Indeed, the omen, if rightly explained, as
Philochorus points out, is not a bad one but a very good one for men
who are meditating a retreat; for what men are forced to do by fear,
requires darkness to conceal it, and light is inimical to them.
Moreover men were only wont to wait three days after an eclipse of the
moon, or of the sun, as we learn from Autokleides in his book on
divination; but Nikias persuaded them to wait for another complete
circuit of the moon, because its face would not shine upon them
propitiously before that time after its defilement with the gross
earthy particles which had intercepted its rays.[3] XXIV. Nikias now
put all business aside, and kept offering sacrifices and taking omens,
until the enemy attacked him. Their infantry assailed the camp and
siege works, while their fleet surrounded the harbour, not in ships of
war; but the very boys and children embarked in what boats they could
find and jeered at the Athenians, challenging them to come out and
fight. One of these boys, named Herakleides, the son of noble parents,
ventured too far, and was captured by an Athenian ship. His uncle
Pollichus, fearing for his safety, at once advanced with ten triremes
which were under his command; and this movement brought forward the
rest of the Syracusan fleet to support him. An obstinate battle now
took place, in which the Syracusans were victorious, and many of the
Athenians perished, amongst whom was their admiral Eurymedon.
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