Page:History of Greece Vol XI.djvu/175

 T1MOLEON NEAR SYRACUSE. 145 eluding its appurtenances, was taken, with scarcely the lo.*s of a man. Hiketas escaped with the rest to Syracuse. 1 This victory, so rapidly and skilfully won and the acquisition of Adranum which followed it produced the strongest sensation throughout Sicily. It counted even for more than a victory ; it was a declaration of the gods in favor of Timoleon. The inhab itants of the holy town, opening their gates and approaching him with awe-stricken reverence, recounted the visible manifestations of the god Adranus in his favor. At the moment when the battle was commencing, they had seen the portals of their temple spon- taneously burst open, and the god brandishing his spear, with profuse perspiration on his face. 2 Such facts, verified and at- tested in a place of peculiar sanctity, and circulated from thence throughout the neighboring communities, contributed hardly less than the victory to exalt the glory >f Timoleon. He received offers of alliance from Tyndaris and several other towns, as well as from Mamerkus despot of Katana, one of the most warlike and powerful princes in the island. 3 So numerous were the rein- forcements thus acquired, and so much was his confidence en- hanced by recent success, that he now ventured to march even under the walls of Syracuse, and defy Hiketas ; who did not think it prudent to hazard a second engagement with the victor of Adranum. 4 1 Plutarch, Timoleon, c. 12 ; Diodor. xvi. 68. Diodorus and Plutarch agree in the numbers both of killed and of prisoners on the side of Hiketas. 3 Plutarch, Timoleon, c. 13; Diodor. xvi. 69. 4 Diodor. xvi. 68, 69. That Timoleon marched up to Syracuse, i;. stated by Diodorus, though not by Plutarch. I follow Diodorus so far; Because it makes the subsequent proceedings in regard to Dionysius more clear and intelligible. But Diodorus adds two further matters, which cannot be correct. He affirms that Timoleon pursued Hiketas at a running pace (dpofiaiof ) imme- diately from the field of battle at Adranum to Syracuse ; and that he then got possession of the portion of Syracuse called Epipolae. Now it was with some difficulty that Timoleon could get his troops even np to the field of battle at Adranum, without some previous repose : sc Jong and fatiguing was the march which they had undergone from Tauro menium. It is therefore impossible that they can have been either inclined or competent to pursue (at a rapid pace) Hiketas immediately from tlir field of battle at Adranum to Svracuse. 13*
 * Plutarch, Timoleon, c. 12.