Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 1.djvu/322

 2o6 THE DECREE AGAINST MYTILENt [ill also sent thither the Mytilenaeans whom he had deposited in Tencdos, and any others who seemed to have been implicated in the revolt. He then dismissed the greater part of his army, and, by the aid of the remainder, settled as seemed best to him the affairs of Mytilene and Lesbos. 3^ When the captives arrived at Athens the Athenians instantly put Salaethus to death, al- The Atfieniaiis put .i u u j • cr j c, „ t J ,1 J thoueh he made various otters, and Salaethus to death, and ^ _ ' order the slaughter of among Other things promised to pro- all the groivn-up citizens cure the withdrawal of the Pelopon- of lyiene. n te j^^gj^j^g from Plataea, which was still next day ihcv begin to ' repent, and the Myti- blockaded. Concerning the other cap- lenaean envoys per- tives a discussion was held, and in suade the magistrates to .1 • • j* ,.• i.u a iU • j ,, „ * ,, their indignation the Athenians de- call another assembly. ° termined to put to death not only the men then at Athens, but all the grown-up citizens of Mytilene, and to enslave the women and children.; the act of the Mytilenaeans appeared inexcusable, because they were not subjects like the other states which had revolted, but free. That Peloponnesian ships should have had the audacity to find their way to Ionia and assist the rebels contributed to increase their fury ; and the action showed that the revolt ^ was a long premeditated affair*. So they sent a trireme to Paches announcing their deter- mination, and bidding him put the Mytilenaeans to death at once. But on the following day a kind of remorse seized them ; they began to reflect that a decree which doomed to destruction not only the guilty, but a whole city, was cruel and rnonstrous. The Mytilenaean envoys who were at Athens ^ perceived the change of feeling, and they and the Athenians who were in their interest pre- vailed on the magistrates to bring the question again before the people ; this they were the more willing to do, because they saw themselves that the majority of the citizens were anxious to have an opportunity given them of reconsidering Or, ' was part of an extensive scheme.' '' Cp. iii. 28 med.