History of the Peloponnesian War

"That the deeds which have already been achieved are glorious and that the contest will be for glories still to come, you, Syracusans and allies, seem to us most of you to be aware—otherwise you would not have laid your hands to the task so zealously; but if anyone has not perceived this as clearly as he should, we will make it plain.

The Athenians came against this country in the first place for the enslavement of Sicily, and after that, if they should be successful, for that of the Peloponnesus also and the rest of Hellas, having already acquired a dominion greater than that of any Hellenes either of the past or of the present time; but you, the first men who ever withstood their fleet, with which they had obtained the mastery everywhere, have already defeated them on the sea and in all probability will defeat them in this present battle.

For when men have once suffered abatement just where they claim to be superior, what is left of their self-esteem is weaker than it ever was —than if they had never thought themselves superior at all—and their pride being mortified by the disappointment,[*](Or “unexpectedly deceived in their self-confidence.”) they give way out of all proportion to their actual strength. And at the present moment this is what the Athenians have probably suffered.