| Battle of Mytilene | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of thePeloponnesian War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Athens | Sparta | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Conon | Callicratidas | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 70 ships[1] | 170 ships[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 30 ships[2] | |||||||
TheBattle of Mytilene was fought in 406 BC betweenAthens andSparta. The Spartans were victorious.
Shortly after theBattle of Notium, the SpartanCallicratidas took over command of the Peloponnesian fleet fromLysander. RaidingMethymna in Lesbos, he sent a message to the Athenian naval commanderConon, declaring that he would put an end to Conon's command of the sea. Soon thereafter, Callicratidas caught Conon's fleet of seventy ships at sea and pursued him towardsMytilene Harbor on Lesbos, where in the ensuing battle, Conon lost thirty ships. Conon drew the remaining forty ships up onto the beach, but whileblockading him from sea, Callicratidas also surrounded him on land, having transported land forces from Chios and gaining the aid of the Methymnaeans.
Conon sent two ships to run the Peloponnesian blockade, with one setting course for theHellespont and the other for the open sea. The Peloponnesians captured the later ship, but the former escaped and notifiedAthens of Conon's plight. In the meantime Callicratidas also captured an additional ten Athenian ships that had appeared in the Straits of Mytilene to attempt to aid Conon.
Upon hearing of Conon's plight, Athens dispatched a fleet of one hundred and ten ships toSamos, where the fleet picked up additional ships from the Samians and other allies, bringing the size of the fleet to one hundred and fifty. Callicratidas sailed with one hundred and twenty of his own ships to intercept the Athenians; this led to the majorBattle of Arginusae.
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