When we compare the intestine wars of the Greeks with the sweeping
conquests of the East, we are struck with the vast disproportion in the
numbers of combatants engaged, and we are brought to the conviction
that acts of heroism, devotedness, and patriotism seem more common
and more brilliant where men are but few, than when they are in great
masses. The siege of Platææ was carried on on both sides by such
a small number of combatants, that the issue might be supposed to
have but very little interest; and yet, what a charm there is about
everything that relates to Greece! Its feuds are the most important
wars in history; its warriors and statesmen the most renowned in the
universe, although the territories in question would not equal in
revenue those of great English nobles or millionnaires, and the men in
fact were not above influential burgesses.
The Peloponnesian war began by the Thebans attacking Platææ, a city
of Bœotia, in alliance with the Athenians. Some traitors opened the
gates to them. The citizens of Platææ, attacking them in the night,
killed them all, with the exception of two hundred whom they made
prisoners. The Athenians being informed of what had taken place at
Platææ, immediately sent thither both men and provisions. Two or three
years after, the Lacedæmonians laid siege to Platææ, under the command
of Archidamus, their king. He began by inclosing the city within a
circumvallation formed of great trees, the branches of which were
intertwined; then he erected a platform or cavalier to arrange his
batteries on, in the hope of soon carrying the place, on account of
the small number of the besieged. They were but four hundred, but all
determined to die rather than submit to the law of a conqueror. When
the Platæans saw the enormous lines begin to rise, they built up a wall
of wood upon the top of the walls of the city opposite the platform,
in order to maintain a superiority over the besiegers. The crevices in
this wall were filled up with wood and bricks taken from the demolition
of the neighbouring houses; then they mined the platform. The
Lacedæmonians, perceiving this, abandoned that project, and contented
themselves with constructing another rampart in the form of a crescent,
to serve as a retreat when the first wall should be forced, and to
oblige the enemy to undertake a second labour. The besiegers having
set up their machines, gave a violent shock to the fortifications. The
Platæans used every exertion to weaken the effect of these batteries:
they broke the stroke of the ram with cords, which turned aside
the blow by seizing the ram by the head and throwing it up by main
strength. They made use, likewise, of another artifice,--fastening by
the two ends a huge beam with long iron chains which were fixed to two
large pieces of wood, which extended on one side and were supported
upon the wall; when the machine began to play, they raised this beam,
and letting it fall crosswise upon the point of the ram, it broke its
force and rendered it harmless. At length the Lacedæmonians, astonished
at such a resistance, despaired of forcing the place, and, after
having vainly attempted to set fire to it, they converted the siege
into a blockade, and surrounded the city with a wall of brick, covered
both within and without by a deep ditch, and strengthened at regular
distances with high and well-defended towers. During the winter, the
besieged, seeing no hopes of succour and being short of provisions,
formed the resolution of cutting their way through the enemy’s troops;
but half of them, confounded at the extent of the peril, lost courage
at the moment of undertaking it. The rest, amounting to two hundred
and eighty soldiers, persisted in their design, and had the good
fortune to succeed. These intrepid warriors commenced by ascertaining
the height of the walls by counting the rows of bricks, which was done
at several times and by various persons, to avoid mistake; they then
made their ladders in proportion. All precautionary measures being
taken, the besieged chose a dark, stormy, and rainy night for their
attempt. After having passed the first ditch, they drew near the walls
without being discovered. They marched at a short distance from each
other, to avoid the clashing of their arms, which were very light, in
order to allow them to be more active; and they only wore one shoe, to
prevent their slipping in the mud. A great number of them succeeded in
mounting the wall, armed only with a cuirass and dagger, but as they
were advancing toward the towers, a tile which one of them accidentally
threw down, betrayed them. A loud cry was immediately given from the
tops of the towers, and the whole camp rushed towards the walls,
ignorant, from the darkness of the night, of what could be the matter.
Those who remained in the city gave an alarm in another direction, to
create a diversion; so that the enemy, in doubt, knew not which way to
take. They, however, lighted torches on the side towards Thebes, to
show that the danger was in that direction. The inhabitants, to render
this signal useless, lighted others at the same time in various places.
The Platæans who were upon the walls got possession of the two towers,
defended the approach to them with arrows and darts, and thus favoured
the passage of their companions. They descended the last, and hastened
to the ditch, to pass as the others had done. At this moment, a body of
three hundred men came out to meet them. The bold fugitives contrived
to elude them, and even killed several: they all reached Athens in
safety, with the exception of one archer, who was taken at the side
of the ditch. Those who were left in the city defended themselves for
a considerable time with courage; but at length, after having endured
all the evils of a long siege, exhausted rather than vanquished, they
surrendered at discretion. They were slaughtered without pity, and
their wives were reduced to slavery. The following year, the city was
completely razed to the ground.