History of the Peloponnesian War

When all were over, those on the towers descended—the last of them with great difficulty— and proceeded to the ditch; and in the mean time the three hundred were coming against them with torches.

Now the Plataeans, as they stood in the dark on the edge of the ditch, had a better view of them, and discharged their arrows and darts against the exposed parts of their bodies; while they themselves, in the obscurity of their position, were the less acen for the torches; so that even the last of the Plataeans got clear over the ditch, though with difficulty and by a violent effort;

for ice had frozen over it, not strong enough to allow of their walking on it, but rather watery, as it usually is with a [*]( Arnold and Bloomfield, on the authority of the Scholiast, supply μᾶλλον before ἥ). Indeed, if both the east and north wind were rainy, from what quarter could a clear and dry frost be expected? For the character here attributed to the east wind, compare Horace, Epod. 16. 53, Ut neque largis Aquosus Eurus arva radat imbribus. In the words that follow, if the ὑπό in ὑπονειφομένη has the diminutive force which is generally attributed to it, the swelling of the water in the ditch must be referred to the general character of the night, as before described; for without the violent storms of rain it is evident that a little snow could have produced no such effect in so short a time.) wind more east than north; and the night being somewhat snowy in consequence of such a wind, had swollen the water in it, which they crossed with their heads barely above it. [*]( The force of the καί seems to be, that although the storm increased the difficulty of crossing the ditch, it also contributed very largely to the success of their plan in other respects.) But at the same time their escape was mainly effected through the violence of the storm.