§7.2.1οἱ μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ Σικελίας πλέοντες πρέσβεις χειμῶνι χρησάμενοι κατὰ θάλατταν καὶ κύκλῳ τὴν νῆσον περιπλεῖν ἀναγκασθέντες χρόνιοί τε κατήχθησαν πρὸς τὸν τύραννον, καὶ τὴν χειμερινὴν ἐκεῖ διατρίψαντες ὥραν μετὰ θέρος ἐπανῆλθον εἰς Ἰταλίαν πολλὰς κομίζοντες ἀγοράς.
Now the envoys sailing to Sicily, having met with a storm at sea and having been forced to sail all the way around the island, arrived at the tyrant's court after a long delay; and after spending the winter season there, they returned to Italy after the summer, bringing a great quantity of provisions.
§7.2.2οἱ δʼ εἰς τὸ Πωμεντῖνον ἀποσταλέντες πεδίον ὀλίγου μὲν ἐδέησαν ὡς κατάσκοποι πρὸς τῶν Οὐολούσκων ἀναιρεθῆναι διαβληθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν ἐκ Ῥώμης φυγάδων, χαλεπῶς δὲ πάνυ διὰ τὴν προθυμίαν τῶν ἰδιοξένων αὐτὰ διασῶσαι δυνηθέντες τὰ σώματα, δίχα τῶν χρημάτων ἀνέστρεψαν εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην ἄπρακτοι.
On the other hand, those dispatched to the Pomptine Plain, having been denounced by the exiles from Rome, came within a little of being put to death as spies by the Volscians; but having been able, with great difficulty, to save their lives through the zeal of their personal hosts, they returned to Rome empty-handed, without the money.
§7.2.3ὅμοια δὲ τούτοις συνέβη παθεῖν καὶ τοῖς εἰς τὴν Ἰταλιῶτιν ἀφικομένοις Κύμην.
A similar fate befell those who arrived at Cumae in Italy.
καὶ γὰρ αὐτόθι πολλοὶ Ῥωμαίων διατρίβοντες, οἱ σὺν τῷ βασιλεῖ Ταρκυνίῳ διασωθέντες ἐκ τῆς τελευταίας μάχης φυγάδες, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐξαιτεῖσθαι παρὰ τοῦ τυράννου τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐπεχείρησαν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ, ἀποτυχόντες δὲ τούτου ῥύσια κατασχεῖν ταῦτα τὰ σώματα παρὰ τῆς ἀπεσταλκυίας πόλεως ἠξίουν, ἕως ἀπολάβωσι τὰς ἑαυτῶν οὐσίας, ἃς ἔφασαν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἀδίκως δεδημεῦσθαι, καὶ ταύτης ᾤοντο δεῖν τῆς δίκης τὸν τύραννον αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι κριτήν.
For there were many Romans living there, exiles who had survived the last battle along with King Tarquinius; at first they attempted to demand the men from the tyrant in order to put them to death, but failing in this, they demanded to hold their persons as pledges from the city that had sent them, until they should recover their own estates, which they claimed had been unjustly confiscated by the Romans, and they believed that the tyrant ought to become the judge for them in this cause.
§7.2.4ὁ δὲ τυραννῶν τότε τῆς Κύμης Ἀριστόδημος ἦν ὁ Ἀριστοκράτους, ἀνὴρ οὐ τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων ἕνεκα γένους, ὃς ἐκαλεῖτο Μαλακὸς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀστῶν καὶ σὺν χρόνῳ γνωριμωτέραν τοῦ ὀνόματος ἔσχε τὴν κλῆσιν, εἴθʼ ὅτι θηλυδρίας ἐγένετο παῖς ὢν καὶ τὰ γυναιξὶν ἁρμόττοντα ἔπασχεν, ὡς ἱστοροῦσί τινες, εἴθʼ ὅτι πρᾷος ἦν φύσει καὶ μαλακὸς εἰς ὀργήν, ὡς ἕτεροι γράφουσιν.
The tyrant of Cumae at that time was Aristodemus, the son of Aristocrates, a man of no ordinary birth, who was called Malakos by the citizens and in course of time became better known by this nickname than by his real name, either because as a child he was effeminate and submitted to what was fitting for women, as some relate, or because he was mild by nature and slow to anger, as others write.
§7.2.5ἀφορμαῖς δὲ τῆς τυραννίδος ὁποίαις ἐχρήσατο καὶ τίνας ἦλθεν ἐπʼ αὐτὴν ὁδοὺς καὶ πῶς διῴκησε τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν καταστροφῆς θʼ ὁποίας ἔτυχεν, οὐκ ἄκαιρον εἶναι δοκῶ μικρὸν ἐπιστήσας τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν διήγησιν· κεφαλαιωδῶς διεξελθεῖν.
What resources he used to obtain the tyranny, by what paths he attained it, how he managed affairs during his rule, and what kind of end befell him—I think it is not inopportune, having paused the Roman narrative for a brief moment, to relate in summary.