But Nicias, dismayed by the situation that confronted him and realizing the nature of the struggle and how near at hand it was now, since in a moment more they would put to sea, and thinking, as men usually do on the eve of great battles, that everything that had been done on their side was still incomplete, and what had been said by the generals was not yet adequate to the occasion, again called up the trierarchs one by one, addressing them by their father's name, their own name, and that of their tribe,In this fashion, e.g. θησεῦ αἰγέως αἰγείδη. There were ten Attic tribes at that time. and admonished them: if anyone had any claim to distinction, he urged him not to prove false to his own reputation; if any had illustrious ancestors, they should not dim the glory of their fathers' deeds of valour; he also reminded them of their fatherland, the freest in the world, and of the uncontrolled liberty in daily life that all possessed in it; and then went on to add whatever else men would be likely to say at so critical a moment, when they do not guard themselves against uttering what might to some seem trite and commonplace—appeals to wives and children and ancestral gods such as are put forward in almost the same words in support of every cause—but in the dismay of the moment, thinking that these sentiments will be useful, shout them at the top of their voices.
