Book II - Wilbourhall.org

v.] POINTS IN THE HISTORY. IxviiSicily, and also for its navy of more than one hundredships, would be very valuable to Sparta in the warwhich every politician knew was not far off. Butthe alliance granted was only defensive, as Athenswould have been guilty of a breach of the thirtyyears' truce made with Sparta and her allies in 445B.C. if they had openly made war on Corinth. Atfirst only ten ships were sent to Corcyra ;but soonafter, other twenty vessels were despatched thither,and arrived just in time to save the Corcyraeans frombeing defeated by the Corinthians in the battle ofSybota.This reinforcement had probably been sentby the advice of Pericles ; and it is clear that hehoped to confine the war which he saw coming to anarrow question of international rights, and to makethe neighbourhood of Corcyra the centre of action.There it was likely that the Athenian fleet would beable to deal a crushing blow at the Peloponnesians,after which they would be glad to come to terms.But thesecalculations miscarried owing to the exasperationof Corinth at the result of the battle.In the same year, 433 B.C., Athens made an alliancewith Rhegium and Leontini (Hicks, Manual of Inscr.p. 58). The object of this act was to prevent Syracusefrom obtaining a commanding position inSicilyand South Italy. Pericles' plan was to connectAthens with those parts by making alliances with theislands which lay on the road to Sicily, such asZacynthus, Cephallenia, and Corcyra, and by consolidatingthe citiesin the west which were opposedto Syracuse. "We find from c. 7 that Sparta wasforming plans for meeting Athens by sea, and actually