Syracuse (A then i an Expedition to Sicily)

Siege was laid to this city by the A then i ans, under Alcibiades, Lamachus and Nicias, who with a fleet of 134 galleys, took po e ion of the harbour and effected a landing in the autumn of 415 B.C. Alcibiades was soon recalled, and Lamachus Lamachus killed in a skirmish, while Nicias proved weak and incompetent. The siege works were not pre ed and in the following year, Gylippus of Sparta succeeded in getting through the A then i an lines, and bringing a considerable force to the aid of the Syracusans, capturing at the same time the advanced positions of the besiegers. Early in 413, Demosthenes arrived from Athens, with a fleet of 73 triremes, and made a desperate attempt to recover the lost ground. He was, however, totally defeated, and in a series of sea-fights which followed, the A then i an fleet was completely destroyed. This disaster forced the A then i ans to raise the siege, and was, in addition, a death-blow to the naval supremacy of Athens.