<P> Faction triumphed in Athens following a minor Spartan victory by their skillful general Lysander at the naval battle of Notium in 406 BC . Alcibiades was not re-elected general by the Athenians and he exiled himself from the city . He would never again lead Athenians in battle . Athens was then victorious at the naval battle of Arginusae . The Spartan fleet under Callicratidas lost 70 ships and the Athenians lost 25 ships . But, due to bad weather, the Athenians were unable to rescue their stranded crews or to finish off the Spartan fleet . Despite their victory, these failures caused outrage in Athens and led to a controversial trial . The trial resulted in the execution of six of Athens's top naval commanders . Athens's naval supremacy would now be challenged without several of its most able military leaders and a demoralized navy . </P> <P> Unlike some of his predecessors the new Spartan general, Lysander, was not a member of the Spartan royal families and was also formidable in naval strategy; he was an artful diplomat, who had even cultivated good personal relationships with the Persian prince Cyrus, the son of Darius II . Seizing its opportunity, the Spartan fleet sailed at once to the Hellespont, the source of Athens' grain . Threatened with starvation, the Athenian fleet had no choice but to follow . Through cunning strategy, Lysander totally defeated the Athenian fleet, in 405 BC, at the Battle of Aegospotami, destroying 168 ships and capturing some three or four thousand Athenian sailors . Only 12 Athenian ships escaped, and several of these sailed to Cyprus, carrying the "strategos" (General) Conon, who was anxious not to face the judgment of the Assembly . </P> <P> Facing starvation and disease from the prolonged siege, Athens surrendered in 404 BC, and its allies soon surrendered as well . The democrats at Samos, loyal to the bitter last, held on slightly longer, and were allowed to flee with their lives . The surrender stripped Athens of its walls, its fleet, and all of its overseas possessions . Corinth and Thebes demanded that Athens should be destroyed and all its citizens should be enslaved . However, the Spartans announced their refusal to destroy a city that had done a good service at a time of greatest danger to Greece, and took Athens into their own system . Athens was "to have the same friends and enemies" as Sparta . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (June 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table>

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