With the support of the assembly and the Athenian people in the summer of 415, the extraordinary Athenian fleet set off for Sicily. Another mistake Athens made was hiring commanders who were not actually good commanders in the first place. To head the expedition, the assembly appointed both Alcibiades and Nicias as commanders, that way neither political faction in Athens could claim that its leader was undermining the efforts of the other. To mediate and accomodate, a third commander was named, Lamachus. As the expedition headed out, the three generals had a difficult time with committing to a single solid strategy. Nicias proposed that they set sail for Selinous at once, while Alcibiades argued that they should try to gain allies before attacking. Lamachus just wanted to get to Syracuse [4]. The fact that the generals were so divided in their proposals also reflects on their by selection by the Athenians at home and on the vagueness of the actual goal of the expedition.
