Chapter LVII (3)

In the inaccurate Oratio de Pace ascribed to Andokidês (sect.
30), it is alleged that the Syracusans sent an embassy to Athens,
a little before this expedition, entreating to be admitted as
allies of the Athenians, and affirming that Syracuse would be
a more valuable ally to Athens than Egesta or Katana. This
statement is wholly untrue.

When we recollect how loudly the charges have been preferred against Kleon, of presumption, of rash policy, and of selfish motive, in reference to Sphakteria, to the prosecution of the war generally, and to Amphipolis; and when we compare these proceedings with the conduct of Alkibiadês as here described, we shall see how much more forcibly such charges attach to the latter than the former. It will be seen before this volume is finished, that the vices of Alkibiadês, and the defects of Nikias, were the cause of far greater ruin to Athens than either Kleon or Hyperbolus, even if we regard the two latter with the eyes of their worst enemies.