Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander

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Revolts among the allies of Athens

The disastrous consequences of the Athenian defeat in Sicily in 413 were further compounded when Persia now once again took a direct hand in Greek affairs. The present Athenian weakness seemed to make this an opportune time to reassert Persian dominance in western Anatolia by stripping away the allies of Athens there. The satraps governing the Persian provinces in the region therefore began to supply money to help outfit a fleet for the Spartans and their allies.¹ Led by the powerful city-state of the island of Chios, some restless allies of Athens in Ionia and elsewhere took advantage of the depleted state of their erstwhile hegemon to revolt from the Delian League alliance.² Their defections were urged on by Alcibiades,³ whom the Spartans had sent to Ionia in 412 to foment rebellion among the members of the Athenian alliance there. A particularly dangerous result of these latter developments was the threat to the shipping lanes by which Athens imported grain from Egypt to the southeast and the fertile shores of the Black Sea to the northeast.