History of the Peloponnesian War

And seeing that the counter-wall of the Syracusans, by which they had prevented the Athenians from circumvallating them, was but a single one, and that if any one had carried the ascent to Epipolae, and then the camp on it, the work might easily be taken, (for no one at all would so much as wait his attack,) he was in a hurry to make the attempt.

And this he thought was his shortest way of bringing the war to a conclusion; for he would either gain possession of Syracuse by succeeding in his design, or lead back the armament, and not exhaust for no purpose both the Athenians who joined the expedition and the whole state.