The Battle of Mytilene was a Spartan naval victory that blockaded the Athenian commander Conon and directly prompted Athens to assemble a large relief fleet.
Key Facts
- Year
- 406 BC
- Athenian ships lost in battle
- 30 ships
- Conon's remaining ships beached
- 40 ships
- Additional Athenian ships captured
- 10 ships
- Athenian relief fleet size
- 150 ships
- Spartan interception fleet
- 120 ships
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the Battle of Notium, the Spartan commander Callicratidas replaced Lysander and raided Methymna on Lesbos, then challenged Athenian naval supremacy by pursuing the Athenian admiral Conon's fleet of seventy ships toward Mytilene Harbor.
Callicratidas defeated Conon's fleet in battle, destroying thirty Athenian ships and forcing the remaining forty onto the beach. He then established a combined sea and land blockade of Conon at Mytilene, also capturing ten additional Athenian ships that tried to relieve him, leaving Conon effectively trapped.
Conon managed to send a ship through the blockade to warn Athens of his situation. Athens responded by dispatching a relief fleet that grew to one hundred and fifty ships, which Callicratidas moved to intercept with one hundred and twenty ships, leading directly to the Battle of Arginusae.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Conon.
Side B
1 belligerent
Callicratidas.