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==Athenian Losses==

According to Thucydides ‘this was the greatest Greek achievement of any in this war, or, in my opinion, in Greek history; at once most glorious to the victors, and most calamitous to the conquered.’ <ref>Thucydides,7-85</ref> The entire Athenian army and navy was destroyed. The expedition that had sought to conquer the island of Sicily was a complete disaster. It is impossible to know the extent of the Athenian losses. It is thought that the Athenians lost some one hundred ships. These were expensive to build and would take the Athenians years to replace them.<ref> Bagnall, Nigel. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312342152/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0312342152&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=29e68e8d1bdf4f43dd5ef23496e2ea1c The Peloponnesian War: Athens, Sparta, And The Struggle For Greece]</i> (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2006), p. 213</ref> As significant as the loss of the ships were the deaths or capture of the many trained oarsmen. The Athenians navy was reliant on these men to power their triremes and again it took years to replace these men. The entire army was annihilated by the Syracuse and their allies. One again exact figures are impossible to determine but the Athenians certainly lost several thousand soldiers and cavalrymen.<ref>Bagnall, p 289</ref> Per one historian ‘The total number of prisoners taken would be difficult to state exactly, but it could not have been less than 7,000.’ <ref> Thucydides, [7-85] </ref>