§14.109.1τῶν δʼ Ὀλυμπίων ἐγγὺς ὄντων ἀπέστειλεν εἰς τὸν ἀγῶνα τέθριππα πλείω, διαφέροντα πολὺ τῶν ἄλλων τοῖς τάχεσι, καὶ σκηνὰς εἰς τὴν πανήγυριν διαχρύσους καὶ πολυτελέσι ποικίλοις ἱματίοις κεκοσμημένας.
When the Olympic games were near, he dispatched to the contest several four-horse chariots, which excelled the others by far in speed, and also gilded tents decorated with costly embroidered robes for the festival.
ἔπεμψε δὲ καὶ ῥαψῳδοὺς τοὺς κρατίστους, ὅπως ἐν τῇ πανηγύρει τὰ ποιήματα αὐτοῦ προφερόμενοι ποιήσωσιν ἔνδοξον τὸν Διονύσιον· σφόδρα γὰρ εἰς τὴν ποιητικὴν ὑπῆρχε μεμηνώς.
He also sent the best rhapsodists, so that by reciting his poems at the festival they might make Dionysius famous; for he was exceedingly mad about poetry.
§14.109.2τούτων δʼ ἐπιμελητὴν συνεξέπεμψε Θεαρίδην τὸν ἀδελφόν· ὃς ἐπεὶ παρεγένετο εἰς τὴν πανήγυριν, ἐπὶ μὲν τῷ κάλλει τῶν σκηνῶν καὶ τῷ πλήθει τῶν τεθρίππων ἦν περίβλεπτος·
As supervisor of these things he sent along his brother Thearides; who, when he arrived at the festival, was the object of general admiration because of the beauty of the tents and the number of the chariots.
ὡς δʼ ἐπεβάλονθʼ οἱ ῥαψῳδοὶ προφέρεσθαι τοῦ Διονυσίου τὰ ποιήματα, κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν διὰ τὴν εὐφωνίαν τῶν ὑποκριτῶν συνέδραμε τὰ πλήθη καὶ πάντες ἐθαύμαζον· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἀναθεωροῦντες τὴν κακίαν τῶν ποιημάτων, διεγέλων τὸν Διονύσιον καὶ κατεγίνωσκον ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὥστε τινὰς τολμῆσαι διαρπάζειν τὰς σκηνάς.
But when the rhapsodists began to recite the poems of Dionysius, at first, because of the fine voices of the performers, the crowds gathered and everyone was amazed; but afterwards, when they reflected on the badness of the poems, they laughed at Dionysius and condemned him to such a degree that some even dared to plunder the tents.
§14.109.3καὶ γὰρ Λυσίας ὁ ῥήτωρ τότε διατρίβων ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ προετρέπετο τὰ πλήθη μὴ προσδέχεσθαι τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀγῶσι τοὺς ἐξ ἀσεβεστάτης τυραννίδος ἀπεσταλμένους θεωρούς· ὅτε καὶ τὸν Ὀλυμπιακὸν λόγον ἐπιγραφόμενον ἀνέγνω. §14.109.4τοῦ δʼ ἀγῶνος συντελουμένου συνέβη κατὰ τύχην τῶν Διονυσίου τεθρίππων τὰ μὲν ἐκπεσεῖν ἐκ τοῦ δρόμου, τὰ δʼ ἀλλήλοις ἐμπεσόντα συντριβῆναι, παραπλησίως δὲ καὶ τὴν παρακομίζουσαν ναῦν τοὺς θεωροὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀγώνων ἀναχθεῖσαν εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν ἐκπεσεῖν τῆς Ἰταλίας εἰς Τάραντα διά τινας χειμῶνας.
For Lysias the orator, who was then staying in Olympia, urged the crowds not to admit to the sacred games the envoys sent from a most impious tyranny; at which time he also read the speech entitled "Olympic." And as the contest was being held, it happened by chance that some of Dionysius' chariots ran off the course, while others collided with one another and were shattered; and likewise, the ship conveying the envoys, after setting sail from the games for Sicily, was driven by storms away from Italy to Tarentum.
§14.109.5διὸ καί φασι σωθέντας τοὺς ναύτας εἰς Συρακούσας διαγγέλλειν κατὰ τὴν πόλιν, ὅτι διὰ τὴν κακίαν τῶν ποιημάτων οὐ μόνον οἱ ῥαψῳδοῦντες, ἀλλὰ σὺν τούτοις τά τε τέθριππα καὶ ἡ ναῦς ἐξέπεσον.
Wherefore they say that the sailors, having escaped safely to Syracuse, spread the word throughout the city that because of the badness of the poems, not only the rhapsodists, but along with them both the chariots and the ship had failed.
§14.109.6ὁ δὲ Διονύσιος πυθόμενος τὸν τῶν ποιημάτων διασυρμόν, καὶ τῶν κολάκων λεγόντων ὅτι πᾶσι τοῖς καλῶς πραττομένοις φθονοῦντες ἐξ ὑστέρου θαυμάζουσιν, οὐκ ἀφίστατο τῆς περὶ τὴν ποίησιν σπουδῆς.
Dionysius, having heard of the ridicule of his poems, and since his flatterers said that people, envying all successful achievements, would admire them later on, did not desist from his zeal for poetry.
§14.109.7Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ πρὸς Οὐολσινίτας περὶ Γουράσιον παραταξάμενοι πολλοὺς τῶν πολεμίων ἀνεῖλον.
And the Romans, drawing up their forces against the Volsinienses near Gurasium, slew many of the enemy.