they flattered themselves with the hopes that the enteprise would be successful. The foreigners came thither to feed their eyes with a sight which was highly worthy their curiosity; for no single city in the world had ever fitted out so gallant a fleet. Those indeed which had been sent against Epidaurus and Potidæa, were as considerable with regard to the number of the soldiers and ships; but then they were not equipped with so much magnificence, neither was their voyage so long, nor their enterprise so important. Here were seen a land and a naval army, equipped with the utmost care, and at the expense of private individuals as well as of the public, with all things necessary, on account of the length of the voyage, and the duration of the war. The city furnished 100 empty galleys, that is, threescore light ones, and forty to transport the soldiers heavily armed. Every mariner received daily a drachma, or ten-pence (French) for his pay, exclusively of what the captains of ships individually gave the rowers of the first bench. Add to this the pomp and magnificence of the equipment; every one striving to eclipse the rest, and each captain endeavouring to make his ship the lightest, and at the same time the gayest, of the whole fleet. I shall not take notice of the choice in the soldiers and seamen, who were the flower of the Athenians; nor of their emulation with regard to the beauty and neatness of their arms and equipage; any more than that of their officers, who had laid out considerable sums purely to distinguish themselves, and to give foreigners an advantageous idea of their persons and circumstances; so that this sight had the air of a tournament, in which the utmost magnificence is displayed, rather than of a warlike expedition. But the boldness and greatness of the design still exceeded its expense and splendour.

When the ships were loaded, and the troops got on board, the trumpet sounded, and solemn prayers were offered up for the success of the expedition; gold and silver cups were filled every where with wine, and the accustomed libations were poured out; the people who lined the shore shouting at the same time, and lifting up their hands to heaven, to wish their fellow-citizens a good voyage and success. And now, the hymn being sung, and the ceremonies ended, the ships sailed one after another out of the harbour; after which they strove to outsail one another, till the whole fleet met at Ægina. From thence it made for Corcyra, where the army of the allies were assembling with the rest of the fleet.

SECTION. IX.-SYRACUSE IS ALARMED.
NIAN FLEET ARRIVES IN SICILY.

2

THE ATHE

ADVICE of this expedition having been brought to Syracuse from all quarters, it was thought so improbable, that at first nobody would believe it. But as it was more and more confirmed every day, the Syracusans began to think seriously of making the necessary preparations; and sent deputations to every part of the island, to ask assistance of some, and send succours to others. They garrisoned all the castles and forts in the country; reviewed all the soldiers and horses; examined the arms in the magazines, and settled and prepared all things, as if the enemy had been in their country.

In the mean time the fleet sailed in three squadrons, each under the command of its particular general. It consisted of 136 ships, 100 whereof belonged to Athens, and the rest to the allies. On board these ships were 5000 heavy armed soldiers, 2200 of whom were Athenian citizens, viz. 1500 of those who had estates, and 7003 who had none, but were equally citizens; the rest consisted of allies. With regard to the light infantry, there were eighty archers of Crete,

1 They were called Spávirat. the rest, and consequently more Thucyd. I. vi. p. 432-445. These were called 9nres. VOL. 1.-37

They had longer oars than trouble in rowing. Diod. 1, xiii. p. 135, 136.

and 400 of other countries; 700 Rhodian slingers, and 120 exiles of Megara. There was but one company of horse, consisting of thirty troopers, who had embarked on board a vessel proper for transporting cavalry. Both the fleet and the land forces were afterwards increased considerably. Thirty vessels carried the provisions and sutlers, with masons, carpenters, and their several tools; the whole followed by 100 small vessels for the service, exclusive of merchant ships, of which there were great numbers. All this fleet had sailed together from Corcyra. Having met with but an indifferent reception from the people of Tarentum and Locris, they sailed with a favourable wind for Rhegium, where they made some stay. The Athenians were very urgent with the inhabitants of Rhegium to succour those of Leontium, who came originally from Chalcis as well as themselves: but these answered, that they were determined to stand neuter, and to undertake nothing but in concert with the rest of Italy. Here they debated on the manner in which it was necessary to carry on the war, and waited for the coming up of those ships that had been sent out to make discoveries of a proper place for landing, and to inquire whether the citizens of Egesta had got their money ready. Upon their return they brought advice that they had but thirty talents in the treasury. This Nicias had foreseen, but no regard had been paid to his salutary counsels.

He did not fail, the instant this news was brought, to expatiate on the counsel he had given in Athens; to show the wrong step they had taken in engaging in this war; and to exaggerate the fatal consequences which might be expected from it; in all which he acted very imprudently. It was extremely judicious in Nicias to oppose it in the beginning, and to set every engine at work to crush if possible this ill-fated project. But as the expedition was resolved, and he himself had accepted of the command, he ought not to have been perpetually looking backward, nor to have repeated incessantly, that this war had been undertaken in opposition to all the maxims of prudence; and by that means to cool the ardour of his two colleagues in the command, to dispirit the soldiers, and blunt that edge of confidence and ardour, which assures the success of great enterprises. He ought, on the contrary, to have advanced boldly towards the enemy; should have attacked them with vigour, and have spread a universal terror, by a sudden and unexpected descent.

But Nicias acted in a quite different manner. His opinion, in the council of war, was, that they should sail for Selinus, which had been the first occasion of this expedition; and then, if the citizens of Egesta performed their promise, and gave a month's pay to the army, to proceed forward; or otherwise, to oblige them to furnish provisions for the sixty galleys they had demanded, and continue in that road till they should have concluded a peace with the citizens of Selinus, either by force of arms or some other way. He said, that they afterwards should return to Athens, after having thus made a parade of their forces, and the assistance they gave their allies; unless they should have an opportunity of making some attempt in favour of the Leontines, or of bringing over some city into

their alliance.

Alcibiades answered, that it would be inglorious, after sailing out with so noble a fleet, to return without doing any thing; and that they should first endeavour to conclude an alliance with the Greeks and Barbarians, in order to detach them from the Syracusans, and procure troops and provisions from which was as it were the key of Sicily, and its harbour them; and especially to send a deputation to Messina, capacious enough to hold all the fleet. He declared farther, that after seeing who were their friends and enemies, and strengthening themselves by the addition of a new reinforcement, they then should attack either Selinus or Syracuse; in case the one should refuse to

Plut, in Nic. F. 532.

AND DISPOSITION.

THIS was the first and last exploit performed by Alcibiades in this expedition,' he being immediately recalled by the Athenians, in order to be tried upon the accusation laid against him. For, since the departure of the fleet, his enemies, who had no regard to the welfare of their country; and who, under the specious pretence of religion, which is often made a cloak to cover the darkest designs, meditated nothing but satiating their hatred and revenge: his enemies, I say, taking advantage of his absence, had proceeded in the affair with greater rigour than ever. All those against whom informations were lodged, were thrown into prison, without so much as being suffered to be heard, and that too on the evidence of the most profligate and abandoned citizens; as if, says Thucydides, it was not as great a crime to punish the innocent, as to suffer the guilty to escape. One of the informers was proved to be perjured by his own words; having declared that he saw and knew one of the accused by moonlight; whereas it appeared, that there was no moon at that time. But notwithstanding this manifest perjury, the populace were as furious as ever. The remembrance of the tyranny of the Pisistratidæ made them apprehensive of a similar attempt; and, strongly possessed with this fear, they would not give ear to any thing.

At last they sent out the Salaminian galley, ordering the captain not to carry off Alcibiades by force, for fear of raising a tumult in the army; but only to order him to return to Athens, to pacify the people by his presence. Alcibiades obeyed the order, and went immediately on board his galley; but the instant he was arrived at Thurium, and had got on shore, he disappeared, and eluded the pursuit of those who sought after him. Being asked, whether he would not rely on his country, with regard to the judgment it might pass on him: I would not, says he, rely on my mother, for fear she should inadvertently mistake a black bean for a white one. The galley of Salamis returned back without the commander, who was ashamed of his having suffered his prey to escape him in that manner. Alcibiades was sentenced to die for his contumacy. His whole estate was confiscated, and all the priests and priestesses were commanded to curse him. Among the latter was one, named Theano, who alone had the courage to oppose this decree, saying, That she had been appointed priestess, not to curse but to bless. Some time after, news being brought him that the

1 Thucyd. 1. vi. p. 446-450. Plut. in Alcib. p. 202. This was a sacred vessel, appointed to fetch criminals. The judges made use of beans, in giving their suffrages, and the black bean denoted condemnation.

Φάσκουσα εὐχῶν οὐ καταρῶν ἱέρειαν γεγονέναι.

them sensible, said he, that I am alive.

Much about this time Diagoras the Melian was prosecuted at Athens.5 He had settled himself in that city, where he taught atheism, and was brought to a trial for his poisonous doctrine. Diagoras escaped the punishment which would have been inflicted on him, by flying from the city; but he could not wipe off the ignominy of the sentence which condemned him to death. The Athenians had so great an abhorrence for the impious principles inculcated by him, that they even set a price upon his head, and promised a reward of a talent to any man who should deliver him up dead or alive.

About twenty years before a similar process had been instituted against Protagoras," for having only treated the same question by way of problem. He had said in the beginning of one of his books: "Whether the gods do or do not exist, is a question which I know not whether I ought to affirm or deny : for our understandings are too much clouded, and the life of man is too short, for the solution of so nice and difficult a point." But the Athenians could not bear to have a subject of this nature made a doubt; and for this reason they ordered proclamation to be made by the public crier, for all persons who had any copies of this book, to bring them to the magistrates: after which they were burnt as infamous and impious pieces, and the author was banished for ever, from all the territories of the Athenians.

Diagoras and Protagoras had been the disciples of Democritus, who first invented the philosophy of atoms.

Since the departure of Alcibiades, Nicias had possessed the whole authority; for Lamachus his colleague, though a man of bravery and experience, possessed little influence, because of his extreme poverty, for which he was despised by the soldiers. But the Athenians were not always of this way of thinking; for we have seen that Aristides, poor as he was, was not less esteemed and respected on that account: but in this last expedition, the people in general had imbibed a passion for luxury and magnificence; the natural consequence of which is, a love of riches. As Nicias, therefore, governed solely, all his actions were of the same cast with his disposition, that is, timid and dilatory: he suffered every thing to languish, sometimes either by lying still and undertaking nothing, sometimes by only sailing along the coast, or losing time in consulting or deliberating; all which soon suppressed, on one side, the ardour and confidence the troops expressed at first; and on the other, the fear and terror with which the enemy had been seized, at the sight of so formidable an armament. He be sieged Hybla; and though it was but a small city, he was however obliged to raise the siege some days after, which brought him into the highest contempt. He retired at last to Catana, after having performed but one exploit, viz. the ruining of Hyccara, a small town inhabited by Barbarians, frotn which place, it is said that Lais the courtesan, at that time very young, was sold with the rest of the captives, and carried to Peloponnesus.

9

In the mean time, Alcibiades having left Thurium, arrived at Argos; and as he quite despaired of ever being recalled home, he sent a messenger to the Spartans, desiring leave to reside among them, under their guard and protection. He promised, in the most solemn manner, that if they would consider him as their friend, he would render greater services to their state, than he before had done injuries to it. The Spartans received him with open arms; and soon after his arrival in their city, he gained the love and esteem of

SECTION XII.-NICIAS, AFTER

SOME ENGAGEMENTS, BESIEGES SYRACUSE. LAMACHUS IS KILLED IN A BATTLE. THE CITY IS REDUCED TO THE GREATEST EXTREMITIES.

Eighteenth year of the War.

Ar the end of the summer,1 news was brought Nicias that the Syracusans having resumed courage, intended to march against him. Already their cavalry advanced with an air of insolence to insult him even in his camp; and asked with a loud laugh whether he was come into Sicily to settle in Catana. These severe reproaches roused him a little, so that he resolved to sail for Syracuse. The enterprise was bold and dangerous. Nicias could not, without running the utmost hazard, attempt to land in the presence of an enemy who waited for him with the greatest resolution; and would not fail to charge him, the instant he should offer to make a descent. Nor was it safer for him to march his troops by land, because, as he had no cavalry, that of the Syracusans, which was very numerous, upon the first advice they should have of his match, would fall upon him, and overpower him by the superiority of forces.

To extricate himself from this perplexity, and enable himself to seize without opposition upon an advantageous post, which a Syracusan exile had discovered to him, Nicias had recourse to stratagem. He caused a false piece of information to be given to the enemy, viz. that by means of a conspiracy, which was to take effect on a certain day, they might seize on his camp, and possess themselve of all the arms and baggage. The Syracusans, on this assurance, marched towards Catana, and pitched their camp near Leontium. The moment the Athenians had advice of this, they embarked with all their troops and ammunition, and in the evening steered for Syracuse. They arrievd by day-break in the great harbour; landed near Olympia, in the place which had been pointed out to them, and there fortified themselves. The enemy, finding themselves shamefully over-reached, returned immediately to Syracuse; and, in the greatest rage, drew up in battle array, some days after, before the walls of the city. Nicias marched out of the trenches, and a battle was fought. Victory was a long time doubtful; but a very heavy shower of rain, accompanied with thunder and lightning, coming unexpectedly, the Syracusans, who were inexperienced, the greatest part of them having never carried arms before, were frighted at the tempest, whilst their enemies laughed at it, as the mere effect of the season; and regarded nothing but the enemy, who were much more to be dreaded than the storm. The Syracusans, after making a long and vigorous resistance, were forced to give way. The Athenians could not pursue them far, because their horse, which was still in a body, and had not been defeated, covered their retreat. The Syracusans retreated in good order, into the city, after having thrown a body of troops into the temple of Olympia, to prevent its being plundered.

This temple stood pretty near the camp of the Athenians, who were very desirous of taking it, because it abounded with gold and silver offerings, which the piety of kings and nations had consecrated. Nicias having delayed sending troops to seize it, lost the opportunity, and gave the Syracusans time to throw into it, as was before observed, a detachment for its defence. It was thought he did this on purpose, and out of reverence to the gods; because, had the soldiers plundered this temple, the public would not have reaped any benefit by it, and himself alone would have been accused of this sacrilege.

After the battle, the Athenians, who were not yet in a condition to attack Syracuse, retired with their

Thucyd. l. vi. p. 453-461. Plut. in Nic. p. 539, 534. Diod. 1. xii. p. 137, 138.

sign to return in the beginning of the next spring, and lay siege to the city. For this they wanted money, provisions, and particularly horse, of which they were absolutely destitute. The Athenians depended upon obtaining part of the succours from the people of Sicily; who they supposed would join them, the instant they should hear of their victory; and at the same time they sent an express to Athens, to solicit the like aid. They also addressed the Carthaginians for their alliance; and sent deputies to some cities of Italy, situated on the coast of the Tuscan sea, which had promised to assist them.

The Syracusans were far from desponding. Hermocrates, who, of all their leaders, was most distinguished for his valour, his judgment, and experience, represented to them, in order to raise their hopes, that they had not been wanting in courage, but in conduct; that the enemies, though very brave, owed their victory to their good fortune rather than to their merit; that the having a multitude of leaders (they were fifteen in number,) from which confusion and disobedience were inseparable, had done them prejudice; that it would be absolutely necessary for them to choose experienced generals, to keep the rest in their duty, and exercise their forces continually during the winter season. This advice being followed, Hermocrates and two more were elected generals; after which they sent deputies to Corinth and Lacedæmon to renew the alliance, and at the same time to engage them to make a diversion, in order to oblige, if possible, the Athenians to recall their troops out of Sicily, or at least to prevent their sending a reinforcement thither. The fortifying of Syracuse was the chief object of their care. Accordingly they took into the city, by a wall, all the tract of land towards Epipolæ, from the northern extremty of Tyche, descending westward towards the quarter of the city called afterwards Neapolis, in order to remove the enemy to a greater distance, and to give them more trouble in making their contravallation, by obliging them to give a larger extent to it. This part, in all probability, had been neglected, because it seemed to be sufficiently defended by its rugged and steep situation. They also garrisoned Megara and Olympia, and drove stakes into all those parts of the sea-shore, where the enemy might easily make a descent. Hearing afterwards that the Athenians were at Naxos, they went and burnt the camp of Catana, and retired, after laying waste the adjacent country.

The ambassadors of Syracuse being arrived among the Corinthians,2 asked succour of them as having been their founders, which was immediately granted; and at the same time they sent an embassy to the Lacedæmonians, to invite them to declare in their favour. Alcibiades enforced their demand with all his credit and eloquence, to which his resentment against Athens added new vigour. He advised and exhorted the Lacedæmonians to appoint Gylippus their general, and send him into Sicily; and at the same time to invade the Athenians, in order to make a powerful diversion. In the third place, he induced them to fortify Decelia in Attica, which quite completed the ruin of the city of Athens, it not being able ever to recover that blow: for by this fort, the Lacedæmonians made themselves masters of the country, by which the Athenians were deprived of their silver mines of Laurium, and of the revenues of their lands; nor could they be succoured by their neighbours, Decelia becoming the asylum of all the malcontents and partisans of Sparta.

Nicias had received some succours from Athens. These consisted A. M. 3590. of 250 troopers, who the Athenians Ant. J. C. 414. supposed would be furnished with horses in Sicily (the troops bringing only the furni

Thucyd. 1. vi, p. 471-482. Plut, in Alcib. p. 203. Im Nic. p. 534, 535. Diod. 1. xiii. p. 138.