§28.6.1quadriduo post quam adpulsa classis est urbem adgressi sunt.
Four days after the fleet was brought to land, they attacked the city.
id tempus occultis cum Platore, qui a Philippo praepositus urbi erat, conloquiis absumptum est.
This time was spent in secret conferences with Plator, who had been put in charge of the city by Philip.
§28.6.2duas arces urbs habet, unam imminentem mari, altera urbis media est; cuniculo inde via ad mare ducit, quam a mari turris quinque tabulatorum, egregium propugnaculum, claudebat.
The city has two citadels, one overhanging the sea, the other is in the middle of the city; from there, a road leads by an underground passage to the sea, which, on the side of the sea, a five-story tower, an excellent bulwark, used to block.
§28.6.3ibi primo atrocissimum contractum est certamen et turre instructa omni genere telorum, et tormentis machinisque ad oppugnandam eam ex navibus expositis.
There at first a most fierce conflict was joined, with the tower equipped with every kind of missile, and artillery and engines disembarked from the ships to attack it.
§28.6.4cum omnium animos oculosque id certamen avertisset, porta maritumae arcis Plator Romanos accepit, momentoque arx occupata est.
When that combat had distracted the attention and eyes of all, Plator admitted the Romans through a gate of the maritime citadel, and in a moment the citadel was seized.
oppidani pulsi inde in mediam urbem ad alteram tendere arcem.
The townsfolk, driven thence into the middle of the city, hastened to the other citadel.
§28.6.5et ibi positi erant, qui fores portae obicerent.
And there had been stationed men who were to bar the doors of the gate.
ita exclusi in medio caeduntur capiunturque.
Thus shut out in the middle, they were cut down and captured.
§28.6.6Macedonum praesidium conglobatum sub arcis muro stetit nec fuga effuse petita, nec pertinaciter proelio inito.
The garrison of Macedonians stood massed together under the wall of the citadel, neither seeking flight in disorder, nor resolutely entering into battle.
§28.6.7eos Plator venia ab Sulpicio impetrata in naves impositos ad Demetrium Phthiotidis exposuit, ipse ad Attalum se recepit.
Plator, having obtained pardon from Sulpicius, placed them on ships and landed them at Demetrium of Phthiotis, and he himself betook himself to Attalus.
§28.6.8Sulpicius tam facili ad Oreum successu elatus Chalcidem inde protinus victrici classe petit; ubi haudquaquam ad spem eventus respondit.
Sulpicius, elated by so easy a success at Oreus, immediately headed thence for Chalcis with his victorious fleet; where the outcome by no means corresponded to his hope.
§28.6.9ex patenti utrimque coactum in angustias mare speciem intuenti primo gemini portus in ora duo versi praebuerit; sed haud facile alia infestior classi statio est.
The sea, compressed into a narrow space from an open expanse on both sides, would at first present to an observer the appearance of a double harbor facing in two directions; but there is hardly any other anchorage more dangerous for a fleet.
§28.6.10nam et venti ab utriusque terrae praealtis montibus subiti ac procellosi se deiciunt, et fretum ipsum Euripi non septiens die, sicut fama fert, temporibus statis reciprocat, sed temere in modum venti nunc huc nunc illuc verso mari velut monte praecipiti devolutus torrens rapitur.
For both sudden and stormy winds rush down from the very high mountains of the land on either side, and the strait of Euripus itself does not ebb and flow seven times a day at fixed times, as rumor has it, but blindly, like the wind, with the sea turned now this way, now that, it is swept along like a torrent rushing down a steep mountain.
ita nec nocte nec die quies navibus datur.
Thus neither by night nor by day is rest given to the ships.
§28.6.11cum classem tam infesta statio accepit tum et oppidum alia parte clausum mari, alia ab terra egregie munitum praesidioque valido firmatum et praecipue fide praefectorum principumque, quae fluxa et vana apud Oreum fuerat, stabile atque inexpugnabile fuit.
While so hostile an anchorage received the fleet, the town also, enclosed on one side by the sea, on the other excellently fortified from the land and strengthened by a strong garrison, and especially by the loyalty of the commanders and leading citizens — which at Oreus had been unstable and treacherous — was stable and impregnable.
§28.6.12id prudenter ut in temere suscepta re, Romanus fecit, quod circumspectis difficultatibus, ne frustra tempus tereret, celeriter abstitit incepto classemque inde ad Cynum Locridis — emporium id est Opuntiorum urbis mille passuum a mari sitae — traiecit.
The Roman commander did this wisely, as in a rashly undertaken affair, in that, having surveyed the difficulties, lest he waste time in vain, he quickly desisted from his undertaking and crossed with his fleet from there to Kynos in Locris — which is the emporium of the city of Opus, situated one mile from the sea.