§16.9.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος γὰρ Ἀθήνησιν Ἀγαθοκλέους Ῥωμαῖοι κατέστησαν ὑπάτους Μάρκον Φάβιον καὶ Γάιον Πόπλιον.
For when Agathocles was archon in Athens, the Romans appointed Marcus Fabius and Gaius Poplius as consuls.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων Δίων ὁ Ἱππαρίνου κατέπλευσεν εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν καταλύσων τὴν Διονυσίου τυραννίδα, ἐλαχίσταις δὲ τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ πάντων χρησάμενος ἀφορμαῖς μεγίστην δυναστείαν τῶν κατὰ τὴν Εὐρώπην κατέλυσεν ἀνελπίστως.
During their term of office, Dion, the son of Hipparinus, sailed to Sicily in order to overthrow the tyranny of Dionysius, and though he employed the fewest resources of all those before him, he unexpectedly overthrew the greatest dominion in Europe.
§16.9.2τίς γὰρ ἂν πιστεύσειεν ὅτι δυσὶ φορτηγοῖς ναυσὶ καταπλεύσας περιεγένετο δυνάστου ναῦς μὲν μακρὰς ἔχοντος τετρακοσίας, στρατιώτας δὲ πεζοὺς μὲν εἰς δέκα μυριάδας, ἱππεῖς δὲ μυρίους, ὅπλων δὲ καὶ σίτου καὶ χρημάτων τοσαύτην παρασκευὴν ὅσην εἰκός ἐστι κεκτῆσθαι τὸν μέλλοντα χορηγήσειν δαψιλῶς ταῖς προειρημέναις δυνάμεσι, χωρὶς δὲ τῶν εἰρημένων πόλιν μὲν ἔχοντα μεγίστην τῶν Ἑλληνίδων, λιμένας δὲ καὶ νεώρια καὶ κατεσκευασμένας ἀκροπόλεις ἀναλώτους, ἔτι δὲ συμμάχων δυνατῶν ἔχοντα πλῆθος;
For who would believe that a man who sailed with only two merchant ships got the better of a ruler who possessed four hundred warships, foot soldiers to the number of one hundred thousand, and ten thousand cavalry, and had so great a provision of arms, food, and money as it is reasonable for one to possess who is going to supply lavishly the aforementioned forces, and who, besides what has been mentioned, possessed the greatest of Greek cities, and harbors, shipyards, and well-fortified, impregnable acropolises, and furthermore possessed a multitude of powerful allies?
§16.9.3αἰτία δʼ ὑπῆρχε τῷ Δίωνι τῶν προτερημάτων μάλιστα μὲν ἡ ἰδία λαμπρότης τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ ἀνδρεία καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐλευθεροῦσθαι μελλόντων εὔνοια, τὸ δὲ τούτων ἁπάντων μεῖζον ἥ τε ἀνανδρία τοῦ τυράννου καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀρχομένων πρὸς αὐτὸν μῖσος· πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα πρὸς ἕνα καιρὸν συνδραμόντα παραδόξως τὰς ἀπιστουμένας πράξεις πρὸς τέλος ἤγαγεν.
The cause of Dion's successes was, above all, his own nobility of soul and courage, and the goodwill of those who were about to be liberated, but greater than all these was both the cowardice of the tyrant and the hatred of his subjects toward him; for all these factors, coinciding at a single moment, unexpectedly brought the unbelievable deeds to fulfillment.
§16.9.4ἡμεῖς δʼ ἀφέμενοι τούτων τῶν λόγων ἐπὶ τὴν ἀναγραφὴν τῶν κατὰ μέρος πεπραγμένων τρεψόμεθα.
But we, leaving these considerations, shall turn to the recording of the detailed events.
Δίων γὰρ ἐκ Ζακύνθου τῆς πρὸς Κεφαλληνίαν δυσὶ φορτίσι ναυσὶν ἀναχθεὶς κατέπλευσε τῆς Ἀκραγαντίνης εἰς τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Μίνῳαν.
For Dion, setting out from Zacynthus, which is near Cephallenia, with two merchant vessels, sailed to the place called Minoa in the territory of Agrigentum.
αὕτη δὲ τὸ μὲν παλαιὸν ὑπὸ Μίνωος ἐκτίσθη τοῦ βασιλέως Κρητῶν, καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν ζητῶν Δαίδαλον ἐπεξενώθη Κωκάλῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν Σικανῶν· κατὰ δὲ τοὺς ὑποκειμένους καιροὺς ἡ μὲν πόλις αὕτη τοῖς Καρχηδονίοις ὑπήκουεν, ὁ δʼ ἐπιστάτης αὐτῆς, ὄνομα Πάραλος, φίλος ὢν Δίωνος προθύμως ὑπεδέξατʼ αὐτόν.
This city had been founded in ancient times by Minos, the king of the Cretans, at the time when, in his search for Daedalus, he was entertained by Cocalus, the king of the Sicani; but at the times now under consideration, this city was subject to the Carthaginians, and its governor, Paralus by name, being a friend of Dion, eagerly received him.
§16.9.5ὁ δὲ Δίων ἐξελόμενος ἐκ τῶν φορτηγῶν πανοπλίας πεντακισχιλίας τῷ Παράλῳ παρέδωκεν καὶ παρεκάλεσεν αὐτὸν ἁμάξαις παρακομίσαι πρὸς τὰς Συρακούσσας· αὐτὸς δὲ τοὺς μισθοφόρους παραλαβών, ὄντας χιλίους, προῆγεν ἐπὶ τὰς Συρακούσσας.
Dion, having unloaded five thousand suits of armor from the merchant ships, handed them over to Paralus and urged him to transport them by wagon to Syracuse; and he himself, taking his mercenaries, who numbered one thousand, advanced toward Syracuse.
ἐν παρόδῳ δὲ τούς τε Ἀκραγαντίνους καὶ Γελῴους καί τινας τῶν τὴν μεσόγειον οἰκούντων Σικανῶν τε καὶ Σικελῶν, ἔτι δὲ Καμαριναίους πείσας συνελευθερῶσαι τοὺς Συρακοσίους προῆγεν ἐπὶ τὴν κατάλυσιν τοῦ τυράννου.
On his way, having persuaded the Agrigentines, the Geloans, and some of the Sicani and Sicels who inhabited the interior, and furthermore the Camarinaeans, to join in liberating the Syracusans, he advanced for the overthrow of the tyrant.
§16.9.6πολλῶν δὲ πάντοθεν συρρυέντων μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων ταχὺ πλείους τῶν δισμυρίων στρατιωτῶν ἠθροίσθησαν.
As many flocked in from all sides with their arms, quickly more than twenty thousand soldiers were assembled.
οὐδὲν δʼ ἧττον καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἰταλίας Ἑλλήνων καὶ Μεσσηνίων μετεπέμφθησαν καὶ πάντες σὺν πολλῇ προθυμίᾳ κατὰ σπουδὴν ἧκον.
Nonetheless, many of the Greeks from Italy and the Messenians were also summoned, and all arrived in haste with great eagerness.