LIFE OF NIKIAS.
LIFE OF CRASSUS.
COMPARISON OF NIKIAS AND CRASSUS.
LIFE OF SERTORIUS.
LIFE OF EUMENES.
COMPARISON OF SERTORIUS AND EUMENES.
LIFE OF AGESILAUS.
LIFE OF POMPEIUS.
COMPARISON OF AGESILAUS AND POMPEIUS.
LIFE OF ALEXANDER.
LIFE OF C. CÆSAR.
LIFE OF PHOKION.
LIFE OF CATO.
LIFE OF NIKIAS.
As
it appears to me that the life of Nikias forms a good parallel to
that of Crassus, and that the misfortunes of the former in Sicily may
be well compared with those of the latter in Parthia, I must beg of
my readers to believe that in writing upon a subject which has been
described by Thucydides with inimitable grace, clearness, and pathos,
I have no ambition to imitate Timæus, who, when writing his history,
hoped to surpass Thucydides himself in eloquence, and to show that
Philistius was but an ignorant bungler, and so plunges into an
account of the speeches and battles of his heroes, proving himself
not merely one"Who
toils on foot afarBehind
the Lydian car,"as
Pindar has it, but altogether unfit for the office of historian, and,
in the words of Diphilus,"Dull-witted,
with Sicilian fat for brains."He
often seeks to shelter himself behind the opinions of Xenarchus, as
when he tells us that the Athenians thought it a bad omen that the
general whose name was Victory refused to command the expedition to
Sicily; and when he says that by the mutilation of the Hennas the
gods signified that the Athenians would suffer their chief disasters
at the hands of Hermokrates the son of Hermon; or, again, when he
observes that Herakles might be expected to take the side of the
Syracusans because of Proserpine, the daughter of Demeter, who gave
him the dog Kerberus, and to be angry with the Athenians because they
protected the people of Egesta, who were descended from the Trojans,
whereas he had been wronged by Laomedon, king of Troy, and had
destroyed that city. Timæus was probably led to write this sort of
nonsense by the same critical literary spirit which led him to
correct the style of Philistius, and to find fault with that of
Aristotle and Plato. My own opinion is that to pay too much attention
to mere style and to endeavour to surpass that of other writers, is
both trifling and pedantic, while any attempt to reproduce that of
the unapproachable masterpieces of antiquity springs from a want of
power to appreciate their real value. With regard, then, to the
actions of Nikias described by Thucydides and Philistius, more
especially those which illustrate his true character, having been
performed under the stress of terrible disasters, I shall briefly
recapitulate them, lest I be thought a careless biographer, adding to
them whatever scattered notices I have been able to collect from the
writings of other historians and from public documents and
inscriptions; and of these latter I shall quote only those which
enable us to judge what manner of man he was.II.
The first thing to be noted in describing Nikias is the saying of
Aristotle, that there had been in Athens three citizens of great
ability and patriotism, namely, Nikias, the son of Nikeratus,
Thucydides, the son of Melesias, and Theramenes, the son of Hagnon;
though the latter was not equal to the two former, but was reproached
with being a foreigner from the island of Keos; and, also, because he
was not a stable politician but always inclined to change sides, he
was nicknamed Kothornos, which means a large boot which will fit
either leg. Of these three statesmen the eldest was Thucydides, who
was the leader of the conservative opposition to Perikles; while
Nikias, who was a younger man, rose to a certain eminence during the
life of Perikles, as he acted as his colleague in the command of a
military force, and also filled the office of archon. On the death of
Perikles, Nikias at once became the foremost man in Athens, chiefly
by the favour of the rich and noble, who wished to make use of him to
check the plebeian insolence of Kleon; yet Nikias had the good-will
of the common people, and they were eager to further his interests.
Kleon, indeed, became very powerful by caressing the people and
giving them opportunities for earning money from the State, but in
spite of this, many of the lower classes whose favour he especially
strove to obtain, became disgusted with, his greed and insolence, and
preferred to attach themselves to Nikias. Indeed, there was nothing
harsh or overbearing in the pride of Nikias, which arose chiefly from
his fear of being thought to be currying favour with the people. By
nature he was downhearted and prone to despair, but in war these
qualities were concealed by his invariable success in whatever
enterprise he undertook; while in political life his retiring manner
and his dread of the vulgar demagogues, by whom he was easily put out
of countenance, added to his popularity; for the people fear those
who treat them with haughtiness, and favour those who respect and
fear them. The reason of this is that the greatest honour which the
populace can receive from a great man is not to be treated with
contempt by him.III.
Perikles, indeed, used to govern Athens by sheer force of character
and eloquence, and required no tricks of manner or plausible speeches
to gain him credit with the populace; but Nikias had no natural gifts
of this sort, and owed his position merely to his wealth. As he could
not vie with Kleon in the versatile and humorous power of speech by
which the latter swayed the Athenian masses, he endeavoured to gain
the favour of the people by supplying choruses for the public
dramatic performances and instituting athletic sports on a scale of
lavish expenditure which never before had been equalled by any
citizen. The statue of Pallas, erected by him in the Acropolis, is
standing at this day, although it has lost the gold with which it was
formerly adorned, and also the building which supports the choragic
tripods in the temple of Dionysus, for he often gained a victory when
choragus, and never was vanquished.It
is said that once during the performance of a play at his expense, a
slave of his appeared upon the stage habited as Dionysus; a tall and
handsome youth, and still beardless. The Athenians were charmed with
his appearance, and applauded for a long time, at the end of which
Nikias rose and said that he did not think it right that one whose
body was thus consecrated to a god should be a slave; and
consequently he gave him his freedom. Tradition also tells us how
magnificently and decorously he arranged the procession at Delos. In
former times the choruses sent by the cities of Ionia to sing to the
glory of the god used to sail up to the island in a disorderly
fashion, and were at once met by a rude mob, who called upon, them to
sing, so that they disembarked in a hurry, huddling on their garlands
and robes with unseemly haste and confusion. Nikias disembarked with
his chorus upon the little island of Rhenea close by, with all their
vestments and holy things, and then during the night bridged the
strait—which is very narrow—with a bridge of boats which he had
had made at Athens expressly, which was beautifully ornamented with
gilding and rich tapestry. Next morning at daybreak, he led the
procession to the god over this bridge, with his chorus very richly
dressed, and singing as they passed over the strait. After the
sacrifice, the public games, and the banquet, he set up the brazen
palm-tree as an offering to the god, and also set apart an estate
which he had bought for ten thousand drachmas, as sacred to the god.
With the revenues of this land the people of Delos were to offer
sacrifice and to provide themselves with a feast, and were to pray
the gods to bestow blessings on Nikias. All these injunctions to the
people of Delos were inscribed upon a pillar which he left there to
guard his bequest. The palm-tree was afterwards overturned by a high
wind, and in its fall destroyed the great statue which had been set
up by the people of Naxos.IV.
These acts of Nikias may have been prompted by ambition and desire
for display, but when viewed in connection with his superstitious
character they seem more probably to have been the outcome of his
devotional feelings; for we are told by Thucydides that he was one
who stood greatly in awe of the gods, and was wholly devoted to
religion. In one of the dialogues of Pasiphon, we read that he
offered sacrifice daily, and that he kept a soothsayer in his house,
whom he pretended to consult upon affairs of state, but really sought
his advice about his own private concerns, especially about his
silver mines. He had extensive mines at Laurium, the working of which
afforded him very large profits, but yet was attended with great
risks. He maintained a large body of slaves at the works; and most of
his property consisted of the silver produced by them. For this
reason he was surrounded by hangers-on, and persons who endeavoured
to obtain a share of his wealth, and he gave money to all alike, both
to those who might do him harm, and to those who really deserved his
liberality, for he gave to bad men through fear, and to good men
through good nature. We may find proof of this in the writings of the
comic poets. Telekleides, speaking of some informer, says:"Charikles
a mina gave him, fearing he might sayCharikles
himself was born in a suspicious way;And
Nikias five minas gave. Now, what his reasons wereI
know full well, but will not tell, for he's a trusty fere."Eupolis,
too, in his comedy of Marikas has a scene where an informer meets
with a poor man who is no politician, and says:"A.
Say where you last with Nikias did meet.B.
Never. Save once I saw him in the street.A.
He owns he saw him. Wherefore should he sayHe
saw him, if he meant not to betrayHis
crimes?C. My
friends, you all perceive the fact,That
Nikias is taken in the act.B.
Think you, O fools, that such a man as heIn
any wicked act would taken be."Just
so does Kleon threaten him in Aristophanes's play:"The
orators I'll silence, and make Nikias afraid."Phrynichus,
too, sneers at his cowardice and fear of the popular demagogues, when
he says:"An
honest citizen indeed he was,And
not a coward like to Nikias."V.
Nikias feared so much to give the mob orators grounds for accusation
against him, that he dared not so much as dine with his follow
citizens, and pass his time in their society. Nor did he have any
leisure at all for such amusements, but when general, he used to
spend the whole day in the War office, and when the Senate met he
would be the first to come to the house and the last to leave it.
When there was no public business to be transacted, he was hard to
meet with, as he shut himself up in his house and seldom stirred
abroad. His friends used to tell those who came to his door that they
must pardon him for not receiving them, as he was not at leisure,
being engaged on public business of great importance. One Hieron,
whom he had brought up in his house and educated, assisted him
greatly in throwing this air of mystery and haughty exclusiveness
over his life. This man gave out that he was the son of Dionysius,
called Chalkus, whose poems are still extant, and who was the leader
of the expedition to Italy to found the city of Thurii. Hiero used to
keep Nikias supplied with prophetic responses from the soothsayers,
and gave out to the Athenians that Nikias was toiling night and day
on their behalf, saying that when he was in his bath or at his dinner
he was constantly being interrupted by some important public business
or other, so that, said he, "His night's rest is broken by his
labours, and his private affairs are neglected through his devotion
to those of the public. He has injured his health, and besides losing
his fortune, has been deserted by many of his friends on account of
his not being able to entertain them and make himself agreeable to
them; while other men find in politics a means of obtaining both
friends and fortune, at the expense of the state." In very truth
the life of Nikias was such that he might well apply to himself the
words of Agamemnon."In
outward show and stately pomp all others I exceed,And
yet the people's underling I am in very deed."VI.
Perceiving that the Athenian people were willing enough to make use
of the talents of men of ability, and yet ever viewed them with
suspicion and checked them when in full career, as we may learn from
their condemnation of Perikles, their banishment of Damon by
ostracism, and their mistrust of Antiphon the Rhamnusian, and
especially in their treatment of Paches the conqueror of Lesbos, who
while his conduct as general was being enquired into, stabbed himself
in the open court—perceiving this, Nikias always avoided, as far as
he could, taking the command in any important military expedition.
Whenever he was employed as general, he acted with extreme caution,
and was usually successful. He was careful to attribute his success,
not to any skill or courage of his own, but to fortune, being willing
to lessen his glory to avoid the ill-will of mankind. His good
fortune was indeed shown in many remarkable instances: for example,
he never was present at any of the great defeats sustained by the
Athenians at that time, as in Thrace they were defeated by the Greeks
of Chalkidike, but on that occasion Kalliades and Xenophon were
acting as generals, while the defeat in Ætolia took place when
Demosthenes was in command, and at Delium, where a thousand men were
slain, they were led by Hippokrates. For the pestilence Perikles was
chiefly blamed, because he shut up the country people in the city,
where the change of habits and unusual diet produced disease among
them. In all these disasters Nikias alone escaped censure: while he
achieved several military successes, such as the capture of Kythera,
an island conveniently situated off the coast of Laconia, and
inhabited by settlers from that country. He also captured several of
the revolted cities in Thrace, and induced others to return to their
allegiance. He shut up the people of Megara in their city, and
thereby at once made himself master of the island of Minoa, by means
of which he shortly afterwards captured the port of Nisæa, while he
also landed his troops in the Corinthian territory, and beat a
Corinthian army which marched against him, killing many of them, and
amongst others Lykophron their general. On this occasion he
accidentally neglected to bury the corpses of two of his own men who
had fallen. As soon as he discovered this omission, he at once halted
his army, and sent a herald to the enemy to demand the bodies for
burial, notwithstanding that by Greek custom the party which after a
battle demand a truce for the burial of the dead, are understood
thereby to admit that they have been defeated, and it is not thought
light for them to erect a trophy in commemoration of their victory;
for the victors remain in possession of the field of battle, and of
the bodies of the dead, and the vanquished ask for their dead because
they are not able to come and take them. Nevertheless, Nikias thought
it right to forego all the credit of his victory rather than leave
two of his countrymen unburied. He also laid waste the seaboard of
Laconia, defeated a Lacedæmonian force which opposed him,and took
Thyrea, which was garrisoned by Æginetans, whom he brought prisoners
to Athens.VII.
Now when Demosthenes threw up a fortification at Pylos, and after the
Peloponnesians had attacked him by sea and by land, some four hundred
Spartans wore left on the island of Sphakteria, the Athenians thought
that it was a matter of great importance, as indeed it was, to take
them prisoners. Yet, as it proved laborious and difficult to blockade
them on the island, because the place was desert and waterless, so
that provisions had to be brought from a great distance by sea, which
was troublesome enough in summer, and would be quite impossible in
winter, they began to be weary of the enterprise, and were sorry that
they had rejected the proposals for peace which had shortly before
been made by the Tasmanians. These proposals were rejected chiefly
because Kleon opposed them. Kleon's opposition was due to his
personal dislike to Nikias; and when he saw him enthusiastically
exerting himself on behalf of the Lacedæmonians, he at once took the
other side, and persuaded the people to reject the proffered peace.
Now as the blockade dragged on for a long time, and the Athenians
learned to what straits their army was reduced, they became angry
with Kleon. He threw the blame upon Nikias, asserting that it was
through his remissness and want of enterprise that the Spartans still
held out, and declaring that, were he himself in chief command they
would soon be captured. Upon this the Athenians turned round upon him
and said, "Why, then, do not you yourself proceed thither and
capture them?" Nikias at once offered to transfer his command to
Kleon, and bade him take what troops he thought necessary, and,
instead of swaggering at home where there was no danger, go and
perform some notable service to the state. At first Kleon was
confused by this unexpected turn of the debate, and declined the
command; but as the Athenians insisted upon it, and Nikias urged him
to do so, he plucked up spirit, accepted the office of general, and
even went so far as to pledge himself within twenty days either to
kill the Spartans on the island or to bring them prisoners to Athens.
The Athenians were more inclined to laugh at this boast than to
believe it; for they were well acquainted with the vainglorious
character of the man, and had often amused themselves at his expense.
It is said that once the public assembly met early and sat for a long
time waiting for Kleon, who came at last very late with a garland on
his head, and begged them to put off their debate till the next day.
"To-day," said he, "I am not at leisure, as I have
just offered a sacrifice, and am about to entertain some strangers at
dinner." The Athenians laughed at his assurance, and broke up
the assembly.VIII.
However, on this occasion, by good fortune and good generalship, with
the help of Demosthenes, he brought home prisoners all those Spartans
who had not fallen in the battle, within the time which he had
appointed. This was a great reproach to Nikias. It seemed worse even
than losing his shield in battle that he should through sheer
cowardice and fear of failure give up his office of general, and give
his personal enemy such an opportunity of exalting himself at his
expense, depriving himself voluntarily of his honourable charge.
Aristophanes sneers at him in his play of the 'Birds,' where he says:"We
must not now, like Nikias, delay,And
see the time for action pass away."And
again in the play of the 'Farmers,' where this dialogue occurs:"A.
I want to till my farm.B. And
wherefore no?A.
'Tis you Athenians will not let me go;A
thousand drachmas I would give, to beFrom
office in the state for ever free.B.
Your offer we accept. The state will haveTwo
thousand, with what Nikias just gave."Moreover,
Nikias did Athens much harm by permitting Kleon to attain to such a
height of power and reputation, which gave him such exaggerated
confidence in himself that he grew quite unmanageable, and caused
many terrible disasters, by which Nikias suffered as much as any man.
Kleon also was the first to break through the decorum observed by
former public speakers, by shouting, throwing back his cloak,
slapping his thigh, and walking up and down while speaking, which led
to the total disregard of decency and good manners among public
speakers, and eventually was the ruin of the state.IX.
About this time Alkibiades began to gain credit in Athens as a public
speaker, less licentious than Kleon, and like the soil of Egypt
described by Homer, which bears"A
mingled crop of good and bad alike."Thus
Alkibiades, with immense powers both for good and evil, produced
great changes in the affairs of Athens. Nikias, even if he had been
freed from the opposition of Kleon, could not now have quietly
consolidated the power of the state, for as soon as he had arranged
matters in a fair way to produce peace and quiet, Alkibiades, to
satisfy his own furious ambition, threw them again into confusion and
war. This was brought about by the following circumstances. The two
chief hindrances to peace were Kleon and Brasidas; as war concealed
the baseness of the former, and added to the glory of the latter.
Kleon was able to commit many crimes undetected, and Brasidas
performed many great exploits while the war lasted; wherefore, when
both of these men fell before the walls of Amphipolis, Nikias,
perceiving that the Spartans had long been desirous of peace, and
that the Athenians no longer hoped to gain anything by continuing the
war, and that both parties were weary of it, began to consider how he
might reconcile them, and also pacify all the other states of Greece,
so as to establish peace upon a durable and prosperous basis. At
Athens, the richer classes, the older men, and the country farmers
all wished for peace. By constantly arguing with the others he
gradually made them less eager for war, and at length was able to
intimate to the Spartans that there were good hopes of coming to
terms. They willingly believed him because of his high character for
probity, and more especially because he had shown great kindness to
the Spartan prisoners taken at Pylos. A truce for one year had
already been arranged between them, and during this they conversed
freely with one another, and, enjoying a life of leisure and freedom
from the restraints and alarms of war, began to long for an unbroken
period of peace, and to sing:"My
spear the spider's home shall be,"remembering
with pleasure the proverb that in time of peace men are awakened, not
by trumpets, but by crowing cocks. They railed at those who said that
it was fated that the war should last thrice nine years, and, having
thus accustomed themselves to discuss the whole question, they
proceeded to make peace, and thought that now they were indeed free
from all their troubles. The name of Nikias was now in every man's
mouth, and he was called the favourite of heaven, and the man chosen
by the gods for his piety to confer the greatest of blessings upon
the Greeks. For they regarded the peace as the work of Nikias, just
as the war had been the work of Perikles. The latter, they thought,
for no adequate reasons, had involved the Greeks in the greatest
miseries, while the former had relieved them of their troubles by
persuading them to become friends. For this reason this peace is to
this day called the peace of Nikias.X.
The terms of the peace were that each party should restore the cities
and territory which it had taken, and that it should be determined by
lot which side should restore its conquests first. We are told by
Theophrastus that Nikias, by means of bribery, arranged that the lot
should fall upon the Lacedæmonians to make restitution first. When,
however, the Corinthians and Bœotians, dissatisfied with the whole
transaction, seemed likely by their complaints and menaces to
rekindle the war, Nikias induced Athens and Sparta to confirm the
peace by entering upon an alliance, which enabled them to deal with
the malcontents with more authority, and give them more confidence in
one another.All
these transactions greatly displeased Alkibiades, who was naturally
disinclined to peace, and who hated the Lacedæmonians because they
paid their court to Nikias and disregarded him. For this reason,
Alkibiades from the very outset opposed the peace, but ineffectually
at first. When, however, he observed that the Lacedæmonians were no
longer regarded with favour by the Athenians, and were thought to
have wronged them by forming an alliance with the Bœotians, and not
restoring to Athens up the cities of Panaktus and Amphipolis, he
seized the opportunity of exciting the people by exaggerated accounts
of the misdeeds of the Lacedæmonians. Moreover he prevailed upon the
people of Argos to send ambassadors to Athens to conclude an
alliance. As, however, at the same time ambassadors, with full powers
to settle all matters in dispute, came from Lacedæmon, and in a
preliminary conference with the Senate were thought to have made very
reasonable and just proposals, Alkibiades, fearing that they might
create an equally favourable impression when they spoke before the
popular assembly, deceived them by solemnly declaring with an oath
that he would assist them in every way that he could, provided that
they would deny that they came with full powers to decide, saying
that by this means alone they would effect their purpose. The
ambassadors were deceived by his protestations, and, forsaking
Nikias, relied entirely upon him. Upon this Alkibiades brought them
into the public assembly, and there asked them if they came with full
powers to treat. When they said that they did not, he unexpectedly
turned round upon them, and calling both the Senate and the people to
witness their words, urged them to pay no attention to men who were
such evident liars, and who said one thing in one+ assembly and the
opposite in another. The ambassadors, as Alkibiades expected, were
thunderstruck, and Nikias could say nothing on their behalf. The
people at once called for the ambassadors from Argos to be brought
before them, in order to contract an alliance with that city, but an
earthquake which was felt at this moment greatly served Nikias's
purpose by causing the assembly to break up. With great difficulty,
when the debate was resumed on the following day, he prevailed upon
the people to break off the negotiations with Argos, and to send him
as ambassador to Sparta, promising that he would bring matters to a
prosperous issue. Accordingly he proceeded to Sparta, where he was
treated with great respect as a man of eminence and a friend of the
Lacedæmonians, but could effect nothing because of the preponderance
of the party which inclined to the Bœotian alliance. He was
therefore forced to return ingloriously, in great fear of the anger
of the Athenians, who had been persuaded by him to deliver up so many
and such important prisoners to the Lacedæmonians without receiving
any equivalent. For the prisoners taken at Pylos were men of the
first families in Sparta, and related to the most powerful statesmen
there. The Athenians, however, did not show their dissatisfaction
with Nikias by any harsh measures, but they elected Alkibiades
general, and they entered into a treaty of alliance with the Argives,
and also with the states of Elis and Mantinea, which had revolted
from the Lacedæmonians, while they sent out privateers to Pylos to
plunder the Lacedæmonian coasts in the neighbourhood of that
fortress. These measures soon produced a renewal of the war.XI.
As the quarrel between Nikias and Alkibiades had now reached such a
pitch, it was decided that the remedy of ostracism must be applied to
them. By this from time to time the people of Athens were wont to
banish for ten years any citizen whose renown or wealth rendered him
dangerous to the state. Great excitement was caused by this measure,
as one or the other must be utterly ruined by its application. The
Athenians were disgusted by the licentiousness of Alkibiades, and
feared his reckless daring, as has been explained at greater length
in his Life, while Nikias was disliked because of his great wealth
and his reserved and unpopular mode of life. Moreover he had
frequently offended the people by acting in direct opposition to
their wishes, forcing them in spite of themselves to do what was best
for them. On the one side were arrayed the young men and those who
wished for war, and on the other the older men and the party of
peace, who would be sure to vote respectively, one for the banishment
of Nikias, the other for that of Alkibiades. Now"In
revolutions bad men rise to fame,"and
it appears that the violence of these factions at Athens gave an
opportunity for the lowest and basest citizens to gain reputation.
Amongst these was one Hyperbolus, of the township of Peirithois, a
man of no ability or power, but who owed his elevation to sheer
audacity, and whose influence was felt to be a disgrace to Athens.
This man, who never dreamed that ostracism would be applied to him,
as the pillory would have been more suitable to his deserts, openly
showed his delight at the discord between Nikias and Alkibiades, and
excited the people to deal severely with them, because he hoped that
if one of them were to be banished, he might succeed to his place,
and become a match for the one who was left behind. But the parties
which supported Nikias and Alkibiades respectively made a secret
compact with one another to suppress this villain, and so arranged
matters that neither of their leaders, but Hyperbolus himself was
banished by ostracism for ten years. This transaction delighted and
amused the people for the moment, but they were afterwards grieved
that they had abused this safeguard of their constitution by applying
it to an unworthy object, as there was a kind of dignity about the
punishment which they had inflicted. Ostracism in the case of men
like Thucydides and Aristeides, was a punishment, but when applied to
men like Hyperbolus, it became an honour and mark of distinction, as
though his crimes had put him on a par with the leading spirits of
the age. Plato, the comic poet, wrote of him"Full
worthy to be punished though he be,Yet
ostracism's not for such as he."The
result was that no one was ever again ostracised at Athens, but
Hyperbolus was the last, as Hipparchus of Cholargus, who was some
relation to the despot of that name, was the first. Thus the ways of
fortune are inscrutable, and beyond our finding out. If Nikias had
undergone the trial of ostracism with Alkibiades, he would either
have driven him into banishment, and governed Athens well and wisely
during his absence, or he would himself have left the city, and
avoided the terrible disaster which ended his life, and would have
continued to enjoy the reputation of being an excellent general. I am
well aware that Theophrastus says that Hyperbolus was ostracised in
consequence of a quarrel of Alkibiades with Phæax and not with
Nikias; but my account agrees with that given by the best historians.XII.
When ambassadors came to Athens from Egesta and Leontini, inviting
the Athenians to commence a campaign in Sicily, Nikias opposed the
project, but was overruled by Alkibiades and the war party. Before
the assembly met to discuss the matter, men's heads were completely
turned with vague hopes of conquest, so that the youths in the
gymnasia, and the older men in their places of business or of
recreation, did nothing but sketch the outline of the island of
Sicily and of the adjacent seas and continents. They regarded Sicily
not so much as a prize to be won, but as a stepping-stone to greater
conquests, meaning from it to attack Carthage, and make themselves
masters of the Mediterranean sea as far as the Columns of Herakles.
Public opinion being thus biassed, Nikias could find few to help him
in opposing the scheme. The rich feared lest they should be thought
to wish to avoid the burden of fitting out ships and the other
expensive duties which they would be called upon to fulfil, and
disappointed him by remaining silent. Yet Nikias did not relax his
exertions, but even after the Athenian people had given their vote
for the war, and had elected him to the chief command, with
Alkibiades and Lamachus for his colleagues—even then, on the next
meeting of the assembly, he made a solemn appeal to them to desist,
and at last accused Alkibiades of involving the city in a terrible
war in a remote country merely to serve his own ambition and
rapacity. However, he gained nothing by this speech, for the
Athenians thought that he would be the best man to command the
expedition because of his experience in war, and that his caution
would serve as a salutary check upon the rashness of Alkibiades and
the easy temper of Lamachus; so that, instead of dissuading them his
words rather confirmed them in their intention. For Demostratus, who
of all the popular orators was the most eager promoter of the
expedition, rose, and said that he would put an end to these excuses
of Nikias: and he prevailed upon the people to pass a decree that the
generals, both at home and in the field, should be invested with
absolute irresponsible power.XIII.
Yet it is said that the expedition met with great opposition from the
priests; but Alkibiades found certain soothsayers devoted to his own
interests, and quoted an ancient oracle which foretold that the
Athenians should one day win great glory in Sicily. Special
messengers also came from the shrine of Ammon,[1]
bringing an oracular response to the effect that the Athenians would
take all the Syracusans. Those oracles which made against the
project, people dared not mention, for fear of saying words of
ill-omen. Yet even the most obvious portents would not turn them from
their purpose, such as the mutilation of all the Hermæ, or statues
of Hermes, in Athens, in a single night, except only one, which is
called the Hermes of Andokides, which was erected by the tribe Ægeis,
and stands before the house in which Andokides lived at that time. A
man likewise leaped upon the altar of the Twelve Gods, sat astride
upon it, and in that posture mutilated himself with a sharp stone. At
Delphi too there is a golden statue of Pallas Athene standing upon a
brazen palm tree, an offering made by the city of Athens from the
spoils taken in the Persian war. This was for many days pecked at by
crows, who at last pecked off and cast upon the ground the golden
fruit of the palm tree. This was said to be merely a fable invented
by the people of Delphi, who were bribed by the Syracusans. Another
oracle bade the Athenians bring to Athens the priestess of Athena at
Klazomenae, and accordingly they sent for her. Her name happened to
be Hesychia, signifying Repose; and this is probably what the oracle
meant that the Athenians had better remain quiet. The astronomer,
Meton, who was appointed to some office in the army, either because
of these adverse omens and prophecies, or because he was convinced
that the expedition would miscarry, pretended to be mad and to set
fire to his house. Some historians relate that he did not feign
madness, but that he burned down his house one night, and next
morning appeared in the market-place in a miserable plight, and
besought his countrymen that, in consideration of the misfortune
which had befallen him, they would allow his son, who was about to
sail for Sicily in command of a trireme, to remain at home. We are
told that Sokrates the philosopher was warned by one of the signs
from heaven which he so often received that the expedition would be
the ruin of the city. And many were filled with consternation at the
time fixed for the departure of the armament. It was during the
celebration of the Adonia, or mourning for the death of Adonis, and
in all parts of the city were to be seen images of Adonis carried
along with funeral rites, and women beating their breasts, so that
those who were superstitious enough to notice such matters became
alarmed for the fate of the armament, and foretold that it would
start forth gloriously, but would wither untimely away.XIV.
The conduct of Nikias in opposing the war when it was being
deliberated upon, and his steadfastness of mind in not being dazzled
by the hopes which were entertained of its success, or by the
splendid position which it offered himself, deserves the utmost
praise; but when, in spite of his exertions, he could not persuade
the people to desist from the war, or to remove him from the office
of general, into which he was as it were driven by main force, his
excessive caution and slowness became very much out of place. His
childish regrets, his looking back towards Athens, and his
unreasonable delays disheartened his colleagues, and spoiled the
effect of the expedition, which ought at once to have proceeded to
act with vigour, and put its fortune to the test. But although
Lamachus begged him to sail at once to Syracuse and fight a battle as
near as possible to the city walls, while Alkibiades urged him to
detach the other Sicilian states from their alliance with Syracuse,
and then attack that place, he dispirited his men by refusing to
adopt either plan, and proposed to sail quietly along the coast,
displaying the fleet and army to the Sicilians, and then, after
affording some slight assistance to the people of Egesta, to return
home to Athens. Shortly after this, the Athenians sent for Alkibiades
to return home for his trial on a charge of treason, and Nikias, who
was nominally Lamachus's colleague, but really absolute, proceeded to
waste time in idle negotiations and languid manœuvres, until his
troops had quite lost the high spirits and hopes with which they had
arrived at Sicily; while the enemy, who were at first terrified,
began to recover their spirits, and despise the Athenians. While
Alkibiades was still with them they had sailed to Syracuse with sixty
ships, and while the rest remained in line of battle outside, ten of
these had entered the harbour to reconnoitre. These ships,
approaching the city, made a proclamation by a herald that they were
come to restore the people of Leontini to their city, and they also
captured a Syracusan vessel, in which they found tables on which were
written the names of all the inhabitants of Syracuse, according to
their tribes and houses. These tables were kept far away from the
city, in the temple of the Olympian Zeus, but at that time the
Syracusans had sent for them in order to discover the number of men
able to bear arms. These tables were now taken by the Athenians, and
carried to their general. When the soothsayers saw this roll of
names, they were much alarmed, fearing that this was the fulfilment
of the prophecy that the Athenians should capture all the Syracusans.
However, some declare that the prophecy was really fulfilled when the
Athenian Kallippus slew Dion, and captured Syracuse.XV.
Shortly after this, Alkibiades left Sicily, and the supreme command
devolved upon Nikias. For Lamachus, though a brave and honest man,
and one who always freely risked his life in battle, was but a plain
simple man, and was so excessively poor, that whenever he was
appointed general he was forced to ask the Athenians to advance him a
small sum of money to provide him with clothes and shoes. Now Nikias
was excessively haughty, both on account of his great wealth, and his
military renown. It is said that once when the generals were debating
some question together, Nikias bade Sophokles the poet give his
opinion first, because he was the eldest man present, to which
Sophokles answered, "I am the eldest, but you are the chief."
Thus when in Sicily he domineered over Lamachus, although the latter
was a far abler soldier, and by sailing about the coast at the point
furthest removed from the enemy, gave them confidence, which was
turned into contempt, when he was repulsed from Hybla, a little fort
in the interior. At last he returned to Katana, without having
effected anything, except the reduction of Hykkara, a town of the
aborigines, not of the Greeks, from which it is said the celebrated
courtezan Lais, then a very young girl, was carried away captive and
sent to Peloponnesus.XVI.
As the summer advanced, and Nikias remained inactive, the Syracusans
gained so much confidence that they called upon their generals to
lead them to the attack of the Athenian position at Katana, since the
Athenians did not dare approach Syracuse; while Syracusan horsemen
even went so far as to insult the Athenians in their camp, riding up
to ask if they were come to settle as peaceful citizens in Katana,
instead of restoring the Leontines. This unexpected humiliation at
length forced Nikias to proceed to Syracuse, and he devised a
stratagem by which he was able to approach that city and pitch his
camp before it unmolested.He
despatched to Syracuse a citizen of Katana, who informed the
Syracusans that if they desired to seize the camp and arms of the
Athenians, they would only have to appoint a day and to march in
force to Katana. Many of the Athenians, he said, spent all their time
within the walls of Katana, and it would be easy for the Syracusan
party there to close the gates, assail the Athenians within, and set
fire to their ships. A numerous body of Kataneans, he added, were
eager to co-operate in the plan now proposed.This
was by far the ablest piece of strategy accomplished by Nikias during
all the time that he remained in Sicily. The Syracusans were induced
to march out their entire force, leaving their city with scarcely any
defenders. Meanwhile, Nikias sailed round from Katana, took
possession of the harbour, and encamped his forces on the mainland in
a position where he could not be attacked by the enemy's cavalry.
When the Syracusan army returned from Katana, he marched out the
Athenians and defeated them, but with little loss on their side, as
their cavalry covered their retreat. Nikias now broke down the
bridges over the river Anapus, which gave occasion to Hermokrates to
say, when he was making a speech to encourage the Syracusans, that it
was a ridiculous thing for Nikias to try to avoid fighting, as though
it were not for the express purpose of fighting that he had been sent
thither. But in spite of all that Hermokrates could say, the
Syracusans were very much cast down and disheartened. Instead of the
fifteen generals who usually commanded their troops they chose three,
upon whom they conferred absolute powers, and swore a solemn oath
that they would leave them unfettered in the exercise of those
powers.The
Athenians were very anxious to occupy the temple of Olympian Zeus,
which was near their camp, and full of offerings of gold and silver.
Nikias, however, purposely delayed the attack until a force was sent
from Syracuse to defend the temple. He thought that if the soldiers
did succeed in plundering it, the state would be none the better for
it, and he himself would have to bear all the blame of sacrilege.Nikias
made no use of his boasted victory, and after a short time drew off
his forces to Naxos, where he passed the winter, expending an
enormous sum of money for the maintenance of so large a force, and
effecting little or nothing except the reduction of a few disorderly
tribes in the interior. The Syracusans now took heart again, marched
into the Katanean territory and laid it waste, and attempted to burn
the camp of the Athenians. Upon this all men blamed Nikias for
deliberating and taking precautions until the time for action was
gone by. No one could find any fault with him when he was actually
fighting; but though a bold and energetic man in action, he was slow
to form plans and begin an enterprise.XVII.
Thus when he did at length return to Syracuse, he managed the
operation so swiftly and so skilfully that he disembarked his troops
at Thapsus before the enemy were aware of his approach, took Epipolæ
by surprise, took prisoners three hundred of the force of picked men
who endeavoured to recapture that fort, and routed the Syracusan
cavalry, which had hitherto been supposed to be invincible. Moreover,
what chiefly terrified the Sicilians, and seemed wonderful to all
Greeks, was the speed with which he built a wall round Syracuse, a
city quite as large as Athens itself, but one which is much more
difficult to invest completely, because of the sea being so near to
it, and the rough ground and marshes by which it is surrounded on the
land side. Yet he all but succeeded in accomplishing this feat,
although he was not in a condition of body to superintend such works
personally, for he suffered greatly from a disease of the kidneys, to
which we must attribute whatever was left undone by his army. For my
own part I feel great admiration for the diligence and skill of the
general, and for the bravery of the soldiers, which enabled them to
gain such successes. The poet Euripides, after their defeat and utter
overthrow wrote this elegy upon them:"Eight
times they beat the Syracusan host,Before
the gods themselves declared them lost."Indeed,
they beat the Syracusans far more than eight times, before the gods
turned against the Athenians and dashed them to the ground when at
the height of their pride.XVIII.
Nikias was present, in spite of his sufferings, at most of these
actions; but when his disease grew worse, he was forced to stay in
the camp with a small guard, while Lamachus took the command of the
army, and fought a battle with the Syracusans, who were endeavouring
to build a counter-wall which would obstruct the Athenians in
building their wall of circumvallation. The Athenians were
victorious, but followed up their success in such a disorderly manner
that Lamachus was left alone and exposed to the attacks of the
Syracusan cavalry. He at once challenged their leader, a brave man
named Kallimachus, to single combat, and both received and inflicted
a mortal wound. His dead body and arms fell into the hands of the
Syracusans, who at once charged up to the Athenian walls, where
Nikias lay helpless. The extremity of the danger roused him, and he
ordered his attendants to set fire to a quantity of timber which had
been brought thither to construct military engines, and to some of
the engines themselves. This desperate expedient checked the
Syracusans, and saved Nikias and the Athenians; for the rest of the
Syracusan forces on perceiving so great a body of flame returned in
haste to their city.This
affair left Nikias in sole command, and he had great hopes of taking
the place; for many cities in Sicily had formed alliances with him,
ships laden with corn kept arriving to supply his camp, and all began
to be eager to be on his side, and to share in the fruits of his
success. The Syracusans themselves sent to propose terms of peace,
for they despaired of being able to defend their city any longer
against him. At this time Gylippus too, a Lacedæmonian who was sent
to assist them, heard during his voyage that they were completely
enclosed and reduced to great straits, but held on his voyage
notwithstanding, in order that even if, as he imagined, all Sicily
had fallen into the hands of the Athenians, he might at any rate
defend the Greek cities in Italy from sharing its fate. The air
indeed was full of rumours that the Athenians were carrying all
before them, and that the good fortune and skill of their general
rendered him invincible. Even Nikias himself was so elated by his
apparent good fortune, that he forgot his wonted prudence, and
imagining from the secret intelligence which he had from his friends
within Syracuse that it was on the point of surrender, neglected
Gylippus altogether, and kept so bad a watch at the straits of
Messina with his fleet, that Gylippus managed to cross there and land
in Sicily. Here he at once proceeded to gather an army together, but
in a quarter of the island far away from Syracuse, so that the people
of Syracuse knew nothing of his arrival. They even appointed a day
for the public assembly to meet and discuss terms of surrender with
Nikias, and were about to attend it, as they thought that it would be
best for them to come to terms before the city was quite surrounded
by the wall of the Athenians. There was now only a very small portion
of this left to be finished, and all the materials for building it
were collected on the spot.XIX.
At this crisis there arrived at Syracuse Gongylus, a Corinthian, in
one trireme. All crowded round him, to hear what news he brought. He
informed them that Gylippus would soon come to their aid by land, and
that other triremes besides his own were on their way by sea. This
intelligence was scarcely believed, until it was confirmed by a
message from Gylippus himself, bidding them march out and meet him.
They now took courage and prepared for battle. Gylippus marched into
the town, and at once led the Syracusans out to attack the Athenians.
When Nikias had likewise brought his army out of their camp, Gylippus
halted his men, and sent a herald to offer them an armistice for five
days, on condition that they would collect their effects and withdraw
from Sicily. Nikias disdained to answer this insulting message; but
some of his soldiers jeeringly enquired whether the presence of one
Spartan cloak and staff had all at once made the Syracusans so strong
that they could despise the Athenians, who used to keep three hundred
such men, stronger than Gylippus and with longer hair, locked up in
prison, and feared them so little that they delivered them up to the
Lacedæmonians again. Timæus says that the Sicilian Greeks despised
Gylippus for his avaricious and contemptible character, and that when
they first saw him, they ridiculed his long hair and Spartan cloak.
Afterwards, however, he tells us that as soon as Gylippus appeared
they flocked round him as small birds flock round an owl, and were
eager to take service under him. This indeed is the more probable
story; for they rallied round him, regarding his cloak and staff to
be the symbols of the authority of Sparta. And not only Thucydides,
but Philistus, a Syracusan citizen by birth, who was an eye-witness
of the whole campaign, tells us that nothing could have been done
without Gylippus. In the first battle after his arrival, the
Athenians were victorious, and slew some few Syracusans, amongst whom
was the Corinthian Gongylus, but on the following day Gylippus
displayed the qualities of a true general. He used the same arms,
horses, and ground as before, but he dealt with them so differently
that he defeated the Athenians. Checking the Syracusans, who wished
to chase them back to their camp, he ordered them to use the stones
and timber which had been collected by the Athenians, to build a
counter-wall, reaching beyond the line of circumvallation, so that
the Athenians could no longer hope to surround the city. And now the
Syracusans, taking fresh courage, began to man their ships of war,
and to cut off the stragglers with their cavalry. Gylippus personally
visited many of the Greek cities in Sicily, all of whom eagerly
promised their aid, and furnished him with troops; so that Nikias,
perceiving that he was losing ground, relapsed into his former
desponding condition, and wrote a despatch to Athens, bidding the
people either send out another armament, or let the one now in Sicily
return to Athens, and especially beseeching them to relieve him from
his command, for which he was incapacitated by disease.XX.
The Athenians had long before proposed to send out a reinforcement to
the army in Sicily, but as all had gone on prosperously, the enemies
of Nikias had contrived to put it off. Now, however, they were eager
to send him assistance. It was arranged that Demosthenes should
employ himself actively in getting ready a large force, to go to
reinforce Nikias in the early spring, while Eurymedon, although it
was winter, started immediately with a supply of money, and with a
decree naming Euthydemus and Menander, officers already serving in
his army, to be joint commanders along with him. Meanwhile, Nikias
was suddenly attacked by the Syracusans both by sea and land. His
ships were at first thrown into confusion, but rallied and sank many
of the enemy, or forced them to run on shore; but on land Gylippus
managed at the same time to surprise the fort of Plemmyrium, where
there was a magazine of naval stores and war material of all kinds. A
considerable number of the garrison, also, were either slain or taken
prisoners; but the most serious result was the stoppage of Nikias's
supplies, which heretofore had been easily and quickly brought
through the Great Harbour, while it remained in the hands of the
Athenians, but which now could not reach his camp by sea without a
convoy and a battle.[2]
Moreover, the Syracusan fleet had not been defeated by any
superiority of force of the Athenians, but by the disorder into which
it had been thrown by pursuing the enemy. They therefore determined
to renew the conflict with better success.Nikias,
on his part, was unwilling to fight a second time, thinking it was
folly to fight with a diminished and disheartened force when he knew
that Demosthenes was hurrying to his aid with a large and unbroken
armament. However, Menander and Euthydemus, the newly-elected
generals, were eager to distinguish themselves by performing some
brilliant action before the arrival of Demosthenes, and to eclipse
the fame of Nikias himself. The pretext they used was the glory of
Athens, which they said would be dishonoured for ever if they should
now appear afraid to accept the Syracusans' offer of battle. The
battle was fought: and the Athenian left wing, we are told by
Thucydides, was utterly defeated by the skilful tactics of the
Corinthian steersman Aristion. Many Athenians perished, and Nikias
was greatly disheartened, for he had now proved unfortunate both when
sole commander and when acting with colleagues.XXI.
Matters were in this posture when Demosthenes was descried in the
offing, approaching with a splendid armament which struck terror into
the hearts of the enemy. His fleet consisted of seventy-three ships,
on board of which were five thousand heavy-armed troops, and three
thousand javelin men, archers, and slingers. The glittering arms of
the troops, the flaunting banners of the ships of war, and the music
of the flutes to which the rowers kept time with their oars, made a
gallant display, which delighted the Athenians as much as it
depressed the Syracusans. These latter, indeed, were struck with
dismay, and thought that their last victory had been won in vain, and
that they were labouring to no purpose against a foe whose ranks were
continually reinforced.Nikias
was not long allowed to feast his eyes on this welcome spectacle
undisturbed. Demosthenes, as soon as he landed, insisted on the
necessity of instantly attacking Syracuse, and putting an end to the
siege, either by capturing the place, or by returning at once to
Athens in case of failure. Against this Nikias, who was alarmed at
the idea of such vigorous action, urged that it would be unwise to
run such a risk. Delay, he argued, favoured the besiegers more than
the besieged, as their resources must soon fail, in which case their
allies would desert them and they would again be brought to the
necessity of capitulating. Nikias adopted this view because of what
he heard from his secret correspondents within the city, who urged
him to continue the siege, telling him that already the Syracusans
began to feel the war too great a burden for them to support, and
that Gylippus was very unpopular among them, so that in a short time
they would utterly refuse to hold out any longer, and would come to
terms with the Athenians. Nikias could only hint at these secret
sources of information, and so his counsels were thought by his
colleagues to be mere cowardice. They declared loudly that the
original mistake was about to be repeated, and the first
terror-stricken impression of the armament frittered away, until
familiarity with the sight of it had bred contempt in the breasts of
their enemies. They therefore eagerly seconded the proposal of
Demosthenes, and forced Nikias, though sorely against his will, to
yield to their representations. Accordingly, Demosthenes with the
land force assaulted the outlying fort on the high ground of Epipolæ
by night, and took it by surprise, killing part of its garrison and
putting the remainder to flight. He did not halt there, but followed
up his success by marching further on towards the city, until he was
met by some Bœotian heavy-armed troops, who had been the first to
rally, and now in a compact mass met the Athenians with their spears
levelled, and with loud shouts forced them to give way with severe
loss. The whole Athenian army was by this thrown into confusion and
panic, as the fugitives broke the formation of those troops who were
still marching to the front, so that in some cases they actually
fought with one another, each believing the others to be enemies.
Thus the Athenians fell into sad disorder and ruin; for they were
unable to distinguish friends from foes in the uncertain light, as
the moon, now nearly setting, glanced upon spear-points and armour
without showing them clearly enough to enable men to see with whom
they had to deal. The moon was behind the backs of the Athenians: and
this circumstance was greatly against them, for it made it hard for
them to see the numbers of their own friends, but shone plainly on
the glittering shields of their antagonists, making them look taller
and more terrible than they were. Finally, attacked as they were on
every side, they gave way and fled. Some were slain by the enemy,
some by their own countrymen, and some were dashed to pieces by
falling down the precipices; while the rest, as they straggled about
the country, were cut off by the Syracusan cavalry. Two thousand men
perished, and of the survivors few brought back their arms.XXII.
Nikias, who had expected this reverse, now cast the blame of it upon
Demosthenes; and he, admitting his error, besought Nikias to embark
his army and sail away as quickly as possible, pointing out that no
further reinforcement could be hoped for, and that they could not
hope for success with the force now at their disposal. Even had they
been victorious, he argued, they had intended to leave their present
camp, which was unhealthy at all times, and was now in the hot season
becoming pestilential. The time was the beginning of autumn, and many
of the Athenians were sick, while all were disheartened. Nikias,
however, opposed the idea of retreat, not because he did not fear the
Syracusans, but because he feared the Athenians more, and the
treatment which as an unsuccessful general he would probably meet
with. He declared that he saw no reason for alarm, and that even if
there was, that he would rather perish by the hands of the enemy than
those of his countrymen. A very different sentiment to that which was
afterwards uttered by Leon the Byzantine, who said, "My
countrymen, I had rather be put to death by you than to be put to
death together with you."With
regard to the place to which it would be best for them to remove
their camp, that, Nikias said, was a question which they might take
time to discuss.Demosthenes,
seeing that Nikias was thus obstinate, and conscious that his own
project, when adopted, had led to a frightful disaster, ceased
pressing him to raise the siege, and gave the other generals to
understand that Nikias must have secret reasons, from his
correspondents within the city, which led him to persevere thus
obstinately in remaining where he was. This caused them also to
withdraw their objections to remaining; but when another army came to
assist the Syracusans, and the Athenians began to perish from
malaria, even Nikias himself agreed that it was time to retreat, and
issued orders to his men to hold themselves in readiness to embark.XXIII.
When all was ready, and the enemy off their guard, as they did not
expect the Athenians to retreat, an eclipse of the moon took place,
which greatly terrified Nikias and some others who, from ignorance or
superstition, were in the habit of taking account of such phenomena.
That the sun should be sometimes eclipsed even the vulgar understood
to be in some way due to the moon intercepting its light: but what
body could intercept the moon's light, so that suddenly the full moon
should pale its light and alter its colour, they could not explain,
but thought that it was a sinister omen and portended some great
calamity.The
treatise of Anaxagoras, the first writer who has clearly and boldly
explained the phases and eclipses of the moon, was then known only to
a few, and had not the credit of antiquity, while even those who
understood it were afraid to mention it to their most trusted
friends. Men at that time could not endure natural philosophers and
those whom they called in derision stargazers, but accused them of
degrading the movements of the heavenly bodies by attributing them to
necessary physical causes. They drove Protagoras into exile, and cast
Anaxagoras into prison, from whence he was with difficulty rescued by
Perikles; while Sokrates, who never took any part in these
speculations, was nevertheless put to death because he was a
philosopher. It was not until after the period of which I am writing
that the glorious works of Plato shed their light upon mankind,
proving that Nature obeys a higher and divine law, and removing the
reproach of impiety which used to attach to those who study these
matters, so that all men might thereafter investigate natural
phenomena unreproved. Indeed, Plato's companion Dion, although the
moon was eclipsed when he was starting from the island of Zakynthus
to attack the despot Dionysius, was not in the least disturbed by the
omen, but sailed to Syracuse and drove out the despot. Nikias at this
time was without a competent soothsayer, for his intimate friend,
Stilbides, who used to check a great deal of his superstition, died
shortly before this. Indeed, the omen, if rightly explained, as
Philochorus points out, is not a bad one but a very good one for men
who are meditating a retreat; for what men are forced to do by fear,
requires darkness to conceal it, and light is inimical to them.
Moreover men were only wont to wait three days after an eclipse of
the moon, or of the sun, as we learn from Autokleides in his book on
divination; but Nikias persuaded them to wait for another complete
circuit of the moon, because its face would not shine upon them
propitiously before that time after its defilement with the gross
earthy particles which had intercepted its rays.[3]