All
semblance of order was now lost in the Athenian army, which was broken
up into detached parties, some flying, some advancing, and shouting
their watchword to all whom they met, so as to learn whether they had
to do with friend or foe. But the Syracusans soon learnt the
watchword, which thus became a means of betraying the Athenians to
their own destruction. To add to the confusion, the Dorian allies of
Athens raised a paean, or war-song, so similar to that of the
Syracusans, that the Athenians fled at their approach supposing them
to be enemies. The grand army of Demosthenes, which had set out with
such high hopes, was now no better than a mob of wild and desperate
men, friend fighting against friend, and citizen against citizen. At
length the whole multitude turned and fled, each man seeking to save
himself as best he could. Some, hard pressed by the enemy, flung
themselves from the cliffs, and were dashed to pieces on the rocks
below; others succeeded in reaching the plain, and found their way
back to the camp of Nicias; while not a few lost their way, and
wandered about the country until the following day, when they were
hunted down and slain by the Syracusan horseman.
Demosthenes had done all that a man could to recover the ground lost
by Nicias, and resume the aggressive against Syracuse.
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