Page:History of Greece Vol VIII.djvu/305

 ATHENIAN EM.PIRK. 283 I lie rashness of her general Tolmides at Koroneia, deprived her of all her land-dependencies near home, and even threatened her with the loss of Eubrea. The peace concluded in 445 B.C. left her with all her maritime and insular empire, including Euboea, but with nothing more ; while by the loss of Megara she was now open to invasion from Peloponnesus. On this footing she remained at the beginning of the Pel ope n- nesian war fourteen years afterwards. I have shown that that war did not arise, as has been so often asserted, from aggressive or ambitious schemes on the part of Athens, but that, on the contrary, the aggression was all on the side of her enemies ; who were full of hopes that they could put her down with little delay; while she was not merely conservative and defensive, but even discouraged by the certainty of destructive invasion, and only dissuaded from concessions, alike imprudent and inglorious, by the extraordinary influence and resolute wisdom of Perikles. That great man comprehended well both the conditions and the limits of Athenian empire. Athens was now understood, espec- ially since the revolt and reconquest of the powerful island of Samos in 440 B.C., by her subjects and enemies as well as by her own citizens, to be mistress of the sea. It was the care of Perikles to keep that belief within definite boundaries, and to prevent all waste of the force of the city in making new or distant acquisitions which could not be permanently maintained. But it was also his care to enforce upon his countrymen the lesson of maintaining their existing empire unimpaired, and shrinking from no effort requisite for that end. Though their whole empire was now staked upon the chances of a perilous war, he did not hesitate to promise them success, provided that they adhered to this conservative policy. Following the events of the war, we shall find that Athens did adhere to it for the first seven years ; years of suffering and trial, from the destructive annual invasion, the yet more destruc- tive pestilence, and the revolt of Mitylene, but years which still left her empire unimpaired, and the promises of Perikles in fair chance of being realized. In the seventh year of the war occurred the unexpected victory at Sphakteria and the capture of the Lacedaemonian prisoners. This placed in the hands of the Athenians a capital advantage, imparting to them prodigioug