Legerat enim Aemilianum Scipionem, cum historiarum conditore Polybio, Megalopolitano Arcade, et triginta militibus, portam Carthaginis impetu simili subfodisse. Sed fides recepta scriptorum veterum recens factum defendit. Aemilianus enim testudine lapidea tectam successerat portam, sub qua tutus et latens, dum moles saxeas detegunt hostes, urbem nudatam irrupit,
Translation :
For he had read that Scipio Aemilianus, accompanied by the historian Polybius of Megalopolis in Arcadia and thirty soldiers, had undermined a gate of Carthage in a like attack. But the admitted credibility of the writers of old upholds the recent exploit. For Aemilianus had come close up to the gate, and it was protected by an arch of masonry, under which he was safely hidden while the enemy were trying to lift off the masses of stone; and he broke into the city when it was stripped of its defenders.
Edition :
Ammianus Marcellinus. With An English Translation. John C. Rolfe, Ph.D., Litt.D. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1935-1940.
Remark :
titel: This is mentioned by Ammianus while describing a similar attack of Julian against a gate of Pirisabora, which ended up in failure and shame for the emperor. (Described in: "Julian and a few of his soldiers attack a gate of Pirisabora.")
According to a footnote by John C. Rolfe in the translation published by Loeb, this attack of Scipio is not mentioned by Polybius or in other known texts. source: The quote extends into 24.2.17.
