herodotus

167. Moreover there is also this story reported by the Carthaginiansthemselves, who therein relate that which is probable in itself,namely that while the Barbarians fought with the Hellenes in Sicilyfrom the early morning till late in the afternoon (for to such alength the combat is said to have been protracted), during this timeAmilcas was remaining in the camp and was making sacrifices to getgood omens of success, offering whole bodies of victims upon a greatpyre: and when he saw that there was a rout of his own army, he beingthen, as it chanced, in the act of pouring a libation over thevictims, threw himself into the fire, and thus he was burnt up anddisappeared. Amilcas then having disappeared, whether it was in such amanner as this, as it is reported by the Phenicians, or in some otherway,[159] the Carthaginians both offer sacrifices to him now, and alsothey made memorials of him then in all the cities of their colonies,and the greatest in Carthage itself.168. So far of the affairs of Sicily: and as for the Corcyreans, theymade answer to the envoys as follows, afterwards acting as I shalltell: for the same men who had gone to Sicily endeavoured also toobtain the help of these, saying the same things which they said toGelon; and the Corcyreans at the time engaged to send a force and tohelp in the defence, declaring that they must not permit Hellas to beruined without an effort on their part, for if it should sufferdisaster, they would be reduced to subjection from the very first day;but they must give assistance so far as lay in their power. Thusspeciously they made reply; but when the time came to send help, theymanned sixty ships, having other intentions in their minds, and aftermaking much difficulty they put out to sea and reached Peloponnese;and then near Pylos and Tainaron in the land of the Lacedemonians theykept their ships at anchor, waiting, as Gelon did, to see how the warwould turn out: for they did not expect that the Hellenes wouldovercome, but thought that the Persian would gain the victory overthem with ease and be ruler of all Hellas. Accordingly they wereacting of set purpose, in order that they might be able to say to thePersian some such words as these: "O king, when the Hellenesendeavoured to obtain our help for this war, we, who have a powerwhich is not the smallest of all, and could have supplied a contingentof ships in number not the smallest, but after the Athenians thelargest, did not choose to oppose thee or to do anything which was notto thy mind." By speaking thus they hoped that they would obtain someadvantage over the rest, and so it would have happened, as I am ofopinion: while they had for the Hellenes an excuse ready made, thatnamely of which they actually made use: for when the Hellenesreproached them because they did not come to help, they said that theyhad manned sixty triremes, but had not been able to get past Maleaowing to the Etesian Winds; therefore it was that they had not come to