XVII. Even during the lifetime of Perikles, the Athenians had a
hankering after Sicily, and after his death they endeavoured to obtain
possession of it, by sending troops to the assistance of those cities
which were oppressed by the Syracusans, and thus paving the way for a
greater armament. It was, however, Alkibiades who fanned their desires
into a flame, and who persuaded them to abandon these half-hearted
attempts, to proceed with a great force to the island, and to endeavour
to subdue it. He raised great expectations among the people, but his own
aspirations were far more entensive; for he regarded the conquest of
Sicily not merely as an end, but as a stepping-stone to greater things.
While Nikias was dissuading the people from the attempt, on the ground
that it would be a difficult matter to capture the city of Syracuse,
Alkibiades was dreaming of Carthage and Libya; and after these were
gained, he meditated the conquest of Italy and of Peloponnesus,
regarding Sicily as little more than a convenient magazine and place of
arms. He greatly excited the younger Athenians by his vast designs, and
they listened eagerly to the marvellous stories of the old who had
served in that country; so that many of them would spend their time
sitting in the gymnasia and public seats, drawing sketches of the shape
of the island of Sicily, and of the position of Libya and Carthage.
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