[13,0] LIVRE XIII.

[13,0] Book XIII.

[13,1] Καμίλλου τὴν Φαλερίων πόλιν πολιορκοῦντος Φαλίσκων τις εἴτ´ ἀπεγνωκὼς τὴν πόλιν εἴτε κέρδη θηρώμενος ἴδια παῖδας ἐκ τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων οἴκων παρακρουσάμενος - ἦν δὲ διδάσκαλος γραμμάτων - ἐξήγαγεν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, ὡς περιπατήσοντάς τε πρὸ τοῦ τείχους καὶ τὸ Ῥωμαικὸν στρατόπεδον θεασομένους. ὑπαγόμενος δὲ κατὰ μικρὸν αὐτοὺς προσωτέρω τῆς πόλεως ἐπὶ φυλακτήριον Ῥωμαικὸν ἄγει καὶ τοῖς ἐκδραμοῦσι παραδίδωσιν, ὑφ´ ὧν ἀχθεὶς ἐπὶ τὸν Κάμιλλον ἔφη· βεβουλεῦσθαι μὲν ἔτι πάλαι τὴν πόλιν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ποιῆσαι, οὐδενὸς δὲ κύριος ὢν οὔτε ἄκρας οὔτε πυλῶν οὔθ´ ὅπλων τοῦτον ἐξευρηκέναι τὸν τρόπον, ὑποχειρίους ποιῆσαι τοὺς υἱεῖς τῶν εὐγενεστάτων, ἄφυκτον ἀνάγκην ὑπολαβὼν τοὺς πατέρας αὐτῶν καταλήψεσθαι τῆς σωτηρίας τῶν τέκνων περιεχομένους τάχιον παραδοῦναι Ῥωμαίοις τὴν πόλιν. ὁ μὲν δὴ ταῦτ´ ἔλεγε πολλὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχων θαυμαστούς τινας ἐξοίσεσθαι μισθοὺς τῆς προδοσίας.

[13,1] (p239) When Camillus was besieging the city of Falerii, one of the Faliscans, either having given the city up for lost or seeking personal advantages for himself, tricked the sons of the most prominent families — he was a schoolmaster — and led them outside the city, as if to take a walk before the walls and to view the Roman camp. And gradually leading them farther and farther from the city, he brought them to a Roman outpost and handed them over to the men who ran out. Being brought to Camillus by these men, he said he had long planned to put the city in the hands of the Romans, but not being in possession of any citadel or gate or arms, he had hit upon this plan, namely to put in their power the sons of the noblest citizens, assuming that the fathers in their yearning for the safety of their children would be compelled by inexorable necessity to hand over the city promptly to the Romans. He spoke (p241) thus, being in great hopes of gaining some wonderful rewards for his treachery.