Editing Alcibiades (section)

===Defeat at Notium===
{{further|Battle of Notium}}

In 406 BC Alcibiades set out from Athens with 1,500 hoplites and a hundred ships. He failed to take [[Andros]] and then he went on to Samos. Later he moved to [[Notium]], closer to the enemy at [[Ephesus]].<ref name="Andrews490">A. Andrewes, ''The Spartan Resurgence'', 490</ref> Meanwhile, Tissaphernes had been replaced by [[Cyrus the Younger]] (son of [[Darius II of Persia]]) who decided to financially support the Peloponnesians. This new revenue started to attract Athenian deserters to the Spartan navy. Additionally the Spartans had replaced Mindarus with [[Lysander]], a very capable admiral. These factors caused the rapid growth of the Peloponnesian fleet at the expense of the Athenian. In search of funds and needing to force another decisive battle, Alcibiades left Notium and sailed to help [[Thrasybulus]] in the siege of [[Phocaea]].<ref>Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian War'', 443</ref> Alcibiades was aware the Spartan fleet was nearby, so he left nearly eighty ships to watch them under the command of his personal helmsman [[Antiochus (admiral)|Antiochus]], who was given express orders not to attack. Antiochus disobeyed this single order and endeavored to draw Lysander into a fight by imitating the tactics used at Cyzicus. The situation at Notium, however, was radically different from that at Cyzicus; the Athenians possessed no element of surprise, and Lysander had been well informed about their fleet by deserters.<ref>Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian War'', 444</ref> Antiochus's ship was sunk, and he was killed by a sudden Spartan attack; the remaining ships of the decoy force were then chased headlong back toward Notium, where the main Athenian force was caught unprepared by the sudden arrival of the whole Spartan fleet. In the ensuing fighting, Lysander gained an entire victory. Alcibiades soon returned and desperately tried to undo the defeat at Notium by scoring another victory, but Lysander could not be compelled to attack the fleet again.<ref>For the accepted account of the battle see {{cite Plutarch|Alcibiades|35}} or the [[Hellenica Oxyrhynchia]], 4.</ref>

Responsibility for the defeat ultimately fell on Alcibiades, and his enemies used the opportunity to attack him and have him removed from command, although some modern scholars believe that Alcibiades was unfairly blamed for [[Antiochus (admiral)|Antiochus]]'s mistake.<ref name="Cawkell">G. Cawkwell, ''Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War'', 143</ref> [[Diodorus]] reports that, in addition to his mistake at Notium, Alcibiades was discharged on account of false accusations brought against him by his enemies.<ref name="Diodorus74">Diodorus, ''Library'', xiii, 74.[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084%3Abook%3D13%3Achapter%3D74 4]</ref> According to historian [[Antony Andrewes]], the extravagant hopes that his successes of the previous summer had created were a decisive element in his downfall.<ref name="Andrews490" /> Consequently, Alcibiades condemned himself to exile.<ref name="Diodorus74" /> Never again returning to Athens, he sailed north to the castles in the Thracian Chersonese, which he had secured during his time in the Hellespont. The implications of the defeat were severe for Athens. Although the defeat had been minor, it occasioned the removal of not only Alcibiades but also his allies such as [[Thrasybulus]], [[Theramenes]], and [[Critias]].<ref name="Plut33"/> These were likely the most capable commanders Athens had at the time, and their removal would help lead to the Athenian surrender only two years later, after their complete defeat at [[Aegospotami]].<ref>Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian War'', 447</ref>