History of the Peloponnesian War

Before, however, the fleet dispersed which had retired to Corinth and the Crisaean Bay, Cnemus, Brasidas, and the rest of the Peloponnesian commanders wished, at the suggestion of the Megareans, to make an attempt upon Piraeus, the port of Athens; which, as was natural from their decided superiority at sea, was left unguarded and open.

It was determined, therefore, that each man should take his oar, and cushion, and [*]( Supposed to have been a thong, or rope, wound round the loom of a portlock oar, and serving the triple purpose of a counterpoise, a nut, and a loop. See Arnold, vol. i. Appendix 3.) tropoter, and go by land from Corinth to the sea on the side of Athens; and that after proceeding as quickly as possible to Megara, they should launch from its port, Nisaea, forty vessels that happened to be there, and sail straightway to Piraeus. For there was neither any fleet keeping guard before it, nor any thought of the enemy ever sailing against it in so sudden a manner;

and as for their venturing to do it openly and deliberately, they supposed that either they would not think of it, or themselves would not fail to be aware beforehand, if they should. Having adopted this resolution, they proceeded immediately [to execute it];

and when they had arrived by night, and launched the vessels from Nisaea, they sailed, not against Athens as they had intended, for they were afraid of the risk, ( [*](τις is here used, I think, with that signification of contempt which it sometimes conveys; to mark the writer's utter disbelief of the report alluded to.) some wind or other was also said to have prevented them,) but to the headland of Salamis looking towards Megara; where there was a fort, and a guard of three ships to prevent any thing from being taken in or out of Megara. So they assaulted the fort, and towed off the triremes empty; and making a sudden attack on the rest of Salamis, they laid it waste.

Now fire-signals of an enemy's approach were raised towards Athens, and a consternation was caused by them not exceeded by any during the whole war. For those in the city imagined that the enemy had already sailed into Piraeus; while those in Piraeus thought that Salamis had been taken, and that they were all but sailing into their harbours: which indeed, if they would but have not been afraid of it, might easily have been done; and it was not a wind that would have prevented it.

But at day-break the Athenians went all in a body to Piraeus to resist the enemy; and launched their ships, and going on board with haste and much uproar, sailed with the fleet to Salamis, while with their land-forces they mounted guard at Piraeus.

When the Peloponnesians saw them coming to the rescue, after overrunning the greater part of Salamis, and taking both men and booty, and the three ships from the port of Budorum, they sailed for Nisaea as quickly as they could; for their vessels too caused them some alarm, as they had been launched after lying idle a long time, and were not at all water-tight. On their arrival at Megara they returned again to Corinth by land.