Chapter LII

SEVENTH YEAR OF THE WAR.—CAPTURE OF SPHAKTERIA.

Seventh year of the war—invasion of Attica.—Distress in Korkyra
from the attack of the oligarchical exiles. A Peloponnesian fleet
and an Athenian fleet are both sent thither.—Demosthenês goes
on board the Athenian fleet with a separate command.—He fixes
upon Pylus in Laconia for the erection of a fort. Locality of
Pylus and Sphakteria.—Eurymedon the admiral of the fleet insists
upon going on to Korkyra, without stopping at Pylus. The fleet
are driven into Pylus by a storm.—Demosthenês fortifies the
place, through the voluntary zeal of the soldiers. He is left
there with a garrison while the fleet goes on to Korkyra.—Slow
march of the Lacedæmonians to recover Pylus.—Preparations of
Demosthenês to defend Pylus against them.—Proceedings of the
Lacedæmonian army—they send a detachment to occupy the island
of Sphakteria, opposite Pylus.—They attack the place by sea
and land—gallant conduct of Brasidas in the attack on the
sea-side.—Return of Eurymedon and the Athenian fleet to Pylus.—He
defeats the Lacedæmonian fleet in the harbor of Pylus.—The
Lacedæmonian detachment is blocked up by the Athenian fleet in
the island of Sphakteria—armistice concluded at Pylus.—Mission
of Lacedæmonian envoys to Athens, to propose peace and solicit
the release of their soldiers in Sphakteria.—The Athenians,
at the instance of Kleon, require the restoration of Nisæa,
Pegæ, Trœzen, and Achaia, as conditions of giving up the men
in Sphakteria and making peace.—The envoys will not consent to
these demands—Kleon prevents negotiation—they are sent back
to Pylus without any result.—Remarks on this assembly and on
the conduct of Athens.—The armistice is terminated, and war
resumed at Pylus. Eurymedon keeps possession of the Lacedæmonian
fleet.—Blockade of Sphakteria by the Athenian fleet—difficulty
and hardships to the sea men of the fleet.—Protracted duration
and seeming uncertainty of the blockade—Demosthenês sends to
Athens for reinforcements to attack the island.—Proceedings in
the Athenian assembly on receiving this news—proposition of
Kleon—manœuvre of his political enemies to send him against his
will as general to Pylus.—Reflections upon this proceeding and
upon the conduct of parties at Athens.—Kleon goes to Pylus with
a reinforcement—condition of the island of Sphakteria—numbers
and positions of the Lacedæmonians in it.—Kleon and Demosthenês
land their forces in the island, and attack it.—Numerous light
troops of Demosthenês employed against the Lacedæmonians in
Sphakteria.—Distress of the Lacedæmonians—their bravery and
long resistance. They retreat to their last redoubt at the
extremity of the island. They are surrounded and forced to
surrender.—Astonishment caused throughout Greece by the
surrender of Lacedæmonian hoplites—diminished lustre of Spartan
arms.—Judgment pronounced by Thucydidês himself—reflections
upon it.—Prejudice of Thucydidês in regard to Kleon. Kleon
displayed sound judgment and decision, and was one of the
essential causes of the success.—Effect produced at Athens
by the arrival of the Lacedæmonian prisoners.—The Athenians
prosecute the war with increased hopefulness and vigor.
The Lacedæmonians make new advances for peace without
effect.—Remarks upon the policy of Athens—her chance was now
universally believed to be most favorable in prosecuting the
war.—Fluctuations in Athenian feeling for or against the war:
there were two occasions on which Kleon contributed to influence
them towards it.—Expedition of Nikias against the Corinthian
territory.—He reëmbarks—ravages Epidaurus—establishes a post
on the peninsula of Methana.—Eurymedon with the Athenian fleet
goes to Korkyra. Defeat and captivity of the Korkyræan exiles in
the island.—The captives are put to death—cruelty and horrors
in the proceeding.—Capture of Anaktorium by the Athenians
and Akarnanians.—Proceedings of the Athenians at Chios and
Lesbos.—The Athenians capture Artaphernes, a Persian envoy, on
his way to Sparta.—Succession of Persian kings—Xerxes, Artaxerxes
Longimanus, etc., Darius Nothus. 313-363