him at Eleusis or the
Thriasian plain, he tried if they could be provoked to a sally by the
spectacle of a camp at Acharnae. He thought the place itself a good
position for encamping; and it seemed likely that such an important
part of the state as the three thousand heavy infantry of the Acharnians
would refuse to submit to the ruin of their property, and would force
a battle on the rest of the citizens. On the other hand, should the
Athenians not take the field during this incursion, he could then
fearlessly ravage the plain in future invasions, and extend his advance
up to the very walls of Athens. After the Acharnians had lost their own
property they would be less willing to risk themselves for that of their
neighbours; and so there would be division in the Athenian counsels.
These were the motives of Archidamus for remaining at Acharnae.

In the meanwhile, as long as the army was at Eleusis and the Thriasian
plain, hopes were still entertained of its not advancing any nearer. It
was remembered that Pleistoanax, son of Pausanias, king of Lacedaemon,
had invaded Attica with a Peloponnesian army fourteen years before, but
had retreated without advancing farther than Eleusis and Thria, which
indeed proved the cause of his exile from Sparta, as it was thought
he had been bribed to retreat. But when they saw the army at Acharnae,
barely seven miles from Athens, they lost all patience. The territory of
Athens was being ravaged before the very eyes of the Athenians, a sight
which the young men had never seen before and the old only in the
Median wars; and it was naturally thought a grievous insult, and the
determination was universal, especially among the young men, to sally
forth and stop it. Knots were formed in the streets and engaged in hot
discussion; for if the proposed sally was warmly recommended, it was
also in some cases opposed. Oracles of the most various import were
recited by the collectors, and found eager listeners in one or other of
the disputants. Foremost in pressing for the sally were the Acharnians,
as constituting no small part of the army of the state, and as it was
their land that was being ravaged. In short, the whole city was in a
most excited state; Pericles was the object of general indignation; his
previous counsels were totally forgotten; he was abused for not leading
out the army which he commanded, and was made responsible for the whole
of the public suffering.

He, meanwhile, seeing anger