[5] It was custom in the Spartan upbringing for a young adult to be assigned as the "inspirer" (eispnelas) or "lover" (erastes) of an adolescent, and Lysander was matched in this role with the future king Agesilaus, the younger son of Archidamus II.

[9] His arrival was shortly followed by that of Cyrus, young son of the Persian king Darius, who had been appointed by his father as governor of the provinces of Asia Minor in response to an earlier Spartan embassy requesting increased aid in the war against Athens.

Lysander promptly went to meet Cyrus at his headquarters in nearby Sardis, and with calculated deference made a deep impression on the young prince, developing with him a close friendship that was to have a decisive effect in the course of the war.

[12] As Lysander was fitting out his vessels at Ephesus, an Athenian fleet roughly the size of his own, led by the famous Alcibiades, set up anchor at the nearby port of Notium.

[17] After Callicratidas was defeated and killed at the Battle of Arginusae, Cyrus and the oligarchic clubs which Lysander had sponsored all sent embassies to Sparta requesting the former admiral's return to command.

[19] Making his base at Ephesus again, the Spartan began gathering and rebuilding the remnants of the Peloponnesian fleet in the Aegean, once again with the full cooperation of his Greek allies and Cyrus.

[21] In the summer, Lysander's principal benefactor, Cyrus, was summoned to the deathbed of his father, the King, and, before departing, took the extraordinary step of entrusting the Spartan with his entire treasury and with the revenues from the Persian-ruled cities under his administration.

[22] Lysander finally set sail with some 125–150 ships, and among his early actions, which are variously reported by the sources, were the massacre and enslavement of the population of Iasus and Cedreae, allies of Athens.

For several days Lysander refused battle, studying the opponent's moves, until, during a moment of enemy carelessness, he surprised the Athenians and captured most of their vessels as they were still ashore and unmanned.

[24] In many Greek cities, he installed ten-man governing boards (decarchies) whose members were selected from the oligarchic clubs he had sponsored earlier, supported and supervised by a Spartan harmost (military governor).

Alcibiades, the former Athenian leader, emerged after the Spartan victory at Aegospotami and took refuge in Phrygia, northwestern Asia Minor with Pharnabazus, its Persian satrap.

For centuries the possession of money was illegal in Lacedaemonia, but the newly minted navy required funds and Persia could not be trusted to maintain financial support.

Roman historian Plutarch strongly condemns Lysander's introduction of money;[5] despite being publicly held, he argues its mere presence corrupted rank-and-file Spartans who witnessed their government's newfound value for it.

The Spartans prepared to send out an army against this new alliance of Athens, Thebes, Corinth and Argos (with the backing of the Achaemenid Empire) and ordered Agesilaus to return to Greece.

For instance, while the Roman biographer Cornelius Nepos charges him with "cruelty and perfidy",[33] Lysander – according to Xenophon – nonetheless spared the population of captured Greek poleis such as Lampsacus.

According to Duris of Samos, Lysander was the first Greek to whom the cities erected altars and sacrificed to him as to a god and the Samians voted that their festival of Hera should be called Lysandreia.