Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 2.djvu/277

 8-12] LETTER OF NICIAS 269 sented his letter, which the registrar of the city, coming forward, read to the Athenian people. It ran as follows : — 'Athenians, in many previous despatches I have re- 11 ported to you the course of events up ....,. Tlic arrival of Gy- to this tune, but now there is greater /,^^„, ,,„^ ^„ti,ely al- need than ever that you should inform tered our position. The yourselves of our situation, and come '"'^'sers are uoiv be- ... . -, , sieged. to some decision. Alter we had en- gaged the Syracusans, against whom you sent us, in several battles, and conquered in most of them, and had raised the lines within which we are now stationed, Gylippus a Lacedaemonian arrived, bringing an army from Peloponnesus and from certain of the cities of Sicily. In the first engagement he was defeated by us, but on the following day we were overcome by numerous horsemen and javelin-men, and retired within our lines. We have therefore desisted from our siege-works and remain idle, since we are overpowered by the superior numbers of the enemy, and indeed cannot bring our whole army into the field, for the defence of our wall absorbs a large part of our heavy-armed. The enemy meanwhile have built a single wall which crosses ours, and we cannot now invest them, unless a large army comes up and takes this cross- wall. So that we, who are supposed to be the besiegers, are really the besieged ^, at least by land ; and the more so because we cannot go far even into the country, for we are prevented by their horsemen. ' Moreover they have sent ambassadors to Peloponnesus 12 asking for reinforcements, and Gylippus j-,^^ Syracusaus are has gone to the cities in Sicily intending seeking reinforcements to solicit those who are at present '" P^iofionncsus and .... L • r Sici/y, and mean to neutral to join him, and to obtain Irom attack us by sea. Their his allies fresh naval and land forces, ships and creivs are in For they purpose, as I hear, to attack good order; whereas our walls by land, and at the same time our ships are decaying. Cp. iv. 29 init.