ayo G R E 
the crowded fhore, till he obferved, in the midft of the 
iiuiltitiide, his principal friends and relations inviting 
him by their voice and aftion. He then landed amid id 
the iiniverfal acclamations of the fpedlators, who, in¬ 
attentive to the naval pomp, and regardlefsof the other 
commanders, fixed tlieireyes only on Alcibiades. Next 
day an extraordinary affembly was fummoned, in order 
that he might explain and jiiftify his apparent mifcon- 
dndl, and receive the rewards due to liis acknowledged 
merit. The public anticipated his apology, by con- 
trading the melancholy fituation of affairs when Alci¬ 
biades afl’umcd the command, with the adtual condition 
of the republic. “ At the former period Athens yielded 
the command of the fca ; the enemy were every where 
victorious ; the date w'as oppreffed by foreign war, torn 
by fedition, without refources, and without liope. 
The addrefs and dexterity of Alcibiades was alone ca¬ 
pable to have difunited the councils, to have weakened 
and afterwards repelled the efforts, of a powerful con¬ 
federacy ; his activity and courage could alone have 
animated the dejettion of the citizens to purfue the 
meafures of od'enfive war : his abilities, his virtue, and 
his fortune, could alone have rendered thofe meafures 
fuccefstul.” Before judges lb favourably difpofed to 
hear him, Alcibiades found no difficulty to make his 
defence, and to win upon the affcCtions of the people ; 
he was appointed commander in chief by fea and land ; 
and a hundred galleys w'ere equipped, and tranfports 
were prepared for fifteen hundred heavy-armed men, 
with a proportional body of cavalry, waiting his orders, 
and wholly at his difpofal. 
While Alcibiades was thus concentrating the firength 
and finews of the Athenians, Lyfander, a hero of the 
Herculean fiock, was appointed to the command of the 
Peloponnefian forces in the eaft ; and fince the decifive 
action at Cyzicus, the Peloponnefians, unable to refift 
the enemy, had been employed in preparing fliips on 
the coafl of their own peninfula, as well as in the har¬ 
bours of their Perfian and Grecian allies. The mofl 
confiderable fquadrons had been equipped in Cos, 
FJiodes, Miletus, and Ephefus; in the lafl of which 
the whole armtiment, amounting to ninety fail, was col- 
1 -eCted by Lyfander. But the affembling of fuch a force 
was a matter of little confequence, unlefs proper mea¬ 
fures fhould be taken for enabling it to aft with vi¬ 
gour. It was neceffary, above all, to fecure pay for 
the feamen ; for this purpofe, Lyfander, accompanied 
by feveral Lacedaemonian ambaffadors, repaired to Sar¬ 
dis, to congratulate the happy arrival of Cyrus, a ge¬ 
nerous and valiant youth of feventeen, who had been 
entrufted by his father Darius Nothus, with the govern¬ 
ment of the inland parts of LelTer Afia. Lyfander 
complained to tb.e young prince, “of the perfidious du¬ 
plicity of Tilfaphernes, by which the Athenians had 
been enabled to re-alTume that afeendant in the eaft, 
which had formerly proved fo dangerous to the Perlian 
name. Pharnabazus had more elfeftually ferved the 
eaufe of his mafter, by his aCtive valour in the field ; 
by detaining the Athenian ambaffadors, who had been 
lent to furprife the unfufpefting generofity of Darius ; 
and by fupplying the Peloponnefians, after the unfortu¬ 
nate engagement at Cyzicus, with the means of prepar¬ 
ing a new fleet, and with tb.e necelfaries and conve¬ 
niences of life, while they were employed in this ufeful 
undertaking. But Tiffaphernes was unwilling, and 
Pharnabazus was perhaps unable, to difeharge the fti- 
pulated pay, without which the Grecian feamen and 
foidiers could not be kept together, or engaged to aft 
with vigour againft the common enemy.” Cyrus re¬ 
plied, “ That he had been commanded by his father to 
ailifi the Lacedaemonians, and to pay their troops with 
puntUuility. 1 hat, for this purpofe, he had carried 
with him-five hundred talents (near an hundred thou- 
land pounds flerling) ; and if fuch a fiim fhould be found 
infuliident, he would expend his own private fortune, 
E C E. 
and. even melt down and coin into money the goldefi 
throne on which he fat.” Thus elated, Lyfander re¬ 
turned to Ephefus, difeharged the arrears due to his 
troops, gave them a month’s pay in advance, raifed 
their daily allowance, and feduced innumerable defer- 
ters from the Athenian fleet. 
While Lyfander was thus anxioufly employed in man¬ 
ning his fliips, and preparing them for aftion, .Alci¬ 
biades attacked the ifland of Andros. The refiflance 
was more vigorous than he had reafon to ex|ieft : and 
the immediate neceflity of procuring pay and fubfillence 
for the fleet, obliged him to leave his work imperfeft. 
With a fmall fqitadron he failed to raife contributions 
on the Ionian or Carian coafi, committing the principal 
armament to Antiochus, a man totally unqualified for 
fuch a trufi. Even the affeftionate partiality of Al¬ 
cibiades feems to have difeerned the unworthinefs of 
his favourite, fince he gave liim ftrift orders to con¬ 
tinue, during his abfence, in the harbour of Samos, and 
by no means to rifle an engagement. This injunction, as 
it could not'juevent the rafnnefs, might peihaps pro¬ 
voke the vain levity, of the. vice-admiral, who, after 
the departure of his friend, failed towards Ephefus, 
approached the flerns of Lyfander’s fhips, and with the 
moft licentious infult challenged him to battle. The 
]u-udent Spartan delayed the moment of attack, until 
the prcl’umption of his enemies had thrown them off 
their guard. He then commanded the Pelffponnefian 
fquadrons to advance. His manceuvres were judicious, 
and executed with ftrift obedience. The battle was 
not obllinate, as the Athenians, who fcarcely expefted 
any refiflance, funk at once from the infolence of teme¬ 
rity into the defpondency of fear. They loft fifteen 
veffels, with a confiderable part of their crews. The 
remainder retired difgracefully to Samos ; while the 
Lacedaunonians profited of their viftory by the taking 
of Eion and Delphinium. Though fortune thus fa¬ 
voured the prudence of Lyfander, he declined to ven¬ 
ture a fecond engagement with the fuperior ftrength of 
Alcibiades, who, having refumed the command, em¬ 
ployed every artifice to bring him again to acdion. But 
fuch an opportunity he could never again find ; and 
the people of Athens, who expefted to hear of nothing 
but victories and triumphs, were mortified to the lafl: 
degree, w hen they received intelligence of fuch a fliame- 
ftil defeat. As they could not fufpeft the abilities, 
they diflrufted the fidelity, of their commander. Theip- 
lufpicions were increafed and confirmed by the arrival 
of Thrafybulus, who, whether animated by zeal for 
the intereft of the public, or aftuated by a lelfifii jea- 
loufy, fc-rmally impeached Alcibiades in the Athe¬ 
nian affembly. “His mifeonduft had totally ruined 
the afi'airs of his country. A talent for low buffoonery 
was a fare recommendation to his favour. His friends 
were partially lelefted from the meanefl: and mofl: aban¬ 
doned of men, who poffeffed no other merit than that 
of being fubfervient to his paflions. To fUch unworthy 
inflruments the fleet of Athens was entrufted; while 
the commander in chief revelled in debauchery with 
the harlots of Abydus and Ionia, or raifed exorbitant 
contributions on the dependent cities, that he might 
defray the expence of a fortrefs on the coafl of Thrace, 
which he had erefted to fhelrer himfelf againft the jiifl 
vengeance of the republic.” Were it neceffary to point 
out by example the inflability of popular favour, tliis 
fubjeft might be copioufly illuflrated from the hiftory 
of the Athenians. The fame man, wliom a few months 
before they found it impollible fufticiently to reward, 
was now expofed to the rage of difappointment and the 
fury of revenge. 'They regretted the lofs of every mo¬ 
ment which intervened between the progrefs of their 
refentment and the execution of their vengeance. In 
the fame aflembly, and on the fame day, Alcibiades was 
accufed, andalmoft unanimoufly condemned ; and, that 
the afl'airs of the republic might not again futfer by the 
abufe 
