Page:History of Greece Vol VII.djvu/179

161 HASH POLICY OF ALKIBIADKS. 1G1 Sicily, the Sicilian war being a new enterprise hardly less in magnitude and hazard than the Peloponnesian, 1 and to notice the credit which he claims to himself for his operations in Pelopon- nesus and the battle of Mantineia, 2 although it had ended in com- plete failure ; restoring the ascendency of Sparta to the maxi- mum at which it had stood before the events of Sphakteria There is in fact no speech in Thucydides so replete with rash misguiding, and fallacious counsels, as this harangue of Alki- biades. As a man of action, Alkibiades was always brave, vigorous; and full of resource ; as a politician and adviser, he was espe- cially mischievous to his country, because he addressed himself exactly to their weak point, and exaggerated their sanguine and enterprising temper into a temerity which overlooked all perma- nent calculation. The Athenians had now contracted the belief that they, as lords of the sea, were entitled to dominion and receipt of tribute from all islands ; a belief which they had not only acted upon, but openly professed, in their attack upon Melos during the preceding autumn. As Sicily was an island, it seemed to fall naturally under this category of subjects ; nor ought we to wonder, amidst the inaccurate geographical data current in that day, that they were ignorant how much larger Sicily was 3 than the largest island in the JEgean. Yet they seem to have been aware that it was a prodigious conquest to struggle for ; as we may judge from the fact, that the object was one kept back rather than openly avowed, and that they acceded to all the immense preparations demanded by Nikias. 4 Moreover, we shall see presently, that even the armament which was despatched had conceived nothing beyond vague and hesitating ideas of some- thing great to be achieved in Sicily. But if the Athenian publk 1 Thucvd. vi, 1. oy TTO/.AIJ nvi vTrodeearepov TTO^.F/IOV, etc. : compare vii. 2S 8 Compare Plutarch, Precept. Reipubl. Gcrend. p. 804. 3 Thucvd. v, 99 ; vi* 1-6. 4 Thucyd. vi, 6. iQisfievoi pev ry u^.ri'&eaTury TrpoQuaet, rrjf xaarif (2ie- Amf) up^eiv, fiorr&eiv Je uiia evxpeTtuf fiovhoftevoi Tolf eav-uv Zvyyiveai Kai Even in the speech of Alkibiades. the conquest of Sicily is only once alluded to, and that indirectly; rather as a favorable possibility, than as a result to be counted upon. VOL. VII. HOC,