History of the Peloponnesian War

Such abundant grounds had Pericles at that time for his own forecast that Athens might quite easily have triumphed in this war over the Peloponnesians alone.

During the same summer the Lacedaemonians and their allies made an expedition with a hundred ships to the island of Zacynthus, which lies over against Elis. The Zacynthians are colonists of the Achaeans in the Peloponnesus and were in alliance with the Athenians.

On board the ships were one thousand Lacedaemonian hoplites, and Cnemus a Spartan was admiral. And making a descent upon the land they ravaged most of it; but as the inhabitants would not come to terms they sailed back home.

And at the end of the same summer[*](430 B.C.) Aristeus a Corinthian, three Lacedaemonian envoys, Aneristus, Nicolaus, and Pratodamus, also Timagoras of Tegea and Pollis of Argos, the last acting in a private capacity,[*](Because Argos was a neutral state: Thuc. 2.9.2.) set out for Asia to the King's court to see if they might persuade him to furnish money and join in the war. On their way they came first to Sitalces son of Teres in Thrace, their desire being to persuade him, if possible, to forsake the Athenian alliance and send a force to relieve Potidaea, where an Athenian army was conducting the siege; and also, in pursuance of their object, with his help to cross the Hellespont to Pharnaces[*](Then Satrap of Dascylium; Thuc. 1.129.1.) son of Pharnabazus, who was to escort them up the country to

the King. But two Athenian envoys, Learchus son of Callimachus and Ameiniades son of Philemon, who chanced to be visiting Sitalces, urged Sadocus son of Sitalces, who had been made an Athenian citizen,[*](Thuc. 2.29.5.) to deliver the men into their hands, that they might not cross over to the King and do such injury as might be to his

adopted city.[*](Possibly τὴν ἐκείνου πόλιν τὸ μέρος means a city in a measure his own.)To this Sadocus agreed, and sending some troops to accompany Learchus and Ameiniades, seized them as they journeyed through Thrace before they embarked on the boat by which they were to cross the Hellespont. They were then, in accordance with his orders, delivered to the Athenian envoys, who took them and brought them