History of the Peloponnesian War

And the Athenians manned forty ships to send to them, partly because they believed that the war in Sicily could sooner be brought to an end in this way, and partly because they wished to give practice to their fleet.

Accordingly they despatched one of their generals, Pythodorus, with a few ships, and were planning later on to send Sophocles son of Sostratidas and Eurymedon son of Thucles with the main body of the fleet.

Pythodorus, now that he had taken over the command of Laches' ships, sailed toward the end of the winter against the Locrian fort which Laches had previously captured;[*](cf. ch. xcix.) but he was defeated in battle by the Locrians and returned to Rhegium.