Battle of Arginusae

E88227

The Battle of Arginusae was a major Athenian naval victory over Sparta in 406 BC that briefly shifted the balance of the Peloponnesian War but led to political turmoil in Athens over the treatment of shipwrecked sailors.


Statements (44)
Predicate Object
instanceOf battle of the Peloponnesian War
naval battle
associatedWith Athenian democracy
Athenian legal and constitutional crisis
belligerent Athenian Empire
Peloponnesian League NERFINISHED
casualties (Athens) significant losses in ships and sailors
casualties (Sparta) heavy losses in ships and men
cause Athenian attempt to relieve Conon’s fleet
Spartan blockade of Conon at Mytilene
combatant Athens
Sparta
commandedBy (Athens) Archestratus (Athenian general)
Aristocrates (Athenian general)
Diomedon
Lysias (Athenian general)
Pericles the Younger
Protomachus
Thrasyllus
commandedBy (Sparta) Callicratidas
conflictIn Peloponnesian War
date 406 BC
fleetSize (Athens) about 150 triremes
fleetSize (Sparta) about 120 triremes
followedBy Battle of Aegospotami NERFINISHED
historicalPeriod Classical Greece
languageOfPrimaryAccounts Ancient Greek
location near the Arginusae Islands
off the coast of Lesbos
notableDeath Callicratidas
notableFeature Athenian deployment in an unusual double-line formation
use of an improvised Athenian citizen fleet
partOf Ionian War phase of the Peloponnesian War
politicalConsequence controversy over failure to rescue shipwrecked sailors
execution of several Athenian generals
political turmoil in Athens
trial of the Athenian generals
precededBy Siege of Mytilene (406 BC)
result Athenian victory
source Diodorus Siculus’ Bibliotheca historica
Xenophon’s Hellenica
strategicEffect brief shift in balance of the Peloponnesian War in favor of Athens
temporary restoration of Athenian naval superiority
year 406 BC

Referenced by (3)

Please wait…