II
Since the fourth year of the Peloponnesian War, Athens had been
meddling in the affairs of Sicily, under pretence of aiding the Ionian
cities, who dreaded the encroaching ambition of Syracuse. That these
fears were not unfounded was proved when, a few years afterwards, the
Syracusans expelled the commons of Leontini, and took possession of
their territory. The Leontine exiles sought refuge at Athens, but
their appeal for help remained for a time unanswered, as the Athenians
were then fully occupied in Greece. But six years after the conclusion
of the Peace of Nicias, an appeal came to Athens from a remote corner
of Sicily, which stimulated the Leontine exiles to fresh efforts, and
led to most important results.
Between the Greeks of Selinus and the Elymians of Egesta there was a
long-standing quarrel, and in a war which had recently broken out the
Egestaeans were reduced to severe straits by the combined forces of
Selinus and Syracuse. In their distress they turned to Athens for
help, and envoys were sent to plead their cause before the Athenian
assembly. In aiding Egesta, argued the envoys, Athens would be serving
her own interests; for if the Syracusans were not speedily checked in
their aggressions, they would soon make themselves masters of the
whole of Sicily, and in that case they could bring such an accession
of strength to the enemies of Athens in Greece as to make them
irresistible.
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