AS Quotes: The Ionian War (412 - 404 BC)

Question 1

What does Thucydides say about the battle of Cynossema?

Answer 1

Thucydides 8.105: “Till at last the Peloponnesians, fell into some disorder in a part of their army”

Question 2

What battle is the last battle that Thucydides wrote about?

Answer 2

Battle of Cynossema

Question 3

What does the letter after the battle of Cyzicus which Xenophon records say? (sorry for the tounge-twister)

Answer 3

Xenophon, Hellenica 1.1.23: a letter from Hippocrates, a Spartan, stranded after the battle on a rock: “ships gone. Mindarus dead. Men starving. Don’t know what to do”

Question 4

What does Xenophon say about the Persian aid Sparta received throughout this period?

Answer 4

Xenophon 1.4.1-7: “also Cyrus, who had come in order to be ruler… and to support the Lacedaemonians in the war”.

Question 5

What was Alcibiades’ instructions to Antiochus at the battle of Notion, according to Xenophon?

Answer 5

Xenophon: “Do not attack Lysander’s ships”.

Question 6

What does Xenophon say about the defeat at Notium?

Answer 6

Xenophon 5.16: the Athenians “turned upon Alcibiades, to whose negligence and lack of self-command they attributed the destruction of the ships”.

Question 7

What does Plato say about the execution of 6 / 8 generals for the battle of Arginusae?

Answer 7

Plato, Apology 32ab: Referred to the notion as “unconstitutional”

Question 8

What is a problem with Plato’s ‘Apology’ ?

Answer 8

The source is fictional. However, Socrates was executed by the assembly. This could be Plato poking at the democratic assembly.

Question 9

What two other sources agree that the choice to execute the 6 / 8 generals for Arginusae was poorly made?

Answer 9

Diodorus and Plutarch

Question 10

According to Xenophon, how far were the Athenians from Sestos in the battle of Aegospotami?

Answer 10

Xenophon 2.1.25: Sestos was “2 miles away from the ships”

Question 11

What is the problem with Xenophons’ statement about how far away the Athenians were from Sestos?

Answer 11

In reality, Sestos was 15 miles away. This could either be Xenophon’s mistake or an error in copying the manuscript in the middle ages.

Question 12

What does Xenophon say about Alcibiades’ advice at the battle of Aegospotami?

Answer 12

Xenophon 2.1.25: “he told the Athenians that they were in a very poor position”.

Question 13

According to Xenophon, how did the generals respond to Alcibiades advice at Aegospotami?

Answer 13

Xenophon 2.1.26: “we are generals now - not you”.

Question 14

What does Xenophon say about the Athenians’ response to their loss at Aegospotami?

Answer 14

Xenophon, Hellenica 2.2.3: “That night no one slept. They mourned for the lost, but more still for their own fate”.