Page:History of Greece Vol VI.djvu/86

 64 HISTORY OF GREECE. to attack ; while his seamen had full leisure to contemplate. whal they would despise as the lubberly handling of the ships on both sides. All was confusion after the battle had been joined ; the ships on both sides became entangled, the oars broken and un- manageable, orders could neither be heard nor obeyed, and the individual valor of the hoplites and bowmen on deck was the decisive point on which victory turned. On the right wing of the Corinthians, the left of the Korky- roeans was victorious ; their twenty ships drove back the Am- brakiot allies of Corinth, and not only pursued them to the shore, but also landed and plundered the tents. Their rashness in thus keeping so long out of the battle proved incalculably mischievous, the rather as their total number was inferior : for their right whig, opposed to the best ships of Corinth, was after a hard struggle thoroughly beaten. Many of the ships were disabled, and the rest obliged to retreat as they could, a retreat which the victorious ships on the other wing might have protected, had there been any effective discipline in the fleet, but which now was only imperfectly aided by the ten Athenian ships under Lacedsemonius. These Athenians, though at first they obeyed the instructions from home, in abstaining from actual blows, yet, when the battle became doubtful, and still more, when the Corinthians were pressing their victory, could no longer keep aloof, but attacked the pursuers in good earnest, and did much to save the defeated Korkyrseans. As soon as the latter had been pursued as far as their own island, the victorious Corinthians returned to the scene of action, which was covered with disabled and water-logged ships, their own and their enemies, as well as with seamen, soldiers, and wounded men, either helpless aboard the wrecks, or keeping above water as well as they could, among them many of their own citizens and allies, especially on their defeated right wing. Through these disabled vessels they sailed, not attempting to tow them off, but looking only to the crews aboard, and making some of them prisoners, but putting the greater number to death : some even of their own allies were thus slain, not being easily distinguishable. They then picked up their own dead bodies as well as they could, and transported them to Sybota, the nearest point of the coast of Epirus ; after which they again mustered their fleet, and returned to resume