Battle of Arginusae - The Battle

The Battle

At dawn the next day, Callicratidas led his fleet out to meet the Athenians. He had 140 ships to match the Athenians' 150, having left 50 to watch Conon at Mytilene. For the first time in the war, the Spartan crews and commanders were more experienced than their Athenian opposites, as the Athenians' best crews had been at sea with Conon. To counter the Spartans' superior skill and maneuverability, the Athenian commanders implemented several new and innovative tactics. First, the Athenian fleet was divided into eight autonomous divisions, each commanded by one of the generals; second, they arranged their fleet in a double line instead of the traditional single line in order to prevent the Spartans from using the maneuver known as the diekplous, in which a trireme raced into a gap between two enemy ships and then wheeled to strike one of them in the side; if the Spartans attempted this against a double line, a ship from the second line could move up to attack the Spartan ship.

As the Athenians advanced, they extended their left flank out to sea, outflanking the Spartans. The superior Athenian numbers, combined with the tactics they had implemented, created a dangerous situation for the Spartans, and Callicratidas' helmsman advised him to retire without a fight, but the navarch insisted on pushing on. Dividing his force in two to meet the threat of encirclement, Callicratidas led his fleet into battle. Heated fighting ensued for some time, but eventually Callicratidas, leading the Spartan right, was killed when his ship rammed an opposing ship, and resistance on the right collapsed. The left continued to resist for longer, but was unable to stand up to the entire Athenian fleet and soon joined the right wing in flight. All told, the Spartans lost some 70 ships, and the Athenians 25.