of peace.

He stood before the wall which had been built under his direction one
night to hold back the invader. Upon it he saw the helmets of only a few
defenders. The besieger was directing his attacks against the upper
part. That side of the city where the early battles had taken place was
almost abandoned. The guardians on the wall greeted Actaeon with loud
shouts of surprise and joy, and they lowered a rope of esparto to help
him climb up by means of the rough places on the wall, until he could
enter through a crenel near the top. All surrounded the Greek eagerly.
It seemed as if he were in the presence of spectres. Their bodies
appeared ready to slip out of their ample armor; their faces, sad,
yellow, parchment-like, were hidden beneath the visors of their helmets;
their fleshless, wrinkled hands could barely sustain their weapons, and
a strange, golden effulgence glowed in their eyes.

Actaeon parried their flood of questions with kind words of
encouragement. He would speak opportunely; he must first render an
account of his mission to the Elders of the Senate. They must be calm;
before night they should know all. Filled with commiseration in the
presence of these heroes, he lied mercifully, declaring that Rome would
not forget Saguntum, and that he had come in advance of the legions sent
by the allies.

From the houses nearby, from the streets close to the wall, issued men
and women drawn by news of the arrival of the Greek. They surrounded
him, they questioned him; all wished to be first to receive the news to
scatter it through the city. Defending himself from them, Actaeon gazed
with horror at their lean, yellow faces, their earthy skin outlining the
prominent sutures of their skulls; their sunken eyes in their black
orbits shining with an unearthly light, like fading stars reflected in
the depths of a well, and their emaciated arms, which creaked like
canes as they moved them with nervous emotion.

He started onward, escorted by the multitude, preceded by boys
absolutely nude, horrible to look at, with skins ready to break from the
pressure of their ribs outlined one above the other, with enormously
large heads above their fleshless necks. They staggered painfully, as if
their tottering, thread-like limbs could not bear the weight of their
bodies; some, to lessen their suffering, dragged themselves along the
ground, lacking the strength to stand.

Actaeon beheld a deserted corpse lying in a corner, the