220 HISTORY OF UREECK. before the lines at Katana ; and though they lost no time bi returning, the march back was a long one. 1 Such was the con fidence of the Syracusans, however, that even after so long a march, they offered battle forthwith ; but as Nikias did not quit his position, they retreated, to take up their night-station on the other side of the Helorine road, probably a road bordered on each side by walls. On the next morning, Nikias marched out of his position and formed his troops in order of battle, in two divisions, each eight deep. His front division was intended to attack ; his rear di- vision in hollow square, with the baggage in the middle was held in reserve near the camp, to lend aid where aid might be wanted ; cavalry there was none. The Syracusan hoplites, seem- ingly far more numerous than his, presented the levy in mass of the city, without any selection ; they were ranged in the deeper order of sixteen, alongside of their Selinuntine allies. On the right wing were posted their horsemen, the best part of their force, not less than twelve hundred in number ; together with two hundred horsemen from Gela, twenty from Kamarina, about fifty bowmen, and a company of darters. The hoplites, though full of courage, had little training ; and their array, never precisely kept, was on this occasion farther disturbed by the immediate vicinity of the city. Some had gone in to see their families ; others, hurrying out to join, found the battle already begun, and took rank wherever they could. 2 Thucydides, in describing this battle, gives us, according to his practice, a statement of the motives and feelings which animated the combatants on both sides, and which furnished a theme for the brief harangue of Nikias. This appears surprising to one accustomed to modern warfare, where the soldier is under the influence simply of professional honor and disgrace, without any thought of the cause for which he is fighting. In ancient times, such a motive was only one among many others, which, according to the circumstances of the case, contributed to elevate or depress the soldier's mind at the eve of action. Nikias adverted to the recognized military preeminence of chosen Argeians, Mantrac- 1 Thucyd. vi, C5, 66 ; Diodor. xiii, 6 ; Plutarch, Nikias, ;. 13.
" Tlmcytl. vi, G7-69.
