31.24
Philip
was in Demetrias at the time. When the disaster that had overtaken a friendly
city was announced to him, he determined, as he was too late to save it, to
do the next best thing and avenge it. With a force of 5000 infantry in light
marching order and 300 cavalry he went almost at a run to Chalcis, not for a
moment doubting that he would be able to take the Romans by surprise.
Finding that there was nothing to see but the uninviting spectacle of a
smoking and ruined city in which hardly enough men were left to bury the
victims of the war, he hurried away at the same speed and crossing the
Euripus by the bridge marched through Boeotia to Athens, thinking that as
he had shown as much enterprise as the Romans he would have the same
success. And he would have had, if a scout had not observed the king's army
on the march from a watch-tower. This man was what the Greeks call a
hemerodromos, because these men cover enormous distances in a single day,
and running on in advance he reached Athens at midnight. Here there was
the same somnolence and negligence which had brought about the loss of
Chalcis a few days before. Roused by the breathless messenger, the Athenian
commander-in-chief and Dioxippus the prefect of the cohort of mercenaries
mustered their soldiers in the forum and ordered the trumpets to sound the
alarm from the citadel so that all might know that the enemy was at hand.
There was a general rush to the gates and the walls.
Some hours later, though considerably before daybreak. Philip
approached the city. When he saw the numerous lights and heard the noise
of men hurrying to and fro in the inevitable confusion, he halted his force and
ordered them to lie down and rest. As his attempt at a surprise had failed he
prepared for an open assault and made his advance on the side of the
Dipylon. This gate, placed as a mouth to the city, is considerably larger and
wider than the rest, and the road on both sides of it is broad, so that the
townsmen were able to form their line right up to it from the forum, whilst
the road beyond it stretching for about a mile as far as the Academy allowed
plenty of room for the infantry and cavalry of the enemy. After forming their
line inside the gate, the Athenians, together with the detachment which
Attalus had left and Dioxippus' cohort, sallied forth. As soon as he saw them
Philip thought he had them in his power and would be able to satisfy his
long-cherished desire for their destruction, for there was not one of the
Greek States that he was more furious against than he was against Athens.
After exhorting his men to keep their eyes on him as they fought and to
remember that where the king was, there the standards and the fighting line
ought to be, he put spurs to his horse, animated not only by raging anger but
also by a love of ostentation. He thought it a splendid thing to be seen
fighting by the immense crowd who thronged the walls to view the
spectacle. Galloping forward in front of his lines with a few horsemen he
charged into the middle of the enemy and created as much alarm amongst
them as he inspired his own men with enthusiasm. Many he wounded at
close quarters, others by the missiles he flung, and he drove them back to
their gate where he inflicted greater losses as they crowded through the
confined space. Recklessly as he pursued them, he was still able to draw off
in safety because those who were on the turrets of the gate forbore to throw
their javelins for fear of hitting their own comrades who were mixed up with
the enemy. After this the Athenians kept within their walls, and Philip after
giving the signal for retirement fixed his camp at Cynosarges where there
was a temple of Hercules and a gymnasium with a grove round it. But
Cynosarges and the Lyceum and every sacred and delightful place round the
city was burnt. Not only were buildings destroyed but even the tombs,
nothing belonging to either gods or men was spared in his uncontrollable
fury.