A strong force of Peloponnesian soldiers was encamped on
the shore, to co-operate with the fleet. Phormio anchored his ships
just outside the strait, being resolved, if it were in any way
possible, not to fight the Peloponnesians in the narrow waters. As the
Peloponnesians, on their side, were equally determined not to be lured
out into the open sea, the two fleets remained confronting each other
for a whole week, without attempting any aggressive movement. At last
the Peloponnesian leaders decided to give battle with Phormio at once,
fearing that if they delayed any longer he would be reinforced from
Athens.
It was the universal custom of Greek commanders to wind up the courage
of their men on the eve of a battle by a short and pithy address,
calculated to inspire them with confidence, by giving them a
reasonable hope of victory. Such a practice, strange as it may seem to
us, was natural among a people whose armies and fleets were recruited
from the general body of the citizens, accustomed to free speech in
their public assemblies. They were not men of war by profession,
trained in habits of blind obedience, but sensitive Greeks, who
carried into the camp the noble freedom of civic life, and were not
prepared to shed their blood without sufficient cause, and a fair
prospect of success.
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