And now the younger generation of Athenians, who had entered so
cheerfully into the conflict, were to have their first taste of the
grim realities of war. The Peloponnesian army advanced leisurely, and
proceeded at first to Oenoe, an outlying fort near the borders of
Boeotia; for Archidamus, who held the chief command, still hoped that
the Athenians, when they saw the enemy on the confines of Attica,
would make some concessions, to save their farms from destruction. For
this reason he had long delayed his march from the Isthmus, and now
wasted more time in fruitless operations at Oenoe, until the allies
began to murmur against him, and suspected him of receiving bribes
from the Athenians to spare their lands. At last, being unable to put
off the fatal moment any longer, he turned southwards, and after
ravaging the plain of Eleusis, advanced to Acharnae, one of the most
fertile and prosperous districts of Attica, about seven miles north of
Athens. Here the Peloponnesians encamped, and applied themselves
systematically to the work of pillage and havoc.

Great was the rage of the Acharnians, a hardy race of farmers and
charcoal-burners, when they saw the smoke rising from their ruined
homesteads; and their feelings were shared by the general body of the
citizens, who had watched the advance of Archidamus from Eleusis, and
had now no hope of saving their estates. Little knots of angry
disputants were seen in the streets and public places, for the most
part clamouring against Pericles, and demanding to be led against the
invader, while some few argued for the more prudent course. But
Pericles, who knew the fickle temper of the multitude, turned a deaf
ear to all this uproar, and steadily refused to summon an assembly,
lest some hasty resolution should be passed, which would lead to
useless loss of life. In order, however, to relieve the public