History of the Peloponnesian War

But when this took no effect, and money was spent to no purpose, Megabazus returned with the money he had left into Asia.

And then was Megabazus the son of Zopyrus, a Persian, sent into Egypt with great forces, and coming in by land overthrew the Egyptians and their confederates in a battle, drave the Grecians out of Memphis, and finally inclosed them in the isle of Prosopis. There he besieged them a year and a half, till such time as having drained the channel and turned the water another way, he made their galleys lie aground and the island for the most part continent, and so came over and won the island with land soldiers.

Thus was the army of the Grecians lost after six years' war; and few of many passing through Africa saved themselves in Cyrene, but the most perished.

So Egypt returned to the obedience of the king except only Amyrtaeus that reigned in the fens. For him they could not bring in, both because the fens are great, and the people of the fens of all the Egyptians the most warlike.

But Inarus, king of the Africans and author of all this stir in Egypt, was taken by treason and crucified.

The Athenians moreover had sent fifty galleys more into Egypt for a supply of those that were there already, which putting in at Mendesium, one of the mouths of Nilus, knew nothing of what had happened to the rest, and being assaulted from the land by the army and from the sea by the Phoenician fleet, lost the greatest part of their galleys and escaped home again with the lesser part. Thus ended the great expedition of the Athenians and their confederates into Egypt.

Also Orestes the son of Echecratidas, king of the Thessalians, driven out of Thessaly, persuaded the Athenians to restore him. And the Athenians, taking with them the Boeotians and Phoceans, their confederates, made war against Pharsalus, a city of Thessaly, and were masters of the field as far as they strayed not from the army (for the Thessalian horsemen kept them from straggling) but could not win the city nor yet perform anything else of what they came for but came back again without effect and brought Orestes with them.