20.2. But in the meantime Nicias was suddenly attacked by land and sea. With his fleet, though vanquished at first, he yet succeeded in repulsing the enemy and sank many of their ships; but he was not prompt enough in sending aid to his garrison at Plemmyrium, and so Gylippus, who had fallen upon it suddenly, captured it. Large naval stores and moneys were in deposit there, all of which Gylippus secured, besides killing many men and taking many prisoners.
20.2. ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καὶ κατὰ γῆν καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν ἐξαίφνης ἐπιχειρούμενος ὁ Νικίας ταῖς μὲν ναυσὶν ἡττώμενος τὸ πρῶτον ὅμως ἐξέωσε καὶ κατέδυσε πολλὰς τῶν πολεμίων, πρὸς δὲ τὸ πεζὸν οὐκ ἔφθασε βοηθῶν, ἀλλʼ ἄφνω προσπεσὼν ὁ Γύλιππος εἷλε τὸ Πλημμύριον, ἐν ᾧ σκευῶν τριηρικῶν καὶ χρημάτων πολλῶν ἀποκειμένων ἐκράτησε πάντων καὶ διέφθειρεν ἄνδρας οὐκ ὀλίγους καὶ ζῶντας ἔλαβε·
20.3. What was most important of all, he robbed Nicias of his easy importation of supplies. These had been safely and speedily brought in past to Plemmyrium as long as the Athenians held that post; but now that they had been driven from it, the process was a difficult one, and involved fighting with the enemy who lay at anchor there. And besides all this, the Syracusans felt that their fleet had been defeated, not through any superior strength in their enemy, but by reason of their own disorderly pursuit of that enemy. Accordingly, they were making more vigorous preparations to try the issue again.
20.3. τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, ἀφείλετο τοῦ Νικίου τῆς ἀγορᾶς τὴν εὐπέτειαν. ἦν γὰρ ἡ κομιδὴ παρὰ τὸ Πλημμύριον ἀσφαλὴς καὶ ταχεῖα τῶν Ἀθηναίων κρατούντων, ἐκπεσόντων δὲ χαλεπὴ καὶ μετὰ μάχης ἐγίνετο πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους ἐκεῖ ναυλοχοῦντας. ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὸ ναυτικὸν τοῖς Συρακουσίοις οὐκ ἀπὸ κράτους ἐφαίνετο νενικημένον, ἀλλʼ ἀταξίᾳ περὶ τὴν δίωξιν. αὖθις οὖν ἐπεχείρουν παρασκευαζόμενοι λαμπρότερον.
20.4. But Nicias did not want a sea fight. He said it would be great folly, when so large an armament was sailing to their aid and hurrying up fresh troops under Demosthenes, to fight the issue out with inferior forces, and those wretchedly supplied. Menander and Euthydemus, however, who had just been appointed to their offices, were moved by an ambitious rivalry with both the other generals; they longed to anticipate Demosthenes in some brilliant exploit, and to eclipse Nicias.
20.4. ὁ δὲ Νικίας οὐκ ἐβούλετο ναυμαχεῖν, ἀλλὰ πολλὴν ἀβελτερίαν ἔλεγεν εἶναι, στόλου τοσούτου προσπλέοντος αὐτοῖς καὶ δυνάμεως ἀκραιφνοῦς, ἣν ἦγε Δημοσθένης σπεύδων, ἀπʼ ἐλαττόνων καὶ χορηγουμένων φαύλως διαγωνίσασθαι. τοῖς δὲ περὶ τὸν Μένανδρον καὶ τὸν Εὐθύδημον ἀρτίως εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν καθισταμένοις φιλοτιμία καὶ ζῆλος ἦν πρὸς ἀμφοτέρους τοὺς στρατηγούς, τὸν μὲν Δημοσθένην φθῆναι πράξαντάς τι λαμπρόν, ὑπερβαλέσθαι δὲ τὸν Νικίαν.
20.5. They therefore made much of their city’s reputation. This, they declared again and again, would be altogether ruined and dissipated if they should show fear when the Syracusans sailed out to attack them; and so they forced a decision to give battle by sea. But they were simply out-maneuvered by Ariston, the Corinthian captain, in the matter of the noon-day meal, as Thucydides relates, and then worsted in action, with the loss of many men. And so a great despair encompassed Nicias; he had met with disaster while in sole command, and was now again brought to grief by his colleagues.
20.5. πρόσχημα δʼ ἦν ἡ δόξα τῆς πόλεως, ἣν ἀπόλλυσθαι καὶ καταλύεσθαι παντάπασι φάσκοντες εἰ φοβηθήσονται Συρακουσίους ἐπιπλέοντας, ἐξεβιάσαντο ναυμαχῆσαι. καὶ καταστρατηγηθέντες ὑπʼ Ἀρίστωνος τοῦ Κορινθίων κυβερνήτου τοῖς περὶ τὸ ἄριστον, ὡς εἴρηκε Θουκυδίδης, κατὰ κράτος ἡττήθησαν καὶ πολλοὺς ἀπέβαλον· καὶ ἀθυμία πολλὴ περιεστήκει τὸν Νικίαν τῇ τε μοναρχίᾳ κακοπαθοῦντα καὶ σφαλλόμενον αὖθις ὑπὸ τῶν συναρχόντων.
21.1. But at this juncture Demosthenes hove in sight off the harbors, most resplendent in his array, and most terrifying to the enemy. He brought five thousand hoplites on seventy-three ships of war, besides javelineers and archers and slingers to no less a number than three thousand. What with the gleam of his arms and the insignia of his triremes and the multitude of his coxwains and pipers, he made a spectacular display, and one which smote the enemy with dismay.
21.1. ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Δημοσθένης ὑπὲρ τῶν λιμένων ἐπεφαίνετο λαμπρότατος τῇ παρασκευῇ καὶ δεινότατος τοῖς πολεμίοις, ἐπὶ νεῶν ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ τριῶν ἄγων ὁπλίτας πεντακισχιλίους, ἀκοντιστὰς δὲ καὶ τοξότας καὶ σφενδονήτας τρισχιλίων οὐκ ἐλάττους, ὅπλων δὲ κόσμῳ καὶ παρασήμοις τριήρων καὶ πλήθει κελευστῶν καὶ αὐλητῶν θεατρικῶς καὶ πρὸς ἔκπληξιν πολεμίων ἐξησκημένος.
21.2. Again, then, as was natural, fear reigned among the Syracusans. They saw before them no final release from their perils, but only useless toils and vain self-destruction. But the joy of Nicias at the presence of this fresh force was not long lived. Nay, at the very first council of war, when Demosthenes urged an immediate attack upon the enemy, a settlement of the whole struggle by the speediest hazard, and either the capture of Syracuse or else a return home, he was in fearful amaze at such aggressive daring, and begged that nothing be done rashly or foolishly.
21.2. ἦν οὖν, ὡς εἰκός, αὖθις ἐν φόβῳ μεγάλῳ τὰ Συρακουσίων εἰς οὐδὲν πέρας οὐδὲ ἀπαλλαγήν, ἀλλὰ πονοῦντας ἄλλως καὶ φθειρομένους αὑτοὺς μάτην ὁρώντων. τὸν δὲ Νικίαν οὐ πολὺν χρόνον εὔφρανεν ἡ παρουσία τῆς δυνάμεως, ἀλλʼ ἅμα τῷ πρῶτον ἐν λόγοις γενέσθαι, τοῦ Δημοσθένους εὐθὺς ἐπιχειρεῖν τοῖς πολεμίοις κελεύοντος καὶ τῷ ταχίστῳ τῶν κινδύνων περὶ τοῦ παντὸς διαγωνισαμένους ἑλεῖν Συρακούσας ἢ ἀποπλεῖν οἴκαδε, δείσας καὶ θαυμάσας τὴν ὀξύτητα καὶ τόλμαν ἐδεῖτο μηδὲν ἀπεγνωσμένως πράττειν μηδὲ ἀνοήτως.
21.3. Delay, he said, was sure to work against the enemy; they no longer had money to spend, and their allies would no longer stand by them; let them only be really distressed by the straits they were in, and they would soon come to him again for terms, as they had done before. For not a few of the men of Syracuse were in secret communication with Nicias. They urged him to bide his time, on the ground that even now they were worn out by the war and weary of Gylippus, and that if their necessities should but increase a little, they would give over altogether.
21.3. τὴν γὰρ τριβὴν εἶναι κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων οὔτε χρήματα κεκτημένων ἔτι, μήτε τῶν συμμάχων αὐτοῖς πολὺν χρόνον παραμενούντων, εἰ δὲ θλίβοιντο ταῖς ἀπορίαις, ταχὺ πάλιν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ συμβάσεις τραπησομένων, ὡς πρότερον. καὶ γὰρ ἦσαν ἄνδρες οὐκ ὀλίγοι τῶν ἐν Συρακούσαις διαλεγόμενοι τῷ Νικίᾳ κρύφα καὶ μένειν κελεύοντες, ὡς καὶ νῦν ὑπερπονούντων τῷ πολέμῳ καὶ τὸν Γύλιππον βαρυνομένων, ἐὰν δὲ μικρὸν ἐπιτείνωσιν αἱ ἀνάγκαι, παντάπασιν ἀπαγορευσόντων.
21.4. At some of these matters Nicias could only hint darkly, of others he was unwilling to speak in public, and so he made the generals think him cowardly. It was the same old story over again with him, they would say,—delays, postponements, and hairsplitting distinctions; he had already forfeited the golden moment by not attacking the enemy at once, but rather going stale and winning their contempt. So they sided with Demosthenes, and Nicias, with great reluctance, was forced to yield.
21.4. τούτων ὁ Νικίας τὰ μὲν αἰνιττόμενος, τὰ δʼ οὐ θέλων ἐν φανερῷ λέγειν, ἀτολμίας παρέσχε τοῖς στρατηγοῖς δόξαν, καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐκεῖνα πάλιν ἥκειν φάσκοντες αὐτοῦ, μελλήματα καὶ διατριβὰς καὶ ἀκριβολογίας, αἷς ἀπώλεσε τὴν ἀκμὴν οὐκ εὐθὺς ἐπιχειρῶν τοῖς πολεμίοις, ἀλλʼ ἕωλος καὶ καταφρονούμενος, τῷ Δημοσθένει προσετίθεντο. καὶ ὁ Νικίας μόλις συνεχώρησεν ἐκβιασθείς.
21.5. Therefore, Demosthenes, with the infantry, made a night attack upon Epipolae. He took some of the enemy by surprise, and slew them; others, who tried to make a stand, he routed. Victorious, he did not halt, but pressed on farther, until he fell in with the Boeotians. These were the first of the enemy to form in battle array, and dashing upon the Athenians with spears at rest and with loud shouts, they repulsed them and slew many of them there.
21.5. οὕτω δὴ τὴν πεζὴν στρατιὰν ἀναλαβὼν ὁ Δημοσθένης νυκτὸς ἐπεχείρει ταῖς Ἐπιπολαῖς· καὶ τοὺς μὲν φθάσας πρὶν αἰσθέσθαι τῶν πολεμίων ἀπέκτεινε, τοὺς δʼ ἀμυνομένους ἐτρέψατο. καὶ κρατῶν οὐκ ἔμενεν, ἀλλʼ ἐχώρει προσωτέρω, μέχρι οὗ τοῖς Βοιωτοῖς ἐνέτυχε. πρῶτοι γὰρ οὗτοι συστρέψαντες ἑαυτοὺς καὶ συνδραμόντες εἰς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἐναντίοις τοῖς δόρασι μετὰ βοῆς ἐώσαντο καὶ πολλοὺς αὐτοῦ κατέβαλον.
21.6. Through the whole army of attack there was at once panic and confusion. The part that was still pressing on victoriously was presently choked up with the part that fled, and the part that was yet coming up to the attack was beaten back by the panic-stricken and fell foul of itself, supposing that the fugitives were pursuers, and treating friends as foes.
21.6. διʼ ὅλου δὲ τοῦ στρατεύματος εὐθὺς ἦν πτοία καὶ ταραχή, καὶ τοῦ φεύγοντος ἤδη καταπιμπλάμενον τὸ ἔτι νικῶν, καὶ τὸ ἐπιβαῖνον καὶ προσφερόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν πεφοβημένων ἀνακοπτόμενον ἑαυτῷ περιέπιπτε, τοὺς μὲν φεύγοντας οἰόμενον διώκειν, τοῖς δὲ φίλοις ὡς πολεμίοις χρώμενον.
21.7. Their huddling together in fear and ignorance, and the deceitfulness of their vision, plunged the Athenians into terrible perplexities and disasters. For the night was one which afforded neither absolute darkness nor a steady light. The moon was low on the horizon, and was partially obscured by the numerous armed figures roving to and fro in her light, and so she naturally made even friends mutually suspicious through fear of foes, by not distinguishing their forms clearly.
21.7. ἡ γὰρ ἄτακτος ἀνάμιξις ἐν ταὐτῷ μετὰ φόβου καὶ ἀγνοίας, καὶ τὸ τῆς ὄψεως ἄπιστον ἐν νυκτὶ μήτε σκότος ἄκρατον μήτε φῶς ἐχούσῃ βέβαιον, ἀλλʼ οἵαν εἰκὸς ἤδη καταφερομένης σελήνης καὶ περισκιαζομένης ὅπλοις πολλοῖς καὶ σώμασι κινουμένοις διὰ τοῦ φωτὸς μὴ διασαφοῦσαν τὰ εἴδη φόβῳ τοῦ πολεμίου καὶ τὸ οἰκεῖον ποιεῖν ὕποπτον, εἰς δεινὰς ἀπορίας καὶ περιπετείας καθίστη τοὺς Ἀθηναίους.
21.8. Besides, it somehow happened that the Athenians had the moon at their backs, so that they cast their shadows on their own men in front of them, and thus obscured their number and the brilliancy of their weapons; while in the case of the enemy, the reflection of the moon upon their shields made them seem far more numerous than they really were, and more resplendent to the eye.
21.8. ἔτυχον δέ πως καὶ τὴν σελήνην ἔχοντες ὄπισθεν· ὅθεν αὐτοὶ μὲν αὑτοῖς τὰς σκιὰς ἐπιβάλλοντες ἀπέκρυπτον τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ὅπλων καὶ τὴν λαμπρότητα, τοὺς δʼ ἐναντίους ὁ πρὸς τὴν σελήνην τῶν ἀσπίδων ἀντιφωτισμὸς πολὺ πλείονας ὁρᾶσθαι καὶ λαμπροτέρους ἐποίει.
21.9. Finally, when the Athenians gave ground, the enemy attacked them on all sides and put them to flight. Some of them died at the hands of their pursuers, others by one another’s hands, and others still by plunging down the cliffs. The scattered and wandering fugitives, when day came, were overtaken and cut to pieces by the enemy’s horsemen. The dead amounted in all to two thousand; and of the survivors, few saved their armour with their lives.
21.9. τέλος δὲ πανταχόθεν αὐτοῖς, ὡς ἐνέδοσαν, προσκειμένων τῶν πολεμίων φεύγοντες οἱ μὲν ὑπʼ ἐκείνων, οἱ δʼ ὑπʼ ἀλλήλων ἀπέθνησκον, οἱ δὲ κατὰ τῶν κρημνῶν ὀλισθαίνοντες· τοὺς δʼ ἀποσκεδασθέντας καὶ πλανωμένους ἡμέρας ἐπιγενομένης οἱ ἱππεῖς καταλαμβάνοντες διέφθειρον. ἐγένοντο δὲ νεκροὶ δισχίλιοι, καὶ τῶν περιγενομένων ὀλίγοι μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων ἀπεσώθησαν.
22.1. Nicias, accordingly, was overcome by this disaster, though it did not take him wholly by surprise, and he accused Demosthenes of rashness. Demosthenes defended himself on this score, and then urged that they sail away as soon as they could. No other force would come to their aid, he declared, and with the one they had they could not finally master the enemy, since, even if they were victorious in battle they would be forced to change their base and abandon their present position; this was always, as they heard, a grievous and unwholesome spot for encampment, and now particularly, as they saw, it was actually deadly on account of the season of the year.
22.1. ὁ μὲν οὖν Νικίας πληγεὶς οὐκ ἀπροσδοκήτως ᾐτιᾶτο τοῦ Δημοσθένους τὴν προπέτειαν· ἐκεῖνος δὲ περὶ τούτων ἀπολογησάμενος ἐκέλευσεν ἀποπλεῖν τὴν ταχίστην· οὔτε γὰρ ἄλλην ἀφίξεσθαι δύναμιν αὐτοῖς, οὔτʼ ἀπὸ τῆς παρούσης τῶν πολεμίων κρατεῖν, ὅπου γε καὶ κρατοῦντας ἐκείνων ἔδει μεταστῆναι καὶ φυγεῖν τὸ χωρίον, ἀεὶ μέν, ὡς πυνθάνονται, βαρὺ καὶ νοσῶδες ὂν στρατοπέδῳ, νῦν δʼ, ὡς βλέπουσι, καὶ διὰ τὴν ὥραν ὀλέθριον.
22.2. For it was the beginning of autumn; many were sick already, and all were in low spirits. But Nicias could not bear to hear of sailing off in flight, not because he had no fear of the Syracusans, but because he was more afraid of the Athenians with their prosecutions and denunciations.
22.2. μετοπώρου γὰρ ἦν ἡ ἀρχή· καὶ πολλοὶ μὲν ἠσθένουν ἤδη, πάντες δὲ ἠθύμουν. ὁ δὲ Νικίας χαλεπῶς ἤκουε τὴν φυγὴν καὶ τὸν ἀπόπλουν, οὐ τῷ μὴ δεδιέναι τοὺς Συρακουσίους, ἀλλὰ τῷ μᾶλλον τοὺς Ἀθηναίους καὶ τὰς ἐκείνων δίκας καὶ συκοφαντίας φοβεῖσθαι.
22.3. Nothing dreadful, he would say, was to be expected where they were, and even if the worst should come, he chose rather to die at the hands of his enemies than at the hands of his fellow citizens. In this he was not like-minded with Leon of Byzantium, who, at a later time, said to his fellow citizens: “I would rather be put to death by you than with you.” However, regarding the exact spot to which they should remove their camp, Nicias said they would deliberate at their leisure.
22.3. δεινὸν μὲν οὖν οὐδὲν αὐτόθι προσδοκᾶν ἔφασκεν, εἰ δὲ συμβαίη, μᾶλλον αἱρεῖσθαι τὸν ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων θάνατον ἢ τὸν ὑπὸ τῶν πολιτῶν, οὐχ ὅμοια φρονῶν οἷς ὕστερον ὁ Βυζάντιος Λέων εἶπε πρὸς τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ πολίτας· βούλομαι γὰρ, ἔφη, μᾶλλον ὑφʼ ὑμῶν ἢ μεθʼ ὑμῶν ἀποθανεῖν. περὶ μέντοι τόπου καὶ χώρας εἰς ἣν μετατάξουσι τὸ στρατόπεδον, βουλεύσεσθαι καθʼ ἡσυχίαν.
22.4. Thereupon Demosthenes, who had not been successful in his previous plan, ceased trying to carry his point, and so led the rest of the generals to believe that Nicias must have confident expectations from his correspondents in the city in making such a sturdy fight against the proposed retreat; they therefore sided with him. However, a fresh army came to the aid of the Syracusans, and sickness kept spreading among the Athenians, so that at last Nicias also decided in favour of a change of base, and ordered the soldiers to hold themselves in readiness to sail away.
22.4. ταῦτα δʼ αὐτοῦ λέγοντος ὁ μὲν Δημοσθένης οὐδὲ τῇ προτέρᾳ γνώμῃ κατευτυχήσας ἐπαύσατο βιαζόμενος, τοῖς δʼ ἄλλοις παρέσχε τὸν Νικίαν προσδοκῶντα καὶ πιστεύοντα τοῖς ἔνδον οὕτως ἐρρωμένως ἀναμάχεσθαι περὶ τῆς ἀποβάσεως· διὸ καὶ συνεχώρησαν. ὡς μέντοι στρατιὰ Συρακουσίοις ἐπῆλθεν ἄλλη καὶ μᾶλλον ἥπτετο τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἡ νόσος, ἤδη καὶ τῷ Νικίᾳ συνεδόκει μεθίστασθαι, καὶ παρήγγειλε τοῖς στρατιώταις εὐτρεπεῖς εἶναι πρὸς ἀπόπλουν.
23.1. But just as everything was prepared for this and none of the enemy were on the watch, since they did not expect the move at all, there came an eclipse of the moon by night. This was a great terror to Nicias and all those who were ignorant or superstitious enough to quake at such a sight. The obscuration of the sun towards the end of the month was already understood, even by the common folk as caused somehow or other by the moon;
23.1. ὡς δʼ ἦν ἕτοιμα ταῦτα πάντα καὶ τῶν πολεμίων οὐδεὶς παρεφύλαττεν, ἅτε δὴ μὴ προσδοκώντων, ἐξέλιπεν ἡ σελήνη τῆς νυκτός, μέγα δέος τῷ Νικίᾳ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τοῖς ὑπὸ ἀπειρίας ἢ δεισιδαιμονίας ἐκπεπληγμένοις τὰ τοιαῦτα. τοῦ μὲν γὰρ ἡλίου τὴν περὶ τὰς τριακάδας ἐπισκότησιν ἁμῶς γέ πως ἤδη συνεφρόνουν καὶ οἱ πολλοὶ γενομένην ὑπὸ τῆς σελήνης·
23.2. but what what it was that the moon encountered, and how, being at the full, she should on a sudden lose her light and emit all sorts of colors, this was no easy thing to comprehend. The first man to put in writing the clearest and boldest of all doctrines about the changing phases of the moon was Anaxagoras. But he was no ancient authority, nor was his doctrine in high repute. It was still under seal of secrecy, and made its way slowly among a few only, who received it with a certain caution rather than with implicit confidence.
23.2. αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν σελήνην, ᾧτινι συντυγχάνουσα καὶ πῶς αἰφνίδιον ἐκ πανσελήνου τὸ φῶς ἀπόλλυσι καὶ χρόας ἵησι παντοδαπάς, οὐ ῥᾴδιον ἦν καταλαβεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἀλλόκοτον ἡγοῦντο καὶ πρὸ συμφορῶν τινων μεγάλων ἐκ θεοῦ γινόμενον σημεῖον. ὁ γὰρ πρῶτος σαφέστατόν τε πάντων καὶ θαρραλεώτατον περὶ σελήνης καταυγασμῶν καὶ σκιᾶς λόγον εἰς γραφὴν καταθέμενος Ἀναξαγόρας οὔτʼ αὐτὸς ἦν παλαιὸς οὔτε ὁ λόγος ἔνδοξος, ἀλλʼ ἀπόρρητος ἔτι καὶ διʼ ὀλίγων καὶ μετʼ εὐλαβείας τινὸς ἢ πίστεως βαδίζων.
23.3. Men could not abide the natural philosophers and “visionaries,” as they were then called, for that they reduced the divine agency down to irrational causes, blind forces, and necessary incidents. Even Protagoras had to go into exile, Anaxagoras was with difficulty rescued from imprisonment by Pericles, and Socrates, though he had nothing whatever to do with such matters, nevertheless lost his life because of philosophy.
23.3. οὐ γὰρ ἠνείχοντο τοὺς φυσικοὺς καὶ μετεωρολέσχας τότε καλουμένους, ὡς εἰς αἰτίας ἀλόγους καὶ δυνάμεις ἀπρονοήτους καὶ κατηναγκασμένα πάθη διατρίβοντας τὸ θεῖον, ἀλλὰ καὶ Πρωταγόρας ἔφυγε, καὶ Ἀναξαγόραν εἱρχθέντα μόλις περιεποιήσατο Περικλῆς, καὶ Σωκράτης, οὐδὲν αὐτῷ τῶν γε τοιούτων προσῆκον, ὅμως ἀπώλετο διὰ φιλοσοφίαν.
23.4. It was not until later times that the radiant repute of Plato, because of the life the man led, and because he subjected the compulsions of the physical world to divine and more sovereign principles, took away the obloquy of such doctrines as these, and gave their science free course among all men. At any rate, his friend Dion, although the moon suffered an eclipse at the time when he was about to set out from Zacynthus on his voyage against Dionysius, was in no wise disturbed, but put to sea, landed at Syracuse, and drove out the tyrant.
23.4. ὀψὲ δʼ ἡ Πλάτωνος ἐκλάμψασα δόξα διὰ τὸν βίον τοῦ ἀνδρός, καὶ ὅτι ταῖς θείαις καὶ κυριωτέραις ἀρχαῖς ὑπέταξε τὰς φυσικὰς ἀνάγκας, ἀφεῖλε τὴν τῶν λόγων τούτων διαβολήν, καὶ τοῖς μαθήμασιν εἰς ἅπαντας ὁδὸν ἐνέδωκεν. ὁ γοῦν ἑταῖρος αὐτοῦ Δίων, καθʼ ὃν χρόνον ἔμελλεν ἄρας ἐκ Ζακύνθου πλεῖν ἐπὶ Διονύσιον, ἐκλιπούσης τῆς σελήνης, οὐδὲν διαταραχθεὶς ἀνήχθη, καὶ κατασχὼν ἐν Συρακούσαις ἐξέβαλε τὸν τύραννον.
23.5. However, it was the lot of Nicias at this time to be without even a soothsayer who was expert. The one who had been his associate, and who used to set him free from most of his superstition, Stilbides, had died a short time before. For indeed the sign from Heaven, as Philochorus observed, was not an obnoxious one to fugitives, but rather very propitious; concealment is just what deeds of fear need, whereas light is an enemy to them.
23.5. τῷ μέντοι Νικίᾳ συνηνέχθη τότε μηδὲ μάντιν ἔχειν ἔμπειρον· ὁ γὰρ συνήθης αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ πολὺ τῆς δεισιδαιμονίας ἀφαιρῶν Στιλβίδης ἐτεθνήκει μικρὸν ἔμπροσθεν. ἐπεὶ τὸ σημεῖον, ὥς φησι Φιλόχορος, φεύγουσιν οὐκ ἦν πονηρόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάνυ χρηστόν· ἐπικρύψεως γὰρ αἱ σὺν φόβῳ πράξεις δέονται, τὸ δὲ φῶς πολέμιόν ἐστιν αὐταῖς.
23.6. And besides, men were wont to be on their guard against portents of sun and moon for three days only, as Autocleides has remarked in his “Exegetics”; but Nicias persuaded the Athenians to wait for another full period of the moon, as if, forsooth, he did not see that the planet was restored to purity and splendor just as soon as she had passed beyond the region which was darkened and obscured by the earth.
23.6. ἄλλως τε καὶ τῶν περὶ ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἐποιοῦντο φυλακήν, ὡς Αὐτοκλείδης διέγραψεν ἐν τοῖς ἐξηγητικοῖς· ὁ δὲ Νικίας ἄλλην ἔπεισε σελήνης ἀναμένειν περίοδον, ὥσπερ οὐκ εὐθὺς θεασάμενος αὐτὴν ἀποκαθαρθεῖσαν, ὅτε τὸν σκιερὸν τόπον καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀντιφραττόμενον παρῆλθε.
24.1. Abandoning almost everything else, Nicias lay there sacrificing and divining until the enemy came up against him. With their land forces they laid siege to his walls and camp, and with their fleet they took possession of the harbor round about. Not only the men of Syracuse in their triremes, but even the striplings, on board of fishing smacks and skiffs, sailed up from every side with challenges and insults for the Athenians.
24.1. μικροῦ δὲ πάντων ἀφέμενος τῶν ἄλλων ἔθυέ τε καὶ διεμαντεύετο καθήμενος, ἕως ἐπῆλθον αὐτοῖς οἱ πολέμιοι, τῷ μὲν πεζῷ τὰ τείχη καὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον αὐτῶν πολιορκοῦντες, ταῖς δὲ ναυσὶ κύκλῳ τὸν λιμένα περιλαμβάνοντες, οὐκ αὐτοὶ μόνον ταῖς τριήρεσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ παιδάρια πανταχόθεν ἐπιβαίνοντα τῶν ἁλιάδων καὶ ταῖς σκάφαις προσπλέοντα προὐκαλεῖτο τοὺς Ἀθηναίους καὶ προὐπηλάκιζεν.
24.2. To one of these, a boy of noble parentage, Heracleides by name, who had driven his boat well on before the rest, an Attic ship gave chase, and was like to capture him. But the boy’s uncle, Pollichus, concerned for his safety, rowed out to his defence with the ten triremes which were under his orders, and then the other commanders, fearing in turn for the safety of Pollichus, likewise put out for the scene of action. A fierce sea fight was thus brought on, in which the Syracusans were victorious, and slew Eurymedon along with many others.
24.2. ὧν ἕνα, παῖδα γνωρίμων γονέων, Ἡρακλείδην, προεξελάσαντα τῷ πλοίῳ ναῦς Ἀττικὴ διώκουσα κατελάμβανε. δείσας δὲ περὶ αὐτῷ Πόλλιχος ὁ θεῖος ἀντελαύνει δέκα τριήρεσιν ὧν ἦρχεν· οἱ δʼ ἄλλοι περὶ τοῦ Πολλιχου φοβηθέντες ὡσαύτως ἀνήγοντο. καὶ ναυμαχίας ἰσχυρᾶς γενομένης ἐνίκησαν οἱ Συρακούσιοι, καὶ τὸν Εὐρυμέδοντα πολλῶν μετʼ ἄλλων διέφθειραν.
24.3. Accordingly the Athenians could no longer endure to remain there, but cried out loudly upon their generals and bade them withdraw by land; for the Syracusans, immediately after their victory, had blocked up and shut off the mouth of the harbor. But Nicias could not consent to this. He said it would be a terrible thing to abandon so many transports, and triremes almost two hundred in number.
24.3. ἦν οὖν οὐκέτι μένειν ἀνασχετὰ Ἀθηναίοις, ἀλλὰ τῶν στρατηγῶν κατεβόων πεζῇ κελεύοντες ἀναχωρεῖν. καὶ γὰρ οἱ Συρακούσιοι νικήσαντες εὐθὺς ἐνέφραξαν καὶ ἀπέκλεισαν τὸν διέκπλουν τοῦ λιμένος. οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Νικίαν τοῦτο μὲν οὐκ ἐπείθοντο· δεινὸν γὰρ ἦν ἀπολιπεῖν ὁλκάδας τε πολλὰς καὶ τριήρεις ὀλίγον ἀριθμῷ διακοσίω.
24.4. So he embarked the best of his infantry and the most efficient of his javelineers to man a hundred and ten triremes; the rest lacked oars. Then he stationed the remainder of his army along the shore of the harbor, abandoning his main camp and the walls which connected it with the Heracleum. And so it was that the Syracusans, who had so long been unable to offer their customary sacrifice to Heracles, offered it then, priests and generals going up to the temple for this purpose while their triremes were a-manning.
24.4. ἀποδεούσας· ἐμβιβάσαντες δὲ τῶν πεζῶν τοὺς ἀρίστους καὶ τῶν ἀκοντιστῶν τοὺς ἀλκιμωτάτους ἐπλήρωσαν ἑκατὸν καὶ δέκα τριήρεις· αἱ γὰρ ἄλλαι ταρσῶν ἐνδεεῖς ἦσαν. τὸν δὲ λοιπὸν ὄχλον ἔστησε παρὰ θάλασσαν ὁ Νικίας, ἐκλιπὼν τὸ μέγα στρατόπεδον καὶ τὰ τείχη τὰ συνάπτοντα πρὸς τὸ Ἡράκλειον, ὥστε μὴ τεθυκότων τὴν εἰθισμένην θυσίαν τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ τῶν Συρακουσίων, θῦσαι τότε τοὺς ἱερεῖς καὶ στρατηγοὺς ἀναβάντας ἤδη πληρουμένων τῶν τριήρων.
25.1. Presently their diviners announced to the Syracusans that the sacrifices indicated a splendid victory for them if only they did not begin the fighting, but acted on the defensive. Heracles also, they said, always won the day because he acted on the defensive and suffered himself to be attacked first. Thus encouraged, they put out from shore. This proved the greatest and hottest sea fight they had yet made, and roused as many tumultuous emotions in those who were mere spectators as in those who did the fighting, because the whole action was in plain sight, and took on shifts and turns which were varied, unexpected, and sudden. Their own equipment wrought the Athenians no less harm than did that of their enemy;
25.1. ἐπεὶ δʼ οἱ μάντεις τοῖς Συρακουσίοις ἀπήγγειλαν ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν λαμπρότητα καὶ νίκην μὴ καταρχομένοις μάχης, ἀλλʼ ἀμυνομένοις (καὶ γὰρ τὸν Ἡρακλέα πάντων κρατεῖν ἀμυνόμενον καὶ προεπιχειρούμενον), ἀνήχθησαν. ἡ δὲ ναυμαχία πολὺ μεγίστη καὶ καρτερωτάτη γενομένη, καὶ μηδὲν ἐλάττονα πάθη καὶ θορύβους παρασχοῦσα τοῖς θεωμένοις ἢ τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις διὰ τὴν παντὸς ἐπίβλεψιν τοῦ ἔργου ποικίλας μεταβολὰς καὶ ἀπροσδοκήτους ἐν ὀλίγῳ λαμβάνοντος, ἔβλαπτε ταῖς αὐτῶν παρασκευαῖς οὐχ ἧττον τῶν πολεμίων τοὺς Ἀθηναίους.
25.2. for they fought against light and nimble ships, which bore down upon them from different directions at once, while their own were heavy and clumsy and all crowded together. Besides, they were bombarded with stones, whose blow is just as effective however they light; whereas they could only reply with javelins and arrows, whose proper cast was disturbed by the tossing water, so that they did not all fly head on to their mark. This method of fighting was taught the Syracusans by Ariston the Corinthian captain, who fought zealously while the battle lasted, only to fall just as the Syracusans were victorious.
25.2. ἀθρόαις γὰρ ἐμάχοντο ταῖς ναυσὶ καὶ βαρείαις πρὸς κούφας ἀλλαχόθεν ἄλλας ἐπιφερομένας, καὶ βαλλόμενοι λίθοις ὁμοίαν ἔχουσι τὴν πληγὴν πανταχόθεν ἀντέβαλλον ἀκοντίοις καὶ τοξεύμασιν, ὧν ὁ σάλος τὴν εὐθυβολίαν διέστρεφεν, ὥστε μὴ πάντα κατʼ αἰχμὴν προσφέρεσθαι. ταῦτα δʼ Ἀρίστων ὁ Κορίνθιος κυβερνήτης ἐδίδαξε τοὺς Συρακουσίους, καὶ παρὰ τὴν μάχην αὐτὴν ἀγωνιζόμενος προθύμως ἔπεσεν ἤδη κρατούντων τῶν Συρακουσίων.
25.3. The Athenians suffered such great rout and loss that they were cut off from flight by sea. Even by land they saw that their salvation was a difficult matter, so that they neither tried to hinder the enemy from towing away their ships under their very eyes, nor did they ask the privilege of taking up their dead. These, forsooth, could go unburied; the survivors were confronted with a more pitiful sight in the abandonment of their sick and wounded, and thought themselves more wretched still than their dead, since they were sure to come with more sorrows than they to the same end after all.
25.3. γενομένης δὲ μεγάλης τροπῆς καὶ φθορᾶς, ἡ μὲν κατὰ θάλασσαν φυγὴ τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις ἀποκέκοπτο· χαλεπὴν δὲ καὶ διὰ γῆς τὴν σωτηρίαν ὁρῶντες οὔτε ναῦς ἀφέλκοντας ἐγγύθεν ἔτι τοὺς πολεμίους ἐκώλυον οὔτε νεκρῶν ᾔτησαν ἀναίρεσιν, ἅτε δὴ τῆς ἐκείνων ἀταφίας τὴν τῶν νοσούντων καὶ τετρωμένων ἀπόλειψιν οἰκτροτέραν οὖσαν ἤδη πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχοντες, αὑτοὺς δὲ κἀκείνων ἐπιπονωτέρους ἡγούμενοι, μετὰ πλειόνων κακῶν ἐπὶ ταὐτὸ πάντως ἀφιξομένους τέλος.
26.1. They purposed to set out during the night, and Gylippus, who saw that the Syracusans were given over to sacrificial revels because of their victory and their festival of Heracles, despaired of persuading or compelling them to rise up from their pleasures at once and attack their enemy as he departed. But Hermocrates, all on his own account, concocted a trick to put upon Nicias, and sent certain companions to him with assurances that they were come from those men who before this had often held secret conferences with him.
26.1. ὡρμημένων δʼ αὐτῶν ἀπαίρειν διὰ νυκτὸς οἱ μὲν περὶ τὸν Γύλιππον, ὁρῶντες ἐν θυσίαις καὶ πότοις τοὺς Συρακουσίους διά τε τὴν νίκην καὶ τὴν ἑορτὴν ὄντας, οὔτε πείσειν οὔτε βιάσεσθαι προσεδόκων ἀναστάντας ἤδη προσφέρεσθαι τοῖς πολεμίοις ἀπιοῦσιν, Ἑρμοκράτης δʼ αὐτὸς ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ συνθεὶς ἐπὶ τὸν Νικίαν ἀπάτην, ἔπεμψέ τινας τῶν ἑταίρων πρὸς αὐτόν, ἀπʼ ἐκείνων μὲν ἥκειν τῶν ἀνδρῶν φάσκοντας, οἳ καὶ πρότερον εἰώθεσαν κρύφα τῷ Νικίᾳ διαλέγεσθαι, παραινοῦντας δὲ μὴ πορεύεσθαι διὰ τῆς νυκτός, ὡς τῶν Συρακουσίων ἐνέδρας πεποιημένων αὐτοῖς καὶ προκατεχόντων τὰς παρόδους.
26.2. They advised Nicias not to set out during the night, inasmuch as the Syracusans had laid snares for him and preoccupied the ways of escape. Nicias was completely out-generalled by this trick, and so ended by suffering in very truth at the hands of his enemies what their lies had made him fear. For the Syracusans set forth at break of day, occupied the difficult points in the roads, fortified the river fords, cut away the bridges, and posted their cavalry in the smooth open spaces, so that no spot was left where the Athenians could go forward without fighting. They waited therefore all that day and the following night, and then set out, for all the world as though they were quitting their native city and not an enemy’s country, with wailings and lamentations at their lack of the necessaries of life and their enforced abandonment of helpless friends and comrades. And yet they regarded these present sorrows as lighter than those which they must expect to come.
26.2. τούτῳ δὲ καταστρατηγηθεὶς ὁ Νικίας ὑπέμενεν ἃ ψευδῶς ἔδεισεν ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἀληθῶς παθεῖν. προελθόντες γὰρ ἅμʼ ἡμέρα τὰς δυσχωρίας τῶν ὁδῶν κατέλαβον καὶ τὰς διαβάσεις τῶν ποταμῶν ἀπετείχισαν τάς τε γεφύρας ἀπέκοψαν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ὁμαλοῖς καὶ πεδινοῖς τοὺς ἱππεῖς ἔταξαν, ὥστε μηδένα λελεῖφθαι τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις τόπον ἀμαχεὶ προελθεῖν. οἱ δὲ καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην καὶ τὴν νύκτα τὴν ἑτέραν ἐπιμείναντες ἐπορεύοντο κλαυθμῷ καὶ ὀλοφυρμῷ, καθάπερ ἐκ πατρίδος, οὐ πολεμίας, ἀνιστάμενοι, διὰ τὰς ἀπορίας τῶν ἀναγκαίων καὶ τὰς ἀπολείψεις τῶν ἀδυνάτων φίλων καὶ συνήθων, ὅμως τὰ παρόντα κακὰ κουφότερα τῶν προσδοκωμένων νομίζοντες εἶναι.
26.4. Many were the fearful scenes in the camp, but the most pitiful sight of all was Nicias himself, undone by his sickness, and reduced, as he little deserved, to a scanty diet, and to the smallest supply of those personal comforts whereof he stood so much in need because of his disease. And yet, for all his weakness, he persisted in doing what many of the strong could barely endure, and all saw plainly that it was not for his own sake or for any mere love of life that he was faithful to his tasks, but for their sakes he would not give up hope.
26.4. πολλῶν δὲ δεινῶν ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ φαινομένων, οὐδὲν ἦν οἰκτρότερον αὐτοῦ Νικίου θέαμα, κεκακωμένου μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀσθενείας, συνεσταλμένου δὲ παρʼ ἀξίαν εἰς ἀναγκαίαν δίαιταν καὶ τὰ μικρότατα τῶν ἐφοδίων εἰς τὸ σῶμα πολλῶν διὰ τὴν νόσον δεόμενον, πράττοντος δὲ μετʼ ἀρρωστίας καὶ καρτεροῦντος ἃ πολλοὶ τῶν ἐρρωμένων μόλις ὑπέμενον, καταφανοῦς δὲ πᾶσιν ὄντος οὐ διʼ αὑτὸν οὐδὲ τῷ φιλοψυχεῖν τοῖς πόνοις ἐμμένοντος, ἀλλὰ διʼ ἐκείνους τὴν ἐλπίδα μὴ προϊεμένου.
26.5. The rest, for very fear and distress, had recourse to lamentations and tears; but whenever he was driven to this pass, it was plainly because he was contrasting the shameful dishonor to which his expedition had now come with the great and glorious successes which he had hoped to achieve.
26.5. καὶ γὰρ εἰς δάκρυα καὶ ὀδυρμοὺς τῶν ἄλλων ὑπὸ φόβου καὶ λύπης τρεπομένων, ἐκεῖνος, εἴ ποτε βιασθείη τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, δῆλος ἦν τὸ αἰσχρὸν καὶ τὸ ἀκλεὲς τῆς στρατείας ἀναλογιζόμενος πρὸς τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τὴν δόξαν ὧν ἤλπιζε κατορθώσειν.
26.6. Besides, it was not merely the sight of him now, but also the memory of the arguments and exhortations with which he had once tried to prevent the sailing of the expedition, that led men to think him all the more unworthy to suffer such hardships now; and they had no courage to hope for aid from the gods when they reflected that a man so devout as he, and one who had performed so many great and splendid religious services, now met with no seemlier fortune than the basest and most obscure man in his army.
26.6. οὐ μόνον δʼ αὐτοῦ τὴν ὄψιν ὁρῶντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν λόγων μνημονεύοντες καὶ τῶν παραινέσεων ἃς ἐποιήσατο κωλύων τὸν ἔκπλουν, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐνόμιζον ἀναξίως ταλαιπωρεῖν· καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐκ θεῶν ἐλπίδας ἀθύμως εἶχον, ἐννοοῦντες ὡς ἀνὴρ θεοφιλὴς καὶ πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα λαμπρυνάμενος πρὸς τὸ θεῖον οὐδενὸς ἐπιεικεστέρᾳ τύχῃ χρῆται τῶν κακίστων ἐν τῷ στρατεύματι καὶ ταπεινοτάτων.
27.1. However, it was this very Nicias who tried, both by words and looks and kindly manner, to show himself superior to his dreadful lot. And during all the march which he conducted for eight successive days, though suffering from the missiles of the enemy, he yet succeeded in keeping his own forces from defeat, until Demosthenes and his detachment of the army were captured. These fell behind as they fought their way along, and were surrounded on the homestead of Polyzelus.
27.1. οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ὅ γε Νικίας ἐπειρᾶτο καὶ φωνῇ καὶ προσώπῳ καὶ δεξιώσει κρείττων ὁρᾶσθαι τῶν δεινῶν. καὶ παρὰ πᾶσάν γε τὴν πορείαν ἐφʼ ἡμέρας ὀκτὼ βαλλόμενος καὶ τραυματιζόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἀήττητον ἐφύλαττε τὴν σὺν αὐτῷ δύναμιν, ἄχρι οὗ Δημοσθένης ἑάλω καὶ τὸ μετʼ ἐκείνου στράτευμα, περὶ τὴν Πολυζήλειον αὐλὴν ἐν τῷ διαμάχεσθαι καὶ ὑπολείπεσθαι κυκλωθέν.
27.2. Demosthenes himself drew his sword and gave himself a thrust; he did not, however, succeed in killing himself since the enemy quickly closed in upon him and seized him. When the Syracusans rode up and told Nicias of this disaster, he first sent horsemen to make certain that the force of Demosthenes was really taken, and then proposed to Gylippus a truce permitting the Athenians to depart from Sicily after giving hostages to the Syracusans for all the moneys which they had expended on the war.
27.2. αὐτὸς δὲ Δημοσθένης σπασάμενος τὸ ξίφος ἔπληξε μὲν ἑαυτόν, οὐ μὴν ἀπέθανε, ταχὺ τῶν πολεμίων περισχόντων καὶ συλλαβόντων αὐτόν. ὡς δὲ τῷ Νικίᾳ προσελάσαντες ἔφραζον οἱ Συρακούσιοι καὶ πέμψας ἱππέας ἔγνω τὴν ἐκείνου τοῦ στρατεύματος ἅλωσιν, ἠξίου σπείσασθαι πρὸς τὸν Γύλιππον, ὅπως ἀφῶσι τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἐκ Σικελίας ὅμηρα λαβόντες ὑπὲρ τῶν χρημάτων ὅσα Συρακουσίοις ἀνάλωτο πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον.
27.3. But they would not entertain the proposal. Nay, with insolent rage they reviled and insulted him, and kept pelting him with missiles, destitute as he was of all the necessaries of life. However, through that night and the following day he managed to hold out, and finally came, under constant fire, to the river Asinarus. There some of his men were crowded along by the enemy and thrust into the stream, while others, in advance of pursuit, were impelled by their thirst to cast themselves in, and an exceeding great and savage carnage raged in the river itself, men being butchered as they drank.
27.3. οἱ δʼ οὐ προσεῖχον, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ὕβριν καὶ μετʼ ὀργῆς ἀπειλοῦντες καὶ λοιδοροῦντες ἔβαλλον ἤδη πάντων ἐνδεῶς ἔχοντα τῶν ἀναγκαίων. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν νύκτα διεκαρτέρησε καὶ τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν ἡμέραν προῄει βαλλόμενος πρὸς τὸν Ἀσίναρον ποταμόν. ἐκεῖ δὲ τοὺς μὲν οἱ πολέμιοι συνενεγκόντες ἐνέσεισαν εἰς τὸ ῥεῖθρον, οἱ δὲ φθάνοντες ὑπὸ δίψους ἔρριπτον ἑαυτούς.
27.4. At last Nicias fell down at the feet of Gylippus and cried: “Have pity, Gylippus, now that you are victorious, not on me at all, though my great successes have brought me name and fame, but on the rest of these Athenians. Remember that the fortunes of war are common to all, and that the Athenians, when they were in good fortune, used it with moderation and gentleness toward you.”
27.4. καὶ πλεῖστος ἐνταῦθα μόρος ἦν καὶ ὠμότατος ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ πινόντων ἅμα καὶ σφαττομένων, ἄχρι Νικίας Γυλίππῳ προσπεσὼν εἶπεν· ἔλεος ὑμᾶς, ὦ Γύλιππε, λαβέτω νικῶντας, ἐμοῦ μὲν μηδείς, ὃς ἐπὶ τηλικαύταις εὐτυχίαις ὄνομα καὶ δόξαν ἔσχον, τῶν δʼ ἄλλων Ἀθηναίων, ἐννοηθέντας ὅτι κοιναὶ μὲν αἱ τύχαι τοῦ πολέμου, μετρίως δʼ αὐταῖς καὶ πρᾴως ἐχρήσαντο ἐν οἷς εὐτύχουν Ἀθηναῖοι πρὸς ὑμᾶς.
27.5. So spake Nicias, and Gylippus felt some compunction, both at the sight of him, and at what he said. For he knew that the Lacedaemonians had been well treated by him when the peace was made, and, besides, he thought it would increase his own fame if he should bring home alive the generals who had opposed him. Therefore he raised Nicias up, gave him words of cheer, and issued command to take the rest of his men alive. But the command made its way slowly along, so that the spared were far fewer than the slain. And yet many were stolen and hidden away by the soldiery.
27.5. τοιαῦτα τοῦ Νικίου λέγοντος ἔπαθε μέν τι καὶ πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν αὐτοῦ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς λόγους ὁ Γύλιππος· ᾔδει γὰρ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους εὖ πεπονθότας ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ περὶ τὰς γενομένας διαλύσεις· μέγα δʼ ἡγεῖτο πρὸς δόξαν εἰ ζῶντας ἀπαγάγοι τοὺς ἀντιστρατήγους. διὸ τόν τε Νικίαν ἀναλαβὼν ἐθάρρυνε καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ζωγρεῖν παρήγγειλε. βραδέως δὲ τοῦ παραγγέλματος διϊκνουμένου πολλῷ τῶν φονευθέντων ἐλάττονες οἱ διασωθέντες ἐγένοντο· καίτοι πολλοὶ διεκλάπησαν ὑπὸ τῶν στρατιωτῶν.
27.6. The public prisoners were collected together, the fairest and tallest trees along the river bank were hung with the captured suits of armour, and then the victors crowned themselves with wreaths, adorned their own horses splendidly while they sheared and cropped the horses of their conquered foes, and so marched into the city. They had brought to successful end a struggle which was the most brilliant ever made by Hellenes against Hellenes, and had won the completest of victories by the most overwhelming and impetuous display of zeal and valor.
27.6. τοὺς δὲ φανερῶς ἑαλωκότας ἀθροίσαντες τὰ μὲν κάλλιστα καὶ μέγιστα δένδρα τῶν περὶ τὸν ποταμὸν ἀνέδησαν αἰχμαλώτοις πανοπλίαις, ἐστεφανωμένοι δὲ αὐτοὶ καὶ κοσμήσαντες τοὺς ἵππους διαπρεπῶς, κείραντες δὲ τοὺς τῶν πολεμίων εἰσήλαυνον εἰς τὴν πόλιν, ἀγῶνα λαμπρότατον ὧν Ἕλληνες πρὸς Ἕλληνας ἠγωνίσαντο καὶ νίκην τελεωτάτην κράτει πλείστῳ καὶ ῥώμῃ μεγίστῃ προθυμίας καὶ ἀρετῆς κατωρθωκότες.
28.1. At a general assembly of the Syracusans and their allies, Eurycles, the popular leader, brought in a motion, first, that the day on which they had taken Nicias be made a holy day, with sacrifices and abstention from labour, and that the festival be called Asinaria, from the river Asinarus (the day was the twenty-sixth of the month Carneius, which the Athenians call Metageitnion);
28.1. ἐκκλησίας δὲ πανδήμου Συρακουσίων καὶ τῶν συμμάχων γενομένης, Εὐρυκλῆς ὁ δημαγωγὸς ἔγραψε πρῶτον μὲν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐν ᾗ τὸν Νικίαν ἔλαβον, ἱερὰν ἔχειν, θύοντας καὶ σχολάζοντας ἔργων, Ἀσιναρίαν τὴν ἑορτὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ καλοῦντας· ἡμέρα δʼ ἦν τετρὰς φθίνοντος τοῦ Καρνείου μηνός, ὃν Ἀθηναῖοι Μεταγειτνιῶνα προσαγορεύουσι.
28.2. and second, that the serving men of the Athenians and their immediate allies be sold into slavery, while the freemen and the Sicilian Hellenes who had joined them be cast into the stone quarries for watch and ward,—all except the generals, who should be put to death. These propositions were adopted by the Syracusans. When Hermocrates protested that there was something better than victory, to wit, a noble use of victory, he was met with a tumult of disapproval; and when Gylippus demanded the Athenian generals as his prize, that he might take them alive to the Lacedaemonians, the Syracusans, now grown insolent with their good fortune, abused him roundly.
28.2. τῶν δʼ Ἀθηναίων τοὺς μὲν οἰκέτας ἀποδόσθαι καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους συμμάχους, αὐτοὺς δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ Σικελίας φρουρεῖν ἐμβαλόντας εἰς τὰς λατομίας, πλὴν τῶν στρατηγῶν, ἐκείνους δὲ ἀποκτεῖναι. ταῦτα προσδεχομένων τῶν Συρακουσίων, Ἑρμοκράτης μὲν εἰπὼν ὅτι τοῦ νικᾶν κρεῖττόν ἐστι τὸ καλῶς χρῆσθαι τῇ νίκῃ, οὐ μετρίως ἐθορυβήθη, Γύλιππον δὲ τοὺς στρατηγοὺς τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐξαιτούμενον ζῶντας ἀγαγεῖν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὑβρίζοντες· ἤδη τοῖς εὐτυχήμασιν οἱ Συρακούσιοι κακῶς ἔλεγον, ἄλλως τε καὶ παρὰ τὸν πόλεμον αὐτοῦ τὴν τραχύτητα καὶ τὸ Λακωνικὸν τῆς ἐπιστασίας οὐ ῥᾳδίως ἐνηνοχότες, ὡς δὲ Τίμαιός φησι, καὶ μικρολογίαν τινὰ καὶ πλεονεξίαν κατεγνωκότες, ἀρρώστημα πατρῷον, ἐφʼ ᾧ καὶ Κλεανδρίδης ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ δώρων ἁλοὺς ἔφυγε, καὶ οὗτος αὐτός, ἀπὸ τῶν χιλίων ταλάντων ἃ Λύσανδρος ἔπεμψεν εἰς Σπάρτην ὑφελόμενος τριάκοντα καὶ κρύψας ὑπὸ τὸν ὄροφον τῆς οἰκίας, εἶτα μηνυθείς, αἴσχιστα πάντων ἐξέπεσεν.
28.3. They were the more ready to do this because, all through the war, they had found it hard to put up with his harshness and the Laconian style with which he exercised his authority. Timaeus says, moreover, that they denounced his exceeding penuriousness and avarice,—an inherited infirmity, it would seem, since his father, Cleandridas, was convicted of taking bribes and had to flee his country. And Gylippus himself, for abstracting thirty talents from the thousand which Lysander had sent to Sparta, and hiding them in the roof of his house—as an informer was prompt to show—was banished in the deepest disgrace. But this has been told with more detail in my Life of Lysander. Timaeus denies that Demosthenes and Nicias were put to death by the orders of the Syracusans, as Philistus and Thucydides state; but rather, Hermocrates sent word to them of the decision of the assembly while it was yet in session, and with the connivance of one of their guards they took their own lives. Their bodies, however, he says, were cast out at the prison door, and lay there in plain sight of all who craved the spectacle.
28.3. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἐν τῷ Λυσάνδρου βίῳ μᾶλλον διηκρίβωται. Δημοσθένην δὲ καὶ Νικίαν ἀποθανεῖν Τίμαιος οὔ φησιν ὑπὸ Συρακουσίων κελευσθέντας, ὡς Φίλιστος ἔγραψε καὶ Θουκυδίδης, ἀλλʼ Ἑρμοκράτους πέμψαντος, ἔτι τῆς ἐκκλησίας συνεστώσης, καὶ διʼ ἑνὸς τῶν φυλάκων παρέντων αὐτοὺς διʼ αὑτῶν ἀποθανεῖν· τὰ μέντοι σώματα πρὸς ταῖς πύλαις ἐκβληθέντα κεῖσθαι φανερὰ τοῖς δεομένοις τοῦ θεάματος.
28.5. And I learn that down to this day there is shown among the treasures of a temple in Syracuse a shield which is said to have been the shield of Nicias. It is a welded mosaic of gold and purple interwoven with rare skill.
28.5. πυνθάνομαι δὲ μέχρι νῦν ἐν Συρακούσαις ἀσπίδα κειμένην πρὸς ἱερῷ δείκνυσθαι, Νικίου μὲν λεγομένην, χρυσοῦ δὲ καὶ πορφύρας εὖ πως πρὸς ἄλληλα μεμιγμένων διʼ ὑφῆς συγκεκροτημένην.
29.1. Most of the Athenians perished in the stone quarries of disease and evil fare, their daily rations being a pint of barley meal and a half-pint of water; but not a few were stolen away and sold into slavery, or succeeded in passing themselves off for serving men. These, when they were sold, were branded in the forehead with the mark of a horse,—yes, there were some freemen who actually suffered this indignity in addition to their servitude.
29.1. τῶν δʼ Ἀθηναίων οἱ μὲν πλεῖστοι διεφθάρησαν ἐν ταῖς λατομίαις ὑπὸ νόσου καὶ διαίτης πονηρᾶς, εἰς ἡμέραν ἑκάστην κοτύλας δύο κριθῶν λαμβάνοντες καὶ μίαν ὕδατος, οὐκ ὀλίγοι δʼ ἐπράθησαν διακλαπέντες ἢ καὶ διαλαθόντες ὡς οἰκέται. καὶ τούτους ὡς οἰκέτας ἐπώλουν, στίζοντες ἵππον εἰς τὸ μέτωπον· ἀλλʼ ἦσαν οἱ καὶ τοῦτο πρὸς τῷ δουλεύειν ὑπομένοντες.
29.2. But even these were helped by their restrained and decorous bearing; some were speedily set free, and some remained with their masters in positions of honor. Some also were saved for the sake of Euripides. For the Sicilians, it would seem, more than any other Hellenes outside the home land, had a yearning fondness for his poetry. They were forever learning by heart the little specimens and morsels of it which visitors brought them from time to time, and imparting them to one another with fond delight.
29.2. ἐβοήθει δὲ καὶ τούτοις ἥ τʼ αἰδὼς καὶ τὸ κόσμιον· ἢ γὰρ ἠλευθεροῦντο ταχέως ἢ τιμώμενοι παρέμενον τοῖς κεκτημένοις. ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ διʼ Εὐριπίδην ἐσώθησαν. μάλιστα γάρ, ὡς ἔοικε, τῶν ἐκτὸς Ἑλλήνων ἐπόθησαν αὐτοῦ τὴν μοῦσαν οἱ περὶ Σικελίαν· καὶ μικρὰ τῶν ἀφικνουμένων ἑκάστοτε δείγματα καὶ γεύματα κομιζόντων ἐκμανθάνοντες ἀγαπητῶς μετεδίδοσαν ἀλλήλοις.
29.3. In the present case, at any rate, they say that many Athenians who reached home in safety greeted Euripides with affectionate hearts, and recounted to him, some that they had been set free from slavery for rehearsing what they remembered of his works; and some that when they were roaming about after the final battle they had received food and drink for singing some of his choral hymns. Surely, then, one need not wonder at the story that the Caunians, when a vessel of theirs would have put in at the harbor of Syracuse to escape pursuit by pirates, were not admitted at first, but kept outside, until, on being asked if they knew any songs of Euripides, they declared that they did indeed, and were for this reason suffered to bring their vessel safely in.
29.3. τότε γοῦν φασι τῶν σωθέντων οἴκαδε συχνοὺς ἀσπάσασθαι τὸν Εὐριπίδην φιλοφρόνως, καὶ διηγεῖσθαι τοὺς μέν, ὅτι δουλεύοντες ἀφείθησαν ἐκδιδάξαντες ὅσα τῶν ἐκείνου ποιημάτων ἐμέμνηντο, τοὺς δʼ, ὅτι πλανώμενοι μετὰ τὴν μάχην τροφῆς καὶ ὕδατος μετέλαβον τῶν μελῶν ᾄσαντες. οὐ δεῖ δὴ θαυμάζειν ὅτι τοὺς Καυνίους φασὶ πλοίου προσφερομένου τοῖς λιμέσιν ὑπὸ λῃστρίδων διωκομένου μὴ δέχεσθαι τὸ πρῶτον, ἀλλʼ ἀπείργειν, εἶτα μέντοι διαπυνθανομένους εἰ γινώσκουσιν ᾄσματα τῶν Εὐριπίδου, φησάντων ἐκείνων, οὕτω παρεῖναι καὶ καταγαγεῖν τὸ πλοῖον.
30.1. The Athenians, they say, put no faith in the first tidings of the calamity, most of all because of the messenger who brought them. A certain stranger, as it would seem, landed at the Piraeus, took a seat in a barber’s shop, and began to discourse of what had happened as if the Athenians already knew all about it. The barber, on hearing this, before others learned of it, ran at the top of his speed to the upper city, accosted the archons, and at once set the story going in the market place.
30.1. Ἀθηναίοις δέ φασι τὴν συμφορὰν οὐχ ἥκιστα διὰ τὸν ἄγγελον ἄπιστον γενέσθαι. ξένος γάρ τις, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἀποβὰς εἰς Πειραιᾶ καὶ καθίσας ἐπὶ κουρεῖον, ὡς ἐγνωκότων ἤδη τῶν Ἀθηναίων λόγους ἐποιεῖτο περὶ τῶν γεγονότων. ὁ δὲ κουρεὺς ἀκούσας, πρὶν ἄλλους πυνθάνεσθαι, δρόμῳ συντείνας εἰς τὸ ἄστυ καὶ προσβαλὼν τοῖς ἄρχουσιν εὐθὺς κατʼ ἀγορὰν ἐνέβαλε τὸν λόγον. ἐκπλήξεως δὲ καὶ ταραχῆς, ὡς εἰκός, γενομένης, οἱ μὲν ἄρχοντες ἐκκλησίαν συναγαγόντες εἰσήγαγον τὸν ἄνθρωπον·
30.2. Consternation and confusion reigned, naturally, and the archons convened an assembly and brought the man before it. But, on being asked from whom he had learned the matter, he was unable to give any clear answer, and so it was decided that he was a storymaker, and was trying to throw the city into an uproar. He was therefore fastened to the wheel and racked a long time, until messengers came with the actual facts of the whole disaster. So hard was it for the Athenians to believe that Nicias had suffered the fate which he had often foretold to them.
30.2. ὡς δʼ ἐρωτώμενος παρʼ οὗ πύθοιτο σαφὲς οὐδὲν εἶχε φράζειν, δόξας λογοποιὸς εἶναι καὶ ταράττειν τὴν πόλιν, εἰς τὸν τροχὸν καταδεθεὶς ἐστρεβλοῦτο πολὺν χρόνον, ἕως ἐπῆλθον οἱ τὸ πᾶν κακόν, ὡς εἶχεν, ἀπαγγέλλοντες. οὕτω μόλις ὁ Νικίας ἐπιστεύθη παθὼν ἃ πολλάκις αὐτοῖς προεῖπεν.