After the severe and unexpected blow that had befallen them in the island, the occupation of Pylos and Cythera, and the apparition on every side of a war whose rapidity defied precaution, they lived in constant fear of internal revolution, and now took the unusual step of raising four hundred horse and a force of archers, and became more timid than ever in military matters, finding themselves involved in a maritime struggle, which their organization had never contemplated, and that against Athenians, with whom an enterprise unattempted was always looked upon as a success sacrificed.
eta borroka hori atenastarren kontra zen, zeinentzat ekintzan ez hastea lortu nahi zena galtzea zen beti. Gainera, denbora laburrean zoriaren ondoriozko gauza asko euren kontra jazo izanak zalantza handia sortarazten zien, eta berriro ere uhartekoa bezalako hondamendia gertatuko ote zitzaien beldur ziren.