Mindarus and Pharnabazus now came to the rescue, but they
were beaten back; Mindarus died fighting bravely, and Pharnabazus only
saved himself by flight. By this battle the Athenians obtained
possession of many dead bodies of their enemies,[A] many stand of arms,
the whole of the hostile fleet, and the town of Kyzikus, which they took
by storm, putting its Peloponnesian garrison to the sword, as soon as
Pharnabazus withdrew his troops. They now not merely obtained a firm
hold on the Hellespont, but were able to drive the Lacedaemonians from
the sea in all quarters. A despatch was captured, written in the
Laconian fashion, informing the Ephors of the disaster. "Our ships are
gone; Mindarus is slain; the men are starving; we know not what to do."
[Footnote A: The Greeks attached great importance to the burial of the
dead. The usual test of which party had won a battle was, which side
after it demanded a truce for the burial of the dead. Here the
possession of the dead bodies of the enemy is enumerated as one of the
proofs of victory.]
XXIX. The men who had served under Alkibiades were so elated by this
victory that they disdained to mix with the rest of the army, alleging
that the others had often been defeated, and that they were invincible.
Indeed, not long before, Thrasyllus had received a defeat near Ephesus,
upon which the Ephesians erected the brazen trophy to the disgrace of
the Athenians; so that the soldiers of Alkibiades reproached those of
Thrasyllus with this, glorifying themselves and their commander, and
refusing to allow the others to make use of their places of exercise or
their quarters in camp.
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