§417Ῥωμαῖοι δʼ ὑπὸ σπουδῆς τοῖς τότε ἑτοίμοις ἱππεῦσι δισχιλίοις καὶ πεζοῖς δισμυρίοις καὶ ἐλέφασί τισιν, ἡγουμένου σφῶν Ἀκιλίου Μανίου Γλαβρίωνος, ἐς Ἀπολλωνίαν ἐκ Βρεντεσίου διαβαλόντες ἐπὶ Θεσσαλίας ἐβάδιζον καὶ τὰς πόλεις ἐξέλυον τῶν πολιορκιῶν, ἐν ὅσαις δʼ ἦσαν ἤδη Ἀθαμάνων φρουραί, τὰς φρουρὰς ἐξέβαλλον.
On their part, the Romans, in all haste, under the command of Manius Acilius Glabrio, crossed from Brundisium to Apollonia with the two thousand cavalry, twenty thousand infantry, and some elephants that were then ready, and marched toward Thessaly. They relieved the cities of their sieges, and in whichever of them there were already garrisons of the Athamanes, they expelled the garrisons.
καὶ τὸν Μεγαλοπολίτην Φίλιππον αἰχμάλωτον ἔλαβον, ἐλπίζοντα ἔτι τὴν Μακεδόνων ἀρχήν. εἷλον δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἀντιοχείων ἐς τρισχιλίους.
They also took prisoner Philip of Megalopolis, who was still hoping for the rule of the Macedonians, and captured up to three thousand of Antiochus' men.
ἅμα δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Μάνιος εἰργάζετο, καὶ ὁ Φίλιππος ἐς Ἀθαμανίαν ἐμβαλὼν πᾶσαν αὐτὴν ὑπήκοον ἔλαβεν, Ἀμυνάνδρου φυγόντος ἐς Ἀμβρακίαν.
While Manius was doing this, Philip also invaded Athamania and brought the whole of it under subjection, Amynander having fled to Ambracia.
ὧν ὁ Ἀντίοχος αἰσθανόμενός τε, καὶ τὴν ὀξύτητα τῶν γιγνομένων καταπλαγείς, ἔδεισεν ὡς ἐπὶ αἰφνιδίῳ καὶ ταχείᾳ μεταβολῇ, καὶ τῆς εὐβουλίας Ἀννίβου τότε ᾔσθετο, ἔς τε τὴν Ἀσίαν ἄλλους ἐπʼ ἄλλοις ἔπεμπεν ἐπισπέρχειν Πολυξενίδαν ἐς τὴν διάβασιν, αὐτὸς δʼ ὅσους εἶχε, πανταχόθεν συνεκάλει.
When Antiochus perceived these things, and was struck with panic by the swiftness of the events, he feared the sudden and rapid change of fortune, and then at last appreciated the wisdom of Hannibal. He sent messengers one after another to Asia to urge Polyxenidas to hasten his crossing, while he himself summoned from all quarters as many troops as he had.
γενομένων δʼ αὐτῷ τῶν μὲν οἰκείων πεζῶν μυρίων καὶ ἱππέων πεντακοσίων, ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις καὶ τινῶν συμμάχων, Θερμοπύλας κατέλαβεν ὡς τὴν δυσχωρίαν προβαλούμενος τοῖς πολεμίοις καὶ τὸν στρατὸν ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίας ἀναμενῶν.
When his own forces amounted to ten thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry, and besides these some allies, he occupied Thermopylae, intending to present the difficult terrain as a barrier to the enemy and await the army from Asia.
δίοδος δʼ ἐστὶν αἱ Θερμοπύλαι στενὴ καὶ ἐπιμήκης, καὶ αὐτὴν περιέχει τῇ μὲν θάλασσα τραχεῖα καὶ ἀλίμενος, τῇ δὲ ἕλος ἄβατόν τε καὶ βαραθρῶδες.
Thermopylae is a narrow and long pass, enclosed on one side by a rough and harborless sea, and on the other by an impassable and deep marsh.
κορυφαί τε εἰσὶν ἐν αὐτῇ δύο ὀρῶν ἀπόκρημνοι, καὶ τούτων μὲν Τειχιοῦντα καλοῦσι τὴν δὲ Καλλίδρομον.
There are in it two steep mountain peaks, one of which they call Teichius and the other Callidromus.
ἔχει δὲ ὁ τόπος θερμῶν ὑδάτων πηγάς, καὶ Θερμοπύλαι ἀπὸ τοῦδʼ ἐπικλῄζονται.
The place has springs of warm water, from which circumstance Thermopylae is named.
§418τεῖχος οὖν ἐνταῦθα διπλοῦν ὁ Ἀντίοχος ᾠκοδομήσατο, καὶ τὰς μηχανὰς ἐπὶ τὸ τεῖχος ἐπέθηκεν.
Therefore Antiochus built a double wall there and placed his engines upon it.
ἔς τε τὰς κορυφὰς τῶν ὀρῶν Αἰτωλοὺς ἀνέπεμψε, μή τις λάθοι κατὰ τὴν λεγομένην ἀτραπὸν περιελθών, ᾗ δὴ καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις τοῖς ἀμφὶ Λεωνίδαν Ξέρξης ἐπέθετο, ἀφυλάκτων τότε τῶν ὀρῶν ὄντων.
He sent the Aetolians up to the mountain peaks, lest anyone should secretly bypass them by the so-called path, by which indeed Xerxes had attacked the Lacedaemonians under Leonidas, the mountains being unguarded at that time.
Αἰτωλοὶ δὲ χιλίους μὲν ἑκατέρῳ τῶνδε τῶν ἄκρων ἐπέστησαν, τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς ἐστρατοπέδευον ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν περὶ πόλιν Ἡράκλειαν.
The Aetolians stationed a thousand men on each of these summits, and with the rest they encamped by themselves near the city of Heracleia.
ὁ δὲ Μάνιος ἐπεὶ κατεῖδε τὴν τῶν πολεμίων παρασκευήν, σημεῖον ἔδωκεν ἐς ἕω μάχης·
When Manius saw the preparations of the enemy, he gave the signal for battle at dawn.
καὶ δύο τῶν χιλιάρχων, Μᾶρκον Κάτωνα καὶ Λεύκιον Οὐαλέριον, ἐκέλευσε νυκτός, ἐπιλεξαμένους ἑκάτερον ὁπόσους ἐθέλοι, τὰ ὄρη περιελθεῖν καὶ τοὺς Αἰτωλοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἄκρων, ὅπῃ δύναιντο, βιάσασθαι.
And he ordered two of his military tribunes, Marcus Cato and Lucius Valerius, to pick as many men as each wished and, under cover of night, to go around the mountains and dislodge the Aetolians from the summits by whatever means they could.
τούτων ὁ μὲν Λεύκιος ἀπεκρούσθη τοῦ Τειχιοῦντος, ἀγαθῶν ἐνταῦθα τῶν Αἰτωλῶν γενομένων·
Of these, Lucius was repulsed from Teichius, the Aetolians there fighting bravely.
ὁ δὲ Κάτων τῷ Καλλιδρόμῳ παραστρατοπεδεύσας, κοιμωμένοις ἔτι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἐπέπεσε περὶ ἐσχάτην φυλακήν, καὶ πολὺς ἀμφʼ αὐτὸν ἐγίγνετο ἀγών, βιαζόμενον ἐς ὑψηλὰ καὶ ἀπόκρημνα κωλυόντων τῶν πολεμίων.
Meanwhile Cato, having encamped near Callidromus, fell upon the enemy while they were still asleep, around the last watch of the night. A fierce struggle arose around him as he forced his way up to the high and steep places while the enemy tried to prevent him.
ἤδη δὲ καὶ Μάνιος ἐπῆγε τὴν στρατιὰν Ἀντιόχῳ κατὰ μέτωπον, ἐς λόχους ὀρθίους διῃρημένην· ὧδε γὰρ μόνως ἐν στενοῖς ἐδύνατο.
By this time Manius also was leading his army against Antiochus in front, drawn up in columns, for only in this way was it possible in the narrow pass.
καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοὺς μὲν ψιλοὺς καὶ πελταστὰς προμάχεσθαι τῆς φάλαγγος ἐκέλευσεν, αὐτὴν δʼ ἔστησε πρὸ τοῦ στρατοπέδου, ἐπὶ δεξιὰ δʼ αὐτῆς τοὺς σφενδονήτας καὶ τοξότας ἐπὶ τῶν ὑπωρειῶν, τοὺς δʼ ἐλέφαντας ἐν ἀριστερᾷ, καὶ τὸ στῖφος ὃ μετʼ αὐτῶν ἀεὶ συνετάσσετο, παρὰ τῇ θαλάσσῃ.
The king ordered the light-armed troops and peltasts to fight in front of the phalanx, and stationed the phalanx itself in front of the camp. On its right, on the lower slopes of the hills, he stationed the slingers and archers, and on the left, by the sea, the elephants and the body of troops that was always drawn up with them.