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Often appears with: siege and fortification · strategy and the aims of war · naval warfare and sea power · marcellus · conspiracy and assassination · timoleon · nicias procrastination · military discipline and training · gaesylus the spartan · dion and heraclides · diana festival · demosthenes
Usually: narrative (5) · sudden reversal of fortune (2) · the test or trial (2) · detachment (2) · betrayal (1) · indignation (1) · praise (1) · skepticism (1) · wonder (1)
“one man and one intellect, properly qualified for the particular undertaking, is a host in itself and of extraordinary efficacy.” Polybius, The Histories of Polybius, Vol. 1 (of 2) · insight
“The truth of which was attested by several there present, who could not choose but wonder too at the strange dexterity of fortune's operations, the facility with which she makes one event the spring and motion to something wholly different.” Plutarch, Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans · insight
“For in the beginning of spring, Marcellus being in doubt whether he should direct the operations of the war against Himilco and Hippocrates at Agrigentum, or press the siege of Syracuse, though he saw that it was impossible to take the city by force, which, from its situation, both with respect to sea and land, was impregnable, nor by famine, as it was supported by an uninterrupted supply of provisions from Carthage, yet that he might leave no course untried, directed the Syracusan deserters” Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Books 09 to 26 · insight
During the active siege of Capua, Marcellus finishes the siege of Syracuse using an internal conspiracy: exiles communicate, a failed plot is exposed and punished, then a ladder assault during Diana’s festival succeeds.
would not sustain his approach. The ambassadors, dismissed with these hopes, with difficulty effected their return to Capua, which was by this time surrounded by a double trench and rampart. 23. At the time when the circumvallation of Capua was carrying on with the greatest activity, the siege of Syracuse, which had been forwarded by intestine treachery, in addition to the efforts and bravery of the general and his …
Plutarch explains how Timoleon’s sudden success in Sicily leads Corinthians to send reinforcements, while Hicetes besieges Syracuse, attempts an assassination during a festival, and is thwarted with divine-fortune reflections.
either foreign to my purpose of writing Lives, or unprofitable in themselves, by such readers as are not in too much haste, or busied and taken up with other concerns. But if the misfortune of Dionysius appear strange and extraordinary, we shall have no less reason to wonder at the good fortune of Timoleon, who, within fifty days after his landing in Sicily, both recovered the citadel of Syracuse, and sent Dionysius…
After Demosthenes arrives with a fleet and reinforcements to aid Nicias in the Syracusan siege, Nicias hesitates, debates attack plans with Demosthenes, and is pressured to assault Epipolae at night.
worsted, and lost many of their men, causing the greatest dejection to Nicias, who had suffered so much from having the sole command, and now again miscarried through his colleagues. But now, by this time, Demosthenes with his splendid fleet came in sight outside the harbor, a terror to the enemy. He brought along, in seventy-three galleys, five thousand men at arms; of darters, archers, and slingers, not less than…
Dion defeats Heraclides’s fleet near Syracuse after a night ride, recruits a Spartan ally via Gaesylus, then the Syracusans press the blockade until Dionysius’s son capitulates and is sent to Dion.
not what course to take, being also blamed by all his friends for having thus fortified against himself such a perverse and jealous and utterly corrupted man as Heraclides was. Pharax at this time lay encamped at Neapolis, in the territory of Agrigentum. Dion, therefore, led out the Syracusans, but with an intent not to engage him till he saw a fit opportunity. But Heraclides and his seamen exclaimed against him, t…
Romans under Appius Claudius and Marcellus prepare to assault Syracuse at Hexapylus and by sea, but Archimedes’ defenses and inventions thwart them, turning assault attempts into a long blockade.
[Sidenote: The siege turned into a blockade, B.C. 214. Coss. Q. Fabius Maximus IV. M. Claudius Marcellus III.] +9.+ Nor was Appius Claudius more successful. He, too, was compelled by similar difficulties to desist from the attempt; for while his men were still at a considerable distance from the wall, they began falling by the stones and shots from the engines and catapults. The volleys of missiles, indeed, were ext…