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At this time Nicias, the general of the Athenians, as he surveyed the ships and measured the magnitude of the struggle, could not remain at his station on shore, but leaving the land troops he boarded a boat and passed along the line of the Athenian triremes. Calling each captain by name and stretching forth his hands, he implored them all, now if ever before, to grasp the only hope left to them, for on the valour of those who were about to join battle at sea depended the preservation both of themselves, every man of them, and of their fatherland. [2] Those who were fathers of children he reminded of their sons; those who were sons of distinguished fathers he exhorted not to bring disgrace upon the valorous deeds of their ancestors; those who had been honoured by their fellow citizens he urged to show themselves worthy of their crowns; and all of them he reminded of the trophies erected at Salamis and begged them not to bring to disrepute the far-famed glory of their fatherland nor surrender themselves like slaves to the Syracusans. [3]

After Nicias had spoken to this effect, he returned to his station, and the men of the fleet advanced singing the paean and broke through the barrier of boats before the enemy could prevent them. But the Syracusans, putting quickly out to sea, formed their triremes in battle order and coming to grips with the enemy forced them to withdraw from the barrier of boats and fight a pitched battle. [4] And as the ships backed water, some toward the beach, others toward the middle of the harbour, and still others in the direction of the walls, all the triremes were quickly separated from each other, and after they had got clear of the boom across its entrance the harbour was full of ships fighting in small groups. [5] Thereupon both sides fought with abandon for the victory. The Athenians, cheered by the multitude of their ships and seeing no other hope of safety, carried on the fight boldly and faced gallantly their death in battle, and the Syracusans, with their parents and children as spectators of the struggle, vied with one another, each man wishing the victory to come to his country through his own efforts.

Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.

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