hair's-breadth, and Athens was saved from committing a great crime.
But even the modified sentence, which was passed directly afterwards
on the motion of Cleon, condemning more than a thousand Mytilenaean
citizens to death, was sufficiently ferocious, and was remembered
against the tyrant city in the days of her humiliation.




ESCAPE OF TWO HUNDRED PLATAEANS FALL OF PLATAEA

I

The siege of Plataea had now lasted for more than a year, and the
brave garrison began to be in sore straits, for their supplies were
giving out, and they had no hope of rescue from outside. In this
desperate situation they resolved to make an attempt to break through
the besieging lines, and make their escape to Athens. All were to take
part in the adventure, leaving the Peloponnesians in possession of an
empty town. But when the time came for carrying out this bold design,
half of the garrison drew back, thinking the risk too great. The other
half, numbering about two hundred and twenty, persisted in their
purpose, and forthwith fell to work on their preparations. They began
by making ladders for scaling the enemy's wall; and in order to
ascertain the proper length of the ladders, they counted the courses
of bricks in a part of the wall facing the town, which happened to
have been left unplastered. Many counted the courses together, and by
repeating the process over and over again, and comparing the result,
they at last hit upon the right number. When once this was known, they
could easily calculate the length of their ladders, for the bricks