as they liked with the
J4Diod. IJ.76.3-4· Xenophon (1.5.15) reports the capture of Delphinium and Eion
(emended to Teos by most editors) just after Notium. He does not provide a precise
date, and his words "a little later" may refer to the actions of Callicratidas described
by Diodorus. If not, we should prefer Diodorus' fuller account with its persuasive
details.