upt. In reality it is extremely
difficult to distinguish the rising ground of Epipolae upon the
southern side from the plain, so very gradual is the line of ascent
and so comparatively even is the rocky surface of the hill.
Thucydides, in narrating the night attack of Demosthenes upon the
lines of Gylippus (book vii. 43-45), lays stress upon the necessity
of approaching Epipolae from the western side by Euryalus, and again
asserts that during the hurried retreat of the Athenians great
numbers died by leaping from the cliffs, while still more had to
throw away their armour. At this time the Athenian army was encamped
upon the shore of the Great Harbour, and held trenches and a wall
that stretched from that side at least halfway across Epipolae. It
seems therefore strange that, unless their movements were impeded by
counterworks and lines of walls, of which we have no information,
the troops of Demosthenes should not, at least in their retreat,
have been able to pour down over the gentle descent of Epipolae
toward the Anapus, instead of returning to Euryalus. Anyhow, we can
scarcely discern cliffs of more than ten feet upon the southern
slope of Epipolae, nor can we understand why the Athenians should
have been forced to take these in their line of retreat. There must
have been some artificial defences of which we read nothing, and of
which no traces now remain, but which were sufficient to prevent
them from choosing their ground. Slight difficulties of this kind
raise the question whether the wonderful clearness of Thucydides in
detail was really the result of personal observation, or whether his
graphic style enabled him to give the appearance of scrupulous
accuracy. I incline to think that the author of the sixth and
seventh books of the History must have visited Syracuse, and that if
we could see his own map of Epipolae, we should better be able to
understand the difficulties of the backward night march of
Demosthenes, by discovering that there was some imperative necessity
for not descending, as seems natural, upon the open slope of the
hill to the south. The position of Euryalus at the extreme point
called Mongibellisi is clear enough. Here the ground, which has been
continually rising from the plateau of Achradina (the northern
suburb of Syracuse), comes to an abrupt finish. Between Mongibellisi
and the Belvedere hill beyond there is a deep depression, and the
slope to Euryalus either from the south or north is gra