calling upon them to retire peacably to their homes; when they refused
to obey, he made, as far as mere noise went, the semblance of an
attack, with sufficient show of fight to prevent his kindly
disposition being too apparent. But gaining nothing by the feint, he
was forced to retire. Next day he took two Laconian regiments, with
three tribes of Athenian horse, and crossed over to the Mute[15]
Harbour, examining the lie of the ground to discover how and where it
would be easiest to draw lines of circumvallation round Piraeus. As he
turned his back to retire, a party of the enemy sallied out and caused
him annoyance. Nettled at the liberty, he ordered the cavalry to
charge at the gallop, supported by the ten-year-service[16] infantry,
whilst he himself, with the rest of the troops, followed close,
holding quietly back in reserve. They cut down about thirty of the
enemy's light troops and pursued the rest hotly to the theatre in
Piraeus. Here, as chance would have it, the whole light and heavy
infantry of the Piraeus men were getting under arms; and in an instant
their light troops rushed out and dashed at the assailants; thick and
fast flew missiles of all sorts--javelins, arrows and sling stones.
The Lacedaemonians finding the number of their wounded increasing
every minute, and sorely called, slowly fell back step by step, eyeing
their opponents. These meanwhile resolutely pressed on. Here fell
Chaeron and Thibrachus, both polemarchs, here also Lacrates, an
Olympic victor, and other Lacedaemonians, all of whom now lie entombed
before the city gates in the Ceramicus.[17]

[14] The Halipedon is the long stretch of flat sandy land between
Piraeus Phalerum and the city.

[15] Perhaps the landlocked creek just round the promontory of
Eetioneia, as Leake conjectures, "Topog. of Athens," p. 389. See