henian seamen had gone on shore and were dispersed over the
country, rowed swiftly across the strait with all his ships. He found
the Athenian fleet, with the exception of 10 or 12 vessels, totally
unprepared, and he captured nearly the whole of it, without having
occasion to strike a single blow. Of the 180 ships which composed the
fleet, only the trireme of Conon himself, the Paralus, and 8 or 10
other vessels succeeded in escaping. Conon was afraid to return to
Athens after so signal a disaster, and took refuge with Evagoras,
prince of Salamis in Cyprus.

By this momentous victory (September, B.C. 405) the Peloponnesian war
was virtually brought to an end. Lysander, secure of an easy triumph,
was in no haste to gather it by force. The command of the Euxine
enabled him to control the supplies of Athens; and sooner or later, a
few weeks of famine must decide her fall. He now sailed forth to take
possession of the Athenian towns, which fell one after another into his
power as soon as he appeared before them. About November he arrived at
AEgina, with an overwhelming fleet of 150 triremes, and proceeded to
devastate Salamis and blockade Piraeus. At the same time the whole
Peloponnesian army was marched into Attica and encamped in the
precincts of the Academus, at the very gates of Athens. Famine soon
began to be felt within the walls, and at the end of three months it
became so dreadful, that the Athenians saw themselves compelled to
submit to the terms of the conqueror. These terms were: That the long
walls and the fortifications of Piraeus should be demolished; that the
Athenians should give up all their foreign possessions, and confine
themselves to their own territory; that they should surrender all their
ships of war; that they should readmit all their exiles; and that they
should become allies of Sparta.

It was about the middle or end of March, B.C. 404, that Lysander sailed
into Piraeus, and took formal possession of Athens; the war, in
singular conformity with the prophecies current at the beginning of it,
having lasted for a period of thrice nine, or 27 years. The insolence
of the victors added another blow to the feelings of the conquered.
The work of destruction, at which Lysander presided, was converted into
a sort of festival. Female flute-players and wreathed dancers
inaugurated the demolition of the strong and proud bulwarks of Athens;
and as the massive walls fell piece by piece exclamations