Alkibiades arranged his army so as to be
able to fight them both at once, forced Pharnabazus to retreat with
disgrace, killed Hippokrates, and put his force to flight with severe
loss. He now took a cruise round the Hellespont, to raise contributions
from the towns on the coast, during which he took Selymbria, where he,
very unnecessarily, was exposed to great personal risk. The party who
intended to betray the city had arranged to show a torch as a signal at
midnight, but were compelled to do so before the appointed time, fearing
one of the conspirators, who suddenly changed his mind. When then the
torch was raised, the army was not ready for the assault, but
Alkibiades, taking some thirty men with him, ran at full speed up to the
walls, giving orders to the rest to follow. The city gate was opened for
him, and, twenty peltasts[A] having joined his thirty soldiers, he
entered, when he perceived the men of Selymbria under arms marching down
the street to meet him. To await their onset would have been ruin, while
pride forbade a hitherto invincible general to retire. Ordering his
trumpet to sound, he bade one of those present proclaim aloud that the
Selymbrians ought not to appear in arms against the Athenians. This
speech made some of the townspeople less eager to fight, as they
imagined that their enemies were all within the walls, while it
encouraged others who hoped to arrange matters peaceably.
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