A picked body of troops, sent on in advance, scattered the
soldiers of Gylippus, and the whole army then emerged from that death-
trap, and encamped for the night in the open plain.
The next day was spent in a last desperate effort to reach the hill
country. But being now on level ground, they were exposed on all sides
to the attacks of the Syracusan horse, who charged them incessantly,
and slew their men by hundreds, with hardly any loss to themselves.
The hopeless struggle continued until evening, and when the enemy drew
off, they left the Athenians not a mile from the place where they had
passed the previous night.
The original plan of the Athenian generals had been to penetrate the
highlands of Sicily to the west of Syracuse, and then strike across
country, until they reached the southern coast, in the direction of
Gela or Camarina. [Footnote: I have followed Holm, as cited in
Classen's Appendix (Third Edition, 1908).] But after two days'
fighting they had utterly failed to force an entrance into the
mountains. Many of their soldiers were wounded, the whole army was
weakened by famine, and a third attempt, made in such conditions, must
inevitably end in utter disaster. They resolved therefore to change
their route, and march southwards along the level coast country, until
they could reach the interior by following one of the numerous glens
which pierce the hills on this side of Sicily.
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