em ships, during this time their cause
went to ruin. The Corinthians however, being at this time exceedingly
friendly with them, gave the Athenians twenty ships at their request;
and these they gave by selling them at five drachmas apiece, for by the
law it was not permitted to give them as a free gift. Having taken these
ships of which I speak and also their own, the Athenians with seventy
ships manned in all sailed to Egina, and they were later by one day than
the time agreed..

90. Nicodromos meanwhile, as the Athenians did not come to his support
at the proper time, embarked in a ship and escaped from Egina, and
with him also went others of the Eginetans; and the Athenians gave them
Sunion to dwell in, starting from whence these men continued to plunder
the Eginetans who were in the island..

91. This happened afterwards: but at the time of which we speak the
well-to-do class among the Eginetans prevailed over the men of the
people, who had risen against them in combination with Nicodromos, and
then having got them into their power they were bringing their prisoners
forth to execution. From this there came upon them a curse which they
were not able to expiate by sacrifice, though they devised against it
all they could; but they were driven forth from the island before the
goddess became propitious to them. For they had taken as prisoners
seven hundred of the men of the people and were bringing them forth to
execution, when one of them escaped from his bonds and fled for refuge
to the entrance of the temple of Demeter the Giver of Laws, 81 and he
took hold of the latch of the door and clung to it; and when they found
that they could not drag him from it by pulling him away, they cut off
his hands and so carried him off, and those hands remained clinging to
the latch of the door..

92. Thus did the Eginetans to one another: and when the Athenians came,
they fought against them with seventy ships, and being worsted in
the sea-fight they called to their assistance the same whom they had
summoned before, namely the Argives. These would no longer come to their
help, having cause of complaint because the ships of Egina compelled
by Cleomenes had put in to the land of Argos and their crews had landed
with the Lacedemonians; with whom also had landed men from ships of
Sikyon in this same invasion: and as a penalty for this there was laid
upon them by the Argives a fine of a thousand talents, five hundred
for each State. T