§20.8.1ὅτι Πύρρος διέβη τὸ δεύτερον εἰς Ἰταλίαν οὐ χωρούντων αὐτῷ τῶν ἐν Σικελίᾳ πραγμάτων κατὰ νοῦν διὰ τὸ μὴ βασιλικὴν φανῆναι τὴν ἡγεμονίαν αὐτοῦ ταῖς ἐπιφανεστάταις πόλεσιν, ἀλλὰ δεσποτικήν.
[It is recorded] that Pyrrhus crossed over a second time to Italy, since affairs in Sicily were not going according to his mind, because his rule appeared to the most illustrious cities to be not kingly, but despotic.
εἰσαχθεὶς γὰρ εἰς Συρακούσας ὑπό τε Σωσιστράτου τοῦ κρατοῦντος τῆς πόλεως τότε καὶ Θοίνωνος τοῦ φρουράρχου, παραλαβὼν παρʼ ἐκείνων τὰ χρήματα καὶ ναῦς χαλκεμβόλους ὁμοῦ τι διακοσίας καὶ πᾶσαν ὑφʼ ἑαυτῷ ποιησάμενος Σικελίαν πλὴν Λιλυβαίου πόλεως, ἣν ἔτι μόνην Καρχηδόνιοι κατεῖχον, εἰς αὐθάδειαν τυραννικὴν ἐτρέπετο.
For having been introduced into Syracuse by Sosistratus, who then ruled the city, and by Thoenon, the commander of the garrison, and having received from them the money and about two hundred bronze-beaked ships, and having brought all Sicily under his power except the city of Lilybaeum, which alone the Carthaginians still held, he turned to tyrannical insolence.
ετ συιδας ς. ϝ. Πύρρος. τάς τε γὰρ οὐσίας τῶν Ἀγαθοκλέους οἰκείων ἢ φίλων ἀφαιρούμενος τοὺς παρʼ ἐκείνου λαβόντας τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ φίλοις ἐχαρίσατο καὶ τὰς μεγίστας ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν ἀρχὰς τοῖς ἰδίοις ὑπασπισταῖς καὶ λοχαγοῖς προσένειμεν, οὐ κατὰ τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους ἑκάστης πόλεως νόμους οὐδʼ εἰς τὸν εἰωθότα χρόνον, ἀλλʼ ὡς αὐτῷ §20.8.2φίλον ἦν.
And in Suidas, under the entry Pyrrhus: For, depriving the relatives and friends of Agathocles of their properties, he granted them to his own friends, after taking them from those who had received them from Agathocles; and he assigned the greatest offices in the cities to his own guards and captains, not according to the local laws of each city, nor for the accustomed time, but as was pleasing to himself.
δίκας τε καὶ ἀμφισβητήσεις καὶ τὰς ἄλλας πολιτικὰς οἰκονομίας ἁπάσας τὰς μὲν αὐτὸς διῄτα, τὰς δὲ τοῖς περὶ τὴν αὐλὴν ἀναστρέφειν καὶ διακρίνειν ἀπεδίδου ἀνθρώποις οὐθὲν ἕτερον ὁρῶσιν ὅ τι μὴ κερδαίνειν καὶ καθηδυπαθεῖν τὰς εὐπορίας· καὶ διὰ ταῦτα πάντα βαρὺς ταῖς ὑποδεξαμέναις πόλεσι καὶ §20.8.3μισητὸς ἦν.
And as for lawsuits, disputes, and all other political administrations, some he arbitrated himself, and others he assigned to the men around the court to manage and decide—men who looked to nothing else except to make a profit and to waste their wealth in luxury; and because of all these things he was burdensome and hateful to the cities that had received him.
αἰσθόμενος δʼ ὑπούλως ἤδη πολλοὺς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἔχοντας εἴς τε τὰς πόλεις φρουρὰς εἰσῆγε πρόφασιν ποιούμενος τὸν ἀπὸ Καρχηδονίων πόλεμον καὶ τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους ἄνδρας ἐξ ἑκάστης πόλεως συλλαμβάνων ἀπέκτεινεν, ἐπιβουλὰς καὶ προδοσίας εὑρηκέναι ψευσάμενος·
But when he perceived that many already had secret resentment toward him, he introduced garrisons into the cities, making the war against the Carthaginians a pretext, and, having falsely claimed to have discovered plots and treasons, he arrested and executed the most illustrious men from each city.
ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ Θοίνων ὁ φρούραρχος, ὃς ὑπὸ πάντων ὡμολόγητο πλείστην σπουδὴν καὶ προθυμίαν εἴς τε τὴν διάβασιν αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν παράληψιν τῆς νήσου παρεσχῆσθαι· καὶ γὰρ ὑπήντησεν αὐτῷ ναυτικὸν στόλον ἄγων, καὶ τὴν ἐν ταῖς Συρακούσαις νῆσον, ἣν αὐτὸς ἐκράτει, παρέσχεν.
Among these was Thoenon, the commander of the garrison, who was acknowledged by all to have offered him the greatest zeal and readiness both for his crossing and for the taking of the island; for he met him leading a naval fleet, and provided the island in Syracuse, which he himself ruled.
§20.8.4ἐπιχειρήσας δὲ καὶ Σωσίστρατον συλλαβεῖν διήμαρτε τῆς ἐλπίδος προαισθομένου τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ φυγόντος ἐκ τῆς πόλεως.
And having attempted to arrest Sosistratus as well, he failed in his hope, as the man perceived the plot beforehand and fled from the city.
ἀρξαμένων δὲ ταράττεσθαι τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ ἡ τῶν Καρχηδονίων πόλις καιρὸν ἐπιτήδειον εἰληφέναι νομίζουσα πρὸς ἀνάκτησιν τῶν ἀπολωλότων χωρίων στρατιὰν ἀπέστειλεν ἐπὶ τὴν νῆσον.
When affairs began to be thrown into confusion, the city of the Carthaginians also, thinking it had found a suitable opportunity for the recovery of the lost places, sent an army to the island.