So he gave the order to march, and led his
troops up the ridge of hills which slope down towards Amphipolis on
the eastern side, where the town was defended by a single line of
wall, reaching from the northern to the southern bend of the river. He
was far from supposing that anyone would come out to attack him; he
only wanted, he said, to take a good view of the place, and when his
reinforcements arrived, he would surround the city on all sides, and
carry it by assault. For his wonderful good fortune at Pylos had given
him unbounded confidence in his powers as a strategist, and he thought
that Amphipolis would prove a second Pylos, forgetting that here he
had a Brasidas to deal with, and no Demosthenes to do the work for
him. When he reached the top of the ascent, he called a halt, and took
a leisurely survey of the wide sweep of country spread below him,--to
the north, the broad, marshy waters of Lake Cercynitis, from which the
river issues just above the town,--eastwards, the towering summit of
Mount Pangaeus,--and on the other side, just beneath his feet, the
devoted city, which now seemed cowering, silent and deserted, as if
conscious of Cleon's eagle glance. The gates were closed, and not a
man was to be seen on the battlements. "What a pity," remarked Cleon,
"that we brought no siege-engines with us! We might have battered down
the wall, and marched in at once,--there is none to oppose us.
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