ἡμέρα δʼ ὡς ἦν, τῶν μὲν ἄλλων οὐδεὶς ὑπέμεινε δημαγωγῶν, ἀλλὰ καταγνόντες ἑαυτῶν ἔφυγον, Ἡρακλείδης δὲ καὶ Θεοδότης αὐτοὶ κομίσαντες ἑαυτοὺς τῷ Δίωνι παρέδωκαν, ἀδικεῖν ὁμολογοῦντες καὶ δεόμενοι βελτίονος ἐκείνου τυχεῖν γεγόνασιν αὐτοὶ περὶ ἐκεῖνον·
When it was day, not one of the other popular leaders would remain in the city, but passed judgement on themselves by taking to flight; Heracleides and Theodotes, however, came of their own accord and surrendered themselves to Dion, acknowledging that they had done wrong, and begging him to treat them better than they had treated him;
πρέπειν δὲ Δίωνι τήν ἄλλην ἅπασαν ἀρετὴν ἀσύγκριτον ἔχοντι καὶ πρὸς ὀργὴν κρείττονι φανῆναι τῶν ἠγνωμονηκότων, οἳ περὶ οὗ πρότερον ἐστασίασαν πρὸς αὐτόν νῦν ἥκουσιν ἡττᾶσθαι τῆς ἀρετῆς ὁμολογοῦντες.
it was meet, they said, that Dion, who was their superior in every other virtue, should also show himself a better master of his anger than his ungrateful foes, who were now come confessing that in the very quality to which they had formerly disputed his claim, namely, virtue, they were his inferiors.
ταῦτα τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἡρακλείδην δεομένων οἱ μὲν φίλοι παρεκελεύοντο τῷ Δίωνι μὴ φείδεσθαι κακῶν καὶ βασκάνων ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς στρατιώταις χαρίσασθαι τὸν Ἡρακλείδην καὶ τοῦ πολιτεύματος ἐξελεῖν δημοκοπίαν, ἐπιμανὲς νόσημα, τυραννίδος οὐκ ἔλαττον.
Though Heracleides and Theodotes thus besought Dion, his friends exhorted him not to spare such base and envious men, but to give Heracleides over to the mercy of his soldiers, and to rid the commonwealth of the hunt for mob-favour, which, no less than tyranny, was a raging distemper.
ὁ δὲ Δίων παραμυθούμενος αὐτοὺς ἔλεγεν ὡς τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις στρατηγοῖς πρὸς ὅπλα καὶ πόλεμον ἡ πλείστη τῆς ἀσκήσεώς ἐστιν, αὐτῷ δὲ πολὺν χρόνον ἐν Ἀκαδημείᾳ μεμελέτηται θυμοῦ περιεῖναι καὶ φθόνου καὶ φιλονεικίας πάσης·
But Dion tried to soften their resentment, saying that while other generals trained themselves mostly for arms and war, he himself had studied for a long time in the Academy how to conquer anger, envy, and all contentiousness;
ὧν ἐπίδειξίς ἐστιν οὐχ ἡ πρὸς φίλους καὶ χρηστοὺς μετριότης, ἀλλʼ εἴ τις ἀδικούμενος εὐπαραίτητος εἴη καὶ πρᾷος τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσι·
and it was no manifestation of such self-mastery, he said, when one was kind to friends and benefactors, but when one who had been wronged was merciful and mild towards the erring;
βούλεσθαι δʼ Ἡρακλείδου μὴ τοσοῦτον δυνάμει καὶ φρονήσει κρατῶν ὅσον χρηστότητι καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ φανῆναι· τὸ γὰρ ἀληθῶς βέλτιον ἐν τούτοις·
besides, he wished men to see that he was superior to Heracleides, not so much in power and wisdom, as in goodness and justice; for therein lay real superiority;
αἱ δὲ τοῦ πολέμου κατορθώσεις, εἰ καὶ ἀνθρώπων μηδένα, τήν γε τύχην διαμφισβητοῦσαν ἔχουσιν.
whereas successes in war, even though they had to be shared with no man, must at least be shared with fortune.
εἰ δʼ Ἡρακλείδης ἄπιστος καὶ κακὸς διὰ φθόνον, οὔ τοι καὶ Δίωνα δεῖν θυμῷ διαφθεῖραι τήν ἀρετήν· τὸ γὰρ ἀντιτιμωρεῖσθαι τοῦ προαδικεῖν νόμῳ δικαιότερον ὡρίσθαι, φύσει γινόμενον ἀπὸ μιᾶς ἀσθενείας.
Moreover, if envy led Heracleides to be faithless and base, surely anger must not drive Dion to sully his virtue; for although taking vengeance for a wrong was in the eyes of the law more just than the doing of the wrong unprovoked, by nature it sprang from one and the same weakness.
ἀνθρώπου δὲ κακίαν, εἰ καὶ χαλεπόν ἐστιν, οὐχ οὕτως ἄγριον εἶναι παντάπασι καὶ δύσκολον ὥστε μὴ μεταβάλλειν χάριτι νικηθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τῶν πολλάκις εὖ ποιούντων.
Furthermore, baseness in a man, even though it be a grievous thing, was not so altogether savage and obstinate that it could not be conquered by frequent benefactions and altered by a sense of gratitude.
τοιούτοις χρησάμενος λογισμοῖς ὁ Δίων ἀφῆκε τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἡρακλείδην.
After using such arguments as these, Dion set Heracleides and Theodotes free.
τραπόμενος δὲ πρὸς τὸ διατείχισμα, τῶν μὲν Συρακουσίων ἕκαστον ἐκέλευσεν ἕνα κόψαντα σταυρὸν ἐγγὺς καταβάλλειν, τοὺς δὲ ξένους ἐπιστήσας διὰ νυκτός, ἀναπαυομένων τῶν Συρακουσίων, ἔλαθεν ἀποσταυρώσας τὴν ἀκρόπολιν, ὥστε μεθʼ ἡμέραν τὸ τάχος καὶ τὴν ἐργασίαν θεασαμένους ὁμοίως θαυμάζειν τοὺς πολίτας καὶ τοὺς πολεμίους.
Then turning his attention to the siege-wall, he bade each one of the Syracusans to cut a stake and lay it down near the works, and setting his mercenaries to the task all night, while the Syracusans were resting, he succeeded in fencing off the acropolis, so that when day came the citizens and the enemy alike were amazed to see with what speed the work had been accomplished.
θάψας δὲ τοὺς τεθνηκότας τῶν Συρακουσίων καὶ λυσάμενος τοὺς ἑαλωκότας, δισχιλίων οὐκ ἐλάττονας ὄντας, ἐκκλησίαν συνήγαγε.
He also buried the dead Syracusans, ransomed those who had been taken prisoners, although they were fully two thousand in number, and then held an assembly.
καὶ παρελθὼν Ἡρακλείδης εἰσηγήσατο γνώμην αὐτοκράτορα στρατηγὸν ἑλέσθαι Δίωνα κατὰ γῆν καὶ θάλασσαν.
Here Heracleides came forward with a motion that Dion should be chosen general with absolute powers by land and sea.
ἀποδεξαμένων δὲ τῶν ἀρίστων καὶ χειροτονεῖν κελευόντων ἐθορύβησεν ὁ ναυτικὸς ὄχλος καὶ βάναυσος, ἀχθόμενος ἐκπίπτοντι τῆς ναυαρχίας τῷ Ἡρακλείδῃ, καὶ νομίζων αὐτόν, εἰ καὶ τἆλλα μηδενὸς ἄξιός ἐστι, δημοτικώτερόν γε πάντως εἶναι τοῦ Δίωνος καὶ μᾶλλον ὑπὸ χεῖρα τοῖς πολλοῖς.
The aristocracy approved of this motion and urged the appointment; but the mob of sailors and day-labourers tumultuously opposed it, being vexed that Heracleides should lose his office of admiral, and considering him, even though good for nothing in other ways, at least altogether more a man of the people than Dion and more under the control of the multitude.
ὁ δὲ Δίων τοῦτο μὲν ἐφῆκεν αὐτοῖς καὶ τὴν κατὰ θάλατταν ἀρχὴν ἀπέδωκε τῷ Ἡρακλείδῃ, πρὸς δὲ τῆς γῆς καὶ τῶν οἰκιῶν τὸν ἀναδασμὸν ὡρμημένοις ἐναντιωθείς καὶ τὰ πρότερον ψηφισθέντα περὶ τούτων ἀκυρώσας ἐλύπησεν.
This point Dion yielded to them, and restored the command by sea to Heracleides; but when they insisted upon the redistribution of land and houses, he opposed them and repealed their former decrees on this head, thereby winning their displeasure.
ὅθεν εὐθὺς ἑτέραν ἀρχὴν λαβὼν ὁ Ἡρακλείδης τοὺς συνεκπλεύσαντας μετʼ αὐτοῦ στρατιώτας καὶ ναύτας ἐν Μεσσήνῃ καθήμενος ἐδημαγώγει καὶ παρώξυνε κατὰ τοῦ Δίωνος ὡς τυραννεῖν μέλλοντος· αὐτὸς δὲ πρὸς Διονύσιον ἐποιεῖτο συνθήκας κρύφα διὰ Φάρακος τοῦ Σπαρτιάτου.
Wherefore Heracleides at once renewed his machinations, and, when he was stationed at Messana, artfully tried to exasperate against Dion the soldiers and sailors who had sailed thither with him, declaring that Dion intended to make himself tyrant; but he himself was all the while making secret compacts with Dionysius through the agency of Pharax the Spartan.
καὶ τοῦτο τῶν γνωριμωτάτων Συρακουσίων ὑπονοησάντων, στάσις ἦν ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ καὶ διʼ αὐτὴν ἀπορία καὶ σπάνις ἐν ταῖς Συρακούσαις,
When this was suspected by the better class of Syracusans, there was dissension in the army, and therefore perplexity and want of provisions in Syracuse,
ὥστε παντάπασιν ἀμηχανεῖν τὸν Δίωνα καὶ κακῶς ἀκούειν ὑπὸ τῶν φίλων οὕτω δυσμεταχείριστον ἄνθρωπον καὶ διεφθαρμένον ὑπὸ φθόνου καὶ πονηρίας αὐξήσαντα καθʼ αὑτοῦ τὸν Ἡρακλείδην.
so that Dion was altogether at a loss what to do, and was blamed by his friends for having strengthened against himself a man so perverse and so corrupted by envy and baseness as Heracleides was.
Φάρακος δὲ πρὸς Νέᾳ πόλει τῆς Ἀκραγαντίνης στρατοπεδεύοντος, ἐξαγαγὼν τοὺς Συρακουσίους ἐβούλετο μὲν ἐν ἑτέρῳ καιρῷ διαγωνίσασθαι πρὸς αὐτόν, Ἡρακλείδου δὲ καὶ τῶν ναυτῶν καταβοώντων ὡς οὐ βούλεται μάχῃ κρῖναι τὸν πόλεμον Δίων, ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ μένοντος ἄρχειν, ἀναγκασθεὶς συνέβαλε καὶ ἡττήθη.
Now, Pharax was encamped at Neapolis, in the territory of Agrigentum, and thither Dion led forth the Syracusans. Dion wished to settle the issue between them at a later opportunity, but Heracleides and his sailors kept crying out against him, saying that his wish was not to decide the war by a battle, but to have it last forever, that he might remain in power.
γενομένης δὲ τῆς τροπῆς οὐ βαρείας, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ὑφʼ ἑαυτῶν καὶ τοῦ στασιάζειν ταραχθέντων, αὖθις ὁ Δίων παρεσκευάζετο μάχεσθαι καὶ συνέταττε πείθων καὶ παραθαρρύνων.
He was therefore forced into an engagement, and was worsted. Since, however, the defeat of his men was not severe, but due more to their own seditious disorders than to the enemy, Dion again prepared for battle and drew up his forces, persuading and encouraging them.
τῆς δὲ νυκτὸς ἀρχομένης ἀγγέλλεται πρὸς αὐτὸν Ἡρακλείδην ἄραντα τὸν στόλον πλεῖν ἐπὶ Συρακουσῶν, ἐγνωκότα τὴν πόλιν καταλαβεῖν κἀκεῖνον ἀποκλεῖσαι μετὰ τοῦ στρατεύματος,
But in the evening word was brought to him that Heracleides with his fleet was sailing for Syracuse, determined to occupy the city and shut Dion and his army out of it.
εὐθὺς οὖν ἀναλαβὼν τοὺς δυνατωτάτους καὶ προθυμοτάτους ἱππάσατο διὰ τῆς νυκτός· καὶ περὶ τρίτην ὥραν τῆς ἡμέρας πρὸς ταῖς πύλαις ἦν, σταδίους κατηνυκὼς ἑπτακοσίους.
Immediately, therefore, he took with him his most influential and zealous supporters and rode all night, and about nine o’clock next day was at the gates of the city, having covered seven hundred furlongs.
Ἡρακλείδης δὲ ταῖς ναυσὶν, ὡς ἁμιλλώμενος ὑστέρησεν, ἀποπλεύσας καὶ πλανώμενος ἐν ταῖς πράξεσιν ἀσκόπως ἐπιτυγχάνει Γαισύλῳ τῷ Σπαρτιάτῃ, φάσκοντι πλεῖν ἐφʼ ἡγεμονίᾳ Σικελιωτῶν ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος, ὡς πρότερόν ποτε Γύλιππος.
But Heracleides, who, in spite of all his efforts, arrived too late with his ships, put out to sea again, and being without definite plans, fell in with Gaesylus the Spartan, who insisted that he was sailing from Sparta to take command of the Sicilians, as Gylippus had formerly done.
ἄσμενος οὖν ἀναλαβὼν τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ περιαψάμενος ὥσπερ ἀλεξιφάρμακον τοῦ Δίωνος ἐπεδείκνυτο τοῖς συμμάχοις· καὶ κήρυκα πέμπων εἰς τὰς Συρακούσας ἐκέλευε δέχεσθαι τὸν Σπαρτιάτην ἄρχοντα τοὺς πολίτας.
Heracleides, accordingly, gladly took up this man, attached him to himself like an amulet, as it were against the influence of Dion, and showed him to his confederates; then, secretly sending a herald to Syracuse, he ordered the citizens to receive their Spartan commander.
ἀποκριναμένου δὲ τοῦ Δίωνος ὡς εἰσὶν ἄρχοντες ἱκανοὶ τοῖς Συρακουσίοις, εἰ δὲ πάντως δέοι καὶ Σπαρτιάτου τοῖς πράγμασιν, αὐτὸς οὗτος εἶναι, κατὰ ποίησιν γεγονὼς Σπαρτιάτης, τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ὁ Γαίσυλος ἀπέγνω, πλεύσας δὲ πρὸς τὸν Δίωνα διήλλαξε τὸν Ἡρακλείδην ὅρκους δόντα καὶ πίστεις τὰς μεγίστας, αἷς αὐτὸς ὁ Γαισύλος ὤμοσε τιμωρὸς ἔσεσθαι Δίωνι καὶ κολαστὴς Ἡρακλείδου κακοπραγμονοῦντος.
Dion, however, made answer that the Syracusans had commanders enough, and that if their situation absolutely required a Spartan also, he himself was the man, since he had been made a citizen of Sparta. Thereupon Gaesylus gave up his pretensions to the command, and sailing to Dion, effected a reconciliation between him and Heracleides, who took oaths and made the most solemn pledges, in support of which Gaesylus himself swore that he would avenge Dion and punish Heracleides if he worked any more mischief.
ἐκ τούτου κατέλυσαν μὲν οἱ Συρακούσιοι τὸ ναυτικόν, οὐδὲν γὰρ ἦν ἔργον αὐτοῦ, μεγάλαι δὲ δαπάναι τοῖς πλέουσι, καὶ στάσεως ἀφορμαὶ τοῖς ἄρχουσι· τὴν δὲ ἄκραν ἐπολιόρκουν ἐξοικοδομήσαντες τὸ περιτείχισμα.
After this the Syracusans discharged their fleet, since it was of no use, while it involved great outlays for the crews, and caused dissension among their commanders; they also laid siege to the citadel after they had finished building the wall that enclosed it.
μηδενὸς δὲ τοῖς πολιορκουμένοις βοηθοῦντος, ἐπιλιπόντος δὲ σίτου, τῶν δὲ μισθοφόρων γινομένω· πονηρῶν, ἀπογνοὺς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Διονυσίου τὰ πράγματα καὶ σπεισάμενος πρὸς τὸν Δίωνα τὴν μὲν ἄκραν ἐκείνῳ μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων καὶ τῆς ἄλλης κατασκευῆς παρέδωκεν, αὐτὸς δὲ τὴν μητέρα καὶ τὰς ἀδελφὰς ἀναλαβὼν καὶ πέντε πληρωσάμενος τριήρεις ἐξέπλει πρὸς τὸν πατέρα,
No one came to the help of the besieged, provisions failed them, and the mercenaries became mutinous, so that the son of Dionysius gave up his cause for lost and made terms with Dion. The citadel he handed over to him together with the arms and other equipment there, while he himself, taking his mother and sisters and manning five triremes, sailed away to his father.
τοῦ Δίωνος ἀσφαλῶς μὲν ἐκπέμποντος, οὐδενὸς δὲ τῶν ἐν Συρακούσαις ἀπολείποντος ἐκείνην τὴν ὄψιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς μὴ περόντας ἐπιβοωμένων, ὅτι τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἐλευθέραις ἀνίσχοντα ταῖς Συρακούσαις οὐκ ἐφορῶσιν.
Dion allowed him to depart in safety, and no one who was then in Syracuse missed that sight, nay, they called upon the absent ones also, pitying them because they could not behold this day and the rising of the sun upon a free Syracuse.
ὅπου γὰρ ἔτι νῦν τῶν λεγομένων κατὰ τῆς τύχης παραδειγμάτων ἐμφανέστατόν ἐστι καὶ μέγιστον ἡ Διονυσίου φυγή, τίνα χρὴ δοκεῖν αὐτῶν ἐκείνων τὴν τότε χαρὰν γενέσθαι καὶ πηλίκον φρονῆσαι τοὺς τὴν μεγίστην τῶν πώποτε τυραννίδων καθελόντας ἐλαχίσταις ἀφορμαῖς;
For since, among the illustrations men give of the mutations of fortune, the expulsion of Dionysius is still to this day the strongest and plainest, what joy must we suppose those men themselves then felt, and how great a pride, who, with the fewest resources, over-threw the greatest tyranny that ever was!
ἐκπλεύσαντος δὲ τοῦ Ἀπολλοκράτους, καὶ τοῦ Δίωνος εἰς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν βαδίζοντος, οὐκ ἐκαρτέρησαν αἱ γυναῖκες οὐδʼ ἀνέμειναν εἰσελθεῖν αὐτόν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὰς θύρας ἐξέδραμον, ἡ μὲν Ἀριστομάχη τὸν υἱὸν ἄγουσα τοῦ Δίωνος, ἡ δʼ Ἀρετὴ κατόπιν εἵπετο δακρύουσα, καὶ διαποροῦσα πῶς ἀσπάσηται καὶ προσείπῃ τὸν ἄνδρα κοινωνίας αὐτῇ πρὸς ἕτερον γεγενημένης.
After Apollocrates had sailed away, and when Dion was on his way to the acropolis, the women could not restrain themselves nor await his entrance, but ran out to the gates, Aristomache leading Dion’s son, while Arete followed after them in tears, and at a loss how to greet and address her husband now that she had lived with another man.
ἀσπασαμένου δʼ αὑτοῦ πρῶτον τὴν ἀδελφήν, εἶτα τὸ παιδίον, ἡ Ἀριστομάχη προσαγαγοῦσα τὴν Ἀρετήν, ἠτυχοῦμεν, ὦ Δίων, ἔφη, σοῦ φεύγοντος·
After Dion had greeted his sister first, and then his little son, Aristomache led Arete to him, and said: We were unhappy, Dion, while thou wast in exile;
ἥκων δὲ καὶ νικῶν ἀφῄρηκας ἡμῶν ἁπάντων τὰς κατηφείας, πλὴν μόνης ταύτης, ἣν ἐπεῖδον ἡ δυστυχὴς ἐγὼ σοῦ ζῶντος ἑτέρῳ συνελθεῖν βιασθεῖσαν.
but now that thou art come and art victorious, thou hast taken away our sorrow from all of us, except from this woman alone, whom I was so unfortunate as to see forced to wed another while thou wast still alive.
ὅτε οὖν σὲ κύριον ἡμῶν ἡ τύχη πεποίηκε, πῶς αὐτῇ διαιτᾷς ἐκείνην τὴν ἀνάγκην; πότερον ὡς θεῖον ἢ καὶ ὡς ἄνδρα σε ἀσπάσεται;
Since, then, fortune has made thee our lord and master, how wilt thou judge of the compulsion laid upon her? Is it as her uncle or as her husband that she is to greet thee?
τοιαῦτα τῆς Ἀριστομάχης λεγούσης ὁ Δίων ἐκδακρύσας προσηγάγετο φιλοστόργως τὴν γυναῖκα· καὶ παραδοὺς αὐτῇ τὸν υἱὸν ἐκέλευσεν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν αὑτοῦ βαδίζειν, ὅπου καὶ αὐτὸς διῃτᾶτο, τὴν ἄκραν ἐπὶ τοῖς Συρακουσίοις ποιησάμενος.
So spake Aristomache, and Dion, bursting into tears, embraced his wife fondly, gave her his son, and bade her go to his own house and there he himself also dwelt, after he had put the citadel in charge of the Syracusans.
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