Page:History of Greece Vol VI.djvu/432

 410 HISTORY OF GREECE. Such easy conditions, when made known in the city, produced presently a sensible change of opinion among the citizens, proving acceptable both to Athenians and Amphipolitans, though on different grounds. 1 The properties of the citizens without, as well as many of their relatives, were all in the hands of Brasidas : no one counted upon the speedy arrival of reinforce- ment; and even if it did arrive, the city might be preserved, but the citizens without would still be either slain or made cap- tive : a murderous battle would ensue, and perhaps, after all, Brasidas, assisted by the party within, might prove victorious. The Athenian citizens in Amphipolis, knowing themselves to be exposed to peculiar danger, were perfectly well pleased with his offer, as extricating them from a critical position and procuring for them the means of escape, with comparatively little loss ; while the non- Athenian citizens, partakers in the same relief from peril, felt little reluctance in accepting a capitulation which preserved both their rights and their properties inviolate, and merely severed them from Athens, towards which city they felt, not hatred, but indifference. Above all, the friends and rela- tives of the citizens exposed in the out-region were strenuous in urging on the capitulation, so that the conspirators soon became bold enough to proclaim themselves openly, insisting upon the moderation of Brasidas and the prudence of admitting him. Eukles found that the tone of opinion, even among his own Athenians, was gradually turned against him, nor could he pre- vent the acceptance of the terms, and the admission of the enemy into the city, on that same day. No such resolution would have been adopted, had the citizens been aware how near at hand Thucydides and his forces were. The message despatched early in the morning from Amphipolis found him at Thasos with seven triremes; with which he instantly put to sea, so as to reach Eion at the mouth of the Strymon, within three miles of Amphipolis, on the same evening. 1 Thucyd iv, 106. Oi tie iroTJ.ol aKovaavref ul.s.o IOT epoi tyevovra rug yvw/iac, etc. The word uW-oiorepoi seems to indicate both the change or view, com- pared with what had been before, and new divergence introduced among themselves.