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Since the multitude soon began to believe these accusations, not only was the fame of Alcibiades damaged because of his defeat in the sea-battle and the wrongs he had committed against Cyme, but the Athenian people, viewing with suspicion the boldness of the man, chose as the ten generals Conon, Lysias, Diomedon, and Pericles, and in addition Erasinides, Aristocrates, Archestratus, Protomachus, Thrasybulus,1 and Aristogenes. Of these they gave first place to Conon and dispatched him at once to take over the fleet from Alcibiades. [2] After Alcibiades had relinquished his command to Conon and handed over his armaments, he gave up any thought of returning to Athens, but with one trireme withdrew to Pactye2 in Thrace, since, apart from the anger of the multitude, he was afraid of the law-suits which had been brought against him. [3] For there were many who, on seeing how he was hated, had filed numerous complaints against him, the most important of which was the one about the horses, involving the sum of eight talents. Diomedes, it appears, one of his friends, had sent in his care a four-horse team to Olympia; and Alcibiades, when entering it in the usual way, listed the horses as his own; and when he was the victor in the four-horse race, Alcibiades took for himself the glory of the victory and did not return the horses to the man who had entrusted them to his care.3 [4] As he thought about all these things he was afraid lest the Athenians, seizing a suitable occasion, would inflict punishment upon him for all the wrongs he had committed against them. Consequently he himself condemned himself to exile.4

1 This should be Thrasyllus.

2 Alcibiades had acquired castles here and at Bisanthe against some such contingency as this.

3 Cp. Isocrates, On the Team of Horses.

4 "Feared and distrusted in Athens, Sparta, and Persia alike, the most brilliant man of action of his generation, whose judgment of public policies was as unerring as his personal aims, methods, and conduct were wrong, found outlet for his restless energy only in waging private war on the 'kingless' Thracians. Had Athens been able to trust him he might have saved her Empire and destroyed her liberty." (W.S. Ferguson in Camb. Anc. Hist. 5, p. 354.).

Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.

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