Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 2.djvu/112

I04 ATHENIAN EMBASSY TO SICILY [v 4 About the same time three envoys, of whom one was Fcvolution in Leo,,- Phacax the son of Erasistratus, were /im;. The oligarchy by sent by the Athenians with two ships the help of the SyracHs- ^^ Italy and Sicily. After the general aiis drtve ot4t the i r i a i people. They then settle peace and the Withdrawal of the Athen- in Syracuse, but some ians from Sicily", the Leontines had of them soon groiv ({is- enrolled many new citizens, and the contented and return ,. ., . home, li'iun they are people Contemplated a redistribution joined by the people, of the land. The oligarchy, perceiving They fight against ^j^^jj. intention, called in the Syracus- Syracuse. The A then- , , , , , ians try to combine ^"5 and drove out the people, who Sicily against Syra- separated and wandered up and down "'^- the island. The oligarchy then made an agreement with the Syracusans ; and, leaving their own city deserted, settled in Syracuse, and received the privileges of citizenship. Not long afterwards some of them grew discontented, and, quitting Syracuse, seized a place called Phocaeae, which was a part of the town of Leontini, and Bricinniae, a fortress in the Leontine territory. Here they were joined by most of the common people who had been previously driven out, and from their strongholds they carried on a continual warfare against Syracuse. It was the report of these events which induced the Athenians to send Phaeax to Sicily. He was to warn the Sicilians that the Syracusans were aiming at supremacy, and to unite the allies of Athens, and if possible the other cities, in a war against Syracuse. The Athenians hoped that they might thus save the Leontine people. Phaeax suc- ceeded in his mission to the Camarinaeans and Agri- gentines, but in Gela he failed, and, convinced that he could not persuade the other states, went no further. Returning by land through the country of the Sicels, and by the way going to l^ricinniae and encouraging the exiles, he arrived at Catana, where he embarked for Athens. Cp. iv. 65 init. I