History of The Peloponnesian War - Book VII   

and all the other manifold exclamations that a great host would
necessarily utter in great peril; and with the men in the fleet it was
nearly the same; until at last the Syracusans and their allies,
after the battle had lasted a long while, put the Athenians to flight,
and with much shouting and cheering chased them in open rout to the
shore. The naval force, one one way, one another, as many as were
not taken afloat now ran ashore and rushed from on board their ships
to their camp; while the army, no more divided, but carried away by
one impulse, all with shrieks and groans deplored the event, and ran
down, some to help the ships, others to guard what was left of their
wall, while the remaining and most numerous part already began to
consider how they should save themselves. Indeed, the panic of the
present moment had never been surpassed. They now suffered very nearly
what they had inflicted at Pylos; as then the Lacedaemonians with
the loss of their fleet lost also the men who had crossed over to
the island, so now the Athenians had no hope of escaping by land,
without the help of some extraordinary accident.
The sea-fight having been a severe one, and many ships and lives
having been lost on both sides, the victorious Syracusans and their
allies now picked up their wrecks and dead, and sailed off to the city
and set up a trophy. The Athenians, overwhelmed by their misfortune,
never even thought. of asking leave to take up their dead or wrecks,
but wished to retreat that very night. Demosthenes, however, went to
Nicias and gave it as his opinion that they should man the ships
they had left and make another effort to force their passage out
next morning; saying that they had still left more ships fit for
service than the enemy, the Athenians having about sixty remaining
as against less than fifty of their opponents. Nicias was quite of his
mind; but when they wished to man the vessels, the sailors refused
to go on board, being so utterly overcome by their defeat as no longer
to believe in the possibility of success.
Accordingly they all now made up their minds to retreat by land.
Meanwhile the Syracusan Hermocrates- suspecting their intention, and
impressed by the danger of allowing a force of that magnitude to
retire by land, establish itself in some other part of Sicily, and
from thence renew the war- went and stated his views to the
authorities, and pointed out to them that they ought not to let the
enemy get away by night, but that all the Syracusans and their
allies should at once march out and block up the roads and seize and
guard the passes. The authorities were entirely of his opinion, and
thought that it ought to be done, but on the other hand felt sure that
the people, who had given themselves over to rejoicing, and were
taking their ease after a great battle at sea, would not be easily
brought to obey; besides, they were celebrating a festival, having
on that day a sacrifice to Heracles, and most of them in their rapture
at the victory had fallen to drinking at the festival, and would
probably consent to anything sooner than to take up their arms and
march out at that moment. For these reasons the thing appeared
impracticable to the magistrates; and Hermocrates, finding himself
unable to do anything further with them, had now recourse to the
following stratagem of his own. What he feared was that the
Athenians might quietly get the start of them by passing the most
difficult places during the night; and he therefore sent, as soon as
it was dusk, some friends of his own to the camp with some horsemen
who rode up within earshot and called out to some of the men, as
though they were well-wishers of the Athenians, and told them to
tell Nicias (who had in fact some correspondents who informed him of
what went on inside the town) not to lead off the army by night as the
Syracusans were guarding the roads, but to make his preparations at
his leisure and to retreat by day. After saying this they departed;
and their hearers informed the Athenian generals, who put off going
for that night on the strength of this message, not doubting its
sincerity.
Since after all they had not set out at once, they now determined to