§20.71.1ὁ δʼ Ἀγαθοκλῆς ἐπειδὴ διεκομίσθη ταχέως ἐκ τῆς Λιβύης εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν, μεταπεμψάμενος μέρος τῆς δυνάμεως παρῆλθεν εἰς τὴν τῶν Αἰγεσταίων πόλιν οὖσαν σύμμαχον.
When Agathocles had quickly crossed over from Libya to Sicily, summoning a part of his force, he came to the city of the Aegestaeans, which was an ally.
ἀπορούμενος δὲ χρημάτων εἰσφέρειν ἠνάγκαζε τοὺς εὐπόρους τὸ πλεῖον μέρος τῆς ὑπάρξεως, §20.71.2οὔσης τῆς πόλεως τότε μυριάνδρου.
And being in need of money, he compelled the wealthy citizens to contribute the greater part of their property, the city at that time having ten thousand men.
πολλῶν δʼ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀγανακτούντων καὶ συντρεχόντων αἰτιασάμενος τοὺς Αἰγεσταίους ἐπιβουλεύειν αὐτῷ δειναῖς περιέβαλε συμφοραῖς τὴν πόλιν·
And since many of them were indignant at this and were gathering together, he accused the Aegestaeans of plotting against him and brought terrible calamities upon the city.
τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἀπορωτάτους προαγαγὼν ἐκτὸς τῆς πόλεως παρὰ τὸν Σκάμανδρον ποταμὸν ἀπέσφαξεν, τοὺς δὲ δοκοῦντας οὐσίαν κεκτῆσθαι μείζονα βασανίζων ἠνάγκαζε λέγειν ὁπόσα ἔχων τις τυγχάνει χρήματα καὶ τοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν ἐτρόχιζε, τοὺς δὲ εἰς τοὺς καταπέλτας ἐνδεσμεύων κατετόξευεν, ἐνίοις δʼ ἀστραγάλους προστιθεὶς βιαιότερον δειναῖς ἀλγηδόσι περιέβαλλεν.
For the poorest indeed he led out of the city and slaughtered along the Scamander river, while those who seemed to possess greater wealth he tortured, forcing them to state how much money each of them happened to have; and some of them he broke on the wheel, and others he bound to catapults and shot down with arrows, and to some he applied ankle-screws with great violence, inflicting terrible pain upon them.
§20.71.3ἐξεῦρε δὲ καὶ ἑτέραν τιμωρίαν ἐμφερῆ τῷ Φαλάριδος ταύρῳ· κατεσκεύασε γὰρ κλίνην χαλκῆν ἀνθρωπίνου σώματος τύπου ἔχουσαν καὶ καθʼ ἕκαστον μέρος κλεισὶ διειλημμένην, εἰς ταύτην δʼ ἐναρμόζων τοὺς βασανιζομένους ὑπέκαιε ζῶντας, τούτῳ διαφερούσης τῆς κατασκευῆς ταύτης παρὰ τὸν ταῦρον, τῷ καὶ θεωρεῖσθαι τοὺς ἐν ταῖς ἀνάγκαις ἀπολλυμένους.
And he also invented another punishment similar to the bull of Phalaris: for he constructed a bronze bed having the shape of a human body, and divided in each part by clasps; and fitting the torture victims into this, he burned them alive from below, this device differing from the bull in this respect: that those who were perishing in their agonies could actually be seen.
§20.71.4τῶν δὲ γυναικῶν τῶν εὐπόρων τινῶν μὲν καρκίνοις σιδηροῖς τὰ σφυρὰ πιέζων συνέτεινε, τινῶν δὲ τοὺς τιτθοὺς ἀπέτεμνεν, ταῖς δʼ ἐγκύοις πλίνθους ἐπὶ τὴν ὀσφῦν ἐπιτιθεὶς τὸ ἔμβρυον ἀπὸ τοῦ βάρους ἐξέθλιβεν.
And as for the wealthy women, of some he crushed the ankles by squeezing them with iron shears, of others he cut off the breasts, and upon those who were pregnant he placed bricks on their loins and forced out the fetus by the weight.
τούτῳ δὲ τῷ τρόπῳ τὰ χρήματα πάντα τοῦ τυράννου ζητοῦντος καὶ μεγάλου φόβου τὴν πόλιν ἐπέχοντος τινὲς μὲν αὑτοὺς συγκατέκαυσαν ταῖς οἰκίαις, τινὲς δὲ ἀγχόνῃ τὸ ζῆν ἐξέλιπον.
When the tyrant sought all the money in this manner and a great fear gripped the city, some burned themselves together with their houses, while others ended their lives by hanging.
§20.71.5ἡ μὲν οὖν Αἴγεστα τυχοῦσα μιᾶς ἡμέρας ἀτυχοῦς ἡβηδὸν ἐθανατώθη.
Thus Aegesta, meeting with one unfortunate day, was put to death from youth upwards.
ὁ δʼ Ἀγαθοκλῆς παρθένους μὲν καὶ παῖδας εἰς τὴν Ἰταλίαν διακομίσας ἀπέδοτο τοῖς Βρεττίοις, τῆς δὲ πόλεως οὐδὲ τὴν προσηγορίαν ἀπολιπών, ἀλλὰ Δικαιόπολιν μετονομάσας ἔδωκεν οἰκητήριον τοῖς αὐτομόλοις.
Agathocles, carrying over the virgins and children to Italy, sold them to the Bruttians, and leaving not even the name of the city, but renaming it Dicaeopolis, he gave it as a dwelling place to the deserters.