Let us act, then, in the spirit of our fathers, and send away the
Spartan ambassadors with the only answer which is consistent with our
dignity and our interest."

The reply to the Spartan ultimatum was framed as Pericles had
directed, and from this moment all negotiations ceased. And here we
close our account of the events which led to the Peloponnesian War.




THE SURPRISE OF PLATAEA

I

On the northern slope of Cithaeron, the mountain range which divides
Attica from Boeotia, lies the little town of Plataea. By race and by
geographical position the Plataeans were naturally included in the
Boeotian confederacy, under the leadership of Thebes. But nearly a
century before the time of which we are now speaking they had deserted
the Thebans, whose rule was harsh and overbearing, and enrolled
themselves among the allies of Athens. On the eve of the battle of
Marathon, they had joined the Athenians with their whole force, a
thousand strong, and shared the peril and the honour of that glorious
day. Ten years later their city was laid in ruins by the army of
Xerxes, at the instigation of the Thebans; and in the following year
the great battle which ended the long struggle between Greece and
Persia was fought within sight of their shattered walls. In gratitude
for this great victory, the confederate Greeks under Pausanias
declared that the Plataean territory should be hallowed ground, and