At last even Nikias and his party, who were answerable for the peace, grew weary. Alkibiades, who at one time had imagined, and hoped for, the possibility of a peace with Sparta, the home of many of his ancestors, and, indeed, had endeavoured to bring it about, now saw the hopelessness of ever being able to trust such a people. He also foresaw the strength it would bring to Athens, the perils it would save her from, if her future policy were alliance with Argos against Sparta. There never could be, he was convinced, a lasting truce with Sparta. She was oligarchic and dishonest. Argos was democratic, and he had reason to know from his friends there that the Argives, together with the people of Elis and Mantineia, were about to send an embassy to Athens to treat for an alliance. The Spartans, hearing of this, and frightened by the warnings and threats of their friend Nikias, thought it was time they too should send ambassadors to explain their conduct, and prevent, if possible, the proposed alliance with the Argives and their allies. Both embassies arrived at the same time at Athens. Endios, a leading Lakedaimônian of high birth, whom we shall meet again, was one of the three Spartan ambassadors. He was a relation and firm friend of the family of Alkibiades, and was his guest during his visit to Athens. The cordial terms upon which these two representatives of both branches of the great family remained with one another then, and always afterwards, in spite of the strong part taken by Alkibiades against Lakedaimôn, is a sufficient refutation of the calumny on him, first formulated by Thoukydides—who never can resist the temptation of an opportunity to bear false witness against the leader of a side opposed to him in politics—that, with a cunning alien to his whole character, he deliberately misled his guest and relative by an unworthy trick, and induced the Spartan ambassadors to deny their powers. Not only his friendship with Endios, but the way in which he was afterwards received by Sparta, is enough to dispose of the accusation, without pointing out that the ambassadors would have been below the ordinary level of human beings in intelligence, instead of being picked diplomatists, if they could have been taken in by any such artifice as that ascribed to Alkibiades, which would not have been noticed here had not the tale of Thoukydides been repeated by nearly every historian since he wrote. The Spartan ambassadors appeared before the Senate, and, amongst other things, declared they had full powers to treat with Athens. They were favourably received, and referred to a meeting of the Assembly to be held in a few days, at which the ambassadors of Argos and her allies were also to appear.