History of the Peloponnesian War

And having sent them, they spoke as follows:

You do wrong, Athenians, in beginning war, and breaking treaty: for while we are avenging ourselves on our enemies, you stand in our way, and raise arms against us. Now if your purpose is to stop our sailing to Corcyra, or wherever else we wish, and if you mean to break the treaty, [*](λύετε is the present tense with a kind of future signification, as it often has. If you are for breaking, etc.) then seize us here in the first place, and treat us as enemies.

They spoke to this effect, and all the army of the Corcyraeans that heard them immediately cried out,

Seize them and put them to death!

We are neither commencing war, Peloponnesians, nor breaking the treaty; but we have come to assist the Corcyraeans here, who are our allies. If therefore you wish to sail any where else, we do not stop you; but if you sail against Corcyra, or to any of the places belonging to them, we shall, to the best of our power, not permit it.

The Athenians having made this reply, the Corinthians began to prepare for their voyage homewards, and erected a trophy at Sybota on the continent: while the Corcyraeans took up the wrecks and dead bodies which had been carried to them by the current and the wind, which had risen in the night, and scattered them in all directions; and erected a counter-trophy at Sybota on the island, considering that they had been victorious.

It was on the following view of the case that each side claimed the victory.—The Corinthians erected a trophy, as having had the advantage in the battle until night, so that they got possession of most wrecks and dead bodies; as having no less than a thousand prisoners; and as having sunk more than seventy ships. The Corcyraeans erected a trophy for these reasons;—because they had destroyed about thirty ships; and after the Athenians were come, had taken up the wrecks and dead on their side; and because the Corinthians the day before had rowed sternwards and retreated from them, on seeing the Athenian ships; and after they were come, [*]( Arnold repeats the οἱ ʼαθηναῖοι with ἦλθον, and refers to chap. 52. 2, which, he thinks, decides that the words are rightly inserted, and that the Athenians are the real subject of the verb ἦλθον, Poppo puts the words in brackets, and Göller omits them altogether.) did not sail out from Sybota to oppose them. Thus each side claimed to be victorious.

As the Corinthians were sailing away homeward, they took by treachery Anactorium, which is situated at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf, and was possessed in common by the Corcyraeans and them; and after establishing in it a Corinthian population [only], [*]( i. e. to the exclusion of the Corcyraeans, who had before had joint possession of the town with them.) they retired homewards; and of the Corcyraeans, eight hundred who were slaves they sold, but two hundred and fifty they kept in custody, and treated with great attention, that on their return they might win over Corcyra to them. For most of them happened to be the first men of the city in power.

Corcyra then in this way outlived the war [*]( Or, as Göller interprets it, had the better of the war. ) with the Corinthians; and the ships of the Athenians returned from it. This was the first ground the Corinthians had for their war against the Athenians, namely, that in time of peace they had fought with them by sea in conjunction with the Corcyraeans.