Acting on this advice, the Syracusans deposed the existing generals,
and chose Hermocrates, with three others, to fill their place. The
reform of the army was at once taken in hand, and ambassadors were
sent to Corinth and Sparta to ask for aid. Corinth, as the mother-city
of Syracuse, might well respond to the call, and it was hoped that the
Spartans would be induced to declare open war on Athens, so as to
compel the Athenians to withdraw their forces from Sicily, or at least
prevent them from sending reinforcements.
Various defensive works were undertaken by the Syracusans during the
winter. The most important of these was a new wall, extending from the
northern sea to the Great Harbour, and taking in a wide space of
ground, outside the old line of wall, to the west of the city. By thus
increasing the area of Syracuse, they made it much more difficult for
Nicias to draw his line of blockade, when the siege began in the
following spring. They also constructed a fort, with a permanent
garrison, to guard the temple of Zeus in the suburb of Polichne, and
drove piles into the sea at all the landing-places of the Great
Harbour.
Soon after the battle Nicias shifted his winter quarters to Naxos, and
learning this the Syracusans marched in full force to Catana, laid
waste the territory, and burnt the deserted huts of the Athenians.
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