[20,5] Ἡ δὲ βουλὴ μαθοῦσα τὰ περὶ τοὺς Ῥηγίνους πάθη παρὰ τῶν διαφυγόντων τὸν ὄλεθρον οὐδὲ τὸν ἐλάχιστον ἀναμείνασα χρόνον ἀποστέλλει στρατιὰν νεοσύλλεκτον ἄγοντα ἑτέραν τὸν κατὰ πόλιν στρατηγόν. φθάσασα δὲ τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἄφιξιν ἡ τοῦ δαιμονίου πρόνοια τὸν ἡγεμόνα τῆς φρουρᾶς Δέκιον ἀντὶ τῶν ἀνοσίων βουλευμάτων εἰς τὰ κυριώτατα τοῦ ζῆν ἐτιμωρήσατο μέρη, νόσον εἰς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐμβαλοῦσα δεινὰς περιωδυνίας φέρουσαν· ἣν ἰάσασθαι προθυμούμενος ἅνθρωπος ἐκ Μεσσήνης ἰατρὸν μεταπέμπεται, Δεξικράτην ὄνομα, πυνθανόμενος ἄριστον εἶναι τῶν κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἡλικίαν ἰατρῶν, ἀγνοῶν δὲ ὅτι Ῥηγῖνος ἦν τὸ γένος· ὃς ἀφικόμενος εἰς τὸ Ῥήγιον ἐναλείφει τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ καυστικῷ φαρμάκῳ καὶ διακελευσάμενος ἀνέχεσθαι τὰς περιωδυνίας, ἕως ἂν ἀφίκηται, καταβὰς ἐπὶ θάλατταν εἰς τὸ παρεσκευασμένον πορθμεῖον ἐνέβη καὶ πρὶν αἰσθέσθαι τινὰ τὸ πραχθὲν εἰς Μεσσήνην ἀπέπλευσεν. Δέκιος δὲ μέχρι μέν τινος ἐκκαιομένης τῆς ὁράσεως ἀλγηδόνας τε δεινὰς ὑπομένων ἠνείχετο τὸν ἰατρὸν προσδεχόμενος, ὡς δὲ πολὺς ἐγίγνετο 〈ὁ〉 χρόνος καὶ τὰς περιωδυνίας ἀδύνατος ἦν ἔτι φέρειν, σπογγίσας τὸ φάρμακον καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀνοίξας ἔγνω τὰς ὄψεις ἐκκεκαυμένος καὶ τὸν ἐξ ἐκείνου χρόνον διέμεινε τυφλός· ἡμέρας τε ὀλίγας ἔτι περιενέγκας ὑποχείριος τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις γίγνεται συλληφθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων. ταύτην γὰρ οἰόμενοί τινες ἀπολογίαν {Φαβρικίου} τήν τε πόλιν ἀνέῳξαν τῷ στρατηγῷ καὶ τὸν Δέκιον δήσαντες παρέδοσαν Φαβρικίῳ. ὁ δὲ τὴν μὲν πόλιν ἀποδίδωσι τοῖς περιοῦσι Ῥηγίνων, τοὺς δὲ φρουροὺς ἅπαντα καταλιπεῖν αὐτόθι κελεύσας ἀπήγαγεν οὐδὲν ἐπιφερομένους ἔξω τῶν ὅπλων· ἐξ ὧν τοὺς κορυφαιοτάτους ἄνδρας ἐπιλεξάμενος, οὓς ἀπέφαινον οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνοσίων βουλευμάτων εἶναι κοινωνούς, δεσμίους εἰς Ῥώμην ἤγαγεν· οὓς ἐν ἀγορᾷ μάστιξιν αἰκισάμενοι, ὡς ἦν πάτριον ἐπὶ τοῖς κακούργοις κείμενον, ἀπέκτειναν τῷ πελέκει τὰς κεφαλὰς ἀποκοπέντας, ἐκτὸς Δεκίου καὶ τοῦ γραμματέως· οὗτοι δὲ παρακρουσάμενοι τοὺς φυλάττοντας ἢ χρήμασιν ὠνησάμενοι τὸ μὴ μεθ´ ὕβρεως ἀποθανεῖν ἑαυτοὺς διεχειρίσαντο. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐπὶ τούτοις.

[20,5] The senate, upon learning from those who had escaped destruction the calamity that had befallen the Rhegians, did not delay even for a moment, but sent out the general in the city at the head of another army which had just been enrolled. 2 Forestalling the arrival of the Romans, however, Divine Providence took vengeance upon Decius, the commander of the garrison, for his impious schemes by punishing in the most vital parts of his body, inflicting upon his eyes a malady that caused excruciating pains. In his anxiety to cure this malady he sent he says a physician from Messana, Dexicrates by name, learning by inquiry that he was the best of the physicians of the day, but unaware that he was a Rhegian by birth. This man, having come to Rhegium, anointed his eyes with a caustic remedy and bade him endure the pains until he himself should return; then, going down to the sea, he boarded the ferry-boat that had been got ready for him and, before anyone was aware of his action, sailed back to Messana. 3 For a time Decius, although suffering dreadful pains while his sight was being burned out, nevertheless endured it, while (p409) waiting for the physician; but when much time had passed and he was unable longer to endure the excruciating pains, he wiped off the ointment and, opening his eyes, realized that the orbs had been burned out, and from that time he continued to be blind. After holding out for a few days he fell into the hands of the Romans, having been arrested by his own men; 4 for some, believing this was the way to clear themselves, opened their city to the general and delivered up Decius in chains to Fabricius. The latter restored the city to the Rhegians who survived, and ordering the guards to leave everything where it was, he led them away carrying nothing but their arms; 5 then, choosing out the most prominent of their number, those whom the others declared to be accomplices in the nefarious plot, he bright them in chains to Rome. There, after being scourged with whips in the Forum, as was the established usage in the case of malefactors, the prisoners were put to death by having their heads cut off with an axe — all except Decius and the secretary, who, having outwitted their guards or having bribed them with money to permit them to escape an ignominious death, made away with themselves. So much on this subject.