Kitap 9
24.7
When he had posted the Romans here and had pointed out to them a steep and narrow path leading up from the town, he said to them: “From this ascent even three armed men could keep back a multitude however large.
24.8
You are ten in number, and what is more you are Romans, and the bravest of them. You have the advantage of position and you will be helped by the night, which by its obscurity makes everything look more terrible. I will now spread panic everywhere; you devote yourselves to holding the citadel.”
24.9
Then he ran down and created as great a tumult as he possibly could, shouting: “To arms, citizens! Help, help! The citadel has been seized by the enemy, hasten to its defence!”
24.10
He kept up the alarm as he knocked at the doors of the principal men, he shouted it in the ears of all whom he met, of all who rushed out terror-struck into the streets. The panic which one man had started was carried by numbers through the city.
24.11
The magistrates hurriedly sent men up to the citadel to find out what had happened, and when they heard that it was held by an armed force, whose numbers were grossly exaggerated, they gave up all hopes of recovering it.
24.12
All quarters of the city were filled with fugitives; the gates were burst open by people who were only half awake and mostly without arms, and through one of these the Roman cohorts, roused by the shouting, rushed in and slew the frightened crowds who were thronging the streets.
