Book 6
2.34
He also agreed with them as to how they were to signal when the enemy were approaching and when they were at anchor. Then he gave his orders to twenty of the captains, whose duty it should be to373 B.C. follow him when the herald gave the word; and in case anyone failed to follow, he warned him that he would not have occasion to find fault with his punishment. Now when the signal came that the triremes were approaching, and when the word was given by the herald, the ardour of all was a sight worth seeing; for there was no one among those who were to sail who did not run to get aboard his ship.
2.35
When Iphicrates had reached the place where the enemy’s triremes were, he found the crews of all save one already disembarked on the shore, but Melanippus, the Rhodian, had not only advised the others not to remain there, but had manned his own ship and was sailing out to sea. Now although he met the ships of Iphicrates, he nevertheless escaped, but all the ships from Syracuse were captured, along with their crews.
2.36
Thereupon Iphicrates cut off the beaks and towed the triremes into the harbour of Corcyra; as for the crews, he concluded an agreement that each man should pay a fixed ransom, with the exception of Crinippus the commander, whom he kept under guard, intending either to exact a very large ransom or to sell him. Crinippus, however, was so mortified that he died by a self-inflicted death, and Iphicrates let the rest go, accepting Corcyraeans as sureties for the ransoms.
2.37
Now he maintained his sailors for the most part by having them work for the Corcyraeans on their lands; the peltasts, however, and the hoplites from his ships he took with him and crossed over to Acarnania. There he gave aid to the cities which were friendly, in case any of them needed aid, and made war upon the Thyrians, who were very valiant men and were in possession of a very strong fortress.