§31.23.1exules ab Chalcide, regiorum iniuriis pulsi, attulerunt occupari Chalcidem sine certamine ullo posse; §31.23.2nam et Macedonas, quia nullus in propinquo sit hostium metus, vagari passim, et oppidanos, praesidio Macedonum fretos, §31.23.3custodiam urbis neglegere.
Exiles from Chalcis, driven out by the injustices of the king's men, brought news that Chalcis could be occupied without any contest; for both the Macedonians, because there was no fear of enemies nearby, were wandering about everywhere, and the townsfolk, relying on the protection of the Macedonians, were neglecting the guard of the city.
his auctoribus profectus quamquam Sunium ita mature pervenerat, ut inde provehi ad primas angustias Euboeae posset, ne superato promunturio conspiceretur, classem in statione usque ad noctem tenuit; §31.23.4primis tenebris movit et tranquillo pervectus Chalcidem paulo ante lucem, qua infrequentissima urbis sunt, paucis militibus turrim proximam murumque circa scalis cepit alibi sopitis custodibus, alibi nullo custodiente.
Setting out on their advice, although he had reached Sunium so early that he could have proceeded from there to the first straits of Euboea, lest he should be seen after doubling the promontory, Claudius kept the fleet at anchor until nightfall; at the first darkness he moved, and having sailed in a calm sea, arrived at Chalcis a little before dawn, where the city is least frequented, and with a few soldiers captured the nearest tower and the wall around it by scaling ladders, with the guards asleep in some places, and in others no one guarding.
§31.23.5progressi inde ad frequentia aedificiis loca custodibus interfectis refractaque porta ceteram multitudinem armatorum acceperunt.
Having advanced from there to places crowded with buildings, after killing the guards and breaking down the gate, they admitted the rest of the multitude of armed men.
§31.23.6inde in totam urbem discursum est aucto etiam tumultu, quod circa forum ignis tectis iniectus erat.
From there they dispersed into the entire city, with the tumult increased moreover because fire had been set to the roofs around the forum.
§31.23.7conflagrarunt et horrea regia et armamentarium cum ingenti apparatu machinarum tormentorumque.
Both the royal granaries and the armory, with an immense quantity of siege engines and artillery, burned down.
caedes inde passim fugientium pariter ac repugnantium fieri coepta est.
Then a slaughter of those fleeing as well as of those resisting began to take place everywhere.
§31.23.8nec ullo iam, qui militaris aetatis esset, non aut caeso aut fugato, Sopatro etiam Acarnane, praefecto praesidii, interfecto praeda omnis primo in forum collata, deinde in naves imposita.
And since there was now no one of military age who was not either slain or put to flight, and Sopatrus the Acarnanian, the commander of the garrison, was also killed, all the booty was first gathered into the forum, and then placed on board the ships.
§31.23.9carcer etiam ab Rhodiis refractus, emissique captivi, quos Philippus tamquam in tutissimam custodiam condiderat.
The prison also was broken open by the Rhodians, and the captives were released, whom Philip had shut up there as if in the safest custody.
§31.23.10statuis inde regis deiectis truncatisque, signo receptui dato conscenderunt naves et Piraeum, unde profecti erant, §31.23.11redierunt.
Then, after the statues of the king had been thrown down and mutilated, on the signal for retreat being given, they boarded the ships and to the Piraeus, whence they had set out, they returned.
quod si tantum militum Romanorum fuisset, ut et Chalcis teneri et non deseri praesidium Athenarum potuisset, magna res principio statim belli, §31.23.12Chalcis et Euripus adempta regi forent; nam ut terra Thermopylarum angustiae Graeciam, ita mari fretum Euripi claudit.
But if there had been so many Roman soldiers that both Chalcis could have been held and the garrison of Athens not abandoned, it would have been a great achievement at the very beginning of the war, and Chalcis and Euripus would have been taken away from the king; for as the straits of Thermopylae close Greece by land, so does the strait of Euripus by sea.