Pericles also urged his usual arguments for expecting a favourable issue to the war.
The Athenians listened to his advice, and began to carry in their wives and children from the country, and all their household furniture, even to the woodwork of their houses which they took down.

Their sheep and cattle they sent over to Euboea and the adjacent islands.

But they found it hard to move, as most of them had been always used to live in the country.
From very early times this had been more the case with the Athenians than with others.

Under Cecrops and the first kings, down to the reign of Theseus, Attica had always consisted of a number of independent townships, each with its own town hall and magistrates.

Except in times of danger the king at Athens was not consulted; in ordinary seasons they carried on their government and settled their affairs without his interference; sometimes even they waged war against him, as in the case of the Eleusinians with Eumolpus against Erechtheus.