§6.6.1τοσαῦτα ἔθνη Ἑλλήνων καὶ βαρβάρων Σικελίαν ᾤκει,καὶ ἐπὶ τοσήνδε οὖσαν αὐτὴν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι στρατεύειν ὥρμηντο, ἐφιέμενοι μὲν τῇ ἀληθεστάτῃ προφάσει τῆς πάσης ἄρξαι, βοηθεῖν δὲ ἅμα εὐπρεπῶς βουλόμενοι τοῖς ἑαυτῶν ξυγγενέσι καὶ τοῖς προσγεγενημένοις ξυμμάχοις.
So many nations of Greeks and barbarians inhabited Sicily, and against it, being of such a size, the Athenians were eager to campaign, desiring indeed, in truth, to rule the whole island, but at the same time wishing plausibly to help their own kinsmen and their newly acquired allies.
§6.6.2μάλιστα δ’ αὐτοὺς ἐξώρμησαν Ἐγεσταίων [τε] πρέσβεις παρόντες καὶ προθυμότερον ἐπικαλούμενοι.
And most of all they were urged on by the envoys of the Egestaeans who were present and calling upon them more eagerly.
ὅμοροι γὰρ ὄντες τοῖς Σελινουντίοις ἐς πόλεμον καθέστασαν περί τε γαμικῶν τινῶν καὶ περὶ γῆς ἀμφισβητήτου, καὶ οἱ Σελινούντιοι Συρακοσίους ἐπαγόμενοι ξυμμάχους κατεῖργον αὐτοὺς τῷ πολέμῳ καὶ κατὰ γῆν καὶ κατὰ θάλασσαν· ὥστε τὴν γενομένην ἐπὶ Λάχητος καὶ τοῦ προτέρου πολέμου Λεοντίνων οἱ Ἐγεσταῖοι ξυμμαχίαν ἀναμιμνῄσκοντες τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἐδέοντο σφίσι ναῦς πέμψαντας ἐπαμῦναι, λέγοντες ἄλλα τε πολλὰ καὶ κεφάλαιον, εἰ Συρακόσιοι Λεοντίνους τε ἀναστήσαντες ἀτιμώρητοι γενήσονται καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἔτι ξυμμάχους αὐτῶν διαφθείροντες αὐτοὶ τὴν ἅπασαν δύναμιν τῆς Σικελίας σχήσουσι, κίνδυνον εἶναι μή ποτε μεγάλῃ παρασκευῇ Δωριῆς τε Δωριεῦσι κατὰ τὸ ξυγγενὲς καὶ ἅμα ἄποικοι τοῖς ἐκπέμψασι Πελοποννησίοις βοηθήσαντες καὶ τὴν ἐκείνων δύναμιν ξυγκαθέλωσιν· σῶφρον δ’ εἶναι μετὰ τῶν ὑπολοίπων ἔτι ξυμμάχων ἀντέχειν τοῖς Συρακοσίοις, ἄλλως τε καὶ χρήματα σφῶν παρεξόντων ἐς τὸν πόλεμον ἱκανά.
For being borders with the Selinuntians, they had fallen into war over certain marriage matters and over disputed land; and the Selinuntians, having brought in the Syracusans as allies, were pressing them hard in the war both by land and by sea; so that the Egestaeans, reminding the Athenians of the alliance that had been made in the time of Laches and the former war of the Leontines, begged them to send ships to assist them, saying many other things and, as the chief point, that if the Syracusans, having driven out the Leontines, should go unpunished and, by destroying their remaining allies, should themselves obtain the whole power of Sicily, there was a danger that at some time, with a great force, being Dorians assisting Dorians according to kinship and at the same time colonists assisting the Peloponnesians who had sent them out, they might also help to pull down their power; and that it was wise to resist the Syracusans with the remaining allies, especially since they themselves would provide sufficient money for the war.
§6.6.3ὧν ἀκούοντες οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τῶν τε Ἐγεσταίων πολλάκις λεγόντων καὶ τῶν ξυναγορευόντων αὐτοῖς ἐψηφίσαντο πρέσβεις πέμψαι πρῶτον ἐς τὴν Ἔγεσταν περί τε τῶν χρημάτων σκεψομένους εἰ ὑπάρχει, ὥσπερ φασίν, ἐν τῷ κοινῷ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς, καὶ τὰ τοῦ πολέμου ἅμα πρὸς τοὺς Σελινουντίους ἐν ὅτῳ ἐστὶν εἰσομένους.
Hearing these things in the assemblies from the Egestaeans speaking repeatedly and from those who supported them, the Athenians voted first to send envoys to Egesta, both to examine concerning the money, whether it was available in the treasury and in the temples, as they said, and at the same time to learn in what state the war against the Selinuntians was.