WHILE the Athenians lingered on in this way without moving from where they were, Gylippus and Sicanus now arrived at Syracuse. Sicanus had failed to gain Agrigentum, the party friendly to the Syracusans having been driven out while he was still at Gela; but Gylippus was accompanied not only by a large number of troops raised in Sicily, but by the heavy infantry1 sent off in the spring from Peloponnese in the merchantmen, who had arrived at Selinus from Libya. They had been carried to Libya by a storm, and having obtained two galleys2 and pilots from the Cyrenians, on their voyage alongshore had taken sides with the Euesperitae and had defeated the Libyans who were besieging3 them, and from thence coasting on to Neapolis, a Carthaginian mart, and the nearest point to Sicily, from which it is only two days’ and a night’s voyage, there crossed over and came to Selinus. Immediately upon their arrival the Syracusans prepared to attack the Athenians again by land and sea at once. The Athenian generals seeing a fresh army come to the aid of the enemy, and that their own circumstances, far from improving, were becoming daily worse, and above all distressed6 by the sickness of the soldiers, now began to repent7 of not having removed before; and Nicias no longer offering the same opposition8, except by urging that there should be no open voting, they gave orders as secretly as possible for all to be prepared to sail out from the camp at a given signal. All was at last ready, and they were on the point of sailing away, when an eclipse of the moon, which was then at the full, took place. Most of the Athenians, deeply impressed by this occurrence, now urged the generals to wait; and Nicias, who was somewhat over-addicted to divination9 and practices of that kind, refused from that moment even to take the question of departure into consideration, until they had waited the thrice nine days prescribed by the soothsayers.
The besiegers were thus condemned10 to stay in the country; and the Syracusans, getting wind of what had happened, became more eager than ever to press the Athenians, who had now themselves acknowledged that they were no longer their superiors either by sea or by land, as otherwise they would never have planned to sail away. Besides which the Syracusans did not wish them to settle in any other part of Sicily, where they would be more difficult to deal with, but desired to force them to fight at sea as quickly as possible, in a position favourable12 to themselves. Accordingly they manned their ships and practised for as many days as they thought sufficient. When the moment arrived they assaulted on the first day the Athenian lines, and upon a small force of heavy infantry and horse sallying out against them by certain gates, cut off some of the former and routed and pursued them to the lines, where, as the entrance was narrow, the Athenians lost seventy horses and some few of the heavy infantry.
Drawing off their troops for this day, on the next the Syracusans went out with a fleet of seventy-six sail, and at the same time advanced with their land forces against the lines. The Athenians put out to meet them with eighty-six ships, came to close quarters, and engaged. The Syracusans and their allies first defeated the Athenian centre, and then caught Eurymedon, the commander of the right wing, who was sailing out from the line more towards the land in order to surround the enemy, in the hollow and recess15 of the harbour, and killed him and destroyed the ships accompanying him; after which they now chased the whole Athenian fleet before them and drove them ashore16.
Gylippus seeing the enemy’s fleet defeated and carried ashore beyond their stockades17 and camp, ran down to the breakwater with some of his troops, in order to cut off the men as they landed and make it easier for the Syracusans to tow off the vessels19 by the shore being friendly ground. The Tyrrhenians who guarded this point for the Athenians, seeing them come on in disorder20, advanced out against them and attacked and routed their van, hurling21 it into the marsh22 of Lysimeleia. Afterwards the Syracusan and allied23 troops arrived in greater numbers, and the Athenians fearing for their ships came up also to the rescue and engaged them, and defeated and pursued them to some distance and killed a few of their heavy infantry. They succeeded in rescuing most of their ships and brought them down by their camp; eighteen however were taken by the Syracusans and their allies, and all the men killed. The rest the enemy tried to burn by means of an old merchantman which they filled with faggots and pine-wood, set on fire, and let drift down the wind which blew full on the Athenians. The Athenians, however, alarmed for their ships, contrived24 means for stopping it and putting it out, and checking the flames and the nearer approach of the merchantman, thus escaped the danger.
After this the Syracusans set up a trophy25 for the sea-fight and for the heavy infantry whom they had cut off up at the lines, where they took the horses; and the Athenians for the rout14 of the foot driven by the Tyrrhenians into the marsh, and for their own victory with the rest of the army.
The Syracusans had now gained a decisive victory at sea, where until now they had feared the reinforcement brought by Demosthenes, and deep, in consequence, was the despondency of the Athenians, and great their disappointment, and greater still their regret for having come on the expedition. These were the only cities that they had yet encountered, similar to their own in character, under democracies like themselves, which had ships and horses, and were of considerable magnitude. They had been unable to divide and bring them over by holding out the prospect26 of changes in their governments, or to crush them by their great superiority in force, but had failed in most of their attempts, and being already in perplexity, had now been defeated at sea, where defeat could never have been expected, and were thus plunged27 deeper in embarrassment28 than ever.
Meanwhile the Syracusans immediately began to sail freely along the harbour, and determined29 to close up its mouth, so that the Athenians might not be able to steal out in future, even if they wished. Indeed, the Syracusans no longer thought only of saving themselves, but also how to hinder the escape of the enemy; thinking, and thinking rightly, that they were now much the stronger, and that to conquer the Athenians and their allies by land and sea would win them great glory in Hellas. The rest of the Hellenes would thus immediately be either freed or released from apprehension30, as the remaining forces of Athens would be henceforth unable to sustain the war that would be waged against her; while they, the Syracusans, would be regarded as the authors of this deliverance, and would be held in high admiration31, not only with all men now living but also with posterity32. Nor were these the only considerations that gave dignity to the struggle. They would thus conquer not only the Athenians but also their numerous allies, and conquer not alone, but with their companions in arms, commanding side by side with the Corinthians and Lacedaemonians, having offered their city to stand in the van of danger, and having been in a great measure the pioneers of naval33 success.
Indeed, there were never so many peoples assembled before a single city, if we except the grand total gathered together in this war under Athens and Lacedaemon. The following were the states on either side who came to Syracuse to fight for or against Sicily, to help to conquer or defend the island. Right or community of blood was not the bond of union between them, so much as interest or compulsion as the case might be. The Athenians themselves being Ionians went against the Dorians of Syracuse of their own free will; and the peoples still speaking Attic34 and using the Athenian laws, the Lemnians, Imbrians, and Aeginetans, that is to say the then occupants of Aegina, being their colonists35, went with them. To these must be also added the Hestiaeans dwelling36 at Hestiaea in Euboea. Of the rest some joined in the expedition as subjects of the Athenians, others as independent allies, others as mercenaries. To the number of the subjects paying tribute belonged the Eretrians, Chalcidians, Styrians, and Carystians from Euboea; the Ceans, Andrians, and Tenians from the islands; and the Milesians, Samians, and Chians from Ionia. The Chians, however, joined as independent allies, paying no tribute, but furnishing ships. Most of these were Ionians and descended37 from the Athenians, except the Carystians, who are Dryopes, and although subjects and obliged to serve, were still Ionians fighting against Dorians. Besides these there were men of Aeolic race, the Methymnians, subjects who provided ships, not tribute, and the Tenedians and Aenians who paid tribute. These Aeolians fought against their Aeolian founders38, the Boeotians in the Syracusan army, because they were obliged, while the Plataeans, the only native Boeotians opposed to Boeotians, did so upon a just quarrel. Of the Rhodians and Cytherians, both Dorians, the latter, Lacedaemonian colonists, fought in the Athenian ranks against their Lacedaemonian countrymen with Gylippus; while the Rhodians, Argives by race, were compelled to bear arms against the Dorian Syracusans and their own colonists, the Geloans, serving with the Syracusans. Of the islanders round Peloponnese, the Cephallenians and Zacynthians accompanied the Athenians as independent allies, although their insular39 position really left them little choice in the matter, owing to the maritime40 supremacy41 of Athens, while the Corcyraeans, who were not only Dorians but Corinthians, were openly serving against Corinthians and Syracusans, although colonists of the former and of the same race as the latter, under colour of compulsion, but really out of free will through hatred42 of Corinth. The Messenians, as they are now called in Naupactus and from Pylos, then held by the Athenians, were taken with them to the war. There were also a few Megarian exiles, whose fate it was to be now fighting against the Megarian Selinuntines.
The engagement of the rest was more of a voluntary nature. It was less the league than hatred of the Lacedaemonians and the immediate4 private advantage of each individual that persuaded the Dorian Argives to join the Ionian Athenians in a war against Dorians; while the Mantineans and other Arcadian mercenaries, accustomed to go against the enemy pointed43 out to them at the moment, were led by interest to regard the Arcadians serving with the Corinthians as just as much their enemies as any others. The Cretans and Aetolians also served for hire, and the Cretans who had joined the Rhodians in founding Gela, thus came to consent to fight for pay against, instead of for, their colonists. There were also some Acarnanians paid to serve, although they came chiefly for love of Demosthenes and out of goodwill44 to the Athenians whose allies they were. These all lived on the Hellenic side of the Ionian Gulf45. Of the Italiots, there were the Thurians and Metapontines, dragged into the quarrel by the stern necessities of a time of revolution; of the Siceliots, the Naxians and the Catanians; and of the barbarians46, the Egestaeans, who called in the Athenians, most of the Sicels, and outside Sicily some Tyrrhenian enemies of Syracuse and Iapygian mercenaries.
Such were the peoples serving with the Athenians. Against these the Syracusans had the Camarinaeans their neighbours, the Geloans who live next to them; then passing over the neutral Agrigentines, the Selinuntines settled on the farther side of the island. These inhabit the part of Sicily looking towards Libya; the Himeraeans came from the side towards the Tyrrhenian Sea, being the only Hellenic inhabitants in that quarter, and the only people that came from thence to the aid of the Syracusans. Of the Hellenes in Sicily the above peoples joined in the war, all Dorians and independent, and of the barbarians the Sicels only, that is to say, such as did not go over to the Athenians. Of the Hellenes outside Sicily there were the Lacedaemonians, who provided a Spartan48 to take the command, and a force of Neodamodes or Freedmen, and of Helots; the Corinthians, who alone joined with naval and land forces, with their Leucadian and Ambraciot kinsmen49; some mercenaries sent by Corinth from Arcadia; some Sicyonians forced to serve, and from outside Peloponnese the Boeotians. In comparison, however, with these foreign auxiliaries50, the great Siceliot cities furnished more in every department — numbers of heavy infantry, ships, and horses, and an immense multitude besides having been brought together; while in comparison, again, one may say, with all the rest put together, more was provided by the Syracusans themselves, both from the greatness of the city and from the fact that they were in the greatest danger.
Such were the auxiliaries brought together on either side, all of which had by this time joined, neither party experiencing any subsequent accession. It was no wonder, therefore, if the Syracusans and their allies thought that it would win them great glory if they could follow up their recent victory in the sea-fight by the capture of the whole Athenian armada, without letting it escape either by sea or by land. They began at once to close up the Great Harbour by means of boats, merchant vessels, and galleys moored51 broadside across its mouth, which is nearly a mile wide, and made all their other arrangements for the event of the Athenians again venturing to fight at sea. There was, in fact, nothing little either in their plans or their ideas.
The Athenians, seeing them closing up the harbour and informed of their further designs, called a council of war. The generals and colonels assembled and discussed the difficulties of the situation; the point which pressed most being that they no longer had provisions for immediate use (having sent on to Catana to tell them not to send any, in the belief that they were going away), and that they would not have any in future unless they could command the sea. They therefore determined to evacuate53 their upper lines, to enclose with a cross wall and garrison54 a small space close to the ships, only just sufficient to hold their stores and sick, and manning all the ships, seaworthy or not, with every man that could be spared from the rest of their land forces, to fight it out at sea, and, if victorious56, to go to Catana, if not, to burn their vessels, form in close order, and retreat by land for the nearest friendly place they could reach, Hellenic or barbarian47. This was no sooner settled than carried into effect; they descended gradually from the upper lines and manned all their vessels, compelling all to go on board who were of age to be in any way of use. They thus succeeded in manning about one hundred and ten ships in all, on board of which they embarked57 a number of archers58 and darters taken from the Acarnanians and from the other foreigners, making all other provisions allowed by the nature of their plan and by the necessities which imposed it. All was now nearly ready, and Nicias, seeing the soldiery disheartened by their unprecedented59 and decided60 defeat at sea, and by reason of the scarcity61 of provisions eager to fight it out as soon as possible, called them all together, and first addressed them, speaking as follows:
“Soldiers of the Athenians and of the allies, we have all an equal interest in the coming struggle, in which life and country are at stake for us quite as much as they can be for the enemy; since if our fleet wins the day, each can see his native city again, wherever that city may be. You must not lose heart, or be like men without any experience, who fail in a first essay and ever afterwards fearfully forebode a future as disastrous63. But let the Athenians among you who have already had experience of many wars, and the allies who have joined us in so many expeditions, remember the surprises of war, and with the hope that fortune will not be always against us, prepare to fight again in a manner worthy55 of the number which you see yourselves to be.
“Now, whatever we thought would be of service against the crush of vessels in such a narrow harbour, and against the force upon the decks of the enemy, from which we suffered before, has all been considered with the helmsmen, and, as far as our means allowed, provided. A number of archers and darters will go on board, and a multitude that we should not have employed in an action in the open sea, where our science would be crippled by the weight of the vessels; but in the present land-fight that we are forced to make from shipboard all this will be useful. We have also discovered the changes in construction that we must make to meet theirs; and against the thickness of their cheeks, which did us the greatest mischief64, we have provided grappling-irons, which will prevent an assailant backing water after charging, if the soldiers on deck here do their duty; since we are absolutely compelled to fight a land battle from the fleet, and it seems to be our interest neither to back water ourselves, nor to let the enemy do so, especially as the shore, except so much of it as may be held by our troops, is hostile ground.
“You must remember this and fight on as long as you can, and must not let yourselves be driven ashore, but once alongside must make up your minds not to part company until you have swept the heavy infantry from the enemy’s deck. I say this more for the heavy infantry than for the seamen66, as it is more the business of the men on deck; and our land forces are even now on the whole the strongest. The sailors I advise, and at the same time implore67, not to be too much daunted68 by their misfortunes, now that we have our decks better armed and greater number of vessels. Bear in mind how well worth preserving is the pleasure felt by those of you who through your knowledge of our language and imitation of our manners were always considered Athenians, even though not so in reality, and as such were honoured throughout Hellas, and had your full share of the advantages of our empire, and more than your share in the respect of our subjects and in protection from ill treatment. You, therefore, with whom alone we freely share our empire, we now justly require not to betray that empire in its extremity69, and in scorn of Corinthians, whom you have often conquered, and of Siceliots, none of whom so much as presumed to stand against us when our navy was in its prime, we ask you to repel70 them, and to show that even in sickness and disaster your skill is more than a match for the fortune and vigour71 of any other.
“For the Athenians among you I add once more this reflection: You left behind you no more such ships in your docks as these, no more heavy infantry in their flower; if you do aught but conquer, our enemies here will immediately sail thither72, and those that are left of us at Athens will become unable to repel their home assailants, reinforced by these new allies. Here you will fall at once into the hands of the Syracusans — I need not remind you of the intentions with which you attacked them — and your countrymen at home will fall into those of the Lacedaemonians. Since the fate of both thus hangs upon this single battle, now, if ever, stand firm, and remember, each and all, that you who are now going on board are the army and navy of the Athenians, and all that is left of the state and the great name of Athens, in whose defence if any man has any advantage in skill or courage, now is the time for him to show it, and thus serve himself and save all.”
After this address Nicias at once gave orders to man the ships. Meanwhile Gylippus and the Syracusans could perceive by the preparations which they saw going on that the Athenians meant to fight at sea. They had also notice of the grappling-irons, against which they specially65 provided by stretching hides over the prows73 and much of the upper part of their vessels, in order that the irons when thrown might slip off without taking hold. All being now ready, the generals and Gylippus addressed them in the following terms:
“Syracusans and allies, the glorious character of our past achievements and the no less glorious results at issue in the coming battle are, we think, understood by most of you, or you would never have thrown yourselves with such ardour into the struggle; and if there be any one not as fully62 aware of the facts as he ought to be, we will declare them to him. The Athenians came to this country first to effect the conquest of Sicily, and after that, if successful, of Peloponnese and the rest of Hellas, possessing already the greatest empire yet known, of present or former times, among the Hellenes. Here for the first time they found in you men who faced their navy which made them masters everywhere; you have already defeated them in the previous sea-fights, and will in all likelihood defeat them again now. When men are once checked in what they consider their special excellence74, their whole opinion of themselves suffers more than if they had not at first believed in their superiority, the unexpected shock to their pride causing them to give way more than their real strength warrants; and this is probably now the case with the Athenians.
“With us it is different. The original estimate of ourselves which gave us courage in the days of our unskilfulness has been strengthened, while the conviction superadded to it that we must be the best seamen of the time, if we have conquered the best, has given a double measure of hope to every man among us; and, for the most part, where there is the greatest hope, there is also the greatest ardour for action. The means to combat us which they have tried to find in copying our armament are familiar to our warfare75, and will be met by proper provisions; while they will never be able to have a number of heavy infantry on their decks, contrary to their custom, and a number of darters (born landsmen, one may say, Acarnanians and others, embarked afloat, who will not know how to discharge their weapons when they have to keep still), without hampering76 their vessels and falling all into confusion among themselves through fighting not according to their own tactics. For they will gain nothing by the number of their ships — I say this to those of you who may be alarmed by having to fight against odds77 — as a quantity of ships in a confined space will only be slower in executing the movements required, and most exposed to injury from our means of offence. Indeed, if you would know the plain truth, as we are credibly78 informed, the excess of their sufferings and the necessities of their present distress5 have made them desperate; they have no confidence in their force, but wish to try their fortune in the only way they can, and either to force their passage and sail out, or after this to retreat by land, it being impossible for them to be worse off than they are.
“The fortune of our greatest enemies having thus betrayed itself, and their disorder being what I have described, let us engage in anger, convinced that, as between adversaries79, nothing is more legitimate80 than to claim to sate81 the whole wrath82 of one’s soul in punishing the aggressor, and nothing more sweet, as the proverb has it, than the vengeance83 upon an enemy, which it will now be ours to take. That enemies they are and mortal enemies you all know, since they came here to enslave our country, and if successful had in reserve for our men all that is most dreadful, and for our children and wives all that is most dishonourable, and for the whole city the name which conveys the greatest reproach. None should therefore relent or think it gain if they go away without further danger to us. This they will do just the same, even if they get the victory; while if we succeed, as we may expect, in chastising84 them, and in handing down to all Sicily her ancient freedom strengthened and confirmed, we shall have achieved no mean triumph. And the rarest dangers are those in which failure brings little loss and success the greatest advantage.”
After the above address to the soldiers on their side, the Syracusan generals and Gylippus now perceived that the Athenians were manning their ships, and immediately proceeded to man their own also. Meanwhile Nicias, appalled85 by the position of affairs, realizing the greatness and the nearness of the danger now that they were on the point of putting out from shore, and thinking, as men are apt to think in great crises, that when all has been done they have still something left to do, and when all has been said that they have not yet said enough, again called on the captains one by one, addressing each by his father’s name and by his own, and by that of his tribe, and adjured86 them not to belie52 their own personal renown87, or to obscure the hereditary88 virtues89 for which their ancestors were illustrious: he reminded them of their country, the freest of the free, and of the unfettered discretion91 allowed in it to all to live as they pleased; and added other arguments such as men would use at such a crisis, and which, with little alteration92, are made to serve on all occasions alike — appeals to wives, children, and national gods — without caring whether they are thought commonplace, but loudly invoking93 them in the belief that they will be of use in the consternation94 of the moment. Having thus admonished95 them, not, he felt, as he would, but as he could, Nicias withdrew and led the troops to the sea, and ranged them in as long a line as he was able, in order to aid as far as possible in sustaining the courage of the men afloat; while Demosthenes, Menander, and Euthydemus, who took the command on board, put out from their own camp and sailed straight to the barrier across the mouth of the harbour and to the passage left open, to try to force their way out.
The Syracusans and their allies had already put out with about the same number of ships as before, a part of which kept guard at the outlet96, and the remainder all round the rest of the harbour, in order to attack the Athenians on all sides at once; while the land forces held themselves in readiness at the points at which the vessels might put into the shore. The Syracusan fleet was commanded by Sicanus and Agatharchus, who had each a wing of the whole force, with Pythen and the Corinthians in the centre. When the rest of the Athenians came up to the barrier, with the first shock of their charge they overpowered the ships stationed there, and tried to undo97 the fastenings; after this, as the Syracusans and allies bore down upon them from all quarters, the action spread from the barrier over the whole harbour, and was more obstinately98 disputed than any of the preceding ones. On either side the rowers showed great zeal99 in bringing up their vessels at the boatswains’ orders, and the helmsmen great skill in manoeuvring, and great emulation100 one with another; while the ships once alongside, the soldiers on board did their best not to let the service on deck be outdone by the others; in short, every man strove to prove himself the first in his particular department. And as many ships were engaged in a small compass (for these were the largest fleets fighting in the narrowest space ever known, being together little short of two hundred), the regular attacks with the beak101 were few, there being no opportunity of backing water or of breaking the line; while the collisions caused by one ship chancing to run foul102 of another, either in flying from or attacking a third, were more frequent. So long as a vessel18 was coming up to the charge the men on the decks rained darts103 and arrows and stones upon her; but once alongside, the heavy infantry tried to board each other’s vessel, fighting hand to hand. In many quarters it happened, by reason of the narrow room, that a vessel was charging an enemy on one side and being charged herself on another, and that two or sometimes more ships had perforce got entangled104 round one, obliging the helmsmen to attend to defence here, offence there, not to one thing at once, but to many on all sides; while the huge din13 caused by the number of ships crashing together not only spread terror, but made the orders of the boatswains inaudible. The boatswains on either side in the discharge of their duty and in the heat of the conflict shouted incessantly105 orders and appeals to their men; the Athenians they urged to force the passage out, and now if ever to show their mettle106 and lay hold of a safe return to their country; to the Syracusans and their allies they cried that it would be glorious to prevent the escape of the enemy, and, conquering, to exalt107 the countries that were theirs. The generals, moreover, on either side, if they saw any in any part of the battle backing ashore without being forced to do so, called out to the captain by name and asked him — the Athenians, whether they were retreating because they thought the thrice hostile shore more their own than that sea which had cost them so much labour to win; the Syracusans, whether they were flying from the flying Athenians, whom they well knew to be eager to escape in whatever way they could.
Meanwhile the two armies on shore, while victory hung in the balance, were a prey108 to the most agonizing109 and conflicting emotions; the natives thirsting for more glory than they had already won, while the invaders110 feared to find themselves in even worse plight111 than before. The all of the Athenians being set upon their fleet, their fear for the event was like nothing they had ever felt; while their view of the struggle was necessarily as chequered as the battle itself. Close to the scene of action and not all looking at the same point at once, some saw their friends victorious and took courage and fell to calling upon heaven not to deprive them of salvation112, while others who had their eyes turned upon the losers, wailed113 and cried aloud, and, although spectators, were more overcome than the actual combatants. Others, again, were gazing at some spot where the battle was evenly disputed; as the strife114 was protracted116 without decision, their swaying bodies reflected the agitation117 of their minds, and they suffered the worst agony of all, ever just within reach of safety or just on the point of destruction. In short, in that one Athenian army as long as the sea-fight remained doubtful there was every sound to be heard at once, shrieks118, cheers, “We win,” “We lose,” and all the other manifold exclamations119 that a great host would necessarily utter in great peril120; 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 groans121 deplored122 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 inflicted123 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 wrecks124 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 utterly125 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 entirely126 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 rapture127 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 magistrates128; and Hermocrates, finding himself unable to do anything further with them, had now recourse to the following stratagem129 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 sincerity130.
Since after all they had not set out at once, they now determined to stay also the following day to give time to the soldiers to pack up as well as they could the most useful articles, and, leaving everything else behind, to start only with what was strictly131 necessary for their personal subsistence. Meanwhile the Syracusans and Gylippus marched out and blocked up the roads through the country by which the Athenians were likely to pass, and kept guard at the fords of the streams and rivers, posting themselves so as to receive them and stop the army where they thought best; while their fleet sailed up to the beach and towed off the ships of the Athenians. Some few were burned by the Athenians themselves as they had intended; the rest the Syracusans lashed133 on to their own at their leisure as they had been thrown up on shore, without any one trying to stop them, and conveyed to the town.
After this, Nicias and Demosthenes now thinking that enough had been done in the way of preparation, the removal of the army took place upon the second day after the sea-fight. It was a lamentable134 scene, not merely from the single circumstance that they were retreating after having lost all their ships, their great hopes gone, and themselves and the state in peril; but also in leaving the camp there were things most grievous for every eye and heart to contemplate135. The dead lay unburied, and each man as he recognized a friend among them shuddered136 with grief and horror; while the living whom they were leaving behind, wounded or sick, were to the living far more shocking than the dead, and more to be pitied than those who had perished. These fell to entreating137 and bewailing until their friends knew not what to do, begging them to take them and loudly calling to each individual comrade or relative whom they could see, hanging upon the necks of their tent-fellows in the act of departure, and following as far as they could, and, when their bodily strength failed them, calling again and again upon heaven and shrieking138 aloud as they were left behind. So that the whole army being filled with tears and distracted after this fashion found it not easy to go, even from an enemy’s land, where they had already suffered evils too great for tears and in the unknown future before them feared to suffer more. Dejection and self-condemnation were also rife115 among them. Indeed they could only be compared to a starved-out town, and that no small one, escaping; the whole multitude upon the march being not less than forty thousand men. All carried anything they could which might be of use, and the heavy infantry and troopers, contrary to their wont139, while under arms carried their own victuals140, in some cases for want of servants, in others through not trusting them; as they had long been deserting and now did so in greater numbers than ever. Yet even thus they did not carry enough, as there was no longer food in the camp. Moreover their disgrace generally, and the universality of their sufferings, however to a certain extent alleviated141 by being borne in company, were still felt at the moment a heavy burden, especially when they contrasted the splendour and glory of their setting out with the humiliation142 in which it had ended. For this was by far the greatest reverse that ever befell an Hellenic army. They had come to enslave others, and were departing in fear of being enslaved themselves: they had sailed out with prayer and paeans144, and now started to go back with omens145 directly contrary; travelling by land instead of by sea, and trusting not in their fleet but in their heavy infantry. Nevertheless the greatness of the danger still impending146 made all this appear tolerable.
Nicias seeing the army dejected and greatly altered, passed along the ranks and encouraged and comforted them as far as was possible under the circumstances, raising his voice still higher and higher as he went from one company to another in his earnestness, and in his anxiety that the benefit of his words might reach as many as possible:
“Athenians and allies, even in our present position we must still hope on, since men have ere now been saved from worse straits than this; and you must not condemn11 yourselves too severely147 either because of your disasters or because of your present unmerited sufferings. I myself who am not superior to any of you in strength — indeed you see how I am in my sickness — and who in the gifts of fortune am, I think, whether in private life or otherwise, the equal of any, am now exposed to the same danger as the meanest among you; and yet my life has been one of much devotion toward the gods, and of much justice and without offence toward men. I have, therefore, still a strong hope for the future, and our misfortunes do not terrify me as much as they might. Indeed we may hope that they will be lightened: our enemies have had good fortune enough; and if any of the gods was offended at our expedition, we have been already amply punished. Others before us have attacked their neighbours and have done what men will do without suffering more than they could bear; and we may now justly expect to find the gods more kind, for we have become fitter objects for their pity than their jealousy148. And then look at yourselves, mark the numbers and efficiency of the heavy infantry marching in your ranks, and do not give way too much to despondency, but reflect that you are yourselves at once a city wherever you sit down, and that there is no other in Sicily that could easily resist your attack, or expel you when once established. The safety and order of the march is for yourselves to look to; the one thought of each man being that the spot on which he may be forced to fight must be conquered and held as his country and stronghold. Meanwhile we shall hasten on our way night and day alike, as our provisions are scanty149; and if we can reach some friendly place of the Sicels, whom fear of the Syracusans still keeps true to us, you may forthwith consider yourselves safe. A message has been sent on to them with directions to meet us with supplies of food. To sum up, be convinced, soldiers, that you must be brave, as there is no place near for your cowardice150 to take refuge in, and that if you now escape from the enemy, you may all see again what your hearts desire, while those of you who are Athenians will raise up again the great power of the state, fallen though it be. Men make the city and not walls or ships without men in them.”
As he made this address, Nicias went along the ranks, and brought back to their place any of the troops that he saw straggling out of the line; while Demosthenes did as much for his part of the army, addressing them in words very similar. The army marched in a hollow square, the division under Nicias leading, and that of Demosthenes following, the heavy infantry being outside and the baggage-carriers and the bulk of the army in the middle. When they arrived at the ford132 of the river Anapus there they found drawn151 up a body of the Syracusans and allies, and routing these, made good their passage and pushed on, harassed152 by the charges of the Syracusan horse and by the missiles of their light troops. On that day they advanced about four miles and a half, halting for the night upon a certain hill. On the next they started early and got on about two miles further, and descended into a place in the plain and there encamped, in order to procure153 some eatables from the houses, as the place was inhabited, and to carry on with them water from thence, as for many furlongs in front, in the direction in which they were going, it was not plentiful154. The Syracusans meanwhile went on and fortified155 the pass in front, where there was a steep hill with a rocky ravine on each side of it, called the Acraean cliff. The next day the Athenians advancing found themselves impeded156 by the missiles and charges of the horse and darters, both very numerous, of the Syracusans and allies; and after fighting for a long while, at length retired157 to the same camp, where they had no longer provisions as before, it being impossible to leave their position by reason of the cavalry158.
Early next morning they started afresh and forced their way to the hill, which had been fortified, where they found before them the enemy’s infantry drawn up many shields deep to defend the fortification, the pass being narrow. The Athenians assaulted the work, but were greeted by a storm of missiles from the hill, which told with the greater effect through its being a steep one, and unable to force the passage, retreated again and rested. Meanwhile occurred some claps of thunder and rain, as often happens towards autumn, which still further disheartened the Athenians, who thought all these things to be omens of their approaching ruin. While they were resting, Gylippus and the Syracusans sent a part of their army to throw up works in their rear on the way by which they had advanced; however, the Athenians immediately sent some of their men and prevented them; after which they retreated more towards the plain and halted for the night. When they advanced the next day the Syracusans surrounded and attacked them on every side, and disabled many of them, falling back if the Athenians advanced and coming on if they retired, and in particular assaulting their rear, in the hope of routing them in detail, and thus striking a panic into the whole army. For a long while the Athenians persevered159 in this fashion, but after advancing for four or five furlongs halted to rest in the plain, the Syracusans also withdrawing to their own camp.
During the night Nicias and Demosthenes, seeing the wretched condition of their troops, now in want of every kind of necessary, and numbers of them disabled in the numerous attacks of the enemy, determined to light as many fires as possible, and to lead off the army, no longer by the same route as they had intended, but towards the sea in the opposite direction to that guarded by the Syracusans. The whole of this route was leading the army not to Catana but to the other side of Sicily, towards Camarina, Gela, and the other Hellenic and barbarian towns in that quarter. They accordingly lit a number of fires and set out by night. Now all armies, and the greatest most of all, are liable to fears and alarms, especially when they are marching by night through an enemy’s country and with the enemy near; and the Athenians falling into one of these panics, the leading division, that of Nicias, kept together and got on a good way in front, while that of Demosthenes, comprising rather more than half the army, got separated and marched on in some disorder. By morning, however, they reached the sea, and getting into the Helorine road, pushed on in order to reach the river Cacyparis, and to follow the stream up through the interior, where they hoped to be met by the Sicels whom they had sent for. Arrived at the river, they found there also a Syracusan party engaged in barring the passage of the ford with a wall and a palisade, and forcing this guard, crossed the river and went on to another called the Erineus, according to the advice of their guides.
Meanwhile, when day came and the Syracusans and allies found that the Athenians were gone, most of them accused Gylippus of having let them escape on purpose, and hastily pursuing by the road which they had no difficulty in finding that they had taken, overtook them about dinner-time. They first came up with the troops under Demosthenes, who were behind and marching somewhat slowly and in disorder, owing to the night panic above referred to, and at once attacked and engaged them, the Syracusan horse surrounding them with more ease now that they were separated from the rest and hemming160 them in on one spot. The division of Nicias was five or six miles on in front, as he led them more rapidly, thinking that under the circumstances their safety lay not in staying and fighting, unless obliged, but in retreating as fast as possible, and only fighting when forced to do so. On the other hand, Demosthenes was, generally speaking, harassed more incessantly, as his post in the rear left him the first exposed to the attacks of the enemy; and now, finding that the Syracusans were in pursuit, he omitted to push on, in order to form his men for battle, and so lingered until he was surrounded by his pursuers and himself and the Athenians with him placed in the most distressing161 position, being huddled163 into an enclosure with a wall all round it, a road on this side and on that, and olive-trees in great number, where missiles were showered in upon them from every quarter. This mode of attack the Syracusans had with good reason adopted in preference to fighting at close quarters, as to risk a struggle with desperate men was now more for the advantage of the Athenians than for their own; besides, their success had now become so certain that they began to spare themselves a little in order not to be cut off in the moment of victory, thinking too that, as it was, they would be able in this way to subdue164 and capture the enemy.
In fact, after plying165 the Athenians and allies all day long from every side with missiles, they at length saw that they were worn out with their wounds and other sufferings; and Gylippus and the Syracusans and their allies made a proclamation, offering their liberty to any of the islanders who chose to come over to them; and some few cities went over. Afterwards a capitulation was agreed upon for all the rest with Demosthenes, to lay down their arms on condition that no one was to be put to death either by violence or imprisonment166 or want of the necessaries of life. Upon this they surrendered to the number of six thousand in all, laying down all the money in their possession, which filled the hollows of four shields, and were immediately conveyed by the Syracusans to the town.
Meanwhile Nicias with his division arrived that day at the river Erineus, crossed over, and posted his army upon some high ground upon the other side. The next day the Syracusans overtook him and told him that the troops under Demosthenes had surrendered, and invited him to follow their example. Incredulous of the fact, Nicias asked for a truce167 to send a horseman to see, and upon the return of the messenger with the tidings that they had surrendered, sent a herald168 to Gylippus and the Syracusans, saying that he was ready to agree with them on behalf of the Athenians to repay whatever money the Syracusans had spent upon the war if they would let his army go; and offered until the money was paid to give Athenians as hostages, one for every talent. The Syracusans and Gylippus rejected this proposition, and attacked this division as they had the other, standing169 all round and plying them with missiles until the evening. Food and necessaries were as miserably170 wanting to the troops of Nicias as they had been to their comrades; nevertheless they watched for the quiet of the night to resume their march. But as they were taking up their arms the Syracusans perceived it and raised their paean143, upon which the Athenians, finding that they were discovered, laid them down again, except about three hundred men who forced their way through the guards and went on during the night as they were able.
As soon as it was day Nicias put his army in motion, pressed, as before, by the Syracusans and their allies, pelted171 from every side by their missiles, and struck down by their javelins172. The Athenians pushed on for the Assinarus, impelled173 by the attacks made upon them from every side by a numerous cavalry and the swarm174 of other arms, fancying that they should breathe more freely if once across the river, and driven on also by their exhaustion175 and craving176 for water. Once there they rushed in, and all order was at an end, each man wanting to cross first, and the attacks of the enemy making it difficult to cross at all; forced to huddle162 together, they fell against and trod down one another, some dying immediately upon the javelins, others getting entangled together and stumbling over the articles of baggage, without being able to rise again. Meanwhile the opposite bank, which was steep, was lined by the Syracusans, who showered missiles down upon the Athenians, most of them drinking greedily and heaped together in disorder in the hollow bed of the river. The Peloponnesians also came down and butchered them, especially those in the water, which was thus immediately spoiled, but which they went on drinking just the same, mud and all, bloody177 as it was, most even fighting to have it.
At last, when many dead now lay piled one upon another in the stream, and part of the army had been destroyed at the river, and the few that escaped from thence cut off by the cavalry, Nicias surrendered himself to Gylippus, whom he trusted more than he did the Syracusans, and told him and the Lacedaemonians to do what they liked with him, but to stop the slaughter178 of the soldiers. Gylippus, after this, immediately gave orders to make prisoners; upon which the rest were brought together alive, except a large number secreted179 by the soldiery, and a party was sent in pursuit of the three hundred who had got through the guard during the night, and who were now taken with the rest. The number of the enemy collected as public property was not considerable; but that secreted was very large, and all Sicily was filled with them, no convention having been made in their case as for those taken with Demosthenes. Besides this, a large portion were killed outright180, the carnage being very great, and not exceeded by any in this Sicilian war. In the numerous other encounters upon the march, not a few also had fallen. Nevertheless many escaped, some at the moment, others served as slaves, and then ran away subsequently. These found refuge at Catana.
The Syracusans and their allies now mustered181 and took up the spoils and as many prisoners as they could, and went back to the city. The rest of their Athenian and allied captives were deposited in the quarries182, this seeming the safest way of keeping them; but Nicias and Demosthenes were butchered, against the will of Gylippus, who thought that it would be the crown of his triumph if he could take the enemy’s generals to Lacedaemon. One of them, as it happened, Demosthenes, was one of her greatest enemies, on account of the affair of the island and of Pylos; while the other, Nicias, was for the same reasons one of her greatest friends, owing to his exertions183 to procure the release of the prisoners by persuading the Athenians to make peace. For these reasons the Lacedaemonians felt kindly184 towards him; and it was in this that Nicias himself mainly confided185 when he surrendered to Gylippus. But some of the Syracusans who had been in correspondence with him were afraid, it was said, of his being put to the torture and troubling their success by his revelations; others, especially the Corinthians, of his escaping, as he was wealthy, by means of bribes186, and living to do them further mischief; and these persuaded the allies and put him to death. This or the like was the cause of the death of a man who, of all the Hellenes in my time, least deserved such a fate, seeing that the whole course of his life had been regulated with strict attention to virtue90.
The prisoners in the quarries were at first hardly treated by the Syracusans. Crowded in a narrow hole, without any roof to cover them, the heat of the sun and the stifling187 closeness of the air tormented188 them during the day, and then the nights, which came on autumnal and chilly189, made them ill by the violence of the change; besides, as they had to do everything in the same place for want of room, and the bodies of those who died of their wounds or from the variation in the temperature, or from similar causes, were left heaped together one upon another, intolerable stenches arose; while hunger and thirst never ceased to afflict190 them, each man during eight months having only half a pint191 of water and a pint of corn given him daily. In short, no single suffering to be apprehended192 by men thrust into such a place was spared them. For some seventy days they thus lived all together, after which all, except the Athenians and any Siceliots or Italiots who had joined in the expedition, were sold. The total number of prisoners taken it would be difficult to state exactly, but it could not have been less than seven thousand.
This was the greatest Hellenic achievement of any in this war, or, in my opinion, in Hellenic history; at once most glorious to the victors, and most calamitous193 to the conquered. They were beaten at all points and altogether; all that they suffered was great; they were destroyed, as the saying is, with a total destruction, their fleet, their army, everything was destroyed, and few out of many returned home. Such were the events in Sicily.
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infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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galleys
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| n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房 | |
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besieging
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的现在分词 ) | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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divination
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| n.占卜，预测 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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stockades
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| n.（防御用的）栅栏，围桩( stockade的名词复数 ) | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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trophy
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| n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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founders
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| n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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insular
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| adj.岛屿的，心胸狭窄的 | |
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maritime
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| adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的 | |
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supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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spartan
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| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
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kinsmen
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| n.家属，亲属( kinsman的名词复数 ) | |
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auxiliaries
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| n.助动词 ( auxiliary的名词复数 )；辅助工，辅助人员 | |
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51
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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52
belie
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| v.掩饰，证明为假 | |
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53
evacuate
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| v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便 | |
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54
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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55
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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56
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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57
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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58
archers
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| n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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59
unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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60
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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61
scarcity
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| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
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62
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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63
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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64
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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65
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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66
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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67
implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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68
daunted
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| 使（某人）气馁，威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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70
repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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71
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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72
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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73
prows
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| n.船首( prow的名词复数 ) | |
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74
excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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75
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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76
hampering
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的现在分词 ) | |
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77
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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78
credibly
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| ad.可信地；可靠地 | |
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79
adversaries
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| n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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80
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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81
sate
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| v.使充分满足 | |
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82
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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83
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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84
chastising
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| v.严惩（某人）（尤指责打）( chastise的现在分词 ) | |
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85
appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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86
adjured
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| v.（以起誓或诅咒等形式）命令要求( adjure的过去式和过去分词 )；祈求；恳求 | |
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87
renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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88
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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89
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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90
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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91
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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92
alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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93
invoking
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| v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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94
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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95
admonished
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| v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责 | |
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96
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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97
undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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98
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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99
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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100
emulation
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| n.竞争；仿效 | |
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101
beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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102
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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103
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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104
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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105
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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106
mettle
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| n.勇气，精神 | |
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107
exalt
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| v.赞扬，歌颂，晋升，提升 | |
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108
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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109
agonizing
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| adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式) | |
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110
invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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111
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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112
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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113
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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114
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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115
rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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116
protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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117
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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118
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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119
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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120
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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121
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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122
deplored
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| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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123
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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124
wrecks
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| n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉 | |
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125
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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126
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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127
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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128
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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129
stratagem
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| n.诡计，计谋 | |
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130
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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131
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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132
Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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133
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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134
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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135
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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136
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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137
entreating
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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138
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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139
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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140
victuals
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| n.食物；食品 | |
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141
alleviated
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| 减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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142
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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143
paean
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| n.赞美歌，欢乐歌 | |
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144
paeans
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| n.赞歌，凯歌( paean的名词复数 ) | |
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145
omens
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| n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 ) | |
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146
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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147
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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148
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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149
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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150
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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151
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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152
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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153
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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154
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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155
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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156
impeded
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| 阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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157
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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158
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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159
persevered
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| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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160
hemming
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| 卷边 | |
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161
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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162
huddle
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| vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人 | |
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163
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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164
subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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165
plying
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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166
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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167
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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168
herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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169
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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170
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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171
pelted
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| （连续地）投掷( pelt的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续抨击； 攻击； 剥去…的皮 | |
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172
javelins
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| n.标枪( javelin的名词复数 ) | |
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173
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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174
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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175
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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176
craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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177
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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178
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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179
secreted
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| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
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180
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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181
mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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182
quarries
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| n.（采）石场( quarry的名词复数 )；猎物（指鸟，兽等）；方形石；（格窗等的）方形玻璃v.从采石场采得( quarry的第三人称单数 )；从（书本等中）努力发掘（资料等）；在采石场采石 | |
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183
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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184
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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185
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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186
bribes
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| n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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187
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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188
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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189
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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190
afflict
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| vt.使身体或精神受痛苦，折磨 | |
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191
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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192
apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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193
calamitous
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| adj.灾难的，悲惨的；多灾多难；惨重 | |
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