Page:History of Greece Vol VI.djvu/264

 242 HISTORY OF GREECE. the island of Patmos. It was there ascertain v that Alkidas had finally disappeared from the eastern waters, and the Athenian admiral, though he would have rejoiced to meet the Peloponne- sian fleet in the open sea, accounted it fortunate that they had not taken up a position in some Asiatic harbor, in which case it would have been necessary for him to undertake a troublesome and tedious blockade, 1 besides all the chances of revolt among the Athenian dependencies. "We shall see how much, in this respect, depended upon the personal character of the Lacedaemo- nian commander, when we come hereafter to the expedition of Brasidas. On his return from Patmos to Mitylene, Paches was induced to stop at Notium by the solicitations of some exiles. Notium was the port of Kolophon, from which it was some little distance, as Peiraeus was from Athens. 2 About three years before, a violent internal dissension had taken place in Kolophon, and one of the parties, invoking the aid of the Persian Itamanes (seemingly one of the generals of the satrap Pissuthnes), had placed him in possession of the town ; whereupon the opposite party, forced to retire, had established itself separately and independently at Notium. But the Kolo- phonians who remained in the town soon contrived to procure a party in Notium, whereby they were enabled to regain posses- sion of it, through the aid of a body of Arcadian mercenaries in the service of Pissuthnes. These Arcadians formed a standing garrison at Notium, in which they occupied a separate citadel, or fortified space, while the town became again attached as harbor to Kolophon. A considerable body of exiles, however, expelled on that occasion, now invoked the aid of Paches to reinstate them, and to expel the Arcadians. On reaching the place, the Athenian general prevailed upon Hippias, the Arcadian captain, to como forth to a parley, under the promise that, if nothing mutually satisfactory could be settled, he would again replace him, u safe and sound," in the fortification. But no sooner had the Arcadian come forth to this parley, than Paches, causing him to be de- tained under guard, but without fetters or ill-usage, immediately 1 Thucyd. iii, 33. 8 The dissensions between Notium and Y? lophon are noticed by Aristot Politic, v, 3, 2.