and loud acclamations, made the whole city resound. This air of pomp and triumph Demosthenes purposely affected, to strike terror into the enemy. 3. This was a force, which, if properly managed, might have turned the scale of victory yet once more in favour of the Athe'nians; but by the precipitancy of Demos'thenes, and the other generals, in opposition to the more cautious measures recommended by Ni'cias, it only served to heighten their disgrace and the enemy's triumph. 4. It was resolved in a council of war to attack the town immediately; and, as a previous step, to make themselves masters of Epi'polæ. 5. In their first assault upon this place, which was made by night, they stormed the outer intrenchment; but, as they were advancing towards the second, they were suddenly attacked by the forces of the city, which had marched under arms out of their lines, and were supported by Gylip'pus. 6. These, however, being seized with a panic, which the darkness increased, were soon put to flight; but a body of Boo'tians who followed them made a more vigorous stand, and marching against the Athenians with their pikes presented, repulsed them with great slaughter. 7. This spread a universal terror through the rest of the army: those who fled, either forced along such as were advancing to their assistance, or else, mistaking them for enemies, turned their arms against them they were all mixed indiscriminately, it being impossible, amidst the horrors of so dark a night, to distinguish friend from foe; and death was frequently inflicted by that hand, from which, in the day-time, protection would have been received. 8. The Athenians sought for each other to no purpose; and from their often asking the word by which only they were able to know one another, a strange confusion of sounds was heard, which occasioned no little disorder; not to mention that they by this means divulged their watchword to the enemy, and could not learn theirs; because, by their being together, and in a body, they had no occasion to repeat it. 9. In the mean time, those who were pursued threw themselves from the tops of the rocks, and many were dashed to pieces by the fall; and as most of those who escaped straggled up and down the fields and woods, they were cut to pieces the next day by the enemy's horse, who pursued them. 10. Two thousand Athenians were slain in this engagement, and a great quantity of arms were taken; those who fled having thrown them away, that they might be the better able to escape over the precipices. 11. Thus were at once blasted all the flattering hopes which the Athenians had conceived on the arrival of Demos'thenes; and Gylip'pus, having soon after made the tour of Sicily, and brought in with him a great number of fresh troops, acquired by that means such an undisputed superiority over the Athenians, that convinced of their utter inability to make any further head against him, they resolved immediately to abandon the island, and return to their own country.* 12. But just as they were upon the point of embarking, (wholly unsuspected by the enemy, who never supposed they would quit the island so soon,) the moon was suddenly eclipsed; and as this was a phenomenon with the real cause of which they were utterly unacquainted, they concluded it to be a prodigy or portent, and therefore dreaded the consequences. 13. It had been customary, upon former occasions, to suspend the execution of any enterprise for three days after such an accident happened: but the soothsayers, being now consulted, said that the Athenians must not sail till nine times three days were past, which doubtless was a mysterious number in the opinion of the people. 14. Ni'cias, scrupulous to a fault, and full *Nicias, who dreaded the vengeance of a populace irritated by unexpected reverses, at first opposed this measure, trusting that the Syracusans, whose resources he knew to be exhausted, would propose terms of accommodation. At length, however, a pestilence broke out in the camp, and he consented to give orders for a retreat. of a mistaken veneration for those blind interpreters of the will of the gods, declared that he would wait a whole revolution of the moon, and not set sail till the same day of the next month. 15. The Syracu'sans, however, being informed of the intended departure of the Athenians, were determined not to let them retire in peace, and, if possible, not at all; but either to cut them off entirely, or oblige them to surrender as prisoners of war. 16. For this purpose they attacked the intrenchments immediately, and gained a slight advantage over them: the next day they made a second attack, and at the same time sailed with seventy-six galleys against eighty-six of the Athenians. 17. After an obstinate dispute the Athenians were defeated with the loss of eighteen of their ships, which were taken by the enemy, and their crews cut in pieces. Eurym'edon too, their commander, lost his life in the engagement. 18. In order to prevent their escaping by sea, the enemy shut up the mouth of the great harbour, which was about five hundred paces wide, with galleys placed cross-wise, and other vessels, fixed with anchors and iron chains, and at the same time made the requisite preparations for a battle in case they should have courage to engage again. 19. The Athenians seeing themselves cooped up in this manner, and having no other means of procuring provisions but by being masters of the sea, were obliged to hazard another engagement upon that element. 20. Both commanders exerted all their eloquence to animate their men, and none could be actuated by stronger motives than now influenced them; for upon the issue of the battle which was about to be fought, depended not only their own lives and liberties, but even the fate of their native country. 21. This battle was more obstinate and bloody than any of the preceding ones. The Athenians being arrived at the mouth of the port, easily took the first ships they came to: but when they attempted to break the chain of the rest, the enemy poured in upon them from all quarters. 22. As nearly two hundred galleys came rushing on each side into a narrow place, there must necessarily be very great confusion, and the vessels could not easily advance or retire, or turn about to renew the attack; the beaks of the galleys, for this reason, did little execution; but there were very furious and frequent discharges. 23. By the advice of Ariston the Corinthian, the Athenians were overwhelmed with a shower of stones which annoyed them much, killing and wounding great numbers whereas they defended themselves only by shooting darts and arrows, which, by the motion of the ships, were diverted from their aim, and seldom hit the mark at which they were levelled. 24. These discharges being over, the heavy armed soldiers attempted to board the enemy's ships, in order to fight hand to hand: and it frequently happened that, while they were climbing up one side of these, their own ships were entered on the other, so that two or three ships were sometimes grappled together, which occasioned great confusion.. 25. Add to this, that the noise of the ships which dashed against one another, and the different cries of the victors and the vanquished, prevented the orders of the officers from being distinctly heard. The Athenians wanted to force a passage, whatever might be the consequence, in order to secure their return to their own country; and this the enemy endeavoured to prevent, that they might thereby gain a more complete victory. 26. The two land-armies, which were drawn up on the highest part of the shore, were spectators of the action, while the inhabitants of the city ran to the walls in order to behold it. All these saw clearly, because of their little distance from the fleets, every thing that passed, and contemplated the battle as from an amphitheatre, but not without great anxiety and terror. 27. Attentive to, and shuddering at, every movement, and the several changes of fortune that happened, they discovered the concern they had in the battle, their fears, their hopes, their grief, their joy, by dif ferent cries and different gestures: stretching out their hands sometimes towards the combatants to animate them, at other times towards heaven, to implore the succour and protection of the gods. 28. At last the Athenian fleet, after making a long and vigorous resistance, was put to flight, and driven on shore. The Syracu'sans, on the walls, seeing their countrymen victorious, conveyed the news to the whole city by a universal shout. The victors immediately sailed towards Sy'racuse, where they erected a trophy; while the Athenians were so much dejected, that they did not even request the dead bodies of their fellow-soldiers to be delivered to them, in order to honour them with the rites of burial. Questions for Examination. 1. What removed uneasiness from the mind of Nicias? 2. Of what did this force consist? 3. Was this force equivalent to its object? 4. What was resolved on? 5. What was their success? 6. Was their opposition vigorous? 7. What were the consequences of this repulse? 8. What contributed to the defeat of the Athenians? 9. What became of the fugitives? 10. What loss did the Athenians sustain ? 11. Was this engagement decisive ? 12. What hindered the accomplishment of their purpose? 13. How long did this delay them? 14. Did Nicias obey this injunction ? 15. Were they suffered to retire unmolested? 16. How did they attempt this? 17. What was the result of this engagement? 18. How were they prevented escaping by sea? 19. How did the Athenians act under these circumstances? 20. How did they endeavour to animate the courage of the combatants? 21. How did the engagement commence ? 22. Had they room to manage their vessels properly? 23. In what manner were the Athenians annoyed? 24. What followed these discharges? 25. What increased the confusion? 26. Who were the spectators of this encounter? 27. How did they discover the concern they had in the battle? 28. What was the result of the engagement? SECTION V. SURRENDER OF THE ATHENIANS. 1. THERE now remained but two methods for them to choose; either to attempt the passage a second time, for which they had still ships and soldiers sufficient, or to abandon their fleet to the enemy, and retire by land. 2. Demos'thenes recommended the former plan; but the soldiers were so much intimidated by their late defeat, that they had not courage to undertake it. The second method was therefore adopted; and they accordingly prepared to set out in the night, the better to conceal their march from the enemy. 3. Hermo'crates, however, the Syracu'san general, was extremely unwilling that so large a body of men (amount |