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The Sicilian expedition was planned hastily, executed incompetently, and concluded horrifically.
The Athenians were chased from Syracuse all the way to the river Asinarus,
where they were speared like writhing tuna in the blood-churned water.
This defeat should have spelled the end of the Athenian Empire —
but like the many-headed Hydra, Athens recovered from every wound.
For as long as they could hide behind their walls, supplied from the sea,
the Athenians would never surrender.
Lysander knew this.
When Sparta made him admiral — admiral of a fleet that didn’t yet exist —
well, it seemed like the latest insult in a lifetime of derision.
But Lysander was determined.
He knew that Sparta needed a navy, and that required money —
real money, not the iron spits that the austere Spartans used as currency.
So Lysander sailed to Ionia, to meet with the young Persian prince, Cyrus.
He struck a deal with the old enemy:
Persian gold for a Spartan fleet, and the troublesome Athenian navy reduced to splinters.