§5.5.1κατὰ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς καιροὺς Λυκοῦργος μὲν εἰς τὴν Μεσσηνίαν ἐξεστρατεύκει, Δωρίμαχος δὲ τοὺς ἡμίσεις ἔχων Αἰτωλῶν εἰς Θετταλίαν ἐπεποίητο τὴν ὁρμήν, ἀμφότεροι πεπεισμένοι τὸν Φίλιππον ἀποσπάσειν τῆς τῶν Παλαιέων πολιορκίας.
About the same time Lycurgus had marched out into Messenia, and Dorimachus, having half of the Aetolians, had made his expedition into Thessaly, both being convinced that they would draw Philip away from the siege of Pale.
§5.5.2ὑπὲρ ὧν ἧκον πρέσβεις πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα παρά τʼ Ἀκαρνάνων καὶ παρὰ Μεσσηνίων, οἱ μὲν παρὰ τῶν Ἀκαρνάνων παρακαλοῦντες αὐτὸν ἐμβαλεῖν εἰς τὴν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν χώραν καὶ τόν τε Δωρίμαχον ἀποστῆσαι τῆς εἰς τὴν Μακεδονίαν ὁρμῆς καὶ τὴν χώραν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν ἐπελθεῖν καὶ πορθῆσαι πᾶσαν ἀδεῶς, §5.5.3οἱ δὲ παρὰ τῶν Μεσσηνίων δεόμενοι σφίσι βοηθεῖν καὶ διδάσκοντες ὅτι τῶν ἐτησίων ἤδη στάσιν ἐχόντων δυνατόν ἐστι τὴν παρακομιδὴν ἐκ τῆς Κεφαλληνίας εἰς τὴν Μεσσηνίαν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ποιήσασθαι μιᾷ·
Concerning these matters, ambassadors arrived to the king from both the Acarnanians and the Messenians; those from the Acarnanians urging him to invade the territory of the Aetolians, and both to make Dorimachus desist from his expedition against Macedonia, and to overrun and plunder all the territory of the Aetolians without fear; and those from the Messenians begging him to help them, and pointing out that since the Etesian winds had already set in, it was possible to make the passage from Cephallenia to Messenia in a single day.
§5.5.4διόπερ οἱ περὶ Γόργον τὸν Μεσσήνιον αἰφνίδιον καὶ πραγματικὴν ἐσομένην συνίστασαν τὴν ἐπὶ τὸν Λυκοῦργον ἐπίθεσιν.
Therefore Gorgus the Messenian and his party argued that the attack on Lycurgus would be sudden and effective.
§5.5.5οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Λεόντιον, τηροῦντες τὴν αὑτῶν ὑπόθεσιν, συνήργουν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Γόργον ἐκτενῶς, θεωροῦντες ὅτι συμβήσεται τὴν θερείαν εἰς τέλος ἄπρακτον γενέσθαι τῷ Φιλίππῳ.
But Leontius and his party, keeping to their plan, strongly supported Gorgus and his colleagues, seeing that the result would be that the summer would be rendered completely fruitless for Philip.
πλεῦσαι μὲν γὰρ εἰς τὴν Μεσσηνίαν ῥᾴδιον ἦν, §5.5.6ἀναπλεῦσαι δʼ ἐκεῖθεν τῶν ἐτησίων ἐπεχόντων ἀδύνατον· §5.5.7ἐξ οὗ δῆλον ἦν ὡς ὁ μὲν Φίλιππος ἐν τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως συγκλεισθεὶς ἀναγκασθήσεται τὸ λοιπὸν μέρος τοῦ θέρους ἄπρακτος μένειν, οἱ δʼ Αἰτωλοὶ τὴν Θετταλίαν καὶ τὴν Ἤπειρον ἐπιπορευόμενοι κατασύρουσι καὶ πορθοῦσι πᾶσαν ἀδεῶς.
For while it was easy to sail to Messenia, to sail back from there, while the Etesian winds prevailed, was impossible; from which it was clear that Philip, shut up in Messenia with his force, would be compelled to remain inactive for the rest of the summer, while the Aetolians, overrunning Thessaly and Epirus, would ravage and plunder them all without fear.
§5.5.8οὗτοι μὲν οὖν λυμεωνευόμενοι ταῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτα συνεβούλευον. οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἄρατον συμπαρόντες τῆς ἐναντίας προέστασαν γνώμης.
These men, then, out of a desire to damage, gave this and such advice; but Aratus and his party, being present, championed the opposite opinion.
§5.5.9δεῖν γὰρ ἔφασαν εἰς τὴν Αἰτωλίαν ποιεῖσθαι τὸν πλοῦν καὶ τούτων ἔχεσθαι τῶν πραγμάτων· ἐξεστρατευκότων γὰρ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν μετὰ Δωριμάχου κάλλιστον εἶναι καιρὸν ἐπελθεῖν καὶ πορθῆσαι τὴν Αἰτωλίαν.
For they said that he ought to make the voyage to Aetolia and stick to these affairs; for since the Aetolians had marched out with Dorimachus, it was the finest opportunity to invade and plunder Aetolia.
ὁ δὲ βασιλεύς, §5.5.10τὰ μὲν ἀπιστῶν ἤδη τοῖς περὶ τὸν Λεόντιον ἐκ τῆς περὶ τὴν πολιορκίαν ἐθελοκακήσεως, συναισθανόμενος δὲ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ περὶ τὸν πλοῦν αὐτῶν διαβουλίου τὴν κακοπραγμοσύνην, ἔκρινε χρῆσθαι τοῖς πράγμασι κατὰ τὴν Ἀράτου γνώμην.
The king, on his part, partly because he already distrusted Leontius and his party owing to their deliberate misconduct during the siege, and partly because he perceived their malicious intent from their advice concerning the voyage, decided to act in accordance with the opinion of Aratus.
§5.5.11διόπερ Ἐπηράτῳ μὲν ἔγραψε τῷ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν στρατηγῷ βοηθεῖν τοῖς Μεσσηνίοις, ἀναλαβόντι τοὺς Ἀχαιούς, αὐτὸς δʼ ἀναχθεὶς ἐκ τῆς Κεφαλληνίας παρῆν δευτεραῖος εἰς Λευκάδα μετὰ τοῦ στόλου νυκτός.
Therefore, he wrote to Eperatus, the strategos of the Achaeans, to help the Messenians, taking the Achaeans with him, while he himself, having set sail from Cephallenia, arrived at Leucas with his fleet at night on the second day.
§5.5.12εὐτρεπισάμενος δὲ τὰ περὶ τὸν Διόρυκτον, καὶ ταύτῃ διακομίσας τὰς ναῦς, ἐποιεῖτο τὸν ἀπόπλουν κατὰ τὸν Ἀμβρακικὸν καλούμενον κόλπον.
Having prepared what was necessary at the canal, and having brought his ships through it, he made his voyage down the so-called Ambracian Gulf.
§5.5.13ὁ δὲ προειρημένος κόλπος ἐπὶ πολὺ προτείνων ἐκ τοῦ Σικελικοῦ πελάγους εἰς τοὺς μεσογαίους ἀνήκει τόπους τῆς Αἰτωλίας, καθάπερ καὶ πρότερον ἡμῖν εἴρηται.
The aforesaid gulf, extending a long way from the Sicilian Sea, reaches into the inland districts of Aetolia, just as has been said by us before.
§5.5.14διανύσας δὲ καὶ καθορμισθεὶς βραχὺ πρὸ ἡμέρας πρὸς τῇ καλουμένῃ Λιμναίᾳ, τοῖς μὲν στρατιώταις ἀριστοποιεῖσθαι παρήγγειλε καὶ τὸ πολὺ τῆς ἀποσκευῆς ἀποθεμένους εὐζώνους σφᾶς παρασκευάζειν πρὸς ἀναζυγήν, §5.5.15αὐτὸς δὲ τοὺς ὁδηγοὺς ἁθροίσας τά τε περὶ τοὺς τόπους καὶ τὰς παρακει
Having traversed this and having come to anchor shortly before daybreak at the place called Limnaea, he ordered his soldiers to take breakfast, and, laying aside the greater part of their baggage, to make themselves unencumbered for the march; while he himself, having assembled the guides, [inquired about] the features of the country and the adjacent...