25.24
By this
time a thousand men had got possession of that section of the wall. They
went on as far as the Hexapylon without meeting a soul, as the majority of
those on guard in the bastions were either stupid with wine after their revels
or were drinking themselves drunk. They killed a few, however, whom they
surprised in their beds. When they reached the Hexapylon they gave the
signal, and the rest of the troops marched up to the walls bringing more
scaling ladders with them. The postern gate near the Hexapylon was giving
way to the violence of the blows, and the agreed signal was given from the
wall. They no longer attempted to conceal their movements, but commenced
an open attack, as they had now reached Epipolae, where there was a large
force on guard, and their object was now to frighten rather than elude the
enemy. They succeeded perfectly. For no sooner were the notes of the
trumpets heard and the shouts of those who held the wall and a part of the
city, than the men on guard thought that every part was taken, and some fled
along the wall, others leaped from it, and a crowd of panic-struck citizens
took to headlong flight. A great many, however, were ignorant of the great
disaster that had befallen them, for everybody was heavy with, wine and
sleep, and in a city of such vast extent what was happening in one part was
not known to the population generally.
At daybreak Marcellus forced the gates of the Hexapylon and
entered the city with his entire force, rousing the citizens who all betook
themselves to arms, prepared to render what help they could to a city which
was all but captured. Epicydes made a hurried march from the Island -its
local name is Nasos -under the impression that a few men had succeeded in
scaling the walls owing to the negligence of the guards and that he would
soon drive them out. He told the terrified fugitives whom he met that they
were adding to the confusion and making things out to be more serious and
alarming than they really were. When, however, he saw every place round
Epipolae full of armed men, he simply discharged a few missiles at the enemy
and marched back to the Achradina, not so much through fear of the
strength and numbers of the enemy as of some opening for treason from
within, which might close the gates of Achradina and the Island against him
in the confusion. When Marcellus mounted the fortifications and saw from
his higher ground the city below him, the fairest city of the time, he is said to
have shed tears at the sight, partly through joy at his great achievement,
partly at the memory of its ancient glories. He thought of the Athenian fleets
which had been sunk in that harbour, of the two great armies with their
famous generals which had been annihilated there, of all of its many powerful
kings and tyrants, above all, of Hiero, whose memory was so fresh, and who,
in addition to all his endowments of fortune and character, had distinguished
himself by his services to Rome. As all this passed through his mind and with
it the thought that in one short hour all he saw round him would be burnt
and reduced to ashes, he decided, before advancing against Achradina, to
send the Syracusans, who, as already stated, were with the Roman troops,
into the city to try if kind words could induce the enemy to surrender the
place.