SEVENTH YEAR OF THE WAR.—CAPTURE OF SPHAKTERIA.
The invasion of Attica by the Lacedæmonians had now become an
ordinary enterprise, undertaken in every year of the war except
the third and sixth, and then omitted only from accidental causes;
though the same hopes were no longer entertained from it as at the
commencement of the war. During the present spring, Agis king of
Sparta conducted the Peloponnesian army into the territory, seemingly
about the end of April, and repeated the usual ravages.
It seemed, however, as if Korkyra were about to become the principal
scene of the year’s military operations: for the exiles of the
oligarchical party, having come back to the island and fortified
themselves on Mount Istônê, carried on war with so much activity
against the Korkyræans in the city, that distress and even famine
reigned there; while sixty Peloponnesian triremes were sent thither
to assist the aggressors. As soon as it became known at Athens how
hardly the Korkyræans in the city were pressed, orders were given to
an Athenian fleet of forty triremes, about to sail for Sicily under
Eurymedon and Sophoklês, to halt in their voyage at Korkyra, and
to lend whatever aid might be needed.[502] But during the course
of this voyage, an incident occurred elsewhere, neither foreseen
nor imagined by any one, which gave a new character and promise to
the whole war,—illustrating forcibly the observations of Periklês
and Archidamus before its commencement, on the impossibility of
calculating what turn events might take.[503]
[502] Thucyd. iv, 2, 3.
[503] Thucyd. i, 140; ii, 11.
So high did Demosthenês stand in the favor of his countrymen, after
his brilliant successes in the Ambrakian gulf, that they granted
him permission, at his own request, to go aboard and to employ the
fleet in any descent which he might think expedient on the coast of
Peloponnesus. The attachment of this active officer to the Messenians
at Naupaktus, inspired him with the idea of planting a detachment
of them on some well-chosen maritime post in the ancient Messenian
territory, from whence they would be able permanently to harass the
Lacedæmonians and provoke revolt among the Helots,—the more so,
from their analogy of race and dialect. The Messenians, active in
privateering, and doubtless well acquainted with the points of this
coast, all of which had formerly belonged to their ancestors, had
probably indicated to him Pylus, on the southwestern shore. That
ancient and Homeric name was applied specially and properly to denote
the promontory which forms the northern termination of the modern
bay of Navarino, opposite to the island of Sphagia, or Sphakteria;
though in vague language the whole neighboring district seems also
to have been called Pylus. Accordingly, in circumnavigating Laconia,
Demosthenês requested that the fleet might be detained at this spot
long enough to enable him to fortify it, engaging himself to stay
afterwards and maintain it with a garrison. It was an uninhabited
promontory, about forty-five miles from Sparta; that is, as far
distant as any portion of her territory, presenting rugged cliffs,
and easy of defence both by sea and land: but its great additional
recommendation, with reference to the maritime power of Athens,
consisted in its overhanging the spacious and secure basin now called
the bay of Navarino. That basin was fronted and protected by the
islet called Sphakteria, or Sphagia, untrodden, untenanted, and full
of wood, which stretched along the coast for about a mile and three
quarters, leaving only two narrow entrances: one at its northern end,
opposite to the position fixed on by Demosthenês, so confined as
to admit only two triremes abreast,—the other at the southern end,
about four times as broad; while the inner water approached by these
two channels was both roomy and protected. It was on the coast of
Peloponnesus, a little within the northern or narrowest of the two
channels, that Demosthenês proposed to plant his little fort,—the
ground being itself eminently favorable, and a spring of fresh
water[504] in the centre of the promontory.[505]
[504] Thucyd. iv, 26.
[505] Topography of Sphakteria and Pylus. The description given
by Thucydidês, of the memorable incidents in or near Pylus and
Sphakteria, is perfectly clear, intelligible, and consistent with
itself, as to topography. But when we consult the topography of
the scene as it stands now, we find various circumstances which
cannot possibly be reconciled with Thucydidês. Both Colonel
Leake (Travels in the Morea, vol. i, pp. 402-415) and Dr. Arnold
(Appendix to the second and third volume of his Thucydidês, p.
444) have given plans of the coast, accompanied with valuable
remarks.
The main discrepancy, between the statement of Thucydidês and the
present state of the coast, is to be found in the breadth of the
two channels between Sphakteria and the mainland. The southern
entrance into the bay of Navarino is now between thirteen hundred
and fourteen hundred yards, with a depth of water varying
from five, seven, twenty-eight, thirty-three fathoms; whereas
Thucydidês states it as being only a breadth adequate to admit
eight or nine triremes abreast. The northern entrance is about
one hundred and fifty yards in width, with a shoal or bar of
sand lying across it on which there are not more than eighteen
inches of water: Thucydidês tells us that it afforded room for no
more than two triremes, and his narrative implies a much greater
depth of water, so as to make the entrance for triremes perfectly
unobstructed.
Colonel Leake supposes that Thucydidês was misinformed as to
the breadth of the southern passage; but Dr. Arnold has on this
point given a satisfactory reply,—that the narrowness of the
breadth is not merely affirmed in the numbers of Thucydidês, but
is indirectly implied in his narrative, where he tells us that
the Lacedæmonians intended to choke up both of them by triremes
closely packed. Obviously, this expedient could not be dreamt
of, except for a very narrow mouth. The same reply suffices
against the doubts which Bloomfield and Poppo (Comment. p. 10)
raise about the genuineness of the numerals ὀκτὼ or ἐννέα in
Thucydidês; a doubt which merely transfers the supposed error
from Thucydidês to the writer of the MS.
Dr. Arnold has himself raised a still graver doubt; whether the
island now called Sphagia be really the same as Sphakteria,
and whether the bay of Navarino be the real harbor of Pylus.
He suspects that the Pale-Navarino which has been generally
understood to be Pylus, was in reality the ancient Sphakteria,
separated from the mainland in ancient times by a channel at the
north as well as by another at the southeast,—though now it is
not an island at all. He farther suspects that the lake or lagoon
called Lake of Osmyn Aga, north of the harbor of Navarino, and
immediately under that which he supposes to have been Sphakteria,
was the ancient harbor of Pylus, in which the sea-fight between
the Athenians and Lacedæmonians took place. He does not, indeed,
assert this as a positive opinion, but leans to it as the most
probable, admitting that there are difficulties either way.
Dr. Arnold has stated some of the difficulties which beset this
hypothesis (p. 447), but there was one which he has not stated,
which appears to me the most formidable of all, and quite fatal
to the admissibility of his opinion. If the Paleokastro of
Navarino was the real ancient Sphakteria, it must have been a
second island situated to the northward of Sphagia. There must
therefore have been _two_ islands close together off the coast
and near the scene. Now if the reader will follow the account of
Thucydidês, he will see that there certainly was no more than
_one_ island,—Sphakteria, without any other near or adjoining to
it; see especially c. 13: the Athenian fleet under Eurymedon,
on first arriving, was obliged to go back some distance to the
island of Prôtê, because _the island_ of Sphakteria was full of
Lacedæmonian hoplites: if Dr. Arnold’s hypothesis were admitted,
there would have been nothing to hinder them from landing on
Sphagia itself,—the same inference may be deduced from c. 8. The
statement of Pliny (H. N. iv, 12) that there were _tres Sphagiæ_
off Pylus, unless we suppose with Hardouin that two of them
were mere rocks, appears to me inconsistent with the account of
Thucydidês.
I think that there is no alternative except to suppose that
a great alteration has taken place in the two passages which
separate Sphagia from the mainland, during the interval of two
thousand four hundred years which separates us from Thucydidês.
The mainland to the south of Navarino must have been much nearer
than it is now to the southern portion of Sphagia, while the
northern passage also must have been then both narrower and
clearer. To suppose a change in the configuration of the coast to
this extent, seems noway extravagant: any other hypothesis which
may be started will be found involved in much greater difficulty.
But Eurymedon and Sophoklês decidedly rejected all proposition of
delay; and with much reason, since they had been informed (though
seemingly without truth) that the Peloponnesian fleet had actually
reached Korkyra: they might well have remembered the mischief which
had ensued three years before from the delay of the reinforcement
sent to Phormio in some desultory operations on the coast of Krete.
The fleet accordingly passed by Pylus without stopping: but a
terrible storm drove them back and forced them to seek shelter in
the very harbor which Demosthenês had fixed upon,—the only harbor
anywhere near. That officer took advantage of this accident to
renew his proposition, which however appeared to the commanders
chimerical: there were plenty of desert capes round Peloponnesus,
they said, if he chose to waste the resources of the city in
occupying them,[506]—nor were they at all moved by his reasons in
reply. Finding himself thus unsuccessful, Demosthenês presumed upon
the undefined permission granted to him by the Athenian people, to
address himself first to the soldiers, last of all to the taxiarchs,
or inferior officers, and to persuade them to second his project,
even against the will of the commanders. Much inconvenience might
well have arisen from such clashing of authority: but it happened
that both the soldiers and the taxiarchs took the same view of
the case as their commanders, and refused compliance: nor can we
be surprised at such reluctance, when we reflect upon the seeming
improbability of being able to maintain such a post against the
great real, and still greater supposed, superiority of Lacedæmonian
land-force. It happened, however, that the fleet was detained there
for some days by stormy weather; so that the soldiers, having
nothing to do, were seized with the spontaneous impulse of occupying
themselves with the fortification, and crowded around to execute
it with all the emulation of eager volunteers. Having contemplated
nothing of the kind on starting from Athens, they had neither tools
for cutting stone, nor hods for carrying mortar:[507] accordingly,
they were compelled to build their wall by collecting such pieces
of rock or stones as they found, and putting them together as each
happened to fit in: whenever mortar was needed, they brought it up on
their backs bent inwards, with hands joined behind them to prevent
it from slipping away. Such deficiencies were made up, however,
partly by the unbounded ardor of the soldiers, partly by the natural
difficulties of the ground, which hardly required fortification
except at particular points; the work was completed in a rough way
in six days, and Demosthenês was left in garrison with five ships,
while Eurymedon with the main fleet sailed away to Korkyra. The
crews of the five ships, two of which, however, were sent away to
warn Eurymedon afterwards, would amount to about one thousand in
all: but there presently arrived two armed Messenian privateers,
from which Demosthenês obtained a reinforcement of forty Messenian
hoplites, together with a supply of wicker shields, though more fit
for show than for use, wherewith to arm his rowers. Altogether, it
appears that he must have had about two hundred hoplites, besides the
half-armed seamen.[508]
[506] Thucyd. iv, 3. The account, alike meagre and inaccurate,
given by Diodorus, of these interesting events in Pylus and
Sphakteria, will be found in Diodor. xii, 61-64.
[507] Thucyd. iv, 4.
[508] Thucyd. iv, 9. Demosthenês placed the _greater number_
(τοὺς πολλοὺς) of his hoplites round the walls of his post, and
selected _sixty_ of them to march down to the shore. This implies
a total which can hardly be less than two hundred.
Intelligence of this attempt to plant, even upon the Lacedæmonian
territory, the annoyance and insult of a hostile post, was soon
transmitted to Sparta,—yet no immediate measures were taken to
march to the spot; as well from the natural slowness of the Spartan
character, strengthened by a festival which happened to be then going
on, as from the confidence entertained that, whenever attacked, the
expulsion of the enemy was certain. A stronger impression, however,
was made by the news upon the Lacedæmonian army invading Attica, who
were at the same time suffering from want of provisions, the corn
not being yet ripe, and from an unusually cold spring: accordingly,
Agis marched them back to Sparta, and the fortification of Pylus thus
produced the effect of abridging the invasion to the unusually short
period of fifteen days. It operated in like manner to the protection
of Korkyra: for the Peloponnesian fleet, recently arrived thither,
or still on its way, received orders immediately to return for the
attack of Pylus. Having avoided the Athenian fleet by transporting
the ships across the isthmus at Leukas, it reached Pylus about the
same time as the Lacedæmonian land-force from Sparta, composed of the
Spartans themselves and the neighboring Periœki: for the more distant
Periœki, as well as the Peloponnesian allies, being just returned
from Attica, were summoned to come as soon as they could, but did not
accompany this first march.[509]
[509] Thucyd. iv, 8.
At the last moment, before the Peloponnesian fleet came in and
occupied the harbor, Demosthenês detached two out of his five
triremes to warn Eurymedon and the main fleet, and to entreat
immediate succor: the remaining ships he hauled ashore under the
fortification, protecting them by palisades planted in front, and
preparing to defend himself in the best manner he could. Having
posted the larger portion of his force,—some of them mere seamen
without arms, and many only half-armed,—round the assailable points
of the fortification, to resist attacks from the land-force, he
himself, with sixty chosen hoplites and a few bowmen, marched out of
the fortification down to the sea-shore. It was on that side that
the wall was weakest, for the Athenians, confident in their naval
superiority, had given themselves little trouble to provide against
an assailant fleet. Accordingly, Demosthenês foresaw that the great
stress of the attack would lie on the sea-side, and his only chance
of safety consisted in preventing the enemy from landing; a purpose,
seconded by the rocky and perilous shore, which left no possibility
of approach for ships, except on a narrow space immediately under the
fortification. It was here that he took post, on the water’s edge,
addressing a few words of encouragement to his men, and warning them
that it was useless now to display acuteness in summing up perils
which were but too obvious,—and that the only chance of escape lay
in boldly encountering the enemy before they could set foot ashore;
the difficulty of effecting a landing from ships in the face of
resistance being better known to Athenian mariners than to any one
else.[510]
[510] Thucyd. iv, 10.
With a fleet of forty-three triremes, under Thrasymelidas, and a
powerful land-force, simultaneously attacking, the Lacedæmonians
had good hopes of storming at once a rock so hastily converted into
a military post. But as they foresaw that the first attack might
possibly fail, and that the fleet of Eurymedon would probably return,
they resolved to occupy forthwith the island of Sphakteria, the
natural place where the Athenian fleet would take station for the
purpose of assisting the garrison ashore. The neighboring coast on
the mainland of Peloponnesus was both harborless and hostile, so
that there was no other spot near, where they could take station.
And the Lacedæmonian commanders reckoned upon being able to stop up,
as it were mechanically, both the two entrances into the harbor, by
triremes lashed together, from the island to the mainland, with their
prows pointing outwards; so that they would be able at any rate,
occupying the island as well as the two channels, to keep off the
Athenian fleet, and to hold Demosthenês closely blocked up[511] on
the rock of Pylus, where his provisions would quickly fail him. With
these views, they drafted off by lot some hoplites from each of the
Spartan lochi, accompanied as usual by Helots, and sent them across
to Sphakteria; while their land-force and their fleet approached at
once to attack the fortification.
[511] Thucyd. iv, 8. τοὺς μὲν οὖν ἔσπλους ταῖς ναυσὶν ἀντιπρώροις
βύζην κλῄσειν ἔμελλον.
Of the assault on the land-side, we hear little: the Lacedæmonians
were proverbially unskilful in the attack of anything like a
fortified place, and they appear now to have made little impression.
But the chief stress and vigor of the attack came on the sea-side, as
Demosthenês had foreseen. The landing-place, even where practicable,
was still rocky and difficult,—and so narrow in dimensions, that
the Lacedæmonian ships could only approach by small squadrons at a
time; while the Athenians maintained their ground firmly to prevent
a single man from setting foot on land. The assailing triremes rowed
up with loud shouts and exhortations to each other, striving to get
so placed as that the hoplites in the bow could effect a landing:
but such were the difficulties arising partly from the rocks and
partly from the defence, that squadron after squadron tried this
in vain. Nor did even the gallant example of Brasidas procure for
them any better success. That officer, commanding a trireme, and
observing that some of the pilots near him were cautious in driving
their ships close in shore for fear of breaking them against the
rocks, indignantly called to them not to spare the planks of their
vessels, when the enemy had insulted them by erecting a fort in the
country: Lacedæmonians, he exclaimed, ought to carry the landing by
force, even though their ships should be dashed to pieces,—nor ought
the Peloponnesian allies to be backward in sacrificing their ships
for Sparta, in return for the many services which she had rendered
to them.[512] Foremost in performance as well as in exhortation,
Brasidas constrained his own pilot to drive his ship close in, and
advanced in person even on to the landing-steps for the purpose of
leaping first ashore. But here he stood exposed to all the weapons
of the Athenian defenders, who beat him back and pierced him with so
many wounds, that he fainted away, and fell back into the bows, or
foremost part of the trireme, beyond the rowers; while his shield,
slipping away from the arm, dropped down and rolled overboard into
the sea. His ship was obliged to retire, like the rest, without
having effected any landing: and all these successive attacks
from the sea, repeated for one whole day and a part of the next
were repulsed by Demosthenês and his little band with victorious
bravery. To both sides it seemed a strange reversal of ordinary
relations,[513] that the Athenians, essentially maritime, should
be fighting on land—and that, too, Lacedæmonian land—against the
Lacedæmonians, the select land-warriors of Greece, now on shipboard,
and striving in vain to compass a landing on their own shore. The
Athenians, in honor of their success, erected a trophy, the chief
ornament of which was the shield of Brasidas, which had been cast
ashore by the water.
[512] Thucyd. iv, 11, 12; Diodor. xii. Consult an excellent
note of Dr. Arnold on this passage, in which he contrasts
the looseness and exaggeration of Diodorus with the modest
distinctness of Thucydidês.
[513] Thucyd. iv, 12. ἐπὶ πολὺ γὰρ ἐποίει τῆς δόξης ~ἐν τῷ τότε~,
τοῖς μὲν ἠπειρώταις μάλιστα εἶναι καὶ τὰ πεζὰ κρατίστοις, τοῖς δὲ
θαλασσίοις τε καὶ ταῖς ναυσὶ πλεῖστον προέχειν.
On the third day, the Lacedæmonians did not repeat their attack, but
sent some of their vessels round to Asinê, in the Messenian gulf,
for timber to construct battering machines; which they intended to
employ against the wall of Demosthenês, on the side towards the
harbor, where it was higher, and could not be assailed without
machines, but where, at the same time, there was great facility
in landing,—for their previous attack had been made on the side
fronting the sea, where the wall was lower, but the difficulties
of landing insuperable.[514] But before these ships came back, the
face of affairs was seriously changed by the unwelcome return of
the Athenian fleet from Zakynthus, under Eurymedon, reinforced by
four Chian ships, and some of the guard-ships at Naupaktus, so as
now to muster fifty sail. The Athenian admiral, finding the enemy’s
fleet in possession of the harbor, and seeing both the island of
Sphakteria occupied, and the opposite shore covered with Lacedæmonian
hoplites,[515]—for the allies from all parts of Peloponnesus had
now arrived,—looked around in vain for a place to land, and could
find no other night-station except the uninhabited island of Prôtê,
not very far distant. From hence he sailed forth in the morning to
Pylus, prepared for a naval engagement,—hoping that perhaps the
Lacedæmonians might come out to fight him in the open sea, but
resolved, if this did not happen, to force his way in and attack
the fleet in the harbor; the breadth of sea between Sphakteria and
the mainland being sufficient to admit of nautical manœuvre.[516]
The Lacedæmonian admirals, seemingly confounded by the speed of the
Athenian fleet in coming back, never thought of sailing out of the
harbor to fight, nor did they even realize their scheme of blocking
up the two entrances of the harbor with triremes closely lashed
together. Both entrances were left open, though they determined to
defend themselves within: but even here, so defective were their
precautions, that several of their triremes were yet moored, and the
rowers not fully aboard, when the Athenian admirals sailed in by both
entrances at once to attack them. Most of the Lacedæmonian triremes,
afloat, and in fighting trim, resisted the attack for a certain
time, but were at length vanquished, and driven back to the shore,
many of them with serious injury.[517] Five of them were captured
and towed off, one with all her crew aboard, and the Athenians,
vigorously pursuing their success, drove against such as took refuge
on the shore, as well as those which were not manned at the moment
when the attack began, and had not been able to get afloat or into
action. Some of the vanquished triremes being deserted by their
crews, who jumped out upon the land, the Athenians were proceeding
to tow them off, when the Lacedæmonian hoplites on the shore opposed
a new and strenuous resistance. Excited to the utmost pitch by
witnessing the disgraceful defeat of their fleet, and aware of the
cruel consequences which turned upon it,—they marched all armed
into the water, seized the ships to prevent them from being dragged
off, and engaged in a desperate conflict to baffle the assailants:
we have already seen a similar act of bravery, two years before,
on the part of the Messenian hoplites accompanying the fleet of
Phormio near Naupaktus.[518] Extraordinary daring and valor was here
displayed on both sides, in the attack as well as in the defence,
and such was the clamor and confusion, that neither the land skill
of the Lacedæmonians, nor the sea skill of the Athenians, were of
much avail: the contest was one of personal valor and considerable
suffering on both sides. At length the Lacedæmonians carried their
point, and saved all the ships ashore; none being carried away except
those at first captured. Both parties thus separated: the Athenians
retired to the fortress at Pylus, where they were doubtless hailed
with overflowing joy by their comrades, and where they erected a
trophy for their victory, giving up the enemy’s dead for burial, and
picking up the floating wrecks and pieces.[519]
[514] Thucyd. iv, 13. ἐλπίζοντες τὸ κατὰ τὸν λιμένα τεῖχος ὕψος
μὲν ἔχειν, ἀποβάσεως δὲ μάλιστα οὔσης ἑλεῖν μηχαναῖς. See Poppo’s
note upon this passage.
[515] Thucyd. iv, 14.
[516] Thucyd. iv, 13. The Lacedæmonians παρεσκευάζοντο, ἢν ἐσπλέῃ
τις, ὡς ἐν τῷ λιμένι ὄντι οὐ σμικρῷ ναυμαχήσοντες.
The expression, “the harbor which was not small,” to designate
the spacious bay of Navarino, has excited much remark from Mr.
Bloomfield and Dr. Arnold, and was indeed one of the reasons
which induced the latter to suspect that the harbor meant by
Thucydidês was _not_ the bay of Navarino, but the neighboring
lake of Osmyn Aga.
I have already discussed that supposition in a former note: but
in reference to the expression οὐ σμικρῷ, we may observe, first,
that the use of negative expressions to convey a positive idea
would be in the ordinary manner of Thucydidês.
But farther, I have stated in a previous note that it is
indispensable, in my judgment, to suppose the island of
Sphakteria to have touched the mainland much more closely in the
time of Thucydidês than it does now. At that time, therefore,
very probably, the basin of Navarino was not so large as we now
find it.
[517] Thucyd. iv, 14. ~ἔτρωσαν~ μὲν πολλὰς, πέντε δ᾽ ἔλαβον. We
cannot in English speak of _wounding_ a trireme,—though the Greek
word is both lively and accurate, to represent the blow inflicted
by the impinging beak of an enemy’s ship.
[518] See above, in this History, chap. xlix.
[519] Thucyd. iv, 13, 14.
But the great prize of the victory was neither in the five ships
captured, nor in the relief afforded to the besieged at Pylus. It
lay in the hoplites occupying the island of Sphakteria, who were
now cut off from the mainland, as well as from all supplies. The
Athenians, sailing round it in triumph, already looked upon them as
their prisoners; while the Lacedæmonians on the opposite mainland,
deeply distressed, but not knowing what to do, sent to Sparta for
advice. So grave was the emergency, that the ephors came in person
to the spot forthwith. Since they could still muster sixty triremes,
a greater number than the Athenians,—besides a large force on land,
and the whole command of the resources of the country,—while the
Athenians had no footing on shore except the contracted promontory of
Pylus, we might have imagined that a strenuous effort to carry off
the imprisoned detachment across the narrow strait to the mainland
would have had a fair chance of success. And probably, if either
Demosthenês or Brasidas had been in command, such an effort would
have been made. But Lacedæmonian courage was rather steadfast and
unyielding than adventurous: and, moreover, the Athenian superiority
at sea exercised a sort of fascination over men’s minds, analogous
to that of the Spartans themselves on land; so that the ephors, on
reaching Pylus, took a desponding view of their position, and sent a
herald to the Athenian generals to propose an armistice, in order to
allow time for envoys to go to Athens and treat for peace.
To this Eurymedon and Demosthenês assented, and an armistice was
concluded on the following terms: The Lacedæmonians agreed to
surrender not only all their triremes now in the harbor, but also all
the rest in their ports, altogether to the number of sixty; also,
to abstain from all attack upon the fortress at Pylus, either by
land or sea, for such time as should be necessary for the mission of
envoys to Athens as well as for their return, both to be effected
in an Athenian trireme provided for the purpose. The Athenians
on their side engaged to desist from all hostilities during the
like interval; but it was agreed that they should keep strict and
unremitting watch over the island, yet without landing upon it. For
the subsistence of the detachment in the island, the Lacedæmonians
were permitted to send over every day two chœnikes of barley-meal in
cakes, ready baked, two kotylæ of wine,[520] and some meat, for each
hoplite,—together with half that quantity for each of the attendant
Helots; but this was all to be done under the supervision of the
Athenians, with peremptory obligation to send no secret additional
supplies. It was, moreover, expressly stipulated that if any one
provision of the armistice, small or great, were violated, the whole
should be considered as null and void. Lastly, the Athenians engaged,
on the return of the envoys from Athens, to restore the triremes in
the same condition as they received them.
[520] Thucyd. iv, 16. The chœnix was equivalent to about two
pints, English dry measure: it was considered as the usual daily
sustenance for a slave. Each Lacedæmonian soldier had, therefore,
double of this daily allowance, besides meat, in weight and
quantity not specified: the fact that the quantity of meat is not
specified, seems to show that they did not fear abuse in this
item.
The kotyla contained about half a pint, English wine measure:
each Lacedæmonian soldier had, therefore, a pint of wine daily.
It was always the practice in Greece to drink the wine with a
large admixture of water.
Such terms sufficiently attest the humiliation and anxiety of the
Lacedæmonians; while the surrender of their entire naval force to
the number of sixty triremes, which was forthwith carried into
effect, demonstrates at the same time that they sincerely believed
in the possibility of obtaining peace. Well aware that they were
themselves the original beginners of the war, at a time when the
Athenians desired peace, and that the latter had besides made
fruitless overtures while under the pressure of the epidemic, they
presumed that the same dispositions still prevailed at Athens, and
that their present pacific wishes would be so gladly welcomed as to
procure without difficulty the relinquishment of the prisoners in
Sphakteria.[521]
[521] Thucyd. iv, 21: compare vii, 18.
The Lacedæmonian envoys, conveyed to Athens in an Athenian trireme,
appeared before the public assembly to set forth their mission,
according to custom, prefacing their address with some apologies
for that brevity of speech which belonged to their country. Their
proposition was in substance a very simple one: “Give up to us the
men in the island, and accept, in exchange for this favor, peace,
with the alliance of Sparta.” They enforced their cause, by appeals,
well-turned and conciliatory, partly indeed to the generosity, but
still more to the prudential calculation of Athens; explicitly
admitting the high and glorious vantage-ground on which she was
now placed, as well as their own humbled dignity and inferior
position.[522] They, the Lacedæmonians, the first and greatest power
in Greece, were now smitten by adverse fortune of war,—and that too
without misconduct of their own, so that they were for the first
time obliged to solicit an enemy for peace; which Athens had the
precious opportunity of granting, not merely with honor to herself,
but also in such manner as to create in their minds an ineffaceable
friendship. And it became Athens to make use of her present good
fortune while she had it,—not to rely upon its permanence, nor to
abuse it by extravagant demands; her own imperial prudence, as well
as the present circumstances of the Spartans, might teach her how
unexpectedly the most disastrous casualties occurred. By granting
what was now asked, she might make a peace which would be far
more durable than if it were founded on the extorted compliances
of a weakened enemy, because it would rest on Spartan honor and
gratitude; the greater the previous enmity, the stronger would be
such reactionary sentiment.[523] But if Athens should now refuse,
and if, in the farther prosecution of the war, the men in Sphakteria
should perish,—a new and inexpiable ground of quarrel,[524] peculiar
to Sparta herself, would be added to those already subsisting,
which rather concerned Sparta as the chief of the Peloponnesian
confederacy. Nor was it only the good-will and gratitude of the
Spartans which Athens would earn by accepting the proposition
tendered to her; she would farther acquire the grace and glory of
conferring peace on Greece, which all the Greeks would recognize as
her act. And when once the two preëminent powers, Athens and Sparta,
were established in cordial amity, the remaining Grecian states would
be too weak to resist what they two might prescribe.[525]
[522] Thucyd. iv, 18. γνῶτε δὲ καὶ ἐς τὰς ἡμετέρας νῦν ξυμφορὰς
ἀπιδόντες, etc.
[523] Thucyd. iv, 19.
[524] Thucyd. iv, 20. ἡμῖν δὲ καλῶς, εἴπερ πότε, ἔχει ἀμφοτέροις
ἡ ξυναλλαγὴ, πρίν τι ἀνήκεστον διὰ μέσου γενόμενον ἡμᾶς
καταλαβεῖν, ἐν ᾧ ἀνάγκη ἀΐδιον ὑμῖν ἔχθραν πρὸς τῇ ~κοινῇ καὶ
ἰδίαν~ ἔχειν, ὑμᾶς δὲ στερηθῆναι ὧν νῦν προκαλούμεθα.
I understand these words κοινὴ and ἰδία agreeably to the
explanation of the Scholiast, from whom Dr. Arnold, as well
as Poppo and Göller, depart, in my judgment erroneously. The
whole war had been begun in consequence of the complaints of
the Peloponnesian allies, and of wrongs alleged to have been
done to _them_ by Athens: Sparta herself had no ground of
complaint,—nothing of which she desired redress.
Dr. Arnold translates it: “We shall hate you not only
nationally, for the wound you have inflicted on Sparta; but also
individually, because so many of us will have lost our near
relations from your inflexibility.” “The Spartan aristocracy (he
adds) would feel it a personal wound to lose at once so many of
its members, connected by blood or marriage with its principal
families: compare Thucyd. v, 15.”
We must recollect, however, that the Athenians could not possibly
know at this time that the hoplites inclosed in Sphakteria
belonged in great proportion to the first families in Sparta. And
the Spartan envoys would surely have the diplomatic prudence to
abstain from any facts or arguments which would reveal, or even
suggest, to them so important a secret.
[525] Thucyd. iv, 20. ἡμῶν γὰρ καὶ ὑμῶν ταὐτὰ λεγόντων τό γε ἄλλο
Ἑλληνικὸν ἴστε ὅτι ὑποδεέστερον ὂν τὰ μέγιστα τιμήσει.
Aristophanês, Pac. 1048. Ἐξὸν σπεισαμένοις κοινῇ τῆς Ἑλλάδος
ἄρχειν.
Such was the language held by the Lacedæmonians in the assembly at
Athens. It was discreetly calculated for their purpose, though when
we turn back to the commencement of the war, and read the lofty
declarations of the Spartan ephors and assembly respecting the
wrongs of their allies and the necessity of extorting full indemnity
for them from Athens, the contrast is indeed striking. On this
occasion, the Lacedæmonians acted entirely for themselves and from
consideration of their own necessities; severing themselves from
their allies, and soliciting a special peace for themselves, with as
little scruple as the Spartan general, Menedæus, during the preceding
year, when he abandoned his Ambrakiot confederates after the battle
of Olpæ, to conclude a separate capitulation with Demosthenês.
The course proper to be adopted by Athens in reference to the
proposition, however, was by no means obvious. In all probability,
the trireme which brought the Lacedæmonian envoys also brought the
first news of that unforeseen and instantaneous turn of events which
had rendered the Spartans in Sphakteria certain prisoners,—so it was
then conceived,—and placed the whole Lacedæmonian fleet in their
power; thus giving a totally new character of the war. The sudden
arrival of such prodigious intelligence,—the astounding presence of
Lacedæmonian envoys, bearing the olive-branch, and in an attitude of
humiliation,—must have produced in the susceptible public of Athens
emotions of the utmost intensity; an elation and confidence such as
had probably never been felt since the reconquest of Samos. It was
difficult at first to measure the full bearings of the new situation,
and even Periklês himself might have hesitated what to recommend: but
the immediate and dominant impression with the general public was,
that Athens might now ask her own terms, as consideration for the
prisoners in the island.[526] Of this reigning tendency Kleon[527]
made himself the emphatic organ, as he had done three years before
in the sentence passed on the Mitylenæans; a man who—like leading
journals, in modern times—often appeared to guide the public because
he gave vehement utterance to that which they were already feeling,
and carried it out in its collateral bearings and consequences.
On the present occasion, he doubtless spoke with the most genuine
conviction; for he was full of the sentiment of Athenian force and
Athenian imperial dignity, as well as disposed to a sanguine view of
future chances. Moreover, in a discussion like that now opened, where
there was much room for doubt, he came forward with a proposition
at once plain and decisive. Reminding the Athenians of the
dishonorable truce of thirty years to which they had been compelled
by the misfortunes of the time to accede, fourteen years before the
Peloponnesian war,—Kleon insisted that now was the time for Athens to
recover what she had then lost,—Nisæa, Pegæ, Trœzen, and Achaia. He
proposed that Sparta should be required to restore these to Athens,
in exchange for the soldiers now blocked up in Sphakteria; after
which a truce might be concluded for as long a time as might be
deemed expedient.
[526] Thucyd. iv, 21.
[527] Thucyd. iv, 21. μάλιστα δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐνῆγε Κλέων ὁ Κλεαινέτου,
ἀνὴρ δημαγωγὸς κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον ὢν καὶ τῷ δήμῳ
πιθανώτατος· καὶ ἔπεισεν ἀποκρίνασθαι, etc.
This sentence reads like a first introduction of Kleon to the
notice of the reader. It would appear that Thucydidês had
forgotten that he had before introduced Kleon on occasion
of the Mitylenæan surrender, and that too in language very
much the same, iii, 36. καὶ Κλέων ὁ Κλεαινέτου,—ὢν καὶ ἐς τὰ
ἄλλα βιαιότατος τῶν πολιτῶν, καὶ τῷ δήμῳ παρὰ πολὺ ἐν τῷ τότε
πιθανώτατος, etc.
This decree, adopted by the assembly, was communicated as the answer
of Athens to the Lacedæmonian envoys, who had probably retired after
their first address, and were now sent for again into the assembly,
to hear it. On being informed of the resolution, they made no comment
on its substance, but invited the Athenians to name commissioners,
who might discuss with them freely and deliberately suitable terms
for a pacification. Here, however, Kleon burst upon them with an
indignant rebuke. He had thought from the first, he said, that they
came with dishonest purposes, but now the thing was clear,—nothing
else could be meant by this desire to treat with some few men apart
from the general public. If they had really any fair proposition to
make, he called upon them to proclaim it openly to all. But this
the envoys could not bring themselves to do. They had probably come
with authority to make certain concessions, but to announce these
concessions forthwith would have rendered negotiation impossible,
besides dishonoring them in the face of their allies. Such dishonor
would be incurred, too, without any advantage, if the Athenians
should after all reject the terms, which the temper of the assembly
before them rendered but too probable. Moreover, they were totally
unpractised in the talents for dealing with a public assembly,
such discussions being so rare as to be practically unknown in the
Lacedæmonian system. To reply to the denunciation of a vehement
speaker like Kleon, required readiness of elocution, dexterity, and
self-command, which they had had no opportunity of acquiring. They
remained silent,—abashed by the speaker and intimidated by the temper
of the assembly: their mission was thus terminated, and they were
reconveyed in the trireme to Pylus.[528]
[528] Thucyd. iv, 22.
It is probable that if these envoys had been able to make an
effective reply to Kleon, and to defend their proposition against
his charge of fraudulent purpose, they would have been sustained
by Nikias and a certain number of leading Athenians, so that the
assembly might have been brought at least to try the issue of a
private discussion between diplomatic agents on both sides. But
the case was one in which it was absolutely necessary that the
envoys should stand forward with some defence for themselves; which
Nikias might effectively second, but could not originate: and as
they were incompetent to this task, the whole affair broke down.
We shall hereafter find other examples, in which the incapacity
of Lacedæmonian envoys, to meet the open debate of Athenian
political life, is productive of mischievous results. In this case,
the proposition of the envoys to enter into treaty with select
commissioners, was not only quite reasonable, but afforded the
only possibility—though doubtless not a certainty—of some ultimate
pacification: and the manœuvre whereby Kleon discredited it was
a grave abuse of publicity, not unknown in modern, though more
frequent in ancient, political life. Kleon probably thought that
if commissioners were named, Nikias, Lachês, and other politicians
of the same rank and color, would be the persons selected; persons
whose anxiety for peace and alliance with Sparta would make them
over-indulgent and careless in securing the interests of Athens: and
it will be seen, when we come to describe the conduct of Nikias four
years afterwards, that this suspicion was not ill-grounded.
Unfortunately Thucydidês, in describing the proceedings of this
assembly, so important in its consequences because it intercepted a
promising opening for peace, is brief as usual,—telling us only what
was said by Kleon and what was decided by the assembly. But though
nothing is positively stated respecting Nikias and his partisans,
we learn from other sources, and we may infer from what afterwards
occurred, that they vehemently opposed Kleon, and that they looked
coldly on the subsequent enterprise against Sphakteria as upon his
peculiar measure.[529]
[529] Plutarch, Nikias, c. 7; Philochorus, Fragm. 105, ed. Didot.
It has been common to treat the dismissal of the Lacedæmonian envoys
on this occasion as a peculiar specimen of democratical folly. But
over-estimation of the prospective chances arising out of success,
to a degree more extravagant than that of which Athens was now
guilty, is by no means peculiar to democracy. Other governments,
opposed to democracy not less in temper than in form,—an able
despot like the emperor Napoleon, and a powerful aristocracy like
that of England,[530]—have found success to the full as misleading.
That Athens should desire to profit by this unexpected piece of
good fortune, was perfectly reasonable: that she should make use
of it to regain advantages which former misfortunes had compelled
herself to surrender, was a feeling not unnatural. And whether the
demand was excessive, or by how much, is a question always among
the most embarrassing for any government—kingly, oligarchical, or
democratical—to determine.
[530] Let us read some remarks of Mr. Burke on the temper of
England during the American war.
“You remember that in the beginning of this American war,
you were greatly divided: and a very strong body, if not the
strongest, opposed itself to the madness which every art and
every power were employed to render popular, in order that the
errors of the rulers might be lost in the general blindness of
the nation. This opposition continued until after our great,
but most unfortunate, victory at Long Island. Then all the
mounds and banks of our constancy were borne down at once; and
the frenzy of the American war broke in upon us like a deluge.
This victory, which seemed to put an immediate end to all
difficulties, perfected in us that spirit of domination which our
unparalleled prosperity had but too long nurtured. We had been
so very powerful, and so very prosperous, that even the humblest
of us were degraded into the devices and follies of kings. We
lost all measure between means and ends; and our headlong desires
became our politics and our morals. All men who wished for peace,
or retained any sentiments of moderation, were overborne or
silenced: and this city (Bristol) was led by every artifice (and
probably with the more management, because _I_ was one of your
members) to distinguish itself by its zeal for that fatal cause.”
Burke, Speech to the Electors of Bristol previous to the election
(Works, vol. iii, p. 365).
Compare Mr. Burke’s Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol, p. 174 of
the same volume.
We may, however, remark that Kleon gave an impolitic turn to Athenian
feeling, by directing it towards the entire and literal reacquisition
of what had been lost twenty years before. Unless we are to consider
his quadruple demand as a flourish, to be modified by subsequent
negotiation, it seems to present some plausibility, but little of
long-sighted wisdom: for while, on the one hand, it called upon
Sparta to give up much which was not in her possession and must have
been extorted by force from allies,—on the other hand, the situation
of Athens was not the same as it had been when she concluded the
thirty years’ truce; nor does it seem that the restoration of Achaia
and Trœzen would have been of any material value to her. Nisæa and
Pegæ—which would have been tantamount to the entire Megarid, inasmuch
as Megara itself could hardly have been held with both its ports in
the possession of an enemy—would, indeed, have been highly valuable,
since she could then have protected her territory against invasion
from Peloponnesus, besides possessing a port in the Corinthian gulf.
And it would seem that if able commissioners had now been named for
private discussion with the Lacedæmonian envoys, under the present
urgent desire of Sparta, coupled with her disposition to abandon her
allies,—this important point might possibly have been pressed and
carried, in exchange for Sphakteria. Nay, even if such acquisition
had been found impracticable, still, the Athenians would have been
able to effect some arrangement which would have widened the breach,
and destroyed the confidence, between Sparta and her allies; a point
of great moment for them to accomplish. There was therefore every
reason for trying what could be done by negotiation, under the
present temper of Sparta; and the step, by which Kleon abruptly broke
off such hopes, was decidedly mischievous.
On the return of the envoys without success to Pylus,[531] twenty
days after their departure from that place, the armistice immediately
terminated; and the Lacedæmonians redemanded the triremes which
they had surrendered. But Eurymedon refused compliance with this
demand, alleging that the Lacedæmonians had, during the truce, made
a fraudulent attempt to surprise the rock of Pylus, and had violated
the stipulations in other ways besides; while it stood expressly
stipulated in the truce, that the violation by either side even of
the least among its conditions, should cancel all obligation on both
sides. Thucydidês, without distinctly giving his opinion, seems
rather to imply, that there was no just ground for the refusal:
though if any accidental want of vigilance had presented to the
Lacedæmonians an opportunity for surprising Pylus, they would be
likely enough to avail themselves of it, seeing that they would
thereby drive off the Athenian fleet from its only landing-place, and
render the continued blockade of Sphakteria impracticable. However
the truth may be, Eurymedon persisted in his refusal, in spite of
loud protests of the Lacedæmonians against his perfidy. Hostilities
were energetically resumed: the Lacedæmonian army on land began again
to attack the fortifications of Pylus, while the Athenian fleet
became doubly watchful in the blockade of Sphakteria, in which they
were reinforced by twenty fresh ships from Athens, making a fleet of
seventy triremes in all. Two ships were perpetually rowing round the
island in opposite directions, throughout the whole day; while at
night, the whole fleet were kept on watch, except on the sea-side of
the island in stormy weather.[532]
[531] Thucyd. iv, 39.
[532] Thucyd. iv, 23.
The blockade, however, was soon found to be more full of privation
in reference to the besiegers themselves, and more difficult of
enforcement in respect to the island and its occupants, than had been
originally contemplated. The Athenians were much distressed for want
of water; they had only one really good spring in the fortification
of Pylus itself, quite insufficient for the supply of a large fleet:
many of them were obliged to scrape the shingle and drink such
brackish water as they could find; while ships as well as men were
perpetually afloat, since they could take rest and refreshment only
by relays successively landing on the rock of Pylus, or even on the
edge of Sphakteria itself, with all the chance of being interrupted
by the enemy,—there being no other landing-place,[533] and the
ancient trireme affording no accommodation either for eating or
sleeping. At first, all this was patiently borne, in the hopes that
Sphakteria would speedily be starved out, and the Spartans forced
to renew the request for capitulation: but no such request came,
and the Athenians in the fleet gradually became sick in body as well
as impatient and angry in mind. In spite of all their vigilance,
clandestine supplies of provisions continually reached the island,
under the temptation of large rewards offered by the Spartan
government. Able swimmers contrived to cross the strait, dragging
after them by ropes skins full of linseed and poppy-seed mixed with
honey; while merchant vessels, chiefly manned by Helots, started
from various parts of the Laconian coast, selecting by preference
the stormy nights, and encountering every risk in order to run their
vessel with its cargo ashore on the sea-side of the island, at a time
when the Athenian guard-ships could not be on the lookout.[534] They
cared little about damage to their vessel in landing, provided they
could get the cargo on shore; for ample compensation was insured to
them, together with emancipation to every Helot who succeeded in
reaching the island with a supply. Though the Athenians redoubled
their vigilance, and intercepted many of these daring smugglers,
still, there were others who eluded them: moreover, the rations
supplied to the island by stipulation during the absence of the
envoys in their journey to Athens had been so ample, that Epitadas
the commander had been able to economize, and thus to make the stock
hold out longer. Week after week passed without any symptoms of
surrender, and the Athenians not only felt the present sufferings
of their own position, but also became apprehensive for their own
supplies, all brought by sea round Peloponnesus to this distant
and naked shore. They began even to mistrust the possibility of
thus indefinitely continuing the blockade against the contingencies
of such violent weather, as would probably ensue at the close of
summer. In this state of weariness and uncertainty, the active
Demosthenês began to organize a descent upon the island, with the
view of carrying it by force. He not only sent for forces from the
neighboring allies, Zakynthus and Naupaktus, but also transmitted an
urgent request to Athens that reinforcements might be furnished to
him for the purpose, making known explicitly both the uncomfortable
condition of the armament, and the unpromising chances of simple
blockade.[535]
[533] Thucyd. iv, 25. τῶν νεῶν οὐκ ἐχούσων ὅρμον. This does not
mean (as some of the commentators seem to suppose, see Poppo’s
note) that the Athenians had not plenty of sea-room in the
harbor: it means, that they had no station ashore, except the
narrow space of Pylus itself.
[534] Thucyd. iv, 26.
[535] Thucyd. iv, 27, 29, 30.
The arrival of these envoys caused infinite mortification to the
Athenians at home. Having expected to hear, long before, that
Sphakteria had surrendered, they were now taught to consider even
the ultimate conquest as a matter of doubt: they were surprised that
the Lacedæmonians sent no fresh envoys to solicit peace, and began
to suspect that such silence was founded upon well-grounded hopes of
being able to hold out. But the person most of all discomposed was
Kleon, who observed that the people now regretted their insulting
repudiation of the Lacedæmonian message, and were displeased with him
as the author of it; while, on the contrary, his numerous political
enemies were rejoiced at the turn which events had taken, as it
opened a means of effecting his ruin. At first, Kleon contended
that the envoys had misrepresented the state of facts; to which the
latter replied by entreating, that if their accuracy were mistrusted,
commissioners of inspection might be sent to verify it; and Kleon
himself, along with Theogonês, was forthwith named for this function.
But it did not suit Kleon’s purpose to go as commissioner to Pylus,
since his mistrust of the statement was a mere general suspicion,
not resting on any positive evidence: moreover, he saw that the
dispositions of the assembly tended to comply with the request of
Demosthenês, and to despatch a reinforcing armament. He accordingly
altered his tone at once: “If ye really believe the story (he
said), do not waste time in sending commissioners, but sail at once
to capture the men. It would be easy with a proper force, if our
generals were _men_ (here he pointed reproachfully to his enemy
Nikias, then stratêgus[536]), to sail and take the soldiers in the
island. That is what _I_ at least would do, if _I_ were general.”
His words instantly provoked a hostile murmur from a portion of the
assembly: “Why do you not sail then at once, if you think the matter
so easy?” while Nikias, taking up this murmur, and delighted to have
caught his political enemy in a trap, stood forward in person, and
pressed him to set about the enterprise without delay; intimating the
willingness of himself and his colleagues to grant him any portion
of the military force of the city which he chose to ask for. Kleon
at first closed with this proposition, believing it to be a mere
stratagem of debate and not seriously intended: but so soon as he
saw that what was said was really meant, he tried to back out, and
observed to Nikias: “It is your place to sail: _you_ are general,
not I.”[537] Nikias only replied by repeating his exhortation,
renouncing formally the command against Sphakteria, and calling upon
the Athenians to recollect what Kleon had said, as well as to hold
him to his engagement. The more Kleon tried to evade the duty, the
louder and more unanimous did the cry of the assembly become that
Nikias should surrender it to him, and that _he_ should undertake
it. At last, seeing that there was no possibility of receding,
Kleon reluctantly accepted the charge, and came forward to announce
his intention in a resolute address: “I am not at all afraid of
the Lacedæmonians (he said): I shall sail without even taking with
me any of the hoplites from the regular Athenian muster-roll, but
only the Lemnian and Imbrian hoplites who are now here (that is,
Athenian kleruchs or out-citizens who had properties in Lemnos and
Imbros, and habitually resided there), together with some peltasts,
brought from Ænos, in Thrace, and four hundred bowmen. With this
force, added to what is already at Pylos, I engage in the space of
twenty days either to bring the Lacedæmonians in Sphakteria hither
as prisoners, or to kill them in the island.” The Athenians—observes
Thucydidês—laughed somewhat at Kleon’s looseness of tongue; but
prudent men had pleasure in reflecting that one or other of the two
advantages was now certain: either they would get rid of Kleon,
which they anticipated as the issue at once most probable and most
desirable,—or, if mistaken on this point, the Lacedæmonians in the
island would be killed or taken.[538] The vote was accordingly passed
for the immediate departure of Kleon, who caused Demosthenês to be
named as his colleague in command, and sent intelligence to Pylus at
once that he was about to start with the reinforcement solicited.
[536] Thucyd. iv, 27. Καὶ ἐς Νικίαν τὸν Νικηράτου στρατηγὸν ὄντα
ἀπεσήμαινεν, ἐχθρὸς ὢν καὶ ἐπιτιμῶν—ῥᾴδιον εἶναι παρασκευῇ, εἰ
ἄνδρες εἶεν οἱ στρατηγοὶ, πλεύσαντας λαβεῖν τοὺς ἐν τῇ νήσῳ· καὶ
αὐτός γ᾽ ἂν, εἰ ἦρχε, ποιῆσαι τοῦτο. Ὁ δὲ Νικίας τῶν τε Ἀθηναίων
τι ὑποθορυβησάντων ἐς τὸν Κλέωνα, ὅτι οὐ καὶ νῦν πλεῖ, εἰ ῥᾴδιόν
γε αὐτῷ φαίνεται· καὶ ἅμα ὁρῶν αὐτὸν ἐπιτιμῶντα, ἐκέλευεν ἥντινα
βούλεται δύναμιν λαβόντα τὸ ἐπὶ σφᾶς εἶναι, ἐπιχειρεῖν.
[537] Thucyd. iv, 28. ὁ δὲ (Κλέων) τὸ μὲν πρῶτον οἰόμενος
αὐτὸν (Νικίαν) λόγῳ μόνον ἀφιέναι, ἑτοῖμος ἦν, γνοὺς δὲ τῷ
ὄντι παραδωσείοντα ἀνεχώρει, καὶ οὐκ ἔφη αὐτὸς ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνον
στρατηγεῖν, δεδιὼς ἤδη καὶ οὐκ ἂν οἰόμενός οἱ αὐτὸν τολμῆσαι
ὑποχωρῆσαι. Αὖθις δὲ ὁ Νικίας ἐκέλευε καὶ ἐξίστατο τῆς ἐπὶ
Πύλῳ ἀρχῆς, καὶ μάρτυρας τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἐποιεῖτο. Οἱ δὲ, ~οἷον
ὄχλος φιλεῖ ποιεῖν~, ὅσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ Κλέων ὑπέφευγε τὸν πλοῦν καὶ
ἐξανεχώρει τὰ εἰρημένα, τόσῳ ἐπεκελεύοντο τῷ Νικίᾳ παραδιδόναι
τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ ἐκείνῳ ἐπεβόων πλεῖν. Ὥστε οὐκ ἔχων ὅπως τῶν
εἰρημένων ἔτι ἐξαπαλλαγῇ, ὑφίσταται τὸν πλοῦν, καὶ παρελθὼν οὔτε
φοβεῖσθαι ἔφη Λακεδαιμονίους, etc.
[538] Thucyd. iv, 28. Τοῖς δὲ Ἀθηναίοις ἐνέπεσε μέν τι καὶ
γέλωτος τῇ κουφολογίᾳ αὐτοῦ· ἀσμένοις δ᾽ ὅμως ἐγίγνετο τοῖς
σώφροσι τῶν ἀνθρώπων, λογιζομένοις δυοῖν ἀγαθοῖν τοῦ ἑτέρου
τεύξεσθαι—ἢ Κλέωνος ἀπαλλαγήσεσθαι, ~ὃ μᾶλλον ἤλπιζον, ἢ σφαλεῖσι
γνώμης~ Λακεδαιμονίους σφίσι χειρώσασθαι.
This curious scene, interesting as laying open the interior feeling
of the Athenian assembly, suggests, when properly considered,
reflections very different from those which have been usually
connected with it. It seems to be conceived by most historians as
a mere piece of levity or folly in the Athenian people, who are
supposed to have enjoyed the excellent joke of putting an incompetent
man against his own will at the head of this enterprise, in order
that they might amuse themselves with his blunders: Kleon is thus
contemptible, and the Athenian people ridiculous. Certainly, if that
people had been disposed to conduct their public business upon such
childish fancies as are here implied, they would have made a very
different figure from that which history actually presents to us.
The truth is, that in regard to Kleon’s alleged looseness of tongue,
which excited more or less of laughter among the persons present,
there was no one really ridiculous except the laughers themselves:
for the announcement which he made was so far from being extravagant,
that it was realized to the letter, and realized, too, let us add,
without any peculiar aid from unforeseen favorable accident. To show
how much this is the case, we have only to contrast the jesters
before the fact with the jesters after it. While the former deride
Kleon as a promiser of extravagant and impossible results, we find
Aristophanês, in his comedy of the Knights, about six months
afterwards,[539] laughing at him as having achieved nothing at
all,—as having cunningly put himself into the shoes of Demosthenês,
and stolen away from that general the glory of taking Sphakteria,
after all the difficulties of the enterprise had been already got
over, and “the cake ready baked,”—to use the phrase of the comic
poet. Both of the jests are exaggerations in opposite directions; but
the last in order of time, if it be good at all against Kleon, is a
galling sarcasm against those who derided Kleon as an extravagant
boaster.
[539] Aristophanês, Equit. 54:—
... καὶ πρωήν γ᾽ ἐμοῦ
Μᾶζαν μεμαχότος ἐν Πύλῳ Λακωνικὴν,
Πανουργότατά πως περιδραμὼν ὑφαρπάσας
Αὐτὸς παρέθηκε τὴν ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ μεμαγμένην.
It is Demosthenês who speaks in reference to Kleon,—termed in
that comedy the Paphlagonian slave of Demos.