The bulk of the inhabitants, upon hearing this, began to change their

minds, especially as only a small number of the citizens were

Athenians, the majority having come from different quarters, and many

of the prisoners outside had relations within the walls. They found the

proclamation a fair one in comparison of what their fear had suggested;

the Athenians being glad to go out, as they thought they ran more risk

than the rest, and further, did not expect any speedy relief, and the

multitude generally being content at being left in possession of their

civic rights, and at such an unexpected reprieve from danger. The

partisans of Brasidas now openly advocated this course, seeing that the

feeling of the people had changed, and that they no longer gave ear to

the Athenian general present; and thus the surrender was made and

Brasidas was admitted by them on the terms of his proclamation. In this

way they gave up the city, and late in the same day Thucydides and his

ships entered the harbour of Eion, Brasidas having just got hold of

Amphipolis, and having been within a night of taking Eion: had the

ships been less prompt in relieving it, in the morning it would have

been his.

After this Thucydides put all in order at Eion to secure it against any

present or future attack of Brasidas, and received such as had elected

to come there from the interior according to the terms agreed on.

Meanwhile Brasidas suddenly sailed with a number of boats down the

river to Eion to see if he could not seize the point running out from

the wall, and so command the entrance; at the same time he attempted it

by land, but was beaten off on both sides and had to content himself

with arranging matters at Amphipolis and in the neighbourhood.

Myrcinus, an Edonian town, also came over to him; the Edonian king

Pittacus having been killed by the sons of Goaxis and his own wife

Brauro; and Galepsus and Oesime, which are Thasian colonies, not long

after followed its example. Perdiccas too came up immediately after the

capture and joined in these arrangements.

The news that Amphipolis was in the hands of the enemy caused great

alarm at Athens. Not only was the town valuable for the timber it

afforded for shipbuilding, and the money that it brought in; but also,

although the escort of the Thessalians gave the Lacedaemonians a means

of reaching the allies of Athens as far as the Strymon, yet as long as

they were not masters of the bridge but were watched on the side of

Eion by the Athenian galleys, and on the land side impeded by a large

and extensive lake formed by the waters of the river, it was impossible

for them to go any further. Now, on the contrary, the path seemed open.

There was also the fear of the allies revolting, owing to the

moderation displayed by Brasidas in all his conduct, and to the

declarations which he was everywhere making that he sent out to free

Hellas. The towns subject to the Athenians, hearing of the capture of

Amphipolis and of the terms accorded to it, and of the gentleness of

Brasidas, felt most strongly encouraged to change their condition, and

sent secret messages to him, begging him to come on to them; each

wishing to be the first to revolt. Indeed there seemed to be no danger

in so doing; their mistake in their estimate of the Athenian power was

as great as that power afterwards turned out to be, and their judgment

was based more upon blind wishing than upon any sound prevision; for it

is a habit of mankind to entrust to careless hope what they long for,

and to use sovereign reason to thrust aside what they do not fancy.

Besides the late severe blow which the Athenians had met with in

Boeotia, joined to the seductive, though untrue, statements of

Brasidas, about the Athenians not having ventured to engage his single

army at Nisaea, made the allies confident, and caused them to believe

that no Athenian force would be sent against them. Above all the wish

to do what was agreeable at the moment, and the likelihood that they

should find the Lacedaemonians full of zeal at starting, made them

eager to venture. Observing this, the Athenians sent garrisons to the

different towns, as far as was possible at such short notice and in

winter; while Brasidas sent dispatches to Lacedaemon asking for

reinforcements, and himself made preparations for building galleys in

the Strymon. The Lacedaemonians however did not send him any, partly

through envy on the part of their chief men, partly because they were

more bent on recovering the prisoners of the island and ending the war.

The same winter the Megarians took and razed to the foundations the

long walls which had been occupied by the Athenians; and Brasidas after

the capture of Amphipolis marched with his allies against Acte, a

promontory running out from the King’s dike with an inward curve, and

ending in Athos, a lofty mountain looking towards the Aegean Sea. In it

are various towns, Sane, an Andrian colony, close to the canal, and

facing the sea in the direction of Euboea; the others being Thyssus,

Cleone, Acrothoi, Olophyxus, and Dium, inhabited by mixed barbarian

races speaking the two languages. There is also a small Chalcidian

element; but the greater number are Tyrrheno-Pelasgians once settled in

Lemnos and Athens, and Bisaltians, Crestonians, and Edonians; the towns

being all small ones. Most of these came over to Brasidas; but Sane and

Dium held out and saw their land ravaged by him and his army.

Upon their not submitting, he at once marched against Torone in

Chalcidice, which was held by an Athenian garrison, having been invited

by a few persons who were prepared to hand over the town. Arriving in

the dark a little before daybreak, he sat down with his army near the

temple of the Dioscuri, rather more than a quarter of a mile from the

city. The rest of the town of Torone and the Athenians in garrison did

not perceive his approach; but his partisans knowing that he was coming

(a few of them had secretly gone out to meet him) were on the watch for

his arrival, and were no sooner aware of it than they took it to them

seven light-armed men with daggers, who alone of twenty men ordered on

this service dared to enter, commanded by Lysistratus an Olynthian.

These passed through the sea wall, and without being seen went up and

put to the sword the garrison of the highest post in the town, which

stands on a hill, and broke open the postern on the side of

Canastraeum.

Brasidas meanwhile came a little nearer and then halted with his main

body, sending on one hundred targeteers to be ready to rush in first,

the moment that a gate should be thrown open and the beacon lighted as

agreed. After some time passed in waiting and wondering at the delay,

the targeteers by degrees got up close to the town. The Toronaeans

inside at work with the party that had entered had by this time broken

down the postern and opened the gates leading to the market-place by

cutting through the bar, and first brought some men round and let them

in by the postern, in order to strike a panic into the surprised

townsmen by suddenly attacking them from behind and on both sides at

once; after which they raised the fire-signal as had been agreed, and

took in by the market gates the rest of the targeteers.

Brasidas seeing the signal told the troops to rise, and dashed forward

amid the loud hurrahs of his men, which carried dismay among the

astonished townspeople. Some burst in straight by the gate, others over

some square pieces of timber placed against the wall (which has fallen

down and was being rebuilt) to draw up stones; Brasidas and the greater

number making straight uphill for the higher part of the town, in order

to take it from top to bottom, and once for all, while the rest of the

multitude spread in all directions.

The capture of the town was effected before the great body of the

Toronaeans had recovered from their surprise and confusion; but the

conspirators and the citizens of their party at once joined the

invaders. About fifty of the Athenian heavy infantry happened to be

sleeping in the market-place when the alarm reached them. A few of

these were killed fighting; the rest escaped, some by land, others to

the two ships on the station, and took refuge in Lecythus, a fort

garrisoned by their own men in the corner of the town running out into

the sea and cut off by a narrow isthmus; where they were joined by the

Toronaeans of their party.

Day now arrived, and the town being secured, Brasidas made a

proclamation to the Toronaeans who had taken refuge with the Athenians,

to come out, as many as chose, to their homes without fearing for their

rights or persons, and sent a herald to invite the Athenians to accept

a truce, and to evacuate Lecythus with their property, as being

Chalcidian ground. The Athenians refused this offer, but asked for a

truce for a day to take up their dead. Brasidas granted it for two

days, which he employed in fortifying the houses near, and the

Athenians in doing the same to their positions. Meanwhile he called a

meeting of the Toronaeans, and said very much what he had said at

Acanthus, namely, that they must not look upon those who had negotiated

with him for the capture of the town as bad men or as traitors, as they

had not acted as they had done from corrupt motives or in order to

enslave the city, but for the good and freedom of Torone; nor again

must those who had not shared in the enterprise fancy that they would

not equally reap its fruits, as he had not come to destroy either city

or individual. This was the reason of his proclamation to those that

had fled for refuge to the Athenians: he thought none the worse of them

for their friendship for the Athenians; he believed that they had only

to make trial of the Lacedaemonians to like them as well, or even much

better, as acting much more justly: it was for want of such a trial

that they were now afraid of them. Meanwhile he warned all of them to

prepare to be staunch allies, and for being held responsible for all

faults in future: for the past, they had not wronged the Lacedaemonians

but had been wronged by others who were too strong for them, and any

opposition that they might have offered him could be excused.

Having encouraged them with this address, as soon as the truce expired

he made his attack upon Lecythus; the Athenians defending themselves

from a poor wall and from some houses with parapets. One day they beat

him off; the next the enemy were preparing to bring up an engine

against them from which they meant to throw fire upon the wooden

defences, and the troops were already coming up to the point where they

fancied they could best bring up the engine, and where place was most

assailable; meanwhile the Athenians put a wooden tower upon a house

opposite, and carried up a quantity of jars and casks of water and big

stones, and a large number of men also climbed up. The house thus laden

too heavily suddenly broke down with a loud crash; at which the men who

were near and saw it were more vexed than frightened; but those not so

near, and still more those furthest off, thought that the place was

already taken at that point, and fled in haste to the sea and the

ships.

Brasidas, perceiving that they were deserting the parapet, and seeing

what was going on, dashed forward with his troops, and immediately took

the fort, and put to the sword all whom he found in it. In this way the

place was evacuated by the Athenians, who went across in their boats

and ships to Pallene. Now there is a temple of Athene in Lecythus, and

Brasidas had proclaimed in the moment of making the assault that he

would give thirty silver minae to the man first on the wall. Being now

of opinion that the capture was scarcely due to human means, he gave

the thirty minae to the goddess for her temple, and razed and cleared

Lecythus, and made the whole of it consecrated ground. The rest of the

winter he spent in settling the places in his hands, and in making

designs upon the rest; and with the expiration of the winter the eighth

year of this war ended.

In the spring of the summer following, the Lacedaemonians and Athenians

made an armistice for a year; the Athenians thinking that they would

thus have full leisure to take their precautions before Brasidas could

procure the revolt of any more of their towns, and might also, if it

suited them, conclude a general peace; the Lacedaemonians divining the

actual fears of the Athenians, and thinking that after once tasting a

respite from trouble and misery they would be more disposed to consent

to a reconciliation, and to give back the prisoners, and make a treaty

for the longer period. The great idea of the Lacedaemonians was to get

back their men while Brasidas’s good fortune lasted: further successes

might make the struggle a less unequal one in Chalcidice, but would

leave them still deprived of their men, and even in Chalcidice not more

than a match for the Athenians and by no means certain of victory. An

armistice was accordingly concluded by Lacedaemon and her allies upon

the terms following:

1. As to the temple and oracle of the Pythian Apollo, we are agreed

that whosoever will shall have access to it, without fraud or fear,

according to the usages of his forefathers. The Lacedaemonians and the

allies present agree to this, and promise to send heralds to the

Boeotians and Phocians, and to do their best to persuade them to agree

likewise.

2. As to the treasure of the god, we agree to exert ourselves to detect

all malversators, truly and honestly following the customs of our

forefathers, we and you and all others willing to do so, all following

the customs of our forefathers. As to these points the Lacedaemonians

and the other allies are agreed as has been said.

3. As to what follows, the Lacedaemonians and the other allies agree,

if the Athenians conclude a treaty, to remain, each of us in our own

territory, retaining our respective acquisitions: the garrison in

Coryphasium keeping within Buphras and Tomeus: that in Cythera

attempting no communication with the Peloponnesian confederacy, neither

we with them, nor they with us: that in Nisaea and Minoa not crossing

the road leading from the gates of the temple of Nisus to that of

Poseidon and from thence straight to the bridge at Minoa: the Megarians

and the allies being equally bound not to cross this road, and the

Athenians retaining the island they have taken, without any

communication on either side: as to Troezen, each side retaining what

it has, and as was arranged with the Athenians.

4. As to the use of the sea, so far as refers to their own coast and to

that of their confederacy, that the Lacedaemonians and their allies may

voyage upon it in any vessel rowed by oars and of not more than five

hundred talents tonnage, not a vessel of war.

5. That all heralds and embassies, with as many attendants as they

please, for concluding the war and adjusting claims, shall have free

passage, going and coming, to Peloponnese or Athens by land and by sea.

6. That during the truce, deserters whether bond or free shall be

received neither by you, nor by us.

7. Further, that satisfaction shall be given by you to us and by us to

you according to the public law of our several countries, all disputes

being settled by law without recourse to hostilities.

The Lacedaemonians and allies agree to these articles; but if you have

anything fairer or juster to suggest, come to Lacedaemon and let us

know: whatever shall be just will meet with no objection either from

the Lacedaemonians or from the allies. Only let those who come come

with full powers, as you desire us. The truce shall be for one year.

Approved by the people.

The tribe of Acamantis had the prytany, Phoenippus was secretary,

Niciades chairman. Laches moved, in the name of the good luck of the

Athenians, that they should conclude the armistice upon the terms

agreed upon by the Lacedaemonians and the allies. It was agreed

accordingly in the popular assembly that the armistice should be for

one year, beginning that very day, the fourteenth of the month of

Elaphebolion; during which time ambassadors and heralds should go and

come between the two countries to discuss the bases of a pacification.

That the generals and prytanes should call an assembly of the people,

in which the Athenians should first consult on the peace, and on the

mode in which the embassy for putting an end to the war should be

admitted. That the embassy now present should at once take the

engagement before the people to keep well and truly this truce for one

year.

On these terms the Lacedaemonians concluded with the Athenians and

their allies on the twelfth day of the Spartan month Gerastius; the

allies also taking the oaths. Those who concluded and poured the

libation were Taurus, son of Echetimides, Athenaeus, son of

Pericleidas, and Philocharidas, son of Eryxidaidas, Lacedaemonians;

Aeneas, son of Ocytus, and Euphamidas, son of Aristonymus, Corinthians;

Damotimus, son of Naucrates, and Onasimus, son of Megacles, Sicyonians;

Nicasus, son of Cecalus, and Menecrates, son of Amphidorus, Megarians;

and Amphias, son of Eupaidas, an Epidaurian; and the Athenian generals

Nicostratus, son of Diitrephes, Nicias, son of Niceratus, and Autocles,

son of Tolmaeus. Such was the armistice, and during the whole of it

conferences went on on the subject of a pacification.

In the days in which they were going backwards and forwards to these

conferences, Scione, a town in Pallene, revolted from Athens, and went

over to Brasidas. The Scionaeans say that they are Pallenians from

Peloponnese, and that their first founders on their voyage from Troy

were carried in to this spot by the storm which the Achaeans were

caught in, and there settled. The Scionaeans had no sooner revolted

than Brasidas crossed over by night to Scione, with a friendly galley

ahead and himself in a small boat some way behind; his idea being that

if he fell in with a vessel larger than the boat he would have the

galley to defend him, while a ship that was a match for the galley

would probably neglect the small vessel to attack the large one, and

thus leave him time to escape. His passage effected, he called a

meeting of the Scionaeans and spoke to the same effect as at Acanthus

and Torone, adding that they merited the utmost commendation, in that,

in spite of Pallene within the isthmus being cut off by the Athenian

occupation of Potidæa and of their own practically insular position,

they had of their own free will gone forward to meet their liberty

instead of timorously waiting until they had been by force compelled to

their own manifest good. This was a sign that they would valiantly

undergo any trial, however great; and if he should order affairs as he

intended, he should count them among the truest and sincerest friends

of the Lacedaemonians, and would in every other way honour them.

The Scionaeans were elated by his language, and even those who had at

first disapproved of what was being done catching the general

confidence, they determined on a vigorous conduct of the war, and

welcomed Brasidas with all possible honours, publicly crowning him with

a crown of gold as the liberator of Hellas; while private persons

crowded round him and decked him with garlands as though he had been an

athlete. Meanwhile Brasidas left them a small garrison for the present

and crossed back again, and not long afterwards sent over a larger

force, intending with the help of the Scionaeans to attempt Mende and

Potidæa before the Athenians should arrive; Scione, he felt, being too

like an island for them not to relieve it. He had besides intelligence

in the above towns about their betrayal.

In the midst of his designs upon the towns in question, a galley

arrived with the commissioners carrying round the news of the

armistice, Aristonymus for the Athenians and Athenaeus for the

Lacedaemonians. The troops now crossed back to Torone, and the

commissioners gave Brasidas notice of the convention. All the

Lacedaemonian allies in Thrace accepted what had been done; and

Aristonymus made no difficulty about the rest, but finding, on counting

the days, that the Scionaeans had revolted after the date of the

convention, refused to include them in it. To this Brasidas earnestly

objected, asserting that the revolt took place before, and would not

give up the town. Upon Aristonymus reporting the case to Athens, the

people at once prepared to send an expedition to Scione. Upon this,

envoys arrived from Lacedaemon, alleging that this would be a breach of

the truce, and laying claim to the town upon the faith of the assertion

of Brasidas, and meanwhile offering to submit the question to

arbitration. Arbitration, however, was what the Athenians did not

choose to risk; being determined to send troops at once to the place,

and furious at the idea of even the islanders now daring to revolt, in

a vain reliance upon the power of the Lacedaemonians by land. Besides

the facts of the revolt were rather as the Athenians contended, the

Scionaeans having revolted two days after the convention. Cleon

accordingly succeeded in carrying a decree to reduce and put to death

the Scionaeans; and the Athenians employed the leisure which they now

enjoyed in preparing for the expedition.

Meanwhile Mende revolted, a town in Pallene and a colony of the

Eretrians, and was received without scruple by Brasidas, in spite of

its having evidently come over during the armistice, on account of

certain infringements of the truce alleged by him against the

Athenians. This audacity of Mende was partly caused by seeing Brasidas

forward in the matter and by the conclusions drawn from his refusal to

betray Scione; and besides, the conspirators in Mende were few, and, as

I have already intimated, had carried on their practices too long not

to fear detection for themselves, and not to wish to force the

inclination of the multitude. This news made the Athenians more furious

than ever, and they at once prepared against both towns. Brasidas,

expecting their arrival, conveyed away to Olynthus in Chalcidice the

women and children of the Scionaeans and Mendaeans, and sent over to

them five hundred Peloponnesian heavy infantry and three hundred

Chalcidian targeteers, all under the command of Polydamidas.

Leaving these two towns to prepare together against the speedy arrival

of the Athenians, Brasidas and Perdiccas started on a second joint

expedition into Lyncus against Arrhabaeus; the latter with the forces

of his Macedonian subjects, and a corps of heavy infantry composed of

Hellenes domiciled in the country; the former with the Peloponnesians

whom he still had with him and the Chalcidians, Acanthians, and the

rest in such force as they were able. In all there were about three

thousand Hellenic heavy infantry, accompanied by all the Macedonian

cavalry with the Chalcidians, near one thousand strong, besides an

immense crowd of barbarians. On entering the country of Arrhabaeus,

they found the Lyncestians encamped awaiting them, and themselves took

up a position opposite. The infantry on either side were upon a hill,

with a plain between them, into which the horse of both armies first

galloped down and engaged a cavalry action. After this the Lyncestian

heavy infantry advanced from their hill to join their cavalry and

offered battle; upon which Brasidas and Perdiccas also came down to

meet them, and engaged and routed them with heavy loss; the survivors

taking refuge upon the heights and there remaining inactive. The

victors now set up a trophy and waited two or three days for the

Illyrian mercenaries who were to join Perdiccas. Perdiccas then wished

to go on and attack the villages of Arrhabaeus, and to sit still no

longer; but Brasidas, afraid that the Athenians might sail up during

his absence, and of something happening to Mende, and seeing besides

that the Illyrians did not appear, far from seconding this wish was

anxious to return.

While they were thus disputing, the news arrived that the Illyrians had

actually betrayed Perdiccas and had joined Arrhabaeus; and the fear

inspired by their warlike character made both parties now think it best

to retreat. However, owing to the dispute, nothing had been settled as

to when they should start; and night coming on, the Macedonians and the

barbarian crowd took fright in a moment in one of those mysterious

panics to which great armies are liable; and persuaded that an army

many times more numerous than that which had really arrived was

advancing and all but upon them, suddenly broke and fled in the

direction of home, and thus compelled Perdiccas, who at first did not

perceive what had occurred, to depart without seeing Brasidas, the two

armies being encamped at a considerable distance from each other. At

daybreak Brasidas, perceiving that the Macedonians had gone on, and

that the Illyrians and Arrhabaeus were on the point of attacking him,

formed his heavy infantry into a square, with the light troops in the

centre, and himself also prepared to retreat. Posting his youngest

soldiers to dash out wherever the enemy should attack them, he himself

with three hundred picked men in the rear intended to face about during

the retreat and beat off the most forward of their assailants,

Meanwhile, before the enemy approached, he sought to sustain the

courage of his soldiers with the following hasty exhortation:

“Peloponnesians, if I did not suspect you of being dismayed at being

left alone to sustain the attack of a numerous and barbarian enemy, I

should just have said a few words to you as usual without further

explanation. As it is, in the face of the desertion of our friends and

the numbers of the enemy, I have some advice and information to offer,

which, brief as they must be, will, I hope, suffice for the more

important points. The bravery that you habitually display in war does

not depend on your having allies at your side in this or that

encounter, but on your native courage; nor have numbers any terrors for

citizens of states like yours, in which the many do not rule the few,

but rather the few the many, owing their position to nothing else than

to superiority in the field. Inexperience now makes you afraid of

barbarians; and yet the trial of strength which you had with the

Macedonians among them, and my own judgment, confirmed by what I hear

from others, should be enough to satisfy you that they will not prove

formidable. Where an enemy seems strong but is really weak, a true

knowledge of the facts makes his adversary the bolder, just as a

serious antagonist is encountered most confidently by those who do not

know him. Thus the present enemy might terrify an inexperienced

imagination; they are formidable in outward bulk, their loud yelling is

unbearable, and the brandishing of their weapons in the air has a

threatening appearance. But when it comes to real fighting with an

opponent who stands his ground, they are not what they seemed; they

have no regular order that they should be ashamed of deserting their

positions when hard pressed; flight and attack are with them equally

honourable, and afford no test of courage; their independent mode of

fighting never leaving any one who wants to run away without a fair

excuse for so doing. In short, they think frightening you at a secure

distance a surer game than meeting you hand to hand; otherwise they

would have done the one and not the other. You can thus plainly see

that the terrors with which they were at first invested are in fact

trifling enough, though to the eye and ear very prominent. Stand your

ground therefore when they advance, and again wait your opportunity to

retire in good order, and you will reach a place of safety all the

sooner, and will know for ever afterwards that rabble such as these, to

those who sustain their first attack, do but show off their courage by

threats of the terrible things that they are going to do, at a

distance, but with those who give way to them are quick enough to

display their heroism in pursuit when they can do so without danger.”

With this brief address Brasidas began to lead off his army. Seeing

this, the barbarians came on with much shouting and hubbub, thinking

that he was flying and that they would overtake him and cut him off.

But wherever they charged they found the young men ready to dash out

against them, while Brasidas with his picked company sustained their

onset. Thus the Peloponnesians withstood the first attack, to the

surprise of the enemy, and afterwards received and repulsed them as

fast as they came on, retiring as soon as their opponents became quiet.

The main body of the barbarians ceased therefore to molest the Hellenes

with Brasidas in the open country, and leaving behind a certain number

to harass their march, the rest went on after the flying Macedonians,

slaying those with whom they came up, and so arrived in time to occupy

the narrow pass between two hills that leads into the country of

Arrhabaeus. They knew that this was the only way by which Brasidas

could retreat, and now proceeded to surround him just as he entered the

most impracticable part of the road, in order to cut him off.

Brasidas, perceiving their intention, told his three hundred to run on

without order, each as quickly as he could, to the hill which seemed

easiest to take, and to try to dislodge the barbarians already there,

before they should be joined by the main body closing round him. These

attacked and overpowered the party upon the hill, and the main army of

the Hellenes now advanced with less difficulty towards it—the

barbarians being terrified at seeing their men on that side driven from

the height and no longer following the main body, who, they considered,

had gained the frontier and made good their escape. The heights once

gained, Brasidas now proceeded more securely, and the same day arrived

at Arnisa, the first town in the dominions of Perdiccas. The soldiers,

enraged at the desertion of the Macedonians, vented their rage on all

their yokes of oxen which they found on the road, and on any baggage

which had tumbled off (as might easily happen in the panic of a night

retreat), by unyoking and cutting down the cattle and taking the

baggage for themselves. From this moment Perdiccas began to regard

Brasidas as an enemy and to feel against the Peloponnesians a hatred

which could not be congenial to the adversary of the Athenians.

However, he departed from his natural interests and made it his

endeavour to come to terms with the latter and to get rid of the

former.

On his return from Macedonia to Torone, Brasidas found the Athenians

already masters of Mende, and remained quiet where he was, thinking it

now out of his power to cross over into Pallene and assist the

Mendaeans, but he kept good watch over Torone. For about the same time

as the campaign in Lyncus, the Athenians sailed upon the expedition

which we left them preparing against Mende and Scione, with fifty

ships, ten of which were Chians, one thousand Athenian heavy infantry

and six hundred archers, one hundred Thracian mercenaries and some

targeteers drawn from their allies in the neighbourhood, under the

command of Nicias, son of Niceratus, and Nicostratus, son of

Diitrephes. Weighing from Potidæa, the fleet came to land opposite the

temple of Poseidon, and proceeded against Mende; the men of which town,

reinforced by three hundred Scionaeans, with their Peloponnesian

auxiliaries, seven hundred heavy infantry in all, under Polydamidas,

they found encamped upon a strong hill outside the city. These Nicias,

with one hundred and twenty light-armed Methonaeans, sixty picked men

from the Athenian heavy infantry, and all the archers, tried to reach

by a path running up the hill, but received a wound and found himself

unable to force the position; while Nicostratus, with all the rest of

the army, advancing upon the hill, which was naturally difficult, by a

different approach further off, was thrown into utter disorder; and the

whole Athenian army narrowly escaped being defeated. For that day, as

the Mendaeans and their allies showed no signs of yielding, the

Athenians retreated and encamped, and the Mendaeans at nightfall

returned into the town.

The next day the Athenians sailed round to the Scione side, and took

the suburb, and all day plundered the country, without any one coming

out against them, partly because of intestine disturbances in the town;

and the following night the three hundred Scionaeans returned home. On

the morrow Nicias advanced with half the army to the frontier of Scione

and laid waste the country; while Nicostratus with the remainder sat

down before the town near the upper gate on the road to Potidæa. The

arms of the Mendaeans and of their Peloponnesian auxiliaries within the

wall happened to be piled in that quarter, where Polydamidas

accordingly began to draw them up for battle, encouraging the Mendaeans

to make a sortie. At this moment one of the popular party answered him

factiously that they would not go out and did not want a war, and for

thus answering was dragged by the arm and knocked about by Polydamidas.

Hereupon the infuriated commons at once seized their arms and rushed at

the Peloponnesians and at their allies of the opposite faction. The

troops thus assaulted were at once routed, partly from the suddenness

of the conflict and partly through fear of the gates being opened to

the Athenians, with whom they imagined that the attack had been

concerted. As many as were not killed on the spot took refuge in the

citadel, which they had held from the first; and the whole, Athenian

army, Nicias having by this time returned and being close to the city,

now burst into Mende, which had opened its gates without any

convention, and sacked it just as if they had taken it by storm, the

generals even finding some difficulty in restraining them from also

massacring the inhabitants. After this the Athenians told the Mendaeans

that they might retain their civil rights, and themselves judge the

supposed authors of the revolt; and cut off the party in the citadel by

a wall built down to the sea on either side, appointing troops to

maintain the blockade. Having thus secured Mende, they proceeded

against Scione.

The Scionaeans and Peloponnesians marched out against them, occupying a

strong hill in front of the town, which had to be captured by the enemy

before they could invest the place. The Athenians stormed the hill,

defeated and dislodged its occupants, and, having encamped and set up a

trophy, prepared for the work of circumvallation. Not long after they

had begun their operations, the auxiliaries besieged in the citadel of

Mende forced the guard by the sea-side and arrived by night at Scione,

into which most of them succeeded in entering, passing through the

besieging army.

While the investment of Scione was in progress, Perdiccas sent a herald

to the Athenian generals and made peace with the Athenians, through

spite against Brasidas for the retreat from Lyncus, from which moment

indeed he had begun to negotiate. The Lacedaemonian Ischagoras was just

then upon the point of starting with an army overland to join Brasidas;

and Perdiccas, being now required by Nicias to give some proof of the

sincerity of his reconciliation to the Athenians, and being himself no

longer disposed to let the Peloponnesians into his country, put in

motion his friends in Thessaly, with whose chief men he always took

care to have relations, and so effectually stopped the army and its

preparation that they did not even try the Thessalians. Ischagoras

himself, however, with Ameinias and Aristeus, succeeded in reaching

Brasidas; they had been commissioned by the Lacedaemonians to inspect

the state of affairs, and brought out from Sparta (in violation of all

precedent) some of their young men to put in command of the towns, to

guard against their being entrusted to the persons upon the spot.

Brasidas accordingly placed Clearidas, son of Cleonymus, in Amphipolis,

and Pasitelidas, son of Hegesander, in Torone.

The same summer the Thebans dismantled the wall of the Thespians on the

charge of Atticism, having always wished to do so, and now finding it

an easy matter, as the flower of the Thespian youth had perished in the

battle with the Athenians. The same summer also the temple of Hera at

Argos was burnt down, through Chrysis, the priestess, placing a lighted

torch near the garlands and then falling asleep, so that they all

caught fire and were in a blaze before she observed it. Chrysis that

very night fled to Phlius for fear of the Argives, who, agreeably to

the law in such a case, appointed another priestess named Phaeinis.

Chrysis at the time of her flight had been priestess for eight years of

the present war and half the ninth. At the close of the summer the

investment of Scione was completed, and the Athenians, leaving a

detachment to maintain the blockade, returned with the rest of their

army.

During the winter following, the Athenians and Lacedaemonians were kept

quiet by the armistice; but the Mantineans and Tegeans, and their

respective allies, fought a battle at Laodicium, in the Oresthid. The

victory remained doubtful, as each side routed one of the wings opposed

to them, and both set up trophies and sent spoils to Delphi. After

heavy loss on both sides the battle was undecided, and night

interrupted the action; yet the Tegeans passed the night on the field

and set up a trophy at once, while the Mantineans withdrew to Bucolion

and set up theirs afterwards.

At the close of the same winter, in fact almost in spring, Brasidas

made an attempt upon Potidæa. He arrived by night, and succeeded in

planting a ladder against the wall without being discovered, the ladder

being planted just in the interval between the passing round of the

bell and the return of the man who brought it back. Upon the garrison,

however, taking the alarm immediately afterwards, before his men came

up, he quickly led off his troops, without waiting until it was day. So

ended the winter and the ninth year of this war of which Thucydides is

the historian.

BOOK V

CHAPTER XV

Tenth Year of the War—Death of Cleon and Brasidas—Peace of Nicias

The next summer the truce for a year ended, after lasting until the

Pythian games. During the armistice the Athenians expelled the Delians

from Delos, concluding that they must have been polluted by some old

offence at the time of their consecration, and that this had been the

omission in the previous purification of the island, which, as I have

related, had been thought to have been duly accomplished by the removal

of the graves of the dead. The Delians had Atramyttium in Asia given

them by Pharnaces, and settled there as they removed from Delos.

Meanwhile Cleon prevailed on the Athenians to let him set sail at the

expiration of the armistice for the towns in the direction of Thrace

with twelve hundred heavy infantry and three hundred horse from Athens,

a large force of the allies, and thirty ships. First touching at the

still besieged Scione, and taking some heavy infantry from the army

there, he next sailed into Cophos, a harbour in the territory of

Torone, which is not far from the town. From thence, having learnt from

deserters that Brasidas was not in Torone, and that its garrison was

not strong enough to give him battle, he advanced with his army against

the town, sending ten ships to sail round into the harbour. He first

came to the fortification lately thrown up in front of the town by

Brasidas in order to take in the suburb, to do which he had pulled down

part of the original wall and made it all one city. To this point

Pasitelidas, the Lacedaemonian commander, with such garrison as there

was in the place, hurried to repel the Athenian assault; but finding

himself hard pressed, and seeing the ships that had been sent round

sailing into the harbour, Pasitelidas began to be afraid that they

might get up to the city before its defenders were there and, the

fortification being also carried, he might be taken prisoner, and so

abandoned the outwork and ran into the town. But the Athenians from the

ships had already taken Torone, and their land forces following at his

heels burst in with him with a rush over the part of the old wall that

had been pulled down, killing some of the Peloponnesians and Toronaeans

in the melee, and making prisoners of the rest, and Pasitelidas their

commander amongst them. Brasidas meanwhile had advanced to relieve

Torone, and had only about four miles more to go when he heard of its

fall on the road, and turned back again. Cleon and the Athenians set up

two trophies, one by the harbour, the other by the fortification and,

making slaves of the wives and children of the Toronaeans, sent the men

with the Peloponnesians and any Chalcidians that were there, to the

number of seven hundred, to Athens; whence, however, they all came home

afterwards, the Peloponnesians on the conclusion of peace, and the rest

by being exchanged against other prisoners with the Olynthians. About

the same time Panactum, a fortress on the Athenian border, was taken by

treachery by the Boeotians. Meanwhile Cleon, after placing a garrison

in Torone, weighed anchor and sailed around Athos on his way to

Amphipolis.

About the same time Phaeax, son of Erasistratus, set sail with two

colleagues as ambassador from Athens to Italy and Sicily. The

Leontines, upon the departure of the Athenians from Sicily after the

pacification, had placed a number of new citizens upon the roll, and

the commons had a design for redividing the land; but the upper

classes, aware of their intention, called in the Syracusans and

expelled the commons. These last were scattered in various directions;

but the upper classes came to an agreement with the Syracusans,

abandoned and laid waste their city, and went and lived at Syracuse,

where they were made citizens. Afterwards some of them were

dissatisfied, and leaving Syracuse occupied Phocaeae, a quarter of the

town of Leontini, and Bricinniae, a strong place in the Leontine

country, and being there joined by most of the exiled commons carried

on war from the fortifications. The Athenians hearing this, sent Phaeax

to see if they could not by some means so convince their allies there

and the rest of the Sicilians of the ambitious designs of Syracuse as

to induce them to form a general coalition against her, and thus save

the commons of Leontini. Arrived in Sicily, Phaeax succeeded at

Camarina and Agrigentum, but meeting with a repulse at Gela did not go

on to the rest, as he saw that he should not succeed with them, but

returned through the country of the Sicels to Catana, and after

visiting Bricinniae as he passed, and encouraging its inhabitants,

sailed back to Athens.

During his voyage along the coast to and from Sicily, he treated with

some cities in Italy on the subject of friendship with Athens, and also

fell in with some Locrian settlers exiled from Messina, who had been

sent thither when the Locrians were called in by one of the factions

that divided Messina after the pacification of Sicily, and Messina came

for a time into the hands of the Locrians. These being met by Phaeax on

their return home received no injury at his hands, as the Locrians had

agreed with him for a treaty with Athens. They were the only people of

the allies who, when the reconciliation between the Sicilians took

place, had not made peace with her; nor indeed would they have done so

now, if they had not been pressed by a war with the Hipponians and

Medmaeans who lived on their border, and were colonists of theirs.

Phaeax meanwhile proceeded on his voyage, and at length arrived at

Athens.

Cleon, whom we left on his voyage from Torone to Amphipolis, made Eion

his base, and after an unsuccessful assault upon the Andrian colony of

Stagirus, took Galepsus, a colony of Thasos, by storm. He now sent

envoys to Perdiccas to command his attendance with an army, as provided

by the alliance; and others to Thrace, to Polles, king of the

Odomantians, who was to bring as many Thracian mercenaries as possible;

and himself remained inactive in Eion, awaiting their arrival. Informed

of this, Brasidas on his part took up a position of observation upon

Cerdylium, a place situated in the Argilian country on high ground

across the river, not far from Amphipolis, and commanding a view on all

sides, and thus made it impossible for Cleon’s army to move without his

seeing it; for he fully expected that Cleon, despising the scanty

numbers of his opponent, would march against Amphipolis with the force

that he had got with him. At the same time Brasidas made his

preparations, calling to his standard fifteen hundred Thracian

mercenaries and all the Edonians, horse and targeteers; he also had a

thousand Myrcinian and Chalcidian targeteers, besides those in

Amphipolis, and a force of heavy infantry numbering altogether about

two thousand, and three hundred Hellenic horse. Fifteen hundred of

these he had with him upon Cerdylium; the rest were stationed with

Clearidas in Amphipolis.

After remaining quiet for some time, Cleon was at length obliged to do

as Brasidas expected. His soldiers, tired of their inactivity, began

also seriously to reflect on the weakness and incompetence of their

commander, and the skill and valour that would be opposed to him, and

on their own original unwillingness to accompany him. These murmurs

coming to the ears of Cleon, he resolved not to disgust the army by

keeping it in the same place, and broke up his camp and advanced. The

temper of the general was what it had been at Pylos, his success on

that occasion having given him confidence in his capacity. He never

dreamed of any one coming out to fight him, but said that he was rather

going up to view the place; and if he waited for his reinforcements, it

was not in order to make victory secure in case he should be compelled

to engage, but to be enabled to surround and storm the city. He

accordingly came and posted his army upon a strong hill in front of

Amphipolis, and proceeded to examine the lake formed by the Strymon,

and how the town lay on the side of Thrace. He thought to retire at

pleasure without fighting, as there was no one to be seen upon the wall

or coming out of the gates, all of which were shut. Indeed, it seemed a

mistake not to have brought down engines with him; he could then have

taken the town, there being no one to defend it.

As soon as Brasidas saw the Athenians in motion he descended himself

from Cerdylium and entered Amphipolis. He did not venture to go out in

regular order against the Athenians: he mistrusted his strength, and

thought it inadequate to the attempt; not in numbers—these were not so

unequal—but in quality, the flower of the Athenian army being in the

field, with the best of the Lemnians and Imbrians. He therefore

prepared to assail them by stratagem. By showing the enemy the number

of his troops, and the shifts which he had been put to to to arm them,

he thought that he should have less chance of beating him than by not

letting him have a sight of them, and thus learn how good a right he

had to despise them. He accordingly picked out a hundred and fifty

heavy infantry and, putting the rest under Clearidas, determined to

attack suddenly before the Athenians retired; thinking that he should

not have again such a chance of catching them alone, if their

reinforcements were once allowed to come up; and so calling all his

soldiers together in order to encourage them and explain his intention,

spoke as follows:

“Peloponnesians, the character of the country from which we have come,

one which has always owed its freedom to valour, and the fact that you

are Dorians and the enemy you are about to fight Ionians, whom you are

accustomed to beat, are things that do not need further comment. But

the plan of attack that I propose to pursue, this it is as well to

explain, in order that the fact of our adventuring with a part instead

of with the whole of our forces may not damp your courage by the

apparent disadvantage at which it places you. I imagine it is the poor

opinion that he has of us, and the fact that he has no idea of any one

coming out to engage him, that has made the enemy march up to the place

and carelessly look about him as he is doing, without noticing us. But

the most successful soldier will always be the man who most happily

detects a blunder like this, and who carefully consulting his own means

makes his attack not so much by open and regular approaches, as by

seizing the opportunity of the moment; and these stratagems, which do

the greatest service to our friends by most completely deceiving our

enemies, have the most brilliant name in war. Therefore, while their

careless confidence continues, and they are still thinking, as in my

judgment they are now doing, more of retreat than of maintaining their

position, while their spirit is slack and not high-strung with

expectation, I with the men under my command will, if possible, take

them by surprise and fall with a run upon their centre; and do you,

Clearidas, afterwards, when you see me already upon them, and, as is

likely, dealing terror among them, take with you the Amphipolitans, and

the rest of the allies, and suddenly open the gates and dash at them,

and hasten to engage as quickly as you can. That is our best chance of

establishing a panic among them, as a fresh assailant has always more

terrors for an enemy than the one he is immediately engaged with. Show

yourself a brave man, as a Spartan should; and do you, allies, follow

him like men, and remember that zeal, honour, and obedience mark the

good soldier, and that this day will make you either free men and

allies of Lacedaemon, or slaves of Athens; even if you escape without

personal loss of liberty or life, your bondage will be on harsher terms

than before, and you will also hinder the liberation of the rest of the

Hellenes. No cowardice then on your part, seeing the greatness of the

issues at stake, and I will show that what I preach to others I can

practise myself.”

After this brief speech Brasidas himself prepared for the sally, and

placed the rest with Clearidas at the Thracian gates to support him as

had been agreed. Meanwhile he had been seen coming down from Cerdylium

and then in the city, which is overlooked from the outside, sacrificing

near the temple of Athene; in short, all his movements had been

observed, and word was brought to Cleon, who had at the moment gone on

to look about him, that the whole of the enemy’s force could be seen in

the town, and that the feet of horses and men in great numbers were

visible under the gates, as if a sally were intended. Upon hearing this

he went up to look, and having done so, being unwilling to venture upon

the decisive step of a battle before his reinforcements came up, and

fancying that he would have time to retire, bid the retreat be sounded

and sent orders to the men to effect it by moving on the left wing in

the direction of Eion, which was indeed the only way practicable. This

however not being quick enough for him, he joined the retreat in person

and made the right wing wheel round, thus turning its unarmed side to

the enemy. It was then that Brasidas, seeing the Athenian force in

motion and his opportunity come, said to the men with him and the rest:

“Those fellows will never stand before us, one can see that by the way

their spears and heads are going. Troops which do as they do seldom

stand a charge. Quick, someone, and open the gates I spoke of, and let

us be out and at them with no fears for the result.” Accordingly

issuing out by the palisade gate and by the first in the long wall then

existing, he ran at the top of his speed along the straight road, where

the trophy now stands as you go by the steepest part of the hill, and

fell upon and routed the centre of the Athenians, panic-stricken by

their own disorder and astounded at his audacity. At the same moment

Clearidas in execution of his orders issued out from the Thracian gates

to support him, and also attacked the enemy. The result was that the

Athenians, suddenly and unexpectedly attacked on both sides, fell into

confusion; and their left towards Eion, which had already got on some

distance, at once broke and fled. Just as it was in full retreat and

Brasidas was passing on to attack the right, he received a wound; but

his fall was not perceived by the Athenians, as he was taken up by

those near him and carried off the field. The Athenian right made a

better stand, and though Cleon, who from the first had no thought of

fighting, at once fled and was overtaken and slain by a Myrcinian

targeteer, his infantry forming in close order upon the hill twice or

thrice repulsed the attacks of Clearidas, and did not finally give way

until they were surrounded and routed by the missiles of the Myrcinian

and Chalcidian horse and the targeteers. Thus the Athenian army was all

now in flight; and such as escaped being killed in the battle, or by

the Chalcidian horse and the targeteers, dispersed among the hills, and

with difficulty made their way to Eion. The men who had taken up and

rescued Brasidas, brought him into the town with the breath still in

him: he lived to hear of the victory of his troops, and not long after

expired. The rest of the army returning with Clearidas from the pursuit

stripped the dead and set up a trophy.

After this all the allies attended in arms and buried Brasidas at the

public expense in the city, in front of what is now the marketplace,

and the Amphipolitans, having enclosed his tomb, ever afterwards

sacrifice to him as a hero and have given to him the honour of games

and annual offerings. They constituted him the founder of their colony,

and pulled down the Hagnonic erections, and obliterated everything that

could be interpreted as a memorial of his having founded the place; for

they considered that Brasidas had been their preserver, and courting as

they did the alliance of Lacedaemon for fear of Athens, in their

present hostile relations with the latter they could no longer with the

same advantage or satisfaction pay Hagnon his honours. They also gave

the Athenians back their dead. About six hundred of the latter had

fallen and only seven of the enemy, owing to there having been no

regular engagement, but the affair of accident and panic that I have

described. After taking up their dead the Athenians sailed off home,

while Clearidas and his troops remained to arrange matters at

Amphipolis.

About the same time three Lacedaemonians—Ramphias, Autocharidas, and

Epicydidas—led a reinforcement of nine hundred heavy infantry to the

towns in the direction of Thrace, and arriving at Heraclea in Trachis

reformed matters there as seemed good to them. While they delayed

there, this battle took place and so the summer ended.

With the beginning of the winter following, Ramphias and his companions

penetrated as far as Pierium in Thessaly; but as the Thessalians

opposed their further advance, and Brasidas whom they came to reinforce

was dead, they turned back home, thinking that the moment had gone by,

the Athenians being defeated and gone, and themselves not equal to the

execution of Brasidas’s designs. The main cause however of their return

was because they knew that when they set out Lacedaemonian opinion was

really in favour of peace.

Indeed it so happened that directly after the battle of Amphipolis and

the retreat of Ramphias from Thessaly, both sides ceased to prosecute

the war and turned their attention to peace. Athens had suffered

severely at Delium, and again shortly afterwards at Amphipolis, and had

no longer that confidence in her strength which had made her before

refuse to treat, in the belief of ultimate victory which her success at

the moment had inspired; besides, she was afraid of her allies being

tempted by her reverses to rebel more generally, and repented having

let go the splendid opportunity for peace which the affair of Pylos had

offered. Lacedaemon, on the other hand, found the event of the war to

falsify her notion that a few years would suffice for the overthrow of

the power of the Athenians by the devastation of their land. She had

suffered on the island a disaster hitherto unknown at Sparta; she saw

her country plundered from Pylos and Cythera; the Helots were

deserting, and she was in constant apprehension that those who remained

in Peloponnese would rely upon those outside and take advantage of the

situation to renew their old attempts at revolution. Besides this, as

chance would have it, her thirty years’ truce with the Argives was upon

the point of expiring; and they refused to renew it unless Cynuria were

restored to them; so that it seemed impossible to fight Argos and

Athens at once. She also suspected some of the cities in Peloponnese of

intending to go over to the enemy and that was indeed the case.

These considerations made both sides disposed for an accommodation; the

Lacedaemonians being probably the most eager, as they ardently desired

to recover the men taken upon the island, the Spartans among whom

belonged to the first families and were accordingly related to the

governing body in Lacedaemon. Negotiations had been begun directly

after their capture, but the Athenians in their hour of triumph would

not consent to any reasonable terms; though after their defeat at

Delium, Lacedaemon, knowing that they would be now more inclined to

listen, at once concluded the armistice for a year, during which they

were to confer together and see if a longer period could not be agreed

upon.

Now, however, after the Athenian defeat at Amphipolis, and the death of

Cleon and Brasidas, who had been the two principal opponents of peace

on either side—the latter from the success and honour which war gave

him, the former because he thought that, if tranquillity were restored,

his crimes would be more open to detection and his slanders less

credited—the foremost candidates for power in either city, Pleistoanax,

son of Pausanias, king of Lacedaemon, and Nicias, son of Niceratus, the

most fortunate general of his time, each desired peace more ardently

than ever. Nicias, while still happy and honoured, wished to secure his

good fortune, to obtain a present release from trouble for himself and

his countrymen, and hand down to posterity a name as an ever-successful

statesman, and thought the way to do this was to keep out of danger and

commit himself as little as possible to fortune, and that peace alone

made this keeping out of danger possible. Pleistoanax, again, was

assailed by his enemies for his restoration, and regularly held up by

them to the prejudice of his countrymen, upon every reverse that befell

them, as though his unjust restoration were the cause; the accusation

being that he and his brother Aristocles had bribed the prophetess of

Delphi to tell the Lacedaemonian deputations which successively arrived

at the temple to bring home the seed of the demigod son of Zeus from

abroad, else they would have to plough with a silver share. In this

way, it was insisted, in time he had induced the Lacedaemonians in the

nineteenth year of his exile to Lycaeum (whither he had gone when

banished on suspicion of having been bribed to retreat from Attica, and

had built half his house within the consecrated precinct of Zeus for

fear of the Lacedaemonians), to restore him with the same dances and

sacrifices with which they had instituted their kings upon the first

settlement of Lacedaemon. The smart of this accusation, and the

reflection that in peace no disaster could occur, and that when

Lacedaemon had recovered her men there would be nothing for his enemies

to take hold of (whereas, while war lasted, the highest station must

always bear the scandal of everything that went wrong), made him

ardently desire a settlement. Accordingly this winter was employed in

conferences; and as spring rapidly approached, the Lacedaemonians sent

round orders to the cities to prepare for a fortified occupation of

Attica, and held this as a sword over the heads of the Athenians to

induce them to listen to their overtures; and at last, after many

claims had been urged on either side at the conferences a peace was

agreed on upon the following basis. Each party was to restore its

conquests, but Athens was to keep Nisaea; her demand for Plataea being

met by the Thebans asserting that they had acquired the place not by

force or treachery, but by the voluntary adhesion upon agreement of its

citizens; and the same, according to the Athenian account, being the

history of her acquisition of Nisaea. This arranged, the Lacedaemonians

summoned their allies, and all voting for peace except the Boeotians,

Corinthians, Eleans, and Megarians, who did not approve of these

proceedings, they concluded the treaty and made peace, each of the

contracting parties swearing to the following articles:

The Athenians and Lacedaemonians and their allies made a treaty, and

swore to it, city by city, as follows;

1. Touching the national temples, there shall be a free passage by land

and by sea to all who wish it, to sacrifice, travel, consult, and

attend the oracle or games, according to the customs of their

countries.

2. The temple and shrine of Apollo at Delphi and the Delphians shall be

governed by their own laws, taxed by their own state, and judged by

their own judges, the land and the people, according to the custom of

their country.

3. The treaty shall be binding for fifty years upon the Athenians and

the allies of the Athenians, and upon the Lacedaemonians and the allies

of the Lacedaemonians, without fraud or hurt by land or by sea.

4. It shall not be lawful to take up arms, with intent to do hurt,

either for the Lacedaemonians and their allies against the Athenians

and their allies, or for the Athenians and their allies against the

Lacedaemonians and their allies, in any way or means whatsoever. But

should any difference arise between them they are to have recourse to

law and oaths, according as may be agreed between the parties.

5. The Lacedaemonians and their allies shall give back Amphipolis to

the Athenians. Nevertheless, in the case of cities given up by the

Lacedaemonians to the Athenians, the inhabitants shall be allowed to go

where they please and to take their property with them: and the cities

shall be independent, paying only the tribute of Aristides. And it

shall not be lawful for the Athenians or their allies to carry on war

against them after the treaty has been concluded, so long as the

tribute is paid. The cities referred to are Argilus, Stagirus,

Acanthus, Scolus, Olynthus, and Spartolus. These cities shall be

neutral, allies neither of the Lacedaemonians nor of the Athenians: but

if the cities consent, it shall be lawful for the Athenians to make

them their allies, provided always that the cities wish it. The

Mecybernaeans, Sanaeans, and Singaeans shall inhabit their own cities,

as also the Olynthians and Acanthians: but the Lacedaemonians and their

allies shall give back Panactum to the Athenians.

6. The Athenians shall give back Coryphasium, Cythera, Methana,

Lacedaemonians that are in the prison at Athens or elsewhere in the

Athenian dominions, and shall let go the Peloponnesians besieged in

Scione, and all others in Scione that are allies of the Lacedaemonians,

and all whom Brasidas sent in there, and any others of the allies of

the Lacedaemonians that may be in the prison at Athens or elsewhere in

the Athenian dominions.

7. The Lacedaemonians and their allies shall in like manner give back

any of the Athenians or their allies that they may have in their hands.

8. In the case of Scione, Torone, and Sermylium, and any other cities

that the Athenians may have, the Athenians may adopt such measures as

they please.

9. The Athenians shall take an oath to the Lacedaemonians and their

allies, city by city. Every man shall swear by the most binding oath of

his country, seventeen from each city. The oath shall be as follows; “I

will abide by this agreement and treaty honestly and without deceit.”

In the same way an oath shall be taken by the Lacedaemonians and their

allies to the Athenians: and the oath shall be renewed annually by both

parties. Pillars shall be erected at Olympia, Pythia, the Isthmus, at

Athens in the Acropolis, and at Lacedaemon in the temple at Amyclae.

10. If anything be forgotten, whatever it be, and on whatever point, it

shall be consistent with their oath for both parties, the Athenians and

Lacedaemonians, to alter it, according to their discretion.

The treaty begins from the ephoralty of Pleistolas in Lacedaemon, on

the 27th day of the month of Artemisium, and from the archonship, of

Alcaeus at Athens, on the 25th day of the month of Elaphebolion. Those

who took the oath and poured the libations for the Lacedaemonians were

Pleistoanax, Agis, Pleistolas, Damagetis, Chionis, Metagenes, Acanthus,

Daithus, Ischagoras, Philocharidas, Zeuxidas, Antippus, Tellis,

Alcinadas, Empedias, Menas, and Laphilus: for the Athenians, Lampon,

Isthmonicus, Nicias, Laches, Euthydemus, Procles, Pythodorus, Hagnon,

Myrtilus, Thrasycles, Theagenes, Aristocrates, Iolcius, Timocrates,

Leon, Lamachus, and Demosthenes.

This treaty was made in the spring, just at the end of winter, directly

after the city festival of Dionysus, just ten years, with the

difference of a few days, from the first invasion of Attica and the

commencement of this war. This must be calculated by the seasons rather

than by trusting to the enumeration of the names of the several

magistrates or offices of honour that are used to mark past events.

Accuracy is impossible where an event may have occurred in the

beginning, or middle, or at any period in their tenure of office. But

by computing by summers and winters, the method adopted in this

history, it will be found that, each of these amounting to half a year,

there were ten summers and as many winters contained in this first war.

Meanwhile the Lacedaemonians, to whose lot it fell to begin the work of

restitution, immediately set free all the prisoners of war in their

possession, and sent Ischagoras, Menas, and Philocharidas as envoys to

the towns in the direction of Thrace, to order Clearidas to hand over

Amphipolis to the Athenians, and the rest of their allies each to

accept the treaty as it affected them. They, however, did not like its

terms, and refused to accept it; Clearidas also, willing to oblige the

Chalcidians, would not hand over the town, averring his inability to do

so against their will. Meanwhile he hastened in person to Lacedaemon

with envoys from the place, to defend his disobedience against the

possible accusations of Ischagoras and his companions, and also to see

whether it was too late for the agreement to be altered; and on finding

the Lacedaemonians were bound, quickly set out back again with

instructions from them to hand over the place, if possible, or at all

events to bring out the Peloponnesians that were in it.

The allies happened to be present in person at Lacedaemon, and those

who had not accepted the treaty were now asked by the Lacedaemonians to

adopt it. This, however, they refused to do, for the same reasons as

before, unless a fairer one than the present were agreed upon; and

remaining firm in their determination were dismissed by the

Lacedaemonians, who now decided on forming an alliance with the

Athenians, thinking that Argos, who had refused the application of

Ampelidas and Lichas for a renewal of the treaty, would without Athens

be no longer formidable, and that the rest of the Peloponnese would be

most likely to keep quiet, if the coveted alliance of Athens were shut

against them. Accordingly, after conference with the Athenian

ambassadors, an alliance was agreed upon and oaths were exchanged, upon

the terms following:

1. The Lacedaemonians shall be allies of the Athenians for fifty years.

2. Should any enemy invade the territory of Lacedaemon and injure the

Lacedaemonians, the Athenians shall help in such way as they most

effectively can, according to their power. But if the invader be gone

after plundering the country, that city shall be the enemy of

Lacedaemon and Athens, and shall be chastised by both, and one shall

not make peace without the other. This to be honestly, loyally, and

without fraud.

3. Should any enemy invade the territory of Athens and injure the

Athenians, the Lacedaemonians shall help them in such way as they most

effectively can, according to their power. But if the invader be gone

after plundering the country, that city shall be the enemy of

Lacedaemon and Athens, and shall be chastised by both, and one shall

not make peace without the other. This to be honestly, loyally, and

without fraud.

4. Should the slave population rise, the Athenians shall help the

Lacedaemonians with all their might, according to their power.

5. This treaty shall be sworn to by the same persons on either side

that swore to the other. It shall be renewed annually by the

Lacedaemonians going to Athens for the Dionysia, and the Athenians to

Lacedaemon for the Hyacinthia, and a pillar shall be set up by either

party: at Lacedaemon near the statue of Apollo at Amyclae, and at

Athens on the Acropolis near the statue of Athene. Should the

Lacedaemonians and Athenians see to add to or take away from the

alliance in any particular, it shall be consistent with their oaths for

both parties to do so, according to their discretion.

Those who took the oath for the Lacedaemonians were Pleistoanax, Agis,

Pleistolas, Damagetus, Chionis, Metagenes, Acanthus, Daithus,

Ischagoras, Philocharidas, Zeuxidas, Antippus, Alcinadas, Tellis,

Empedias, Menas, and Laphilus; for the Athenians, Lampon, Isthmionicus,

Laches, Nicias, Euthydemus, Procles, Pythodorus, Hagnon, Myrtilus,

Thrasycles, Theagenes, Aristocrates, Iolcius, Timocrates, Leon,

Lamachus, and Demosthenes.

This alliance was made not long after the treaty; and the Athenians

gave back the men from the island to the Lacedaemonians, and the summer

of the eleventh year began. This completes the history of the first

war, which occupied the whole of the ten years previously.

CHAPTER XVI

Feeling against Sparta in Peloponnese—League of the Mantineans, Eleans,

Argives, and Athenians—Battle of Mantinea and breaking up of the League

After the treaty and the alliance between the Lacedaemonians and

Athenians, concluded after the ten years’ war, in the ephorate of

Pleistolas at Lacedaemon, and the archonship of Alcaeus at Athens, the

states which had accepted them were at peace; but the Corinthians and

some of the cities in Peloponnese trying to disturb the settlement, a

fresh agitation was instantly commenced by the allies against

Lacedaemon. Further, the Lacedaemonians, as time went on, became

suspected by the Athenians through their not performing some of the

provisions in the treaty; and though for six years and ten months they

abstained from invasion of each other’s territory, yet abroad an

unstable armistice did not prevent either party doing the other the

most effectual injury, until they were finally obliged to break the

treaty made after the ten years’ war and to have recourse to open

hostilities.

The history of this period has been also written by the same

Thucydides, an Athenian, in the chronological order of events by

summers and winters, to the time when the Lacedaemonians and their

allies put an end to the Athenian empire, and took the Long Walls and

Piraeus. The war had then lasted for twenty-seven years in all. Only a

mistaken judgment can object to including the interval of treaty in the

war. Looked at by the light of facts it cannot, it will be found, be

rationally considered a state of peace, where neither party either gave

or got back all that they had agreed, apart from the violations of it

which occurred on both sides in the Mantinean and Epidaurian wars and

other instances, and the fact that the allies in the direction of

Thrace were in as open hostility as ever, while the Boeotians had only

a truce renewed every ten days. So that the first ten years’ war, the

treacherous armistice that followed it, and the subsequent war will,

calculating by the seasons, be found to make up the number of years

which I have mentioned, with the difference of a few days, and to

afford an instance of faith in oracles being for once justified by the

event. I certainly all along remember from the beginning to the end of

the war its being commonly declared that it would last thrice nine

years. I lived through the whole of it, being of an age to comprehend

events, and giving my attention to them in order to know the exact

truth about them. It was also my fate to be an exile from my country

for twenty years after my command at Amphipolis; and being present with

both parties, and more especially with the Peloponnesians by reason of

my exile, I had leisure to observe affairs somewhat particularly. I

will accordingly now relate the differences that arose after the ten

years’ war, the breach of the treaty, and the hostilities that

followed.

After the conclusion of the fifty years’ truce and of the subsequent

alliance, the embassies from Peloponnese which had been summoned for

this business returned from Lacedaemon. The rest went straight home,

but the Corinthians first turned aside to Argos and opened negotiations

with some of the men in office there, pointing out that Lacedaemon

could have no good end in view, but only the subjugation of

Peloponnese, or she would never have entered into treaty and alliance

with the once detested Athenians, and that the duty of consulting for

the safety of Peloponnese had now fallen upon Argos, who should

immediately pass a decree inviting any Hellenic state that chose, such

state being independent and accustomed to meet fellow powers upon the

fair and equal ground of law and justice, to make a defensive alliance

with the Argives; appointing a few individuals with plenipotentiary

powers, instead of making the people the medium of negotiation, in

order that, in the case of an applicant being rejected, the fact of his

overtures might not be made public. They said that many would come over

from hatred of the Lacedaemonians. After this explanation of their

views, the Corinthians returned home.

The persons with whom they had communicated reported the proposal to

their government and people, and the Argives passed the decree and

chose twelve men to negotiate an alliance for any Hellenic state that

wished it, except Athens and Lacedaemon, neither of which should be

able to join without reference to the Argive people. Argos came into

the plan the more readily because she saw that war with Lacedaemon was

inevitable, the truce being on the point of expiring; and also because

she hoped to gain the supremacy of Peloponnese. For at this time

Lacedaemon had sunk very low in public estimation because of her

disasters, while the Argives were in a most flourishing condition,

having taken no part in the Attic war, but having on the contrary

profited largely by their neutrality. The Argives accordingly prepared

to receive into alliance any of the Hellenes that desired it.

The Mantineans and their allies were the first to come over through

fear of the Lacedaemonians. Having taken advantage of the war against

Athens to reduce a large part of Arcadia into subjection, they thought

that Lacedaemon would not leave them undisturbed in their conquests,

now that she had leisure to interfere, and consequently gladly turned

to a powerful city like Argos, the historical enemy of the

Lacedaemonians, and a sister democracy. Upon the defection of Mantinea,

the rest of Peloponnese at once began to agitate the propriety of

following her example, conceiving that the Mantineans not have changed

sides without good reason; besides which they were angry with

Lacedaemon among other reasons for having inserted in the treaty with

Athens that it should be consistent with their oaths for both parties,

Lacedaemonians and Athenians, to add to or take away from it according

to their discretion. It was this clause that was the real origin of the

panic in Peloponnese, by exciting suspicions of a Lacedaemonian and

Athenian combination against their liberties: any alteration should

properly have been made conditional upon the consent of the whole body

of the allies. With these apprehensions there was a very general desire

in each state to place itself in alliance with Argos.

In the meantime the Lacedaemonians perceiving the agitation going on in

Peloponnese, and that Corinth was the author of it and was herself

about to enter into alliance with the Argives, sent ambassadors thither

in the hope of preventing what was in contemplation. They accused her

of having brought it all about, and told her that she could not desert

Lacedaemon and become the ally of Argos, without adding violation of

her oaths to the crime which she had already committed in not accepting

the treaty with Athens, when it had been expressly agreed that the

decision of the majority of the allies should be binding, unless the

gods or heroes stood in the way. Corinth in her answer, delivered

before those of her allies who had like her refused to accept the

treaty, and whom she had previously invited to attend, refrained from

openly stating the injuries she complained of, such as the non-recovery

of Sollium or Anactorium from the Athenians, or any other point in

which she thought she had been prejudiced, but took shelter under the

pretext that she could not give up her Thracian allies, to whom her

separate individual security had been given, when they first rebelled

with Potidæa, as well as upon subsequent occasions. She denied,

therefore, that she committed any violation of her oaths to the allies

in not entering into the treaty with Athens; having sworn upon the

faith of the gods to her Thracian friends, she could not honestly give

them up. Besides, the expression was, “unless the gods or heroes stand

in the way.” Now here, as it appeared to her, the gods stood in the

way. This was what she said on the subject of her former oaths. As to

the Argive alliance, she would confer with her friends and do whatever

was right. The Lacedaemonian envoys returning home, some Argive

ambassadors who happened to be in Corinth pressed her to conclude the

alliance without further delay, but were told to attend at the next

congress to be held at Corinth.

Immediately afterwards an Elean embassy arrived, and first making an

alliance with Corinth went on from thence to Argos, according to their

instructions, and became allies of the Argives, their country being

just then at enmity with Lacedaemon and Lepreum. Some time back there

had been a war between the Lepreans and some of the Arcadians; and the

Eleans being called in by the former with the offer of half their

lands, had put an end to the war, and leaving the land in the hands of

its Leprean occupiers had imposed upon them the tribute of a talent to

the Olympian Zeus. Till the Attic war this tribute was paid by the

Lepreans, who then took the war as an excuse for no longer doing so,

and upon the Eleans using force appealed to Lacedaemon. The case was

thus submitted to her arbitrament; but the Eleans, suspecting the

fairness of the tribunal, renounced the reference and laid waste the

Leprean territory. The Lacedaemonians nevertheless decided that the

Lepreans were independent and the Eleans aggressors, and as the latter

did not abide by the arbitration, sent a garrison of heavy infantry

into Lepreum. Upon this the Eleans, holding that Lacedaemon had

received one of their rebel subjects, put forward the convention

providing that each confederate should come out of the Attic war in

possession of what he had when he went into it, and considering that

justice had not been done them went over to the Argives, and now made

the alliance through their ambassadors, who had been instructed for

that purpose. Immediately after them the Corinthians and the Thracian

Chalcidians became allies of Argos. Meanwhile the Boeotians and

Megarians, who acted together, remained quiet, being left to do as they

pleased by Lacedaemon, and thinking that the Argive democracy would not

suit so well with their aristocratic government as the Lacedaemonian

constitution.

About the same time in this summer Athens succeeded in reducing Scione,

put the adult males to death, and, making slaves of the women and

children, gave the land for the Plataeans to live in. She also brought

back the Delians to Delos, moved by her misfortunes in the field and by

the commands of the god at Delphi. Meanwhile the Phocians and Locrians

commenced hostilities. The Corinthians and Argives, being now in

alliance, went to Tegea to bring about its defection from Lacedaemon,

seeing that, if so considerable a state could be persuaded to join, all

Peloponnese would be with them. But when the Tegeans said that they

would do nothing against Lacedaemon, the hitherto zealous Corinthians

relaxed their activity, and began to fear that none of the rest would

now come over. Still they went to the Boeotians and tried to persuade

them to alliance and a common action generally with Argos and

themselves, and also begged them to go with them to Athens and obtain

for them a ten days’ truce similar to that made between the Athenians

and Boeotians not long after the fifty years’ treaty, and, in the event

of the Athenians refusing, to throw up the armistice, and not make any

truce in future without Corinth. These were the requests of the

Corinthians. The Boeotians stopped them on the subject of the Argive

alliance, but went with them to Athens, where however they failed to

obtain the ten days’ truce; the Athenian answer being that the

Corinthians had truce already, as being allies of Lacedaemon.

Nevertheless the Boeotians did not throw up their ten days’ truce, in

spite of the prayers and reproaches of the Corinthians for their breach

of faith; and these last had to content themselves with a de facto

armistice with Athens.

The same summer the Lacedaemonians marched into Arcadia with their

whole levy under Pleistoanax, son of Pausanias, king of Lacedaemon,

against the Parrhasians, who were subjects of Mantinea, and a faction

of whom had invited their aid. They also meant to demolish, if

possible, the fort of Cypsela which the Mantineans had built and

garrisoned in the Parrhasian territory, to annoy the district of

Sciritis in Laconia. The Lacedaemonians accordingly laid waste the

Parrhasian country, and the Mantineans, placing their town in the hands

of an Argive garrison, addressed themselves to the defence of their

confederacy, but being unable to save Cypsela or the Parrhasian towns

went back to Mantinea. Meanwhile the Lacedaemonians made the

Parrhasians independent, razed the fortress, and returned home.

The same summer the soldiers from Thrace who had gone out with Brasidas

came back, having been brought from thence after the treaty by

Clearidas; and the Lacedaemonians decreed that the Helots who had

fought with Brasidas should be free and allowed to live where they

liked, and not long afterwards settled them with the Neodamodes at

Lepreum, which is situated on the Laconian and Elean border; Lacedaemon

being at this time at enmity with Elis. Those however of the Spartans

who had been taken prisoners on the island and had surrendered their

arms might, it was feared, suppose that they were to be subjected to

some degradation in consequence of their misfortune, and so make some

attempt at revolution, if left in possession of their franchise. These

were therefore at once disfranchised, although some of them were in

office at the time, and thus placed under a disability to take office,

or buy and sell anything. After some time, however, the franchise was

restored to them.

The same summer the Dians took Thyssus, a town on Acte by Athos in

alliance with Athens. During the whole of this summer intercourse

between the Athenians and Peloponnesians continued, although each party

began to suspect the other directly after the treaty, because of the

places specified in it not being restored. Lacedaemon, to whose lot it

had fallen to begin by restoring Amphipolis and the other towns, had

not done so. She had equally failed to get the treaty accepted by her

Thracian allies, or by the Boeotians or the Corinthians; although she

was continually promising to unite with Athens in compelling their

compliance, if it were longer refused. She also kept fixing a time at

which those who still refused to come in were to be declared enemies to

both parties, but took care not to bind herself by any written

agreement. Meanwhile the Athenians, seeing none of these professions

performed in fact, began to suspect the honesty of her intentions, and

consequently not only refused to comply with her demands for Pylos, but

also repented having given up the prisoners from the island, and kept

tight hold of the other places, until Lacedaemon’s part of the treaty

should be fulfilled. Lacedaemon, on the other hand, said she had done

what she could, having given up the Athenian prisoners of war in her

possession, evacuated Thrace, and performed everything else in her

power. Amphipolis it was out of her ability to restore; but she would

endeavour to bring the Boeotians and Corinthians into the treaty, to

recover Panactum, and send home all the Athenian prisoners of war in

Boeotia. Meanwhile she required that Pylos should be restored, or at

all events that the Messenians and Helots should be withdrawn, as her

troops had been from Thrace, and the place garrisoned, if necessary, by

the Athenians themselves. After a number of different conferences held

during the summer, she succeeded in persuading Athens to withdraw from

Pylos the Messenians and the rest of the Helots and deserters from

Laconia, who were accordingly settled by her at Cranii in Cephallenia.

Thus during this summer there was peace and intercourse between the two

peoples.

Next winter, however, the ephors under whom the treaty had been made

were no longer in office, and some of their successors were directly

opposed to it. Embassies now arrived from the Lacedaemonian

confederacy, and the Athenians, Boeotians, and Corinthians also

presented themselves at Lacedaemon, and after much discussion and no

agreement between them, separated for their several homes; when

Cleobulus and Xenares, the two ephors who were the most anxious to

break off the treaty, took advantage of this opportunity to communicate

privately with the Boeotians and Corinthians, and, advising them to act

as much as possible together, instructed the former first to enter into

alliance with Argos, and then try and bring themselves and the Argives

into alliance with Lacedaemon. The Boeotians would so be least likely

to be compelled to come into the Attic treaty; and the Lacedaemonians

would prefer gaining the friendship and alliance of Argos even at the

price of the hostility of Athens and the rupture of the treaty. The

Boeotians knew that an honourable friendship with Argos had been long

the desire of Lacedaemon; for the Lacedaemonians believed that this

would considerably facilitate the conduct of the war outside

Peloponnese. Meanwhile they begged the Boeotians to place Panactum in

her hands in order that she might, if possible, obtain Pylos in

exchange for it, and so be more in a position to resume hostilities

with Athens.

After receiving these instructions for their governments from Xenares

and Cleobulus and their friends at Lacedaemon, the Boeotians and

Corinthians departed. On their way home they were joined by two persons

high in office at Argos, who had waited for them on the road, and who

now sounded them upon the possibility of the Boeotians joining the

Corinthians, Eleans, and Mantineans in becoming the allies of Argos, in

the idea that if this could be effected they would be able, thus

united, to make peace or war as they pleased either against Lacedaemon

or any other power. The Boeotian envoys were were pleased at thus

hearing themselves accidentally asked to do what their friends at

Lacedaemon had told them; and the two Argives perceiving that their

proposal was agreeable, departed with a promise to send ambassadors to

the Boeotians. On their arrival the Boeotians reported to the

Boeotarchs what had been said to them at Lacedaemon and also by the

Argives who had met them, and the Boeotarchs, pleased with the idea,

embraced it with the more eagerness from the lucky coincidence of Argos

soliciting the very thing wanted by their friends at Lacedaemon.

Shortly afterwards ambassadors appeared from Argos with the proposals

indicated; and the Boeotarchs approved of the terms and dismissed the

ambassadors with a promise to send envoys to Argos to negotiate the

alliance.

In the meantime it was decided by the Boeotarchs, the Corinthians, the

Megarians, and the envoys from Thrace first to interchange oaths

together to give help to each other whenever it was required and not to

make war or peace except in common; after which the Boeotians and

Megarians, who acted together, should make the alliance with Argos. But

before the oaths were taken the Boeotarchs communicated these proposals

to the four councils of the Boeotians, in whom the supreme power

resides, and advised them to interchange oaths with all such cities as

should be willing to enter into a defensive league with the Boeotians.

But the members of the Boeotian councils refused their assent to the

proposal, being afraid of offending Lacedaemon by entering into a

league with the deserter Corinth; the Boeotarchs not having acquainted

them with what had passed at Lacedaemon and with the advice given by

Cleobulus and Xenares and the Boeotian partisans there, namely, that

they should become allies of Corinth and Argos as a preliminary to a

junction with Lacedaemon; fancying that, even if they should say

nothing about this, the councils would not vote against what had been

decided and advised by the Boeotarchs. This difficulty arising, the

Corinthians and the envoys from Thrace departed without anything having

been concluded; and the Boeotarchs, who had previously intended after

carrying this to try and effect the alliance with Argos, now omitted to

bring the Argive question before the councils, or to send to Argos the

envoys whom they had promised; and a general coldness and delay ensued

in the matter.

In this same winter Mecyberna was assaulted and taken by the

Olynthians, having an Athenian garrison inside it.

All this while negotiations had been going on between the Athenians and

Lacedaemonians about the conquests still retained by each, and

Lacedaemon, hoping that if Athens were to get back Panactum from the

Boeotians she might herself recover Pylos, now sent an embassy to the

Boeotians, and begged them to place Panactum and their Athenian

prisoners in her hands, in order that she might exchange them for

Pylos. This the Boeotians refused to do, unless Lacedaemon made a

separate alliance with them as she had done with Athens. Lacedaemon

knew that this would be a breach of faith to Athens, as it had been

agreed that neither of them should make peace or war without the other;

yet wishing to obtain Panactum which she hoped to exchange for Pylos,

and the party who pressed for the dissolution of the treaty strongly

affecting the Boeotian connection, she at length concluded the alliance

just as winter gave way to spring; and Panactum was instantly razed.

And so the eleventh year of the war ended.

In the first days of the summer following, the Argives, seeing that the

promised ambassadors from Boeotia did not arrive, and that Panactum was

being demolished, and that a separate alliance had been concluded

between the Boeotians and Lacedaemonians, began to be afraid that Argos

might be left alone, and all the confederacy go over to Lacedaemon.

They fancied that the Boeotians had been persuaded by the

Lacedaemonians to raze Panactum and to enter into the treaty with the

Athenians, and that Athens was privy to this arrangement, and even her

alliance, therefore, no longer open to them—a resource which they had

always counted upon, by reason of the dissensions existing, in the

event of the noncontinuance of their treaty with Lacedaemon. In this

strait the Argives, afraid that, as the result of refusing to renew the

treaty with Lacedaemon and of aspiring to the supremacy in Peloponnese,

they would have the Lacedaemonians, Tegeans, Boeotians, and Athenians

on their hands all at once, now hastily sent off Eustrophus and Aeson,

who seemed the persons most likely to be acceptable, as envoys to

Lacedaemon, with the view of making as good a treaty as they could with

the Lacedaemonians, upon such terms as could be got, and being left in

peace.

Having reached Lacedaemon, their ambassadors proceeded to negotiate the

terms of the proposed treaty. What the Argives first demanded was that

they might be allowed to refer to the arbitration of some state or

private person the question of the Cynurian land, a piece of frontier

territory about which they have always been disputing, and which

contains the towns of Thyrea and Anthene, and is occupied by the

Lacedaemonians. The Lacedaemonians at first said that they could not

allow this point to be discussed, but were ready to conclude upon the

old terms. Eventually, however, the Argive ambassadors succeeded in

obtaining from them this concession: For the present there was to be a

truce for fifty years, but it should be competent for either party,

there being neither plague nor war in Lacedaemon or Argos, to give a

formal challenge and decide the question of this territory by battle,

as on a former occasion, when both sides claimed the victory; pursuit

not being allowed beyond the frontier of Argos or Lacedaemon. The

Lacedaemonians at first thought this mere folly; but at last, anxious

at any cost to have the friendship of Argos they agreed to the terms

demanded, and reduced them to writing. However, before any of this

should become binding, the ambassadors were to return to Argos and

communicate with their people and, in the event of their approval, to

come at the feast of the Hyacinthia and take the oaths.

The envoys returned accordingly. In the meantime, while the Argives

were engaged in these negotiations, the Lacedaemonian

ambassadors—Andromedes, Phaedimus, and Antimenidas—who were to receive

the prisoners from the Boeotians and restore them and Panactum to the

Athenians, found that the Boeotians had themselves razed Panactum, upon

the plea that oaths had been anciently exchanged between their people

and the Athenians, after a dispute on the subject to the effect that

neither should inhabit the place, but that they should graze it in

common. As for the Athenian prisoners of war in the hands of the

Boeotians, these were delivered over to Andromedes and his colleagues,

and by them conveyed to Athens and given back. The envoys at the same

time announced the razing of Panactum, which to them seemed as good as

its restitution, as it would no longer lodge an enemy of Athens. This

announcement was received with great indignation by the Athenians, who

thought that the Lacedaemonians had played them false, both in the

matter of the demolition of Panactum, which ought to have been restored

to them standing, and in having, as they now heard, made a separate

alliance with the Boeotians, in spite of their previous promise to join

Athens in compelling the adhesion of those who refused to accede to the

treaty. The Athenians also considered the other points in which

Lacedaemon had failed in her compact, and thinking that they had been

overreached, gave an angry answer to the ambassadors and sent them

away.

The breach between the Lacedaemonians and Athenians having gone thus

far, the party at Athens, also, who wished to cancel the treaty,

immediately put themselves in motion. Foremost amongst these was

Alcibiades, son of Clinias, a man yet young in years for any other

Hellenic city, but distinguished by the splendour of his ancestry.

Alcibiades thought the Argive alliance really preferable, not that

personal pique had not also a great deal to do with his opposition; he

being offended with the Lacedaemonians for having negotiated the treaty

through Nicias and Laches, and having overlooked him on account of his

youth, and also for not having shown him the respect due to the ancient

connection of his family with them as their proxeni, which, renounced

by his grandfather, he had lately himself thought to renew by his

attentions to their prisoners taken in the island. Being thus, as he

thought, slighted on all hands, he had in the first instance spoken

against the treaty, saying that the Lacedaemonians were not to be

trusted, but that they only treated, in order to be enabled by this

means to crush Argos, and afterwards to attack Athens alone; and now,

immediately upon the above occurring, he sent privately to the Argives,

telling them to come as quickly as possible to Athens, accompanied by

the Mantineans and Eleans, with proposals of alliance; as the moment

was propitious and he himself would do all he could to help them.

Upon receiving this message and discovering that the Athenians, far

from being privy to the Boeotian alliance, were involved in a serious

quarrel with the Lacedaemonians, the Argives paid no further attention

to the embassy which they had just sent to Lacedaemon on the subject of

the treaty, and began to incline rather towards the Athenians,

reflecting that, in the event of war, they would thus have on their

side a city that was not only an ancient ally of Argos, but a sister

democracy and very powerful at sea. They accordingly at once sent

ambassadors to Athens to treat for an alliance, accompanied by others

from Elis and Mantinea.

At the same time arrived in haste from Lacedaemon an embassy consisting

of persons reputed well disposed towards the Athenians—Philocharidas,

Leon, and Endius—for fear that the Athenians in their irritation might

conclude alliance with the Argives, and also to ask back Pylos in

exchange for Panactum, and in defence of the alliance with the

Boeotians to plead that it had not been made to hurt the Athenians.

Upon the envoys speaking in the senate upon these points, and stating

that they had come with full powers to settle all others at issue

between them, Alcibiades became afraid that, if they were to repeat

these statements to the popular assembly, they might gain the

multitude, and the Argive alliance might be rejected, and accordingly

had recourse to the following stratagem. He persuaded the

Lacedaemonians by a solemn assurance that if they would say nothing of

their full powers in the assembly, he would give back Pylos to them

(himself, the present opponent of its restitution, engaging to obtain

this from the Athenians), and would settle the other points at issue.

His plan was to detach them from Nicias and to disgrace them before the

people, as being without sincerity in their intentions, or even common

consistency in their language, and so to get the Argives, Eleans, and

Mantineans taken into alliance. This plan proved successful. When the

envoys appeared before the people, and upon the question being put to

them, did not say as they had said in the senate, that they had come

with full powers, the Athenians lost all patience, and carried away by

Alcibiades, who thundered more loudly than ever against the

Lacedaemonians, were ready instantly to introduce the Argives and their

companions and to take them into alliance. An earthquake, however,

occurring, before anything definite had been done, this assembly was

adjourned.

In the assembly held the next day, Nicias, in spite of the

Lacedaemonians having been deceived themselves, and having allowed him

to be deceived also in not admitting that they had come with full

powers, still maintained that it was best to be friends with the

Lacedaemonians, and, letting the Argive proposals stand over, to send

once more to Lacedaemon and learn her intentions. The adjournment of

the war could only increase their own prestige and injure that of their

rivals; the excellent state of their affairs making it their interest

to preserve this prosperity as long as possible, while those of

Lacedaemon were so desperate that the sooner she could try her fortune

again the better. He succeeded accordingly in persuading them to send

ambassadors, himself being among the number, to invite the

Lacedaemonians, if they were really sincere, to restore Panactum intact

with Amphipolis, and to abandon their alliance with the Boeotians

(unless they consented to accede to the treaty), agreeably to the

stipulation which forbade either to treat without the other. The

ambassadors were also directed to say that the Athenians, had they

wished to play false, might already have made alliance with the

Argives, who were indeed come to Athens for that very purpose, and went

off furnished with instructions as to any other complaints that the

Athenians had to make. Having reached Lacedaemon, they communicated

their instructions, and concluded by telling the Lacedaemonians that

unless they gave up their alliance with the Boeotians, in the event of

their not acceding to the treaty, the Athenians for their part would

ally themselves with the Argives and their friends. The Lacedaemonians,

however, refused to give up the Boeotian alliance—the party of Xenares

the ephor, and such as shared their view, carrying the day upon this

point—but renewed the oaths at the request of Nicias, who feared to

return without having accomplished anything and to be disgraced; as was

indeed his fate, he being held the author of the treaty with

Lacedaemon. When he returned, and the Athenians heard that nothing had

been done at Lacedaemon, they flew into a passion, and deciding that

faith had not been kept with them, took advantage of the presence of

the Argives and their allies, who had been introduced by Alcibiades,

and made a treaty and alliance with them upon the terms following:

The Athenians, Argives, Mantineans, and Eleans, acting for themselves

and the allies in their respective empires, made a treaty for a hundred

years, to be without fraud or hurt by land and by sea.

1. It shall not be lawful to carry on war, either for the Argives,

Eleans, Mantineans, and their allies, against the Athenians, or the

allies in the Athenian empire: or for the Athenians and their allies

against the Argives, Eleans, Mantineans, or their allies, in any way or

means whatsoever.

The Athenians, Argives, Eleans, and Mantineans shall be allies for a

hundred years upon the terms following:

2. If an enemy invade the country of the Athenians, the Argives,

Eleans, and Mantineans shall go to the relief of Athens, according as

the Athenians may require by message, in such way as they most

effectually can, to the best of their power. But if the invader be gone

after plundering the territory, the offending state shall be the enemy

of the Argives, Mantineans, Eleans, and Athenians, and war shall be

made against it by all these cities: and no one of the cities shall be

able to make peace with that state, except all the above cities agree

to do so.

3. Likewise the Athenians shall go to the relief of Argos, Mantinea,

and Elis, if an enemy invade the country of Elis, Mantinea, or Argos,

according as the above cities may require by message, in such way as

they most effectually can, to the best of their power. But if the

invader be gone after plundering the territory, the state offending

shall be the enemy of the Athenians, Argives, Mantineans, and Eleans,

and war shall be made against it by all these cities, and peace may not

be made with that state except all the above cities agree to it.

4. No armed force shall be allowed to pass for hostile purposes through

the country of the powers contracting, or of the allies in their

respective empires, or to go by sea, except all the cities—that is to

say, Athens, Argos, Mantinea, and Elis—vote for such passage.

5. The relieving troops shall be maintained by the city sending them

for thirty days from their arrival in the city that has required them,

and upon their return in the same way: if their services be desired for

a longer period, the city that sent for them shall maintain them, at

the rate of three Aeginetan obols per day for a heavy-armed soldier,

archer, or light soldier, and an Aeginetan drachma for a trooper.

6. The city sending for the troops shall have the command when the war

is in its own country: but in case of the cities resolving upon a joint

expedition the command shall be equally divided among all the cities.

7. The treaty shall be sworn to by the Athenians for themselves and

their allies, by the Argives, Mantineans, Eleans, and their allies, by

each state individually. Each shall swear the oath most binding in his

country over full-grown victims: the oath being as follows:

“I STAND BY THE ALLIANCE AND ITS ARTICLES, JUSTLY, INNOCENTLY, AND

SINCERELY, AND I WILL NOT TRANSGRESS THE SAME IN ANY WAY OR MEANS

WHATSOEVER.”

The oath shall be taken at Athens by the Senate and the magistrates,

the Prytanes administering it: at Argos by the Senate, the Eighty, and

the Artynae, the Eighty administering it: at Mantinea by the Demiurgi,

the Senate, and the other magistrates, the Theori and Polemarchs

administering it: at Elis by the Demiurgi, the magistrates, and the Six

Hundred, the Demiurgi and the Thesmophylaces administering it. The

oaths shall be renewed by the Athenians going to Elis, Mantinea, and

Argos thirty days before the Olympic games: by the Argives, Mantineans,

and Eleans going to Athens ten days before the great feast of the

Panathenaea. The articles of the treaty, the oaths, and the alliance

shall be inscribed on a stone pillar by the Athenians in the citadel,

by the Argives in the market-place, in the temple of Apollo: by the

Mantineans in the temple of Zeus, in the market-place: and a brazen

pillar shall be erected jointly by them at the Olympic games now at

hand. Should the above cities see good to make any addition in these

articles, whatever all the above cities shall agree upon, after

consulting together, shall be binding.

Although the treaty and alliances were thus concluded, still the treaty

between the Lacedaemonians and Athenians was not renounced by either

party. Meanwhile Corinth, although the ally of the Argives, did not

accede to the new treaty, any more than she had done to the alliance,

defensive and offensive, formed before this between the Eleans,

Argives, and Mantineans, when she declared herself content with the

first alliance, which was defensive only, and which bound them to help

each other, but not to join in attacking any. The Corinthians thus

stood aloof from their allies, and again turned their thoughts towards

Lacedaemon.

At the Olympic games which were held this summer, and in which the

Arcadian Androsthenes was victor the first time in the wrestling and

boxing, the Lacedaemonians were excluded from the temple by the Eleans,

and thus prevented from sacrificing or contending, for having refused

to pay the fine specified in the Olympic law imposed upon them by the

Eleans, who alleged that they had attacked Fort Phyrcus, and sent heavy

infantry of theirs into Lepreum during the Olympic truce. The amount of

the fine was two thousand minae, two for each heavy-armed soldier, as

the law prescribes. The Lacedaemonians sent envoys, and pleaded that

the imposition was unjust; saying that the truce had not yet been

proclaimed at Lacedaemon when the heavy infantry were sent off. But the

Eleans affirmed that the armistice with them had already begun (they

proclaim it first among themselves), and that the aggression of the

Lacedaemonians had taken them by surprise while they were living

quietly as in time of peace, and not expecting anything. Upon this the

Lacedaemonians submitted, that if the Eleans really believed that they

had committed an aggression, it was useless after that to proclaim the

truce at Lacedaemon; but they had proclaimed it notwithstanding, as

believing nothing of the kind, and from that moment the Lacedaemonians

had made no attack upon their country. Nevertheless the Eleans adhered

to what they had said, that nothing would persuade them that an

aggression had not been committed; if, however, the Lacedaemonians

would restore Lepreum, they would give up their own share of the money

and pay that of the god for them.

As this proposal was not accepted, the Eleans tried a second. Instead

of restoring Lepreum, if this was objected to, the Lacedaemonians

should ascend the altar of the Olympian Zeus, as they were so anxious

to have access to the temple, and swear before the Hellenes that they

would surely pay the fine at a later day. This being also refused, the

Lacedaemonians were excluded from the temple, the sacrifice, and the

games, and sacrificed at home; the Lepreans being the only other

Hellenes who did not attend. Still the Eleans were afraid of the

Lacedaemonians sacrificing by force, and kept guard with a heavy-armed

company of their young men; being also joined by a thousand Argives,

the same number of Mantineans, and by some Athenian cavalry who stayed

at Harpina during the feast. Great fears were felt in the assembly of

the Lacedaemonians coming in arms, especially after Lichas, son of

Arcesilaus, a Lacedaemonian, had been scourged on the course by the

umpires; because, upon his horses being the winners, and the Boeotian

people being proclaimed the victor on account of his having no right to

enter, he came forward on the course and crowned the charioteer, in

order to show that the chariot was his. After this incident all were

more afraid than ever, and firmly looked for a disturbance: the

Lacedaemonians, however, kept quiet, and let the feast pass by, as we

have seen. After the Olympic games, the Argives and the allies repaired

to Corinth to invite her to come over to them. There they found some

Lacedaemonian envoys; and a long discussion ensued, which after all

ended in nothing, as an earthquake occurred, and they dispersed to

their different homes.

Summer was now over. The winter following a battle took place between

the Heracleots in Trachinia and the Aenianians, Dolopians, Malians, and

certain of the Thessalians, all tribes bordering on and hostile to the

town, which directly menaced their country. Accordingly, after having

opposed and harassed it from its very foundation by every means in

their power, they now in this battle defeated the Heracleots, Xenares,

son of Cnidis, their Lacedaemonian commander, being among the slain.

Thus the winter ended and the twelfth year of this war ended also.

After the battle, Heraclea was so terribly reduced that in the first

days of the summer following the Boeotians occupied the place and sent

away the Lacedaemonian Agesippidas for misgovernment, fearing that the

town might be taken by the Athenians while the Lacedaemonians were

distracted with the affairs of Peloponnese. The Lacedaemonians,

nevertheless, were offended with them for what they had done.

The same summer Alcibiades, son of Clinias, now one of the generals at

Athens, in concert with the Argives and the allies, went into

Peloponnese with a few Athenian heavy infantry and archers and some of

the allies in those parts whom he took up as he passed, and with this

army marched here and there through Peloponnese, and settled various

matters connected with the alliance, and among other things induced the

Patrians to carry their walls down to the sea, intending himself also

to build a fort near the Achaean Rhium. However, the Corinthians and

Sicyonians, and all others who would have suffered by its being built,

came up and hindered him.

The same summer war broke out between the Epidaurians and Argives. The

pretext was that the Epidaurians did not send an offering for their

pasture-land to Apollo Pythaeus, as they were bound to do, the Argives

having the chief management of the temple; but, apart from this

pretext, Alcibiades and the Argives were determined, if possible, to

gain possession of Epidaurus, and thus to ensure the neutrality of

Corinth and give the Athenians a shorter passage for their

reinforcements from Aegina than if they had to sail round Scyllaeum.

The Argives accordingly prepared to invade Epidaurus by themselves, to

exact the offering.

About the same time the Lacedaemonians marched out with all their

people to Leuctra upon their frontier, opposite to Mount Lycaeum, under

the command of Agis, son of Archidamus, without any one knowing their

destination, not even the cities that sent the contingents. The

sacrifices, however, for crossing the frontier not proving propitious,

the Lacedaemonians returned home themselves, and sent word to the

allies to be ready to march after the month ensuing, which happened to

be the month of Carneus, a holy time for the Dorians. Upon the retreat

of the Lacedaemonians the Argives marched out on the last day but three

of the month before Carneus, and keeping this as the day during the

whole time that they were out, invaded and plundered Epidaurus. The

Epidaurians summoned their allies to their aid, some of whom pleaded

the month as an excuse; others came as far as the frontier of Epidaurus

and there remained inactive.