§13.4.1Συρακόσιοι δʼ ἀκούσαντες ἐπὶ τοῦ πορθμοῦ τὰς δυνάμεις εἶναι τῶν Ἀθηναίων, στρατηγοὺς κατέστησαν αὐτοκράτορας τρεῖς, Ἑρμοκράτην, Σικανόν, Ἡρακλείδην, οἳ τοὺς στρατιώτας κατέγραφον καὶ πρέσβεις ἐπὶ τὰς κατὰ Σικελίαν πόλεις ἀπέστελλον, δεόμενοι τῆς κοινῆς σωτηρίας ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι· τοὺς γὰρ Ἀθηναίους τῷ μὲν λόγῳ πρὸς Συρακοσίους ἐνίστασθαι τὸν πόλεμον, τῇ δʼ ἀληθείᾳ καταστρέψασθαι βουλομένους ὅλην τὴν νῆσον.
When the Syracusans heard that the forces of the Athenians were at the strait, they appointed three generals with full powers, Hermocrates, Sicanus, and Heraclides, who began to enroll soldiers and dispatch envoys to the cities throughout Sicily, urging them to take a hand in their common safety; for they asserted that the Athenians, while nominally waging war against the Syracusans, in truth wished to subjugate the entire island.
§13.4.2Ἀκραγαντῖνοι μὲν οὖν καὶ Νάξιοι συμμαχήσειν ἔφησαν Ἀθηναίοις, Καμαριναῖοι δὲ καὶ Μεσσήνιοι τὴν μὲν εἰρήνην ἄξειν ὡμολόγησαν, τὰς δʼ ὑπὲρ τῆς συμμαχίας ἀποκρίσεις ἀνεβάλοντο· Ἱμεραῖοι δὲ καὶ Σελινούντιοι, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Γελῷοι καὶ Καταναῖοι, συναγωνιεῖσθαι τοῖς Συρακοσίοις ἐπηγγείλαντο.
Now the Acragantini and Naxians said they would ally with the Athenians, while the Camarinaeans and Messenians agreed to maintain peace but postponed their answers regarding an alliance; on the other hand, the Himeraeans and Selinuntines, and in addition to these the Geloans and Catanaeans, promised to fight alongside the Syracusans.
αἱ δὲ τῶν Σικελῶν πόλεις τῇ μὲν εὐνοίᾳ πρὸς Συρακοσίους ἔρρεπον, ὅμως δʼ ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ μένουσαι τὸ συμβησόμενον ἐκαραδόκουν.
The cities of the Sicels, though they inclined in goodwill toward the Syracusans, nevertheless remained quiet, waiting to see what would happen.
§13.4.3τῶν δʼ Αἰγεσταίων οὐχ ὁμολογούντων δώσειν πλέον τῶν τριάκοντα ταλάντων, οἱ στρατηγοὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐγκαλέσαντες αὐτοῖς ἀνήχθησαν ἐκ Ῥηγίου μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως, καὶ κατέπλευσαν τῆς Σικελίας εἰς Νάξον.
Since the Egestaeans did not agree to give more than thirty talents, the Athenian generals, having laid complaints against them, set sail from Rhegium with their forces and put in at Naxos in Sicily.
δεξαμένων δʼ αὐτοὺς τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει φιλοφρόνως, παρέπλευσαν ἐκεῖθεν εἰς Κατάνην.
When the people in the city received them kindly, they sailed from there to Catana.
§13.4.4τῶν δὲ Καταναίων εἰς μὲν τὴν πόλιν οὐ δεχομένων τοὺς στρατιώτας, τοὺς δὲ στρατηγοὺς ἐασάντων εἰσελθεῖν καὶ παρασχομένων ἐκκλησίαν, οἱ στρατηγοὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων περὶ συμμαχίας διελέγοντο.
Although the Catanaeans did not admit the soldiers into the city, they did allow the generals to enter and provided them with an assembly, and so the Athenian generals were discussing an alliance.
§13.4.5δημηγοροῦντος δὲ τοῦ Ἀλκιβιάδου τῶν στρατιωτῶν τινες διελόντες πυλίδα παρεισέπεσον εἰς τὴν πόλιν· διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν ἠναγκάσθησαν οἱ Καταναῖοι κοινωνεῖν τοῦ κατὰ τῶν Συρακοσίων πολέμου.
While Alcibiades was delivering a speech, some of the soldiers broke down a postern-gate and slipped into the city; for this reason, the Catanaeans were forced to join in the war against the Syracusans.