Hellenica

In the next year—in which was celebrated[*](409 B.C.) the ninety-third Olympiad, when the newly added two-horse race was won by Euagoras of Elis and the stadium[*](The 200 yards foot-race.) by Eubotas of Cyrene, Euarchippus being now ephor at Sparta and Euctemon archon at Athens —the Athenians fortified Thoricus; and Thrasyllus took the ships which had been voted him, equipped five thousand of his sailors so that he might employ them as peltasts also, and set sail at the beginning of the summer for Samos.

After remaining there for three days he sailed to Pygela; and there he laid waste the country and attacked the wall of the town. A force from Miletus, however, came to the aid of the Pygelans, and finding the Athenian light troops scattered, pursued them.

Thereupon the peltasts and two companies of the hoplites came to the aid of their light troops and killed all but a few of the men from Miletus; they also captured about two hundred shields and set up a trophy.

On the next day they sailed to Notium and from there, after making the necessary preparations, marched to Colophon; and the Colophonians gave them their allegiance. It was now the time when the grain was ripening, and during the following night they made a raid into Lydia, burned many villages, and seized money, slaves, and other booty in great quantities.

Stages, the Persian, however, was in this region, and when the Athenians had scattered from their camp for private plunder, he captured one of them and killed seven others, despite the fact that their cavalry came to the rescue.

After this Thrasyllus led his[*](409 B.C.) army back to the coast, with the intention of sailing to Ephesus. But when Tissaphernes learned of this plan, he gathered together a large army and sent out horsemen to carry word to everybody to rally at Ephesus for the protection of Artemis.

And now, on the seventeenth day after his raid, Thrasyllus sailed to Ephesus; and having disembarked the hoplites at the foot of Mount Coressus, and the cavalry, peltasts, marines, and all the rest near the marsh on the opposite side of the city, he led forward the two divisions at daybreak.

The defenders of the city sallied forth to meet the attack,—the Ephesians, the allies whom Tissaphernes had brought them, the crews of the original twenty Syracusan ships and of five others which chanced to have arrived there at the time, newly come from Syracuse under the command of Eucles, the son of Hippon, and Heracleides, the son of Aristogenes, and finally, the crews of two Selinuntine ships.

All these contingents directed their first attack upon the hoplites at Coressus; and after routing them, killing about a hundred of them, and pursuing the rest down to the shore, they turned their attention to those by the marsh; and there also the Athenians were put to flight, and about three hundred of them were killed.

So the Ephesians set up a trophy there and a second at Coressus. They also gave to the Syracusans and Selinuntines, who had especially distinguished themselves, the prizes for valour, not only general prizes, but many to particular individuals among them, while upon any one of them who at any time might desire it they conferred the privilege of dwelling in Ephesus tax free; and to the Selinuntines, after Selinus had been destroyed,[*](By the Carthaginians, shortly after the events here narrated.) they gave the rights of[*](409 B.C.) Ephesian citizenship as well.

As for the Athenians, after obtaining a truce and so recovering the bodies of their dead, they sailed back to Notium, buried the dead there, and sailed on towards Lesbos and the Hellespont.

While they were at anchor in the harbour of Methymna, in Lesbos, they saw sailing past them from Ephesus the twenty-five Syracusan ships; and putting out to the attack they captured four of them, men and all, and chased the rest back to Ephesus.

And Thrasyllus sent home to Athens all the prisoners with the exception of Alcibiades; this Alcibiades, who was an Athenian and a cousin and fellow-exile of Alcibiades the general, he caused to be stoned to death. Then he set sail to Sestus to join the rest of the army; and from Sestus the entire force crossed over to Lampsacus.

And now the winter came on. During the course of it the Syracusan prisoners, who were immured in stone quarries in Piraeus, dug through the rock and made their escape by night, most of them to Decelea and the rest to Megara.

Meanwhile at Lampsacus Alcibiades endeavoured to marshal his entire army as a unit, but the old soldiers were unwilling to be marshalled with the troops of Thrasyllus; for they said that they had never known defeat, while the others had just come from a defeat. Both contingents, however, wintered there together, occupying themselves in fortifying Lampsacus.

They also made an expedition against Abydus; and Pharnabazus, who came to its aid with a large force of cavalry, was defeated in battle and put to flight. And Alcibiades[*](409 B.C.) pursued him with the Athenian cavalry and one hundred and twenty of the hoplites, under the command of Menander, until darkness covered the retreat.

As a result of this battle the soldiers came together of their own accord and the old troops fraternised with those under Thrasyllus. The Athenians also made some other expeditions during the winter into the interior and laid waste the King’s territory.