Conon had been sent out following the recall of Alcibiades in 406 BC, and pursued the Peloponnesian fleet under Lysander to the Hellespont. There it took a strong defensive position at Lampsacus and the Athenians, as they could not lure them out, retreated to Aegospotami. Alcibiades came to warn them of the danger of their position, as they were at an open beach without harbors, and advised them to move to Sestos about two miles distant where they were retrieving supplies from, but was ignored and perhaps ridiculed.