§7.16.1βασιλεῖ τὸν περὶ τούτων λόγον.
to the king the proposal concerning these matters.
τοῦ δὲ δεξαμένου τὴν ἐλπίδα καὶ παρακαλέσαντος τὸν Λαγόραν ἐπιτελεῖν τὴν πρᾶξιν, αὐτὸς μὲν ὑπισχνεῖτο τὰ δυνατὰ ποιήσειν, §7.16.2ἠξίου δὲ τὸν βασιλέα Θεόδοτον αὐτῷ τὸν Αἰτωλὸν καὶ Διονύσιον τὸν ἡγεμόνα τῶν ὑπασπιστῶν παρακελεύσαντα συστῆσαι συνεπιδοῦναι σφᾶς καὶ κοινωνῆσαι τῆς ἐπιβολῆς, διὰ τὸ δοκεῖν ἑκάτερον ἱκανὴν δύναμιν ἔχειν καὶ τόλμαν πρὸς τὴν ἐπινοουμένην πρᾶξιν.
And when the king welcomed the hope and encouraged Lagoras to carry out the enterprise, Lagoras himself promised to do what was possible, but he requested the king, after giving orders to Theodotus the Aetolian and Dionysius the commander of the hypaspists, to associate them with him, so that they might devote themselves and share in the enterprise, because each of them seemed to have sufficient ability and courage for the planned enterprise.
§7.16.3τοῦ δὲ βασιλέως παραχρῆμα ποιήσαντος τὸ παρακαλούμενον, συμφρονήσαντες οἱ προειρημένοι καὶ κοινωσάμενοι περὶ πάντων ἑαυτοῖς ἐτήρουν νύκτα τὸ περὶ τὴν ἑωθινὴν μέρος ἔχουσαν ἀσέληνον.
When the king immediately did what was requested, the aforementioned men agreed and consulted with one another about everything, and they watched for a night which had no moon in the part near dawn.
§7.16.4λαβόντες δὲ τοιαύτην, ἐν ᾗ πράττειν ἔμελλον ἡμέρᾳ, τῇ πρότερον ὀψίας δείλης ἐπέλεξαν ἐκ παντὸς τοῦ στρατοπέδου πεντεκαίδεκα τοὺς εὐρωστοτάτους ἄνδρας καὶ τοῖς σώμασι καὶ ταῖς ψυχαῖς, οἵτινες ἔμελλον ἅμα μὲν προσοίσειν τὰς κλίμακας, ἅμα δὲ συναναβήσεσθαι καὶ μεθέξειν αὐτοῖς τῆς τόλμης.
Having found such a night, on the day before they were to act, late in the evening, they selected from the whole army fifteen of the strongest men in both body and soul, who were to carry the ladders and at the same time climb up with them and share in their bold venture.
§7.16.5μετὰ δὲ τούτους ἄλλους ἐπελέξαντο τριάκοντα τοὺς ἐν ἀποστήματι συνεφεδρεύσοντας, ἵνʼ ἐπειδὰν ὑπερβάντες αὐτοὶ πρὸς τὴν παρακειμένην παραγένωνται πύλην, οὗτοι μὲν ἔξωθεν προσπεσόντες πειρῶνται διακόπτειν τοὺς στροφεῖς καὶ τὸ ζύγωμα τῶν πυλῶν, αὐτοὶ δὲ τὸν μοχλὸν ἔνδοθεν καὶ τὰς βαλανάγρας,
After these, they selected another thirty men to remain in reserve at a short distance, so that when they themselves had scaled the wall and reached the adjacent gate, these men might assault it from without and try to cut through the hinges and the bar of the gates, while they themselves from within did the same to the bolt and the key-holes.
§7.16.6δισχιλίους δὲ τοὺς κατόπιν ἀκολουθήσοντας τούτοις, οὓς συνεισπεσόντας ἔδει καταλαβέσθαι τὴν τοῦ θεάτρου στεφάνην, εὐφυῶς κειμένην πρός τε τοὺς ἐκ τῆς ἄκρας καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως.
And they selected two thousand men to follow behind them, who, after rushing in together, were to occupy the crest of the theatre, which was advantageously situated both against those from the citadel and against those from the city.
§7.16.7τοῦ δὲ μὴ γενέσθαι μηδεμίαν ὑποψίαν τῆς ἀληθείας διὰ τὴν ἐπιλογὴν τῶν ἀνδρῶν, διέδωκε λόγον ὡς τοὺς Αἰτωλοὺς μέλλοντας εἰσπίπτειν διά τινος φάραγγος εἰς τὴν πόλιν, καὶ δέον ἐνεργῶς τούτους παραφυλάξαι πρὸς τὸ μηνυθέν.
In order that no suspicion of the truth might arise from the selection of the men, the king spread a report that the Aetolians were about to burst into the city through a certain ravine, and that it was necessary to guard against them actively according to the information received.