"Thessalus, the son of Cimon, of the township of Lacia, lays information
that Alcibiades, the son of Clinias, of the township of the Scambonidae,
has committed a crime against the goddesses Ceres and Proserpine, by
representing in derision the holy mysteries, and showing them to his
companions in his own house. Where, being habited in such robes as are
used by the chief priest when he shows the holy things, he named himself
the chief priest, Polytion the torch-bearer, and Theodorus, of the
township of Phegaea, the herald; and saluted the rest of his company as
Initiates and Novices. All which was done contrary to the laws and
institutions of the Eumolpidae, and the heralds and priests of the
temple at Eleusis."
He was condemned as contumacious upon his not appearing, his property
confiscated, and it was decreed that all the priests and priestesses
should solemnly curse him. But one of them, Theano, the daughter of
Menon, of the township of Agraule, is said to have opposed that part of
the decree, saying that her holy office obliged her to make prayers, but
not execrations.
Alcibiades, lying under these heavy decrees and sentences, when first he
fled from Thurii, passed over into Peloponnesus and remained some time
at Argos. But being there in fear of his enemies and seeing himself
utterly hopeless of return to his native country, he sent to Sparta,
desiring safe conduct, and assuring them that he would make them amends
by his future services for all the mischief he had done them while he
was their enemy. The Spartans giving him the security he desired, he
went eagerly, was well received, and, at his very first coming,
succeeded in inducing them, without any further caution or delay, to
send aid to the Syracusans; and so roused and excited them, that they
forthwith dispatched Gylippus into Sicily, to crush the forces which the
Athenians had in Sicily. A second point was, to renew the war upon the
Athenians at home. But the third thing, and the most important of all,
was to make them fortify Decelea, which above everything reduced and
wasted the resources of the Athenians.
The renown which he earned by these public services was equaled by the
admiration he attracted to his private life; he captivated and won over
everybody by his conformity to Spartan habits. People who saw him
wearing his hair close cut, bathing in cold water, eating coarse meal,
and dining on black broth, doubted, or rather could not believe, that he
ever had a cook in his house, or had ever seen a perfumer, or had worn a
mantle of Milesian purple. For he had, as it was observed, this
peculiar talent and artifice for gaining men's affections, that he could
at once comply with and really embrace and enter into their habits and
ways of life, and change faster than the chameleon. One color, indeed,
they say the chameleon cannot assume; it cannot make itself appear
white; but Alcibiades, whether with good men or with bad, could adapt
himself to his company, and equally wear the appearance of virtue or
vice. At Sparta, he was devoted to athletic exercises, was frugal and
reserved; in Ionia, luxurious, gay, and indolent; in Thrace, always
drinking; in Thessaly, ever on horseback; and when he lived with
Tisaphernes, the Persian satrap, he exceeded the Persians themselves in
magnificence and pomp. Not that his natural disposition changed so
easily, nor that his real character was so very variable, but, whenever
he was sensible that by pursuing his own inclinations he might give
offense to those with whom he had occasion to converse, he transformed
himself into any shape, and adopted any fashion, that he observed to be
most agreeable to them. So that to have seen him at Lacedaemon, a man,
judging by the outward appearance, would have said, "'Tis not Achilles's
son, but he himself, the very man" that Lycurgus designed to form; while
his real feelings and acts would have rather provoked the exclamation,
"'Tis the same woman still." For while king Agis was absent, and abroad
with the army, he corrupted his wife Timaea, and had a child born by
her. Nor did she even deny it, but when she was brought to bed of a
son, called him in public Leotychides, but, amongst her confidants and
attendants, would whisper that his name was Alcibiades. To such a
degree was she transported by her passion for him. He, on the other
side, would say, in his vain way, he had not done this thing out of mere
wantonness of insult, nor to gratify a passion, but that his race might
one day be kings over the Lacedaemonians.
There were many who told Agis that this was so, but time itself gave the
greatest confirmation to the story. For Agis, alarmed by an earthquake,
had quitted his wife, and, for ten months after, was never with her;
Leotychides, therefore, being born after those ten months, he would not
acknowledge him for his son; which was the reason that afterwards he was
not admitted to the succession.
After the defeat which the Athenians received in Sicily, ambassadors
were dispatched to Sparta at once from Chios and Lesbos and Cyzicus, to
signify their purpose of revolting from the Athenians. The Boeotians
interposed in favor of the Lesbians, and Pharnabazus of the Cyzicenes,
but the Lacedaemonians, at the persuasion of Alcibiades, chose to assist
Chios before all others. He himself, also, went instantly to sea,
procured the immediate revolt of almost all Ionia, and, cooperating with
the Lacedaemonian generals, did great mischief to the Athenians. But
Agis was his enemy, hating him for having dishonored his wife, and also
impatient of his glory, as almost every enterprise and every success was
ascribed to Alcibiades. Others, also, of the most powerful and
ambitious amongst the Spartans, were possessed with jealousy of him,
and, at last, prevailed with the magistrates in the city to send orders
into Ionia that he should be killed. Alcibiades, however, had secret
intelligence of this, and, in apprehension of the result, while he
communicated all affairs to the Lacedaemonians, yet took care not to put
himself into their power. At last he retired to Tisaphernes, the king
of Persia's satrap, for his security, and immediately became the first
and most influential person about him. For this barbarian, not being
himself sincere, but a lover of guile and wickedness, admired his
address and wonderful subtlety. And, indeed, the charm of daily
intercourse with him was more than any character could resist or any
disposition escape. Even those who feared and envied him could not but
take delight, and have a sort of kindness for him, when they saw him and
were in his company. So that Tisaphernes, otherwise a cruel character,
and, above all other Persians, a hater of the Greeks, was yet so won by
the flatteries of Alcibiades, that he set himself even to exceed him in
responding to them. The most beautiful of his parks, containing
salubrious streams and meadows, where he had built pavilions, and places
of retirement royally and exquisitely adorned, received by his direction
the name of Alcibiades, and was always so called and so spoken of.
Thus Alcibiades, quitting the interests of the Spartans, whom he could
no longer trust, because he stood in fear of Agis, endeavored to do them
ill offices, and render them odious to Tisaphernes, who, by his means,
was hindered from assisting them vigorously, and from finally ruining
the Athenians. For his advice was to furnish them but sparingly with
money, and so wear them out, and consume them insensibly; when they had
wasted their strength upon one another, they would both become ready to
submit to the king. Tisaphernes readily pursued his counsel, and so
openly expressed the liking and admiration which he had for him, that
Alcibiades was looked up to by the Greeks of both parties, and the
Athenians, now in their misfortunes, repented them of their severe
sentence against him. And he, on the other side, began to be troubled
for them, and to fear lest, if that commonwealth were utterly destroyed,
he should fall into the hands of the Lacedaemonians, his enemies.
At that time the whole strength of the Athenians was in Samos. Their
fleet maintained itself here, and issued from these head-quarters to
reduce such as had revolted, and protect the rest of their territories;
in one way or other still contriving to be a match for their enemies at
sea. What they stood in fear of, was Tisaphernes and the Phoenician
fleet of one hundred and fifty galleys, which was said to be already
under sail; if those came, there remained then no hopes for the
commonwealth of Athens. Understanding this, Alcibiades sent secretly to
the chief men of the Athenians, who were then at Samos, giving them
hopes that he would make Tisaphernes their friend; he was willing, he
implied, to do some favor, not to the people, nor in reliance upon them,
but to the better citizens, if only, like brave men, they would make the
attempt to put down the insolence of the people, and, by taking upon
them the government, would endeavor to save the city from ruin. All of
them gave a ready ear to the proposal made by Alcibiades, except only
Phrynichus of the township of Dirades, one of the generals, who
suspected, as the truth was, that Alcibiades concerned not himself
whether the government were in the people or the better citizens, but
only sought by any means to make way for his return into his native
country, and to that end inveighed against the people, thereby to gain
the others, and to insinuate himself into their good opinion. But when
Phrynichus found his counsel to be rejected, and that he was himself
become a declared enemy of Alcibiades, he gave secret intelligence to
Astyochus, the enemy's admiral, cautioning him to beware of Alcibiades,
and to seize him as a double dealer, unaware that one traitor was making
discoveries to another. For Astyochus, who was eager to gain the favor
of Tisaphernes, observing the credit Alcibiades had with him, revealed
to Alcibiades all that Phrynichus had said against him. Alcibiades at
once dispatched messengers to Samos, to accuse Phrynichus of the
treachery. Upon this, all the commanders were enraged with Phrynichus,
and set themselves against him, and he, seeing no other way to extricate
himself from the present danger, attempted to remedy one evil by a
greater. He sent to Astyochus to reproach him for betraying him, and to
make an offer to him at the same time, to deliver into his hands both
the army and the navy of the Athenians. This occasioned no damage to
the Athenians, because Astyochus repeated his treachery, and revealed
also this proposal to Alcibiades. But this again was foreseen by
Phrynichus, who, expecting a second accusation from Alcibiades, to
anticipate him, advertised the Athenians beforehand that the enemy was
ready to sail in order to surprise them, and therefore advised them to
fortify their camp, and to be in a readiness to go aboard their ships.
While the Athenians were intent upon doing these things, they received
other letters from Alcibiades, admonishing them to beware of Phrynichus,
as one who designed to betray their fleet to the enemy, to which they
then gave no credit at all, conceiving that Alcibiades, who knew
perfectly the counsels and preparations of the enemy, was merely making
use of that knowledge, in order to impose upon them in this false
accusation of Phrynichus. Yet, afterwards, when Phrynichus was stabbed
with a dagger in the market-place by Hermon, one of the guard, the
Athenians, entering into an examination of the cause, solemnly condemned
Phrynichus of treason, and decreed crowns to Hermon and his associates.
And now the friends of Alcibiades, carrying all before them at Samos,
dispatched Pisander to Athens, to attempt a change of government, and to
encourage the aristocratical citizens to take upon themselves the
government, and overthrow the democracy, representing to them, that,
upon these terms, Alcibiades would procure them the friendship and
alliance of Tisaphernes.
This was the color and pretense made use of by those who desired to
change the government of Athens to an oligarchy. But as soon as they
prevailed, and had got the administration of affairs into their hands,
under the name of the Five Thousand (whereas, indeed, they were but four
hundred), they slighted Alcibiades altogether, and prosecuted the war
with less vigor; partly because they durst not yet trust the citizens,
who secretly detested this change, and partly because they thought the
Lacedaemonians, who always befriended the government of the few, would
be inclined to give them favorable terms.
The people in the city were terrified into submission, many of those who
had dared openly to oppose the four hundred having been put to death.
But those who were at Samos, indignant when they heard this news, were
eager to set sail instantly for the Piraeus; and, sending for
Alcibiades, they declared him general, requiring him to lead them on to
put down the tyrants. He, however, in that juncture, did not, as it
might have been thought a man would, on being suddenly exalted by the
favor of a multitude, think himself under an obligation to gratify and
submit to all the wishes of those who, from a fugitive and an exile, had
created him general of so great an army, and given him the command of
such a fleet. But, as became a great captain, he opposed himself to the
precipitate resolutions which their rage led them to, and, by
restraining them from the great error they were about to commit,
unequivocally saved the commonwealth. For if they then had sailed to
Athens, all Ionia and the islands and the Hellespont would have fallen
into the enemies' hands without opposition, while the Athenians,
involved in civil war, would have been fighting with one another within
the circuit of their own walls. It was Alcibiades alone, or, at least,
principally, who prevented all this mischief; for he not only used
persuasion to the whole army, and showed them the danger, but applied
himself to them, one by one, entreating some, and constraining others.
He was much assisted, however, by Thrasybulus of Stiria, who, having the
loudest voice, as we are told of all the Athenians, went along with him,
and cried out to those who were ready to be gone. A second great
service which Alcibiades did for them was, his undertaking that the
Phoenician fleet, which the Lacedaemonians expected to be sent to them
by the king of Persia, should either come in aid of the Athenians, or
otherwise should not come at all. He sailed off with all expedition in
order to perform this, and the ships, which had already been seen as
near as Aspendus, were not brought any further by Tisaphernes, who thus
deceived the Lacedaemonians; and it was by both sides believed that they
had been diverted by the procurement of Alcibiades. The Lacedaemonians,
in particular, accused him, that he had advised the Barbarian to stand
still, and suffer the Greeks to waste and destroy one another, as it was
evident that the accession of so great a force to either party would
enable them to take away the entire dominion of the sea from the other
side.
Soon after this, the four hundred usurpers were driven out, the friends
of Alcibiades vigorously assisting those who were for the popular
government. And now the people in the city not only desired, but
commanded Alcibiades to return home from his exile. He, however,
desired not to owe his return to the mere grace and commiseration of the
people, and resolved to come back, not with empty hands, but with glory,
and after some service done. To this end, he sailed from Samos with a
few ships, and cruised on the sea of Cnidos, and about the isle of Cos;
but receiving intelligence there that Mindarus, the Spartan admiral, had
sailed with his whole army into the Hellespont, and that the Athenians
had followed him, he hurried back to succor the Athenian commanders,
and, by good fortune, arrived with eighteen galleys at a critical time.
For both the fleets having engaged near Abydos, the fight between them
had lasted till night, the one side having the advantage on one quarter,
and the other on another. Upon his first appearance, both sides formed
a false impression; the enemy was encouraged, and the Athenians
terrified. But Alcibiades suddenly raised the Athenian ensign in the
admiral ship, and fell upon those galleys of the Peloponnesians which
had the advantage and were in pursuit. He soon put these to flight, and
followed them so close that he forced them on shore, and broke the ships
in pieces, the sailors abandoning them and swimming away, in spite of
all the efforts of Pharnabazus, who had come down to their assistance by
land, and did what he could to protect them from the shore. In fine,
the Athenians, having taken thirty of the enemy's ships, and recovered
all their own, erected a trophy. After the gaining of so glorious a
victory, his vanity made him eager to show himself to Tisaphernes, and,
having furnished himself with gifts and presents, and an equipage
suitable to his dignity, he set out to visit him. But the thing did not
succeed as he had imagined, for Tisaphernes had been long suspected by
the Lacedaemonians, and was afraid to fall into disgrace with his king,
upon that account, and therefore thought that Alcibiades arrived very
opportunely, and immediately caused him to be seized, and sent away
prisoner to Sardis; fancying, by this act of injustice, to clear himself
from all former imputations.
But about thirty days after, Alcibiades escaped from his keepers, and,
having got a horse, fled to Clazomenae, where he procured Tisaphernes'
additional disgrace by professing he was a party to his escape. From
there he sailed to the Athenian camp, and, being informed there that
Mindarus and Pharnabazus were together at Cyzicus, he made a speech to
the soldiers, telling them that sea-fighting, land-fighting, and, by the
gods, fighting against fortified cities too, must be all one for them,
as, unless they conquered everywhere, there was no money for them. As
soon as ever he got them on shipboard, he hasted to Proconnesus, and
gave command to seize all the small vessels they met, and guard them
safely in the interior of the fleet, that the enemy might have no notice
of his coming; and a great storm of rain, accompanied with thunder and
darkness, which happened at the same time, contributed much to the
concealment of his enterprise. Indeed, it was not only undiscovered by
the enemy, but the Athenians themselves were ignorant of it, for he
commanded them suddenly on board, and set sail when they had abandoned
all intention of it. As the darkness presently passed away, the
Peloponnesian fleet were seen riding out at sea in front of the harbor
of Cyzicus. Fearing, if they discovered the number of his ships, they
might endeavor to save themselves by land, he commanded the rest of the
captains to slacken, and follow him slowly, whilst he, advancing with
forty ships, showed himself to the enemy, and provoked them to fight.
The enemy, being deceived as to their numbers; despised them, and,
supposing they were to contend with those only, made themselves ready
and began the fight. But as soon as they were engaged, they perceived
the other part of the fleet coming down upon them, at which they were so
terrified that they fled immediately. Upon that, Alcibiades, breaking
through the midst of them with twenty of his best ships, hastened to the
shore, disembarked, and pursued those who abandoned their ships and fled
to land, and made a great slaughter of them. Mindarus and Pharnabazus,
coming to their succor, were utterly defeated. Mindarus was slain upon
the place, fighting valiantly; Pharnabazus saved himself by flight. The
Athenians slew great numbers of their enemies, won much spoil, and took
all their ships. They also made themselves masters of Cyzicus, which
was deserted by Pharnabazus, and destroyed its Peloponnesian garrison,
and thereby not only secured to themselves the Hellespont, but by force
drove the Lacedaemonians from out of all the rest of the sea. They
intercepted some letters written to the ephors, which gave an account of
this fatal overthrow, after their short laconic manner. "Our hopes are
at an end. Mindarus is slain. The men starve. We know not what to
do."
The soldiers who followed Alcibiades in this last fight were so exalted
with their success, and felt that degree of pride, that, looking on
themselves as invincible, they disdained to mix with the other soldiers,
who had been often overcome. For it happened not long before,
Thrasyllus had received a defeat near Ephesus, and, upon that occasion,
the Ephesians erected their brazen trophy to the disgrace of the
Athenians. The soldiers of Alcibiades reproached those who were under
the command of Thrasyllus with this misfortune, at the same time
magnifying themselves and their own commander, and it went so far that
they would not exercise with them, nor lodge in the same quarters. But
soon after, Pharnabazus, with a great force of horse and foot, falling
upon the soldiers of Thrasyllus, as they were laying waste the territory
of Abydos, Alcibiades came to their aid, routed Pharnabazus, and,
together with Thrasyllus, pursued him till it was night; and in this
action the troops united, and returned together to the camp, rejoicing
and congratulating one another. The next day he erected a trophy, and
then proceeded to lay waste with fire and sword the whole province which
was under Pharnabazus, where none ventured to resist; and he took divers
priests and priestesses, but released them without ransom. He prepared
next to attack the Chalcedonians, who had revolted from the Athenians,
and had received a Lacedaemonian governor and garrison. But having
intelligence that they had removed their corn and cattle out of the
fields, and were conveying it all to the Bithynians, who were their
friends, he drew down his army to the frontier of the Bithynians, and
then sent a herald to charge them with this proceeding. The Bithynians,
terrified at his approach, delivered up to him the booty, and entered
into alliance with him.
Afterwards he proceeded to the siege of Chalcedon, and enclosed it with
a wall from sea to sea. Pharnabazus advanced with his forces to raise
the siege, and Hippocrates, the governor of the town, at the same time,
gathering together all the strength he had, made a sally upon the
Athenians. Alcibiades divided his army so as to engage them both at
once, and not only forced Pharnabazus to a dishonorable flight, but
defeated Hippocrates, and killed him and a number of the soldiers with
him. After this he sailed into the Hellespont, in order to raise
supplies of money, and took the city of Selymbria, in which action,
through his precipitation, he exposed himself to great danger. For some
within the town had undertaken to betray it into his hands, and, by
agreement, were to give him a signal by a lighted torch about midnight.
But one of the conspirators beginning to repent himself of the design,
the rest, for fear of being discovered, were driven to give the signal
before the appointed hour. Alcibiades, as soon as he saw the torch
lifted up in the air, though his army was not in readiness to march, ran
instantly towards the walls, taking with him about thirty men only, and
commanding the rest of the army to follow him with all possible speed.
When he came thither, he found the gate opened for him, and entered with
his thirty men, and about twenty more light-armed men, who were come up
to them. They were no sooner in the city, but he perceived the
Selymbrians all armed, coming down upon him; so that there was no hope
of escaping if he stayed to receive them; and, on the other hand, having
been always successful till that day, wherever he commanded, he could
not endure to be defeated and fly. So, requiring silence by sound of a
trumpet, he commanded one of his men to make proclamation that the
Selymbrians should not take arms against the Athenians. This cooled
such of the inhabitants as were fiercest for the fight, for they
supposed that all their enemies were within the walls, and it raised the
hopes of others who were disposed to an accommodation. Whilst they were
parleying, and propositions making on one side and the other,
Alcibiades's whole army came up to the town. And now, conjecturing
rightly, that the Selymbrians were well inclined to peace, and fearing
lest the city might be sacked by the Thracians, who came in great
numbers to his army to serve as volunteers, out of kindness for him, he
commanded them all to retreat without the walls. And upon the
submission of the Selymbrians, he saved them from being pillaged, only
taking of them a sum of money, and, after placing an Athenian garrison
in the town, departed.
During this action, the Athenian captains who besieged Chalcedon
concluded a treaty with Pharnabazus upon these articles: that he should
give them a sum of money; that the Chalcedonians should return to the
subjection of Athens; and that the Athenians should make no inroad into
the province whereof Pharnabazus was governor; and Pharnabazus was also
to provide safe conducts for the Athenian ambassadors to the king of
Persia. Afterwards, when Alcibiades returned thither, Pharnabazus
required that he also should be sworn to the treaty; but he refused it,
unless Pharnabazus would swear at the same time. When the treaty was
sworn to on both sides Alcibiades went against the Byzantines, who had
revolted from the Athenians, and drew a line of circumvallation about
the city. But Anaxilaus and Lycurgus, together with some others, having
undertaken to betray the city to him upon his engagement to preserve the
lives and property of the inhabitants, he caused a report to be spread
abroad, as if, by reason of some unexpected movement in Ionia, he should
be obliged to raise the siege. And, accordingly, that day he made a
show to depart with his whole fleet; but returned the same night, and
went ashore with all his men at arms, and, silently and undiscovered,
marched up to the walls. At the same time, his ships rowed into the
harbor with all possible violence, coming on with much fury, and with
great shouts and outcries. The Byzantines, thus surprised and
astonished, while they all hurried to the defense of their port and
shipping, gave opportunity to those who favored the Athenians, securely
to receive Alcibiades into the city. Yet the enterprise was not
accomplished without fighting, for the Peloponnesians, Boeotians, and
Megarians not only repulsed those who came out of the ships, and forced
them on board again, but, hearing that the Athenians were entered on
the other side, drew up in order, and went to meet them. Alcibiades,
however, gained the victory after some sharp fighting, in which he
himself had the command of the right wing, and Theramenes of the left,
and took about three hundred, who survived of the enemy, prisoners of
war. After the battle, not one of the Byzantines was slain, or driven
out of the city, according to the terms upon which the city was put into
his hands, that they should receive no prejudice in life or property.
And thus Anaxilaus, being afterwards accused at Lacedaemon for this
treason, neither disowned nor professed to be ashamed of the action; for
he urged that he was not a Lacedaemonian, but a Byzantine and saw not
Sparta, but Byzantium, in extreme danger; the city so blockaded that it
was not possible to bring in any new provisions, and the Peloponnesians
and Boeotians, who were in garrison, devouring the old stores, whilst
the Byzantines, with their wives and children, were starving; that he
had not, therefore, betrayed his country to enemies, but had delivered
it from the calamities of war, and had but followed the example of the
most worthy Lacedaemonians, who esteemed nothing to be honorable and
just, but what was profitable for their country. The Lacedaemonians,
upon hearing his defense, respected it, and discharged all that were
accused.
And now Alcibiades began to desire to see his native country again, or
rather to show his fellow-citizens a person who had gained so many
victories for them. He set sail for Athens, the ships that accompanied
him being adorned with great numbers of shields and other spoils, and
towing after them many galleys taken from the enemy, and the ensigns and
ornaments of many others which he had sunk and destroyed; all of them
together amounting to two hundred. Little credit, perhaps, can be given
to what Duris the Samian, who professed to be descended from Alcibiades,
adds, that Chrysogonus, who had gained a victory at the Pythian games,
played upon his flute for the galleys, whilst the oars kept time with
the music; and that Callippides, the tragedian, attired in his buskins,
his purple robes, and other ornaments used in the theater, gave the word
to the rowers, and that the admiral galley entered into the port with a
purple sail. Neither Theopompus, nor Ephorus, nor Xenophon, mention
them. Nor, indeed, is it credible, that one who returned from so long
an exile, and such variety of misfortunes, should come home to his
countrymen in the style of revelers breaking up from a drinking-party.
On the contrary, he entered the harbor full of fear, nor would he
venture to go on shore, till, standing on the deck, he saw Euryptolemus,
his cousin, and others of his friends and acquaintance, who were ready
to receive him, and invited him to land. As soon as he was landed, the
multitude who came out to meet him scarcely seemed so much as to see any
of the other captains, but came in throngs about Alcibiades, and saluted
him with loud acclamations, and still followed him; those who could
press near him crowned him with garlands, and they who could not come up
so close yet stayed to behold him afar off, and the old men pointed him
out, and showed him to the young ones. Nevertheless, this public joy
was mixed with some tears, and the present happiness was allayed by the
remembrance of the miseries they had endured. They made reflections,
that they could not have so unfortunately miscarried in Sicily, or been
defeated in any of their other expectations, if they had left the
management of their affairs formerly, and the command of their forces,
to Alcibiades, since, upon his undertaking the administration, when they
were in a manner driven from the sea, and could scarce defend the
suburbs of their city by land, and, at the same time, were miserably
distracted with intestine factions, he had raised them up from this low
and deplorable condition, and had not only restored them to their
ancient dominion of the sea, but had also made them everywhere
victorious over their enemies on land.
There had been a decree for recalling him from his banishment already
passed by the people, at the instance of Critias, the son of
Callaeschrus, as appears by his elegies, in which he puts Alcibiades in
mind of this service:--
From my proposal did that edict come,
Which from your tedious exile brought you home;
The public vote at first was moved by me,
And my voice put the seal to the decree.
The people being summoned to an assembly, Alcibiades came in amongst
them, and first bewailed and lamented his own sufferings, and, in gentle
terms complaining of the usage he had received, imputed all to his hard
fortune, and some ill genius that attended him: then he spoke at large
of their prospects, and exhorted them to courage and good hope. The
people crowned him with crowns of gold, and created him general, both at
land and sea, with absolute power. They also made a decree that his
estate should be restored to him, and that the Eumolpidae and the holy
heralds should absolve him from the curses which they had solemnly
pronounced against him by sentence of the people. Which when all the
rest obeyed, Theodorus, the high-priest, excused himself, "For," said
he, "if he is innocent, I never cursed him."
But notwithstanding the affairs of Alcibiades went so prosperously, and
so much to his glory, yet many were still somewhat disturbed, and looked
upon the time of his arrival to be ominous. For on the day that he came
into the port, the feast of the goddess Minerva, which they call the
Plynteria, was kept. It is the twenty-fifth day of Thargelion, when the
Praxiergidae solemnize their secret rites, taking all the ornaments from
off her image, and keeping the part of the temple where it stands close
covered. Hence the Athenians esteem this day most inauspicious and
never undertake any thing of importance upon it; and, therefore, they
imagined that the goddess did not receive Alcibiades graciously and
propitiously, thus hiding her face and rejecting him. Yet,
notwithstanding, everything succeeded according to his wish. When the
one hundred galleys, that were to return with him, were fitted out and
ready to sail, an honorable zeal detained him till the celebration of
the mysteries was over. For ever since Decelea had been occupied, as
the enemy commanded the roads leading from Athens to Eleusis, the
procession, being conducted by sea, had not been performed with any
proper solemnity; they were forced to omit the sacrifices and dances and
other holy ceremonies, which had usually been performed in the way, when
they led forth Iacchus. Alcibiades, therefore, judged it would be a
glorious action, which would do honor to the gods and gain him esteem
with men, if he restored the ancient splendor to these rites, escorting
the procession again by land, and protecting it with his army in the
face of the enemy. For either, if Agis stood still and did not oppose,
it would very much diminish and obscure his reputation, or, in the other
alternative, Alcibiades would engage in a holy war, in the cause of the
gods, and in defense of the most sacred and solemn ceremonies; and this
in the sight of his country, where he should have all his fellow-
citizens witnesses of his valor. As soon as he had resolved upon this
design, and had communicated it to the Eumolpidae and heralds, he placed
sentinels on the tops of the hills, and at the break of day sent forth
his scouts. And then taking with him the priests and Initiates and the
Initiators, and encompassing them with his soldiers, he conducted them
with great order and profound silence; an august and venerable
procession, wherein all who did not envy him said, he performed at once
the office of a high-priest and of a general. The enemy did not dare to
attempt any thing against them, and thus he brought them back in safety
to the city. Upon which, as he was exalted in his own thought, so the
opinion which the people had of his conduct was raised to that degree,
that they looked upon their armies as irresistible and invincible while
he commanded them; and he so won, indeed, upon the lower and meaner sort
of people, that they passionately desired to have him "tyrant" over
them, and some of them did not scruple to tell him so, and to advise him
to put himself out of the reach of envy, by abolishing the laws and
ordinances of the people, and suppressing the idle talkers that were
ruining the state, that so he might act and take upon him the management
of affairs, without standing in fear of being called to an account.
How far his own inclinations led him to usurp sovereign power, is
uncertain, but the most considerable persons in the city were so much
afraid of it, that they hastened him on ship-board as speedily as they
could, appointing the colleagues whom he chose, and allowing him all
other things as he desired. Thereupon he set sail with a fleet of one
hundred ships, and, arriving at Andros, he there fought with and
defeated as well the inhabitants as the Lacedaemonians who assisted
them. He did not, however, take the city; which gave the first occasion
to his enemies for all their accusations against him. Certainly, if
ever man was ruined by his own glory, it was Alcibiades. For his
continual success had produced such an idea of his courage and conduct,
that, if he failed in anything he undertook, it was imputed to his
neglect, and no one would believe it was through want of power. For
they thought nothing was too hard for him, if he went about it in good
earnest. They fancied, every day, that they should hear news of the
reduction of Chios, and of the rest of Ionia, and grew impatient that
things were not effected as fast and as rapidly as they could wish for
them. They never considered how extremely money was wanting, and that,
having to carry on war with an enemy who had supplies of all things from
a great king, he was often forced to quit his armament, in order to
procure money and provisions for the subsistence of his soldiers. This
it was which gave occasion for the last accusation which was made
against him. For Lysander, being sent from Lacedaemon with a commission
to be admiral of their fleet, and being furnished by Cyrus with a great
sum of money, gave every sailor four obols a day, whereas before they
had but three. Alcibiades could hardly allow his men three obols, and
therefore was constrained to go into Caria to furnish himself with
money. He left the care of the fleet, in his absence, to Antiochus, an
experienced seaman, but rash and inconsiderate, who had express orders
from Alcibiades not to engage, though the enemy provoked him. But he
slighted and disregarded these directions to that degree, that, having
made ready his own galley and another, he stood for Ephesus, where the
enemy lay, and, as he sailed before the heads of their galleys, used
every provocation possible, both in words and deeds. Lysander at first
manned out a few ships, and pursued him. But all the Athenian ships
coming in to his assistance, Lysander, also, brought up his whole fleet,
which gained an entire victory. He slew Antiochus himself, took many
men and ships, and erected a trophy.
As soon as Alcibiades heard this news, he returned to Samos, and loosing
from thence with his whole fleet, came and offered battle to Lysander.
But Lysander, content with the victory he had gained, would not stir.
Amongst others in the army who hated Alcibiades, Thrasybulus, the son of
Thrason, was his particular enemy, and went purposely to Athens to
accuse him, and to exasperate his enemies in the city against him.
Addressing the people, he represented that Alcibiades had ruined their
affairs and lost their ships by mere self-conceited neglect of his
duties, committing the government of the army, in his absence, to men
who gained his favor by drinking and scurrilous talking, whilst he
wandered up and down at pleasure to raise money, giving himself up to
every sort of luxury and excess amongst the courtesans of Abydos and
Ionia, at a time when the enemy's navy were on the watch close at hand.
It was also objected to him, that he had fortified a castle near
Bisanthe in Thrace, for a safe retreat for himself, as one that either
could not, or would not, live in his own country. The Athenians gave
credit to these informations, and showed the resentment and displeasure
which they had conceived against him, by choosing other generals.
As soon as Alcibiades heard of this, he immediately forsook the army,
afraid of what might follow; and, collecting a body of mercenary
soldiers, made war upon his own account against those Thracians who
called themselves free, and acknowledged no king. By this means he
amassed to himself a considerable treasure, and, at the same time,
secured the bordering Greeks from the incursions of the barbarians.
Tydeus, Menander, and Adimantus, the new-made generals, were at that
time posted at Aegospotami, with all the ships which the Athenians had
left. From whence they were used to go out to sea every morning, and
offer battle to Lysander, who lay near Lampsacus; and when they had done
so, returning back again, lay, all the rest of the day, carelessly and
without order, in contempt of the enemy. Alcibiades, who was not far
off, did not think so slightly of their danger, nor neglect to let them
know it, but, mounting his horse, came to the generals, and represented
to them that they had chosen a very inconvenient station, where there
was no safe harbor, and where they were distant from any town; so that
they were constrained to send for their necessary provisions as far as
Sestos. He also pointed out to them their carelessness in suffering the
soldiers, when they went ashore, to disperse and wander up and down at
their pleasure, while the enemy's fleet, under the command of one
general, and strictly obedient to discipline, lay so very near them. He
advised them to remove the fleet to Sestos. But the admirals not only
disregarded what he said, but Tydeus, with insulting expressions;
commanded him to be gone, saying, that now not he, but others, had the
command of the forces. Alcibiades, suspecting something of treachery in
them, departed, and told his friends, who accompanied him out of the
camp, that if the generals had not used him with such insupportable
contempt, he would within a few days have forced the Lacedaemonians,
however unwilling, either to have fought the Athenians at sea, or to
have deserted their ships. Some looked upon this as a piece of
ostentation only; others said, the thing was probable, for that he might
have brought down by land great numbers of the Thracian cavalry and
archers, to assault and disorder them in their camp. The event
however, soon made it evident how rightly he had judged of the errors
which the Athenians committed. For Lysander fell upon them on a sudden,
when they least suspected it, with such fury that Conon alone, with
eight galleys, escaped him; all the rest, which were about two hundred,
he took and carried away, together with three thousand prisoners, whom
he put to death. And within a short time after, he took Athens itself,
burnt all the ships which he found there, and demolished their long
walls.
After this, Alcibiades, standing in dread of the Lacedaemonians, who
were now masters both at sea and land, retired into Bithynia. He sent
thither great treasure before him, took much with him, but left much
more in the castle where he had before resided. But he lost great part
of his wealth in Bithynia, being robbed by some Thracians who lived in
those parts, and thereupon determined to go to the court of Artaxerxes,
not doubting but that the king, if he would make trial of his abilities,
would find him not inferior to Themistocles, besides that he was
recommended by a more honorable cause. For he went, not as Themistocles
did, to offer his service against his fellow-citizens, but against their
enemies, and to implore the king's aid for the defense of his country.
He concluded that Pharnabazus would most readily procure him a safe
conduct, and therefore went into Phrygia to him, and continued to dwell
there some time, paying him great respect, and being honorably treated
by him. The Athenians, in the meantime, were miserably afflicted at
their loss of empire, but when they were deprived of liberty also, and
Lysander set up thirty despotic rulers in the city, in their ruin now
they began to turn to those thoughts which, while safety was yet
possible, they would not entertain; they acknowledged and bewailed their
former errors and follies, and judged this second ill-usage of
Alcibiades to be of all the most inexcusable. For he was rejected,
without any fault committed by himself; and only because they were
incensed against his subordinate for having shamefully lost a few ships,
they much more shamefully deprived the commonwealth of its most valiant
and accomplished general. Yet in this sad state of affairs, they had
still some faint hopes left them, nor would they utterly despair of the
Athenian commonwealth, while Alcibiades was safe. For they persuaded
themselves that if before, when he was an exile, he could not content
himself to live idly and at ease, much less now, if he could find any
favorable opportunity, would he endure the insolence of the
Lacedaemonians, and the outrages of the Thirty. Nor was it an absurd
thing in the people to entertain such imaginations, when the Thirty
themselves were so very solicitous to be informed and to get
intelligence of all his actions and designs. In fine, Critias
represented to Lysander that the Lacedaemonians could never securely
enjoy the dominion of Greece, till the Athenian democracy was absolutely
destroyed; and though now the people of Athens seemed quietly and
patiently to submit to so small a number of governors, yet so long as
Alcibiades lived, the knowledge of this fact would never suffer them to
acquiesce in their present circumstances.
Yet Lysander would not be prevailed upon by these representations, till
at last he received secret orders from the magistrates of Lacedaemon,
expressly requiring him to get Alcibiades dispatched: whether it was
that they feared his energy and boldness in enterprising what was
hazardous, or that it was done to gratify king Agis. Upon receipt of
this order, Lysander sent away a messenger to Pharnabazus, desiring him
to put it in execution. Pharnabazus committed the affair to Magaeus,
his brother, and to his uncle Susamithres. Alcibiades resided at that
time in a small village in Phrygia, together with Timandra, a mistress
of his. As he slept, he had this dream: he thought himself attired in
his mistress's habit, and that she, holding him in her arms, dressed his
head and painted his face as if he had been a woman; others say, he
dreamed that he saw Magaeus cut off his head and burn his body; at any
rate, it was but a little while before his death that he had these
visions. Those who were sent to assassinate him had not courage enough
to enter the house, but surrounded it first, and set it on fire.
Alcibiades, as soon as he perceived it, getting together great
quantities of clothes and furniture, threw them upon the fire to choke
it, and, having wrapped his cloak about his left arm, and holding his
naked sword in his right, he cast himself into the middle of the fire,
and escaped securely through it, before his clothes were burnt. The
barbarians, as soon as they saw him, retreated, and none of them durst
stay to expect him, or to engage with him, but, standing at a distance,
they slew him with their darts and arrows. When he was dead, the
barbarians departed, and Timandra took up his dead body, and, covering
and wrapping it up in her own robes, she buried it as decently and as
honorably as her circumstances would allow. It is said, that the famous
Lais, who was called the Corinthian, though she was a native of Hyccara,
a small town in Sicily, from whence she was brought a captive, was the
daughter of this Timandra. There are some who agree with this account
of Alcibiades's death in all points, except that they impute the cause
of it neither to Pharnabazus, nor Lysander, nor the Lacedaemonians:
but, they say, he was keeping with him a young lady of a noble house,
whom he had debauched, and that her brothers, not being able to endure
the indignity, set fire by night to the house where he was living, and,
as he endeavored to save himself from the flames, slew him with their
darts, in the manner just related.