Editing Theramenes (section)

==Arginusae==
Theramenes remained a general through 407 BC, but, in that year, when the Athenian defeat at [[Battle of Notium|Notium]] led to the downfall of Alcibiades and his political allies, Theramenes was not reelected.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} In the next year, however, he did sail as a trierarch in the scratch Athenian relief fleet sent out to relieve [[Conon]], who had been blockaded with 40 triremes at [[Mytilene]] by [[Callicratidas]]. That relief force won a surprising victory over the more experienced Spartan force in the [[Battle of Arginusae]], but in the wake of that battle Theramenes found himself in the middle of a massive controversy. At the end of the battle, the generals in command of the fleet had conferred to decide on their next steps. Several pressing concerns presented themselves; 50 Peloponnesian ships under [[Eteonicus]] remained at Mytilene, blockading Conon, and decisive action by the Athenians could lead to the destruction of that force as well, but, at the same time, ships needed to be dispatched to recover the sailors of the twenty five Athenian triremes sunk or disabled in the battle. Accordingly, all eight generals, with the larger part of the fleet, set out for Mytilene, while a rescue force under Thrasybulus and Theramenes, both of whom were trierarchs in this battle but had served as generals in prior campaigns, remained behind to pick up the survivors and retrieve corpses for burial.<ref>For the battle and the decision of the generals, see Diodorus, ''Library'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+13.98.1 13.98–100] and Xenophon, ''Hellenica'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Xen.+Hell.+1.6.1#anch14 1.6.29–35]. For a modern synthesis and analysis, see Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian War'', 454–61.</ref> At this point, however, a severe storm blew up, and both of these forces were driven back to shore. Eteonicus escaped, and a great number of Athenian sailors—estimates as to the precise figure have ranged from near 1,000 to as many as 5,000—drowned.<ref>Kagan (''The Peloponnesian War'', 459) gives the number as "perhaps a thousand", while Fine (''The Ancient Greeks'', 515) states it as "between 4,000 and 5,000"</ref>

[[Image:Trireme.jpg|thumb|right|An ancient Greek [[trireme]]. Twenty-five Athenian triremes were disabled or sunk at Arginusae, and Theramenes was detailed to rescue the survivors.]]
Soon after the news of this public tragedy reached Athens, a massive controversy erupted over the apportionment of blame for the botched rescue. The public was furious over the loss of so many sailors, and over the failure to recover the bodies of the dead for burial, and the generals suspected that Thrasybulus and Theramenes, who had already returned to Athens, might have been responsible for stirring up the assembly against them, and wrote letters to the people denouncing the two trierarchs as responsible for the failed rescue.<ref>The account followed here is that of Diodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+13.101.1 13.101]. Xenophon, at [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Xen.+Hell.+1.7.1 1.7], gives a different account which places much more of the blame for the trial and execution on Theramenes' shoulders. Modern scholars (see Fine ''The Ancient Greeks'', 514–15, Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian War'', 461–66, and Hornblower, ''The Greek World'', 151) have generally preferred Diodorus' account, for a number of reasons. See the [[#Historiography|section on historiography]].</ref> Thrasybulus and Theramenes were called before the assembly to defend their behavior; in their defense, Theramenes produced a letter from the generals in which they blamed only the storm for the mishap;<ref>Xenophon, ''Hellenica'' [[s:Hellenica/Book 7/Chapter 1#1:4|7.1.4]]</ref> the trierarchs were exonerated, and public anger now turned against the generals.<ref>Diodorus Siculus, ''Library'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+13.101.1 13.101.4]</ref> All eight were deposed from office, and summoned back to Athens to stand trial. Two fled, but six returned as commanded to face the charges against them.<ref>Xenophon, ''Hellenica'' [[s:Hellenica/Book 1/Chapter 7#7:1|1.7.1]]</ref>

Diodorus notes that the generals committed a critical error by attempting to shift the blame onto Theramenes. "For," he states, "although they could have had the help of Theramenes and his associates in the trial, men who both were able orators and had many friends and, most important of all, had been participants in the events relative to the battle, they had them, on the contrary, as adversaries and bitter accusers."<ref>Diodorus Siculus, ''Library'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+13.101.1 13.101.3]</ref> When the trial came, Theramenes' numerous political allies were among the leaders of the faction seeking the generals' conviction.<ref>Diodorus Siculus, ''Library'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+13.101.1 13.101.7]</ref> A bitter series of debates and legal maneuvers ensued as the assembly fought over what to do with the generals. At first, it appeared that they might be treated leniently, but in the end, public displays of bereavement by the families of the deceased and aggressive prosecution by a politician named [[Callixenus]] swung the opinion of the assembly; the six generals were tried as a group and executed.<ref>Xenophon, ''Hellenica'' [[s:Hellenica/Book 1/Chapter 7#7:1|1.7.1–34]]</ref> The Athenian public, as the grief and anger prompted by the disaster cooled, came to regret their action, and for thousands of years historians and commentators have pointed to the incident as perhaps the greatest miscarriage of justice the city's government ever perpetrated.<ref>Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian War'', 466</ref>