Battle of Abydos
During the Peloponnesian War two battles took place near Abydos on the Hellespont , first the naval battle of Abydos in 411 BC. Between Athens and Sparta and two years later towards the end of 409 BC. The land battle at Abydos between Athens and the Persian Empire . The Athenians were victorious in both battles.
prehistory
After Athens' defeat in Sicily , Sparta went on the offensive, trying to break away the subjects of the Attic Empire. 412 BC This succeeded first in Chios and then in Miletus , where an alliance between Sparta and the Persian Empire came about. After the battle of Eretria in 411 BC The island of Euboia also took the side of Sparta. After this second success, Sparta tried to strike the decisive third blow at the Hellespont in order to cut off Athens from its grain supplies from the Black Sea region and thus finally bring it to its knees. For this purpose, in the summer of 411, all available ships were brought together in the city of Abydos on the bank of the Hellespont in Asia Minor. In the meantime, however, Athens had also put together a fleet with which it faced the Peloponnesians in order to defend its possessions in the region.
In the summer of 411 there was a first sea battle on the Hellespont near the Kynossema promontory , which ended with slight advantages for the Athenians. The Peloponnesians and their allies then withdrew to the port of Abydos, while the Athenians faced them in the port of Sestos on the European side. Both sides were just waiting for reinforcements. The generals of the Athenians Thrasybul and Thrasyllos particularly expected the arrival of Alcibiades . Meanwhile, the Spartan sea lord Mindaros summoned an aid fleet from Euboia, which however never arrived because it went down in the autumn storm. The decision was therefore only postponed.
Sea battle off Abydos
| date | 411 BC Chr. |
|---|---|
| place | at Abydos on the Hellespont |
| output | Athens wins |
| consequences | Weakening of the Peloponnesian fleet |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Sparta , Syracuse , Persian Empire , Corinth |
|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 74 ships (plus 20 ships) | 84 ships (plus 14 ships) |
| losses | |
|
crews only |
30 ships |
The opportunity arose when the strategist Dorieus from Rhodes entered the Hellespont with 14 triremes that he wanted to bring to Mindaros. The Athenians went to meet him in twenty ships and threw him ashore at Dardanos . The Athenians tried to pull the enemy boats back to sea from their ships, but only succeeded in one case, since they were hindered by the inhabitants of the town.
The Spartan sea lord Mindaros had watched the battle from the hill of Ilion and returned by the quickest route to Abydos, where he gave orders to sail in order to draw the ships of Dorieus to himself. The Athenians, whose army was at Madytos (between Sestos and Kynossema), drove to meet them with their entire fleet, and so there was a great sea battle in the passage between Abydos and Madytos, which lasted from morning to evening.
As in the previous battle, the general Thrasybul stood on the right wing of the Athenians, while Thrasyllos commanded the left. With the Peloponnesians, the Syracuse Hermocrates had first run out to meet Dorieus, so that the Syracuse contingent now fought on the left wing, while Mindaros stood on the right wing. The Athenians had 74 ships and the Peloponnesians 84, not counting the ships of Dorieus.
The struggle in the strait with its strong current required extreme skill on the part of the crews and helmsmen, which gave the Athenians an advantage over the inexperienced Peloponnesians. Nevertheless, both fleets were balanced for a long time. The decision was not made until evening, when an Athenian auxiliary fleet of 18 or 20 ships under the command of Alcibiades arrived from the south. During this sighting, the left wing of the Syracusans and Peloponnesians fell back on the coast near Abydos, where there was a fight for the boats, in which the Persian satrap Pharnabazos also intervened, who drove his horse into the water and instructed his archers , to fire from the shore at the passing ships.
The battle finally ended with the retreat of the remaining Peloponnesian ships into the port of Abydos. In this final phase, the Athenians were able to recapture all the ships lost during the battle, as well as arrest 30 enemy ships, which they towed to Sestos.
Cyzicus and Ephesus
Sybota - Potidaia - Spartolus - Stratos - Naupactus - Plataea - Olpai - Tanagra - Pylos - Sphacteria - Corinth - Megara - Delion - Amphipolis - Mantinea - Melos - Syracuse - Miletus - Syme - Eretria - Kynossema - Abydos - Kyzikos - Ephesus - Chalcedon - Byzantium - Andros - Notion - Mytilene - Arginus - Aigospotamoi
The second naval battle in the strait was a clear success for Athens, but the Peloponnesian fleet remained a threat, as the wages paid by the Persian satraps made it possible to equip more and more ships. The danger was only averted the following year with the Battle of Kyzikos (410 BC), in which Mindaros lost his life while Alcibiades completely destroyed the Peloponnesian fleet in a brilliant operation at sea and on land.
After restoring its maritime supremacy, Athens made one final attempt the following year to regain its lost position in Ionia. The general Thrasyllos, entrusted with the company, suffered a defeat by the Persian satrap Tissaphernes in the battle of Ephesus . He then withdrew with his ships and warriors to the Hellespont, where he united in Lampsakos with the forces of Alcibiades.
Land battle at Abydos
| date | 409 BC Chr. |
|---|---|
| place | at Abydos on the Hellespont |
| output | Athens wins |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| Hoplites , light shields, riders | Persian mercenaries, many horsemen |
At first there was no good understanding between the troops of Alcibiades and Thrasyllos, since the undefeated soldiers of Alcibiades felt superior to the defeated remains of Thrasyllos. In the winter of 409/08, however, the two generals undertook a joint advance against Abydos, the last remaining base of the Peloponnesians on the Hellespont. A Persian army with many horsemen opposed them in front of the city. The Persians, under the command of Pharnabazus, were defeated by the Athenians and pursued by Alcibiades and his commander Menandros until nightfall. The capture of Abydos did not succeed, but the common victory led to the restoration of good understanding between the two armies.
consequences
Athens' offensive on the Hellespont and the Bosphorus continued in the following year, when the conquest of Chalcedon and Byzantium succeeded in almost completely restoring the former position around the straits. The only fortress that could not be reconquered was Abydos of all places. The successes, however, were only temporary, and after the deposition of Alcibiades they became in 405 BC. Finally destroyed in the battle of Aigospotamoi on the Hellespont.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Xenophon , Hellenika , I 1, 2-7; Diodor , Bibliothek , XIII 45–47, 2.
- ↑ Xenophon, Hellenika , I 2, 15-17; Plutarch , Alkibiades , 29.
literature
- Donald Kagan : The Peloponnesian War. Viking Press, New York 2003. ISBN 0-670-03211-5 . Pp. 407-408.