Page:History of Greece Vol VII.djvu/325

307 DEFEAT OF THE ATHENIANS. 307 armies thus grouped into knots which only distinguished each other by mutual demand of the watchword. This test also soon failed, since each party got acquainted with the watchword of the other, especially that of the Athenians, among whom the confusion was the greatest, became well known to the Syracusans, who kept together in larger parties. Above all, the effect of the pasan or war-shout on both sides was remarkable. The Dorians in the Athenian army from Argos, Korkyra, and other places raised a prean not distinguishable from that of the Syracusans ; accordingly, their shout struck terror into the Athenians them- selves, who fancied that they had enemies in their own rear and centre. Such disorder and panic presently ended in a general flight. The Athenians hurried back by the same roads which they had ascended ; but these roads were found too narrow for terrified fugitives, and many of them threw away their arms in order to scramble or jump down the cliffs, in which most of them perished. Even of those who safely effected their descent into the plain below, many especially the new-comers belonging to the armament of Demosthenes lost their way through igno- rance, and were cut off the next day by the Syracusan horse. With terrible loss of numbers, and broken spirit, the Athenians at length found shelter within their own lines. Their loss of arms was even greater than that of men, from the throwing away of shields by those soldiers who leaped the cliff. 1 The overjoyed Syracusans erected two trophies, one upon the road to Epipolse, the other upon the exact and critical spot where the Bo3otians had first withstood and first repelled the enemy. By this unexpected and overwhelming victory, their feelings were restored to the same pitch of confidence which had animated them before the arrival of Demosthenes. Again now masters of the field, they again indulged the hope of storming the Athenian lines and destroying the armament ; to which end, however, it was thought necessary to obtain additional reinforcements, and Gylip- pus went in person with this commission to the various cities of Sicily, while Sikanus with fifteen triremes was despatched to Agri- frentum. then understood to be wavering, and in a political crisis. 9 1 Thucyd. vii. 44, 45. f Thucyd. vii, 4G. Plutarch (Xikias, c. 21) states that the number of