§38.7.1Perseus ubi adesse Aetolos audivit, omissa obsidione urbis, quam oppugnabat, depopulatus tantum agros Amphilochia excessit atque in Macedoniam redit.
When Perseus heard that the Aetolians were approaching, abandoning the siege of the city which he was attacking, he merely ravaged the lands, departed from Amphilochia, and returned to Macedonia.
§38.7.2et Aetolos inde avocavit populatio maritumae orae.
And the plundering of the maritime coast recalled the Aetolians from there.
Pleuratus,Illyriorum rex, cum sexaginta lembis Corinthium sinum invectus adiunctis Achaeorum quae Patris erant navibus marituma Aetoliae vastabat.
Pleuratus, king of the Illyrians, having entered the Corinthian Gulf with sixty light vessels, and having joined the Achaean ships which were at Patrae, was devastating the coastal districts of Aetolia.
§38.7.3adversus quos mille Aetoli missi, quacumque se classis circumegerat per litorum amfractus, brevioribus semitis occurrebant.
Against them a thousand Aetolians were sent, who, wherever the fleet steered its course along the windings of the coast, met them by shorter paths.
§38.7.4et Romani ad Ambraciam pluribus locis quatiendo arietibus muros aliquantum urbis nudaverant, nec tamen penetrare in urbem poterant; §38.7.5nam et pari celeritate novus pro diruto murus obiciebatur, et armati ruinis superstantes instar munimenti erant.
And the Romans at Ambracia, by battering the walls in several places with battering-rams, had laid bare a considerable portion of the city, yet they were not able to penetrate into the city; for a new wall was thrown up in place of the demolished one with equal speed, and the armed men standing on the ruins served as a rampart.
§38.7.6itaque cum aperta vi parum procederet consuli res, cuniculum occultum vineis ante contecto loco agere instituit; et aliquamdiu, cum dies noctesque in opere essent, non solum sub terra fodientes sed egerentes etiam humum fefellere hostem.
Therefore, since the consul's undertaking made little progress by open force, he resolved to drive a secret mine from a place previously covered with penthouses; and for some time, as they were at work day and night, they deceived the enemy, not only by digging under ground but also by carrying away the earth.
§38.7.7cumulus repente terrae eminens index operis oppidanis fuit, pavidique, ne iam subrutis muris facta in urbem via esset, fossam intra murum e regione eius operis, quod vineis contectum erat, ducere instituunt.
A heap of earth suddenly rising up was an indication of the work to the townsmen, and fearing lest a way had already been made into the city by the undermining of the walls, they began to dig a trench inside the wall opposite that work which was covered by the penthouses.
§38.7.8cuius ubi ad tantam altitudinem, quantae esse solum infimum cuniculi poterat, pervenerunt, silentio facto pluribus locis aure admota sonitum fodientium captabant.
When they reached such a depth as the lowest floor of the mine could possibly be, keeping silence, they applied their ears in several places to catch the sound of those who were digging.
§38.7.9quem ubi acceperunt, aperiunt rectam in cuniculum viam nec fuit magni operis: momento enim ad inane suspenso furculis ab hostibus muro pervenerunt.
When they heard this, they opened a direct way into the mine, nor was it a matter of great labor; for in a moment they reached the wall which had been suspended by the enemy over the cavity by means of props.
§38.7.10ibi commissis operibus, cum e fossa in cuniculum pateret iter, primo ipsis ferramentis, quibus in opere usi erant, deinde celeriter armati etiam subeuntes occultam sub terra ediderunt pugnam; segnior deinde ea facta est intersaepientibus cuniculum, ubi vellent, nunc ciliciis praetentis nunc foribus raptim obiectis.
There, the works having joined, as a passage lay open from the trench into the mine, they engaged in a secret battle under ground, at first with the very iron tools which they had used in the work, and then quickly also with armed men coming up; this was then rendered more sluggish by those who blocked up the mine wherever they pleased, now by stretching haircloths in front, now by hastily placing doors in the way.
§38.7.11nova etiam haud magni operis adversus eos, qui in cuniculo erant, excogitata res.
A new device, also of no great labor, was contrived against those who were in the mine.
dolium a fundo pertusum, qua fistula modica inseri posset, et ferream fistulam operculumque dolii ferreum, et ipsum pluribus locis perforatum, fecerunt.
They made a cask bored through at the bottom, in which a tube of moderate size could be inserted, and an iron tube, and an iron lid for the cask, which was itself perforated in several places.
hoc tenui pluma completum dolium ore in cuniculum verso posuerunt.
Having filled this cask with fine feathers, they placed it with its mouth turned toward the mine.
§38.7.12per operculi foramina praelongae hastae, quas sarisas vocant, ad summovendos hostes eminebant.
Through the holes of the lid very long spears, which they call sarissas, projected to keep off the enemy.
scintillam levem ignis inditam plumae folle fabrili ad caput fistulae imposito flando accenderunt.
Having placed a blacksmith's bellows at the head of the tube, they blew and kindled a light spark of fire that had been put into the feathers.
§38.7.13inde non solum magna vis fumi sed acrior etiam foedo quodam odore ex adusta pluma cum totum cuniculum complesset, vix durare quisquam intus poterat.
Thence, when not only a great quantity of smoke but an even more pungent one with a foul odor from the burnt feathers had filled the whole mine, scarcely anyone was able to remain inside.