§21.49.1cum ad Trebiam terrestre constitisset bellum, interim circa Siciliam insulasque Italiae imminentes et a Sempronio consule et ante adventum eius terra marique res gestae.
While the land war had come to a standstill at the Trebia, in the meantime, around Sicily and the islands adjacent to Italy, operations were carried on by land and sea both by the consul Sempronius and before his arrival.
§21.49.2viginti quinqueremes cum mille armatis ad depopulandam oram Italiae a Carthaginiensibus missae; novem Liparas, octo ad insulam Vulcani tenuerunt, tres in fretum avertit aestus.
Twenty quinqueremes with a thousand armed men were sent by the Carthaginians to ravage the coast of Italy; nine held their course for Lipara, eight for the island of Vulcanus, and three the tide diverted into the strait.
§21.49.3ad eas conspectas a Messana duodecim naves ab Hierone rege Syracusanorum missae, qui tum forte Messanae erat consulem Romanum opperiens, nullo repugnante captas naves Messanam in portum deduxerunt.
Against these, when they were sighted, twelve ships were sent from Messana by King Hiero of the Syracusans, who then happened to be at Messana waiting for the Roman consul; and since no one resisted, they captured the ships and brought them into the harbor of Messana.
§21.49.4cognitum ex captivis praeter viginti naves, cuius ipsi classis essent, in Italiam missas quinque et triginta alias quinqueremes Siciliam petere ad sollicitandos veteres socios; §21.49.5Lilybaei occupandi praecipuam curam esse; credere eadem tempestate, qua ipsi disiecti forent, eam quoque classem ad Aegates insulas deiectam.
It was learned from the prisoners that, besides the twenty ships of the fleet to which they themselves belonged that had been sent to Italy, thirty-five other quinqueremes were heading for Sicily to solicit their former allies; that the main concern was the seizure of Lilybaeum, and they believed that this fleet also had been driven to the Aegates islands by the same storm by which they themselves had been scattered.
§21.49.6haec, sicut audita erant, rex M. Aemilio praetori, cuius Sicilia provincia erat, perscribit monetque, ut Lilybaeum firmo teneret praesidio.
The king wrote these details, just as they had been heard, to the praetor Marcus Aemilius, whose province Sicily was, and warned him to hold Lilybaeum with a strong garrison.
§21.49.7extemplo et circa civitates a praetore missi legati tribunique, qui suos ad curam custodiae intenderent, et ante omnia Lilybaeum teneri apparatu belli, edicto proposito, ut socii navales decem dierum cocta cibaria ad naves deferrent, §21.49.8ut, ubi signum datum esset, ne quid moram conscendendi faceret; perque omnem oram, qui ex speculis prospicerent adventantem hostium classem, missi.
Immediately, legates and tribunes were sent around the states by the praetor to direct their people to the care of guarding them, and above all, Lilybaeum was held by preparations for war, an edict being published that the naval allies should bring ten days' cooked provisions to the ships, so that, when the signal was given, nothing should cause a delay in embarking; and along the whole coast, men were sent to look out from watchtowers for the approaching fleet of the enemy.
§21.49.9itaque, quamquam de industria ita moderati cursum navium erant Carthaginienses, ut ante lucem accederent Lilybaeum, praesensum tamen est, quia et luna pernox erat et sublatis armamentis veniebant:
Therefore, although the Carthaginians had intentionally moderated the course of their ships so that they might approach Lilybaeum before dawn, they were nevertheless perceived beforehand, both because the moon was shining all night and because they were coming with their rigging raised.
§21.49.10extemplo datum signum ex speculis et in oppido ad arma conclamatum est et in naves conscensum; pars militum in muris portarumque stationibus, pars in navibus erant.
Immediately the signal was given from the watchtowers, and a cry to arms was raised in the town, and the ships were embarked; part of the soldiers were on the walls and at the stations of the gates, and part on the ships.
§21.49.11et Carthaginienses, quia rem fore haud cum inparatis cernebant, usque ad lucem portu se abstinuerunt, demendis armamentis eo tempore aptandaque ad pugnam classe absumpto.
And the Carthaginians, because they saw that the conflict would not be with unprepared men, kept away from the harbor until dawn, spending that time in lowering their rigging and fitting the fleet for battle.
§21.49.12ubi inluxit, recepere classem in altum, ut spatium pugnae esset exitumque liberum e portu naves hostium haberent.
When day broke, they withdrew their fleet into the open sea, so that there might be room for battle and the enemy's ships might have a free exit from the harbor.
§21.49.13nec Romani detrectavere pugnam et memoria circa ea ipsa loca gestarum rerum freti et militum multitudine ac virtute.
Nor did the Romans decline the battle, relying both on the memory of the deeds performed around those very places, and on the multitude and valor of their soldiers.