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Philocles and the Sea-Battle at Aegospotami (Xenophon Hell. 2.1.22–32)
- Classical World
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 106, Number 1, Fall 2012
- pp. 97-101
- 10.1353/clw.2013.0025
- Article
- Additional Information
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In this paper I argue that Xenophon deliberately omits to use the word “sea-fight” (ναυμαχία) in regard to the naval battle at Aegospotami in order to indicate that there was no serious naval engagement that would justify the report of this word. Moreover, his purpose for doing that was to castigate Philocles as an incompetent general. In regard to the fact that the Athenian orators talk about a sea battle in the Hellespont, this is just a coincidence and arises from ideological reasons.