History of the Peloponnesian War

When the Thebans heard of this event they hastened to the rescue, and overtaking the Thracians before they had advanced far they took away their booty and putting them to flight pursued them to the Euripus, where the boats which had brought them lay at anchor.

And most of those who fell were slain by the Thebans during the embarkation, for they could not swim, and the crews of the boats, when they saw what was happening on shore, anchored the boats beyond bowshot; for elsewhere as they were retreating[*](Thucydides explains why their chief loss was “during the embarkation.”) the Thracians made their defence against the Theban cavalry, which was the first to attack them, not unskilfully, dashing out against them and closing up their ranks again after the manner of fighting peculiar to their country, and in this few of them perished. And a certain number also were slain in the town itself, being caught there while engaged in plundering. All together there were slain of the Thracians two hundred and fifty out of thirteen hundred.

Of the Thebans and the others who took part in the rescue, in all about twenty horsemen and hoplites perished, and among them Scirphondas, one of the Theban Boeotarchs; and of the population of Mycalessus a considerable portion lost their lives. Such was the fate of Mycalessus, which suffered a calamity that, for the size of the city, was not less deplorable than any of the events of this war.

At this time Demosthenes had finished building the fort in Laconia and was on his way to Corcyra;[*](cf. 7.26.3.) at Pheia[*](The port of Olympia.) in Elis he found lying at anchor a merchant-ship in which the Corinthian hoplites[*](cf. 7.17.3; 7.19.4.) were about to be carried across to Sicily, and destroyed it; but the crew and the hoplites, having escaped, afterwards found another vessel, and continued their voyage.

After this Demosthenes arrived at Zacynthus and Cephallenia, where he took on board some hoplites and sent to the Messenians of Naupactus for others; he then crossed over to the opposite mainland of Acarnania,[*](The scene of his campaign in the summer of 426 B. C. (iii. 94 ff.)) to the ports of Alyzeia and Anactorium, which the Athenians held.

While he was attending to these matters, he was met by Eurymedon, who was returning from Sicily, whither he had been sent during the preceding winter[*](cf. 7.16.2.) with the money for the army; and he reported, among other things, that when he was already on his return voyage he had heard of the capture of Plemmyrium by the Syracusans.

These two were joined by Conon,[*](Prominent toward the end of the Peloponnesian War and, later, restorer of the walls of Athens.) who was in command at Naupactus and brought word that the twenty-five Corinthian ships[*](cf. 7.17.4; 7.19.5.) which were lying at anchor opposite them did not abandon their hostile attitude, but were intending to fight. He therefore begged them to send him some ships, on the ground that his own eighteen ships were too few to contend against the twenty-five of the enemy.

Accordingly Demosthenes and Eurymedon sent with Conon ten ships, the best sailers of all their fleet, to reinforce the ships at Naupactus. They then directed their own attention to the preparations for collecting troops for the expedition, Eurymedon sailing to Corcyra, where he made levies of hoplites and directed the Corcyraeans to man fifteen ships—he was now exercising the joint command with Demosthenes, to which he had been elected, and turned his face again toward Sicily—while Demosthenes gathered slingers and javelin-men from the region of Acarnania.