History of The Peloponnesian War - Book V   

Meanwhile the popular party at Argos little by little gathered new
consistency and courage, and waited for the moment of the
Gymnopaedic festival at Lacedaemon, and then fell upon the
oligarchs. After a fight in the city, victory declared for the
commons, who slew some of their opponents and banished others. The
Lacedaemonians for a long while let the messages of their friends at
Argos remain without effect. At last they put off the Gymnopaediae and
marched to their succour, but learning at Tegea the defeat of the
oligarchs, refused to go any further in spite of the entreaties of
those who had escaped, and returned home and kept the festival.
Later on, envoys arrived with messages from the Argives in the town
and from the exiles, when the allies were also at Sparta; and after
much had been said on both sides, the Lacedaemonians decided that
the party in the town had done wrong, and resolved to march against
Argos, but kept delaying and putting off the matter. Meanwhile the
commons at Argos, in fear of the Lacedaemonians, began again to
court the Athenian alliance, which they were convinced would be of the
greatest service to them; and accordingly proceeded to build long
walls to the sea, in order that in case of a blockade by land; with
the help of the Athenians they might have the advantage of importing
what they wanted by sea. Some of the cities in Peloponnese were also
privy to the building of these walls; and the Argives with all their
people, women and slaves not excepted, addressed themselves to the
work, while carpenters and masons came to them from Athens.
Summer was now over. The winter following the Lacedaemonians,
hearing of the walls that were building, marched against Argos with
their allies, the Corinthians excepted, being also not without
intelligence in the city itself; Agis, son of Archidamus, their
king, was in command. The intelligence which they counted upon
within the town came to nothing; they however took and razed the walls
which were being built, and after capturing the Argive town Hysiae and
killing all the freemen that fell into their hands, went back and
dispersed every man to his city. After this the Argives marched into
Phlius and plundered it for harbouring their exiles, most of whom
had settled there, and so returned home. The same winter the Athenians
blockaded Macedonia, on the score of the league entered into by
Perdiccas with the Argives and Lacedaemonians, and also of his
breach of his engagements on the occasion of the expedition prepared
by Athens against the Chalcidians in the direction of Thrace and
against Amphipolis, under the command of Nicias, son of Niceratus,
which had to be broken up mainly because of his desertion. He was
therefore proclaimed an enemy. And thus the winter ended, and the
fifteenth year of the war ended with it.

CHAPTER XVII.

Sixteenth Year of the War - The Melian
Conference - Fate of Melos

THE next summer Alcibiades sailed with twenty ships to Argos and
seized the suspected persons still left of the Lacedaemonian faction
to the number of three hundred, whom the Athenians forthwith lodged in
the neighbouring islands of their empire. The Athenians also made an
expedition against the isle of Melos with thirty ships of their own,
six Chian, and two Lesbian vessels, sixteen hundred heavy infantry,
three hundred archers, and twenty mounted archers from Athens, and
about fifteen hundred heavy infantry from the allies and the
islanders. The Melians are a colony of Lacedaemon that would not
submit to the Athenians like the other islanders, and at first
remained neutral and took no part in the struggle, but afterwards upon
the Athenians using violence and plundering their territory, assumed
an attitude of open hostility. Cleomedes, son of Lycomedes, and
Tisias, son of Tisimachus, the generals, encamping in their
territory with the above armament, before doing any harm to their