§7.6.1ὁ δʼ Ἀριστόδημος τοσοῦτον εἰπὼν μόνον, ὡς οὐ λέληθεν αὐτὸν ἡ διάνοια τῶν ἐχθρῶν, ὅτι λόγῳ μὲν ἐπὶ συμμαχίαν αὐτὸν ἀποστέλλουσιν, ἔργῳ δʼ εἰς προὖπτον ὄλεθρον, δέχεται μὲν τὴν στρατηγίαν, ἀναχθεὶς δʼ ἅμα τοῖς πρέσβεσι τῶν Ἀρικηνῶν διὰ ταχέων καὶ τὸ μεταξὺ πέλαγος ἐπιπόνως καὶ κινδυνωδῶς διανύσας ὁρμίζεται κατὰ τοὺς ἔγγιστα τῆς Ἀρικείας αἰγιαλούς· καὶ καταλιπὼν ἐν ταῖς ναυσὶ φυλακὴν ἀποχρῶσαν ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ νυκτὶ τὴν ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ὁδὸν οὐ πολλὴν οὖσαν διανύσας ἐπιφαίνεται τοῖς Ἀρικηνοῖς περὶ τὸν ὄρθρον ἀπροσδόκητος.
But Aristodemus, saying only this much, that the intention of his enemies was not hidden from him, namely that in word they were sending him to an alliance, but in fact to open destruction, accepted the generalship, and setting sail quickly with the ambassadors of the Aricini, and having traversed the intervening sea with toil and danger, he came to anchor near the shores closest to Aricia; and leaving a sufficient guard in the ships, having traversed during the first night the road from the sea, which was not long, he appeared to the Aricini about dawn, unexpected.
§7.6.2θέμενος δὲ πλησίον αὐτῶν τὸν χάρακα καὶ τοὺς καταπεφευγότας εἰς τὰ τείχη πείσας προελθεῖν εἰς ὕπαιθρον προὐκαλεῖτο τοὺς Τυρρηνοὺς εὐθὺς εἰς μάχην.
And having pitched his camp near them, and having persuaded those who had fled to the walls to come out into the open, he immediately challenged the Tyrrhenians to battle.
γενομένου δʼ ἐκ παρατάξεως ἀγῶνος καρτεροῦ οἱ μὲν Ἀρικηνοὶ βραχὺν πάνυ διαμείναντες χρόνον ἐνέκλιναν ἀθρόοι, καὶ γίνεται πάλιν εἰς τὸ τεῖχος αὐτῶν φυγή· ὁ δʼ Ἀριστόδημος σὺν τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸν λογάσι Κυμαίων ὀλίγοις οὖσι πᾶν τὸ τοῦ πολέμου βάρος ὑποστὰς καὶ τὸν ἡγεμόνα τῶν Τυρρηνῶν αὐτοχειρίᾳ κτείνας τρέπει τοὺς ἄλλους εἰς φυγὴν καὶ §7.6.3νίκην ἀναιρεῖται πασῶν λαμπροτάτην.
When a fierce conflict took place in regular array, the Aricini, having stood their ground for only a very short time, gave way in a body, and there was again a flight on their part into the wall; but Aristodemus, with the few selected Cumaeans around him, having sustained the whole weight of the war and having killed the commander of the Tyrrhenians with his own hand, turned the others to flight, and won the most brilliant victory of all.
διαπραξάμενος δὲ ταῦτα καὶ τιμηθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀρικηνῶν πολλαῖς δωρεαῖς ἀπέπλει διὰ ταχέων αὐτὸς ἄγγελος τοῖς Κυμαίοις τῆς αὑτοῦ νίκης βουλόμενος γενέσθαι· εἵποντο δʼ αὐτῷ πολλαὶ πάνυ τῶν Ἀρικηνῶν ὁλκάδες τὰ λάφυρα καὶ τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους τῶν Τυρρηνῶν ἄγουσαι.
Having accomplished this and having been honored by the Aricini with many gifts, he sailed back quickly, wishing to be himself the messenger of his victory to the Cumaeans; and very many merchant ships of the Aricini followed him, carrying the spoils and the prisoners of the Tyrrhenians.
§7.6.4ὡς δὲ πλησίον ἐγένοντο τῆς Κύμης, ὁρμίσας τὰς ναῦς ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ στρατοῦ ποιεῖται, καὶ πολλὰ μὲν τῶν προεστηκότων τῆς πόλεως κατηγορήσας, πολλοὺς δὲ τῶν ἀνδραγαθησάντων κατὰ τὴν μάχην ἐπαίνους διελθὼν ἀργύριόν τε διαδοὺς αὐτοῖς κατʼ ἄνδρα καὶ τὰς παρὰ τῶν Ἀρικηνῶν δωρεὰς εἰς κοινὸν ἅπασι καταθεὶς ἠξίου μεμνῆσθαι τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν, ἂν καταπλεύσωσιν εἰς τὴν πατρίδα, καὶ ἄν τις αὐτῷ ποτε συμβαίνῃ κίνδυνος ἐκ τῆς ὀλιγαρχίας ὡς δύναμις ἑκάστῳ βοηθεῖν.
And when they came near Cumae, having anchored the ships, he held an assembly of the army, and after accusing the leaders of the city at length, and delivering many praises to those who had behaved bravely in the battle, and distributing money to them man by man, and placing the gifts from the Aricini in common for all, he asked them to remember his benefits when they should sail into their homeland, and if any danger should ever happen to him from the oligarchy, to assist him, each to the best of his ability.
§7.6.5ἁπάντων δὲ πολλὰς ὁμολογούντων αὐτῷ χάριτας εἰδέναι τῆς τʼ ἀνελπίστου σωτηρίας, ἣν διʼ ἐκεῖνον ἔσχον, καὶ τῆς ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα οὐ σὺν κεναῖς χερσὶν ἀφίξεως, καὶ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχὰς θᾶττον ἢ τὴν ἐκείνου προήσεσθαι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἐπαγγειλαμένων, ἐπαινέσας αὐτοὺς ἀπέλυσε τὴν ἐκκλησίαν.
And when all expressed great gratitude to him both for the unexpected safety which they had through him, and for their arrival at their homes not with empty hands, and promised that they would sacrifice their own lives sooner than his to his enemies, he praised them and dismissed the assembly.
καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο καλῶν εἰς τὴν αὑτοῦ σκηνὴν τοὺς πονηροτάτους ἐξ αὐτῶν καὶ κατὰ χεῖρα γενναιοτάτους δωρεῶν τε δόσει καὶ λόγων φιλανθρωπίᾳ καὶ ταῖς ἅπαντας ἐξαπατώσαις ἐλπίσι διαφθείρας, ἑτοίμους ἔσχε συγκαταλῦσαι τὴν καθεστῶσαν πολιτείαν.
And after this, calling into his own tent the most unprincipled but in hand-to-hand combat the bravest of them, and corrupting them with the giving of gifts, the friendliness of words, and the hopes that deceive all men, he held them ready to join in overthrowing the established government.