History of the Peloponnesian War

For Pharnabazus invited them to his aid, and was prepared to furnish them with supplies; and at the same time intelligence reached them that Byzantium had revolted.

Accordingly, these ships of the Peloponnesians put out into the open sea, in order to escape the observation of the Athenians during their voyage; but were overtaken by a storm, and the greater part of them put into Delos with Clearchus, and subsequently returned to Miletus, (Clearchus, however, afterwards went to the Hellespont by land, and entered on his command,) while the rest, to the number of ten, arrived safe at the Hellespont with Helixus the Megarean, and effected the revolt of Byzantium.

After this, when the commanders at Samos were aware of it, they sent some ships to the Hellespont to oppose them and keep guard against them; and a trifling battle was fought at sea before Byzantium, between eight vessels against eight.

Now the leading men at Samos, and especially Thrasybulus, had all along retained the same purpose, ever since he had effected a change in the government, namely, to restore Alcibiades; and at length, in an assembly, he persuaded the greater part of the soldiers to the same; and when they had passed a decree for the return and security of Alcibiades, he sailed to Tissaphernes, and brought Alcibiades to Samos, thinking that their only chance of preservation was his bringing Tissaphernes over from the Peloponnesians to them.

An assembly therefore having been convened, Alcibiades both complained of and deplored his own calamity in having been banished, and by speaking at great length on public matters raised them to no slight hopes for the future; and extravagantly magnified his own influence with Tissaphernes, in order that both the members of the oligarchy at home might be afraid of him, and the clubs be the more quickly broken up; and also that those at Samos might hold him in the greater honour, and be more encouraged themselves; and that the enemy, moreover, might be as much as possible set against Tissaphernes, and cast down from their present hopes. Accordingly Alcibiades, in the most boastful strain, held out these promises to them;

that Tissaphernes had pledged himself to him, that if he could but trust the Athenians, assuredly they should not want for supplies, so long as any of his own property remained, even though he should have at last to sell his own bed; and that he would bring the Phoenician ships which were now at Aspendus to join the Athenians, instead of the Peloponnesians; but he could only place confidence in the Athenians, if Alcibiades himself were recalled to be his security for them.