it. He had besides intelligence
in the above towns about their betrayal.

In the midst of his designs upon the towns in question, a galley
arrived with the commissioners carrying round the news of the armistice,
Aristonymus for the Athenians and Athenaeus for the Lacedaemonians. The
troops now crossed back to Torone, and the commissioners gave Brasidas
notice of the convention. All the Lacedaemonian allies in Thrace
accepted what had been done; and Aristonymus made no difficulty about
the rest, but finding, on counting the days, that the Scionaeans had
revolted after the date of the convention, refused to include them in
it. To this Brasidas earnestly objected, asserting that the revolt took
place before, and would not give up the town. Upon Aristonymus reporting
the case to Athens, the people at once prepared to send an expedition
to Scione. Upon this, envoys arrived from Lacedaemon, alleging that this
would be a breach of the truce, and laying claim to the town upon the
faith of the assertion of Brasidas, and meanwhile offering to submit the
question to arbitration. Arbitration, however, was what the Athenians
did not choose to risk; being determined to send troops at once to
the place, and furious at the idea of even the islanders now daring to
revolt, in a vain reliance upon the power of the Lacedaemonians by land.
Besides the facts of the revolt were rather as the Athenians contended,
the Scionaeans having revolted two days after the convention. Cleon
accordingly succeeded in carrying a decree to reduce and put to death
the Scionaeans; and the Athenians employed the leisure which they now
enjoyed in preparing for the expedition.

Meanwhile Mende revolted, a town in Pallene and a colony of the
Eretrians, and was received without scruple by Brasidas, in spite of its
having evidently come over during the armistice, on account of certain
infringements of the truce alleged by him against the Athenians. This
audacity of Mende was partly caused by seeing Brasidas forward in the
matter and by the conclusions drawn from his refusal to betray Scione;
and besides, the conspirators in Mende were few, and, as I have already
intimated, had carried on their practices too long not to fear detection
for themselves, and not to wish to force the inclination of the
multitude. This news made the Athenians more furious than ever, and they
at once prepared against both towns. Brasidas, expecting their arrival,
conveyed away to Olynthus