He denies the charges strongly and he leaves for Sicily at once but is called back to answer the charges of blasphemy. Alcibiades is implicated, but the expedition is all ready to route to Sicily. Curiously, at the outset of the expedition the statues of Hermae throughout the city of Athens are all found mutilated, the Mysteries profaned, and all citizens are encouraged to come forward regarding all forms of blasphemy. He is the voice of the reckless Athenian empire, while Nicias is the voice of caution. Alcibiades, however, persuades the multitude by claiming their choice is between one of conquest or else be conquered. Nicias asks for a second vote on the ill-fated Sicilian expedition. He goes on to discuss the founding of other minor Greek cities in Hellas. Thucydides gives an intriguing overview of the history of the peoples of Sicily, including a settlement of escaped Trojans after the sack of Ilium. Book VI of Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War begins with the Athenians voting to attack Sicily, despite their ignorance of the size of the island and despite Nicias’s pleas to the masses not to invade.
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