ten ships, which
were of little value to the Korkyreans, and gave a great handle to his
enemies to use against him, and in consequence sent a larger force after
them to Korkyra, which arrived there after the battle. The Corinthians,
enraged at this, complained in the congress of Sparta of the conduct of
the Athenians, as did also the Megarians, who said that they were
excluded from every market and every harbour which was in Athenian
hands, contrary to the ancient rights and common privileges of the
Hellenic race. The people of Aegina also considered themselves to be
oppressed and ill-treated, and secretly bemoaned their grievances in the
ears of the Spartans, for they dared not openly bring any charges
against the Athenians. At this time, too, Potidaea, a city subject to
Athens, but a colony of Corinth, revolted, and its siege materially
hastened the outbreak of the war. Archidamus, indeed, the king of the
Lacedaemonians, sent ambassadors to Athens, was willing to submit all
disputed points to arbitration, and endeavoured to moderate the
excitement of his allies, so that war probably would not have broken out
if the Athenians could have been persuaded to rescind their decree of
exclusion against the Megarians, and to come to terms with them. And,
for this reason, Perikles, who was particularly opposed to this, and
urged the people not to give way to the Megarians, alone bore the blame
of having begun the war.

XXX. It is said, that when an embassy arrived at Athens from Lacedaemon
to treat upon these matters, Perikles argued that there was a law which
forbade the tablet, on which the decree against the Megarians was
written, to be taken down. "Then," said Polyalkes, one of the
ambassadors, "do not take it down, but turn it with its face to the
wall; for there is no law against that!"

Clever as this retort was, it had no effect on Perikles. He had, it
seems, some private spite at the Megarians, though the ground of quarrel
which he put publicly forward was that the Megarians had applied to
their own use some of the sacred ground; and he passed a decree for a
herald to be sent to the Megarians, and then to go on to the
Lacedaemonians to complain of their conduct. This decree of Perikles is
worded in a candid and reasonable manner; but the herald,
Anthemokritus, was thought to have met his death at the hands of the
Megarians, and Charinus passed a decree to the effect that Athens should
wage war against them to the de