A T H A T H 



month of whioh was (Iiiit up by the Svracufans. took tli^ P*,n,„ f i , 



r.' ■ :: ou to ...a.,aon their LJ, their Lk. l^d uS Thip. of tt e""""!. tot'■f^''".r''^''•' ''^V r"" ''* '"''7* 



a ■ .:t.rc by land into fome town of SicUy. They be/an to rnt'hT. T^ \ li'ff«'- the r,a lons of Greece mutuaUy 



t.- march to the nu,r.ber of forty thoufa'nd ^S S- ^vofe L de'^L 3^ b rk""7 'r'"^ °-"r ?/'" 



irx „ot only tiie troops furniihed them by the ftates of tW h , /. 1 ban.(hm£nt, he put h.ml.If at 



It^'y and Sicily, but the crews of the RaUey , th S for -dt ' of'th P f ' ^'"""^ ^"-'V^ ''" HJlcfpont, 



'•-''—" - • b. .) .'•">- »oii^. lorcid one ot the Pcrfian governors to fi^n an advaritageoui 



(liould have_ their lives granted them, and be fpared the hor 

 rors of a dungeon. Nicias, having failed in a negotiation he 



his conduit, were a fcries of triumphs for himfclf, and of 

 public rejoicings for the multitude. When, amidft the ac. 

 clamations of the whole city, they faw him fail from the 

 Pirsus with a fleet of a hundred ftiips, no doubt was eotcr- 



had entered into, conduAed the remainder of the army as 



far as the river Afinarus. On his arrival there, the greater 



r ^i, r ij- . II 1 ■ \ • n ° ^ " ..^..t. v^* a iiuituitu iiiius, iiu uuuoi was enter- 



part of the foldiers tormented by a burning thuft, ruflied tamed but that his rapid victories would foon force the 



m confufion into the nver, wnile others were dr.ven into it inhabitants of the Peloponncfus to fubmit to the law of the 



by_the^enemy. Such as aUempted to faye themfelves by conqueror; the airival of a courier was every moment ex- 



fwimming found on the oppofite (hore Iteep banks lined 

 with dartmen, who made a terrible (laughter of them- 

 Eight thoufand men perifhed ia the attack ; till at length 

 Nicias thus addj-efled Gylippus : " Dil'pofe of me as you 

 fliall think proper ; but (liew mercy at leall to thefe unhappy 

 foldiers." Gylippus immediately put an end to the car- 

 nage. The Syracufans returned to their city, bringing 



back with them feven thoufand prifoners, who were thrown _ 



into the quarries, where for many months they experienced ftantly returned, and offered b^^ttie"to7heTiaor7 who'di'd 



- every moment ex- 

 petted with the news of the deftruaion of the enemy, and 

 the conqucft of Ionia. In the midft of thefe flattering ex- 

 pettations, they learnt that fifteen of the Athenian galleyj 

 had fallen into the hands of the Lacedjemonians. The 

 engagement took place during the abfence, and in contempt 

 of the precife orders, of Alcibiades, who had been obliged 

 to pafs into Ionia to levy contributions for the fubfiilencc of 

 his troops. On the firft intelhgence of this check, he in 



inconceivable miferies. Numbers of them perifhed there, 

 and others were fold as flaves. Nicias and Demofthenes 

 were among the maflacred. A few efcaped both death and 

 bondage through the charms of dramatic poetry, by recit- 

 ing paffdges from the beautiful and pathetic tragedies of 

 Eui-ipides. 



The d'.fcomfiture of the expedition to Sicily filled Athens 



not venture to accept it. He had retrieved the honour of 

 Athens ; the lofs was trifling, but it fufficeJ for the jealoufy 

 of his enemies. They exafperated the people, who dripped 

 him of the general commai.d of the armies with as much 

 precipitation as they had manifefttd in inverting him with 

 that dignity. After the fecond exile of Alcibiades, the- 

 war continued for fcvcral years, the Spartans being now 



with confternation and difmay, and fhe had reafon to dread commanded by Lyfandcr, after Alcibiades, the firft general of 



ftill greater calamities. Her allies were ready to Ihake off "^ r,,-,,' , ,- , n . . . 



the yoke ; the other ftates of Greece were confpiring her 



ruin ; the Peloponncfians already thought themfelvcs jufti- 



fied by her example in breaking the truce. Already flie 



difcovcred in their operations, more flcilfuUy planned and 



conducl-d, the fpirit of vengeance, and the fuperior genius 



by which they were direfted. Alcibiades enjoyed at Lace- 



dsemon that refpe^ and i:iSuence he every where obtained. 



It was by his advice that the Lacedimonians adopted the 



refolution of fending fuccours to the Syracufans, renewing 



their inroads into Attica, and fortifying, at the diftance of 



one hundred and twenty ftadia from Athens, the pod of 



Decelia, which held that city blocked on the hmd fide. To 



annihilate the p j'v;r of Athens, it was neceffary to favour 



the revolt of her allies, and deftroy her navy. Alcibiades 



repaired to the coalls of Aha Minor ; and Chios, Miletus, 



and other flourilhi.ig cities, declared for the Lacedxinonians. 



By his accijiTiplifhmeiits he captivated Tiffaphcrnes, the 



governor of Sardis ; and the king of Perfia engaged to pay 



the fleet of Peloponnefus. This fecond war, conducted 



with more regularity than the former, would quickly have 



been terminated, had not Alcibiades, purfued by Agis, 



king of Lacedxmon, whofe wife he had feduccd, and by 



the other chiefs of the league, who took umbrage at his 



Greece. Till the tweiity-feventh year of the war7 the fuc- 

 cefs was various, and operations were principally maritime. 

 The great objeft of the Peloponncfians was the reduction 

 of the Athenian colonies ; and the northern parts of the 

 VEgean fea v,-ere the chief fcenes of warfare. In the twenty- 

 feventh campaign, a large Athenian fleet was ilationed at 

 th; mouth of the river -"Egos. Confidering themfelvcs ai 

 incontrovcrtibly fuperior to the enemy, many of the Athe- 

 nian foldiers left the fliips, and were carelcfsly difpcrfed on 

 Ihore. Alcibiades, being in that neighbourhood, and, 

 though in banilhment, anxious for the welfare of his coun- 

 try, warned the Athenian generals of their hazardous pofi- 

 tion, and the want of difcipline aiiiong their foldiers and 

 feamen ; after reprefenting to them the danger of their fitu- 

 ation, on an inhofpitable coatl, without either harbours or 

 cities to which they might retire in cafe of neceflity, he offer- 

 ed to co-operate with them, by falling upon the enemy at 

 land, with fome Thracian troops under his command. But 

 the generals defpife.i his advice, and refuled, out of jealoufv, 

 to accept of his fervicc. Lyfander, in the mean time, prepared 

 to attack the Atheninns whin totally off their guard. Hav- 

 ing learned from his fcouts, that the enemy were Uraggl ng 

 with even more than their ufual carelefinefs, Lyfandcr cm- 

 braced the opportunity, and bore down upon the (hips tlius 



glory, at length confidered that, after avenging himfelf on ^defcrted by the chief portion of the fighting men. The 



his coutitrj-, it nowonly remained for him to proteft it from victory was complete, if that can be called a viclor)- where 



inevitable ruin. With this view, he contrived to fufpend there wa'i fcarccly any rifillance. The vigilant aftivity of 



the operations of Tiffapheraes, and the departure of the Conon endeavoured feafonably to a.Temble the ftrength of 



