§8.90.1οἱ δὲ τῶν τετρακοσίων μάλιστα ἐναντίοι ὄντες τῷ τοιούτῳ εἴδει καὶ προεστῶτες Φρύνιχός τε, ὃς καὶ στρατηγήσας ἐν τῇ Σάμῳ [ποτὲ] τῷ Ἀλκιβιάδῃ τότε διηνέχθη, καὶ Ἀρίσταρχος, ἀνὴρ ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα καὶ ἐκ πλείστου ἐναντίος τῷ δήμῳ, καὶ Πείσανδρος καὶ Ἀντιφῶν καὶ ἄλλοι οἱ δυνατώτατοι, πρότερόν τε, ἐπεὶ τάχιστα κατέστησαν καὶ ἐπειδὴ τὰ ἐν τῇ Σάμῳ σφῶν ἐς δημοκρατίαν ἀπέστη, πρέσβεις τε ἀπέστελλον σφῶν ἐς τὴν Λακεδαίμονα καὶ τὴν ὁμολογίαν προυθυμοῦντο καὶ τὸ ἐν τῇ Ἠετιωνείᾳ καλουμένῃ τεῖχος ἐποιοῦντο, πολλῷ τε μᾶλλον ἔτι, ἐπειδὴ καὶ οἱ ἐκ τῆς Σάμου πρέσβεις σφῶν ἦλθον, ὁρῶντες τούς τε πολλοὺς καὶ σφῶν τοὺς δοκοῦντας πρότερον πιστοὺς εἶναι μεταβαλλομένους.
On the other hand, those of the Four Hundred who were most opposed to such a tendency and stood at the head of the faction—namely Phrynichus, who while formerly serving as general at Samos had then quarreled with Alcibiades, and Aristarchus, a man most prominent in and of longest standing in his hostility to the democracy, as well as Peisander, Antiphon, and other most powerful men—had even before, as soon as they had established themselves and when their forces at Samos revolted to democracy, been sending envoys of their own to Lacedaemon, being eager for an agreement, and had been building the wall at what was called Eetioneia; and now, when their own envoys from Samos returned, they did so still more actively, seeing that both the multitude and those of their own associates who had formerly seemed faithful were changing their minds.
§8.90.2καὶ ἀπέστειλαν μὲν Ἀντιφῶντα καὶ Φρύνιχον καὶ ἄλλους δέκα κατὰ τάχος, φοβούμενοι καὶ τὰ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ ἐκ τῆς Σάμου, ἐπιστείλαντες παντὶ τρόπῳ ὅστις καὶ ὁπωσοῦν ἀνεκτὸς ξυναλλαγῆναι πρὸς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους,
And they dispatched Antiphon, Phrynichus, and ten others in haste, fearing both the state of affairs at home and those at Samos, instructing them to effect a reconciliation with the Lacedaemonians in any way whatsoever that was at all tolerable.
§8.90.3ᾠκοδόμουν δὲ ἔτι προθυμότερον τὸ ἐν τῇ Ἠετιωνείᾳ τεῖχος.
And they built the wall at Eetioneia with even greater zeal.
ἦν δὲ τοῦ τείχους ἡ γνώμη αὕτη, ὡς ἔφη Θηραμένης καὶ οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ, οὐχ ἵνα τοὺς ἐν Σάμῳ, ἢν βίᾳ ἐπιπλέωσι, μὴ δέξωνται ἐς τὸν Πειραιᾶ, ἀλλ’ ἵνα τοὺς πολεμίους μᾶλλον, ὅταν βούλωνται, καὶ ναυσὶ καὶ πεζῷ δέξωνται.
The purpose of this wall, as Theramenes and his party asserted, was not to exclude the forces at Samos from Piraeus if they should attempt to sail in by force, but rather to receive the enemy, whenever they wished, with both ships and land forces.
§8.90.4χηλὴ γάρ ἐστι τοῦ Πειραιῶς ἡ Ἠετιωνεία, καὶ παρ’ αὐτὴν εὐθὺς ὁ ἔσπλους ἐστίν.
For Eetioneia is a spit of Piraeus, and immediately beside it is the entrance for ships.
ἐτειχίζετο οὖν οὕτω ξὺν τῷ πρότερον πρὸς ἤπειρον ὑπάρχοντι τείχει, ὥστε καθεζομένων ἐς αὐτὸ ἀνθρώπων ὀλίγων ἄρχειν τοῦ ἔσπλου· ἐπ’ αὐτὸν γὰρ τὸν ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι τοῦ λιμένος στενοῦ ὄντος τὸν ἕτερον πύργον ἐτελεύτα τό τε παλαιὸν τὸ πρὸς ἤπειρον καὶ τὸ ἐντὸς τὸ καινὸν τεῖχος τειχιζόμενον πρὸς θάλασσαν.
The wall was therefore being built in connection with the previously existing wall on the landward side, so that with only a few men stationed in it, they could command the entrance; for both the old wall on the landward side and the new inner wall that was being built on the seaward side terminated at the very same tower situated at the mouth of the harbor, which was narrow.
§8.90.5διῳκοδόμησαν δὲ καὶ στοάν, ἥπερ ἦν μεγίστη καὶ ἐγγύτατα τούτου εὐθὺς ἐχομένη ἐν τῷ Πειραιεῖ, καὶ ἦρχον αὐτοὶ αὐτῆς, ἐς ἣν καὶ τὸν σῖτον ἠνάγκαζον πάντας τὸν ὑπάρχοντά τε καὶ τὸν ἐσπλέοντα ἐξαιρεῖσθαι καὶ ἐντεῦθεν προαιροῦντας πωλεῖν.
They also partitioned off a portico, which was the largest in Piraeus and immediately contiguous to this wall, and kept it under their own control, forcing everyone to unload there all the grain that was already in store as well as what was brought in by sea, and to sell it only after taking it from thence.