Hellenica | Page 9

he presently appeared before the walls of Byzantium
at the head of the men of Chersonese, who came out with their whole
force; he was aided further by troops from Thrace and more than three
hundred horse. Accordingly Pharnabazus, insisting that he too must
take the oath, decided to remain in Chalcedon, and to await his arrival
from Byzantium. Alcibiades came, but was not prepared to bind
himself by any oaths, unless Pharnabazus would, on his side, take oaths
to himself. After this, oaths were exchanged between them by proxy.
Alcibiades took them at Chrysopolis in the presence of two
representatives sent by Pharnabazus--namely, Mitrobates and Arnapes.
Pharnabazus took them at Chalcedon in the presence of Euryptolemus
and Diotimus, who represented Alcibiades. Both parties bound
themselves not only by the general oath, but also interchanged personal
pledges of good faith.
[1] The MSS. here give the words, "in the ephorate of Pantacles and the
archonship of Antigenes, two-and-twenty years from the beginning of
the war," but the twenty-second year of the war = B.C. 410; Antigenes
archon, B.C. 407 = Ol. 93, 2; the passage must be regarded as a note
mis-inserted by some editor or copyist (vide supra, I. 11.)

[2] I.e. sacred place or temple of Heracles.
[3] Twenty talents = 4800 pounds; or, more exactly, 4875 pounds.
This done, Pharnabazus left Chalcedon at once, with injunctions that
those who were going up to the king as ambassadors should meet him
at Cyzicus. The representatives of Athens were Dorotheus, Philodices,
Theogenes, Euryptolemus, and Mantitheus; with them were two
Argives, Cleostratus and Pyrrholochus. An embassy of the
Lacedaemonians was also about to make the journey. This consisted of
Pasippidas and his fellows, with whom were Hermocrates, now an exile
from Syracuse, and his brother Proxenus. So Pharnabazus put himself
at their head. Meanwhile the Athenians prosecuted the siege of
Byzantium; lines of circumvallation were drawn; and they diversified
the blockade by sharpshooting at long range and occasional assaults
upon the walls. Inside the city lay Clearchus, the Lacedaemonian
governor, and a body of Perioci with a small detachment of
Neodamodes.[4] There was also a body of Megarians under their
general Helixus, a Megarian, and another body of Boeotians, with their
general Coeratadas. The Athenians, finding presently that they could
effect nothing by force, worked upon some of the inhabitants to betray
the place. Clearchus, meanwhile, never dreaming that any one would be
capable of such an act, had crossed over to the opposite coast to visit
Pharnabazus; he had left everything in perfect order, entrusting the
government of the city to Coeratadas and Helixus. His mission was to
obtain pay for the soldiers from the Persian satrap, and to collect
vessels from various quarters. Some were already in the Hellespont,
where they had been left as guardships by Pasippidas, or else at
Antandrus. Others formed the fleet which Agesandridas, who had
formerly served as a marine[5] under Mindarus, now commanded on
the Thracian coast. Others Clearchus purposed to have built, and with
the whole united squadron to so injure the allies of the Athenians as to
draw off the besieging army from Byzantium. But no sooner was he
fairly gone than those who were minded to betray the city set to work.
Their names were Cydon, Ariston, Anaxicrates, Lycurgus, and
Anaxilaus. The last-named was afterwards impeached for treachery in
Lacedaemon on the capital charge, and acquitted on the plea that, to
begin with, he was not a Lacedaemonian, but a Byzantine, and, so far
from having betrayed the city, he had saved it, when he saw women

and children perishing of starvation; for Clearchus had given away all
the corn in the city to the Lacedaemonian soldiers. It was for these
reasons, as Anaxilaus himself admitted, he had introduced the enemy,
and not for the sake of money, nor out of hatred to Lacedaemon.
[4] According to the constitution of Lacedaemon the whole government
was in Dorian hands. The subject population was divided into (1)
Helots, who were State serfs. The children of Helots were at times
brought up by Spartans and called "Mothakes"; Helots who had
received their liberty were called "Neodamodes" ({neodamodeis}).
After the conquest of Messenia this class was very numerous. (2)
Perioeci. These were the ancient Achaean inhabitants, living in towns
and villages, and managing their own affairs, paying tribute, and
serving in the army as heavy-armed soldiers. In 458 B.C. they were
said to number thirty thousand. The Spartans themselves were divided,
like all Dorians, into three tribes, Hylleis, Dymanes, and Pamphyli,
each of which tribes was divided into ten "obes," which were again
divided into {oikoi} or families possessed of landed properties. In 458
B.C. there were said to be nine thousand such families; but in course of
time, through alienation of lands, deaths in