§24.26.1Heraclia erat filia Hieronis, uxor Zoippi, qui legatus ab Hieronymo ad regem Ptolomaeum missus voluntarium consciverat exilium.
Heraclia was the daughter of Hiero and the wife of Zoippus, who, having been sent by Hieronymus as an envoy to King Ptolemy, had chosen voluntary exile.
§24.26.2ea cum ad se quoque veniri praescisset, in sacrarium ad penates confugit cum duabus filiabus virginibus resolutis crinibus miserabilique alio habitu et ad ea addidit preces, §24.26.3nunc per deos, nunc per memoriam Hieronis patris Gelonisque fratris, ne se innoxiam invidia Hieronymi conflagrare sinerent:
When she had learned in advance that they were coming for her as well, she fled into the sanctuary of the household gods with her two virgin daughters, with disheveled hair and in other miserable attire, and to this plight she added her prayers, entreating now by the gods, now by the memory of her father Hiero and her brother Gelon, that they would not allow an innocent woman to be consumed by the hatred felt for Hieronymus.
§24.26.4nihil se ex regno illius praeter exilium viri habere; neque fortunam suam eandem vivo Hieronymo fuisse quam sororis, neque interfecto eo causam eandem esse.
She pleaded that she possessed nothing from his reign except her husband's exile; her fortune during the lifetime of Hieronymus had not been the same as her sister's, nor was her situation the same after his death.
§24.26.5quid? quod, si Adranodoro consilia processissent, illa cum viro fuerit regnatura, sibi cum ceteris serviendum.
What? If the plans of Adranodorus had succeeded, her sister would have ruled with her husband, while she would have had to serve with the rest.
§24.26.6si quis Zoippo nuntiet interfectum Hieronymum ac liberatas Syracusas, cui dubium esse, quin extemplo conscensurus sit navem atque in patriam rediturus?
If anyone should report to Zoippus that Hieronymus had been killed and Syracuse liberated, who could doubt that he would immediately board a ship and return to his country?
§24.26.7quantum spes hominum falli.
How greatly the hopes of men are deceived!
in liberata patria coniugem eius ac liberos de vita dimicare — quid obstantes libertati aut legibus?
In his liberated country, his wife and children are fighting for their lives—in what way are they standing in the way of liberty or the laws?
§24.26.8quod ab se cuiquam periculum, a sola ac prope vidua et puellis in orbitate degentibus esse? at enim periculi quidem nihil ab se timeri, invisam tamen stirpem regiam esse.
What danger could there be to anyone from her, a woman alone and almost a widow, and girls living in a state of orphanage? But indeed, it might be said that no danger is feared from her, yet the royal stock is hated.
ablegarent ergo procul ab Syracusis Siciliaque §24.26.9et asportari Alexandriam iuberent ad virum uxorem, ad patrem filias.
Let them then banish them far from Syracuse and Sicily, and order the wife to be carried to Alexandria to her husband, and the daughters to their father.
§24.26.10aversis auribus animisque: quid cessarent? ne tempus tererent, illi aliis alium increpant.
With ears and minds averted, they asked why they delayed, and warned lest they waste time, urging one another on.
ut ferrura quosdam expedientes cernebat, §24.26.11tum omissis pro se precibus, puellis ut saltem parcerent orare institit, a qua aetate etiam hostes iratos abstinere; ne tyrannos ulciscendo quae odissent scelera ipsi imitarentur.
When she saw some of them drawing their swords, then, omitting prayers for herself, she began to beg that they would at least spare the girls, from whose age even angry enemies refrain; and that they should not, by avenging tyrants, themselves imitate the crimes they hated.
§24.26.12inter haec abstractam a penetralibus iugulant; in virgines deinde respersas matris cruore impetum faciunt.
Midst these pleas, they dragged her from the inner sanctuary and cut her throat; they then made an onset upon the girls, who were spattered with their mother's blood.
quae alienata mente simul luctu metuque velut captae furore eo cursu se ex sacrario proripuerunt, ut, si effugium patuisset in publicum, impleturae urbem tumultu fuerint.
Out of their minds with grief and fear, and as if seized by madness, they rushed from the sanctuary with such speed that, if an escape into the public street had been open, they would have filled the city with tumult.
§24.26.13tum quoque haud magno aedium spatio inter medios tot armatos aliquotiens integro corpore evaserunt tenentibusque, cum tot ac tam validae eluctandae manus essent, sese eripuerunt.
Even as it was, in the small space of the house, they several times escaped unharmed through the midst of so many armed men, and tore themselves away from those who held them, although there were so many and such strong hands to be struggled against.
§24.26.14tandem vulneribus confectae, cum omnia replessent sanguine, exanimes corruerunt.
At last, exhausted by wounds, after they had covered everything with blood, they fell dead.
caedemque per se miserabilem miserabiliorem casus fecit, quod paulo post nuntius venit, mutatis repente ad misericordiam animis, ne interficerentur.
And a circumstance made the slaughter, miserable in itself, still more miserable: for a little later a messenger arrived, the minds of the people having suddenly changed to pity, ordering that they should not be killed.
§24.26.15ira deinde ex misericordia orta quod adeo festinatum ad supplicium neque locus paenitendi aut regressus ab ira relictus esset.
Anger then arose from their pity, because the execution had been so hastened, and no room for repentance or retreat from anger had been left.
§24.26.16itaque fremere multitudo et in locum Adranodori ac Themisti — nam ambo praetores fuerant — comitia poscere, quae nequaquam ex sententia praetorum futura essent.
Therefore, the multitude began to murmur and demand an election to fill the places of Adranodorus and Themisto—for both had been praetors—an election which would by no means be according to the wishes of the remaining praetors.