While they
were standing opposite to one another and parleying, Alkibiades's army
came up, and he, truly conjecturing that the Selymbrians were really
disposed to be friendly, began to fear that his Thracian troops might
sack the city; for many of these barbarians were serving in his army as
volunteers, from a particular attachment they had to his person. He
therefore sent them all out of the city, and did not permit the
terrified people of Selymbria to suffer any violence, but, having
exacted a contribution of money and placed a garrison in the town, he
sailed away.
[Footnote A: Peltasts were light-armed troops, so called because they
carried light round shields instead of the large unwieldy oblong shield
of the Hoplite, or heavy-armed infantry soldier. These light troops came
gradually into favour with the Greeks during the Peloponnesian war, and
afterward became very extensively used.]
XXXI. Meanwhile the generals who were besieging Chalkedon made an
agreement with Pharnabazus, on these conditions. They were to receive a
sum of money; the people of Chalkedon were to become subjects of Athens
as before; Pharnabazus was not to lay waste the province; and he was to
provide an escort and a safe-conduct for an Athenian embassy to the
Persian king. On the return of Alkibiades, Pharnabazus desired him to
swear to observe these conditions, but Alkibiades refused to do so
unless Pharnabazus swore first.
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