Page:History of Greece Vol XI.djvu/120

 M HISTORY OF GREECE. of clamorous joy, in which men and women, freemen and slaves, took part alike ; the outburst of feelings long compressed and relieved from the past despotism with its inquisitorial pclice and garrison. It was not yet time for Dion to yield to these pleasing but pas- sive impulses. Having infused courage into his soldiers as wel.' as into the citizens by his triumphant procession through Achra- dina, he descended to the level ground in front of Ortygia, Thin strong hold was still occupied by the Dionysian garrison, whom ho thus challenged to come forth and fight. But the flight of Timo- krates had left them without orders, while the imposing demon- stration and unanimous rising of the people in Achradina which they must partly have witnessed from their walls, and part- ly learnt through fugitive spies and partisans struck them with discouragement and terror ; so that they were in no disposition to quit the shelter of their fortifications. Their backwardness was hailed as a confession of inferiority by the insurgent citizens, whom Dion now addressed as an assembly of freemen. Hard by, in front of the acropolis with its Pentapyla or five gates, there stood a lofty and magnificent sun-dial, erected by the elder Diony- sius. Mounting on the top of this edifice, with the muniments of the despot on the one side and the now liberated Achradina on the other, Dion addressed 1 an animated harangue to the Syracu- 1 Plutarch, Dion, c. 29; Diodor. xvi. 10,11. The description which Plutarch gives of the position of this sun-dial is distinct, and the harangue which Dion delivered, while standing upon it, is an impressive fact : 'Hi> f vtrb TTJV aKpo7ro7i.iv not TU TTEVTu.~v7.aj Atowaiov KaraaKEVucavTOft likiorpoKiov Kara^avcf KOI v^rfkov. 'E7r2 rovru irpoofiuf tdqftri-yoptyire, nal Trapupfir/ae rovt; KO'/UTCU; uVT%e(T&ai TTJS ifawd-fpiae. The sun-dial was thus under the acropolis, that is, in the low ground im- mediately adjoining to Ortygia; near the place where the elder Dionysius is stated to have placed his large porticos and market-house (Diodor. xiv. 7 ), and where the younger Dionysius erected the funeral monument to his father (xv. 74). In order to arrive at the sun-dial, Dion must have de scended from the height of Achradina. Now Plutarch mentions that Dion went up through Achradina (avyei 6td 1% '^pa6iv}/. It is plain that he must have come down again from Achradina, though Plutarch does not specially mention it. And if he brought his men close under the walls of the enemy's garrison, this can hardly have been for any other reason than that which I have assigned in the text. Plutarch indicates the separate 'ocalitics with tolerable clearness, hut