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Although he had thus won the upper hand and forced all the enemies' ships to flee, he abstained altogether from pursuit. For he recalled the battle of Arginusae1 and that the assembly of the people, in return for the great service performed by the victorious generals, condemned them to death on the charge that they had failed to bury the men who had perished in the fight; consequently he was afraid, since the circumstances were much the same, that he might run the risk of a similar fate. Accordingly, refraining from pursuit, he gathered up the bodies of his fellow citizens which were afloat, saved those who still lived, and buried the dead. Had he not engaged in this task he would easily have destroyed the whole enemy fleet. [2] In the battle eighteen triremes2 on the Athenian side were destroyed; on the Lacedaemonian twenty-four were destroyed and eight captured with their crews. Chabrias then, having won a notable victory, sailed back laden with spoils to the Peiraeus and met with an enthusiastic reception from his fellow citizens. Since the Peloponnesian War this was the first naval battle the Athenians had won. For they had not fought the battle of Cnidus3 with a fleet of their own, but had got the use of the King's fleet and won a victory. [3]

While these things were going on, in Italy Marcus Manlius,4 who aspired to a tyranny in Rome, was overpowered and slain.

1 406 B.C. One of the Athenian causes célèbres (see Book 13.99, 101).

2 At variance with Dem 20.78: μόνος τῶν πάντων στρατηγῶν οὐ πόλιν, οὐ φρούριον, οὐ ναῦν, οὐ στρατιώτην ἀπώλεσεν (sc. Χαβρίας᾿ οὐδέν᾽ ἡγούμενος ὑμῶν.

3 394 B.C. Conon, the Athenian admiral, had a Persian fleet in this naval victory which threatened Sparta's supremacy (see Book 14.83).

4 See Livy 6.20.

Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.

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    • Demosthenes, Against Leptines, 78
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 6, 20
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