Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 2.djvu/62

54 NEITHER SIDE TAKE THE OFFENSIVE [iV there slew them and took their arms. As they retained possession of the dead bodies, and only restored them under a flag of truce, they raised a trophy. Still in re- spect of the whole engagement neither side when they parted had a decided advantage. The Boeotians retired to their main bod}', and the Athenians to Nisaea. 73 Brasidas and his army then moved nearer to the sea The Pehpomirsians, ^nd to the town of Mcgara, and there, having shown thai they taking up a convenient position and arc ready to engage, do marshalling their forces, they remained uol earc to risk a battle. . . ,^. The Athenians are even Without movmg. They Were expectmg more wuviiiing to fight the Athenians to attack them, and than the Pehpon- knew that the MegaHans Were waiting nesians. The result ts 1111 that Brasidas is ad- ^^ sce who would be the conquerors. ntitfcd into Megara by They werc Very Well satisfied, for two the oligarchical party. ^casons. In the first placc they wcrc not the assailants, and had not gone out of their way to risk a battle, although they had clearly shown thdt they were ready to engage ; and so they might fairly claim a victory without fighting. Again, the result in regard to Megara was good : for if they had not put in an appear- ance they would have had no chance at all, but would have been as good as beaten, and beyond a doubt would immediately have lost the city. Whereas now the Athen- ians themselves might be unwilling to fight ; and, if so, they would gain their object without striking a blow. And this turned out to be the fact ; for the Mcgarians did in the end receive Brasidas. At first the Athenians came out and drew up near the Long Walls, but not being attacked they likewise remained inactive. The generals on their side were restrained by similar reflections. They had gained the greater part of what they wanted ; they would be offering battle against a superior force ; and their own danger would be out of proportion to that of the enem3 They might be victorious and take Megara, but if they failed the loss would fall on the flower of their infantry-. Whereas the Pcloponnesians were naturally