§32.4.1Thaumacos eo tempore Philippus summa vi oppugnabat aggeribus vineisque et iam arietem muris admoturus erat;
At that time, Philip was besieging Thaumaci with the utmost force by means of earthworks and mantlets, and was already about to bring up the battering-ram to the walls.
§32.4.2ceterum incepto absistere eum coegit subitus Aetolorum adventus, qui Archidamo duce inter custodias Macedonum moenia ingressi nec nocte nec die finem ullum erumpendi nunc in stationes nunc in opera Macedonum faciebant.
However, the sudden arrival of the Aetolians forced him to desist from his undertaking; under the leadership of Archidamus, they entered the walls through the outposts of the Macedonians, and neither by night nor by day did they make any end of sallying out, now against the stations, now against the siege works of the Macedonians.
et adiuvabat eos natura ipsa loci.
And the very nature of the place assisted them.
§32.4.3namque Thaumaci a Pylis sinuque Maliaco per Lamiam eunti loco alto siti sunt in ipsis faucibus, §32.4.4imminentes, quam Coelen vocant, Thessaliae; quae transeunti confragosa loca inplicatasque flexibus vallium vias, ubi ventum ad hanc urbem est, repente velut maris vasti sic universa panditur planities, ut subiectos campos terminare oculis haud facile queas.
For to one going to Thaumaci from Pylae and the Malian Gulf by way of Lamia, the city is situated in a high position in the very jaws of the pass, overlooking Thessaly, which they call Coele; to one passing through rugged places and roads complicated by the windings of the valleys, when this city is reached, suddenly the whole plain opens up like a vast sea, so that you cannot easily limit the subject plains with your eyes.
§32.4.5ab eo miraculo Thaumaci appellati.
From that marvel, the city was named Thaumaci.
nec altitudine solum tuta urbs, sed quod saxo undique absciso rupibus imposita est.
Nor was the city safe only because of its height, but because it was built upon cliffs with the rock cut sheer away on all sides.
§32.4.6hae difficultates et quod haud satis dignum tanti laboris periculique pretium erat, §32.4.7ut absisteret incepto Philippus, effecerunt.
These difficulties, and the fact that there was not a sufficiently worthy reward for so much labor and danger, caused Philip to desist from his undertaking.
hiems quoque iam instabat, cum inde abscessit et in Macedoniam in hiberna copias reduxit.
Winter also was now at hand when he withdrew from there and led his forces back into Macedonia into winter quarters.