Battle
Mindarus, after joining forces with Dorieus, had 97 ships under his command; the Athenian fleet contained 74 ships. The Spartans lined up for battle with the Asian shore of the Hellespont at their backs, with Mindarus commanding the right and the Syracusans holding the left; the Athenians lined up opposite them, with Thrasybulus commanding the right and Thrasyllus the left. The battle began with a signal from the commanders, which was relayed to the fleet by trumpeters. An evenly matched fight ensued, with pilots attempting to ram and disable enemy triremes, while marines on the decks engaged their opposite numbers whenever they came within range of an opposing ship. As the day wore on, neither side was able to gain a decisive advantage until Alcibiades appeared with 18 triremes from Samos. Initially, both fleets believed that the reinforcements might be theirs, but as Alcibiades drew nearer he ran up a red flag, a prearranged signal that told the Athenians the ships were their own. Realizing this, the Spartan fleet fled to Abydos, but suffered heavy losses along the way, as the Athenians attacked the strung out ships. All told, the Athenians captured 30 Spartan ships and recovered the 15 of their own that the Spartans had taken at the Battle of Cynossema.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Abydos
Famous quotes containing the word battle:
“The thundering line of battle stands,
And in the air Death moans and sings:
But Day shall clasp him with strong hands,
And Night shall fold him in soft wings.”
—Julian Grenfell (1888–1915)
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—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“Oh, who will now be able to relate how Pantagruel behaved in face of these three hundred giants! Oh my muse, my Calliope, my Thalie, inspire me now, restore my spirits, because here is the ass’s bridge of logic, here is the pitfall, here is the difficulty of being able to describe the horrible battle undertaken.”
—François Rabelais (1494–1553)