§955καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐν τούτοις ἦν, ἐν δὲ Ῥώμη γίγνονται μὲν ὕπατοι Λικίνιός τε Κράσσος καὶ Πόπλιος Σκιπίων ὁ λαβὼν Ἰβηρίαν, τούτων δὲ Κράσσος μὲν ἀντεστρατοπέδευσεν Ἀννιβᾳ περὶ Ἰαπυγίαν, Σκιπίων δὲ τὸν δῆμον ἐδίδασκεν οὔ ποτε Καρχηδονίους οὐδʼ Ἀννίβαν ἀποστήσεσθαι σφίσιν ἐνοχλοῦντας ἀμφὶ τὴν Ἰταλίαν, εἰ μὴ Ῥωμαίων στρατὸς ἐς Λιβύην διέλθοι καὶ κίνδυνον αὐτοῖς ἐπιστήσειεν οἰκεῖον.
While he was in these circumstances, in Rome, Licinius Crassus and Publius Scipio, who had taken Iberia, became consuls. Of these, Crassus encamped opposite Hannibal near Iapygia, while Scipio pointed out to the people that the Carthaginians and Hannibal would never stop annoying them around Italy unless a Roman army crossed over to Libya and brought danger home to them.
λιπαρήσας τε πάνυ καρτερῶς, καὶ πείσας ὀκνοῦντας, ᾑρέθη στρατηγὸς αὐτὸς ἐς Λιβύην, καὶ διέπλευσεν εὐθὺς ἐς Σικελίαν.
Having pleaded very earnestly, and having persuaded those who were hesitant, he himself was chosen general for Libya, and immediately sailed to Sicily.
ἔνθα στρατὸν ἀγείρας τε καὶ γυμνάσας ἐπέπλευσε Λοκροῖς ἄφνω τοῖς ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ, φρουρουμένοις ὑπὸ Ἀννίβου· καὶ τὴν φρουρὰν κατασφάξας τε, καὶ παραδοὺς Πλημινίῳ τὴν πόλιν, αὐτὸς ἐς Λιβύην διέπλευσεν.
Having gathered and trained an army there, he suddenly sailed against Locri in Italy, which was garrisoned by Hannibal; and having slaughtered the garrison and handed the city over to Pleminius, he himself sailed to Libya.
Πλημίνιος δὲ οὐδεμίαν ὕβριν ἢ ἀσέλγειαν ἢ ὠμότητα ἐς τοὺς Λοκροὺς ἐκλιπών, ἐσύλησε λήγων καὶ τὸ τῆς Φερσεφόνης ἱερόν.
But Pleminius, omitting no insolence, wantonness, or cruelty against the Locrians, ended by plundering even the temple of Persephone.
καὶ τόνδε μὲν Ῥωμαῖοι μετὰ τῶν συναμαρτόντων αὐτῷ φίλων διέφθειραν ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ, καὶ τὰς περιουσίας αὐτῶν ἔδοσαν Λοκροῖς ἐς τὸν θησαυρὸν τῆς θεοῦ φέρειν· ὅσα τε ἄλλα ἐδύναντο τῶν ἀπολωλότων ἀνευρόντες, τὸ λεῖπον ἐκ τοῦ κοινοῦ σφῶν ταμιείου τῇ θεῷ προσέθεσαν.
The Romans executed him along with his friends who had shared in his crimes in prison, and gave their properties to the Locrians to carry to the treasury of the goddess; and finding whatever else they could of the lost items, they added the deficit from their public treasury to the goddess.
§956τοῦ δὲ αὐτοῦ χρόνου Κωνσεντίαν τε, μεγάλην πόλιν Βρεττίων, καὶ ἄλλας ἓξ ἐπʼ αὐτῇ περιέσπασεν ἀπὸ Ἀννίβου Κράσσος.
At the same time, Crassus detached Consentia, a great city of the Bruttians, and six other cities besides it from Hannibal.
καὶ γιγνομένων ἐν Ῥώμῃ σημείων ἐκ Διὸς φοβερῶν, οἱ μὲν τὰ Σιβύλλεια ἐπισκεπτόμενοι δέκα ἄνδρες ἔφασαν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τι ἐς Πεσινοῦντα τῆς Φρυγίας, ἔνθα σέβουσιν οἱ Φρύγες θεῶν μητέρα, πεσεῖσθαι τῶνδε τῶν ἡμερῶν, καὶ δεῖν αὐτὸ ἐς τὴν Ῥώμην ἐνεχθῆναι.
And when terrifying omens from Jupiter appeared in Rome, the ten men who examined the Sibylline books declared that something from heaven would fall in these days at Pessinus in Phrygia, where the Phrygians worship the Mother of the Gods, and that it must be brought to Rome.
μετʼ οὐ πολὺ δὲ πεσεῖν τε προσηγγέλθη καὶ ἐς Ῥώμην ἐκομίσθη τὸ βρέτας.
Not long after, it was reported to have fallen, and the image was brought to Rome.
καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν ἑορτάζουσι καὶ νῦν μητρὶ θεῶν, ᾗ τότε ἐκομίσθη.
Even now they celebrate the day on which it was brought as a festival to the Mother of the Gods.
λέγεται δὲ τὴν ναῦν, ἣ ἔφερεν αὐτό, ἰλύι τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ Τιβέριος ἐνσχεθεῖσαν οὐδεμιᾷ μηχανῇ σαλεύεσθαι, μέχρι, τῶν μάντεων προειπόντων ἕψεσθαι μόνως εἰ γυνὴ καθαρεύουσα ξένων ἀνδρῶν ἑλκύσειε, Κλαυδίαν Κόινταν, μοιχείας ἔγκλημα ἔχουσαν ἔτι ἄκριτον, καὶ διʼ ἀσωτίαν ἐς αὐτὸ πιθανωτάτην οὖσαν, ἐπιθειάσαι τε πολλὰ περὶ τῆς ἀναμαρτησίας, καὶ ἀναδήσασθαι τῇ μίτρᾳ τὸ σκάφος.
It is said that the ship which carried it, being caught in the mud of the river Tiber, could not be moved by any device, until, the prophets having foretold that it would follow only if a woman pure from other men should pull it, Claudia Quinta, who was still facing an undecided charge of adultery and was highly suspected of it due to her luxurious lifestyle, made many solemn prayers about her innocence and tied the vessel with her headband.
καὶ ἡ θεὸς ἕσπετο.
And the goddess followed.
Κλαυδία μὲν δὴ ἐξ αἰσχίστης δόξης ἐς ἀρίστην μετέβαλε, Ῥωμαίοις δὲ καὶ πρὸ τῆς Κλαυδίας ἐκέλευε τὰ Σιβύλλεια διὰ τοῦ παρὰ σφίσιν ἀρίστου τὸ βρέτας ἐκ Φρυγίας μεταγαγεῖν, καὶ τὸν ἄριστον ἐν τῷ τότε σφίσι δοκοῦντα εἶναι, Σκιπίωνα τὸν Νασικᾶν ἐπίκλην, ἐπεπόμφεσαν, υἱὸν μὲν ὄντα Γναίου Σκιπίωνος τοῦ στρατηγήσαντος ἐν Ἰβηρίᾳ καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ πεσόντος, ἀνεψιὸν δὲ Σκιπίωνος τοῦ Καρχηδονίους ἀφελομένου τὴν ἡγεμονίαν καὶ πρώτου κληθέντος Ἀφρικανοῦ.
Claudia indeed changed from the worst reputation to the best, and even before Claudia, the Sibylline books had ordered the Romans to bring the image from Phrygia by means of the best man among them; and they had sent Scipio, surnamed Nasica, who was then thought by them to be the best man, being the son of Gnaeus Scipio who had commanded in Iberia and fallen there, and a cousin of the Scipio who deprived the Carthaginians of their hegemony and was first called Africanus.
ὧδε μὲν ἡ θεὸς ἐς Ῥώμην διʼ ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν ἀρίστων ἀφικνεῖτο.
Thus the goddess arrived in Rome by means of the best men and women.
§957ἐν δὲ Λιβύῃ Καρχηδονίων συνεχῶς ὑπὸ τοῦδε τοῦ Σκιπίωνος ἡττωμένων, ὅσοι Βρεττίων ταῦτʼ ἐγίγνωσκον, ἀφίσταντο ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀννίβου, καὶ τὰς φρουρὰς οἱ μὲν ἔκτεινον, οἱ δʼ ἐξέβαλλον.
In Libya, since the Carthaginians were continually being defeated by this Scipio, as many of the Bruttians as learned of this revolted from Hannibal; some killed the garrisons, and others expelled them.
οἱ δὲ οὐδέτερα τούτων δυνάμενοι λάθρᾳ πρὸς τὴν σύγκλητον ἐπρέσβευον, τὴν μὲν ἀνάγκην αὑτῶν καὶ τὴν προαίρεσιν ὑποδεικνύοντες.
Those who were unable to do either of these secretly sent envoys to the Senate, explaining their necessity and their real inclination.
Ἀννίβας δὲ ἐς μὲν Πετηλίαν ἔνοπλος παρῆλθεν, οὐκέτι Πετηλίνων ἐχόντων αὐτήν· ἐκβαλὼν γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἐδεδώκει Βρεττίοις.
Hannibal entered Petelia with arms, though the Petelians no longer possessed it; for he had expelled them and given it to the Bruttians.
ᾐτιᾶτο δʼ ὅτι ἐπρέσβευσαν ἐς Ῥώμην, ἀρνουμένων δʼ ἐκείνων ὑπεκρίνετο πιστεύειν.
He accused them of having sent envoys to Rome, but when they denied it, he pretended to believe them.
ἵνα δʼ,
ἔφη,
μηδʼ ὑπονοῆσθε,
τοὺς μὲν δυνατοὺς παρέδωκε τοῖς Νομάσι, κεχωρισμένως τηρεῖν αὐτῶν ἕκαστον, τοῦ δὲ πλήθους τὰ ὅπλα παρείλετο, τοὺς δὲ δούλους καθοπλίσας ἐπέστησε τῇ πόλει φύλακας.
"In order," he said, "that you may not even be suspected," and he delivered the influential men to the Numidians to guard each of them separately, deprived the populace of their weapons, and having armed the slaves, appointed them as guards over the city.
καὶ τούτοις ὅμοια τὰς ἄλλας πόλεις ἐπιὼν ἐποίει.
He did similar things as he visited the other cities.
Θουρίων δὲ τρισχιλίους Καρχηδονίοις μάλιστα εὔνους ἐξελόμενος, καὶ πεντακοσίους ἄλλους ἀπὸ τῶν ἀγρῶν, τὰ λοιπὰ τῇ στρατιᾷ διαρπάζειν ἔδωκεν.
Selecting three thousand of the Thurians who were most friendly to the Carthaginians, and five hundred others from the country, he gave the rest of the city to his army to plunder.
καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἐγκρατῆ φρουρὰν καταλιπών, ἐς Κρότωνα τοὺς τρισχιλίους καὶ πεντακοσίους μετῴκιζε, τὴν πόλιν εὔκαιρον ἡγούμενος εἶναι, καὶ ταμιεῖον αὐτὴν ἑαυτῷ καὶ ὁρμητήριον ἐπὶ τὰς ἄλλας τιθεμενος.
Leaving a strong garrison in control of the city, he relocated the three thousand five hundred to Croton, considering the city to be convenient, and making it a storehouse and base of operations against the others.