Page:History of Greece Vol VIII.djvu/190

 168 HISTORY OF GREECE. las kept under strict watch. He at the same time sent for the full forces of Methymna and for hoplites across from Chios, so as to block up Mitylene by land as well as by sea. As soon as his b'iccess was announced, too, money for the fleet, together with separate presents for himself, which he declined receiving, 1 was immediately sent to him by Cyrus ; so that his future operations became easy. No preparations had been made at Mitylene for a siege : no stock of provisions had been accumulated, and the crowd within the walls was so considerable, that Konon foresaw but too plainlj the speedy exhaustion of his means. Nor could he expect suc- cor from Athens, unless he could send intelligence thither of his condition ; of which, as he had not been able to do so, the Athe- nians remained altogether ignorant. All his ingenuity was re- quired to get a trireme safe out of the harbor, in the face of the enemy's guard. Putting afloat two triremes, the best sailers in his fleet, and picking out the best rowers for them out of all the rest, he caused these rowers to go aboard before daylight, con- cealing the epibatae, or maritime soldiers, in the interior of the vessel, instead of the deck, which was their usual place, with a moderate stock of provisions, and keeping the vessel still covered with hides or sails, as was customary with vessels hauled ashore, to protect them against the sun. 2 These two triremes were thus 1 Plutarch, Apophth. Laconic, p. 222, E. 2 Xenoph. HeLen. i, 6, 19. KadeTiKvaai; (Konon) ~ui> VEUV Tuf upiara 7r/Uo{iaaf 6vo, inhf/puas irpb rifii-pas, ef airaauv TUV veuv roiif apiarovf kperai; eK/le^af, not roi)f im/Surae ef KOI^T/V vavv ^fra/?i/3uafl:f, nai rtl TT a pap pi) jjiara 7rapa/3a/lwv. The meaning of Trapappvpara is very uncertain. The commentators give little instruction ; nor can we be sure that the same thing is meant as is ex- pressed by TrapaphrinaTa (infra, ii, 1, 22). We may be quite sure that the matters meant by irapappv/iara were something which, if visible at all to a spectator without, would at least afford no indication that the trireme was intended for a speedy start ; otherwise, they would defeat the whole contri vance of Konon, whose aim was secrecy. It was essential that this tri- reme, though afloat, should be made to look as much as possible like to the other triremes which still remained hauled ashore ; in order that the Pelo- ponnesians might not suspect any purpose of departure. I have endeavored in the text to give a meaning which answers this purpose, without forsak- ing the explanations given by the commentators : see Boeckh, Ueber da Attische. See Wesen, ch. x, p. 159.