CHAPTER 6

The circumstances under which the Athenians had sought refuge in Salamis were the following. So long as any hope remained that a Peloponnesian army would come to give them aid, they abode still in Attica; but when it appeared that the allies were slack and slow to move, while the invader was reported to be pressing forward and to have already entered Boeotia, then they proceeded to remove their goods and chattels from the mainland, and themselves again crossed the strait to Salamis. At the same time they sent ambassadors to Lacedaemon, who were to reproach the Lacedaemonians for having allowed the barbarian to advance into Attica, instead of joining them and going out to meet him in Boeotia. They were likewise to remind the Lacedaemonians of the offers by which the Persian had sought to win Athens over to his side, and to warn them, that no aid came from Sparta, the Athenians must consult for their own safety.