When it was
completed, this counterwork consisted of a solid stone wall, crowned
with wooden towers, and defended in front by a palisade. The blockade
of Syracuse was thus rendered impossible, as long as the defenders
could keep possession of their counterwall. But unfortunately the
guards left in charge of the new wail soon began to neglect their
duty, and erected tents in the shade, where they passed the hot hours
of the afternoon, while some even left their posts, and went off to
refresh themselves in the city. The Athenian generals did not fail to
take advantage of this negligence. Watching their opportunity, when
most of the Syracusan guards were reposing under the shelter of the
tents, they sent a chosen troop of some three hundred men to make a
sudden assault on the counterwall. Then, having divided the main body
of the Athenian army between them, they disposed their forces so as to
prevent any rescue from the town. One division was drawn up before the
principal gate in the new Syracusan wall, while the other proceeded to
a postern-gate, at the point where the counterwall started from the
city. The combined movement was completely successful; the three
hundred carried the stockade and cross-wall by storm, and compelled
the defenders to take refuge within the ramparts of Syracuse.
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