§24.7.1sed omnia in eo praecipitia ad exitium fuerunt.
But in his case everything rushed headlong toward ruin.
nam cum praemissis Hippocrate atque Epicyde cum binis milibus armatorum ad temptandas urbes, quae praesidiis tenebantur Romanis, §24.7.2et ipse in Leontinos cum cetero omni exercitu — erant autem ad quindecim milia peditum equitumque — §24.7.3profectus erat, liberas aedis coniurati — et omnes forte militabant — imminentes viae angustae, qua descendere ad forum rex solebat, sumpserunt.
For when, having sent Hippocrates and Epicydes ahead with two thousand armed men to sound out the cities which were held by Roman garrisons, he himself had also set out for Leontini with all the rest of the army—which amounted to about fifteen thousand infantry and cavalry— the conspirators, all of whom happened to be serving in the army, took possession of an empty house overlooking the narrow street by which the king was accustomed to go down to the forum.
§24.7.4ibi cum instructi armatique ceteri transitum expectantes starent, uni ex eis — Dinomeni fuit nomen —, quia custos corporis erat, partes datae sunt, ut, cum adpropinquaret ianuae rex, per causam aliquam in angustiis sustineret ab tergo agmen.
There, while the others stood drawn up and armed, waiting for his passage, to one of them—whose name was Dinomenes—because he was a bodyguard, the part was assigned of holding back the column from behind in the narrow space, under some pretext, when the king should approach the door.
ita ut convenerat factum est.
Thus, as had been agreed, it was done.
§24.7.5tamquam laxaret elatum pedem ab stricto nodo, moratus turbam Dinomenes tantum intervalli fecit, ut, cum in praetereuntem sine armatis regem impetus fieret, confoderetur aliquot prius vulneribus quam succurri posset.
Dinomenes, as if he were loosening his lifted foot from a tight knot, delayed the crowd and created so much of an interval that, when the attack was made upon the king as he passed by without his guards, he was stabbed with several wounds before assistance could be brought.
§24.7.6clamore et tumultu audito in Dinomenem iam haud dubie obstantem tela coniciuntur, inter quae tamen duobus acceptis vulneribus evasit.
Hearing the shout and tumult, they threw weapons at Dinomenes, who was now undoubtedly blocking the way, but though he received two wounds, he nevertheless escaped.
§24.7.7fuga satellitum, ut iacentem videre regem, facta est.
A flight of the bodyguards took place as soon as they saw the king lying there.
interfectores pars in forum ad multitudinem laetam libertate, pars Syracusas pergunt ad praeoccupanda Adranodori regiorumque aliorum consilia.
Of the assassins, some hastened into the forum to the multitude rejoicing in their liberty, others went to Syracuse to forestall the plans of Adranodorus and the other royalists.
§24.7.8incerto rerum statu Ap. Claudius bellum oriens ex propinquo cum cerneret, senatum litteris certiorem fecit Siciliam Carthaginiensi populo et Hannibali conciliari; §24.7.9ipse adversus Syracusana consilia ad provinciae regnique fines omnia convertit praesidia.
In this uncertain state of affairs, Appius Claudius, seeing a war arising near at hand, informed the senate by letter that Sicily was being reconciled to the Carthaginian people and Hannibal; he himself, to counter the Syracusan plans, turned all his garrisons to the frontiers of the province and the kingdom.
§24.7.10exitu anni eius Q. Fabius ex auctoritate senatus puteolos, per bellum coeptum frequentari emporium, communiit praesidiumque inposuit.
At the close of that year, Quintus Fabius, by authority of the senate, fortified Puteoli, a market town which had begun to be frequented on account of the war, and placed a garrison there.
§24.7.11inde Romam comitiorum causa veniens in eum quem primum diem comitialem habuit comitia edixit atque ex itinere praeter urbem in campum descendit.
Thence, coming to Rome for the purpose of the elections, he proclaimed the comitia for the first comitial day that he had, and without entering the city, went down directly from his journey into the Campus Martius.
§24.7.12eo die cum sors praerogativae Aniensi iuniorum exisset, eaque T. Otacilium M. Aemilium Regillum consules diceret, tum Q. Fabius silentio facto tali oratione est usus:
On that day, when the lot of the prerogative century had fallen to the younger men of the Aniensis tribe, and it was naming Titus Otacilius and Marcus Aemilius Regillus as consuls, Quintus Fabius, having commanded silence, spoke as follows: