Thucydides Daily Reader

Around the time when the Spartans were stationed at the Isthmus, the Mytileneans advanced overland with their hired soldiers against Methymna, expecting to capture it through betrayal. However, after attacking the city and failing to achieve the success they had anticipated, they pulled back to Antissa, Pyrrha, and Eresus. There they took steps to improve the defenses of these cities, reinforced their fortifications, and quickly returned home. Following their withdrawal, the Methymnians launched an attack on Antissa, but the defenders of Antissa and their mercenaries defeated them in a counterattack, forcing them to retreat hastily after suffering significant casualties. When news of these events reached Athens, the Athenians learned that the Mytileneans controlled the countryside and that their own forces were unable to contain them. Consequently, around early autumn, they dispatched Paches, son of Epicurus, as commander, along with a thousand Athenian heavy infantry. These soldiers rowed their own ships and, upon reaching Mytilene, constructed a continuous wall encircling the entire city, with fortified positions built at key strategic points. Mytilene was thereby completely blockaded on both land and sea as winter approached.

The Athenians, requiring funds for the siege and having already imposed their first-ever property tax of two hundred talents on their own citizens, now sent twelve ships under the command of Lysicles and four other officers to collect money from their allies. After sailing to various locations and demanding payments, Lysicles traveled inland from Myus in Caria, crossing the Meander plain to reach Sandius hill. There he was ambushed by Carian forces and troops from Anaia, resulting in his death along with many of his men.

That same winter, the Plataeans—still under siege by Peloponnesian and Boeotian forces—were suffering from dwindling supplies. Seeing no prospect of relief from Athens and no other path to safety, they devised a plan with the Athenian soldiers trapped alongside them to attempt an escape by breaking through the enemy's fortifications. This bold scheme was proposed by Theaenetus, son of Tolmides, a religious advisor, and Eupompides, son of Daimachus, one of their commanders. Initially, everyone agreed to participate, but later half withdrew, considering the danger too great. Nevertheless, approximately two hundred and twenty men voluntarily committed to the attempt, which they executed as follows: They constructed ladders to match the height of the enemy wall by counting the layers of bricks on the side facing them, which hadn't been completely plastered over. Multiple people counted simultaneously, and while some might have miscalculated, most arrived at the correct number, especially since they counted repeatedly and were positioned close enough to see the wall clearly for their purposes. They thus determined the necessary ladder length by calculating from the width of the bricks.