28.6
It was
not till the fourth day after their arrival that they commenced the attack, the
interval having been spent in secret conferences with Plator, whom Philip
had made commandant of the garrison. The city has two citadels, one
overlooking the sea, the other in the heart of the city. From the latter a
subterranean passage leads down to the sea, and at one time terminated in a
tower five stories high, which formed an imposing defence. Here a violent
contest took place, for the tower was plentifully stored with missiles of every
kind, and the engines and artillery had been brought up from the ships for
use against the walls. Whilst every one's attention was engrossed by the
struggle going on here, Plator admitted the Romans through the gate of the
seaward citadel, and this was captured at once. Then the defenders, finding
themselves forced back into the city, tried to gain the other citadel. Men who
were posted here for the purpose closed the gates against them, and thus
shut out from both citadels they were killed or made prisoners. The
Macedonian garrison stood in a close phalanx under the wall of the citadel,
neither attempting to flee nor taking an active part in the fighting. Plator
persuaded Sulpicius to let them go and they were placed on board and
landed at Demetrium in Phthiotis. Plator himself joined Attalus. Encouraged
by his easy success at Oreus, Sulpicius sailed at once with his victorious fleet
to Chalcis, but here the result by no means answered his expectations. The
sea which is wide and open at each end of the Euripus contracts here into a
narrow channel, which at first sight presents the appearance of a double
harbour with two mouths opposite each other. But it would be difficult to
find a more dangerous roadstead for a fleet. Sudden tempestuous winds
sweep down from the lofty mountains on both sides, and the Euripus does
not, as is commonly asserted, ebb and flow seven times a day at regular
intervals, but its waters, driven haphazard like the wind first in one direction
and then in another, rush along like a torrent down the side of a precipitous
mountain, so that ships are never in quiet waters day or night. After
Sulpicius had anchored his fleet in these treacherous waters, he found that
the town was protected on the one side by the sea, and on the other, the land
side, by very strong fortifications, whilst the strength of its garrison and the
loyalty of the officers, so different from the duplicity and treason at Oreus,
made it impregnable. After surveying the difficulties of his position, the
Roman commander acted wisely in desisting from his rash enterprise, and
without any further loss of time sailed away to Cynos in Locris, a place
situated about a mile from the sea, which served as the emporium of the
Opuntians.