These are the causes which are assigned for his refusal to permit the
Athenians to make any concession to the Lacedaemonians, but the real
history of the transaction will never be known.
XXXIII. Now, as the Lacedaemonians knew that if he could be removed from
power they would find the Athenians much more easy to deal with, they
bade them, "drive forth the accursed thing," alluding to Perikles's
descent from the Alkmaeonidae by his mother's side, as we are told by
Thucydides the historian. But this attempt had just the contrary effect
to that which they intended; for, instead of suspicion and dislike,
Perikles met with much greater honour and respect from his countrymen
than before, because they saw that he was an object of especial dislike
to the enemy. For this reason, before the Peloponnesians, under
Archidamus, invaded Attica, he warned the Athenians that if Archidamus,
when he laid waste everything else, spared his own private estate
because of the friendly private relations existing between them, or in
order to give his personal enemies a ground for impeaching him, that he
should give both the land and the farm buildings upon it to the State.
The Lacedaemonians invaded Attica with a great host of their own troops
and those of their allies, led by Archidamus, their king. They
proceeded, ravaging the country as they went, as far as Acharnae (close
to Athens), where they encamped, imagining that the Athenians would
never endure to see them there, but would be driven by pride and shame
to come out and fight them.
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