away from his ships, leading the troops who were
on board, and terrified the inhabitants so much that they shut
themselves up in their strongholds. The men of Sikyon alone ventured to
meet him at Nemea, and them he overthrew in a pitched battle, and
erected a trophy. Next he took on board troops from the friendly
district of Achaia, and, crossing over to the opposite side of the
Corinthian Gulf, coasted along past the mouth of the river Achelous,
overran Akarnania, drove the people of Oeneadae to the shelter of their
city walls, and after ravaging the country returned home, having made
himself a terror to his enemies, and done good service to Athens; for
not the least casualty, even by accident, befel the troops under his
command.

XX. When he sailed into the Black Sea with a great and splendidly
equipped fleet, he assisted the Greek cities there, and treated them
with consideration; and showed the neighbouring savage tribes and their
chiefs the greatness of his force, and his confidence in his power, by
sailing where he pleased, and taking complete control over that sea. He
left at Sinope thirteen ships, and a land force under the command of
Lamachus, to act against Timesileon, who had made himself despot of that
city. When he and his party were driven out, Perikles passed a decree
that six hundred Athenian volunteers should sail to Sinope, and become
citizens there, receiving the houses and lands which had formerly been
in the possession of the despot and his party. But in other cases he
would not agree to the impulsive proposals of the Athenians, and he
opposed them when, elated by their power and good fortune, they talked
of recovering Egypt and attacking the seaboard of the Persian empire.
Many, too, were inflamed with that ill-starred notion of an attempt on
Sicily, which was afterwards blown into a flame by Alkibiades and other
orators. Some even dreamed of the conquest of Etruria and Carthage, in
consequence of the greatness which the Athenian empire had already
reached, and the full tide of success which seemed to attend it.

XXI. Perikles, however, restrained these outbursts, and would not allow
the people to meddle with foreign states, but used the power of Athens
chiefly to preserve and guard her already existing empire, thinking it
to be of paramount importance to oppose the Lacedaemonians, a task to
which he bent all his energies, as is proved by many of his acts,
especially in connection with the Sacred