the Athenians in reply sent ships to Sicily rS ,z' OlKGlOrTfTOS rpo4aat, "but what they wanted was to prevent grain from the West being imported into the Peloponnese and they were making a preliminary experiment to see if it would be possible for them to gain control of affairs in Sicily" (3.86.4). Indeed Thucydides makes it clear that in all the expeditions sent by the Athenians to Sicily the pre- text of helping an ally or a friend was really the cloak for more ambitious schemes.