Page 384 - Four Thousand Years Ago by Geoffrey Bibby

[123®- B.C.] The Sack of Troy 331

two hundred years before, had died in the flames of his palace,
and the Hittite empire was no more.
The greater part of the great Hittite army had succeeded
in escaping to the southeast, to the surviving Hittite provinces
around Aleppo. But even so Asia Minor was full of wandering
soldiery, scattered remnants of the Hittite grand army. And
among those who reached the Aegean coast were a number of
officers and men of the Hittite corps of engineers.
It was Odysseus who suggested that these be recruited to
build siege engines against the walls of Troy. And they were
glad of employment within their trade. A mighty wooden en­
gine was constructed under their supervision by the ships’ car­
penters of the Achaean fleet. Mounted upon wheels, it had a
hide-covered roof to conceal and protect the attackers, and
underneath swung an iron-shod ram. From a fanciful resem­
blance the Achaeans called it a wooden horse. . . .
Supported by archers to give covering fire, the wooden horse
moved forward, and all day the thud of the ram against the
stones of the wall could be heard throughout the city. Towards
evening a section of the wall slowly crumbled and fell in a cloud
of white stone dust. Agamemnon gave the signal for the assault.
All night street fighting went on. Flames rose from sector after
sector of the city, lighting up the desperate groups of defenders,
the fleeing terrified women and children, and the ranks of the
attackers, intoxicated with victory. Resistance gradually was
broken and ceased, and the sack commenced.
Dawn rose over a city in flames, with bands of prisoners
being herded out through every gate, laden with the treasures
of one of the richest and oldest cities of the world. There were
bowls and flagons innumerable of gold and silver, chests and
furniture with inlay of ivory, bronze swords with hilts and scab­
bards inlaid with gold and amber, rich hangings of gold brocade
and purple dyes. There were furs and fine clothing and jeweled
ornaments. There was a whole armory of weapons, including
nearly a hundred swords of iron. There were inlaid chariots,
and such of the famous horses of Troy as had survived the siege
and the sack. And there were prisoners beyond count, half-