should have a wall ; when any member of a confederacy had not equal military advantages, his counsel could not be of equal weight or worth. Either all the allies should pull down their walls, or they should acknowledge that the Athenians were in the right.
92 On hearing these words the Lacedaemonians did not openly quarrel with the Athenians; for But appearances are maintained, and there is no open quarrel. they professed that the embassy had been designed, not to interfere with them, but to offer a suggestion for the public good ; besides at that time the patriotism which the Athenians had dis- played in the Persian War had created a warm feeling of friendliness between the two cities. They were annoyed at the failure of their purpose, but they did not show it. And the envoys on either side returned home without any formal complaint.
93
In such hurried fashion did the Athenians build the
walls of their city. To this day the structure shows evidence of haste. The foundations are made up of all sorts
of stones, in some places unwrought, and laid just as each
worker brought them ; there were many columns too, taken
from sepulchres, and many old stones already cut, inserted
in the work. The circuit of the city was extended in
B.C. 478.
Ol. 75,3.
every direction, and the citizens, in their ardour to complete the design, spared nothing.
B.C. 482.
Ol. 74, 3.
Themistocles also persuaded the Athenians to finish the
Piraeus, of which he had made a beginning
Construction of the Piraeus, and foundation of the maritime empire of Athens.
in his year of office as Archon. The
situation of the place, which had three
natural havens, was excellent; and now
that the Athenians had become seamen, he thought that
they had great advantage for the attainment of empire.
For he first dared to say that 'they must make the sea
their domain,' and he lost no time in laying the foundations
of their empire. By his advice, they built the wall of such
a width that two waggons carrying the stones could meet
