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156 HISTORY OF GREECE. ry, missiles of every sort, and above all, shields and spiars to tL; amazing number of seventy thousand if Plutarch's statement is exact. 1 Having dismissed Dionysius, Timoleon organized a service of small craft from Katana to convey provisions by sea to Ortygia, eluding the Carthaginian guard squadron. He found means to do this with tolerable success, 2 availing himself of winds or bad weather, when the ships of war could not obstruct the en- trance of the lesser harbor. Meanwhile he himself returned to Adranum, a post convenient for watching both Leontini and Syra- cuse. Here two assassins, bribed by Hiketas, were on the point of taking his life, while sacrificing at a festival ; and were only prevented by an accident so remarkable, that every one recog- nized the visible intervention of the gods to protect him. 3 Meanwhile Hiketas, being resolved to acquire possession of Ortygia, invoked the aid of the full Carthaginian force under Ma- gon. The great harbor of Syracuse was presently occupied by an overwhelming fleet of one hundred and fifty Carthaginian ships of war, while a land force, said to consist of sixty thousand men, came also to join Hiketas, and were quartered by him with in the walls of Syracuse. Never before had any Carthaginian troops got footing within those walls. Syracusan liberty, perhaps Syracusan Hellenism, now appeared extinct. Even Ortygia, in spite of the bravery of its garrison under the Corinthian Neon, seemed not long tenable, against repeated attack and battery of the walls, combined with strict blockade to keep out supplies by sea. Still, however, though the garrison was distressed, some small craft with provisions from Katana. contrived to slip in ; a fact, which induced Hiketas and Magon to form the plan of at- tacking that town, thinking themselves strong enough to accom- plish this by a part of their force, without discontinuing the siege of Ortygia. Accordingly they sailed forth from the harbor, and marched from the city of Syracuse, with the best part of their armament, to attack Katana, leaving Ortygia still under blockade. But the commanders left behind were so negligf nt in their watchj that Neon soon saw from the walls of Ortygia the opportunity cf attacking them with advantage. Making a sudden and vigor- Plutarch, Timoleon, c. 13. * Plutarch, Timoleon, c 18. 1 Plutarch, Timoleon, c. 16