front of the palace. Agathocles was awakened by the noise, and
in his fright ran to the bedroom of the young Ptolemy; and, distrusting
the palace walls, hid himself, with his own family, the king, and two
or three guards, in the underground passage which led from the palace to
the theatre.

The night, however, passed off without any violence; but at daybreak the
murmurs became louder, and the thousands in the palace yard called for
the young king. By that time the Greek soldiers joined the mob, and then
the guards within were no longer to be feared. The gates were soon burst
open, and the palace searched. The mob rushed through the halls
and lobbies, and, learning where the king had fled, hastened to the
underground passage. It was guarded by three doors of iron grating; but,
when the first was beaten in, Aristomenes was sent out to offer terms of
surrender. Agathocles was willing to give up the young king, his misused
power, his ill-gotten wealth and estates; he asked only for his life.
But this was sternly refused, and a shout was raised to kill the
messenger; and Aristomenes, the best of the ministers, whose only fault
was the being a friend of Agathocles, and the having named his little
daughter Agathoclea, would certainly have been killed upon the spot if
somebody had not reminded them that they wanted to send back an answer.

Agathocles, seeing that he could hold out no longer, then gave up the
little king, who was set upon a horse, and led away to the stadium amid
the shouts of the crowd. There they seated him on the throne, and,
while he was crying at being surrounded by strange faces, the mob loudly
called for revenge on the guilty ministers. Sosibius, the somatophylax,
the son of the former general of that name, seeing no other way of
stopping the fury of the mob and the child's sobs, asked him if the
enemies of his mother and of his throne should be given up to the
people. The child of course answered "yes," without understanding what
was meant; and on that they let Sosibius take him to his own house to be
out of the uproar. Agathocles was soon led out bound, and was stabbed by
those who two days before would have felt honoured by a look from him.
Agathoclea and her sister were then brought out, and lastly OEnanthe,
their mother was dragged away from the altar of Ceres and Proserpine.
Some bit them, some struck them with sticks, some tore their eyes out;
her body was torn to pieces, and her limbs scattered am