μετὰ δὲ τὴν Φιλίστου τελευτὴν Διονύσιος ἔπεμπε πρὸς Δίωνα τὴν μὲν ἀκρόπολιν ἐκείνῳ παραδιδοὺς καὶ τὰ ὅπλα καὶ τοὺς μισθοφόρους καὶ πέντε μηνῶν ἐντελῆ τούτοις μισθόν,
After the death of Philistus, Dionysius sent to Dion offering to surrender to him the acropolis, his munitions of war, and his mercenaries, with five months’ full pay for these,
αὐτὸς δὲ ἀξιῶν ὑπόσπονδος εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἀπελθεῖν κἀκεῖ κατοικῶν καρποῦσθαι τῆς Συρακουσίας τὸν καλούμενον Γύαρτα, πολλὴν καὶ ἀγαθὴν χώραν ἀνήκουσαν ἀπὸ θαλάττης εἰς τὴν μεσόγειον.
and demanding for himself the privilege of retiring unmolested into Italy, and of enjoying during his residence there the revenues of Gyarta, a large and rich tract in the territory of Syracuse, extending from the sea to the interior of the island.
οὐ προσδεξαμένου δὲ τοῦ Δίωνος, ἀλλὰ δεῖσθαι τῶν Συρακουσίων κελεύσαντος, οἱ μὲν Συρακούσιοι ζῶντα λήψεσθαι τὸν Διονύσιον ἐλπίσαντες ἀπήλασαν τοὺς πρέσβεις,
Dion, however, would not accept these terms, but bade him apply to the Syracusans, and these, hoping to take Dionysius alive, drove away his ambassadors.
ἐκεῖνος δὲ τὴν μὲν ἄκραν Ἀπολλοκράτει, τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ τῶν παίδων, παρέδωκεν, αὐτὸς δὲ πνεῦμα τηρήσας ἐπίφορον καὶ τὰ τιμιώτατα τῶν σωμάτων καὶ τῶν χρημάτων ἐνθέμενος εἰς τὰς ναῦς λαθὼν τὸν ναύαρχον Ἡρακλείδην ἐξέπλευσεν.
Upon this, the tyrant handed over the citadel to Apollocrates, his eldest son, while he himself, after watching for a favourable wind and putting on board his ships the persons and property that he held most dear, eluded the vigilance of Heracleides the admiral, and sailed off.
ὁ δὲ κακῶς ἀκούων καὶ θορυβούμενος ὑπὸ τῶν πολιτῶν Ἵππωνά τινα τῶν δημαγωγῶν καθίησι προκαλεῖσθαι τὸν δῆμον ἐπὶ γῆς ἀναδασμόν, ὡς ἐλευθερίας ἀρχὴν οὖσαν τὴν ἰσότητα, δουλείας δὲ τὴν πενίαν τοῖς ἀκτήμοσι.
Heracleides was now stormily denounced by the citizens, whereupon he induced Hippo, one of their leaders, to make proposals to the people for a distribution of land, urging that liberty was based on equality, and slavery on the poverty of those who had naught.
συνηγορῶν δὲ τούτῳ καὶ τὸν Δίωνα καταστασιάζων ἐναντιούμενον ἔπεισε τοὺς Συρακουσίους ταῦτά ψηφίσασθαι καὶ τῶν ξένων τὸν μισθὸν ἀποστερεῖν καὶ στρατηγοὺς ἑτέρους ἑλέσθαι, τῆς ἐκείνου βαρύτητος ἀπαλλαγέντας.
Supporting Hippo, and heading a faction which overwhelmed the opposition of Dion, Heracleides persuaded the Syracusans to vote this measure, to deprive the mercenaries of their pay, and to elect other generals, thus ridding themselves of the severities of Dion.
οἱ δʼ, ὥσπερ ἐκ μακρᾶς ἀρρωστίας τῆς τυραννίδος εὐθὺς ἐπιχειροῦντες ἐξανίστασθαι, καὶ πράττειν τὰ τῶν αὐτονομουμένων παρὰ καιρόν, ἐσφάλλοντο μὲν αὐτοὶ ταῖς πράξεσιν, ἐμίσουν δὲ τὸν Δίωνα βουλόμενον ὥσπερ ἰατρὸν ἐν ἀκριβεῖ καὶ σωφρονούσῃ διαίτῃ κατασχεῖν τὴν πόλιν.
So the people, attempting, as it were, to stand at once upon their feet after their long sickness of tyranny, and to act the part of independence out of season, stumbled in their undertakings, and yet hated Dion, who, like a physician, wished to subject the city to a strict and temperate regimen.
ἐκκλησιάζουσι δʼ αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ νέαις ἀρχαῖς, θέρους μεσοῦντος, ἐξαίσιοι βρονταὶ καὶ διοσημίαι πονηραὶ συνέβαινον ἐφʼ ἡμέρας δεκαπέντε συνεχῶς, ἀνιστᾶσαι τὸν δῆμον ὑπὸ δεισιδαιμονίας κωλυόμενον ἑτέρους ἀποδεῖξαι στρατηγούς.
As they met in assembly to assign new commands, the time being midsummer, extraordinary peals of thunder and evil portents from the heavens occurred for fifteen days together, and dispersed the people, whose superstitious fears prevented them from appointing other generals.
ἐπεὶ δὲ φυλάξαντες εὐδίαν σταθερὰν οἱ δημαγωγοὶ συνετέλουν τὰς ἀρχαιρεσίας, βοῦς ἁμαξεὺς οὐκ ἀήθης οὐδʼ ἄπειρος ὄχλων, ἄλλως δέ πως τότε πρὸς τὸν ἐλαύνοντα θυμωθεὶς καὶ φυγὼν ἀπὸ τοῦ ζυγοῦ, δρόμῳ πρὸς τὸ θέατρον ὥρμησε·
And when, after waiting for settled fair weather, the popular leaders were proceeding to hold the elections, a draught-ox, who was quite accustomed to crowds, but now for some reason or other got angry at his driver and broke away from the yoke, made a dash for the theatre,
καὶ τὸν μὲν δῆμον εὐθὺς ἀνέστησε καὶ διεσκέδασεν οὐδενὶ κόσμῳ φεύγοντα, τῆς δʼ ἄλλης πόλεως ἐπέδραμε σκιρτῶν καὶ ταράττων ὅσον ὕστερον οἱ πολέμιοι κατέσχον.
and at once dispersed and scattered the people in disorderly flight; then he ran, plunging and throwing everything into confusion, over as much of the rest of the city as the enemy afterwards occupied.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ ταῦτα χαίρειν ἐάσαντες οἱ Συρακούσιοι πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι στρατηγοὺς ἐχειροτόνησαν, ὧν εἷς ἦν Ἡρακλείδης· καὶ τοὺς ξένους ὑποπέμποντες κρύφα τοῦ Δίωνος ἀφίστασαν καὶ μετεκάλουν πρὸς αὑτούς, ἐπαγγελλόμενοι καὶ τῆς πολιτείας ἰσομοιρίαν.
However, the Syracusans paid no heed to all this, but elected twenty-five generals, one of whom was Heracleides; they also sent secretly and without his knowledge to Dion’s mercenaries, and tried to get them to leave his service and come over to their side, promising them even an equality of civic rights.
οἱ δὲ ταῦτα μὲν οὐ προσεδέξαντο, τὸν δὲ Δίωνα πιστῶς καὶ προθύμως μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων ἀναλαβόντες καὶ συμφράξαντες ὑπῆγον ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, ἀδικοῦντες μὲν οὐδένα, πολλὰ δὲ τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας εἰς ἀχαριστίαν καὶ μοχθηρίαν ὀνειδίζοντες.
They, however, would not listen to these proposals, but showing fidelity and zeal, took their weapons in their hands, put Dion in their midst, encompassed him about, and tried to conduct him out of the city, doing violence to no one, but roundly reviling those whom they encountered for their base ingratitude.
οἱ δὲ τῆς ὀλιγότητος αὐτῶν καὶ τοῦ μὴ προεπιχειρεῖν καταφρονήσαντες, καὶ γενόμενοι πολὺ πλείους ἐκείνων, ἐφώρμησαν ὡς ῥᾳδίως ἐπικρατήσοντες ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ πάντας αὐτοὺς κατακτενοῦντες.
Then the citizens, seeing that the mercenaries were few in number and did not offer to attack, despised them, and having become far more numerous than they, set upon them, thinking to overpower them easily before they got out of the city, amid slay them all.
ἐν τούτῳ δὲ γεγονὼς ἀνάγκης καὶ τύχης ὁ Δίων ἢ μάχεσθαι τοῖς πολίταις ἢ μετὰ τῶν ξένων ἀποθανεῖν, πολλὰ μὲν ἱκέτευεν ὀρέγων τὰς χεῖρας τοῖς Συρακουσίοις καὶ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν περίπλεων πολεμίων οὖσαν ὑπερφαινομένων τὰ τείχη καὶ τὰ γενόμενα καθορώντων ἐπιδεικνύμενος·
And now Dion, seeing that fortune compelled him either to fight against his fellow citizens or perish with his mercenaries, fervently besought the Syracusans, stretching out his hands to them, and pointing out to them the acropolis, which was full of enemies peering over the walls and watching what was going on below;
ὡς δʼ ἦν ἀπαραίτητος ἡ τῶν πολλῶν φορά καὶ κατεῖχεν ὥσπερ ἐν πελάγει τὸ τῶν δημαγωγῶν πνεῦμα τὴν πόλιν, ἐμβολῆς μὲν ἀποσχέσθαι τοῖς ξένοις προσέταξεν, ὅσον δʼ ἐπιδραμόντων μετὰ βοῆς καὶ τοῖς ὅπλοις τιναξαμένων οὐδεὶς ἔμεινε τῶν Συρακουσίων, ἀλλʼ ᾤχοντο φεύγοντες ἀνὰ τὰς ἀγυιάς, οὐδενὸς ἐπιδιώκοντος· εὐθὺς γὰρ ἀπέστρεψεν ὁ Δίων τοὺς ξένους καὶ προῆγεν εἰς Λεοντίνους.
but since no entreaties could stay the onset of the multitudes, and the city, like a ship at sea, was at the mercy of the blasts of its demagogues, he ordered his mercenaries not to make a charge, but simply to run towards their assailants with loud cries and brandishing of weapons; which being done, not a Syracusan stood his ground, but all promptly took to flight along the streets, where none pursued them. For Dion immediately ordered his men to wheel about, and led them forth to Leontini.
οἱ δʼ ἄρχοντες τῶν Συρακουσίων καταγέλαστοι γεγονότες ὑπὸ τῶν γυναικῶν, καὶ τὴν αἰσχύνην ἀναλαβεῖν ζητοῦντες,
But the leaders of the Syracusans, now that they were become a laughing-stock for the women, sought to redeem their disgrace, armed the citizens again, and pursued after Dion.
αὖθις ὁπλίσαντες τοὺς πολίτας ἐδίωκον τὸν Δίωνα, καὶ κατέλαβον μὲν ἐπὶ διαβάσει τινὸς ποταμοῦ καὶ προσίππευσαν ἁψιμαχοῦντες· ὡς δʼ ἑώρων οὐκέτι πρᾴως οὐδὲ πατρικῶς ὑπομένοντα τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ θυμῷ τοὺς ξένους ἐπιστρέφοντα καὶ παραταττόμενον, αἰσχίονα φυγὴν τῆς προτέρας φυγόντες ὑπεχώρησαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν, οὐ πολλῶν ἀποθανόντων.
They came upon him as he was crossing a river, and their horsemen rode up for a skirmish; but when they saw that he no longer bore with their faults in a mild and paternal spirit, but was angrily wheeling his mercenaries about and putting them in battle array, they broke into a more disgraceful flight than before, and retired into the city, with the loss of a few men.
Δίωνα δὲ Λεοντῖνοι λαμπραῖς ἐδέχοντο τιμαῖς, καὶ τοὺς ξένους ἀνελάμβανον μισθοῖς καὶ πολιτείαις πρὸς δὲ τοὺς Συρακουσίους ἐπρέσβευον ἀξιοῦντες τὰ δίκαια τοῖς ξένοις ποιεῖν.
The Leontines received Dion with splendid honours, took his mercenaries into their service, and gave them civic rights; they also sent an embassy to the Syracusans with a demand that they should do the mercenaries justice.
οἱ δὲ πρέσβεις ἔπεμψαν κατηγορήσοντας Δίωνος τῶν δὲ συμμάχων ἁπάντων εἰς Λεοντίνους ἁθροισθέντων καὶ γενομένων λόγων ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἔδοξαν ἀδικεῖν οἱ Συρακούσιοι·
The Syracusans, however, sent envoys to denounce Dion. But when all the confederates had assembled at Leontini and discussed the matter, it was decided that the Syracusans were in the wrong.
τοῖς δὲ κριθεῖσιν ὑπὸ τῶν συμμάχων οὐκ ἐνέμειναν τρυφῶντες ἤδη καὶ μεγαλοφρονοῦντες ἐπὶ τῷ μηδενὸς ἀκούειν, ἀλλὰ χρῆσθαι δουλεύουσι καὶ φοβουμένοις τὸν δῆμον στρατηγοῖς.
By this decision of their confederates, however, the Syracusans would not abide, being now insolent and full of pride because they were subject to no one, but had generals who were in slavish fear of the people.
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