RETOLD BY H. L. HAVELL B. A.
FORMERLY SCHOLAR OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OXFORD
O my poor Kingdom, sick with civil blows!
SHAKESPEARE, Henry IV.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CORINTH AND CORCYRA
THE SURPRISE OF PLATAEA
THE PLAGUE AT ATHENS
INVESTMENT OF PLATAEA
NAVAL VICTORIES OF PHORMIO
THE REVOLT OF LESBOS
ESCAPE OF TWO HUNDRED PLATAEANS. FALL OF PLATAEA
CAPTURE OF A HUNDRED AND TWENTY SPARTANS AT SPHACTERIA
CAMPAIGNS OF BRASIDAS IN THRACE
THE HOLLOW PEACE
THE ATHENIANS IN SICILY
EPILOGUE
In a former volume we have traced the course of events which ended inthe complete overthrow of Xerxes and his great army. Our present taskis to describe the chief incidents in the cruel and devastating war,commonly known as the Peloponnesian War, which lasted for twenty-sevenyears, and finally broke up the Athenian Empire. The cause of that warwas the envy and hatred excited in the other states of Greece by thepower and greatness of Athens; and in order to make our storyintelligible we must indicate briefly the steps by which she rose tothat dangerous eminence, and drew upon herself the armed hostility ofhalf the Greek world.
We take up our narrative at the point of time when the Atheniansreturned to their ruined homes after the defeat of the Persians atPlataea. Of their ancient city nothing remained but a few houses whichhad served as lodgings for the Persian grandees, and some scatteredfragments of the surrounding wall. Their first task was to restore theouter line of defence, and by the advice of Themistocles the new walltook in a much wider circuit than the old rampart which had beendestroyed by the Persians. The whole population toiled night and day toraise the bulwark which was to guard their temples and their homes,using as materials the walls of the houses which had been sacked andburnt by the Persians, with whatever remained of public buildings,sacred or profane, and sparing not even the monumental pillars ofgraves in the urgency of their need.
But jealous eyes were watching them, and busy tongues were waggingagainst that gallant race of Attica which had been foremost in thecommon cause against the barbarian invader. "These Athenians aredangerous neighbours," was the cry. "Let us stop them from buildingtheir wall, or Athens will become a standing menace to ourselves."Before long these murmurs reached the ears of the Spartans, and theysent envoys to dissuade the Athenians from fortifying their city. Theirreal purpose was disguised under the mask of anxiety for the generalsafety of Greece. "It is not expedient," they urged, "that thePersians, when next they come against us, should find fencéd citieswhich they may make their strongholds, as they have lately done inAthens and in Thebes. Cease, therefore, from building this wall, andhelp us to destroy all such defences, outside of Peloponnesus. If weare attacked again, we will unite our forces within the isthmus, andmeet the invader from there."
But