83: Athens Sails West

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Last episode we took a little break from the narrative to go back and look at developments that were taking place in Sicily . Last time we looked in on Sicily was back nearly 40 episodes ago , where we brought the history of the island up to the Greco-Persian War period .

So before heading back to Sicily in our narrative , I felt it was helpful to go back and look at what had been unfolding , to give some context to what we will be seeing happen during Athens' first Sicilian expedition .

Here we had seen , in the wake of the defeat of Carthage at Haimira , which supposedly took place the same day as Salamis , the victorious Greek cities had taken up tyrannies .

The pattern that emerged here was like what took place on the Greek mainland the different tyrants would look to try and gain influence over the cities , which saw various regional conflicts develop . However , we also saw , with the second and third generation of tyrants coming to power , the people found themselves under more and more repressive rule .

This seems to be a common pattern , as much of the reason the tyrannies were first introduced had now passed and the later generations looked to hold onto their positions for power's sake . The democracies on Sicily would now start to replace these tyrannies . Over time , the various cities' tyrannies falling one by one , often with help from other newly democratic cities .

With the reshuffling of governments and the different conflicts that came about , syracuse , now under a democratic system , had come to a position where it had held most influence on the island , and this would be the situation we will find ourselves heading into as we continue the narrative for this episode .

When we left the narrative last time , we had seen that the small polis of Plataea had attempted to break their siege . Many were able to escape to Athens , but those that had remained behind would surrender the city once provisions ran out . The fate of Plataea was not a pleasant one , with all the men put to death and the women sold into slavery .

The city of Plataea was then razed to the ground , and the site was then handed over to Thebes , who had been trying to gain control of the polis for many years now . We also saw that civil war broke out on the island of Kossaira , which had been the site of disputes during the lead up to the Peloponnesian war .

A group that had been prisoners in Corinth from this period were released back to the island but had been convinced to try and change Kossaira's policy . On their return , they would attempt to try and get the island to revert to their traditional policy of neutrality , with the attention to then try and move towards a pro-Peloponnesian stance .

Citizens would become involved , as losing the island to the Peloponnesian side would be strategically disastrous . Remembering here , kossaira had the third largest navy and if it were to join the Peloponnesian fleet , it would be a match for Athens .

On the sea , however , with Athenian help and after some particularly horrendous acts , the democrats would retain control on the island . For now , though , the civil war where we left it was not yet resolved . Our episode today will be heading into 427 , where Athens would launch its first expedition into Sicily .

They would launch a much more well known one over 10 years later , in 415 BC , which we'll see us spending a number of episodes around . However , this would be their first foray into the island and would set policies and expectations for the future campaign .

I think what we will do today is spend all episode on this first expedition rather than covering the events that took place over the year . So this will see us cover what was taking place on Sicily and the decisions being made in Athens from 427 to 424 BC .

I'll be mentioning other important events in passing as we cover the Sicilian narrative , but rest assured we will be covering these areas in more detail in the episodes that will follow . So let's get started and first look at the changed political landscape in Athens that would make this first expedition possible .

When we looked at the Athenians involvement in the Civil War on Kassara , there appeared to be a change in policy taking place in Athens . This wasn't specifically told to us by Thysidides , but his recounting of events gives us some clues that something was changing .

When the Athenians first arrived , they were under the command of Nicostratus , who seemed to take measures to try and bring a peaceful settlement between the two sides .

Instead of allowing the Democrats , who added the advantage , to continue their violence , he would suggest a compromise with Thysidides , saying he at once endeavoured to bring about a settlement and persuaded the two parties to agree together to bring to trial 10 of the Ringleaders who were no longer in the city , while the rest were to live in peace , making terms with

each other and entering into an alliance with the Athenians . This appeared to have calmed tensions , but it wouldn't last long . The Ringleaders had escaped and further developments would see that the hatred and distrust was now boiling to the surface .

With the Peloponnesian fleet arriving to assist the Olegarchs , nicostratus would once again take a passive approach to prevent becoming too committed to the dispute . Cassara would head out on the water to oppose the Peloponnesian ships , but Athens , who had tried to advise caution and have the Cassareans follow their lead , were ignored .

This saw Athens forced to come out on the water and provide a spoiling action after the fleet of the Democrats was defeated , to allow them to get back to safety . The violence then worsened . Battles and raids continued between the two sides .

However , a much larger Athenian fleet that had been sent out from Athens now arrived and would see that the Peloponnesian fleet slip away under the cover of darkness . With the Athenian fleet's arrival would also come a new general Euromedon , sent from Athens , with it appearing a new board of generals had been voted in .

With his arrival would come a very different approach from Athens on the island . Not that we get direct examples , but many have argued that he would actively encourage the Democrats' violence towards the Olegarchs and all those they saw being enemies of the democracy .

This would effectively see Athens look to stamp out the Peloponnesian influence in Cassara through whatever means . Now Cleon , who we were introduced to a few episodes ago , appears to have gained some increased influence in Athens' political landscape . Cleon had been in opposition to Pericles' measured approach during the early years of the Peloponnesian War .

Pericles had made a point of convincing the Athenians during the time of war they needed to focus on what they controlled and to strengthen , to hold their empire , rather than actively looking to expand the empire . This , he argued , if they ignored , would see Athens become weaker as it would stretch its resources beyond what it could handle .

However , with Cleon now appearing to gain more support and installing generals who were aligned to him , such as Eurymedon , it seems this advice was now being forgotten and Athens was looking to involve themselves in regions that were far away from the main centre of gravity of the war . We briefly saw .

It appears Athens had been becoming involved in the regional dispute in Sicily back in the 450s . However , this was before the Peloponnesian War had broken out . This alliance would be formed with Sugesta on the west coast , and we know that by the time of the Peloponnesian War , athens still had their alliance with them .

It would be an appeal from Sugesta that would help initiate the Sicilian expedition of 415 BC . However , up to this stage , it would appear , athens' help was in resources and even perhaps advisors , though it seems Athens' interest in Sicily for the moment was to gain a foothold for future interests .

Now , in 427 , athens would look to send an expedition of ships and men , this being in contrast to the advice Pericles had given . While Athens was at war with Sparta , they needed to avoid getting involved in new wars or activities that looked to expand the empire .

With Clion now appearing to hold more influence , a more aggressive policy was now in favour , although Pericles' leadership had gotten them through to the war . Up until now , many in Athens were unsatisfied with the response . It often felt as though Athens was passive , allowing Sparta to do as they pleased .

So when the city of Leotini came requesting Athens' help in Sicily , the assembly would vote to send men and ships . So , given Sicily was far away from the actions of the Peloponnesian War , why would the Athenians agree to this venture ? This entities would tell us himself why he thought the Athenians would set their sights on Sicily .

So let's look at these points and see if what he puts forward seems reasonable . So the first explanation that we'll look at was the fact that Athenian help was requested in Sicily . As we had seen , syracuse had become the hegemon in Sicily and still looked to expand their interests into yet more areas of the island .

The request for help would come when Leontini , north of Syracuse , would become a target of interest and conflict between the two would develop . No reason is given for the start of hostilities , but Leontini had access to fertile plains perfect for the growing of crops .

It is thought that perhaps Syracuse was in a similar position that Athens had been during its own expansion , and feeding its growing population was becoming an issue . Another issue to point out is that Leontini was an Ionian city sharing the same ethnic heritage as the Athenians .

Just before the start of the Peloponnesian War , athens had come to Sicily to renew their ties with Leontini , along with other Ionian cities in Sicily . This may have well have caused resentment in Syracuse , who saw themselves as a hegemon in Sicily . This Athenian intervention seems as a challenge to their wealth and power on the island .

So the economic potential of these lands , along with the Athenian influence in what was seen in Syracuse's domain , may have led to war between Leontini and Syracuse breaking out . What's also important to note here like on the Greek mainland , the cities were loyal , for the most part , to their traditional cultural groups

. As we said , leontini was an Ionian , while Syracuse was from a Dorian tradition . Much like the Peloponnes , leontini , once war broke out , would sail to Athens and would appeal for the Athenians' assistance . Although there were several Ionian cities in Sicily that would allied themselves with Leontini , they still saw their position as a weak one .

When , in Athens , the heralds would use their common Ionian connection with the Athenians to put forward a persuasive argument to send help in the form of a fleet , athens would be sympathetic to this common descent and would vote that a fleet should be sent to help Leontini .

However , this doesn't exactly give us a reason for Athens deciding to go to Sicily in of itself . There must have been more to the picture . Decidities would also say that , although Athens would agree on the basis of a common ancestry , this was not Athens' real motive . What Thucydides suggests will be the point we turn to .

Next , though , what this request for aid would do was provide Athens an opportunity to make a move physically into Sicily , this providing a justified reason for their intervention . But let's now turn to our first point that may have been a motivation for this action , and one that Thucydides believes to be Athens' real reason for the expedition .

The first part of Thucydides' explanation for the Athenian's involvement would be the aim of hurting the Peloponnesians , he would say . The Athenian sent a fleet , ostensibly because of their kinship with Leontini , though their real aims were to prevent corn being brought into the Peloponnes from the west .

So here we see that the first reasoning Thucydides gives was to affect Sparta and their allies' ability to keep their populations fed during the war . This would see the Athenians looking to mount a form of economic war on their enemy .

As we have seen , athens was not in an advantageous position to mount large direct attacks on Spartans , so they were looking for ways to influence the conflict through indirect means .

We had seen this to some extent with the raids that had been conducted around the Peloponnesian coast , these being designed to impact the morale of the Spartan allies , though disrupting part of the Peloponnesians' food supply , would have a far greater effect if it could be achieved , as we have pointed out before regarding Athens and Syracuse .

Population within the cities of the Greek world were becoming larger . For these populations to be supported , increased food production would need to be achieved , though eventually the few fertile plains would no longer be able to keep pace with these growing populations .

Wars would break out over these plains that we have seen pop up over time through the series , but even then , with control over these areas , the larger regions would need to start importing grain and other food staples to meet demand .

Athens , as we have seen , relied on the trade routes into the Black Sea for this , while it appears the Peloponnesians' main source of imported grain was from Sicily . If the food supply was disrupted , it would severely affect the Peloponnesians' ability to wage their campaigns year after year .

Not only this , but it would make their own regional crops and food production higher valued military targets , as they would bring a city to its knees if destroyed .

These were far more accessible to the Athenians , who had shown they could reach these on rating expeditions , although this shows that the Athenians were looking to hurt the Spartans beyond a direct military engagement . It also came with its own risk for the Athenians by landing on Sicily .

This would not immediately disrupt the supply to the Peloponnes To affect this supply , the Athenians would have to militarily defeat Syracuse , who were aligned with Sparta and held the majority of the influence in Sicily .

This would see Athens needing to direct a good proportion of their fleet and manpower into the venture , this seeing them being far away from any threats that would develop on and around the Greek mainland . This had taken place before and is what had led Pericles advising against expanding the Athenian operations outside of the Empire .

Plus , military operations seldom go as planned and it could end up like another situation like what took place at Potidia , with the Athenians needing to commit more resources to continue their operations , which in turn would weaken them militarily at home .

Though , as we will now turn to , we will see that , according to Thucydides , this was only one reason for the expedition , and perhaps it had been judged that the risks involved were worth the reward , should it be successful .

The second part of Thysiotides' reason for Athens' expedition was to make a preliminary survey to see whether it would be possible for them to gain control of Sicily . So here we see the idea of expanding Athenian influence well beyond the Greek mainland . We had brought up this idea when looking at earlier Athenian alliances on the island .

However , these previously were more diplomatic in nature . This time around , athens was looking to put boots on the ground or , more fitting for the time , sandals on the ground . However , this motivation was a clear cut violation of the policy Athens had been following under Pericles .

This perhaps gives further evidence that the political landscape in Athens had now shifted since Pericles' death . Further reinforcing this idea is that we hear no great debate taking place over the matter , suggesting there was little opposition to the idea .

If this was a true motivation of Athens , it would not only disrupt the export of food into the Peloponnese , but it would also boost the Athenian's own source . This would provide them with extra food security .

With major trade routes running not only east to the Black Sea but west into Sicily , not to mention the potential markets further west , it's not hard to see the allure of this idea , as it would see Athens grow to a height yet seen . However , like we have said before , this was a high risk , high reward situation .

If Athens got it wrong , it may be hard to recover and potentially see their current empire in a far weakened state , while also costing them the war . How serious of a motivation for the expedition this was is debatable . It seems probable that gaining influence in Sicily was a factor , but how far these ambitions went is unknown .

But before we move on , I want to cover one other point that is not brought up by Thyscities . That could also have been a possible motivation . This point would tie in directly to the current conflict and revolves around the considerations we have looked at previously when discussing Athens' involvement with Osirah .

This would have to do with the military potential Sicily could offer the Peloponnesians . Syracuse , over the decades , had been growing in wealth and influence within Sicily to where it was now the most powerful of all the cities on the island . It had launched many campaigns on its fellow Greeks as well as the native Sicils .

Although Syracuse still had to use its resources and manpower in deterring rivals and maintaining its position , it would have reached a point where it would be able to use what it had built for other enterprises . If you remember back to our earlier episodes around Sicily , you will recall that Syracuse had been established by colonists from Corinth .

With the emergence of Syracuse as a leading power in Sicily , they would be in a position where they could potentially give aid to their mother

city , assisting in the conflict against Athens . For Athens , this would have been a threat on a similar scale to what had been encountered with Kassara and the dealings before the breakout of the Peloponnesian War . Athens was very wary of their supremacy at sea being challenged .

Syracuse could tip that balance , since it was a major power on the island and also relied on the sea trade routes . So here we have seen some explanations as to why Athens would take the decision to head west to Sicily .

Realistically , the motivation would not have rested with just one of these points , but all probably played some role in Athens seeing an expedition west as a good idea . If they were successful in establishing influence on the island , they could severely slow the food export heading into the Peloponnes , impacting their ability to continue the war .

This would also see Syracuse would now be focused on defending their own lands and if they were to lose influence in the face of the Athenian presence , there would be no position to be able to send aid to be used against Athens in the Peloponnesian War . Also , the lure of influence in another fertile region would have also been attracted to the Athenians .

Not only would they harm the Peloponnesians position , but they would improve their own and potentially grow their empire even further . However , they needed a pretext to launch this campaign in the first place . Sailing off for conquest's sake would have attracted more enemies and made it harder to gain allies .

The conflict between Syracuse and that of Leontini of a common Ironian heritage would provide this justified reason for coming to Sicily . This then seeing , it would be much easier to establish allies as they had come in defence of another . So towards the end of summer of 427 BC , the Athenians would send out their expedition west to assist Leontini .

The departure of the fleet was also able to avoid the reemergence of the plague in Athens . The citadis tells us that the plague had never really gone away since first hitting Athens in 430 BC , but after its initial destruction on the population , its effects were far less severe .

However , with the cooler months now approaching in 427 , it would once again cause suffering on an increased scale . It would appear a new strain or mutation in the virus had developed that was able to avoid the immunity that had been built up this time around .

The citadis would say that this outbreak would last less than a year , as opposed to the two years of the initial infection . It would also suggest that the plague , rather than any other factor during the war so far , had been the most damaging to Athens' military power .

Overall , it would tell us that Athens would lose at least 4400 hoplites and 300 cavalry to the disease , while countless others would die , so many that no one ever discovered how many deaths there truly were . So let's now leave Athens and the rest of the Greek mainland for now , so we can turn to the events as they unfolded in Sicily .

The expedition would begin with just 20 ships sent west to land on Sicily under the command of Lashes and Chariotes . The city that they had come in aid of was not a coastal one , but was located inland . This would mean that the Athenian fleet would have to make port elsewhere .

They would establish a base of operations at the southern Italian city of Regium , just across the Mycenaean Straits from Sicily , who were also friendly towards Athens . This was some distance from Lentini , which was located further to the southeast of Sicily , not far from Syracuse .

The first objective for the campaign would be to gain complete control of the Mycenaean Straits . These straits were a major route for trade that flowed into the region as well as further east , while they would also seek to try and make Mycenae , on the northeastern tip of the island , a rallying point for all those Greeks in Sicily that opposed Syracuse .

The taking of Mycenae would be essential if Athens hoped for success , as it was on the opposite shore of the Straits and would provide a foothold within Sicily . Along with this , it was far enough away from Syracuse , so Athens would have time to arrange themselves with their Sicilian allies .

Obviously , local support was essential for success , while Athens would also need the ships and troops these allies would provide , as they'd only come with twenty of their own . Given the traditional tensions within Sicily , athens would fire many Ionian Greeks and local Sicils would come to join in the campaign against Syracuse .

Not long after arriving and establishing themselves at Regium , the Athenians would set about attempting to achieve these objectives of controlling the Straits and attracting allies to the cause .

The Athenian fleet , joined by some ships from Regium , were split into two and would sail into what appears to have been reconnaissance missions that also had the aim of testing their sentiments of their local populations .

It's worth pointing out here that Thysiotides does not specifically mention the aims of the Athenians or gives us a complete picture of what was taking place in the early part of the expedition . However , from what he does tell us , many have suggested what the Athenians were likely doing to achieve the objectives needed for them to establish themselves in Sicily .

Lashes would take the squadron he commanded and sail along the southern coast of Sicily , while Thysiotides would sail along the southwestern coast , where it appears he may have been encountered by a fleet from Syracuse , since he was sailing in hostile waters .

Thysiotides doesn't specifically detail the engagement , but he does tell us that Thysiotides was killed in the battle with the Syracusans , so it seems likely he would have engaged them when , on his mission that took him through waters controlled by them , thysiotides' death . Lashes was now in command of the entire fleet and would continue operations .

This next step saw him lead a fleet which

had been reinforced with more ships from Regium and direct it against the Leparion Islands north of Sicily . These islands were friendly to Syracuse and would pose a threat to Athens' need to control the waters flowing between Sicily and southern Italy .

The fleet would land on the islands and devastate the lands in attempt to have the Leparion surrender , though a combination of their determination to resist , as well as the Athenians not being able to remain for long on the island , would see their initial attempt at subduing the islands' fail , thysiotides tells us , as the attack took place during the dry season ,

water was scarce on the island , this seeing the invaders not being able to remain for long . We would be told that a renewed effort would take place the following winter , but we are never told of the outcome of this attempt . After this frustration , athens would then turn to securing their position at Regium .

The city of Locri , just to the north , would be the target , as they were the enemies of Regium where some success was achieved . Thysiotides does not mention this action , but it is within Diadoras' account .

It is unclear if this action was to benefit Regium more so , rather than to add to Athens' strategic position in Sicily , though it would have amounted to some level of added security , as it would disrupt any ambitions of the Locrians may have had on Regium while Athens was carrying out their campaign .

By the summer of 426 , athens was in a more secure position to continue with expanding their operations into Sicily . It was now time to gain a foothold on the island for them to be able to direct further operations . Inland Pashas would attack the small coastal city of Malay , which was controlled by Messenia to the east .

Messenians seemed to have knowledge of the Athenians' attack and had set an ambush in the city . However , it would not prevent the Athenians capturing Malay and then directing their attention towards Messenia itself . Messenia would end up surrendering to the Athenians on their approach , providing hostages , so Athens could ensure good behaviour from them moving forward .

Although most of the accounts around this period have to do with the activities around Athens , it would seem that Sicily itself had broken away from its relatively peaceful period , with its entities saying that various operations were also carried out by the various warring parties within Sicily .

Athens' arrival seems to have stirred up old rivalries and given pretext for original conflicts to break out . This initial phase of the Athenian expedition had been quite successful . Athens now had a secure base in southern Italy with a reliable ally .

Although they had not achieved what they had set out in the islands of the north , it appears the effort there had prevented the harassment of Athenian's control of the waters through the Mycenaean Straits for now . They were then able to further cement control of the waters by defeating Mycenae on the opposite shore .

This would also see Athens in a meaningful presence on Sicily . Defections from Syracuse would also be encouraged by this victory , while the enemies of Syracuse would now be able to flock to the Athenian's position , seeing their military strength grow .

Athens was now in a position to start operations on Sicily itself , where the Sycles , who had been under the control of Syracuse , began revolting . They had been encouraged by Athens' success and were joined forces with them as operations on Sicily increased .

Athens took advantage of this added assistance and looked to attack the Sicultown of Aenecia , located inland from the coastal city of Catana . Although a Sicultown , syracuse had control of the Acropolis and the location provided security to Syracuse's lands in southern Sicily .

This target would , if Athens could take it , provide a strategic advantage and see if any names in Sicily advanced .

If it was taken , this would have most likely seen yet more of the Sicultgroup's revolt and join the Athenians , while the capture of the town would secure Athens' position to the north , while also seeing Syracuse put under pressure from both land and sea .

However , athens would not be able to take the town and would be defeated in the attack , forcing them to retreat and , in the process , taking casualties . This defeat was a setback in the Athenian aims . However , paches was not deterred and his army was still able to mount further attacks to continue the pressure on Syracuse .

During this time , the Athenians and their allies would also defeat an army from Locrus threatening the position at Regium , while another attack would see forces focused on Hymira on the north coast of the island .

It's at this time that the Athenian spirits were high around the campaign taking place in Sicily , although there had been some setbacks , athens had taken control of much of the northeastern regions of Sicily , while they had complete control over the waters of the coastline . The Athenian situation also saw that Syracuse was being put under increased pressure .

They were just about completely barred from any sort of naval activity and on land the Athenians had made incursions deeper towards Syracuse . Syracuse did recognise the danger they were in and saw that control of Messina was key to the campaign . It allowed sea-borne control around the island and access to the interior of Sicily .

They also saw that if Athens was allowed to hold it , they would be able to support additional forces to strengthen their campaign . So with the threat they now faced , syracuse would turn to increasing their shipbuilding program to attempt to take on the Athenians .

During this time , delegates from the Sicilian allies had sailed to Athens to put forward a case for more ships to be sent to assist the campaign . They appeared to be aware of the Syracusean's activities . The Citadis doesn't detail the arguments that were put forward , but it seems the general sense was a positive view on how the campaign was going .

Athens would decide to send out an additional 40 ships where it was thought this would end the campaign in Sicily . While it would also prove to be useful in the fact that it would give some newer crews some much needed experience at sea , it seems Athens had the impression that some additional reinforcements would hurry along the inevitable victory in Sicily .

Elections must have also recently taken place in Athens . As for when the vanguard of the fleet was sent out , it would be led by the general Pythagoras , who would take over command from Paches . However , the majority of this reinforcing fleet would not make it to Sicilian time to assist in the campaign .

As we continue with the episodes , we will cover the developments that would see this fleet used in another capacity . With the ever-evolving situation of the Peloponnesian War , this would be disastrous for the campaign on Sicily .

As fortunes would turn there , by the summer of 425 , syracuse were in a position to put a fleet to sea and challenge the Athenians' hold on Messina . Ten ships from Syracuse and ten from Locrus would join together and sail north to Messina .

However , they would have some additional support , as the inhabitants of Messina were not happy with the Athenians having control over their city . Syracuse seems to have been able to get a message to the people that a fleet was on its way to liberate the city , which would see the inhabitants revolt against the Athenians .

This would not be the only action in this counterattack on Athens' hold on Sicily , with it seeming much planning had been taking place during the previous winter between Syracuse and Locrus . Locrus , who were located in southern Italy just north of Regium , had a bitter hatred towards their southern neighbours .

We had seen over the previous years of the campaign there had been fighting between the two . When Athens arrived in Regium , now for the summer of 425 , locrus was poised to launch an all-out attack on Regium . This attack was designed to be in conjunction with the naval attack on Messina .

This would see that while Messina was under assault , reinforcements would not be able to be sent from Regium as they would be busy dealing with their own attack that was unfolding . This strategy would be successful , with Locrus devastating the lands outside Regium and tying up the potential help that could be sent to Messina .

Once their part of the operation was complete , they withdrew back to Locrus but would continue to man their ships that were now stationed at Messina . This action had now put Athens in a very precarious position . They had gone from quickly dominating the regions into Sicily to now their base of operations at risk of being overrun .

However , if the fleet that Athens had sent out had arrived , it would have been possible to reverse these defeats and potentially return to the situation before the summer . But unfortunately , news of the reversal on Sicily had not reached Athens before the fleet had set sail .

This would see that , given their impression of the Athenian strong standing there currently , there was no haste and as new developments occurred , they would assist elsewhere en route to Sicily . Through the summer , syracuse and Locrus would continue the war against Athens and its allies .

News had been received that the Athenian fleet sent to reinforce their current one was now tied up in other operations . This gave Syracuse confidence that they were now in a position to challenge the small Athenian fleet . A series of naval engagements would take place in the Straits of Messina and nearby .

The objective here was to rest away Athenian control of the sea and attempt to blockade Regium . The fighting that took place at sea would not be decisive , with multiple engagements taking place , but Syracuse would see that Athenian control of Messina would not be maintained , while the domination of the Straits had also been curtailed .

Seeing that the Athenian fleet no longer had a suitable port on the Sicilian island , the Athenians would try and continue operations on Sicily , but ultimately , without the arrival of the reinforcing fleet that had been sent from Athens , the expedition in Sicily could not realistically continue .

Regium would continue to hold out and Athens was still able to fall back here . Although fighting between the various Sicilian Greek cities would continue , athens would play no part in the fighting for the rest of 425 . At the end of the summer , the delayed Athenian fleet would arrive . However , by this time the damage had been done .

Much of the advantage that Athens had gained in the early parts of the campaign had been lost , while , it seems , much of the confidence their allies had in them had also been lost . By 424 , peace on Sicily would end up taking hold with the first moves made by Gala and Camania .

However , they had seen , if their peace was to last , the wider conflict in Sicily would need to come to an end . So a general invitation to the other cities to attend Gala to discuss peace would be sent . The rest of the Greek cities would end up sending representatives to discuss terms .

The talks would be long , with initial discussions revolving around the various self-interests of the different cities . However , compromise for the sake of peace would end up coming about . A sense of unity was also invoked , talking about trying to look past the Oenian and Dorian differences .

This , it was argued , would make the island less vulnerable to outside powers coming in to exert their influence . Obviously , syracuse would probably benefit the most from these ideas , since they were still the most powerful city in Sicily .

This would allow them to continue the growth of their influence without the threat of outside powers challenging them , though the cities of Sicily were war weary and would end up agreeing to a general peace with these ideas in mind .

Once agreed upon , the terms would also be taken to the Athenians who were still in the region to see if they would also be part of the agreement , depending on the position that they were . With no base of operations on Sicily and its allies no longer willing to fight , the Athenians would also recognise the terms and would end up sailing back to Athens .

On the arrival back in Athens , the generals of the fleet would be put on trial . Their charge accepting bribes to leave Sicily when they could have conquered the island . This was a common occurrence when generals returned home after an unsuccessful campaign or not achieved the success that was expected .

Unfortunately for the generals , they were convicted of the charges , with some being exiled and others fined , though there is no evidence that the bribery suggested by the Athenian assembly took place . If anything , it could have been argued that the generals had achieved the proposed aims in Sicily .

The city they had come to the aid of had made peace with Syracuse , no longer needing a military ally , while the terms of the peace made at Gala would see that the Sicilian cities were more interested in their own affairs rather than assisting outside powers . This would see the threat of Syracuse and aid to the Peloponnesians diminished .

However , if the Athenians were still willing to convict the generals , it points to Athens' intentions in Sicily as potentially being more than their stated aims . Perhaps Athens' expansionism was still alive and well within the minds of some of its governing figures . This brings a close to the first Athenian expedition in Sicily .

However , we will be finding ourselves back here when Athens would return 10 years later for the more well known Athenian Sicilian expedition of 415 BC .

Next episode , we will be heading back to the period where the first expedition began , where we will be looking at the various operations and efforts that were launched by both Athens and Sparta on the Greek mainland , while , as we continue , we will turn to the operations that would see the diversion of the Athenian Re-enforcing fleet .

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