[3] But when this constitution had been set up, the Five Thousand were only nominally chosen, but the Four Hundred with the aid of the Ten with autocratic powers1 entered the Council-chamber and governed the state. They also sent envoys to the Lacedaemonians and proposed to conclude peace on terms of uti possidetis; but the Lacedaemonians would not consent unless Athens would also relinquish the empire of the sea, so that they finally abandoned the project.
1 The Ten Generals, see Aristot. Ath. Pol. 31.2.