their allies, pelted from every side by their
missiles, and struck down by their javelins. The Athenians pushed on for
the Assinarus, impelled by the attacks made upon them from every side
by a numerous cavalry and the swarm of other arms, fancying that they
should breathe more freely if once across the river, and driven on also
by their exhaustion and craving for water. Once there they rushed in,
and all order was at an end, each man wanting to cross first, and the
attacks of the enemy making it difficult to cross at all; forced to
huddle together, they fell against and trod down one another, some dying
immediately upon the javelins, others getting entangled together and
stumbling over the articles of baggage, without being able to rise
again. Meanwhile the opposite bank, which was steep, was lined by the
Syracusans, who showered missiles down upon the Athenians, most of them
drinking greedily and heaped together in disorder in the hollow bed
of the river. The Peloponnesians also came down and butchered them,
especially those in the water, which was thus immediately spoiled, but
which they went on drinking just the same, mud and all, bloody as it
was, most even fighting to have it.

At last, when many dead now lay piled one upon another in the stream,
and part of the army had been destroyed at the river, and the few that
escaped from thence cut off by the cavalry, Nicias surrendered himself
to Gylippus, whom he trusted more than he did the Syracusans, and told
him and the Lacedaemonians to do what they liked with him, but to stop
the slaughter of the soldiers. Gylippus, after this, immediately gave
orders to make prisoners; upon which the rest were brought together
alive, except a large number secreted by the soldiery, and a party
was sent in pursuit of the three hundred who had got through the guard
during the night, and who were now taken with the rest. The number of
the enemy collected as public property was not considerable; but
that secreted was very large, and all Sicily was filled with them,
no convention having been made in their case as for those taken with
Demosthenes. Besides this, a large portion were killed outright, the
carnage being very great, and not exceeded by any in this Sicilian war.
In the numerous other encounters upon the march, not a few also had
fallen. Nevertheless many escaped, some at the moment, others served as
slaves, and then ran away subsequently. These found refuge at Catana.

The S