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