History of the Peloponnesian War

At length, by fighting in this way with all their might, the Syracusans gained the victory, and the Athenians turned and fled between the merchantmen into their own station. The Syracusan ships pursued them as far as those vessels;

but then the beams that were hung from the merchantmen over the passages between them, with [*]( i. e. heavy weights made something in the form of that fish.) dolphins attached to them, stopped their progress.

Two, however, elated by their victory, came up close to them, and were destroyed, one of them being captured with its crew.

After the Syracusans had sunk seven Athenian ships and disabled many more, having taken some of the men prisoners and killed others, they retired, and erected trophies for both the engagements; entertaining now a confident hope that by sea they were very decidedly superior, and thinking that they should conquer the enemy's land forces also. Accordingly they began to prepare for making another attack in both ways.