ὁ δὲ Μάρκελλος ἀποδειχθεὶς ὕπατος τὸ τρίτον εἰς Σικελίαν ἔπλευσεν. αἱ γὰρ Ἀννίβου περὶ τὸν πόλεμον εὐπραξίαι Καρχηδονίους ἐπῆραν αὖθις ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι τῆς νήσου, μάλιστα τεταραγμένων τῶν περὶ τὰς Συρακούσας μετὰ τὴν Ἱερωνύμου τοῦ τυράννου τελευτήν. διὸ καὶ Ῥωμαίων ἦν ἐκεῖ προαπεσταλμένη δύναμις καὶ στρατηγὸς Ἄππιος.
And now Marcellus, having been appointed consul for the third time, sailed to Sicily. For Hannibal’s successes in the war had encouraged the Carthaginians to attempt anew the conquest of the island, especially now that Syracuse was in confusion after the death of the tyrant Hieronymus. For this reason the Romans also had previously sent a force thither under the command of Appius.
ταύτην παραλαμβάνοντι τῷ Μαρκέλλῳ προσπίπτουσι Ῥωμαῖοι πολλοί συμφορᾷ κεχρημένοι τοιαύτῃ, τῶν περὶ Κάννας παραταξαμένων πρὸς Ἀννίβαν οἱ μὲν ἔφυγον, οἱ δὲ ζῶντες ἥλωσαν, τοσοῦτον πλῆθος ὡς δοκεῖν Ῥωμαίοις ὑπολελεῖφθαι μηδὲ τοὺς τὰ τείχη διαφυλάξοντας.
As Marcellus took over this force, he was beset by many Romans who were involved in a calamity now to be described. Of those who had been drawn up against Hannibal at Cannae, some had fled, and others had been taken alive, and in such numbers that it was thought the Romans had not even men enough left to defend the walls of their city.
τοῖς δὲ ἄρα τοσοῦτο τοῦ φρονήματος καὶ μεγαλοψυχίας περιῆν ὥστε τοὺς μὲν αἰχμαλώτους ἐπὶ μικροῖς λύτροις ἀποδιδόντος Ἀννίβου μὴ λαβεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἀποψηφίσασθαι καὶ περιϊδεῖν τοὺς μὲν ἀναιρεθέντας, τοὺς δὲ πραθέντας ἔξω τῆς Ἰταλίας, τῶν δὲ φυγῇ περιγενομένων τὸ πλῆθος εἰς Σικελίαν ἀποστεῖλαι, διακελευσαμένους Ἰταλίας μὴ ἐπιβαίνειν ἕως πολεμοῦσι πρὸς Ἀννίβαν.
And yet so much of their high spirit and haughtiness remained that, although Hannibal offered to restore his prisoners of war for a slight ransom, they voted not to receive them, but suffered some of them to be put to death and others to be sold out of Italy; and as for the multitude who had saved themselves by flight, they sent them to Sicily, ordering them not to set foot in Italy as long as the war against Hannibal lasted.
οὗτοι δὴ τῷ Μαρκέλλῳ παραγενομένῳ προσπεσόντες ἀθρόοι, καὶ χαμαὶ καταβαλόντες αὑτούς, ᾔτουν τάξιν ἐπιτίμου στρατείας μετὰ πολλῆς βοῆς καὶ δακρύων, ἐπαγγελλόμενοι δείξειν διʼ ἔργων ἀτυχίᾳ τινὶ μᾶλλον ἢ διʼ ἀναν- δρίαν αὐτῶν τὴν τροπὴν ἐκείνην γενομένην. οἰκτείρας οὖν αὐτοὺς ὁ Μάρκελλος ἔγραψε πρὸς τὴν σύγκλητον αἰτούμενος ἐκ τούτων ἀεὶ τῆς στρατιᾶς τὸ ἐπιλεῖπον ἀναπληροῦν.
These were the men who, now that Marcellus was come, beset him in throngs, and throwing themselves on the ground before him, begged with many cries and tears for an assignment to honourable military service, promising to show by their actions that their former defeat had been due to some great misfortune rather than to cowardice. Marcellus, therefore, taking pity on them, wrote to the senate asking permission to fill up the deficiencies in his army from time to time with these men.
λόγων δὲ πολλῶν γενομένων ἐποιήσατο γνώμην ἡ βουλή μηδὲν εἰς δημόσια πράγματα δεῖσθαι Ῥωμαίους ἀνθρώπων ἀνάνδρων εἰ δὲ βούλεται χρῆσθαι Μάρκελλος αὐτοῖς ἴσως, μηδενὸς τῶν ἐπʼ ἀνδρείᾳ νομιζομένων στεφάνων καὶ γερῶν τυχεῖν ὑπάρχοντος, τοῦτο τὸ δόγμα Μάρκελλον ἠνίασε, καὶ μετὰ τὸν ἐν Σικελίᾳ πόλεμον ἐπανελθών ἐμέμψατο τὴν βουλήν, ὡς ἀντὶ πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων οὐ παρασχοῦσαν αὐτῷ τοσούτων δυστυχίαν ἐπανορθώσασθαι πολιτῶν.
But after much discussion the senate declared its opinion that the Roman commonwealth had no need of men who were cowards; if, however, as it appeared, Marcellus wished to use them, they were to receive from their commander none of the customary crowns or prizes for valour. This decree vexed Marcellus, and when he came back to Rome after the war in Sicily, he upbraided the senate for not permitting him, in return for his many great services, to redeem so many citizens from misfortune.
τότε δʼ ἐν Σικελίᾳ πρῶτον μὲν ἀδικηθεὶς ὑπὸ Ἱπποκράτους στρατηγοῦ στρατηγοῦ, ὃς Καρχηδονίοις χαριζόμενος καὶ τυραννίδα κτώμενος αὑτῷ πολλοὺς διέφθειρε Ῥωμαίων πρὸς Λεοντίνοις, εἷλε τὴν τῶν Λεοντίνων πόλιν κατὰ κράτος, καὶ Λεοντίνους μὲν οὐκ ἠδίκησε, τῶν δὲ αὐτομόλων ὅσους ἔλαβε μαστιγώσας ἀπέκτεινε.
But in Sicily, at the time of which I speak, his first proceeding, after wrong had been done him by Hippocrates, the commander of the Syracusans (who, to gratify the Carthaginians and acquire the tyranny for himself, had killed many Romans at Leontini), was to take the city of Leontini by storm. He did no harm, however, to its citizens, but all the deserters whom he took he ordered to be beaten with rods and put to death.
τοῦ δʼ Ἱπποκράτους πρῶτον μὲν λόγον εἰς τὰς Συρακούσας προπέμψαντος ὡς Λεοντίνους ἡβηδὸν ἀποσφάττει Μάρκελλος, ἔπειτα δὲ τεταραγμένοις ἐπιπεσόντος καὶ τὴν πόλιν καταλαβόντος, ἄρας Μάρκελλος τῷ στρατῷ παντὶ πρὸς τὰς Συρακούσας ἐχώρει. καὶ καταστρατοπεδεύσας πλησίον εἰσέπεμψε μὲν πρέσβεις περὶ τῶν ἐν Λεοντίνοις διδάξοντας, ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν ἦν ὄφελος μὴ πειθομένων Συρακουσίων (ἐκράτουν γὰρ οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἱπποκράτην),
Hippocrates first sent a report to Syracuse that Marcellus was putting all the men of Leontini to the sword, and then, when the city was in a tumult at the news, fell suddenly upon it and made himself master of it. Upon this, Marcellus set out with his whole army and came to Syracuse. He encamped near by, and sent ambassadors into the city to tell the people what had really happened at Leontini; but when this was of no avail and the Syracusans would not listen to him, the power being now in the hands of Hippocrates,
προσβολὰς ἐποιεῖτο κατὰ γῆν ἅμα καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν, Ἀππίου μὲν τὸν πεζὸν ἐπάγοντος στρατόν, αὐτὸς δὲ πεντήρεις ἔχων ἑξήκοντα παντοδαπῶν ὅπλων καὶ βελῶν πλήρεις, ὑπὲρ δὲ μεγάλου ζεύγματος νεῶν ὀκτὼ πρὸς ἀλλήλας συνδεδεμένων μηχανὴν ἄρας ἐπέπλει πρὸς τὸ τεῖχος, τῷ πλήθει καὶ τῇ λαμπρότητι τῆς παρασκευῆς καὶ τῇ δόξῃ τῇ περὶ αὑτὸν πεποιθώς· ἧς ἄρα λόγος οὐδεὶς ἦν Ἀρχιμήδει καὶ τοῖς Ἀρχιμήδους μηχανήμασιν.
he proceeded to attack the city by land and sea, Appius leading up the land forces, and he himself having a fleet of sixty quinqueremes filled with all sorts of arms and missiles. Moreover, he had erected an engine of artillery on a huge platform supported by eight galleys fastened together, and with this sailed up to the city wall, confidently relying on the extent and splendour of his equipment and his own great fame. But all this proved to be of no account in the eyes of Archimedes and in comparison with the engines of Archimedes.
ὧν ὡς μὲν ἔργον ἄξιον σπουδῆς οὐδὲν ὁ ἀνὴρ προὔθετο, γεωμετρίας δὲ παιζούσης ἐγεγόνει πάρεργα τὰ πλεῖστα, πρότερον φιλοτιμηθέντος Ἱέρωνος τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ πείσαντος Ἀρχιμήδη τρέψαι τι τῆς τέχνης ἀπὸ τῶν νοητῶν ἐπὶ τὰ σωματικά καὶ τὸν λόγον ἁμῶς γέ πως διʼ αἰσθήσεως μίξαντα ταῖς χρείαις ἐμφανέστερον καταστῆσαι τοῖς πολλοῖς.
To these he had by no means devoted himself as work worthy of his serious effort, but most of them were mere accessories of a geometry practised for amusement, since in bygone days Hiero the king had eagerly desired and at last persuaded him to turn his art somewhat from abstract notions to material things, and by applying his philosophy somehow to the needs which make themselves felt, to render it more evident to the common mind.
τὴν γὰρ ἀγαπωμένην ταύτην καὶ περιβόητον ὀργανικὴν ἤρξαντο μὲν κινεῖν οἱ περὶ Εὔδοξον καὶ Ἀρχύταν, ποικίλλοντες τῷ γλαφυρῷ γεωμετρίαν, καὶ λογικῆς καὶ γραμμικῆς ἀποδείξεως οὐκ εὐποροῦντα προβλήματα διʼ αἰσθητῶν καὶ ὀργανικῶν παραδειγμάτων ὑπερείδοντες, ὡς τὸ περὶ δύο μέσας ἀνὰ λόγον πρόβλημα καὶ στοιχεῖον ἐπὶ πολ λὰ τῶν γραφομένων ἀναγκαῖον εἰς ὀργανικὰς ἐξῆγον ἀμφότεροι κατασκευάς, μεσογράφους τινὰς ἀπὸ καμπύλων γραμμῶν καὶ τμημάτων μεθαρμόζοντες·
For the art of mechanics, now so celebrated and admired, was first originated by Eudoxus and Archytas, who embellished geometry with its subtleties, and gave to problems incapable of proof by word and diagram, a support derived from mechanical illustrations that were patent to the senses. For instance, in solving the problem of finding two mean proportional lines, a necessary requisite for many geometrical figures, both mathematicians had recourse to mechanical arrangements, adapting to their purposes certain intermediate portions of curved lines and sections.
ἐπεὶ δὲ Πλάτων ἠγανάκτησε καὶ διετείνατο πρὸς αὐτούς ὡς ἀπολλύντας καὶ διαφθείροντας τὸ γεωμετρίας ἀγαθόν, ἀπὸ τῶν ἀσωμάτων καὶ νοητῶν ἀποδιδρασκούσης ἐπὶ τὰ αἰσθητά, καὶ προσχρωμένης αὖθις αὖ σώμασι πολλῆς καὶ φορτικῆς βαναυσουργίας δεομένοις, οὕτω διεκρίθη γεωμετρίας ἐκπεσοῦσα μηχανική, καὶ περιορωμένη πολὺν χρόνον ὑπὸ φιλοσοφίας μία τῶν στρατιωτίδων τεχνῶν ἐγεγόνει.
But Plato was incensed at this, and inveighed against them as corrupters and destroyers of the pure excellence of geometry, which thus turned her back upon the incorporeal things of abstract thought and descended to the things of sense, making use, moreover, of objects which required much mean and manual labour. For this reason mechanics was made entirely distinct from geometry, and being for a long time ignored by philosophers, came to be regarded as one of the military arts.
καὶ μέντοι καὶ Ἀρχιμήδης, Ἱέρωνι τῷ βασιλεῖ συγγενὴς ὢν καὶ φίλος, ἔγραψεν ὡς τῇ δοθείσῃ δυνάμει τὸ δοθὲν βάρος κινῆσαι δυνατόν ἐστι· καὶ νεανιευσάμενος, ὥς φασι, ῥώμῃ τῆς ἀποδείξεως εἶπεν ὡς, εἰ γῆν εἶχεν ἑτέραν, ἐκίνησεν ἂν ταύτην μεταβὰς εἰς ἐκείνην.
And yet even Archimedes, who was a kinsman and friend of King Hiero, wrote to him that with any given force it was possible to move any given weight; and emboldened, as we are told, by the strength of his demonstration, he declared that, if there were another world, and he could go to it, he could move this.
θαυμάσαντος δὲ τοῦ Ἱέρωνος, καὶ δεηθέντος εἰς ἔργον ἐξαγαγεῖν τὸ πρόβλημα καὶ δεῖξαί τι τῶν μεγάλων κινούμενον ὑπὸ σμικρᾶς δυνάμεως, ὁλκάδα τριάρμενον τῶν βασιλικῶν πόνῳ μεγάλῳ καὶ χειρὶ πολλῇ νεωλκηθεῖσαν, ἐμβαλὼν ἀνθρώπους τε πολλοὺς καὶ τὸν συνήθη φόρτον, αὐτὸς ἄπωθεν καθήμενος, οὐ μετὰ σπουδῆς, ἀλλὰ ἠρέμα τῇ χειρὶ σείων ἀρχήν τινα πολυσπάστου προσηγάγετο λείως καὶ ἀπταίστως καὶ ὥσπερ διὰ θαλάττης ἐπιθέουσαν.
Hiero was astonished, and begged him to put his proposition into execution, and show him some great weight moved by a slight force. Archimedes therefore fixed upon a three-masted merchantman of the royal fleet, which had been dragged ashore by the great labours of many men, and after putting on board many passengers and the customary freight, he seated himself at a distance from her, and without any great effort, but quietly setting in motion with his hand a system of compound pulleys, drew her towards him smoothly and evenly, as though she were gliding through the water.
ἐκπλαγεὶς οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ συννοήσας τῆς τέχνης τὴν δύναμιν, ἔπεισε τὸν Ἀρχιμήδην ὅπως αὐτῷ τὰ μὲν ἀμυνομένῳ, τὰ δʼ ἐπιχειροῦντι μηχανήματα κατασκευάσῃ πρὸς πᾶσαν ἰδέαν πολιορκίας, οἷς αὐτὸς μὲν οὐκ ἐχρήσατο, τοῦ βίου τὸ πλεῖστον ἀπόλεμον καὶ πανηγυρικὸν βιώσας, τότε δʼ ὑπῆρχε τοῖς Συρακουσίοις εἰς δέον ἡ παρασκευή καὶ μετὰ τῆς παρασκευῆς ὁ δημιουργός.
Amazed at this, then, and comprehending the power of his art, the king persuaded Archimedes to prepare for him offensive and defensive engines to be used in every kind of siege warfare. These he had never used himself, because he spent the greater part of his life in freedom from war and amid the festal rites of peace; but at the present time his apparatus stood the Syracusans in good stead, and, with the apparatus, its fabricator.
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