Battle of Arginusae (406 BC): Victory, Then the Generals' Trial

The Battle of Arginusae was a naval battle fought in 406 BC near a group of small islands between Lesbos and the coast of Asia Minor. It was the last major victory of Athens in the Peloponnesian War, and one of the largest sea battles ever fought between Greek fleets. It is remembered as much for what followed: the trial and execution of the victorious generals for failing to rescue their own shipwrecked men.

Background

After the disaster in Sicily, Athens fought on in the eastern Aegean against a Spartan fleet paid for by Persian money. In 406 BC the new Spartan admiral, Callicratidas, trapped the Athenian commander Conon and his ships in the harbour of Mytilene on Lesbos, with a fleet of about 170 ships.

Athens responded with an extraordinary effort. It melted down treasures, manned ships with citizens of every class, including the wealthy cavalrymen, and enrolled resident foreigners and slaves as rowers. The slaves were promised freedom, and in the end those who fought received it. With allied contingents gathered at Samos, the relief fleet numbered more than 150 ships under eight generals.

The battle

Callicratidas left about 50 ships to keep Conon blockaded and sailed to meet the Athenians with around 120. The fleets met off the Arginusae islands. Because their crews were less experienced, the Athenians drew up in an unusual formation, partly in two lines, to stop the faster Peloponnesian ships from breaking through and turning to ram from the side.

The fighting was long and hard. When Callicratidas’ ship rammed an enemy vessel, he fell overboard and was lost. The Peloponnesian right wing then gave way and the whole fleet fled. According to Xenophon, the Spartans and their allies lost more than 70 ships, while Athens lost 25 ships with almost all their crews.

Storm and blame

After the battle the generals faced two tasks: to sail against the 50 enemy ships still at Mytilene, and to rescue the men clinging to the wrecks. They assigned 47 ships to the rescue under two trierarchs (ship captains), Theramenes and Thrasybulus. A violent storm then broke, and neither task was carried out. Survivors drowned and bodies were not recovered for burial, a serious religious failing in Greek eyes. The Spartan ships at Mytilene escaped.

The loss of life was heavy. A trireme carried about 200 men, so the 25 lost ships may have cost several thousand lives, though some men were saved.

The trial of the generals

In Athens anger grew. The eight generals were removed from office. Two never returned home; the other six, including Pericles the Younger, son of the great statesman, came back to face charges. Theramenes, keen to avoid blame himself, helped turn opinion against them.

The case came before the assembly in the autumn of 406 BC, after the festival of the Apaturia, when families mourned their dead. A councillor named Callixenus proposed that all the generals be judged together in a single vote. This went against the normal legal rule that each defendant should be tried individually. When some objected, they were threatened with being included in the same vote.

The philosopher Socrates happened to be on the council’s presiding committee that day. Plato and Xenophon both record that he refused to go along with the illegal proposal. The assembly voted anyway, and the six generals were executed. Within a short time the Athenians repented and brought charges against Callixenus and others, but the generals were dead.

Consequences

Arginusae saved Athens’ fleet for the moment. Some ancient writers report that Sparta offered peace after the defeat and that Athens, led by the popular politician Cleophon, refused. Whatever the truth, the war continued.

The execution of the generals robbed Athens of experienced commanders just when it needed them most. Less than a year later, in 405 BC, the Athenian fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Aegospotami, and Athens surrendered in 404 BC. The comedy The Frogs by Aristophanes, staged in early 405 BC, mentions the slaves freed for fighting at Arginusae.

Timeline

• 406 BC, spring: Callicratidas replaces Lysander as Spartan admiral.
• 406 BC, summer: Conon is blockaded in Mytilene; Athens mobilises a relief fleet.
• 406 BC, late summer: Athenian victory at Arginusae; a storm prevents the rescue of survivors.
• 406 BC, autumn: Six generals are condemned together by the assembly and executed.
• 405 BC: Aristophanes’ The Frogs is staged; Athens’ fleet is destroyed at Aegospotami.

Why it matters

Arginusae shows both the strength and the weakness of Athenian democracy. The city could still mobilise its whole population and win a great battle, yet in a moment of grief and anger the assembly set aside its own laws. The episode, and Socrates’ stand within it, later fed ancient criticism of democracy and forms part of the background to the Trial of Socrates.