f misfortunes, should come to his
countrymen in the style of revelers breaking up from a drinking-party.
On the contrary, he entered the harbor full of fear, nor would he
venture to go on shore, till, standing on the deck, he saw Euryptolemus,
his cousin, and others of his friends and acquaintance, who were ready
to receive him, and invited him to land. As soon as he was landed, the
multitude who came out to meet him scarcely appeared to see any of the
other captains, but came in throngs about Alcibiades, and saluted him
with loud acclamations, and followed him; those who could press near him
crowned him with garlands, and they who could not come up so close yet
stayed to behold him afar off, and the old men pointed him out to the
young ones. Nevertheless, this public joy was mixed with some tears, and
the present happiness was diminished by the remembrance of the miseries
they had endured. They made reflections, that they could not have so
unfortunately miscarried in Sicily, if they had left the management of
their affairs and the command of their forces, to Alcibiades, since,
upon his undertaking the administration, when they were absolutely
driven from the sea, and could scarcely defend the suburbs of their city
by land, and at the same time, were miserably distracted with intestine
factions, he had raised them up from this low and deplorable condition,
and had not only restored them to their ancient dominion of the sea, but
had also made them everywhere victorious over their enemies on land.

The people being summoned to an assembly, Alcibiades came in among them,
and first bewailed and lamented his own sufferings, and, in general
terms complaining of the usage he had received, imputed all to his hard
fortune, and some ill genius that attended him: then he spoke at large
of their prospects, and exhorted them to courage and good hope. The
people crowned him with crowns of gold, and created him general, both
at land and sea, with absolute power. They also made a decree that his
estate should be restored to him, and that the Eumolpiadae and the
holy heralds should absolve him from the curses which they had solemnly
pronounced against him by the sentence of the people. All the rest
obeyed, but Theodorus, the high-priest, excused himself, "For," said he,
"if he is innocent, I never cursed him."

Certainly, if ever man was ruined by his own glory, it was Alcibiades.
For his continual success had produced such an idea of h