γενομένων δὲ τῶν νεῶν ἑτοίμων, καὶ τοῖς στρατιώταις ὧν ἔδει πορισθέντων, αἱ μὲν ἱέρειαι τῆς Κόρης ὄναρ ἔδοξαν ἰδεῖν τὰς θεὰς πρὸς ἀποδημίαν τινὰ στελλομένας καὶ λεγούσας ὡς Τιμολέοντι μέλλουσι συμπλεῖν εἰς Σικελίαν.
When the fleet was ready, and the soldiers provided with what they needed, the priestesses of Persephone fancied they saw in their dreams that goddess and her mother making ready for a journey, and heard them say that they were going to sail with Timoleon to Sicily.
διὸ καὶ τριήρη κατασκευάσαντες ἱερὰν οἱ Κορίνθιοι ταῖν θεαῖν ἐπωνόμασαν. αὐτὸς δʼ ἐκεῖνος εἰς Δελφοὺς πορευθεὶς ἔθυσε τῷ θεῷ, καὶ καταβαίνοντος εἰς τὸ μαντεῖον αὐτὸν γίνεται σημεῖον.
Therefore the Corinthians equipped a sacred trireme besides, and named it after the two goddesses. Furthermore, Timoleon himself journeyed to Delphi and sacrificed to the god, and as he descended into the place of the oracle, he received the following sign.
ἐκ γὰρ τῶν κρεμαμένων ἀναθημάτων ταινία τις ἀπορρυεῖσα καὶ φερομένη, στεφάνους ἔχουσα καὶ Νίκας ἐμπεποικιλμένας, περιέπεσε τῇ κεφαλῇ τοῦ Τιμολέοντος, ὡς δοκεῖν αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ στεφανούμενον ἐπὶ τὰς πράξεις προπέμπεσθαι.
From the votive offerings suspended there a fillet which had crowns and figures of Victory embroidered upon it slipped away and fell directly upon the head of Timoleon, so that it appeared as if he were being crowned by the god and thus sent forth upon his undertaking.
ναῦς δὲ Κορινθίας μὲν ἔχων ἑπτά. Κερκυραίας δὲ δύο, καὶ τὴν δεκάτην Λευκαδίων προσπαρασχόντων, ἀνήχθη.
And now, with seven Corinthian ships, and two from Corcyra, and a tenth which the Leucadians furnished, he set sail.
καὶ νυκτὸς ἐμβαλὼν εἰς τὸ πέλαγος καὶ πνεύματι καλῷ χρώμενος ἔδοξεν αἰφνιδίως ῥαγέντα τὸν οὐρανὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς νεὼς ἐκχέαι πολὺ καὶ περιφανὲς πῦρ.
And at night, after he had entered the open sea and was enjoying a favouring wind, the heavens seemed to burst open on a sudden above his ship, and to pour forth an abundant and conspicuous fire.
ἐκ δὲ τούτου λαμπὰς ἀρθεῖσα ταῖς μυστικαῖς ἐμφερὴς καὶ συμπαραθέουσα τὸν αὐτὸν δρόμον, ᾗ μάλιστα τῆς Ἰταλίας ἐπεῖχον οἱ κυβερνῆται, κατέσκηψεν.
From this a torch lifted itself on high, like those which the mystics bear, and running along with them on their course, darted down upon precisely that part of Italy towards which the pilots were steering.
οἱ δὲ μάντεις τὸ φάσμα τοῖς ὀνείρασι τῶν ἱερειῶν μαρτυρεῖν ἀπεφαίνοντο, καὶ τὰς θεὰς συνεφαπτομένας τῆς στρατείας προφαίνειν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τὸ σέλας·
The soothsayers declared that the apparition bore witness to the dreams of the priestesses, and that the goddesses were taking part in the expedition and showing forth the light from heaven;
εἶναι γὰρ ἱερὰν τῆς Κόρης τὴν Σικελίαν, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν αὐτόθι μυθολογοῦσι γενέσθαι καὶ τὴν νῆσον ἐν τοῖς γάμοις ἀνακαλυπτήριον αὐτῇ δοθῆναι.
for Sicily, they said, was sacred to Persephone, since mythology makes it the scene of her rape; and the island was given to her as a wedding present.
τὰ μὲν οὖν παρὰ τῶν θεῶν οὕτω τὸν στόλον ἐθάρρυνε καὶ σπεύδοντες, ὡς τὸ πέλαγος διαπλέοντες, ἐκομίζοντο παρὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν.
Such, then, were the signs from Heaven which encouraged the expedition; and making haste, since they were crossing the open sea, they skirted the coast of Italy.
τὰ δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς Σικελίας ἀγγελλόμενα πολλὴν ἀπορίαν τῷ Τιμολέοντι καὶ δυσθυμίαν τοῖς στρατιώταις παρεῖχεν.
But the tidings from Sicily much perplexed Timoleon and disheartened his soldiers.
ὁ γὰρ Ἱκέτης μάχῃ νενικηκὼς Διονύσιον καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα μέρη τῶν Συρακουσῶν κατειληφώς ἐκεῖνον μὲν εἰς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν καὶ τὴν καλουμένην Νῆσον συνεσταλμένον αὐτὸς συνεπολιόρκει καὶ συμπεριετείχιζε,
For Hicetas, after defeating Dionysius in battle and occupying most of the outlying portions of Syracuse, had shut the tyrant up in the acropolis and what was called The Island, where he was himself helping to besiege and wall him in,
Καρχηδονίους δὲ φροντίζειν ἐκέλευεν ὅπως οὐκ ἐπιβήσοιτο Τιμολέων Σικελίας, ἀλλʼ ἀπωσθέντων ἐκείνων αὐτοὶ καθʼ ἡσυχίαν διανεμοῦνται πρὸς ἀλλήλους τὴν νῆσον.
while he ordered the Carthaginians to see to it that Timoleon should not land in Sicily, but that he and his forces should be repulsed, and that they themselves, at their leisure, should divide the island with one another.
οἱ δὲ πέμπουσιν εἴκοσι τριήρεις εἰς Ῥήγιον, ἐφʼ ὧν ἐπέπλεον πρεσβευταὶ παρʼ αὐτοῦ πρὸς Τιμολέοντα κομίζοντες λόγους τοῖς πραττομένοις ὁμοίους.
So the Carthaginians sent twenty triremes to Rhegium, on board of which were envoys from Hicetas to Timoleon carrying proposals which conformed to his proceedings.
παραγωγαὶ γὰρ εὐπρεπεῖς καὶ προφάσεις ἦσαν ἐπὶ μοχθηροῖς βουλεύμασιν, ἀξιούντων αὐτὸν μὲν, εἰ βούλοιτο, Τιμολέοντα σύμβουλον ἥκειν παρʼ Ἱκέτην καὶ κοινωνὸν εὖ διαπεπραγμένων ἁπάντων, τὰς δὲ ναῦς καὶ τοὺς στρατιώτας ἀποστέλλειν εἰς Κόρινθον, ὡς τοῦ πολέμου μικρὸν ἀπολείποντος συνῃρῆσθαι, Καρχηδονίων δὲ κωλύειν τὴν διάβασιν καὶ μάχεσθαι πρὸς βιαζομένους ἑτοίμων ὄντων.
For they were specious and misleading suggestions covering base designs, the envoys demanding that Timoleon himself, if he wished, should come to Hicetas as counsellor and partner in all his successes, but that he should send his ships and his soldiers back to Corinth, since, as they claimed, the war was almost finished, and the Carthaginians were ready to prevent their passage and to fight them if they tried to force one.
ὡς οὖν καταπλεύσαντες εἰς τὸ Ῥήγιον οἱ Κορίνθιοι τοῖς τε πρεσβεύμασι τούτοις ἐνέτυχον καὶ τοὺς Φοίνικας οὐ πρόσω ναυλοχοῦντας κατεῖδον, ἤχθοντο μὲν ὑβρισμένοι, καὶ παρίστατο πᾶσιν ὀργὴ πρὸς τὸν Ἱκέτην καὶ δέος ὑπὲρ Σικελιωτῶν, οὓς σαφῶς ἑώρων ἆθλα λειπομένους καὶ μισθόν Ἱκέτῃ μὲν προδοσίας, Καρχηδονίοις δὲ τυραννίδος,
When, therefore, the Corinthians, after putting in at Rhegium, met these envoys, and saw the Carthaginians riding at anchor not far off they were indignant at the insult put upon them, and were all of them filled with rage at Hicetas and fear for the Sicilian Greeks, who, as they clearly saw, were left to be a prize and reward, to Hicetas on the one hand for his treachery, and to the Carthaginians on the other for making him tyrant.
ἐδόκει δʼ ἀμήχανον ὑπερβαλέσθαι καὶ τὰς αὐτόθι τῶν βαρβάρων ναῦς διπλασίας ἐφορμούσας καὶ τὴν ἐκεῖ μεθʼ Ἱκέτου δύναμιν, ᾗ στρατηγήσοντες ἥκοιεν.
Moreover, it seemed impossible to overcome both the ships of the Barbarians confronting them there with twice their numbers, and the force under Hicetas in Syracuse, where they had come to take command.
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