108 HISTORY OF GREECE. victorious, vanquishing all the detached parties of Syracusan* which could be opposed to them. The streets became a scene of bloodshed the houses of plunder ; for as Dionysius had nor given up the idea of again permanently ruling at Syracuse, his troops thought of little else except satiating the revenge of their master and their own rapacity. The soldiers of Npysius stripped the private dwellings in the town, taking away not only the prop- erty, but also the women and children, as booty into Ortygia. At last (it appears) they got also into Archradina, the largest and most populous portion of Syracuse. Here the same scene of pillage, destruction, and bloodshed, was continued throughout the whole day, and on a still larger scale ; with just enough resist- ance to pique the fury of the victors, without restraining their progress. It soon became evident to Herakleides and his colleagues, as well as to the general body of citizens, that there was no hope of safety except in invoking the aid of Dion and his soldiers from Leontini. Yet the appeal to one whom they not only hated and feared, but had ignominiously maltreated, was something so intol- erable, that for a long time no one would speak out to propose what every man had in his mind. At length some of the allies pre- sent, less concerned in the political parties of the city, ventured to broach the proposition, which ran from man to man, and uns adopted under a press of mingled and opposite emotions. Av - cordingly two officers of the allies, and five Syracusan horsemet,- set off at full speed to Leontini, to implore the instant presence of Dion. Reaching the place towards evening, they encountered Dion himself immediately on dismounting, and described to him the miserable scenes now going on at Syracuse. Their tears and distress brought around them a crowd of hearers, Leontines a? well as Peloponnesians ; and a general assembly was speedily con- vened, before which Dion exhorted them to tell their story. They described, in the tone of men whose all was at stake, the. actual sufferings and the impending total ruin of the city ; en- treating oblivion for their past misdeeds, which were already but too cruelly expiated. Their discourse, profoundly touching to the audience, was heard in silence. ' Every one waited for Dion to begin, and to determine the fato of Syracuse. He rose to speak ; but for a time tear*
