Page:History of Greece Vol VII.djvu/251

233 KAMAPJXA REMAINS XfcUTKAl,. v^t thoao of hope and encroachment, not of self-defence. But it shows how little likely such hopes were to be realized, and there- fore how ill-advised the whole plan of interference in Sicily was. . that the Athenian envoy could say to the Kamarinaeans, in the same strain as Nikias had spoken at Athens when combating the wisdom of the expedition : " Such is the distance of Sicily from Athens, and such the difficulty of guarding cities of great force and ample territory combined, that if we wished to hold you Sicilians as subjects, we should be unable to do it: we can only retain you as free and powerful allies." ' What Nikias said at Athens to dissuade his countrymen from the enterprise, under sincere conviction, Euphemus repeated at Kamarina for the pur- pose of conciliating that city ; probably, without believing it himself, yet the anticipation was not on that account the less true and reasonable. The Kamarinseans felt the force of both speeches, from Her- mokrates and Euphemus. Their inclinations carried them towards the Athenians, yet not without a certain misgiving in case Athens should prove completely successful. Towards the Syracusans, on the contrary, they entertained nothing but unqual- ified apprehension, and jealousy of very ancient date ; and even now their great fear was, of probable suffering, if the Syracusans succeeded against Athens without their cooperation. In this dilemma, they thought it safest to give an evasive answer, of friendly sentiment towards both parties, but refusal of aid to either; hoping thus to avoid an inexpiable breach, whichever way the ultimate success might turn. 2 For a city comparatively weak and situated like Kamarina, such was perhaps the least hazardous policy. In December, 415 B.C., no human being could venture to predict how the struggle between Nikias and the Syracusans in the coming year would turn out ; nor were the Kamarinoeans prompted by any hearty feeling to take tbe extreme chances with either party. Matters had borne 1 Thucyd. vi, 86. fytetf pcv -ys OVTE ifiiielvai dvvarol pri /*(& v/tuv d rt val yevopt-vot KCLKOI KaTepyaaalfj.s&a, udvvarot. /caraCT^eii', dia /ifjKOf re JrAoii Kdl lixopia (f>v?.aK>/f TroXeuv peyuXuv /cat KapaaKEvfi jjtreipu-ii'iuv, etc. This is exactly the language of Nikias in his speech to the Athenians vi, 1 1. * Thucyd. vi, 88