world, Camarinaeans, being our
immediate neighbours and the next in danger, would have foreseen this,
and instead of supporting us in the lukewarm way that you are now doing,
would rather come to us of your own accord, and be now offering at
Syracuse the aid which you would have asked for at Camarina, if to
Camarina the Athenians had first come, to encourage us to resist the
invader. Neither you, however, nor the rest have as yet bestirred
yourselves in this direction.

"Fear perhaps will make you study to do right both by us and by the
invaders, and plead that you have an alliance with the Athenians.
But you made that alliance, not against your friends, but against the
enemies that might attack you, and to help the Athenians when they were
wronged by others, not when as now they are wronging their neighbours.
Even the Rhegians, Chalcidians though they be, refuse to help to restore
the Chalcidian Leontines; and it would be strange if, while they suspect
the gist of this fine pretence and are wise without reason, you, with
every reason on your side, should yet choose to assist your natural
enemies, and should join with their direst foes in undoing those whom
nature has made your own kinsfolk. This is not to do right; but you
should help us without fear of their armament, which has no terrors if
we hold together, but only if we let them succeed in their endeavours
to separate us; since even after attacking us by ourselves and being
victorious in battle, they had to go off without effecting their
purpose.

"United, therefore, we have no cause to despair, but rather new
encouragement to league together; especially as succour will come to us
from the Peloponnesians, in military matters the undoubted superiors of
the Athenians. And you need not think that your prudent policy of taking
sides with neither, because allies of both, is either safe for you or
fair to us. Practically it is not as fair as it pretends to be. If the
vanquished be defeated, and the victor conquer, through your refusing to
join, what is the effect of your abstention but to leave the former to
perish unaided, and to allow the latter to offend unhindered? And yet it
were more honourable to join those who are not only the injured party,
but your own kindred, and by so doing to defend the common interests of
Sicily and save your friends the Athenians from doing wrong.

"In conclusion, we Syracusans say that it is useless for us to
demonstrate either to y