very strongly fortified. We spoke thus, and the speech flowed away at random, itself as well. And the small stone-throwers were vexing the city, casting so skillfully as to hit the modioi, which, tied to the masts of ships and suspended high, concealed men inside, who were accustomed to send down injurious things from there, to aim true and break them continuously, and to cause a struggle for the fighters to pour out from there below and save themselves; but such things were like the darts of infants when compared to the great mother engine, if one must furnish some thought from the wise general, who, amazed at the crash of the stones being launched from there, said, “Listen to the old woman,” being so impassive and moderate, and appearing, I think, to imagine his own nurse who raised him, suffering over him and weeping. And using Laconic phrasing in another way, as if in a modification, he would mumble, “the old woman is in labor again.” But this saying was then divinely inspired in a certain Pythian manner, that the most ancient Thessalonica was perishing towards the phantoms of the dead, just as long ago, as it has come down to us from history. And the stones were precisely a man's burden, such as the Laestrygonians handled against those around Odysseus. So then, as the evil below opened up the solidness of the wall into a considerable chasm, and above was being forced to tremble by such stones, 100 that which had suffered both at its feet and in its upper parts crouches and somehow sinks to its knee, having at first stood firm resourcefully, until the sappers, having completed their contest, returned to the tents of their fellow barbarians, and the things placed as a support in the tunnel were burned down, so as to give way from there to the collapse of the wall. And when it had thus been bent sideways, its top happened to be split from above all the way to the bottom, where it was somehow barbed at an angle, and to gape open for our destruction. For when the connecting bond was loosened, it was split by necessity, because the adjoining side could not be fitted in its proper position, as the one next to it was giving way sideways under the weight, but sending out some part of itself, it let it follow its leaning neighbor; and thus a chasm of Hades, widened against us, has dragged us down into a barren chaos. And this place was the tower named after Chamaedracon, for the one assigned to command it along with the not-inactive soldiers around him, a man then a tactician, and later a fellow sufferer with us; who alone of the others was detained in the city, apparently on account of illness, but otherwise by divine providence and sharing our consoling struggles, was, as they say, a hair's breadth away and looked at death, had we not, as the God of wisdom devised, expanded the line of this hair as if into some broad plane, and prolonged the time, through which the barbarian's fury was softened, we ourselves also contributed something to the man for the good of the life which he now has. Therefore, when that wall had suffered as it suffered, since day dawned and both the enemy and our own people saw the charonian chasm there, the former gaped savagely at us for the future, but for us, with our eyes closed, all hope was shut out. And before this the general was bold, boasting to those who knew well that the wall would not fare well, that even if it should fall, he himself, having carefully chosen the best of the army, would raise up an iron wall, the one made of arms, and for up to forty days would be the guardian of the city, but then the man-breaker, bold only in word, was cut short of his boasts by the breach of the wall, and not remaining the same man, he turned away in the opposite direction. For at the same time he beheld a war spear at the breach, of one of the sailors who had climbed up, whom the ship of Siphantos had sailed as men manly and skillful in such things (Siphantos was a pirate, who had willingly joined the Sicilians according to some agreed pact; who also, having captured us, entertained us as guests, for so it must be said, on his 102 ship, as we shall also briefly set forth in our narrative below), at the same time, then, the trembling David saw this, and at the same time casting his manly promises behind him and contracting the forty days to not even a minute of an hour, he showed his back

ἐρυμνότατα. Εἴπομεν ἡμεῖς οὕτως καὶ ὁ λόγος εἰκῇ ἀπέρρευσε καὶ αὐτός. Καὶ ἐλύπουν μὲν τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰ μικρὰ πετροβόλα, οὕτω δεξιῶς βάλλοντα, ὡς καὶ τοὺς μοδίους, οἳ πλοίων ἱστοῖς ἐνδεδεμένοι μετέωροι ἔκρυπτον ἔνδον ἄνδρας, εἰωθότας ἐκεῖθεν καταπέμπειν τὰ βλάπτοντα, συνεχῶς εὔσκοπα βάλλειν καὶ κατακλᾶν καὶ ἀγῶνα παρέχειν τοῖς μαχηταῖς ἐκεῖθεν διεκχεῖσθαι κάτω καὶ περισῴζεσθαι· ἦσαν δὲ τὰ τοιαῦτα ὡσεὶ καὶ βέλη νηπίων πρὸς τὴν μητέρα μεγάλην μηχανὴν παραβαλλόμενα, εἴ τι χρὴ ἐκ τοῦ σοφοῦ στρατηγοῦ πορίσασθαί τι νόημα, ὃς τοὺς ἐκεῖθεν ἐπαφιεμένους λίθους τεθηπὼς τοῦ κτύπου «ἄκουε τὴν γραῖαν» ἔλεγεν, ἀπαθὴς οὕτω τι καὶ μέτριος ὢν καὶ τὴν θρεψαμένην μαῖαν, οἶμαι, φαντάζεσθαι δοκῶν, παθαινομένην ἐπ' αὐτῷ καὶ κλαίουσαν. Λακωνίζων δὲ καὶ ἄλλως ἐκεῖνος τὴν φράσιν ὡς ἐν μεταποιήσει «κάμνει ἡ γραῖα πάλιν» ἐμογγιλάλει. Ἀπεφοίβαζε δὲ ἄρα ὁ λόγος οὗτος κατά τι πυθωνικὸν ὡς ἡ πρεσβυτάτη Θεσσαλονίκη πρὸς εἴδωλα καμόντων οἴχεται, καθὰ καὶ πάλαι ποτέ, ὡς ἐξ ἱστορίας καθήκει καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς. Καὶ ἦσαν οἱ λίθοι ἀκριβῶς ἀνδραχθεῖς, ὁποίους κατὰ τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα οἱ Λαιστρυγόνες διεχειρίζοντο. Τοῦ τοίνυν κακοῦ κάτω μὲν ἀναστομοῦντος εἰς ἀξιόλογον χάσμα τὴν τοῦ τείχους στεγανότητα, ἄνω δὲ τοιούτοις λίθοις εἰς τρόμον βιαζομένου, 100 ὀκλάζει τὸ καὶ τοὺς πόδας καὶ τὰ ὕπερθεν παθὸν καί πως ἐπὶ γόνυ συνιζάνει, τά γε πρῶτα εὐμηχάνως συνεστηκός, ἕως οἱ μὲν ὑπορύττοντες, τὸν κατ' αὐτοὺς ἄεθλον διηνυκότες, ἀποκατέστησαν ταῖς τῶν συμβαρβάρων σκηναῖς, τὰ δὲ ὑποβεβλημένα εἰς ἔρεισμα τῇ διορυγῇ κατεκάη, ὡς δοῦναι τόπον ἐντεῦθεν τῇ κατακύψει τοῦ τείχους. Οὗπερ οὕτως ὑποκλιθέντος εἰς πλαγιασμόν, συμβαίνει τὸ ἐκείνου ἄκρον διαιρεθῆναι ἄνωθεν ἕως καὶ κάτω, ἔνθα πως ἐγλωχινοῦτο γωνιούμενον, καὶ διαχανεῖν εἰς ἡμέτερον ὄλεθρον. Τοῦ γὰρ συνδετικοῦ παραλυθέντος εἱρμοῦ, ἔσχιστο ἐξ ἀνάγκης, ὅτι μηδὲ εἶχεν ἡ ἐχομένη πλευρὰ ἐν καθεστῶτι ἡρμόσθαι, τῆς ἐκ πλαγίων ὑπενδούσης κατὰ βάρος, ἀλλ' ἐκπέμψασά τι ἑαυτῆς, ἀφῆκεν ἐπακολουθεῖν κατακλιθείσῃ τῇ γείτονι· καὶ οὕτω χάσμημα καθ' ἡμῶν Ἅιδου εὐρυνθὲν κατέσπακεν εἰς χάος ἀτρύγετον. Ἦν δὲ ὁ τόπος οὗτος πύργος Χαμαιδράκοντος ἐπικληθεὶς τῷ λαχόντι ἐπιστατεῖν σύν γε τοῖς ἀμφ' αὐτὸν οὐκ ἀεργοῖς στρατιωτικοῖς, ἀνδρὶ τότε μὲν τακτικῷ, ὕστερον καὶ συμπόνῳ ἡμῖν· ὃς μόνος τῶν ἄλλων ἐνσχεθεὶς τῇ πόλει, τὸ μὲν φαινόμενον κατὰ νόσον, ἄλλως δὲ προμηθείᾳ θείᾳ καὶ συναεθλεύων ἡμῖν παρήγορα, θρίξ, ὅ φασιν, ἀνὰ μέσον καὶ ἔβλεπε θάνατον, εἰ μὴ τὸ τῆς τριχὸς ταύτης γραμμικὸν οἷα καὶ εἴς τι πλατὺ ἐπίπεδον ἡμεῖς διαστήσαντες, ὡς ἐμεθόδευσεν ὁ τῆς σοφίας Θεός, καὶ παρατείναντες καιρόν, δι' οὗ ὁ βαρβαρικὸς ἐμαλάχθη θυμός, συνετελέσαμεν τι καὶ αὐτοὶ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ εἰς τὸ καλὸν ἧς ἄρτι ἔχει ζωῆς. Τοῦ τοίνυν τείχους ἐκείνου παθόντος ὡς ἔπαθεν, ἐπείπερ ἡμέρα διέφαυσε καὶ εἶδον τὸ ἐκεῖσε χαρώνειον χάσμα οἵ τε ἐχθροὶ οἵ τε ἡμεδαποί, ἐκεῖνοι μὲν συνέχασκον θηριωδῶς τοῦ λοιποῦ καθ' ἡμῶν, ἡμῖν δὲ συμμύσασι ξύμπασα ἐκλείσθη ἐλπίς. Καὶ ἦν μὲν τὰ πρὸ τούτου θρασὺς ὁ στρατηγὸς κομπάζων πρὸς τοὺς εὖ εἰδότας τὸ τεῖχος οὐκ εὖ πείσεσθαι ὡς, εἰ καὶ καταπεσεῖται, ὅμως αὐτὸς ἐπιλέγδην κρίνας τοὺς ἀρίστους τῆς στρατιᾶς τεῖχος σιδήρεον ἀντιστήσει, τὸ ἐκ τῶν ὅπλων, καὶ ἕως καὶ εἰς τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας φύλαξ ἔσται τῆς πόλεως, τότε δὲ ὁ μέχρι λόγου θρασὺς ῥηξήνωρ τῇ τοῦ τείχους ῥήξει διεκόπη τῶν αὐχημάτων καὶ μὴ μένων ὁ αὐτὸς ἔμπαλιν ἐξένευσεν. Ἅμα γὰρ δόρυ ἐσκέψατο πολεμικὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ ῥήγματος ἀναρριχησαμένου τῶν τινος πλωΐμων, οὓς ἀνδρικοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ δεξιοὺς ἡ τοῦ Σιφάντου ναῦς ἐπλώϊζε (πειρατὴς δὲ ὁ Σιφάντος, ἑκὼν προσχωρήσας τοῖς Σικελοῖς κατά τινα ῥήτρην τὴν συνδόξασαν· ὃς καὶ ἡμᾶς ἑλῶν ἐξένισε, ῥητέον γὰρ οὕτως, ἐπὶ νεὼς τῆς 102 κατ' αὐτόν, ὡς καὶ ὑποκαταβάντες λόγῳ βραχὺ παραστησόμεθα), ἅμα γοῦν οὕτως εἶδεν ὁ τρέσας ∆αυῒδ καὶ ἅμα κατόπιν βαλὼν τὰς ἀνδρικὰς ὑποσχέσεις καὶ τὰς τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας εἰς οὐδὲ λεπτὸν συστείλας ὥρας, ἔδειξε μετάφρενα