§35.26.1comparaverat et tyrannus modicam classem ad prohibenda, si qua obsessis mari summitterentur, praesidia, tres tectas naves et lembos pristisque, tradita vetere classe ex foedere Romanis.
The tyrant had also prepared a modest fleet to prevent any reinforcements from being sent by sea to the besieged: three decked ships, and some cutter-boats and swift-boats, since his old fleet had been surrendered to the Romans according to the treaty.
§35.26.2harum novarum navium agilitatem ut experiretur, simul ut omnia satis apta ad certamen essent, provectos in altum cotidie remigem militemque simulacris navalis pugnae exercebat, in eo ratus verti spem obsidionis, si praesidia maritima interclusisset.
In order to test the agility of these new ships, and at the same time to ensure that everything was sufficiently prepared for battle, he daily exercised the rowers and soldiers, after they had sailed out into the deep sea, with mock naval battles, thinking that the hope of the siege turned on this, if he could shut out any reinforcements from the sea.
§35.26.3praetor Achaeorum sicut terrestrium certaminum arte quemvis clarorum imperatorum vel usu vel ingenio aequabat, ita rudis in re navali erat, §35.26.4Arcas, mediterraneus homo, externorum etiam omnium, nisi quod in Creta praefectus auxiliorum militaverat, §35.26.5ignarus.
Just as the praetor of the Achaeans, in the art of land battles, equaled any of the famous generals whether in experience or in natural ability, so he was inexperienced in naval affairs, being an Arcadian, an inland man, and ignorant of all foreign affairs as well, except that he had served as a commander of auxiliary forces in Crete. He was ignorant.
navis erat quadriremis vetus, capta annis LXXX ante, cum Crateri uxorem Nicaeam a Naupacto Corinthum veheret.
There was an old quadrireme, captured eighty years before, when it was carrying Nicaea, the wife of Craterus, from Naupactus to Corinth.
§35.26.6huius fama motus — fuerat enim nobile in classe regia quondam navigium — deduci ab Aegio putrem iam admodum et vetustate dilabentem iussit.
Induced by the reputation of this vessel — for it had once been a famous ship in the royal fleet — he ordered it, though now extremely decayed and falling to pieces from old age, to be launched from Aegium.
§35.26.7hac tum praetoria nave praecedente classes, cum in ea Patrensis Tiso praefectus classis veheretur, §35.26.8occurrerunt a Gytheo Laconum naves; et primo statim incursu ad novam et firmam navem vetus, quae per se ipsa omnibus compagibus aquam acciperet, divulsa est, captique omnes, qui in nave erant.
While this flagship was leading the fleet, and Tiso of Patrae, the commander of the fleet, was sailing in it, the ships of the Lacedaemonians came to meet them from Gytheum; and at the very first clash against a new and strong ship, the old one, which of itself was taking in water through all its joints, was shattered to pieces, and all who were on board were captured.
§35.26.9cetera classis praetoria nave amissa, quantum quaeque remis valuit, fugerunt.
The rest of the fleet, having lost their flagship, fled as fast as each ship could by rowing.
ipse Philopoemen in levi speculatoria nave fugit nec ante fugae finem, quam Patras ventum est, §35.26.10fecit.
Philopoemen himself fled in a light scouting vessel, and did not make an end to his flight until he reached Patrae.
nihil ea res animum militaris viri et multos experti casus imminuit; quin contra, si in re navali, cuius esset ignarus, offendisset, eo plus in ea, quorum usu calleret, spei nactus, breve id tyranno gaudium se effecturum adfirmabat.
This event in no way diminished the spirit of a man who was a soldier and experienced in many vicissitudes; on the contrary, if he had stumbled in naval affairs, of which he was ignorant, he gained all the more hope in those matters in which he was skilled by experience, and asserted that he would make that joy of the tyrant a brief one.