His well-laid
scheme had ended disastrously, and only one course remained,
consistent with public duty and common sense. To waste the blood and
treasure of Athens in Sicily any longer would be suicidal folly. The
Athenians at home were in a state of siege, and needed every man and
every ship for the defence of their own territory, and the maintenance
of their empire in Greece. Sickness and despondency had already
wrought dire havoc among the troops encamped before Syracuse. To
remain was utter ruin, both to themselves and their fellow-citizens.
The sea was still open, and the new armament, with what remained of
the old, would be strong enough to secure their retreat. Let them
embark without delay, turn their backs on the fatal shores of Sicily,
and hoist sail for home.
These arguments were urged by Demosthenes with unanswerable force at a
private meeting of the generals which was held immediately after the
defeat on Epipolae But unhappily for all those most nearly concerned
in the debate, the influence of Nicias was still supreme in the
Athenian camp; and to spur that gloomy trifler into decisive action
was beyond the power even of Demosthenes. Nicias knew that, if he gave
the word to retreat, in a few weeks he would have to stand before the
bar of his countrymen, and give an account of the great trust which he
had betrayed.
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