rtune, they aimed
at nothing less than the recovery of all the possessions which they had
held before the Thirty Years' Truce. For this purpose they planned an
expedition against Boeotia. But their good fortune had now reached its
culminatiug point. They were defeated by the Boeotians with great loss
at the battle of Delium, which was the greatest and most decisive
engagement fought during the first period of the war an interesting
feature of the battle is that both Socrates and his pupil Alcibiades
were engaged in it, the former among the hoplites, the latter in the
cavalry. Socrates distinguished himself by his bravery, and was one of
those who, instead of throwing down their arms, kept together in a
compact body, and repulsed the attacks of the pursuing horse. His
retreat was also protected by Alcibiades.

This disastrous battle was speedily followed by the overthrow of the
Athenian empire in Thrace. At the request of Perdiccas, King of
Macedonia, and of the Chalcidian towns, who had sued for help against
the Athenians, Brasidas was sent by the Lacedaemonian government into
Macedonia, at the head of a small body of troops. On his arrival in
Macedonia he proclaimed that he was come to deliver the Grecian cities
from the tyrannous yoke of Athens. His bravery, his kind and
conciliating demeanour, his probity, moderation, and good faith, soon
gained him the respect and love of the allies of Athens in that
quarter. Acanthus and Stagirus hastened to open their gates to him;
and early in the ensuing winter, by means of forced marches, he
suddenly and unexpectedly appeared before the important Athenian colony
of Amphipolis on the Strymon. In that town the Athenian party sent a
message for assistance to Thucydides, the historian, who was then
general in those parts. Thucydides hastened with seven ships from
Thasos, and succeeded in securing Eion at the mouth of the Strymon; but
Amphipolis, which lay a little higher up the river, allured by the
favourable terms offered, had already surrendered to Brasidas. For his
want of vigilance on this occasion, Thucydides was, on the motion of
Cleon, sentenced to banishment, and spent the following twenty years of
his life in exile. Torone, Scione, and other towns also revolted from
Athens.

In the following year (B.C. 422) Cleon was sent to Macedonia to recover
the Athenian dependencies, and especially Amphipolis. He encamped on a
rising ground on the eastern side of the tow