Page:History of Greece Vol VII.djvu/21

3 CONDITIONS OF THE PEACE. 3 Though the peace was sworn, therefore, the most powerful mem- bers of the Spartan confederacy remained all recusant. So strong was the interest of the Spartans themselves, how- ever, that having obtained the favorable vote of the majority, they resolved to carry the peace through, even at the risk of breaking up the confederacy. Besides the earnest desire of recovering their captives from the Athenians, they were farther alarmed by the fact that their truce for thirty years concluded with Argos was just now expiring. They had indeed made ap- plication to Argos for renewing it, through Lichas the Spartan proxenus of that city. But the Argeians had refused, except upon the inadmissible condition that the border territory of Ky- nuria should be ceded to them : there was reason to fear therefore that this new and powerful force might be thrown into the scale of Athens, if war were allowed to continue. 1 Accordingly, no sooner had the peace been sworn than the Spartans proceeded to execute its provisions. Lots being drawn to determine whether Sparta or Athens should be the first to make the cessions required, the Athenians drew the favorable lot : an advantage so very great, under the circumstances, that Theophrastus affirmed Nikias to have gained the point by bribery. There is no ground for believing such alleged bribery; the rather, as we shall presently find Nikias gratu- itously throwing away most of the benefit which the lucky lot conferred. 3 The Spartans began their compliance by forthwith releasing all the Athenian prisoners in their hands, and despatching Is- chagoras with two other envoys to Amphipolis and the Thracian towns. These envoys were directed to proclaim the peace as well as to enforce its observance upon the Thracian towns, and' especially to command Klearidas, the Spartan commander in Amphipolis, that he should surrender the town to the Athenians. But on arriving in Thrace, these envoys met with nothing but unanimous opposition : and so energetic were the remonstrances of the Chalkidians, both in Amphipolis and out of it, that even Klearidas refused obedience to his own government, pretending that he was not strong enough to surrender the place against the 1 Thtu-ji. v, 14, 22, 7(>. 2 Plutarch. Nikias, c. 10.