IN A MASS so that when they fell into the water they were sunk by the impact.  At last in an incredible manner he destroyed the whole Roman fleet by conflagration.  By tilting a kind of mirror toward the sun he concentrated the sun’s beams on it; and as the thickness and smoothness of the mirror cooeperated to ignite the air from these beams he kindled a great flame, all of which he directed upon the ships that lay at anchor in the path of the fire, and he consumed them all.  Marcellus, therefore, despairing of capturing the city on account of the inventiveness of Archimedes thought to take it by famine after a regular investment.  This duty he assigned to Pulcher while he himself turned his attention to those who had participated in the revolt of Syracuse.  Any who yielded were granted pardon, but those who resisted he treated harshly, and he captured a number of the cities by force, some also by betrayal.  In the meantime Himilco had come from Carthage with an army, had occupied Agrigentum and Heraclea and had reached Syracuse.  There he was first defeated, then was in turn victorious, and finally was beaten by a sudden assault on the part of Marcellus.

IX, 5.—­Thereafter Marcellus was still investing Syracuse.  Hannibal was passing his time in Calabria. [Sidenote:  B.C. 212 (a.u. 542)] The Romans, moreover, had again experienced many and disagreeable reverses.  The consuls had received a setback near Capua, Gracchus had died in Lucania, Tarentum and other cities had revolted, Hannibal, previously cowed, remained in Italy and had marched upon Rome, and both the Scipios had perished.  Elated by these events Hannibal undertook to render assistance to Capua.  He went as far as Beneventum, then, ascertaining that Claudius had returned from Samnium into Lucania on account of the death of Gracchus, he became afraid that the Romans might secure control of parts of it, and he advanced no farther but turned to meet Claudius.—­Upon the death of the Scipios the whole of Spain was thrown into disorder.  Some towns voluntarily went over to the Carthaginians and others under compulsion, even if they did later swing back to the Roman side.

Marcellus, finding that he was accomplishing naught by assault on Syracuse, thought of the following scheme.  There was a vulnerable spot in the Syracusans’ wall, which they called Galeagra; it had never before been recognized as such, but the fact was at this time discovered.  He waited till the whole town of Syracuse celebrated an all night festival to Artemis and then bade some soldiers scale the wall at that point.  After that some gates were opened by them and, as soon as a few others had gone in, all, both inside and outside, at a given signal raised a shout and struck their spears upon their shields, and the trumpeters blew a blast, with the result that utter panic overwhelmed the Syracusans, who were anyway somewhat the worse for drink, and the city was captured with the exception of Achradina and what is called the “island.”