24.23
With
these words he laid the keys of the gates and of the royal treasury at their
feet. The assembly was then dismissed for the day and the joyful citizens
accompanied by their wives and children offered thanksgivings at all the
temples. The next day the election was held for the appointment of praetors.
Amongst the first to be elected was Andranodorus, the rest were mostly men
who had taken part in the tyrant's death; two were elected in their absence,
Sopater and Dinomenes. These two, on hearing what had happened at
Syracuse, brought that part of the royal treasure which was at Leontini and
delivered it into the charge of specially appointed quaestors, that portion
which was in the Island was also handed over to them in Achradina. That
part of the wall which shut off the Island from the city by a needlessly strong
barrier was with the unanimous approval of the citizens thrown down, and
all the other measures taken were in harmony with the general desire for
liberty. As soon as Hippocrates and Epicydes heard of the tyrant's death,
which Hippocrates had tried to conceal by putting the messenger to death,
finding themselves deserted by their soldiers they returned to Syracuse, as
this seemed the safest course under the circumstances. To avoid attracting
observation or being suspected of plotting a counter-revolution, they
approached the praetors, and through them were admitted to an audience of
the senate. They declared publicly that they had been sent by Hannibal to
Hieronymus as to a friend and ally; they had obeyed the commands of the
men whom their general Hannibal had wished them to obey, and now they
were anxious to return to Hannibal. The journey, however, was not a safe
one, for the Romans were to be found in every part of Sicily; they requested
therefore that they might have an escort to conduct them to Socri in Italy, in
this way the Syracusans would confer a great obligation on Hannibal with
very little trouble to themselves. The request was very readily granted, for
they were anxious to see the last of the king's generals who were not only
able commanders but also needy and daring adventurers. But Hippocrates
and Epicydes did not execute their purpose with the promptness which
seemed necessary. These young men, thorough soldiers themselves and
living in familiar intercourse with soldiers, went about amongst the troops,
amongst the deserters, consisting to a large extent of Roman seamen, and
even amongst the dregs of the populace, spreading libellous charges against
the senate and the aristocracy, whom they accused of secretly plotting and
contriving to bring Syracuse under the suzerainty of Rome under the
presence of renewing the alliance. Then, they hinted, the small faction which
had been the prime agents in renewing the treaty would be the masters of the
city.
