Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 2.djvu/297

 35, 36] SECOND ENGAGEMENT IN THE HARBOUR 289 their arrival at the river Hyhas the people of Crotona sent to them, and said that they could not allow the army to march through their country. So they directed their march down to the sea and passed the night at the mouth of the river, where they were met by their ships. On the following day they re-embarked the army and coasted along, touching at the cities which they passed, with the exception of Locri ^, until they came to the promontory of Petra near Rhegium. The Syracusans, hearing of their approach, desired to 36 have another trial of the fleet, and to The Syracusans use the army which they had collected "'"^'^ preparations for . 1 ., ~, . . a)iother sca-fieht. They With the express purpose of brmging ^^^^^^ ^,^^ Corinthiau on an engagement before Demosthenes invention of Jlattenini; and Eurymedon arrived in Sicily, t^'e prows of their ships Pr-,. 1 ,1 . t • 1 .1 (irid strensrthenine the rohtmg by the experience which they ^..^•.,,„, ,^ ,^ <=> J f J projecting beams, a tle- had acquired in the last sea-fight, they vice well suited to the devised several improvements in the ^'""-oiv space, in which ... r ii • 1 T^i ll"' Athenians had no construction of their vessels. 1 hey, -' room to manauvre, cut down and strengthened the prows, and to the inferior skill and also made the beams which pro- of their oivn pilots. jected from them thicker ; these latter they supported underneath with stays of timber extending from the beams to and through the sides of the ship a length of nine feet within and nine without, after the fashion in which the Corinthians had refitted their prows before they fought with the squadron from Naupactus. For the Syracusans hoped thus to gain an advantage over the Athenian ships, which were not constructed to resist such improvements, but had their prows slender, because they were in the habit of rowing round an enemy and striking the side of his vessel instead of meeting him prow to prow. The plan would be the more effectual, because they were going to fight in the Great Harbour, where many ships would be crowded in a narrow space. They would charge full in " Cp. vi. 44 med.