The
Ly'cians suffered still more severely; for having shut themselves up
in their capital town Nanthus, they defended the place against Brutus
with so much fury, that neither his arts nor entreaties could prevail
upon them to surrender. [11]. At length, the town being set on fire by
their attempting to burn the works of the Romans, Brutus, instead of
laying hold of this opportunity to storm the place, made every effort
to preserve it, entreating his soldiers to try all means of
extinguishing the fire; but the desperate frenzy of the citizens
was not to be mollified. 12. Far from thinking themselves obliged to
the generous enemy for the efforts which they made to save them, they
resolved to perish in the flames. Instead of extinguishing, therefore,
they did all in their power to augment the fire, by throwing in wood,
dry reeds, and all kinds of fuel. 13. Nothing could exceed the
distress of Brutus upon seeing the townsmen thus resolutely bent on
destroying themselves. He rode about the fortifications, stretching
out his hands to the Xan'thians, and conjuring them to have pity on
themselves and their city; but, insensible to his expostulations, they
rushed into the flames with desperate obstinacy, and the whole soon
became a heap of undistinguishable ruin.
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