SICILIAN AFFAIRS. 383 herself. The maritime power of Athens is now indeed considerable, and may be called very great, if compared with the state of degra- dation to which she had been brought in 403 B. c. But it will presently be seen how unsubstantial is the foundation of her au- thority, and how fearfully she has fallen off from that imperial feeling and energy which ennobled her ancestors under the advice of Perikles. It is under these circumstances, so untoward for defence, that the aggressor from Macedonia arises. CHAPTER LXXXI. SICILIAN AFFAIRS AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ATHENIAN ARMAMENT BEFORE SYRACUSE. IN the sixtieth chapter of this work, I brought down the history of the Grecian communities in Sicily to the close of the Athenian siege of Syracuse, where Nikias and Demosthenes with nearly their entire armament perished by so lamentable a fate. I now resume from that point the thread of Sicilian events, which still continues so distinct from those of Peloponnesus and Eastern Greece, that it is inconvenient to include both in the same chapters. If the destruction of the great Athenian armament (in Septem- ber 413 B. c.) excited the strongest sensation throughout every part of the Grecian world, we may imagine the intoxication of tri- umph with which it must have been hailed in Sicily. It had been achieved (Gylippus and the Peloponnesian allies aiding) by the united efforts of. nearly all the Grecian cities in the island, for all of them had joined Syracuse as soon as her prospects became decidedly encouraging ; except Naxos and Katana, which were allied with the Athenians, and Agrigentum, which remained neu- tral. Unfortunately we know little or nothing of the proceedings 1 ThiK-yd. vii, 50-58
