BRASIDAS LOSES HIS SHIELD
In 425 B.C., the seventh year of the war, an Athenian fleet of about
forty ships, under an admiral named Eurymedon, was forced by stormy
weather to seek shelter on the promontory of Pylos in Messenia. Pylos
stood on the Bay of Pylos, which you now know as the Bay of Navarino.
To give the men something to do until the storm allowed them to sail,
Demosthenes, an officer on board one of the ships, bade them begin to
build a fort. But it was not only to employ the men that he did this,
but because he believed that Pylos would make a good fortress from
which to attack the western shore of Peloponnesus.
At first the men took little interest in the work, for they expected
each day to leave Pylos. But as the storm continued, they began to work
with a will, and soon a fortress that looked fit to defy an enemy was
finished.
It had not been easy work, for the men had no iron tools. They could
not cut stones, but were forced to pick out those that fitted into each
other.
When mortar was needed they had to carry it on their backs, bending
forward that it might not fall, and clasping their hands behind to help
to keep it in place.
At length the storm was over and the fleet sailed away, leaving
Demosthenes with five ships to hold the new fortress. Now the entrance
to the Bay of Pylos was almost blocked by a narrow, thickly wooded
island called Sphacteria.
The Spartans soon heard that the Athenians had taken possession of
Pylos, which was on their territory. They determined to expel them,
and an army under Epitadas was at once sent out and took possession
of the wooded island of Sphacteria, while a Spartan fleet sailed into
the Bay of Pylos. On board one of the ships was a famous Spartan named
Brasidas.
Demosthenes had just time to send to Eurymedon to beg him to return
with his forty ships, when the Spartans sailed up to the promontory,
meaning to attack and capture the fort.
But it proved impossible to land. Again and again the Spartan admiral
made the attempt, but each time he was forced to withdraw, lest his
ships should be dashed upon the rocks.
Brasidas refused to give in, and he bade his men wreck their vessels
rather than be beaten back. ‘Be not sparing of timber,’ he cried, ‘for
the enemy has built a fortress in your country. Perish the ships and
force a landing.’
Spurred on by his words, the men drove their ship upon the beach, while
Brasidas stood fearlessly on the gangway ready to leap upon the shore.
But the Athenians saw the bold figure too well, and he became a target
for every arrow.
As he fell back wounded, his left arm hung helpless over the side of
the vessel and his shield slipped off and fell into the water. The
waves washed it toward the shore, whereupon the enemy dashed down to
the edge of the water and drew it in triumph up to the beach.
After a desperate struggle the Spartans were forced to withdraw, and
the Athenians celebrated their victory by erecting a trophy of their
spoils, placing, where every eye could see it, the shield of Brasidas.
For two days the Spartans still fought to gain the fortress, but in
vain. On the third day, Eurymedon returned with the Athenian fleet, and
as the Spartan ships did not come to meet him he sailed in at the two
entrances to the bay of Pylos: for the openings had not been secured by
the enemy.
A desperate battle took place. Many of the Spartan ships were empty,
as their crews were on shore. The Athenians tried to drag away these
empty vessels, so that the enemy would have no way of escaping from
Sphacteria.
But the Spartans knew that they must save their vessels at all costs,
so they fought with redoubled fury and succeeded in rescuing most of
the deserted ships. Yet their efforts proved of little use in the end,
for though only five ships were captured, the rest of the fleet was so
damaged that the Athenians were left in possession of the bay. They at
once began to blockade Epitadas and his army in Sphacteria.
[Illustration: He became a target for every arrow]