Relieved
from all fear for the safety of their city they began to take a
loftier view of the struggle, and to grasp the full compass and
grandeur of the issues involved. It was no mere feud between two rival
states, but a great national conflict, which was to end in the
downfall of a wide-spread usurpation, and the deliverance of a hundred
cities from bondage. The whole naval and military forces of Athens lay
crippled and helpless within their grasp; they would shatter to pieces
the instrument of tyranny, and win an immortal name as the liberators
of all Greece. Their first care was to prevent the escape of the
Athenians, and for this purpose they began to close the mouth of the
Great Harbour by a line of triremes and vessels of burden, anchored
broadside across the channel.
X
The Athenians were thus caught in a trap, and their only hope of
saving themselves was to force the barrier of the Great Harbour, and
escape by sea, or, failing that, to make their way by land to some
friendly city. As a last sad confession of defeat, they withdrew the
garrison from their walls on Epipolae, and reduced the dimensions of
their camp, confining it to a narrow space of the coast, where the
fleet lay moored. Every vessel which could be kept afloat was prepared
for action, and when the whole force was mustered, out of two great
armaments only a hundred and ten were found fit for service.
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