492 HISTORY 01.' GREECE. a result of moment, yet seemingly very inadequate to the im- mense waiiike preparations whereby it had been attained. Whether he exercised a wise discretion in declining to fight the Carthaginians, we have not sufficient information to determine* But his army appear to have been dissatisfied with it, and it was among the causes of the outbreak against him shortly afterwards at Syracuse. 1 Thus left master of the country, Imilkon, instead of trying to reconquer Selinus and Himera, which had probably been impov- erished by recent misfortunes, resolved to turn his arms against MessSne in the north-east of the island ; a city as yet fresh and untouched, so little prepared for attack that its walls were not in good repair, and moreover at the present moment yet farther enfeebled by the absence of its horsemen in the army of Diony- sius. 2 Accordingly, he marched along the northern coast of Si- cily, with his fleet coasting in the same direction to cooperate with him. He made terms with Kephalcedium and Therma, captured the island .of Lipara, and at length reached Cape Pelorus, a few miles from Messene. His rapid march and unexpected arrival struck the Messenians with dismay. Many of them, conceiving defence to be impossible against so numerous a host, sent away their families and their valuable property to Rhegium or else- where. On the whole, however, a spirit of greater confidence prevailed, arising in part from an ancient prophecy preserved among the traditions of the town, purporting that the Carthagi- nians should one day carry water in Messene. The interpreters affirmed that " to carry water " meant, of course, " to be a slave," and the Messenians, persuading themselves that this portended defeat to Imilkon, sent out their chosen military force to meet him at Pelorus, and oppose his disembarkation. The Carthaginian commander, seeing these troops on their march, ordered his fleet to sail forward into the harbor of the city, and attack it from sea- ward during the absence of the defenders. A north wind so fa~ 1 Diodor. xiv ; 55
- Diodor. xiv. 56 ; 57. rdiv idiuv Inrsuv iv 'ZvpaKovaat^ OVTUV, etc.. .
did ruv KEKTUKOTUV rsi%uv e/ff/Jtaora/zfvof, etc. rti reixrj KaraireTrruKora, etc. Compare another example of inattention to the state of their walls, o the part of the Messenians (xix, 65).
