ony of Croton. A war followed,
in which the ease-loving Sybarites were defeated and their city was
destroyed.

Croton and Ta-ren'tum on the mainland, and Messina and Syr'a-cuse on the
Island of Sicily, were now the principal colonies. They were all very
rich and prosperous, so Alcibiades told the Athenians that it would be a
good plan to send out a fleet to conquer and annex them.

Nicias and his party opposed this plan; but when it was put to the vote,
it was found that the eloquence of Alcibiades had prevailed. A large
fleet was prepared, and Nicias, Lam'a-chus, and Alcibiades were chosen
generals of the expedition. The fleet was on the point of sailing out of
the Piraeus, when the Athenians found out that all the statues of their
god Her'mes, which were used as boundary marks and milestones, had been
shamefully broken.

The excited people assembled on the market place to discuss this event;
and all cried loudly against it, for the statues were considered sacred,
as they represented a god. Alcibiades' enemies--and he had a number,
although he was so popular--now stepped forward, and declared that he
had done it after the banquet which he had given to celebrate his
departure.

The young man denied having broken the statues, and asked that his
trial might take place at once, so that he might prove his innocence
before he started out; but, in spite of this urgent request, it was
postponed, and he was forced to depart with this cloud hanging over him.

LXVI. ALCIBIADES IN DISGRACE.

Alcibiades had no sooner sailed, however, than his enemies, grown
bolder, began to talk louder, and soon convinced the people of his
guilt. In their wrath, the Athenians now sent a messenger to Sicily to
overtake him, and bid him return to Athens to be tried.

His friends, seeing the excitement of the people, and fearing that they
would condemn him in anger, sent word to him not to return, but to wait
until the popular fury had had time to blow over.

In obedience to this advice, Alcibiades left the fleet, and, instead of
going to Athens, went straight to Sparta, where he took up his abode.
Here the changeable youth adopted the Spartan dress, lived with the
utmost simplicity and frugality, and even used the laconic mode of
speech.

As he was tall and strong, and a very good athlete, he soon won the
admiration of the Spartans, and made many friends. During his stay here,
he heard that he had been tried at Athens, although abs