Page:History of Greece Vol VI.djvu/92

 70 HISTORY OF GREECE. claimed enmity, but was obliged to confine himself to the attack of Perdikkas in Macedonia, not having numbers enough to admit cf a division of his force. He accordingly laid siege to Therma, in cooperation with the Macedonian troops from the upper coun- try, under Philip and the brothers of Derdas ; after taking that place, he next proceeded to besiege Pydna. But it would prob- ably have been wiser had he turned his whole force instantly to the blockade of Potidoea ; for during the period of more than six weeks that he spent in the operations against Therma, the Corinthians conveyed to Potidtea a reinforcement of sixteen mindred hoplites and four hundred light-armed, partly their own citizens, partly Peloponnesians, hired for the occasion, under Aristeus, son of Adeimantus, a man of such eminent popularity, both at Corinth and at Potidasa, that most of the soldiers volun- teered on his personal account. Potidnea was thus put into a state of complete defence shortly after the news of its revolt reached Athens, and long before any second armament could be sent to attack it, A second ai'mament, however, was speedily sent forth, forty triremes and two thousand Athenian hoplites, under Kallias, son of Kalliades, 1 with four other commanders, who, on reaching the Thermaic gulf, joined the former body at the siege of Pydna. After prosecuting the siege in vain for a short time, they found themselves obliged to patch up an accom- modation on the best terms they could with Perdikkas, from the necessity of commencing immediate operations against Aristeus and Potidaea. They then quitted Macedonia, first crossing by sea from Pydna to the eastern coast of the Thermaic gulf, next attacking, though without effect, the town of Beroca, and then marching by land along the eastern coast of the gulf, in the direction of Potidsea. On the third day of easy march, they reached the seaport called Gigonus, near which they encamped. 2 1 Kallias was a young Athenian of noble family, who had paid the large sum of one hundred minse to Zeno of Elea, the philosopher, for rhetorical, philosophical, and sophistical instruction (Plato, Alkibiades, i, c. 31, p. 119). ical difficulties which the critics have not adequately estimated. Are we to assume as certain, that the Bercm here mentioned must be the Macedonian town of that name, afterwards so well known, distant from the sea west- vrird one hundred and sixty stadia, or nearly twenty English miles (see
 * Thncyd. i, 61. The statement of Thucydides presents some geograph-