oponnesians by sailing off to Sicily, and letting them
see how little we care for the peace that we are now enjoying; and at
the same time we shall either become masters, as we very easily may, of
the whole of Hellas through the accession of the Sicilian Hellenes, or
in any case ruin the Syracusans, to the no small advantage of ourselves
and our allies. The faculty of staying if successful, or of returning,
will be secured to us by our navy, as we shall be superior at sea to all
the Siceliots put together. And do not let the do-nothing policy which
Nicias advocates, or his setting of the young against the old, turn you
from your purpose, but in the good old fashion by which our fathers,
old and young together, by their united counsels brought our affairs
to their present height, do you endeavour still to advance them;
understanding that neither youth nor old age can do anything the one
without the other, but that levity, sobriety, and deliberate judgment
are strongest when united, and that, by sinking into inaction, the city,
like everything else, will wear itself out, and its skill in everything
decay; while each fresh struggle will give it fresh experience, and
make it more used to defend itself not in word but in deed. In short,
my conviction is that a city not inactive by nature could not choose a
quicker way to ruin itself than by suddenly adopting such a policy, and
that the safest rule of life is to take one's character and institutions
for better and for worse, and to live up to them as closely as one can."

Such were the words of Alcibiades. After hearing him and the Egestaeans
and some Leontine exiles, who came forward reminding them of their oaths
and imploring their assistance, the Athenians became more eager for the
expedition than before. Nicias, perceiving that it would be now useless
to try to deter them by the old line of argument, but thinking that
he might perhaps alter their resolution by the extravagance of his
estimates, came forward a second time and spoke as follows:

"I see, Athenians, that you are thoroughly bent upon the expedition, and
therefore hope that all will turn out as we wish, and proceed to give
you my opinion at the present juncture. From all that I hear we are
going against cities that are great and not subject to one another, or
in need of change, so as to be glad to pass from enforced servitude
to an easier condition, or in the least likely to accept our rule in
exchange for free