History of the Peloponnesian War

But they saw that both the mainland and the island were full of hoplites, and that the Lacedaemonian ships were in the harbour and not intending to come out; they therefore, being at a loss where to anchor, sailed for the present to Prote, an uninhabited island not far from Pylos, and bivouacked there. The next day they set sail, having first made preparations to give battle in case the enemy should be inclined to come out into the open water to meet them;

if not, they intended to sail into the harbour themselves. Now the Lacedaemonians did not put out to meet the Athenians, and somehow they had neglected to block up the entrances as they had purposed; on the contrary, they remained inactive on the shore, engaged in manning their ships and making ready, in case any one sailed into the harbour, to fight there, since there was plenty of room.

As for the Athenians, when they saw the situation, they rushed in upon them by both entrances and falling upon their ships, most of which were by now afloat and facing forward, put them to flight, and since there was only a short distance for the pursuit,[*](Or, “giving chase so far as the short distance allowed, not only damaged . . .”) not only damaged many of them but also captured five, one of them with all her crew; the rest they kept on ramming even after they had fled to the shore. Yet other ships were being cut to pieces while still being manned, before they could put to sea; and some they took in tow empty, their crews having taken to flight, and began to haul them away.

At this sight the Lacedaemonian soldiers on the shore, beside themselves with grief at the impending calamity, in that their comrades were being cut off on the island, rushed to the rescue, and going down into the sea in full armour took hold of the ships and tried to drag them back.

Indeed, each man felt that no progress was being made where he himself was not at hand to help. The tumult that arose was great, especially since in this battle for the ships each side adopted the other's manner of fighting; for the Lacedaemonians in their eagerness and excitement were virtually waging a sea-fight from the land, while the Athenians, who were winning and wanted to follow up their success to the utmost while their good fortune lasted, were fighting a land-battle from their ships.

Finally, after causing each other great distress and inflicting much damage, they separated, the Lacedaemonians saving all their empty ships except those which had been taken at first.

Both sides then returned to their camps. The Athenians thereupon set up a trophy, gave back the dead, secured possession of the wrecks, and immediately began to sail round the island and keep it under guard, considering that the men on it were now cut off; on the other hand, the Peloponnesians on the mainland, and the reinforcements that had now arrived from all directions, remained in position at Pylos.

At Sparta, when they received the news of what had happened at Pylos, regarding it as a great calamity they decided that the magistrates should go down to the camp, see the situation for themselves, and then determine on the spot what should be done.

Now when these saw that no help could be given to the men on the island, and at the same time were unwilling to run the risk of their being starved to death or forced to succumb to superior numbers, they decided, so far as Pylos was concerned, to conclude a truce with the Athenian generals, if they should consent, and to send envoys to Athens to propose an agreement, and thus try to recover their men as quickly as possible.