25.30
The
envoys came back from their interview with Marcellus just at the right
moment, and were able to assure them that their suspicions were groundless
and that the Romans saw no reason why they should visit them with
punishment. One of the three commanders in Achradina was a Spaniard
named Moericus, and amongst those who accompanied the envoys a soldier
from the Spanish auxiliaries had designedly been introduced. When they had
entered Achradina this man obtained a private interview with Moericus and
described to him the state of affairs in Spain, which he had quite recently left,
and how everything there was under the power of Rome. If Moericus chose
to make himself of use to the Romans, he might be a leading man among his
countrymen, and either take service under the Roman standard or return to
his own country, whichever he chose. But if on the other hand he preferred
to remain under siege, what hope had he of relief, shut in as he was by sea
and land? Moericus was impressed by the force of these arguments, and after
it had been decided to send envoys to Marcellus, he sent his brother as one
of them. The same Spanish soldier conducted him by himself to Marcellus. In
this interview the details were settled and Marcellus pledged himself to
observe the conditions, after which the envoys returned to Achradina. In
order to avoid the least chance of suspicion Moericus made it known that he
disapproved of envoys going to and fro, and gave orders that none were to
be admitted and none sent. Also, with a view to greater security, he thought
that the conduct of the defence ought to be properly distributed amongst the
three commanders, so that each might be responsible for his own section of
the fortifications. They all agreed. In the division, his command extended
from the fountain of Arethusa to the mouth of the Great Harbour, and he
managed to let the Romans know that. So Marcellus ordered a cargo ship
filled with troops to be towed by a quadrireme to the Island, and the men to
land near the gate adjoining the fountain. This order was carried out in the
fourth watch, and Moericus, as previously arranged, admitted the soldiers
through the gate. At dawn Marcellus attacked Achradina with his full
strength, and not only those who were actually holding it, but the troops in
Nasos also, left their posts and ran to defend Achradina from the assault of
the Romans. In the confusion of the attack some swift vessels, which had
previously been brought round to Nasos, landed troops. These making an
unexpected attack upon the half-manned posts, and rushing through the
gates, still open, out of which the garrison had just sallied to defend
Achradina, had little trouble in capturing a position which had been
abandoned owing to the flight of its defenders. There were none who did
less to defend the place or to maintain their ground with any spirit than the
deserters; they did not even trust their own comrades, and fled in the middle
of the fighting. When Marcellus learnt that Nasos was captured and one
district of Achradina occupied, and that Moericus with his men had joined
the Romans, he ordered the retreat to be sounded, for he was afraid that the
royal treasure, the fame of which exceeded the reality, might fall into the
hands of plunderers.
