Battle of Notium - Aftermath

Aftermath

Upon receiving news of the battle, Alcibiades lifted the siege of Phocaea and returned south to reinforce the fleet at Notium; this restored rough numerical parity between the two fleets. Further attempts to draw Lysander out into a battle proved unsuccessful, however, and the two fleets continued to watch each other across the water.

The defeat at Notium caused the complete downfall of Alcibiades in Athenian politics. Restored to favor after the victory at Cyzicus, he had been placed in command with great expectations. When his unorthodox appointment of Antiochus led to a messy defeat, his political enemies saw their chance, and he was removed from office. Never again returning to Athens, he sailed north to land he owned in the Thracian Chersonese; except for a brief appearance at Aegospotami, his involvement in the war was over.

The commands of both fleets changed hands after Notium. Because of term limits on the position of navarch, Lysander was replaced by Callicratidas; on the Athenian side, the fall of Alcibiades also brought down his friends Thrasybulus and Theramenes, and the overall command was given to Conon. Over the next year, the fleets clashed twice, first in a battle where, with twice as many ships as Conon, Callicratidas defeated the Athenians and trapped them in Mytilene; an Athenian relief fleet then decisively defeated and killed Callicratidas at Arginusae. These Athenian victories proved useless, however, for in 405 BC Lysander returned to unofficial command and destroyed the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami, thus ending the Peloponnesian War with Sparta the victor.

Notium, although not terribly significant in the number of ships won or lost by either side (the gains made by the Spartan fleet were more than erased by their defeat at Arginusae), had the significant effect of launching the career of Lysander and ending that of Alcibiades. Lysander would go on to end the Athenian empire and contend for several years for control of the Spartan empire that replaced it; Alcibiades, meanwhile, would be assassinated in 403 BC, having never returned to his native city. Donald Kagan, meanwhile, has suggested that the most important effect of the battle on the Athenian side was the removal from command of Thrasybulus, the talented commander who had helped plan all the Athenian naval victories of 411 and 410 BC.

Notium, then, although not decisive in itself, had large political ramifications, and played a significant role in determining who would lead the forces of Athens and Sparta in the upcoming decisive battles of the war.