Justin: HISTORIARVM PHILIPPICARVM T. POMPEII TROGI LIBRI XLIV IN EPITOMEN REDACTI

I. Siciliam ferunt angustis quondam faucibus Italiae adhaesisse diremptamque velut a corpore maiore impetu superi maris, quod toto undarum onere illuc vehitur. Est autem terra ipsa tenuis ac fragilis et cavernis quibusdam fistulisque ita penetrabilis, ut ventorum tota ferme flatibus pateat; nec non et ignibus generandis nutriendisque soli ipsius naturalis materia. Quippe intrinsecus stratum sulphure et bitumine traditur, quae res facit, ut spiritu cum igne in terra interiore luctante frequenter et conpluribus locis nunc flammas, nunc vaporem, nunc fumum eructet.

1. They report that Sicily once adhered to Italy by narrow straits and was torn apart, as from a larger body, by the rush of the upper sea, which is carried thither with the whole burden of its waves. Moreover, the land itself is thin and fragile and so penetrable by certain caverns and little pipes that it lies almost entirely open to the blasts of winds; nor is there lacking, too, in the soil itself a natural material for generating and nourishing fires. Indeed, it is said to be layered within with sulfur and bitumen, a circumstance which causes it, as wind with fire wrestles in the inner earth, frequently and in many places to belch forth now flames, now vapor, now smoke.

Inde denique Aetnae montis per tot saecula durat incendium. Et ubi acrior per spiramenta cavernarum ventus incubuit, heranarum moles egeruntur. Proximum Italiae promuntorium Regium dicitur, ideo quia Graece abrupta hoc nomine pronuntiantur.

Thence, finally, the conflagration of Mount Etna endures through so many ages. And whenever a keener wind has settled through the spiracles of the caverns, masses of sand are ejected. The promontory nearest to Italy is called Regium, for this reason: because in Greek “breakings-off” (abrupt places) are pronounced by this name.

Nec mirum, si fabulosa est loci huius antiquitas, in quem res tot coiere mirae. Primum quod nusquam alias torrens fretum, nec solum citato impetu, verum etiam procul visentibus. Undarum porro in se concurrentium tanta pugna est, ut alias veluti terga dantes in imum desidere, alias quasi victrices in sublime ferri videas; nunc hic fremitum ferventis aestus, nunc illic gemitum in voraginem desidentis exaudias.

Nor is it a wonder, if the antiquity of this place is fabulous, into which so many marvelous things have come together. First, that nowhere else is there a torrential strait, and not only with a quickened impetus, but even to those viewing from afar. Moreover, so great is the battle of waves converging upon themselves, that you may see some, as if giving their backs, settling down to the bottom, others, as if victors, being borne on high; now here you may hear the roar of a seething tide, now there the groan of what is sinking into a whirlpool.

Accedunt vicini et perpetui Aetnae montis ignes et insularum Aeolidum, velut ipsis undis alatur incendium; neque enim in tam angustis terminis aliter durare tot saeculis tantus ignis potuisset, nisi humoris nutrimentis aleretur. Hinc igitur fabulae Scyllam et Charybdin peperere, hinc latratus auditus, hinc monstri credita simulacra, dum navigantes magnis verticibus pelagi desidentis exterriti latrare putant undas, quas sorbentis aestus vorago conlidit. Eadem causa etiam Aetnae montis perpetuos ignes facit.

Added to these are the neighboring and perpetual fires of Mount Etna and of the Aeolian islands, as though the conflagration were nourished by the waves themselves; for in such narrow bounds so great a fire could not otherwise have endured through so many ages, unless it were sustained by the nutriments of moisture. Hence, therefore, the tales brought forth Scylla and Charybdis; hence the barking that was heard; hence the apparitions of a monster believed, while sailors, terrified by the great vortices of the subsiding sea, think the waves are barking, which the whirlpool of a swallowing tide dashes together. The same cause also produces the perpetual fires of Mount Etna.

Nam aquarum ille concursus raptum secum spiritum in imum fundum trahit atque ibi suffocatum tam diu tenet, donec per spiramenta terrae diffusus nutrimenta ignis incendat. Iam ipsa Italiae Siciliaeque vicinitas, iam promuntoriorum altitudo ipsa ita similis est, ut quantum nunc admirationis, tantum antiquis terroris dederit, credentibus, coeuntibus in se promuntoriis ac rursum discedentibus solida intercipi absumique navigia. Neque hoc ab antiquis in dulcedinem fabulae conpositum, sed metu et admiratione transeuntium.

For that concourse of waters drags the snatched breath along with it down to the deepest bottom and there holds it, suffocated, for so long until, diffused through the spiracles of the earth, it ignites the fuel of the fire. Now the very proximity of Italy and Sicily, now the very loftiness of the promontories themselves is so alike that it has given as much admiration now as it gave terror to the ancients, who believed that, as the promontories came together upon themselves and then again parted, solid ships were intercepted and consumed. Nor was this composed by the ancients for the sweetness of a fable, but from the fear and amazement of those passing through.

Ea est enim procul inspicientibus natura loci, ut sinum maris, non transitum putes, quo cum accesseris, discedere ac seiungi promuntoria, quae ante iuncta fuerant, arbitrere.

For such is the nature of the place to those looking from afar, that you would take it for a bay of the sea, not a transit; and when you have approached it, you would suppose the promontories, which previously had been joined, to be parting and being sundered.

II. Siciliae primo Trinacriae nomen fuit, postea Sicania cognominata est. Haec a principio patria Cyclopum fuit, quibus exstinctis Cocalus regnum insulae occupavit. Post quem singulae civitates in tyrannorum imperium concesserunt, quorum nulla terra feracior fuit.

2. Sicily at first had the name Trinacria; afterwards it was surnamed Sicania. This from the beginning was the homeland of the Cyclopes, and when these were extinct, Cocalus seized the kingdom of the island. After him the individual cities passed into the dominion of tyrants, under whom no land was more fertile.

Horum ex numero Anaxilaus iustitia cum ceterorum crudelitate certabat, cuius moderationis haud mediocrem fructum tulit; quippe decedens cum filios parvulos reliquisset tutelamque eorum Micalo, spectatae fidei servo, commisisset, tantus amor memoriae eius apud omnes fuit, ut parere servo quam deserere regis filios mallent principesque civitatis obliti dignitatis suae regni maiestatem administrari per servum paterentur. Imperium Siciliae etiam Karthaginienses temptavere, diuque varia victoria cum tyrannis dimicatum. Ad postremum amisso Hamilcare imperatore cum exercitu aliquantisper quievere victi.

Of their number Anaxilaus, by his justice, contended against the cruelty of the others, and he reaped no small fruit of that moderation; for, when dying, he had left his little sons and had entrusted their guardianship to Micalo, a slave of tried fidelity, so great was the love for his memory among all that they preferred to obey a slave rather than to desert the king’s sons, and the chiefs of the city, forgetful of their own dignity, allowed the majesty of the kingdom to be administered by a slave. The Carthaginians also attempted the command over Sicily, and for a long time there was fighting with changeful victory against the tyrants. At last, Hamilcar the general having been lost with his army, they, defeated, rested for a while.

III. Medio tempore, cum Regini discordia laborarent civitasque per dissensionem divisa in duas partes esset, veterani ex altera parte ab Himera in auxilium vocati, pulsis civitate contra quos inplorati fuerant et mox caesis quibus tulerant auxilium, urbem cum coniugibus et liberis sociorum occupavere, ausi facinus nulli tyranno conparandum, quippe ut Reginis melius fuerit vinci quam vicisse. Nam sive victoribus captivitatis iure servissent sive amissa patria exsulare necesse habuissent, non tamen inter aras et patrios lares trucidati crudelissimis tyrannis patriam cum coniugibus ac liberis praedam reliquissent.

3. Meanwhile, as the Rhegines were laboring under discord and the commonwealth was divided by dissension into two parties, veterans from the other side were summoned from Himera for aid; and, after those against whom their help had been implored were driven from the city, and soon after they cut down the very men to whom they had brought help, they seized the city together with the wives and children of their allies—daring a crime not to be compared with any tyrant’s—indeed to such a degree that it would have been better for the Rhegines to have been conquered than to have conquered. For whether they had served their conquerors by the right of captivity, or, their fatherland lost, had been compelled to go into exile, yet they would not, slaughtered among their altars and ancestral household gods, have left their country, together with their wives and children, as prey to the most cruel tyrants.

Catinenses quoque cum Syracusanos graves paterentur, diffisi viribus suis auxilium ab Atheniensibus petivere; qui seu studio maioris imperii, quod Asiam Graeciamque penitus occupaverant, seu metu fractae pridem a Syracusanis classis, ne Lacedaemoniis illae vires accederent, Lamponium ducem cum classe in Siciliam misere, ut sub specie ferendi Catinensibus auxilii temptarent Siciliae imperium. Et quoniam prima initia frequenter caesis hostibus prospera fuerant, maiore denuo classe et robustiore exercitu Lachete et Chariade ducibus Siciliam petivere; sed Catinenses sive metu Atheniensium sive taedio belli pacem cum Syracusanis remissis Atheniensium auxiliis fecerant.

The Catanians too, since they were suffering grievously at the hands of the Syracusans, distrustful of their own forces sought aid from the Athenians; who, either from zeal for a greater imperium—seeing that they had thoroughly occupied Asia and Greece—or from fear, their fleet having some time before been shattered by the Syracusans, lest those forces be added to the Lacedaemonians, sent Lamponius as leader with a fleet into Sicily, to the end that, under the appearance of bringing aid to the Catanians, they might attempt the dominion of Sicily. And since the first beginnings had been prosperous, the enemy having been frequently cut down, they again made for Sicily with a greater fleet and a more robust army, with Laches and Chariades as commanders; but the Catanians, either from fear of the Athenians or from weariness of war, made peace with the Syracusans, having sent back the Athenians’ auxiliaries.

IV. Interiecto deinde tempore, cum fides pacis a Syracusanis non servaretur, denuo legatos Athenas mittunt, qui sordida veste, capillo barbaque promissis et omni squaloris habitu ad misericordiam commovendam adquisito contionem deformes adeunt; adduntur precibus lacrimae et ita misericordem populum supplices movent, ut damnarentur duces, qui ab his auxilia deduxerant. Igitur classis infens decernitur; creantur duces Nicias et Alcibiades et Lamachos, tantisque viribus Sicilia repetitur, ut ipsis terrori essent, in quorum auxilia mittebantur. Brevi post tempore revocato ad reatum Alcibiade duo proelia pedestria secunda Nicias et Lamachos faciunt; munitionibus deinde circumdatis hostes etiam marinis commeatibus in urbe clausos intercludunt.

4. Then, after an interval of time, since the faith of the peace was not being kept by the Syracusans, they send envoys again to Athens, who, in sordid clothing, with hair and beard grown long, and with every guise of squalor assumed to move compassion, approach the assembly in a disfigured state; tears are added to their prayers, and they so move the compassionate people as to have the commanders condemned who had withdrawn the auxiliaries from them. Therefore a hostile fleet is decreed; commanders are appointed Nicias and Alcibiades and Lamachus, and Sicily is sought again with such great forces that they were a terror even to those to whose aid they were being sent. A short time afterwards, Alcibiades having been recalled to answer a charge, Nicias and Lamachus win two successful battles on land; then, with fortifications drawn around, they cut off the enemies shut up in the city even from maritime supplies.

Quibus rebus fracti Syracusani auxilium a Lacedaemoniis petiverunt. Ab his mittitur Gylippus solus, sed in quo instar omnium auxiliorum erat. Is audito in itinere belli iam inclinato statu auxiliis partim in Graecia, partim in Sicilia contractis opportuna bello loca ocupat.

Broken by these events, the Syracusans sought aid from the Lacedaemonians. From them Gylippus is sent alone—but in whom there was the equivalent of all reinforcements. He, having heard on the journey that the state of the war was already inclining, after collecting auxiliaries partly in Greece and partly in Sicily, seizes places opportune for war.

Duobus deinde proeliis victus, congressus tertio occiso Lamacho et hostes in fugam conpulit et socios obsidione liberavit. Sed cum Athenienses a bello terrestri in navale se transtulissent, Gylippus classem Lacedaemone cum auxiliis arcessit. Quo cognito et ipsi Athenienses in locum amissi ducis Demosthenen et Eurymedonta cum supplemento copiarum mittunt.

Then, defeated in two battles, having engaged in a third and with Lamachus slain, he both drove the enemies into flight and freed the allies from the siege. But when the Athenians transferred themselves from the terrestrial war to the naval, Gylippus summons a fleet from Lacedaemon with auxiliaries. On learning this, the Athenians too send in place of the lost commander Demosthenes and Eurymedon with a supplement of forces.

Peloponnesii quoque communi civitatum decreto ingentia Syracusanis auxilia misere, et quasi Graeciae bellum in Siciliam translatum esset, ita ex utraque parte summis viribus dimicabatur.

The Peloponnesians also, by a common decree of the cities, sent immense auxiliaries to the Syracusans; and as if the war of Greece had been transferred into Sicily, so on both sides the fighting was carried on with the utmost forces.

V. Prima igitur congressione navalis certaminis Athenienses vincuntur; castra quoque cum omni publica ac privata pecunia amittunt. Super haec mala cum etiam terrestri proelio victi essent, tunc Demosthenes censere coepit, ut abirent Sicilia, dum res quamvis adflictae nondum tamen perditae forent. Neque in bello male auspicato amplius perseverandum; esse domi graviora et forsitan infeliciora bella, in quae servare hos urbis apparatus oporteat.

5. Therefore, in the first encounter of the naval contest the Athenians are defeated; they also lose the camp along with all public and private money. On top of these misfortunes, when they had also been beaten in a land battle, then Demosthenes began to advise that they should depart from Sicily, while their affairs, though afflicted, were yet not lost. Nor should they persist any further in a war under bad auspices; there are at home graver and perhaps more ill-starred wars, for which it is proper to preserve these resources and equipment of the city.

Nicias seu pudore male actae rei, seu metu destitutae spei civium, seu inpellente fato manere contendit. Reparatur igitur navale bellum et animi a prioris fortunae procella ad spem certaminis revocatur; sed inscitia ducum, qui inter angustias matis tuentes se Syracusanos adgressi, facile vincuntur. Eurymedon dux in prima acie fortissime dimicans primus cadit, XXX naves, quibus praefuerat, incenduntur.

Nicias, whether from shame at the badly managed affair, or from fear of the citizens’ hope being abandoned, or with fate impelling, insisted on remaining. Therefore the naval war is repaired, and their spirits are recalled from the tempest of the former fortune to a hope of the contest; but through the ignorance of the commanders, who, attacking the Syracusans as they were holding themselves among the narrows of the sea, are easily conquered. Eurymedon, the commander, fighting most bravely in the front line, is the first to fall; 30 ships, which he had commanded, are burned.

Demosthenes et Nicias et ipsi victi exercitum in terram deponunt, tutiorem fugam rati itinere terrestri. Ab his relictas CXXX naves Gylippus invasit, ipsos deinde insequitur; fugientes partim capit, partim caedit. Demosthenes amnisso exercitu a captivitate gladio et voluntaria morte se vindicat, Nicias autem ne Demosthenis quidem exempplo ut sibi consuleret admonitus cladem suorum auxit dedecore captivitatis.

Demosthenes and Nicias, they themselves too defeated, set the army down on land, thinking flight safer by a land route. The 130 ships left by them Gylippus seized, and then he pursues them; the fugitives he partly captures, partly cuts down. Demosthenes, his army lost, rescued himself from captivity by the sword and a voluntary death; but Nicias, not even admonished by the example of Demosthenes to take counsel for himself, increased the calamity of his men by the disgrace of captivity.