We must now return for a moment to the Syracusans under Gylippus, who
remained in their camp all night, not far from the pass which they had
so successfully defended. When they found in the morning that the
Athenians had departed, they were loud in their anger against
Gylippus, thinking that he had purposely suffered them to escape. The
tracks of so many thousands left no room for doubt as to the direction
which the fugitives had taken, and full of rage at the supposed
treachery of their leader, the Syracusans set out at once in hot
pursuit. About noon, on the sixth day of the retreat, they overtook
the division of Demosthenes, which had again lagged behind, and was
marching slowly and in disorder separated from the other half of the
army by a distance of six miles. Deprived of all hope of succour from
his colleague, and hemmed in on all sides by implacable enemies,
Demosthenes called a halt, and prepared to make his last stand. But
his men, who from the first had held the post of honour and danger,
were fearfully reduced in numbers, faint with famine, and exhausted by
their long march. Driven to and fro by the incessant charges of the
Syracusan cavalry, they could make no effective resistance, and at
last they huddled pell-mell into a walled enclosure, planted with
olive-trees, and skirted on either side by a road.
Pages:
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280