And now the Athenian admirals, Demosthenes, Menander, and Euthydemus,
raised the signal, and the great fight began. The foremost ships
succeeded in reaching the mouth of the Great Harbour, and began to
break through the barrier, when the whole Syracusan fleet closed in
upon them on all sides, and forced them back Then the battle became
general, and soon the two fleets were scattered over the whole surface
of the bay in little groups, and each group engaged in a wild and
furious melee. There was no attempt to manoeuvre, but ship encountered
ship; as accident brought them together, and advanced to the attack,
under a shower of javelins and arrows. Then followed the dull crash of
collision, and the fierce rush of the fighting-men, as they
endeavoured to board. Here and there could be seen knots of three or
four triremes, locked together with shattered hulls and broken oars,
while the soldiers on the decks strove for the mastery. Nearly two
hundred triremes, and some forty thousand men, were engaged in that
tumultuous fight; and the thunder of the oars, the crash of colliding
triremes, and the yells of the assailants, raised an uproar so
tremendous that it was impossible to hear the voice of command. All
order and method was lost, yet still they fought on, the Syracusans
with a savage thirst for vengeance, the Athenians with the fury of
despair; and for a long time the issue remained doubtful.
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