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

398 THE FALL OF THE ATHENIAN FMPIRE
After completing his arrangements at Byzantium and Chalcedon,
Lysander set out for the Aegean. Probably on the way he stopped to
capture the Athenian base on Sestos, where once again he spared the
men of the garrison and sent them to Athens. 76 With a fleet of 200
ships he left the Hellespont and came to Lesbos, where he settled
things to his liking at Mytilene and the other cities. From there he
sent Eteonicus with 10 ships to the coast of Thrace. This must have
been one of the few areas still loyal to Athens, but before long all of
the cities went over to the Spartan commander. 77 By this time, almost
the entire Athenian Empire had collapsed, with all of the cities opening
their gates to Lysander except for the island of Samos. There, the
strength of factional feeling and the strong loyalty of the Samian democrats
to Athens produced a unique resistance. The democrats slaughtered
their aristocratic opponents and refused to yield to the Spartans.
The Athenians were so grateful that they passed a remarkable decree
granting the Samians Athenian citizenship even while they retained
their autonomy. 78 Before going farther, Lysander left a fleet of 40 ships
to reduce the island by siege. 79 On his way to Athens, he stopped at
Melos and Aegina and began the process of restoring the populations
to their native islands from which the Athenians had removed them. 80
At least these actions were in accord with the high-minded goals of
freedom and autonomy with which the Spartans had entered the war.
Since the goals did not conflict with Lysander's interests and were
sure to do him good politically, he did not hesitate to carry them out.
As Lysander sailed toward Athens early in October, with his fleet
now numbering 150 ships, the Spartans were sending a great army
over land to join him in overawing the Athenians and persuading them
to surrender without a long siege. The entire army, not the usual
contingent of two-thirds, of all Peloponnesian states with the exception
of Argos marched into Attica under the command of King Pausanias.
At the Academy just outside the city, they joined the force from
76
Diod. q.106.8. Later, after the surrender of Athens, he went so far as to drive
out the native Sestians and turn the city over to his own junior officers, bm this was
too much for the Spartan government, which restored Sestos to its own people. See
Plut. Lys. 14.2; Lorze, Lysander, 38; and Hamilton, Sparta's Bitter Victories, 44·
77 Xen. 2.2.s.
78GHI, 94, 283.
79
Xen. 2.2.5-6; Diod. IJ.I06.8. For the division of the Spartan fleet and the date of
the Samian blockade, see Lotze, Lysander, 4o-41; and P. Krentz, The Thirty at Athens
(Ithaca, N.Y., and London, 1982), 30, n. 2.
110
Xen. 2.2.9-