In the mean time, the whole line of ladders extending along the wall
were crowded with men, all forcing their way upward against the
resistance which the besieged opposed to them from above; while
thousands of troops, drawn up below as near as possible to the scene
of conflict, were throwing a shower of darts, arrows, javelins,
spears, and other missiles, to aid the storming party by driving away
the besieged from the top of the wall. By these means those who were
mounting the ladders were so much aided in their efforts that they
soon succeeded in gaining possession of the wall, and thus made
themselves masters of the city.

Pyrrhus then, in fulfillment of his vow, instituted a great
celebration, and devoted several days to games, spectacles, shows, and
public rejoicings of all kinds, intended to express his devout
gratitude to Hercules for the divine assistance which the god had
vouchsafed to him in the assault by which the city had been carried.

By the result of this battle, and of some other military operations
which we can not here particularly describe, the Carthaginians were
driven from the open field and compelled to shut themselves up in
their strongholds, or retire to the fastnesses of the mountains, where
they found places of refuge and defense from which Pyrrhus could not
at once dislodge them. Accordingly, leaving things at present as they
were in the Carthaginian or western part of the island, he proceeded
to attack the Mamertines in the eastern part. He was equally
successful here. By means of the tact and skill which he exercised in
his military arrangements and maneuvers, and by the desperate bravery
and impetuosity which he displayed in battle, he conquered wherever he
came. He captured and destroyed many of the strongholds of the
Mamertines, drove them entirely out of the open country, and shut them
up in Messana. Thus the island was almost wholly restored to the
possession of the Sicilians, while yet the foreign intruders, though
checked and restrained, were not, after all, really expelled.

The Carthaginians sent messengers to him proposing terms of peace.
Their intention was, in these proposals, to retain their province in
Sicily, as heretofore, and to agree with Pyrrhus in respect to a
boundary, each party being required by the proposed treaty to confine
themselves within their respective limits, as thus ascertained.
Pyrrhus, however, replied that he could entertain no such proposals.
He answer