Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/136

 88 General History of Europe 132. Alcibiades and the Expedition to Sicily. Soon the war spirit in Athens was again aroused by Alcibiades, a brilliant young man arid a relative of Pericles. He made the fatal suggestion that the Athenians send their fleet to attack Syracuse in Sicily, a colony of Corinth. Alcibiades was one of the gen- erals in command of the expedition. The people of Athens, however, decided to recall him, for he was accused, with other young men, of having impiously mutilated certain sacred images before he sailed. Thereupon Alcibiades de- serted to Sparta and gave the enemy the benefit of his skill and insight. The Spartans sent a force to aid Syracuse. The Athenian general managed things so badly that Athens had to impoverish herself by sending a second fleet. No Greek state had ever mustered such forces and sent them so far away to fight. In 413 B.C. the Syracusans man- aged to trap the Athenian fleet in the harbor. The troops which landed were captured and sold as slaves. This dis- aster, together with the ravages of the plague, brought Athens to the end of her resources. 133. Distress of Athens. On the ad- vice of Alcibiades Sparta now laid per- manent siege to Athens. The Greek cities of Asia Minor and of the islands turned against her, and, along with Sparta, even received the support of the Persian satrap in western Asia Minor. So the members of the former Delian League, established to resist Persia, were now allied with Persia to fight the founder of the league. A CORINTHIAN CAPITAL The shaft of this column has been cut out in the drawing between the base and the capital to save space. Like the capitals of Egypt, this one represents a plant, the leaves of the acanthus, alternating in two rows around the cap- ital and crowned by vo- lutes rising to the four corners of a flat block upon which the supported stone above rests. The effect of this capital is peculiarly rich and ornate