§24.36.1forte ea cura, quae adversus Poenos praeparata erat, adversus Siculos usui fuit.
By chance that vigilance, which had been prepared against the Carthaginians, was of service against the Sicilians.
castris ponendis incompositos ac dispersos nanctus eos et plerosque inermes, quod peditum fuit, circumvenit; eques levi certamine inito cum Hippocrate Acras perfugit.
Having caught them disordered and dispersed while pitching camp, and most of them unarmed as far as the infantry was concerned, he surrounded them; the cavalry, after a slight skirmish had begun, fled with Hippocrates to Acrae.
§24.36.2ea pugna deficientes ab Romanis cum cohibuisset Siculos, Marcellus Syracusas redit; et post paucos dies Himilco adiuncto Hippocrate ad flumen Anapum, octo ferme inde milia, castra posuit.
Since this battle had restrained the Sicilians who were defecting from the Romans, Marcellus returned to Syracuse; and after a few days Himilco, having joined Hippocrates, pitched his camp at the river Anapus, about eight miles from there.
§24.36.3sub idem forte tempus et naves longae quinque et quinquaginta Carthaginiensium cum Bomilcare praefecto classis in magnum portum Syracusas ex alto decurrere, §24.36.4et Romana item classis, triginta quinqueremes, legionem primam Panormi exposuere; versumque ab Italia bellum, — adeo uterque populus in Siciliam intentus fuit, — videri poterat.
About the same time, by chance, fifty-five warships of the Carthaginians, with Bomilcar as commander of the fleet, sailed from the deep into the great harbor of Syracuse, and likewise a Roman fleet, thirty quinqueremes, landed the first legion at Panormus; and the war might have seemed to be turned away from Italy—so intent was each people upon Sicily.
§24.36.5legionem Romanam quae exposita Panormi erat, venientem Syracusas praedae haud dubie sibi futuram Himilco ratus via decipitur; §24.36.6mediterraneo namque Poenus itinere duxit, legio maritimis locis classe prosequente ad Appium Claudium Pachynum cum parte copiarum obviam progressum pervenit.
Himilco, thinking that the Roman legion which had been landed at Panormus, as it came to Syracuse, would undoubtedly be a prey for him, was deceived in his route; for the Carthaginian led his army by an inland route, while the legion, with the fleet escorting them along the coastal areas, reached Appius Claudius, who had advanced to meet them at Pachynus with a part of his forces.
§24.36.7nec diutius Poeni ad Syracusas morati sunt; et Bomilcar simul parum fidens navibus suis duplici facile numero classem habentibus Romanis, simul inutili mora cernens nihil aliud ab suis quam inopiam adgravari sociorum, velis in altum datis in Africam transmisit, §24.36.8et Himilco secutus nequiquam Marcellum Syracusas, si qua, priusquam maioribus copiis iungeretur, occasio pugnandi esset, postquam ea nulla contigerat tutumque ad Syracusas et munimento et viribus hostem cernebat, §24.36.9ne frustra adsidendo spectandoque obsidionem sociorum tempus tereret, castra inde movit, ut, quocumque vocasset defectionis ab Romano spes, admoveret exercitum ac praesens suas res foventibus adderet animos.
Nor did the Carthaginians linger any longer at Syracuse; and Bomilcar, at once little trusting his own ships since the Romans had a fleet of easily double the number, and at the same time seeing that by useless delay nothing else was aggravated for their allies by his men than scarcity, set sail for the deep and crossed over to Africa, and Himilco, having followed Marcellus in vain to Syracuse, in case there should be any opportunity of fighting before he was joined by larger forces, after none of these had occurred and he saw that the enemy at Syracuse was safe both by fortification and by strength, moved his camp from there, so that he might not waste time by sitting idly by and watching the siege of his allies, but might move his army wherever the hope of defection from the Romans should call, and by his presence add courage to those who favored his cause.
§24.36.10Murgantiam primum prodito ab ipsis praesidio Romano recipit, ubi frumenti magna vis commeatusque omnis generis convecti erant Romanis.
First he recovered Murgantia, the Roman garrison having been betrayed by the inhabitants themselves, where a great quantity of grain and provisions of every kind had been collected for the Romans.