the Athenians, leaving a detachment to maintain the
blockade, returned with the rest of their army.

During the winter following, the Athenians and Lacedaemonians were
kept quiet by the armistice; but the Mantineans and Tegeans, and their
respective allies, fought a battle at Laodicium, in the Oresthid. The
victory remained doubtful, as each side routed one of the wings opposed
to them, and both set up trophies and sent spoils to Delphi. After heavy
loss on both sides the battle was undecided, and night interrupted
the action; yet the Tegeans passed the night on the field and set up
a trophy at once, while the Mantineans withdrew to Bucolion and set up
theirs afterwards.

At the close of the same winter, in fact almost in spring, Brasidas made
an attempt upon Potidaea. He arrived by night, and succeeded in planting
a ladder against the wall without being discovered, the ladder being
planted just in the interval between the passing round of the bell and
the return of the man who brought it back. Upon the garrison, however,
taking the alarm immediately afterwards, before his men came up, he
quickly led off his troops, without waiting until it was day. So ended
the winter and the ninth year of this war of which Thucydides is the
historian.

BOOK V

CHAPTER XV

_Tenth Year of the War--Death of Cleon and Brasidas--Peace of Nicias_

The next summer the truce for a year ended, after lasting until the
Pythian games. During the armistice the Athenians expelled the Delians
from Delos, concluding that they must have been polluted by some old
offence at the time of their consecration, and that this had been the
omission in the previous purification of the island, which, as I have
related, had been thought to have been duly accomplished by the removal
of the graves of the dead. The Delians had Atramyttium in Asia given
them by Pharnaces, and settled there as they removed from Delos.

Meanwhile Cleon prevailed on the Athenians to let him set sail at the
expiration of the armistice for the towns in the direction of Thrace
with twelve hundred heavy infantry and three hundred horse from Athens,
a large force of the allies, and thirty ships. First touching at the
still besieged Scione, and taking some heavy infantry from the army
there, he next sailed into Cophos, a harbour in the territory of
Torone, which is not far from the town. From thence, having learnt from
deserters that Brasidas was not in Torone, and that its garr