[11,75] ὁ δὲ Ἀλέξανδρος μετὰ τοῦ Ἕκτορος τὸν μὲν ὄχλον συνῆγεν ἅπαντα τὸν ἐκ τῆς χώρας εἰς τὸ ἄστυ, τὰς δὲ μικρὰς πόλεις εἴων τὰς πρὸς τῇ θαλάττῃ διὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι πανταχοῦ βοηθεῖν. πάλιν δὲ καταπλεύσαντες εἰς τὸν Ἀχαιῶν λιμένα νυκτὸς ἔλαθον ἀποβάντες, καὶ ναύσταθμον περιεβάλοντο καὶ τάφρον ὤρυξαν φοβούμενοι τὸν Ἕκτορα καὶ τοὺς Τρῶας, καὶ μᾶλλον ὡς αὐτοὶ πολιορκησόμενοι παρεσκευάζοντο. (76) οἱ δὲ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα συγχωροῦσιν Ὁμήρῳ, τὸ δὲ τεῖχος οὔ φασιν αὐτὸν γενόμενον λέγειν, ὅτι πεποίηκεν ὕστερον Ἀπόλλωνα καὶ Ποσειδῶνα τοὺς ποταμοὺς ἐφιέντας ἐπ´ αὐτὸ καὶ ἀφανίσαντας· ὃ πάντων πιθανώτατόν ἐστι, κατακλυσθῆναι τὰ θεμέλια τοῦ τείχους. ἔτι γὰρ καὶ νῦν οἱ ποταμοὶ λιμνάζουσι τὸν τόπον καὶ πολὺ τῆς θαλάττης προσκεχώκασι. (77) τὸν δὲ λοιπὸν χρόνον τὰ μὲν ἐποίουν κακῶς, τὰ δ´ ἔπασχον, καὶ μάχαι μὲν οὐ πολλαὶ ἐγένοντο ἐκ παρατάξεως· οὐ γὰρ ἐθάρρουν προσιέναι πρὸς τὴν πόλιν διὰ τὸ πλῆθος καὶ τὴν ἀνδρείαν τῶν ἔνδοθεν· ἀκροβολισμοὶ δὲ καὶ κλωπεῖαι τῶν Ἑλλήνων· καὶ Τρωίλος τε οὕτως ἀποθνῄσκει παῖς ὢν ἔτι καὶ Μήστωρ καὶ ἄλλοι πλείους. ἦν γὰρ ὁ Ἀχιλλεὺς ἐνεδρεῦσαι δεινότατος καὶ νυκτὸς ἐπιθέσθαι. (78) ὅθεν Αἰνείαν τε οὕτως ἐπελθὼν ὀλίγου ἀπέκτεινεν ἐν τῇ Ἴδῃ καὶ πολλοὺς ἄλλους κατὰ τὴν χώραν, καὶ τῶν φρουρίων ᾕρει τὰ κακῶς φυλαττόμενα· οὐδὲ γὰρ τῆς γῆς ἐπεκράτουν οἱ Ἀχαιοὶ ἀλλ´ ἢ μόνον τοῦ στρατοπέδου. τεκμήριον δέ· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε Τρωίλος ἔξω τοῦ τείχους ἐγυμνάζετο, καὶ ταῦτα μακρὰν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως, οὐδ´ ἂν ἐγεώργουν τὴν Χερρόνησον, ὡς ὁμολογοῦσι πάντες, εἴπερ ἐκράτουν τῆς Τρῳάδος, οὐδ´ ἂν ἐκ Λήμνου οἶνος ἐκομίζετο αὐτοῖς. (79) κακῶς δὲ φερομένων τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ καὶ μηδενὸς ἀποβαίνοντος ὧν ἤλπισαν, ἀλλὰ συμμάχων ἐπιρρεόντων ἀεὶ τοῖς Τρωσὶ πλειόνων, λοιμός τε καὶ λιμὸς αὐτοὺς ἐπίεζε καὶ στάσις ἐγένετο τῶν ἡγεμόνων, ὅπερ εἴωθεν ὡς τὸ πολὺ γίγνεσθαι τοῖς κακῶς πράττουσιν, οὐ τοῖς κρατοῦσιν. ὁμολογεῖ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ Ὅμηρος·

[11,75] whereupon Paris and Hector brought all the country folk into the city, but left the small towns on the toast to their fate through inability to furnish help everywhere. The enemy then sailed back to the harbour of the Achaeans and landed under cover of darkness, built a wall about their ships, and dug a trench because they feared Hector and the Trojans, and made preparations as if it were they who expected a siege. (76) "Now white the Egyptians agree with Homer on the other points, they insist that he does not speak of the wall as having been finished, their reason being that he has represented Apollo and Poseidon as having at a later time sent the rivers against it and swept it away. The most plausible explanation of all is that it was merely the foundations of the wall that were inundated. Indeed, even in our day the rivers still make a marsh of the place and have deposited silt far out into the sea. (77) In the years that followed, the Greeks both did and suffered damage. However, not many pitched battles were fought, since they did not dare to approach the city because of the number and courage of the inhabitants. Skirmishes and forays there were on the part of the Greeks, and it was thus that Troïlus, still a boy, perished, and Mestor and many others ; for Achilles was very skilful in laying ambushes and making night attacks. In this way he almost caught and slew Aeneas upon Mount Ida and many others throughout the country, and tee captured any forts that were poorly guarded. For the Achaeans had only a foothold for their camp and did not control the country. Here is a proof: Troïlus would never have ventured outside the walls for exercise, and far from the city too, nor would the Achaeans have tilled the Chersonese, as all agree they did, if they had been in control of the Tioad, nor would they have gone to Lemnos for wine. (79) "As the Achaeans met with misfortune in the war and realized none of their expectations, while more and more allies were flocking to the Trojans, hunger and disease began to oppress them and dissension broke out among their leaders, as generally happens to the unsuccessful side, not to the victors. Even Homer acknowiedges this,