History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides [best free ebook reader TXT] 📗

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number of the ships on both sides, and the distance to which they

covered the sea, made it difficult, after they had once joined, to

distinguish between the conquering and the conquered; this battle

proving far greater than any before it, any at least between Hellenes,

for the number of vessels engaged. After the Corinthians had chased

the Corcyraeans to the land, they turned to the wrecks and their dead,

most of whom they succeeded in getting hold of and conveying to

Sybota, the rendezvous of the land forces furnished by their barbarian

allies. Sybota, it must be known, is a desert harbour of Thesprotis.

This task over, they mustered anew, and sailed against the

Corcyraeans, who on their part advanced to meet them with all their

ships that were fit for service and remaining to them, accompanied

by the Athenian vessels, fearing that they might attempt a landing

in their territory. It was by this time getting late, and the paean

had been sung for the attack, when the Corinthians suddenly began to

back water. They had observed twenty Athenian ships sailing up,

which had been sent out afterwards to reinforce the ten vessels by the

Athenians, who feared, as it turned out justly, the defeat of the

Corcyraeans and the inability of their handful of ships to protect

them. These ships were thus seen by the Corinthians first. They

suspected that they were from Athens, and that those which they saw

were not all, but that there were more behind; they accordingly

began to retire. The Corcyraeans meanwhile had not sighted them, as

they were advancing from a point which they could not so well see, and

were wondering why the Corinthians were backing water, when some

caught sight of them, and cried out that there were ships in sight

ahead. Upon this they also retired; for it was now getting dark, and

the retreat of the Corinthians had suspended hostilities. Thus they

parted from each other, and the battle ceased with night. The

Corcyraeans were in their camp at Leukimme, when these twenty ships

from Athens, under the command of Glaucon, the son of Leagrus, and

Andocides, son of Leogoras, bore on through the corpses and the

wrecks, and sailed up to the camp, not long after they were sighted.

It was now night, and the Corcyraeans feared that they might be

hostile vessels; but they soon knew them, and the ships came to

anchor.

 

The next day the thirty Athenian vessels put out to sea, accompanied

by all the Corcyraean ships that were seaworthy, and sailed to the

harbour at Sybota, where the Corinthians lay, to see if they would

engage. The Corinthians put out from the land and formed a line in the

open sea, but beyond this made no further movement, having no

intention of assuming the offensive. For they saw reinforcements

arrived fresh from Athens, and themselves confronted by numerous

difficulties, such as the necessity of guarding the prisoners whom

they had on board and the want of all means of refitting their ships

in a desert place. What they were thinking more about was how their

voyage home was to be effected; they feared that the Athenians might

consider that the treaty was dissolved by the collision which had

occurred, and forbid their departure.

 

Accordingly they resolved to put some men on board a boat, and

send them without a herald’s wand to the Athenians, as an

experiment. Having done so, they spoke as follows: “You do wrong,

Athenians, to begin war and break the treaty. Engaged in chastising

our enemies, we find you placing yourselves in our path in arms

against us. Now if your intentions are to prevent us sailing to

Corcyra, or anywhere else that we may wish, and if you are for

breaking the treaty, first take us that are here and treat us as

enemies.” Such was what they said, and all the Corcyraean armament

that were within hearing immediately called out to take them and

kill them. But the Athenians answered as follows: “Neither are we

beginning war, Peloponnesians, nor are we breaking the treaty; but

these Corcyraeans are our allies, and we are come to help them. So

if you want to sail anywhere else, we place no obstacle in your way;

but if you are going to sail against Corcyra, or any of her

possessions, we shall do our best to stop you.”

 

Receiving this answer from the Athenians, the Corinthians

commenced preparations for their voyage home, and set up a trophy in

Sybota, on the continent; while the Corcyraeans took up the wrecks and

dead that had been carried out to them by the current, and by a wind

which rose in the night and scattered them in all directions, and

set up their trophy in Sybota, on the island, as victors. The

reasons each side had for claiming the victory were these. The

Corinthians had been victorious in the sea-fight until night; and

having thus been enabled to carry off most wrecks and dead, they

were in possession of no fewer than a thousand prisoners of war, and

had sunk close upon seventy vessels. The Corcyraeans had destroyed

about thirty ships, and after the arrival of the Athenians had taken

up the wrecks and dead on their side; they had besides seen the

Corinthians retire before them, backing water on sight of the Athenian

vessels, and upon the arrival of the Athenians refuse to sail out

against them from Sybota. Thus both sides claimed the victory.

 

The Corinthians on the voyage home took Anactorium, which stands

at the mouth of the Ambracian gulf. The place was taken by

treachery, being common ground to the Corcyraeans and Corinthians.

After establishing Corinthian settlers there, they retired home. Eight

hundred of the Corcyraeans were slaves; these they sold; two hundred

and fifty they retained in captivity, and treated with great

attention, in the hope that they might bring over their country to

Corinth on their return; most of them being, as it happened, men of

very high position in Corcyra. In this way Corcyra maintained her

political existence in the war with Corinth, and the Athenian

vessels left the island. This was the first cause of the war that

Corinth had against the Athenians, viz. , that they had fought

against them with the Corcyraeans in time of treaty.

 

Almost immediately after this, fresh differences arose between the

Athenians and Peloponnesians, and contributed their share to the

war. Corinth was forming schemes for retaliation, and Athens suspected

her hostility. The Potidaeans, who inhabit the isthmus of Pallene,

being a Corinthian colony, but tributary allies of Athens, were

ordered to raze the wall looking towards Pallene, to give hostages, to

dismiss the Corinthian magistrates, and in future not to receive the

persons sent from Corinth annually to succeed them. It was feared that

they might be persuaded by Perdiccas and the Corinthians to revolt,

and might draw the rest of the allies in the direction of Thrace to

revolt with them. These precautions against the Potidaeans were

taken by the Athenians immediately after the battle at Corcyra. Not

only was Corinth at length openly hostile, but Perdiccas, son of

Alexander, king of the Macedonians, had from an old friend and ally

been made an enemy. He had been made an enemy by the Athenians

entering into alliance with his brother Philip and Derdas, who were in

league against him. In his alarm he had sent to Lacedaemon to try

and involve the Athenians in a war with the Peloponnesians, and was

endeavouring to win over Corinth in order to bring about the revolt of

Potidaea. He also made overtures to the Chalcidians in the direction

of Thrace, and to the Bottiaeans, to persuade them to join in the

revolt; for he thought that if these places on the border could be

made his allies, it would be easier to carry on the war with their

co-operation. Alive to all this, and wishing to anticipate the

revolt of the cities, the Athenians acted as follows. They were just

then sending off thirty ships and a thousand heavy infantry for his

country under the command of Archestratus, son of Lycomedes, with four

colleagues. They instructed the captains to take hostages of the

Potidaeans, to raze the wall, and to be on their guard against the

revolt of the neighbouring cities.

 

Meanwhile the Potidaeans sent envoys to Athens on the chance of

persuading them to take no new steps in their matters; they also

went to Lacedaemon with the Corinthians to secure support in case of

need. Failing after prolonged negotiation to obtain anything

satisfactory from the Athenians; being unable, for all they could say,

to prevent the vessels that were destined for Macedonia from also

sailing against them; and receiving from the Lacedaemonian

government a promise to invade Attica, if the Athenians should

attack Potidaea, the Potidaeans, thus favoured by the moment, at

last entered into league with the Chalcidians and Bottiaeans, and

revolted. And Perdiccas induced the Chalcidians to abandon and

demolish their towns on the seaboard and, settling inland at Olynthus,

to make that one city a strong place: meanwhile to those who

followed his advice he gave a part of his territory in Mygdonia

round Lake Bolbe as a place of abode while the war against the

Athenians should last. They accordingly demolished their towns,

removed inland and prepared for war. The thirty ships of the

Athenians, arriving before the Thracian places, found Potidaea and the

rest in revolt. Their commanders, considering it to be quite

impossible with their present force to carry on war with Perdiccas and

with the confederate towns as well turned to Macedonia, their original

destination, and, having established themselves there, carried on

war in co-operation with Philip, and the brothers of Derdas, who had

invaded the country from the interior.

 

Meanwhile the Corinthians, with Potidaea in revolt and the

Athenian ships on the coast of Macedonia, alarmed for the safety of

the place and thinking its danger theirs, sent volunteers from

Corinth, and mercenaries from the rest of Peloponnese, to the number

of sixteen hundred heavy infantry in all, and four hundred light

troops. Aristeus, son of Adimantus, who was always a steady friend

to the Potidaeans, took command of the expedition, and it was

principally for love of him that most of the men from Corinth

volunteered. They arrived in Thrace forty days after the revolt of

Potidaea.

 

The Athenians also immediately received the news of the revolt of

the cities. On being informed that Aristeus and his reinforcements

were on their way, they sent two thousand heavy infantry of their

own citizens and forty ships against the places in revolt, under the

command of Callias, son of Calliades, and four colleagues. They

arrived in Macedonia first, and found the force of a thousand men that

had been first sent out, just become masters of Therme and besieging

Pydna. Accordingly they also joined in the investment, and besieged

Pydna for a while. Subsequently they came to terms and concluded a

forced alliance with Perdiccas, hastened by the calls of Potidaea

and by the arrival of Aristeus at that place. They withdrew from

Macedonia, going to Beroea and thence to Strepsa, and, after a

futile attempt on the latter place, they pursued by land their march

to Potidaea with three thousand heavy infantry of their own

citizens, besides a number of their allies, and six hundred Macedonian

horsemen, the followers of Philip and Pausanias. With these sailed

seventy ships along the coast. Advancing by short marches, on the

third day they arrived at Gigonus, where they encamped.

 

Meanwhile the Potidaeans and the Peloponnesians with Aristeus were

encamped on the side looking towards Olynthus on the isthmus, in

expectation of the Athenians, and had established their market outside

the city. The allies had chosen Aristeus general of all the

infantry;