History of the Peloponnesian War

And being alarmed, he both sent to Lacedaemon, and tried to contrive that they might be involved in war with the Peloponnesians, and endeavoured to win over the Corinthians, with a view to Potidaea's revolting;

and made proposals also to the Thrace-ward Chalcidians and the Bottiaeans to join in the revolt, thinking that if he had in alliance with him these places on his borders, he should more easily carry on the war in conjunction with them.

The Athenians perceiving these things, and wishing to anticipate the revolt of the cities, as they happened to be sending out thirty ships and a thousand heavy-armed against his country, with Archestratus, the son of Lycomedes, as general with ten others, gave orders to the commanders of the fleet to take hostages of the Potidaeans, and throw down the wall, and keep a watchful eye over the neighbouring cities, to prevent their revolting.

Now the Potidaeans sent ambassadors to the Athenians, to try if by any means they might persuade them to adopt no new measures against them; and went also to Lacedaemon in company with the Corinthians, to provide themselves with assistance, should it be necessary; and when, after long negotiating, they obtained no favourable answer from the Athenians, but the ships commissioned against Macedonia were sailing just as much against them and when the authorities at Lacedaemon promised them, that should the Athenians go against Potidaea, they would make an incursion into Attica; then indeed, at that favourable moment, they revolted with the Chalcidians and Bottiaeans, having entered into a league together.

And Perdiccas persuaded the Chalcidians to abandon and throw down their cities on the sea, and remove inland to Olynthus, and make that one city a place of strength for themselves. And to those who abandoned them he gave a part of his own territory in Mygdonia, round lake Bolbe, to enjoy as long as the war with the Athenians lasted. And so, throwing down their cities, they removed inland, and prepared for war.

The thirty ships of the Athenians arrived at the Thraceward towns, and found Potidaea and the rest in revolt:

and the generals thinking it impossible with their present force to carry on war both with Philip and the revolted towns, turned their attention to Macedonia, the object for which they were first sent out; and having established themselves there, [*]( i. e. Quum eo venissent, castra posuissent. —Bauer as quoted by Göller. Or it may mean no more than having set to, as in the passages quoted in the note on chap. 49. 3.) carried on the war in conjunction with Philip and the brothers of Derdas, who had invaded the country with an army from the interior.

And at this time, when Potidaea had revolted and the Athenian ships were cruising about Macedonia, the Corinthians, being alarmed for the place, and considering the danger to affect themselves, sent volunteers of their own people and mercenaries of the rest of the Peloponnesians, sixteen hundred heavy-armed in all and four hundred light-armed.

Their general was Aristeus, the son of Adimantus; and it was from friendship for him especially that most of the soldiers from Corinth joined the expedition as volunteers; for he was always favourably disposed towards the Potidaeans.