§25.28.1quae ubi in castra Siculorum sunt nuntiata, Epicyden Syracusis excessisse, a Carthaginiensibus relictam insulam et prope iterum traditam 2 Romanis, §25.28.2legatos de condicionibus dedendae urbi explorata prius per conloquia voluntate eorum, qui obsidebantur, ad Marcellum mittunt.
When these things were reported in the camp of the Sicilians—that Epicydes had departed from Syracuse, and that the island had been abandoned by the Carthaginians and almost delivered again to the Romans— having first sounded out the willingness of those who were being besieged through conferences, they sent ambassadors to Marcellus regarding the terms of surrendering the city.
§25.28.3cum haud ferme discreparet, quin, quae ubique regum fuissent, Romanorum essent, Siculis cetera cum libertate ac legibus suis servarentur, evocatis ad conloquium iis, quibus ab Epicyde creditae res erant, §25.28.4missos se simul ad Marcellum, simul ad eos ab exercitu Siculorum aiunt ut una omnium, qui obsiderentur quique extra obsidionem fuissent, fortuna esset, neve alteri proprie sibi paciscerentur quicquam.
Since there was almost no disagreement that whatever had belonged to the kings anywhere should belong to the Romans, while everything else should be preserved for the Sicilians along with their liberty and laws, they summoned to a conference those to whom the government had been entrusted by Epicydes, and said that they had been sent by the army of the Sicilians at the same time to Marcellus and to them, so that the fortune of all, both those who were besieged and those who had been outside the siege, might be one, and that neither party should bargain for anything separately for themselves.
§25.28.5recepti deinde ab is, ut necessarios hospitesque adloquerentur, expositis, quae pacta iam cum Marcello haberent, oblata spe salutis perpulere eos, ut secum praefectos Epicydis Polyclitum et Philistionem et Epicyden, cui Sindon cognomen erat, adgrederentur.
Then, having been received by them to speak to their relatives and guest-friends, they explained what terms they already had agreed upon with Marcellus; and by offering the hope of safety, they persuaded them to join them in attacking Epicydes' prefects, Polyclitus, Philistion, and Epicydes surnamed Sindon.
§25.28.6interfectis iis et multitudine ad contionem vocata, inopiam quaeque ipsi inter se fremere occulti soliti erant conquesti, quamquam tot mala urgerent, negarunt fortunam accusandam esse, quod in ipsorum esset potestate, quamdiu ea paterentur.
Having killed them and called the multitude to an assembly, they complained of the scarcity and the things which they themselves had been accustomed to mutter secretly among themselves; and they declared that, although so many evils were pressing upon them, fortune was not to be blamed, because it was in their own power how long they should endure these things.
§25.28.7Romanis causam oppugnandi Syracusas fuisse caritatem Syracusanorum, non odium; nam ut occupatas res ab satellitibus Hannibalis, deinde Hieronymi, Hippocrate atque Epicyde, audierint, tum bellum movisse et obsidere urbem coepisse, ut crudelis tyrannos eius, non ut ipsam urbem expugnarent.
For the Romans, the cause of attacking Syracuse had been affection for the Syracusans, not hatred; for as soon as they heard that the government had been seized by the satellites of Hannibal, and then of Hieronymus, namely Hippocrates and Epicydes, they had then started the war and begun to besiege the city, in order to subdue its cruel tyrants, not to capture the city itself.
§25.28.8Hippocrate vero interemptoEpicyde intercluso ab Syracusis et praefectis eius occisis, Carthaginiensibus omni possessione Siciliae terra marique pulsis — quam superesse causam Romanis, cur non perinde ac si Hiero ipse viveret, unicus Romanae amicitiae cultor, incolumis Syracusas esse velint?
But now that Hippocrates indeed was dead, Epicydes shut out from Syracuse, his prefects slain, and the Carthaginians driven from all possession of Sicily by land and sea—what cause remained for the Romans why they should not wish Syracuse to be safe, just as if Hiero himself were alive, that unique cultivator of Roman friendship?
§25.28.9itaque nec urbi Qec hominibus aliud periculum quam ab semet ipsis ese, si occasionem reconciliandi se Romanis praetermisissent; eam autem, qualis illo momento horae sit, nullam deinde fore, si simul liberatas ab impotentibus tyrannis Syracusas esse et applicare se Romanis apparuisset.
Therefore, there was no other danger either to the city or to the people than from themselves, if they should let pass the opportunity of reconciling themselves to the Romans; but that this opportunity, such as it was at that very hour, would thereafter be none, if it should have appeared that Syracuse was at once liberated from its powerless tyrants and applying itself to the Romans.