Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 2.djvu/30

 22 FEARS OF THE ATHENIANS [iV poppy-seeds mixed with honey. At first they were not found out, but afterwards watches were posted. The two parties had all sorts of devices, the one determined to send in food, the other to detect them. 27 When the Athenians heard that their own army was The situation is re- suffering and that supplies were intro- portcd to be critical, duced into the island, they began to be ClcoH denies the reports, anxious and Were apprehensive that the The At/ieiitans tvant to ... .. ,, . . send comm.ssioncrs to blockade might extend mto the wmter. Pylos. Clean blames They reflected that the conveyance of the generals, and pro- neccssaries round the Peloponnese poses to send, not com- 111 1 • • 1 1 t^i • missioners, but a fleet, ^ould then be mipracticablc. Their He ivonldsoon take the troops Were in a desert place, to which, men if he ivere general, eyen ^^ summer, they Were not able to send a sufficient supply. The coast was without harbours ; and therefore it would be impossible to maintain the blockade. Either the watch would be relaxed and the men would escape ; or, taking advantage of a storm, they might sail away in the ships which brought them food. Above all they feared that the Lacedaemonians, who no longer made overtures to them, must now be reassured of the strength of their own position, and they regretted having rejected their advances. Cleon, knowing that he was an object of general mistrust because he had stood in the way of peace, challenged the reports of the messengers from Pylos ; who rejoined that, if their words were not believed, the Athenians should send commissioners of their own. And so Theogencs and Cleon himself were chosen commis- sioners. As he knew that he could only confirm the report of the messengers whom he was calumniating, or would be convicted of falsehood if he contradicted them, observing too that the Athenians were now more disposed to take active measures, he advised them not to send commissioners, which would only be a loss of valuable time, but, if they were themselves satisfied with the report, to send a fleet against the island. Pointedly alluding to Nicias the son of Niceratus, who was one of the generals and an enem}' of