13.4
But after a long time, at last, with much ado, he sent out two or three of his fellow-revellers to treat for peace, to whom Sulla, when they made no demands which could save the city, but talked in lofty strains about Theseus and Eumolpus and the Persian wars, said: Be off, my dear Sirs, and take these speeches with you; for I was not sent to Athens by the Romans to learn its history, but to subdue its rebels.
14.1
But at this juncture, as it is said, certain soldiers in the CerameicusThe Outer Cerameicus, i.e. the suburb before the Dipylon, or Sacred Gate, through which one left the city for Eleusis. overheard some old men talking with one another, and abusing the tyrant because he did not guard the approaches to the wall at the Heptachalcum,An unknown feature of the wall, somewhere between the Piraïc, or western gate, and the Dipylon, or Sacred Gate, opening to the N.W. at which point alone it was possible and easy for the enemy to get over. When this was reported to Sulla, he did not make light of it, but went thither by night, and after seeing that the place could be taken, set himself to the work.
