§31.24.1Demetriade tum Philippus erat.
Philip was then at Demetrias.
quo cum esset nuntiata clades sociae urbis, quamquam serum auxilium perditis rebus erat, tamen, quae proxima auxilio est, §31.24.2ultionem petens, cum expeditis quinque milibus et trecentis equitibus extemplo profectus cursu prope Chalcidem contendit, haudquaquam dubius opprimi Romanos posse.
When the destruction of the allied city was reported to him there, although aid was too late for a ruined situation, yet, seeking that which is closest to aid, namely vengeance, setting out immediately with five thousand light-armed men and three hundred cavalry, he hastened on a rapid march toward Chalcis, by no means doubting that the Romans could be overwhelmed.
§31.24.3a qua destitutus spe nec quicquam aliud quam ad deforme spectaculum semirutae ac fumantis sociae urbis cum venisset, paucis vix, qui sepelirent bello absumptos, relictis aeque raptim ac venerat transgressus ponte Euripum per Boeotiam Athenas ducit, pari incepto haud disparem eventum ratus responsurum.
Deprived of this hope, and having arrived there for nothing other than the unsightly spectacle of a half-ruined and smoking allied city, having left scarcely a few men to bury those lost in the war, he crossed the Euripus by the bridge as rapidly as he had come, and led his forces through Boeotia to Athens, thinking that a not dissimilar result would answer to a similar undertaking.
§31.24.4et respondisset, ni speculator — hemerodromos vocant Graeci, ingens die uno cursu emetientis spatium —, contemplatus regium agmen ex specula quadam, praegressus nocte media Athenas pervenisset.
And it would have so answered, had not a scout—whom the Greeks call hemerodromoi, since they cover an immense distance in one day's run—having observed the royal army from a certain watchtower, preceded them and reached Athens at midnight.
§31.24.5idem ibi somnus eademque neglegentia erat, quae Chalcidem dies ante paucos prodiderat.
There was there the same sleep and the same negligence which had betrayed Chalcis a few days before.
§31.24.6excitati nuntio trepido et praetor Atheniensium et Dioxippus, praefectus cohortis mercede militantium auxiliorum, convocatis in forum militibus tuba signum ex arce dari iubent, ut hostis adesse omnes scirent.
Awakened by the alarming news, both the praetor of the Athenians and Dioxippus, the commander of a cohort of auxiliaries serving for pay, having summoned the soldiers to the forum, ordered the signal to be given by trumpet from the citadel, so that everyone might know the enemy was at hand.
§31.24.7ita undique ad portas, ad muros discurrunt.
Thus they ran in all directions to the gates and to the walls.
paucas post horas Philippus, aliquanto tamen ante lucem, appropinquans urbi, conspectis luminibus crebris et fremitu hominum trepidantium, §31.24.8ut in tali tumultu, exaudito sustinuit signa et considere ac conquiescere agmen iussit vi aperta propalam usurus, quando parum dolus profuerat.
A few hours later, yet considerably before dawn, Philip, as he approached the city, having seen numerous lights and heard the noise of men in a panic, which was heard, as is natural in such a tumult, halted the standards and ordered the army to sit down and rest, intending to use open force publicly, since trickery had been of little avail.
§31.24.9ab Dipylo accessit.
He approached from the Dipylum.
porta ea, velut in ore urbis posita, maior aliquanto patentiorque quam ceterae est, et intra eam extraque latae viae sunt, ut et oppidani derigere aciem a foro ad portam possent, et extra limes mille ferme passus longus, in Academiae gymnasium ferens, pediti equitique hostium liberum spatium praeberet.
That gate, placed as it were in the mouth of the city, is considerably larger and wider open than the others, and both inside and outside of it there are wide roads, so that both the townsfolk could direct their line of battle from the forum to the gate, and outside a road about a thousand paces long, leading to the gymnasium of the Academy, offered free space to the enemy's infantry and cavalry.
§31.24.10eo limite Athenienses cum Attali praesidio et cohorte Dioxippi acie intra portam instructa signa extulerunt.
On this road, the Athenians, with the garrison of Attalus and the cohort of Dioxippus, having drawn up their line of battle inside the gate, advanced their standards.
§31.24.11quod ubi Philippus vidit, habere se hostis in potestate ratus et odium diu optata caede — neque enim ulli Graecarum civitatium infestior erat — expleturum, cohortatus milites, ut se intuentes pugnarent scirentque ibi signa, §31.24.12ibi aciem esse debere, ubi rex esset, concitat ecum non ira tantum, sed etiam gloria elatus, §31.24.13quod ingenti turba completis etiam ad spectaculum muris conspici se pugnantem egregium ducebat.
When Philip saw this, thinking that he had the enemy in his power and intending to satisfy his hatred with a long-desired slaughter—for he was more hostile to no other Greek state—he encouraged his soldiers to fight with their eyes on him, and to know that there the standards, there the line of battle ought to be where the king was; and he spurred his horse, carried away not only by anger but also by a desire for glory, because, since the walls were filled with a huge crowd even for the spectacle, he deemed it an outstanding thing that he should be seen fighting.
§31.24.14aliquantum ante aciem cum equitibus paucis evectus in medios hostis ingentem cum suis ardorem, §31.24.15tum pavorem hostibus iniecit.
Riding out considerably ahead of the line with a few horsemen, he dashed into the midst of the enemy, and inspired immense enthusiasm in his own men, and then panic in the enemy.
plurimos manu sua comminus eminusque vulneratos compulsosque in portam consecutus et ipse, cum maiorem in angustiis trepidantium edidisset caedem, in temerario incepto tutum tamen receptum habuit, §31.24.16quia, qui in turribus portae erant, sustinebant tela, ne in permixtos hostibus suos conicerent.
Having with his own hand wounded very many, both at close quarters and from a distance, and having pursued those driven back to the gate, he himself also, after he had caused a greater slaughter among those panicking in the narrow spaces, secured a safe retreat despite his reckless undertaking, because those who were on the towers of the gate held back their missiles, lest they should discharge them against their own men who were mingled with the enemy.
§31.24.17intra muros deinde tenentibus milites Atheniensibus Philippus signo receptui dato castra ad Cynosarges — templum Herculis gymnasiumque et lucus erat circumiectus — posuit.
The Athenians then keeping their soldiers within the walls, Philip, on the signal for retreat being given, pitched his camp at Cynosarges, where there was a temple of Hercules, a gymnasium, and a grove surrounding it.
§31.24.18sed et Cynosarges et Lycium et quidquid sancti amoenive circa urbem erat incensum est, dirutaque non tecta solum, sed etiam sepulcra, nec divini humanive iuris quicquam prae impotenti ira est servatum.
But both Cynosarges and the Lyceum, and whatever of sacred or pleasant there was around the city, was set on fire, and not only buildings but even tombs were demolished, nor was any divine or human law preserved in the face of his uncontrollable anger.