Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 2.djvu/56

 48 UNDUE ELATION OF THE ATHENIANS [iv might join if they pleased. The}' assented; the treaty was concluded ; and so the Athenian ships sailed away from Sicily. When the generals returned the Athenians punished two of them, Pythodorus and Sophocles, with exile, and imposed a fine on the third, Eurymedon, be- lieving that they might have conquered Sicily but had been bribed to go away. For in their present prosperity they were indignant at the idea of a reverse ; they expected to accomplish everything, possible or impossible, with any force, great or small. The truth was that they were elated by the unexpected success of most of their enter- prises, which inspired them with the liveliest hope. 66 During the same summer the citizens of Megara were ^, ., hard pressed by the Athenians, who The ciUsetis of Me-. "^ . gara, thinking it better twice every year mvaded the country to have one enemy with their whole army % as well as by than two, propose to th^jj. ^^^1 exiles in Pegae, who had restore the exiles. The ., . , , , . popn/ar leaders in ^cen driven out by the people m a alarm enter into nego- revolution'', and Were Continually iiation with the Athen- harassing and plundering them. So they conferred together upon the ad- visability of recalling the exiles, lest they should expose the city to destruction from the attacks of two enemies at once. The friends of the exiles became aware of the agitation and ventured to urge the measure more openly than hitherto. But the popular leaders, knowing that their partisans were in great extremity and could not be trusted to hold out in support of them much longer, took alarm and entered into negotiation with the Athenian generals, Hippocrates the son of Ariphron, and Demo- sthenes the son of Alcisthenes. They thought that they would incur less danger by surrendering the city to them than by the restoration of the exiles whom they had them- selves expelled. So they agreed that the Athenians should in the first place seize their Long Walls <=, which were Cp. ii. 31. ^ Cp. iii. 68 med. "^ Cp. i. 103 fin.