Thus an army of over three thousand soldiers fell into the hands of a remorseless enemy. The whole of those three thousand fighting men, taken as prisoners of war, were, by the orders of Lysandros, murdered deliberately in cold blood. From the scene of carnage we would fain turn away our eyes, as did the Athenian in his lofty tower, his heart bursting with helpless rage.
CHAPTER XXIX
‘Negli occhi era ciascuna oscura e cava,
Pallida nella faccia, e tanto scema
Che dall’ ossa la pelle s’informava.
‘Non credo che così a buccia strema
Eresitone fosse fatto secco,
Per digiunar, quando pin n’ebbe tema.’
Dante: Purg., xxiii.