expedition, and of not annulling what had
been voted, although some spoke on the other side. By far the warmest
advocate of the expedition was, however, Alcibiades, son of Clinias, who
wished to thwart Nicias both as his political opponent and also because
of the attack he had made upon him in his speech, and who was, besides,
exceedingly ambitious of a command by which he hoped to reduce Sicily
and Carthage, and personally to gain in wealth and reputation by means
of his successes. For the position he held among the citizens led him
to indulge his tastes beyond what his real means would bear, both in
keeping horses and in the rest of his expenditure; and this later on had
not a little to do with the ruin of the Athenian state. Alarmed at the
greatness of his licence in his own life and habits, and of the ambition
which he showed in all things soever that he undertook, the mass of
the people set him down as a pretender to the tyranny, and became his
enemies; and although publicly his conduct of the war was as good as
could be desired, individually, his habits gave offence to every one,
and caused them to commit affairs to other hands, and thus before long
to ruin the city. Meanwhile he now came forward and gave the following
advice to the Athenians:

"Athenians, I have a better right to command than others--I must begin
with this as Nicias has attacked me--and at the same time I believe
myself to be worthy of it. The things for which I am abused, bring fame
to my ancestors and to myself, and to the country profit besides. The
Hellenes, after expecting to see our city ruined by the war, concluded
it to be even greater than it really is, by reason of the magnificence
with which I represented it at the Olympic games, when I sent into
the lists seven chariots, a number never before entered by any private
person, and won the first prize, and was second and fourth, and took
care to have everything else in a style worthy of my victory. Custom
regards such displays as honourable, and they cannot be made without
leaving behind them an impression of power. Again, any splendour that
I may have exhibited at home in providing choruses or otherwise, is
naturally envied by my fellow citizens, but in the eyes of foreigners
has an air of strength as in the other instance. And this is no useless
folly, when a man at his own private cost benefits not himself only, but
his city: nor is it unfair that he who prides himself on his position