The Assembly decided to send 60 ships under the command of Alcibiades, Nicias and Lamachus (d.413 BC), and then met again to consider the fitting out of the force. There, Nicias, who was opposed to the expedition, tried to alarm the Athenians by putting a high estimate on his requirements for the expeditionary force. Contrary to his plan, the Assembly accepted his proposal and passed a motion allowing the generals to arrange for a force of over 100 ships and 5000 hoplites.
Late in June, 100 ships carrying 2250 hoplites, 700 thetes armed as marines, and 30 cavalry sailed to Corcyra, where the forces from Athens subjects or hired from friendly areas were waiting. These included 34 triremes, 2900 hoplites, 480 archers, 700 slingers, and 120 light-armed troops. The fleet was accompanied by 130 transports.
While the expedition was still at Piraeus, an act of sacrilege was committed in Athens. During the night most of the stone busts of Hermes, set upon pillars for good luck at the doors of houses, marketplaces, temples and other public places in Athens had been mutilated. It could have been an attempt by opponents of the expedition to create a bad omen for its success, but as the sudden mutilation was obviously the work of many hands it could also have been a preliminary to an attempt to seize the city. Nothing was discovered about the mutilation of the hermae, but informers reported two earlier such acts of sacrilege in which Alcibiades was named as ringleader. He asked to be put on trial before he sailed, but his enemies preferred to recall him for trial later when the army, his main source of support, would be involved in the expedition.
The fleet then made for the Iapygian Promontory (heel of Italy). From there the fleet coasted down to Rhegium without acquiring a single ally; they were allowed to camp outside the city but not go inside. Three ships that had been sent ahead brought back the news that Segesta was not rich. The generals now discussed their strategy: Nicias wanted to sail to Selinus and make a show of force then unless Segesta could after all provide funding to return home; Alcibiades favoured using diplomacy to gain friends in Sicily before attacking Selinus and Syracuse; Lamachus preferred a direct attack on Syracuse. The deadlock was eventually broken by Lamachus endorsing Alcibiades’ plan.
Messana was unwelcoming, but Naxus joined the Athenians. At Catana the generals were allowed to address the assembly, while they were doing so, the Athenian soldiers managed to enter the city. The supporters of Syracuse fled, and Catana made an alliance with Athens and became their base in Sicily. The Salaminia, one of Athens’ state ships, arrived to recall Alcibiades and some others for trial. He was allowed to sail his own trireme and when they reached Thurii he and the others escaped and eventually crossed to the Peloponnese. At Athens he condemned to death and his property confiscated.
With Alcibiades’ departure, Nicias was left in charge of the expedition with Lamachus as his subordinate. They sailed to the north coast of the island, where they captured the small port of Hyceara from the Sicans. The whole population was carried by the fleet back to Catana and sold for a hundred and twenty talents into slavery, while the army returned by land though the country of the Sicels.
It appears that Nicias was now resigned to the fact that the only worthwhile objective remaining was Syracuse, yet it was autumn before he began preparations to move against it. The problem was that his army was weak in cavalry. Syracuse, on the other hand, could field a large cavalry force and make it difficult for the Athenians to move on land. Nicias sent a citizen of Catana friendly to Athens yet on good terms with the other side to Syracuse to inform the generals that if they attacked Catana then local support was ready to help them win an easy victory. The Syracusans believed the story and sent their whole army to attack Catana. Hearing of their advance the Athenians sailed south and landed at the southern end of the Great Harbour of Syracuse where they entrenched in a strong position on the right (south) bank of the Anapos north of Dascon, and broke down the bridge over the river.
When the Syracusans realised they had been deceived, they marched back and faced Nicias in his new position. The Argive and Mantineans on the right wing and the Athenians in the centre (the other allies were on the left) outfought the enemy, and before long the Syracusan army was in retreat. But the Syracusan cavalry prevented the Athenians from pressing the pursuit and so in the end a promising plan achieved nothing. Nicias retired to Catana, and subsequently to Naxus into winter quarters. He then sent to Athens for fresh supplies and money, and to his Sicilian allies for reinforcements. A hoped-for revolution in Messana failed to materialise.
In Syracuse, Hermocrates tried to restore morale and argued for fewer (there were currently fifteen) and more powerful generals: he was made one of three. The Syracusans appealed to Corinth and Sparta for assistance; the Athenians appealed to Carthage and Etruria, where some cities were offering support; and both sides tried to gain support in Sicily. Corinth as the mother city to Syracuse joined the approach to Sparta.
Here they found Alcibiades who revealed the plans of Athens to the assembly and stressed that there was a serious danger of their success. He urged the Spartans to send one of their generals to conduct the defence of Syracuse, and to disrupt the supplies and land communications of Athens by establishing a fortified post at Decelea in northern Attica. The Spartans accepted his advice. They began preparations to invade Attica and fortify Decelea, and Gylippus was ordered to go to Syracuse in the spring.
Syracuse lies on the east coast of Sicily. The entrance to the Great Harbour is protected to the south by the Plemyrium Promontory and to the north by Ortygia, a small island separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. Syracuse itself consisted of two parts: the inner city, the original settlement, on Ortygia; and the outer city, later known as Achradina, on the rocky mainland across the channel, extending northwards along the coast. The Lesser Harbour lies between Ortygia and the outer city. Sea walls rendered an assault from the sea as almost impractical. Landward, Syracuse was protected by a wall and partly also by the nature of the ground, which in some parts was very steep. Southwest and northwest of this inland wall stood two unfortified suburbs, Neapolis and Tyche respectively. Between these two suburbs the ground rose to the plateau called Epipolae.
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