But the attempt
was frustrated, and Eion at least was saved to Athens.
The fall of Amphipolis, which occurred shortly after the crushing
defeat at Delium, caused great consternation among the Athenians.
Apart from the wound to their pride, they were deprived by this loss
of a large portion of their revenue, and cut off from the principal
source of their timber supply. And there were still further grounds
for alarm. For Amphipolis was now an open door, through which the
Spartans could send troops into eastern Thrace, and carry the war to
the entrance of the Euxine. For a moment it seemed as if all their
fears would be realized. The gentle manners of Brasidas--his fairness,
modesty, and strict regard for the rights of all men--had won the
hearts of the Athenian allies in Thrace, and secret agents were
constantly arriving at his head-quarters on the Strymon, inviting him
to come and help them to recover their liberty. He had skilfully
appealed to the most deeply-rooted instinct of the Greek, the desire
for unfettered action in his own city, free from all interference from
outside. This instinct, long held in abeyance, first by the necessity
for protection from Persia, and when that danger was removed, by the
habits acquired under the mild rule of Athens, was now awakened into
new life by the influence of the great warrior and accomplished
statesman, whose watchword was "Liberty for Greeks!" The recent
reverses of Athens had excited a feeling of contempt among her
subjects, and led them greatly to under-estimate her real power; and
Brasidas himself, by a not over-scrupulous perversion of facts, had
been careful to encourage this belief.
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