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

ATHENS RESPONDS 65
"Later on no less than on the present occasion, in this matter but also
in all the others in which he took part, he appears not to have been
lacking in intelligence. " 54 In the face of such an endorsement by the
great contemporary historian, we need not be surprised that most
modern historians have accepted Phrynichus' point of view. 55
A different judgment, however, is possible and was made by Phrynichus'
contemporaries. His four fellow generals had strongly disagreed
with him before he persuaded at least two of them to vote for withdrawal.
In the next year, moreover, he was charged, along with Scironides,
who must have been more closely identified with the final
decision than the others, with responsibility for the loss of Iasus and
Amorges. 56 Peisander was engaged in a plot to overthrow the democracy
and may have acted from political or personal motives, but the
men who found Phrynichus and Scironides guilty were not part of the
plot but were good democrats who voted to replace the deposed generals
with sound democrats such as Diomedon and Leon. 57 Their verdict
may have been influenced by the intervening events, but that does
not make it less honest or correct. 58
In fact, there is good reason to agree with Phrynichus' judges and
to blame him for the misfortunes that followed upon his decision not
to fight. Thucydides' account allows us to reconstruct the debate in
54
Thucydides' word for "intelligence" is xynesis, and throughout his work he applies
it sparingly. He uses it only for men such as Themistocles, Brasidas, Pisistratus, and
Hermocrates of Syracuse, and he associates it with such terms as "excellence" (arete),
"competence" (hikanos), and "courage" (andreia). Themistocles 1. r 38.3; Brasidas 4· 81.2
(with arete); Pisistratus 6. 54· 5 (with arete); Hermocrates 6. 72.2 (with hikanos and andreia).
Further evidence of Thucydides' high regard for this quality is that in speeches he
reports Pericles as praising it (1.r4o.r) and Cleon as condemning it (3.37·4-5).
55 Most, in fact, who have noticed or discussed the issue. Grote is an exception in
blaming Phrynichus for failing to warn Amorges of his withdrawal, but on the main
point he follows Thucydides. Busolt (GG lib, 1435) and Meyer (GdA IV:2, 272) offer
arguments in support of Phrynichus, whereas Ferguson's account in CAH (V, p6-
F7) clearly implies approval.
56
8. 54· 3. The charge against Phrynichus and Scironides was '1mTOv 7rpo3ouvm K