The Athenians were placed at a
great disadvantage by having all their ships collected into one mass,
where they were attacked from all sides by the lighter and more
manageable vessels of the enemy. The Syracusans also used stones as
missiles, which strike with equal effect, however they are thrown,
while the Athenians replied with volleys of arrows and javelins, whose
aim was often spoiled by the motion of the vessels, and which are
useless unless they fly with the point foremost. All these details had
been foreseen and taught to the Syracusans by Aristion the Corinthian
steersman, who fell in the moment of victory. The Athenians were
finally routed and driven ashore with great slaughter, and their
retreat by sea completely cut off. Knowing how difficult it would be
to make their way to any place of safety by land, they allowed
themselves to be so paralyzed by despair, that they let the Syracusans
tow away their ships as prizes, without making an effort to save them,
and actually neglected to ask for a truce for the burial of their
dead. They seemed to think that the case of the sick and wounded whom
they saw amongst them, and whom they must perforce abandon when they
left their camp, was even more pitiable than that of the floating
corpses, and they actually envied the lot of the slain, knowing well
that after a few more days of suffering they themselves were all
destined to share their fate.
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