II

On the banks of the Strymon, just where the river sweeps round in a

sharp curve, west and east, the Athenians had founded, six years before

the outbreak of the war, the colony of Amphipolis. It was a site which

had long been coveted by the leaders of Greek colonial enterprise,

being the key to the richest district in Thrace, with unrivalled

facilities for commerce, and close to the gold-mines of Mount Pangeus.

A previous attempt which was made by the Athenians to occupy the

position had ended in ruinous disaster; but nearly thirty years later a

second body of emigrants, led by Hagnon from Athens, met with much

better success; Amphipolis now grew and prospered, and at the time

which we have reached was the most important city in the Athenian

empire.

The Amphipolitans had a bitter and jealous enemy in the neighbouring

town of Argilus, situated a few miles to the west, on the road to

Amphipolis; and ever since the appearance of Brasidas in Thrace the

Argilians had been plotting against the tranquillity of their hated

rival. Accordingly, when Brasidas, who had planned a surprise on

Amphipolis, appeared before their gates, they welcomed him eagerly, and

conducted him and his army to the bridge over the Strymon, which

crossed the river just outside the southern end of the city wall. The

defenders of the bridge, few in number, and taken unawares, were

instantly cut to pieces; for Brasidas came upon them before daybreak,

and the weather, which was wintry and inclement, favoured his design.

The farms and country-houses of the Amphipolitans, which occupied an

extensive district on the eastern side of the city, now lay at the

mercy of Brasidas, and after choosing a position for his camp, he began

to overrun the country. For those who were responsible for the safety

of Amphipolis had taken no precautions, though they knew that this

daring and active enemy had been carrying on a campaign for many weeks

in the adjacent parts of Thrace. Consequently, a good number of the

citizens, who were attending to the business of their estates, fell

into his hands, and it is not improbable that, if he had made a sudden

assault on the city, he would have captured it on the same day.

There was a disaffected party in Amphipolis, who had planned the

betrayal of the place, acting in concert with Argilus, through the

agency of certain Argilian citizens residing in the town. The traitors

now proposed that Brasidas and his army should be admitted, but they

were overruled by the general voice of the people, and it was agreed

that the Athenian Eucles, governor of Amphipolis, should send a message

for help to another Athenian officer, who was commissioned to watch the

interests of Athens in Thrace. That officer was Thucydides, the

historian, from whose work the materials for the present narrative are

taken. Thucydides was descended on his mother's side from the royal

family of Thrace, [Footnote: Such, at least, is the highly probable

conjecture of Classen.] and through this connexion he was the owner of

valuable working rights in the gold-mines of Mount Pangaeus, and a man

of great power and, influence in these districts. When the message

arrived from Amphipolis, he was engaged in some business at Thasos, and

postponing all other concerns he collected a small squadron of seven

ships and hastened to the rescue with all speed. But Brasidas, who had

received intelligence of his movements, was too quick for him. He had

valuable hostages in the persons of those Amphipolitans who had been

taken outside the walls. The population of Amphipolis consisted almost

entirely of men of mixed or foreign descent, who were anxious about

their properties, and in fear for their friends, while the few Athenian

residents were alarmed for their own safety, having little hope of

prompt succour. Taking advantage of this state of public feeling, the

politic Spartan issued a proclamation, pledging him to respect the

rights and property of all who chose to remain; while those who

preferred to withdraw were allowed five days to take away their goods.

This tempting offer produced the desired effect. It was in vain that

the Athenian governor interposed his authority, and strove to uphold

the imperial claims of Athens. The people threatened to rise in mutiny

against him, and when the partisans of Brasidas, now grown bold, openly

moved a resolution to accept his conditions, the proposal was carried,

and the Spartan general marched unopposed into the town.

Late on the same day Thucydides sailed into the harbour of Eion, the

port of Amphipolis, and learning that Brasidas was already in

possession of the inland city, took all necessary precautions to

provide against an immediate attack. He was only just in time; for on

the very next day Brasidas carried his troops down the river on a

flotilla of boats, and tried to establish himself in a strong position,

commanding the mouth of the river, and at the same time sent a storming

party to make an assault on the land side. But the attempt was

frustrated, and Eion at least was saved to Athens.

The fall of Amphipolis, which occurred shortly after the crushing

defeat at Delium, caused great consternation among the Athenians. Apart

from the wound to their pride, they were deprived by this loss of a

large portion of their revenue, and cut off from the principal source

of their timber supply. And there were still further grounds for alarm.

For Amphipolis was now an open door, through which the Spartans could

send troops into eastern Thrace, and carry the war to the entrance of

the Euxine. For a moment it seemed as if all their fears would be

realized. The gentle manners of Brasidas--his fairness, modesty, and

strict regard for the rights of all men--had won the hearts of the

Athenian allies in Thrace, and secret agents were constantly arriving

at his head-quarters on the Strymon, inviting him to come and help them

to recover their liberty. He had skilfully appealed to the most

deeply-rooted instinct of the Greek, the desire for unfettered action

in his own city, free from all interference from outside. This

instinct, long held in abeyance, first by the necessity for protection

from Persia, and when that danger was removed, by the habits acquired

under the mild rule of Athens, was now awakened into new life by the

influence of the great warrior and accomplished statesman, whose

watchword was "Liberty for Greeks!" The recent reverses of Athens had

excited a feeling of contempt among her subjects, and led them greatly

to under-estimate her real power; and Brasidas himself, by a not

over-scrupulous perversion of facts, had been careful to encourage this

belief. All these causes produced a burst of enthusiasm throughout

Thrace, and if the Spartans had supported Brasidas with vigour, a

general insurrection would have followed among the Athenian allies. But

the authorities of Sparta were jealous of their brilliant officer, and

their chief anxiety was to recover the prisoners taken at Sphacteria.

In the same winter the indefatigable Spartan effected the capture of

Torone, a town situated on the second of the three headlands which

project, like the prongs of a fork, from the peninsula of Chalcidice.

As in the case of Amphipolis, Torone fell into his hands by treachery;

but he had now made good his title as the champion of Greek

independence, and early in the following spring the citizens of Scione,

on the first or westernmost headland, invited him to come over and take

command of their town. On receiving this welcome summons Brasidas lost

no time, and crossed over by night in a skiff, which was convoyed by a

trireme, so that if any hostile vessel appeared in sight, it might be

engaged by the trireme, and leave him free to escape. He reached Scione

in safety, and having convened a general assembly of the citizens,

addressed them in flattering terms, praising their high courage and

patriotic spirit. "You," he said, "have set a noble example to your

oppressed brethren: isolated as you are, and cut off from all succour

from the mainland, you have defied all perils, and thrown in your lot,

for better or for worse, with the friends of liberty. Your gallantry

and self-devotion has given you a just claim to the gratitude of Sparta

and of all Greece." The revolt of Scione was indeed a daring defiance

of the Athenian power, for since the capitulation of Potidaea, which

occurred seven years before, the inhabitants had been in the position

of islanders, exposed to the whole maritime power of Athens. For the

moment, however, the people were carried away by a transport of

enthusiasm, and little dreaming of the terrible vengeance which was to

overtake them two years later, they greeted Brasidas as a deliverer,

and vied with one another who should honour him most. He was publicly

presented with a crown of gold, as the liberator of Greece; and in

private houses he was wreathed with garlands, and surrounded with

worship, like a victorious athlete.

But a few days before the defection of Scione all the ambitious schemes

of Brasidas had been checkmated by the action of his own countrymen at

home. For some time past negotiations had been in progress between

Athens and Sparta; and since the battle of Delium, and the rapid

successes of their great enemy in Thrace, the Athenians had been more

disposed to come to terms. In this altered mood they agreed to make a

truce for one year with Sparta, which would give time to arrange the

conditions of a lasting peace, and leave them at leisure to repair the

shattered fabric of their empire. Two commissioners, an Athenian and a

Spartan, were at once despatched to announce the conclusion of the

truce to Brasidas. They found him at Torone, preparing to set out a

second time for the western peninsula, and continue his intrigues

against the subjects of Athens. In the interview which followed a

dispute arose between Brasidas and the commissioners, as to whether

Scione should be admitted into the truce. Brasidas asserted that the

city had joined the Spartan alliance before the truce was signed; but

the Athenian commissioner loudly protested that the revolt occurred

after the conclusion of the truce,--and such, indeed, was the fact.

Brasidas, however, was bound in honour to defend the hapless community

which had been drawn by his fatal influence into so fearful a peril;

and in the existing confusion of the Greek calendar it was not easy to

establish a date with perfect exactitude. Accordingly Brasidas refused

to surrender Scione to the vengeance of Athens, and placed the town in

a state of defence. Not content with this, he extended the same

measures of protection to Mende, which revolted after the arrival of

the commissioners. This was an open violation of the truce, and the

Athenians, in great fury, immediately prepared to send a fleet against

these audacious rebels, and passed a savage decree, condemning the

whole adult male population of Scione to death.