§5.1Postquam Corinthum pervenit Dion et eodem perfugit Heraclides ab eodem expulsus Dionysio, qui praefectus fuerat equitum, omni ratione bellum comparare coeperunt.
After Dion arrived in Corinth, and Heraclides, who had been the commander of the cavalry and had been expelled by the same Dionysius, fled to the same place, they began to prepare for war by every means.
§5.2sed non multum proficiebant, quod multorum annorum tyrannis magnarum opum putabatur: quam ob causam pauci ad societatem periculi perducebantur.
But they did not make much progress, because the tyranny of many years was thought to possess great resources; for which reason few were induced to share in the danger.
§5.3sed Dion, fretus non tam suis copiis quam odio tyranni, maximo animo duabus onerariis navibus quinquaginta annorum imperium, munitum quingentis longis navibus, decem equitum centumque peditum milibus, profectus oppugnatum, quod omnibus gentibus admirabile est visum, adeo facile perculit, ut post diem tertium, quam Siciliam attigerat, Syracusas introierit.
But Dion, relying not so much on his own forces as on the hatred for the tyrant, with the greatest courage set out with two transport ships to attack an empire of fifty years, which was fortified with five hundred warships, ten thousand cavalry, and a hundred thousand infantry. This seemed marvelous to all nations, but he struck it down so easily that he entered Syracuse three days after he had reached Sicily.
ex quo intellegi potest nullum esse imperium tutum nisi benivolentia munitum.
From this it can be understood that no rule is safe unless it is fortified by goodwill.
§5.4eo tempore aberat Dionysius et in Italia classem opperiebatur adversariorum, ratus neminem sine magnis copiis ad se venturum.
At that time Dionysius was absent and was waiting in Italy for the fleet of his adversaries, thinking that no one would come against him without great forces.
§5.5quae res eum fefellit.
This expectation deceived him.
nam Dion iis ipsis, qui sub adversarii fuerant potestate, regios spiritus repressit totiusque eius partis Siciliae potitus est, quae sub Dionysii fuerat potestate, parique modo urbis Syracusarum praeter arcem et insulam adiunctam oppido, §5.6eoque rem perduxit, ut talibus pactionibus pacem tyrannus facere vellet: Siciliam Dion obtineret, Italiam Dionysius, Syracusas Apollocrates, cui maximam fidem uni habebat.
For Dion, by means of those very people who had been under the power of his adversary, repressed the royal pride, and made himself master of all that part of Sicily which had been under the power of Dionysius, and in like manner of the city of Syracuse, except for the citadel and the island adjacent to the town, and he brought matters to such a point that the tyrant wished to make peace on the following terms: that Dion should hold Sicily, Dionysius Italy, and Apollocrates, in whom alone he had the greatest confidence, Syracuse.
Dion
Dion