ἐκ τούτου καταλιπὼν ἐν τῇ πολεμίᾳ τοὺς μισθοφόρους ἄγοντας καὶ φέροντας τὴν τῶν Καρχηδονίων ἐπικράτειαν, αὐτὸς ἧκεν εἰς Συρακούσας·
After this, he left his mercenaries in the enemy’s territory plundering the dominion of the Carthaginians, and went himself to Syracuse;
καὶ τοὺς χιλίους μισθοφόρους ἐκείνους, ὑφʼ ὧν ἐγκατελείφθη πρὸ τῆς μάχης, ἐξεκήρυξε τῆς Σικελίας, καὶ πρὶν ἢ δῦναι τὸν ἥλιον ἠνάγκασεν ἐκ Συρακουσῶν ἀπελθεῖν.
there he ordered out of Sicily the thousand mercenaries by whom he had been deserted before the battle, and compelled them to depart from Syracuse before the sun went down.
οὗτοι μὲν οὖν διαπλεύσαντες εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἀπώλοντο παρασπονδηθέντες ὑπὸ Βρεττίων, καὶ δίκην ταύτην τὸ δαιμόνιον αὐτοῖς τῆς προδοσίας ἐπέθηκε.
These, then, after crossing into Italy, were perfidiously slain by the Bruttians, thus receiving from the divine power a penalty for their treachery.
τῶν δὲ περὶ τὸν Μάμερκον, τὸν Κατάνης τύραννον, καὶ Ἱκέτην, εἴτε φθόνῳ τῶν κατορθουμένων ὑπὸ Τιμολέοντος, εἴτε φοβουμένων αὐτὸν ὡς ἄπιστον καὶ ἄσπονδον πρὸς τοὺς τυράννους, συμμαχίαν ποιησαμένων πρὸς τοὺς Καρχηδονίους καὶ κελευσάντων πέμπειν δύναμιν καὶ στρατηγόν, εἰ μὴ παντάπασι βούλονται Σικελίας ἐκπεσεῖν,
Mamercus, however, the tyrant of Catana, and Hicetas, whether through envy of the successes won by Timoleon, or because they feared him as one who distrusted tyrants and would make no peace with them, formed an alliance with the Carthaginians and urged them to send a general with an army if they did not wish to be cast out of Sicily altogether.
ἔπλευσε Γέσκων ναῦς μὲν ἔχων ἑβδομήκοντα, μισθοφόρους δὲ προσλαβὼν Ἕλληνας, οὔπω πρότερον Ἕλλησι χρησαμένων Καρχηδονίων, ἀλλὰ τότε θαυμασάντων ὡς ἀνυποστάτους καὶ μαχιμωτάτους ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων.
Accordingly, Gisco set sail with a fleet of seventy ships, and added Greek mercenaries to his forces, although the Carthaginians had never before employed Greek soldiers; they did so at this time, however, because they had come to admire them as the best and most irresistible fighters in the world.
συστάντες δὲ κοινῇ μετʼ ἀλλήλων ἅπαντες ἐν τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ τετρακοσίους τῶν παρὰ Τιμολέοντος ξένων ἐπικούρους πεμφθέντας ἀπέκτειναν, ἐν δὲ τῇ Καρχηδονίων ἐπικρατείᾳ περὶ τὰς καλουμένας Ἱερὰς ἐνεδρεύσαντες τοὺς μετʼ Εὐθύμου τοῦ Λευκαδίου μισθοφόρους διέφθειραν.
After they had all united their forces in the territory of Messana, they slew four hundred of Timoleon’s mercenaries who had been sent thither as auxiliaries, and in that part of the island belonging to the Carthaginians, near the place called Ietae, they set an ambush for the mercenaries under Euthymus the Leucadian and cut them to pieces.
ἐξ ὧν καὶ μάλιστα τὴν Τιμολέοντος εὐτυχίαν συνέβη γενέσθαι διώνυμον. ἦσαν μὲν γὰρ οὗτοι τῶν μετὰ Φιλομήλου τοῦ Φωκέως καὶ Ὀνομάρχου Δελφοὺς καταλαβόντων καὶ μετασχόντων ἐκείνοις τῆς ἱεροσυλίας.
Herein even most of all did the good fortune of Timoleon become famous. For these were some of the men who, with Philomelus the Phocian and Onomarchus, had seized Delphi and shared in their spoliation of the sanctuary.
μισούντων δὲ πάντων αὐτοὺς καὶ φυλαττομένων ἐπαράτους γεγονότας, πλανώμενοι περὶ τὴν Πελοπόννησον ὑπὸ Τιμολέοντος ἐλήφθησαν ἑτέρων στρατιωτῶν οὐκ εὐποροῦντος.
Then, since all mankind hated them and shunned them as men who had put themselves under a curse, they wandered about Peloponnesus, where they were enlisted in his service by Timoleon, in the dearth of other soldiers.
ἀφικόμενοι δὲ εἰς Σικελίαν ὅσας μὲν ἐκείνῳ συνηγωνίσαντο μάχας πάσας ἐνίκων, τῶν δὲ πλείστων καὶ μεγίστων ἀγώνων τέλος ἐχόντων ἐκπεμπόμενοι πρὸς ἑτέρας ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ βοηθείας ἀπώλοντο καὶ καταναλώθησαν, οὐχ ὁμοῦ πάντες, ἀλλὰ κατὰ μέρος, τῆς δίκης αὐτοῖς ἀπολογουμένης τῇ Τιμολέοντος εὐτυχίᾳ ἐπιτιθεμένης ὅπως μηδεμία τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν κακῶν κολάσεως βλάβη γένηται.
And after coming into Sicily, they were victorious in all the battles which they fought under his leadership, but when the most and greatest of his struggles were over, they were sent out by him to the assistance of others, and then perished utterly, not all at one time, but little by little. And Justice thus punished them, while at the same time she sustained the good fortune of Timoleon, in order that no harm might come to the good from the chastisement of the wicked.
τὴν μὲν οὖν πρὸς Τιμολέοντα τῶν θεῶν εὐμένειαν οὐχ ἧττον ἐν αἷς προσέκρουσε πράξεσιν ἢ περὶ ἃς κατώρθου θαυμάζεσθαι συνέβαινεν.
So, then, the good will of the gods towards Timoleon was no less to be admired in his reverses than in his successes.
οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ τῶν Συρακουσίων ἐχαλέπαινον ὑπὸ τῶν τυράννων προπηλακιζόμενοι. καὶ γὰρ ὁ Μάμερκος ἐπὶ τῷ ποιήματα γράφειν καὶ τραγῳδίας μέγα φρονῶν ἐκόμπαζε νικήσας τοὺς μισθοφόρους, καὶ τὰς ἀσπίδας ἀναθεὶς τοῖς θεοῖς ἐλεγεῖον ὑβριστικὸν ἐπέγραψε· τάσδʼ ὀστρειογραφεῖς καὶ χρυσελεφαντηλέκτρους ἀσπίδας ἀσπιδίοις εἵλομεν εὐτελέσι.
But the people of Syracuse were vexed at the insults heaped upon them by the tyrants. For Mamercus, who valued himself highly as a writer of poems and tragedies, boasted of his victory over the mercenaries, and in dedicating their shields to the gods wrote the following insolent couplet:— These bucklers, purple-painted, decked with ivory, gold, and amber, / We captured with our simple little shields. /
γενομένων δὲ τούτων καὶ τοῦ Τιμολέοντος εἰς Καλαυρίαν στρατεύσαντος, ὁ Ἱκέτης ἐμβαλὼν εἰς τὴν Συρακουσίαν λείαν τε συχνὴν ἔλαβε καὶ πολλὰ λυ μηνάμενος καὶ καθυβρίσας ἀπηλλάττετο παρʼ αὐτὴν τὴν Καλαυρίαν, καταφρονῶν τοῦ Τιμολέοντος ὀλίγους στρατιώτας ἔχοντος.
And after this, when Timoleon was on an expedition to Calauria, Hicetas burst into the territory of Syracuse, took much booty, wrought much wanton havoc, and was marching off past Calauria itself, despising Timoleon, who had but few soldiers.
ἐκεῖνος δὲ προλαβεῖν ἐάσας ἐδίωκεν ἱππεῖς ἔχων καὶ ψιλούς, αἰσθόμενος δὲ ὁ Ἱκέτης τὸν Δαμυρίαν διαβεβηκώς ὑπέστη παρὰ τὸν ποταμὸν ὡς ἀμυνούμενος· καὶ γὰρ αὐτῷ θάρσος ἥ τε τοῦ πόρου χαλεπότης καὶ τὸ κρημνῶδες τῆς ἑκατέρωθεν ὄχθης παρεῖχε,
But Timoleon suffered him to pass on, and then pursued him with cavalry and light-armed troops. When Hicetas was aware of this, he crossed the river Damurias, and halted on the farther bank to defend himself; for the difficulty of the passage, and the steepness of the banks on either side, gave him courage.
τοῖς δὲ μετὰ τοῦ Τιμολέοντος ἰλάρχαις ἔρις ἐμπεσοῦσα θαυμαστὴ καὶ φιλονεικία διατριβὴν ἐποίει τῆς μάχης.
Then among Timoleon’s cavalry officers an astonishing strife and contention arose which delayed the battle.
οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἦν ὁ βουλόμενος ἑτέρου διαβαίνειν ὕστερος ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς ἕκαστος ἠξίου πρωταγωνιστεῖν, καὶ κόσμον οὐκ εἶχεν ἡ διάβασις ἐξωθούντων καὶ παρατρεχόντων ἀλλήλους.
For not one of them was willing to cross the river against the enemy after another, but each demanded to begin the onset himself, and their crossing was likely to be without order if they crowded and tried to run past one another.
βουλόμενος οὖν ὁ Τιμολέων κληρῶσαι τοὺς ἡγεμόνας ἔλαβε παρʼ ἑκάστου δακτύλιον· ἐμβαλὼν δὲ πάντας εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ χλαμύδα καὶ μίξας ἔδειξε τὸν πρῶτον κατὰ τύχην γλυφὴν ἔχοντα τῆς σφραγῖδος τρόπαιον.
Timoleon, therefore, wishing to decide their order by lot, took a seal-ring from each of the leaders, and after casting all the rings into his own cloak and mixing them up, he showed the first that came out, and it had by chance as the device of its seal a trophy of victory.
ὡς δὲ τοῦτον εἶδον οἱ νεανίσκοι, μετὰ χαρᾶς ἀνακραγόντες οὐκέτι τὸν ἄλλον ὑπέμειναν κλῆρον, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἕκαστος τάχους εἶχε τὸν ποταμὸν διεξελάσαντες ἐν χερσὶν ἦσαν τοῖς πολεμίοις.
When the young men saw it, they cried aloud for joy and would no longer wait for the rest of the lot, but all dashed through the river as fast as they could and closed with the enemy.
οἱ δὲ οὐκ ἐδέξαντο τὴν βίαν αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ φεύγοντες τῶν μὲν ὅπλων ἅπαντες ὁμαλῶς ἐστερήθησαν, χιλίους δὲ ἀπέβαλον πεσόντας.
These could not withstand the violence of their onset, but fled, all alike losing their arms, and a thousand being left dead on the field.
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