§25.23.1cum maxume Capua circumvallaretur, Syracusarum oppugnatio ad finem venit, praeterquam vi ac virtute ducis exercitusque, intestina etiam proditione adiuta.
While Capua was being especially invested with ramparts, the siege of Syracuse came to an end, aided not only by the force and courage of the general and the army, but also by internal treachery.
§25.23.2namque Marcellus initio veris incertus, utrum Agrigentum ad Himilconem et Hippocraten verteret bellum, §25.23.3an obsidione Syracusas premeret, quamquam nec vi capi videbat posse inexpugnabilem terrestri ac maritimo situ urbem nec fame, ut quam prope liberi a Carthagine commeatus alerent, §25.23.4tamen, ne quid inexpertum relinqueret, transfugas Syracusanos — erant autem apud Romanos aliqui nobilissimi viri inter defectionem ab Romanis, quia ab novis consiliis abhorrebant, pulsi — conloquiis suae partis temptare hominum animos iussit et fidem dare, si traditae forent Syracusae, liberos eos ac suis legibus victuros esse.
For Marcellus, at the beginning of spring, was uncertain whether he should turn the war toward Agrigentum against Himilco and Hippocrates, or press Syracuse with a siege, although he saw that the city, impregnable by its land and sea situation, could not be taken either by force or by hunger, as supplies, almost free from Carthage, nourished them; nevertheless, lest he should leave anything untried, he ordered the Syracusan deserters—there were indeed among the Romans some very noble men who had been expelled during the defection from the Romans because they shrank from the new plans—to test the minds of the people by conferences of their own party, and to give assurance that, if Syracuse were delivered up, they would live free and under their own laws.
§25.23.5non erat conloquii copia, quia multorum animi suspecti omnium curam oculosque converterant, ne quid falleret tale admissum.
There was no opportunity for conference, because the suspected minds of many had turned the attention and eyes of all to prevent any such attempt from passing unnoticed.
§25.23.6servus unus exulum pro transfuga intromissus in urbem conventis paucis initium conloquendi de tali re fecit.
A single slave of the exiles, admitted into the city as a deserter, having met with a few, made a beginning of talking about such a matter.
deinde in piscatoria quidam nave retibus operti circumvectique ita ad castra Romana conlocutique cum transfugis, et iidem saepius eodem modo et alii atque alii.
Then some men, covered with nets in a fishing boat, were carried around in this way to the Roman camp and talked with the deserters, and the same men did so more often in the same way, and others and still others.
postremo ad octoginta facti.
Finally they amounted to nearly eighty.
§25.23.7et cum iam composita omnia ad proditionem essent, indicio delato ad Epicyden per Attalum quendam, indignantem sibi rem creditam non esse, necati omnes cum cruciatu sunt.
And when everything was already prepared for the betrayal, a disclosure having been made to Epicydes by a certain Attalus, who was indignant that the matter had not been entrusted to him, they were all put to death with torture.
§25.23.8alia subinde spes postquam haec vana evaserat, excepit.
Immediately after this hope had turned out vain, another hope succeeded.
Damippus quidam Lacedaemonius, missus ab Syracusis ad Philippum regem, captus ab Romanis navibus erat.
A certain Damippus, a Lacedaemonian, sent from Syracuse to King Philip, had been captured by Roman ships.
§25.23.9huius utique redimendi et Epicydae cura erat ingens, nec abnuit Marcellus, iam tum Aetolorum, quibus socii Lacedaemonii erant, amicitiam adfectantibus Romanis.
Epicydes also had an immense concern for ransoming him, nor did Marcellus refuse, as the Romans were already at that time affecting the friendship of the Aetolians, with whom the Lacedaemonians were allies.
§25.23.10ad conloquium de redemptione eius missis medius maxime atque utrisque opportunus locus ad portum Trogilorum propter turrim, quam vocant Galeagram, est visus.
To those sent for the conference about his ransom, a place most central and convenient for both parties seemed to be near the port of Trogilus, beside the tower which they call Galeagra.
§25.23.11quo cum saepius conmearent, unus ex Romanis ex propinquo murum contemplans, numerando lapides aestimandoque ipse secum, quid in fronte paterent singuli, §25.23.12altitudinem muri, quantum proxime coniectura poterat, permensus humilioremque aliquanto pristina opinione sua et ceterorum omnium ratus esse et vel mediocribus scalis superabilem, ad Marcellum rem defert.
As they came and went there rather frequently, one of the Romans, contemplating the wall from close by, by counting the stones and estimating by himself what each one measured in front, measured the height of the wall as nearly as conjecture could, and, thinking it to be considerably lower than his own previous opinion and that of all others, and surmountable even by moderate ladders, reported the matter to Marcellus.
§25.23.13haud spernenda visa.
The matter seemed not to be despised.
sed cum adiri locus, quia ob id ipsum intentius custodiebatur, non posset, occasio quaerebatur; §25.23.14quam obtulit transfuga nuntians diem festum Dianae per triduum agi, et quia alia in obsidione desint, vino largius epulas celebrari et ab Epicyde praebito universae plebei et per tribus a principibus diviso.
But since the place could not be approached, because for that very reason it was more intensely guarded, an opportunity was sought; which a deserter offered, announcing that a festival of Diana was being celebrated for three days, and because other things were lacking in the siege, the feast was being celebrated with wine more abundantly, provided by Epicydes to the entire populace and distributed through the tribes by the leading men.
§25.23.15id ubi accepit Marcellus, cum paucis tribunorum militum conlocutus electisque per eos ad rem tantam agenda audendamque idoneis centurionibus militibusque et scalis in occulto comparatis, ceteris signum dari iubet, ut mature corpora curarent quietique darent: nocte in expeditionem eundum esse.
When Marcellus received this news, having conferred with a few of the military tribunes and selected through them centurions and soldiers fit for executing and daring such a great undertaking, and having prepared ladders in secret, he ordered the signal to be given to the rest to take refreshment early and give themselves to rest, as they had to go on an expedition by night.
§25.23.16inde ubi id temporis visum, quo de die epulatis iam vini satias principiumque somni esset, signi unius milites ferre scalas iussit; et ad mille fere armati tenui agmine per silentium eo deducti.
Then, when it seemed to be that time of night when, after feasting during the day, satiety of wine and the beginning of sleep would now possess them, he ordered the soldiers of one standard to carry the ladders; and about a thousand armed men in a thin column were led there in silence.
§25.23.17ubi sine strepitu ac tumultu primi evaserunt in murum, secuti ordine alii, cum priorum audacia dubiis etiam animum faceret.
When the first, without noise or tumult, climbed up onto the wall, others followed in order, since the boldness of the first gave courage even to those who hesitated.