Nicias

Family: Athenian · Role: commander · First appears: Book 3 · Chapter 10 · Part 1

In Book 3, Nicias, son of Niceratus, captured the towers by Nisaea, fortified Minoa, and left a garrison there. In Book 4, while general, he offered Cleon the command against Pylos; later that summer, he commanded expeditions against Corinthian territory and Cythera with colleagues, and the Cytherians capitulated to him and his fellow commanders. He also campaigned at Mende and Scione with Nicostratus, laying waste to the country near Scione as Nicostratus besieged Mende. During this period, Cleon taunted and hated him; Nicias repeated his offer and resigned the Pylos command.

In Book 5, Nicias and Pleistoanax sought a settlement, and Nicias requested renewed oaths from the Lacedaemonians, who nevertheless refused to abandon their Boeotian alliance. After he returned to Athens, the Athenians made an alliance with the Argives, Mantineans, and Eleans; Alcibiades had sought to detach them from Nicias and disgrace them before the people. In Book 6, Nicias was appointed with Alcibiades and Lamachus to command the expedition to Sicily. After Lamachus’s death, Nicias became sole commander. At Syracuse, he ordered the servants to burn the engines and timber, saving the Circle, while the Syracusans proposed terms of capitulation.

In Book 7, Nicias fortified Plemmyrium, but after the Athenians were defeated by the Syracusans, he sent word to Athens of the army’s critical position and urged that he be recalled or given substantial reinforcements and a successor. The Athenians refused his resignation and appointed colleagues, including Menander, Euthydemus, Demosthenes, and Eurymedon. Although Demosthenes and Eurymedon urged departure, Nicias objected, and the commanders hesitated; after the naval defeat, he agreed with Demosthenes to try another escape by sea, but the sailors would not board. Nicias and Demosthenes eventually led the retreat by land. When their divisions were attacked, Nicias offered repayment and hostages for the army’s release, but Gylippus and the Syracusans rejected the proposal. At last, Nicias surrendered himself to Gylippus and asked him to stop the slaughter. He and Demosthenes were put to death against Gylippus’s will.