Assuming, then, that there was such a line of connection between the bridge and the Long Wall, added by Brasidas since the first capture of the place, I know no meaning so natural to give to the word σταύρωμα. No other distinct meaning is proposed by any one. There was, of course, a gate, or more than one, in the Long Wall, leading into the space inclosed by the palisade; through this gate Brasidas would enter the town when he crossed from Kerdylium. This gate is called by Thucydidês αἱ ἐπὶ τὸ σταύρωμα πύλαι. There must have been also a gate, or more than one, in the palisade itself, leading into the space without: so that passengers or cattle traversing the bridge from the westward and going to Myrkinus (e. g.) would not necessarily be obliged to turn out of their way and enter the town of Amphipolis.
On the plan which I have here given, the line running nearly from north to south represents the Long Wall of Agnon, touching the river at both ends, and bounding as well as fortifying the town of Amphipolis on its eastern side.
The shorter line, which cuts off the southern extremity of this Long Wall, and joins the river immediately below the bridge, represents the σταύρωμα, or palisade: probably it was an earthen mound and ditch, with a strong palisade at the top.
By means of this palisade, the bridge was included in the fortifications of Amphipolis, and Brasidas could pass over from Mount Kerdylium into the city whenever he pleased.
[736] Thucyd. v, 7; compare Colonel Leake, l. c. p. 182; αὐτὸς ἐθεᾶτο τὸ λιμνῶδες τοῦ Στρύμονος, καὶ τὴν θέσιν τῆς πόλεως ἐπὶ τῇ Θρᾴκῃ, ὡς ἔχοι.
[737] Thucyd. v, 7. Κατὰ θέαν δὲ μᾶλλον ἔφη ἀναβαίνειν τοῦ χωρίου, καὶ τὴν μείζω παρασκευὴν περιέμενεν, οὐχ ὡς τῷ ἀσφαλεῖ, ἢν ἀναγκάζηται, περισχήσων, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς κύκλῳ περιστὰς βίᾳ αἱρήσων τὴν πόλιν.
The words οὐχ ὡς τῷ ἀσφαλεῖ, etc. do not refer to μείζω παρασκευὴν, as the Scholiast, with whom Dr. Arnold agrees, considers them, but to the general purpose and dispositions of Kleon. “He marched up, not like one who is abundantly provided with means of safety, in case of being put on his defence; but like one who is going to surround the city and take it at once.”
Nor do these last words represent any real design conceived in the mind of Kleon (for Amphipolis from its locality could not be really surrounded), but are merely given as illustrating the careless confidence of his march from Eion up to the ridge: in the same manner as Herodotus describes the forward rush of the Persians before the battle of Platæa, to overtake the Greeks whom they supposed to be running away—Καὶ οὗτοι μὲν βοῇ τε καὶ ὁμίλῳ ἐπήισαν, ὡς ἀναρπασόμενοι τοὺς Ἕλληνας (ix, 59): compare viii, 28.
[738] Thucyd. v, 7. ὥστε καὶ μηχανὰς ὅτι οὐκ κατῆλθεν ἔχων, ἁμαρτεῖν ἐδόκει· ἑλεῖν γὰρ ἂν τὴν πόλιν διὰ τὸ ἐρῆμον.
I apprehend that the verb κατῆλθεν refers to the coming of the armament to Eion: analogous to what is said v, 2, κατέπλευσεν ἐς τὸν Τορωναίων λιμένα: compare i, 51; iii, 4, etc. The march from Eion up to the ridge could not well be expressed by the word κατῆλθεν: but the arrival of the expedition at the Strymon, the place of its destination, might be so described. Battering-engines would be brought from nowhere else but from Athens.