Weeks must have
elapsed between the departure of Gylippus from Leucas, and his arrival
at Syracuse; and during all this time, with one trifling exception,
Nicias made no effort to oppose his progress. Prudent men might well
have regarded the enterprise of Gylippus as a wild and desperate
adventure; and such it must have proved, but for the astounding
blindness and apathy of Nicias.
At the time when Gylippus reached Syracuse the Athenian lines of
circumvallation were all but completed on the side of the Great
Harbour; but a wide interval was still left between the Circle and the
northern sea, and it was here that Gylippus had effected an entrance.
To keep this space open was a matter of supreme importance, and the
scene of action is now shifted again to the northern slope of
Epipolae. On the day after his arrival Gylippus succeeded in capturing
the Athenian fort at Labdalum, and the command of this position gave
increased facilities for the construction of a third counterwall,
which was forthwith taken in hand, and carried in the direction of
Labdalum, until it crossed the blockading line at its northern end.
If the Syracusans succeeded in completing and holding this
counterwork, the blockade of Syracuse would be rendered impossible.
Yet for some time Nicias made no attempt to interrupt its progress.
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