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The prudent Alcidas found this proposal little to his taste; nor was
he better pleased by another plan, put forward by the Lesbian envoys
who were returning on board the Peloponnesian fleet, and seconded by a
party of exiles from the cities of Ionia. These men tried to persuade
Alcidas to establish himself in some city of Asia Minor, and raise a
revolt among the allies of Athens in these parts. He had, they said,
every prospect of success, for his arrival was welcomed on all sides.
Let him seize the opportunity of attacking the Athenians in their most
mortal part, first by withdrawing the tribute of Ionia, and secondly
by putting them to the expense of a blockade.
This daring scheme might have led to something important, if the fleet
had been commanded by Brasidas. But Alcidas was a man of very
different temper, and having arrived too late to save Mytilene, he had
now but one thought,--to return to Peloponnesus as fast as he could,
and get out of the reach of the terrible Athenian triremes. So he set
his fleet in motion, and sailing along the coast in a southerly
direction put in at Ephesus. On the voyage he showed himself to be as
cruel as he was cowardly, by capturing and putting to death the crews
of the vessels which came in his way.
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