Hellenica

Such, then, were the doings of the Athenians[*](389 B.C.) and Lacedaemonians in the region of the Hellespont. Meanwhile Eteonicus was again in Aegina, and although previously the Aeginetans had been maintaining commercial intercourse with the Athenians, still, now that the war was being carried on by sea openly, he, with the approval of the ephors, urged on everybody who so wished, to plunder Attica.

Thereupon the Athenians, being cut off from supplies by the plunderers, sent to Aegina a force of hoplites and Pamphilus as their general, built a fortress as a base of attack upon the Aeginetans, and besieged them both by land and by sea with ten triremes. Teleutias, however, who chanced to have arrived on one of the islands in quest of a grant of money, upon hearing of this (that is, in regard to the building of the fortress) came to the aid of the Aeginetans; and he drove off the Athenian fleet, but Pamphilus succeeded in holding the fortress.

After this Hierax arrived from Lacedaemon as admiral. And he took over the fleet, while Teleutias, under the very happiest circumstances, set sail for home. For when he was going down to the sea as he set out for home, there was no one among the soldiers who did not grasp his hand, and one decked him with a garland, another with a fillet, and others who came too late, nevertheless, even though he[*](389 B.C.) was now under way, threw garlands into the sea and prayed for many blessings upon him.

Now I am aware that I am not describing in these incidents any enterprise involving money expended or danger incurred or any memorable stratagem; and yet, by Zeus, it seems to me that it is well worth a man’s while to consider what sort of conduct it was that enabled Teleutias to inspire the men he commanded with such a feeling toward himself. For to attain to this is indeed the achievement of a true man, more noteworthy than the expenditure of much money and the encountering of many dangers.

As for Hierax, on the other hand, he sailed back to Rhodes with the bulk of the ships, but left behind him in Aegina twelve triremes and Gorgopas, his vice-admiral, as governor. And after this it was the Athenians in the fortress who were besieged rather than the Aeginetans in the city; insomuch that the Athenians, by a formal decree, manned a large number of ships and brought back from Aegina in the fifth month the troops in the fortress. But when this had been done, the Athenians were again molested by the bands of raiders and by Gorgopas, and they manned against these enemies thirteen ships and chose Eunomus as admiral to command them.

Now while Hierax was at Rhodes the Lacedaemonians[*](389 B.C.) sent out Antalcidas as admiral, thinking that by doing this they would most please Tiribazus also. And when Antalcidas arrived at Aegina, he took with him the ships of Gorgopas and sailed to Ephesus, then sent Gorgopas back again to Aegina with his twelve ships, and put Nicolochus, his vice-admiral, in command of the rest. Thereupon[*](388 B.C.) Nicolochus, seeking to aid the people of Abydus, proceeded to sail thither; he turned aside, however, to Tenedos and laid waste its territory, and having obtained money there, sailed on to Abydus.

Then the generals of the Athenians gathered together from Samothrace, Thasos, and the places in that region, and set out to aid the people of Tenedos. But upon learning that Nicolochus had put in at Abydus they then, setting out from the Chersonese as a base, blockaded him and his twenty-five ships with the thirty-two ships under their command. As for Gorgopas, on his voyage back from Ephesus he fell in with Eunomus, and for the moment took refuge in Aegina, reaching there a little before sunset. Then he at once disembarked his men and gave them dinner.

Meanwhile Eunomus, after waiting a short time, sailed off. And when night came on he led the way, carrying a light, as the custom is, so that the ships which were following him might not go astray. Then Gorgopas immediately embarked his men and followed on in the direction of the light, keeping behind the enemy so that he should not be visible or give them a chance to notice him; while his boatswains gave the time by clicking stones together instead of with their voices, and made the men employ a sliding motion of the oars.

But when the ships of Eunomus were close to the shore near Cape Zoster in Attica, Gorgopas gave the order by the trumpet to sail against them. And as for Eunomus, the men on some of his ships were just disembarking, others were still occupied in coming to anchor, and others were even yet on their way toward the shore. Then, a battle being fought by moonlight, Gorgopas captured four triremes, and taking them in tow,[*](388 B.C.) carried them off to Aegina; but the other ships of the Athenians made their escape to Piraeus.

After this Chabrias set out on a voyage to Cyprus to aid Euagoras, with eight hundred peltasts and ten triremes, to which force he had also added more ships and a body of hoplites obtained from Athens; and during the night he himself, with his peltasts, landed in Aegina and set an ambush in a hollow place beyond the Heracleium. Then at daybreak, just as had been agreed, the hoplites of the Athenians came, under the command of Demaenetus, and ascended to a point about sixteen stadia beyond the Heracleium, where the so-called Tripyrgia[*]( The reference is uncertain.) is.

On hearing of this Gorgopas sallied forth to the rescue with the Aeginetans, the marines from his ships, and eight Spartiatae who chanced to be there. He also made proclamation that all freemen among the crews of the ships should come with him, so that many of these also joined the relief force, each man with whatever weapon he could get.

Now when those in the van had passed by the ambush, Chabrias and his followers rose up and immediately threw javelins and stones upon the enemy. And the hoplites who had disembarked from the ships also advanced upon them. Then those in the van, inasmuch as they were not a compact mass, were quickly killed, among whom were Gorgopas and the Lacedaemonians; and when these had fallen the rest also were put to flight. And there fell about one hundred and fifty Aeginetans and not less than two hundred foreigners, aliens resident in Aegina, and sailors who had hurriedly rushed ashore.

After this the Athenians[*](388 B.C.) sailed the sea just as in time of peace, for the Lacedaemonian sailors refused to row for Eteonicus, even though he tried to compel them to do so, because he did not give them pay.After this the Lacedaemonians sent out Teleutias again to take command of these ships as admiral. And when the sailors saw that he had come, they were delighted beyond measure. And he called them together and spoke as follows:

Fellow soldiers, I have come without money; yet if God be willing and you perform your part zealously, I shall endeavour to supply you with provisions in the greatest abundance. And be well assured that, whenever I am in command of you, I pray just as earnestly for your lives as for my own. As to provisions, you would be surprised, perhaps, if I should say that I am more desirous of your being supplied than of being supplied myself; indeed, by the gods, I should prefer to go without food myself for two days than to have you go without for one. And just as my door was open in days past, as you know, for him to enter who had any request to make of me, so likewise it shall be open now.

Therefore, when you have provisions in abundance, then you will see me also living bounteously; but if you see me submitting to cold and heat and night-watching, expect to endure all these things yourselves. For I do not bid you do any of these things that you may suffer discomfort, but that from them you may gain something good.

And Sparta too, he added, that Sparta of ours, fellow soldiers, which is accounted so prosperous — she be well assured, won her prosperity and her glory, not by careless idling, but by being willing[*](388 B.C.) to undergo both toils and dangers whenever there was need. Now you in like manner were in former days, as I know, good men; but now you must strive to prove yourselves even better men, in order that, just as we gladly undergo toils together, so we may gladly enjoy good fortune together.

For what greater gladness can there be than to have to flatter no one in the world, Greek or barbarian, for the sake of pay, but to be able to provide supplies for oneself, and what is more, from the most honourable source? For be well assured that abundance gained in war from the enemy yields not merely sustenance, but at the same time fair fame among all men.

Thus he spoke, and they all set up a shout, bidding him give whatever order was needful, in the assurance that they would obey. Now he chanced to have finished sacrificing, and he said: Come, my men, get dinner, just as you were intending to do anyway; and provide yourselves, I beg you, with food for one day. Then come to the ships right speedily, that we may sail to the place where God wills that we go, and may arrive in good time.

And when they had come he embarked them upon the ships and sailed during the night to the harbour of the Athenians, now letting the men rest and bidding them get a little sleep, and now setting them at the oars. But if anyone supposes that it was madness for him to sail with twelve triremes against men who possessed many ships, let such a one consider Teleutias’ calculations.

He conceived that the Athenians were more careless about their fleet in the harbour now that Gorgopas was dead; and even if there were triremes at anchor there, he believed that it was safer to sail against twenty[*](388 B.C.) ships which were at Athens than against ten elsewhere. For in the case of ships that were abroad he knew that the sailors would be quartered on board their several ships, while with ships at Athens he was aware that the captains would be sleeping at home and the sailors quartered here and there.