§44.11.1hac virium accessione animus crevit praetori, ut Cassandream oppugnaret. §44.11.2condita est a Cassandro rege in ipsis faucibus, quae Pallenensem agrum ceterae Macedoniae iungunt, hinc Toronaico, hinc Macedonico saepta mari. §44.11.3eminet namque in altum lingua, in qua sita est, nec minus quam † inaltus magnitudine Atho mons excurrit, obversa in regionem Magnesiae duobus inparibus promunturiis, quorum maiori Posideum est nomen, minori Canastracum. §44.11.4divisis partibus oppugnare adorti.
With this accession of forces, the courage of the praetor grew so that he would attack Cassandrea. It was founded by King Cassander on the very neck of land which connects the territory of Pallene with the rest of Macedonia, enclosed on one side by the Toronaic Gulf, and on the other by the Macedonian Gulf. For the tongue of land on which it is situated juts out into the deep, and extends with a size no less than Mount Athos, facing towards the region of Magnesia with two unequal promontories, of which the larger is named Posideum and the smaller Canastracum. Having divided their tasks, they began the assault.
Romanus ad Clitas, quas vocant, munimenta, cervis etiam obiectis, ut viam intercluderet, a Macedonico ad Toronaicum mare perducit.
The Roman commander, having also placed abatis to block the passage, led breastworks at the place they call Clitae, from the Macedonian to the Toronaic Gulf.
ab altera parte euripus est; §44.11.5inde Eumenes oppugnabat.
On the other side was the canal; from there Eumenes was conducting the assault.
Romanis in fossa conplenda, quam nuper obiecerat Perseus, plurimum erat laboris.
For the Romans, there was the greatest difficulty in filling up the ditch which Perseus had recently thrown up.
ibi quaerenti praetori, quia nusquam cumuli apparebant, quo regesta e fossa terra foret, monstrati sunt fornices: non ad eandem crassitudinem, qua veterem murum, sed simplici laterum ordine structos esse. §44.11.6consilium igitur cepit transfosso pariete iter in urbem patefacere.
There, when the praetor asked where the earth cleared out from the ditch was, since no mounds appeared anywhere, he was shown some arched vaults, and it was pointed out that they were built not of the same thickness as the old wall, but with a single row of bricks. He therefore formed the plan of opening a way into the city by digging through the wall.
fallere autem ita se posse, si muros a parte alia scalis adortus tumultu iniecto in custodiam eius loci propugnatores urbis avertisset. §44.11.7erant in praesidio Cassandreae praeter non contemnendam iuventutem oppidanorum octingenti Agrianes et duo milia penestarum Illyriorum, a Pleurato inde missi, bellicosum utrumque genus. §44.11.8his tuentibus muros, cum subire Romani summa vi niterentur, momento temporis parietes fornicum perfossi urbem patefecerunt.
He believed that he could deceive the enemy if, by attacking the walls with scaling-ladders from another quarter and creating a tumult, he should divert the defenders of the city from the guard of that place. There were in the garrison of Cassandrea, besides a not contemptible body of the young men of the town, eight hundred Agrianes and two thousand Illyrians of the Penestae, sent thence by Pleuratus, both warlike tribes. While these were defending the walls and the Romans were striving with all their might to approach, in a moment of time the walls of the vaults, being dug through, opened the city.
quod si, qui inrumperent, armati fuissent, extemplo cepissent. §44.11.9hoc ubi perfectum esse opus militibus nuntiatum est, clamorem alacres gaudio repente tollunt, alii parte alia in urbem inrupturi.
And if those who rushed in had been armed, they would have taken it immediately. When the completion of this work was announced to the soldiers, eager with joy, they suddenly raised a shout, some here and others there intending to burst into the city.