BANISHMENT OF DIOKLLS. i } reverses in themselves were sure to discredit him more or tass, and to lend increased strength and stimulus to the partisans of the banished Hermokrates. Nevertheless that leader, though he came to the gates of Syracuse, failed in his attempt to obtain admission, and was compelled to retire ; upon which he marched his little army across the interior of the island, and took possession of the dismantled Selinus. Here he established himself as the chief of a new settlement, got together as many as he could of the expel- led inhabitants (among whom probably some had already come back along with Empedion), and invited many fresh colonists from other quarters. Reestablishing a portion of the demolished forti- fications, he found himself gradually strengthened by so many new-comers, as to place at his command a body of six thousand chosen hoplites, probably independent of other soldiers of infe- rior merit. With these troops he began to invade the Cartha- ginian settlements in the neighborhood, Motye and Panormus. 1 Having defeated the forces of both in the field, he carried his rav- ages successfully over their territories, with large acquisitions of plunder. The Carthaginians had now no army remaining in Sicily ; for their immense host of the preceding year had consisted only of mercenaries levied for the occasion, and then disbanded. These events excited strong sensation throughout Sicily. The valor of Hermokrates, who had restored Selinus and conquered the Carthaginians on the very ground where they had stood so recently in terrific force, was contrasted with the inglorious pro- ceeding of Diokles at Himera. In the public assemblies of Sy- racuse, this topic, coupled with the unjust sentence whereby Her- mokrates had been banished, was emphatically set forth by his partisans ; producing some reaction in his favor, and a still greater effect in disgracing his rival Diokles.. Apprised that the tide of Syracusan opinion was turning towards him, Hermokrates made renewed preparations for his return, and resorted to a new strata- gene, for the purpose of smoothing the difficulty. He marched from Selinus to the ruined site of Himera, informed himself of the spot where the Syracusan troops had undergone their murder- ous defeat, and collected together the bones of his slain fellow- citizens ; which (or rather the unburied bodies) must have laic 1 Diodor. xiii, 63. VOL. x. 18* 27oc.
