'  Sikyon's  special  interest  is  suggested  in  v.  52,  where  Thucydides
tells  us  that  when  Alkibiades  contemplated  making  a  fort  on  Rhion  at
the  north  of  the  Corinthian  Gulf,  'the  Corinthians,  Sikyonians,  and
others  to  whose  interests  the  fort  would  have  been  injurious,  came  and
prevented  him.'


324  THE  TEN  YEARS'  WAR

There  is,  however,  one  feature  in  the  evidence  which  is
very  difficult  to  reconcile  with  this  view.  Corinth  seems  to
hav&  won  over  the  other  Peloponnesian  states  to  her  side
before  she  succeeded  in  getting  the  adherence  of  Sparta.^
They  agreed  to  the  necessity  of  war  with  Athens  before
ever  Sparta  did.  From  what  is  known  of  the  nature  of
these  states,  it  is  reasonable,  indeed  almost  necessary,  to
assume  that  the  situation  created  by  the  affair  of  Corcyra
aft"ected  their  interests  in  some  way.  It  is  not  likely  that
they  were  concerned  about  the  fate  of  Potidaea.  Athens
had  never  been  aggressive  towards  any  of  them  save
Boeotia  ;  and  the  security  of  the  states  of  Peloponnese  was
amply  guaranteed  by  Spartan  interests.  They  must  have
been  interested  in  some  way  in  Corinthian  trade  with  the
west.  It  was  a  trade,  indeed,  in  which  the  major  part  of
the  profits  went  to  Corinth ;  but,  all  the  same,  they  must
have  enjoyed  some  important  indirect  advantage  from  it.
Thucydides  says  nothing  explicit  about  their  economic
position  ;  but  then  he  says  nothing  explicit  about  the  more
marked  economic  position  of  Attica,  though  it  is  of  course
implied  in  the  statement  which  he  makes  with  regard  to
the  difficulties  caused  by  the  occupation  of  Dekelea,^  and
the  consequent  diversion  of  the  corn  route.  And  so  it  is
with  the  economic  position  of  the  Peloponnesian  states.
