XXI. On the next day appeared Timoleon with his troops in battle array. As soon as they learned their departure, and saw the harbour, they proceeded to mock at the cowardice of Mago, and they sent a crier round the city offering a reward to any one who would tell them to what place the Carthaginian force had run away. Nevertheless, Hiketes still showed a bold front, and did not relax his hold on the city, and, as the part which was in his possession was strong and hard of access, Timoleon divided his army, and himself led the assault on the most difficult side of the position, by the river Anapus, ordering another body, under Isias the Corinthian, to attack from Achradina. A third corps, consisting of the newly arrived reinforcement under Deinarchus and Demaretus were to attack Epipolae. The assault took place simultaneously on all sides. The speedy rout of Hiketes and capture of the city may be justly ascribed to the skill of the General; but the fact that not one of the Corinthians was killed or wounded is due to Timoleon's good fortune, which seemed to vie with his courage and try to make those who read of his exploits wonder at their good luck more than their merit.
In a few days not only was all Sicily and Italy ringing with his fame, but throughout Greece his great successes were known, and the city of Corinth, which scarcely thought that the expedition had reached Sicily, heard at the same time that the troops were safe and victorious, so prosperously did affairs turn out, and with such speed did fortune publish the glory of his deeds.
XXII. Timoleon, having thus gained possession of the fortified citadel on the promontory, did not fall into the same snare as Dion, and was not moved to spare the place for the sake of its beautiful and costly architecture. Dion's jealousy of the people led him to distrust them, and proved his ruin; but Timoleon took a very different course. He made proclamation that any Syracusan who chose might come with a crowbar and take part in the destruction of the despot's castle. When they had all assembled, in order to mark that day and that proclamation as the real beginning of liberty, they not only destroyed and subverted the castle, but also the houses and tombs of the despots. Timoleon at once had the place levelled, and built upon it courts of justice, delighting the citizens by substituting a republic for a tyranny.
Having taken the city, he was now at a loss for citizens, for some had been killed in the wars and revolutions, and some had gone into exile to avoid the despots, so that the market–place of Syracuse was overrun with herbage so deep and thick that horses were pastured on it, while the grooms lay on the grass near them. The other cities, except a very few, had become the haunts of deer and wild boars, and persons at leisure used to hunt them with dogs in the suburbs and round the walls. None of those who had taken refuge in the various forts and castles would return to the city, as they all felt a dread and hatred of public assemblies and politics, which had produced the greater part of the tyrants under whom they had suffered. In this difficulty it occurred to Timoleon and the Syracusans to apply to the Corinthians, and ask them to send out fresh colonists from Greece. Otherwise, they said, the land must lie uncultivated, and, above all, they were looking forward to a great war with Africa, as they heard that on Mago's return the Carthaginians were so enraged at his failure, that, though he committed suicide to avoid a worse fate, they had crucified his dead body, and were collecting a great force, meaning next summer to invade Sicily.
XXIII. When these letters from Timoleon reached them, together with ambassadors from the Syracusans, who besought them to take upon them the care of this their poor city, and once again become the founders of it, the Corinthians were not tempted by greed to take unfair advantages and seize the city for themselves, but first sent heralds to all the games held in honour of the gods throughout Greece, and to all places where people assembled, to proclaim that the Corinthians, having abolished despotism at Syracuse and driven out the despot, invite all Syracusans and other Sicilian Greeks who choose to go and dwell in the city under free institutions, receiving an equal and just share of the land. Next they sent messengers to Asia Minor and the islands, wherever they heard that most of the scattered bands of exiles had settled, and invited them all to come to Corinth, as the Corinthians would at their own expense furnish them with vessels and commanders and a safe convoy to Syracuse.
By these proclamations Corinth gained great and well–deserved renown, seeing that she had forced Syracuse from its tyrants, saved it from the barbarians, and given back the country to its own citizens. The exiles, however, when assembled at Corinth found their numbers too small, and begged to be allowed to receive among them others from Corinth and the rest of Greece. When by this means they had raised their numbers to not less than ten thousand, they sailed to Syracuse. Many citizens from Italy and Sicily had already joined Timoleon, who, when he found their numbers (according to Athanis) amount to sixty thousand, divided the country among them, and sold the houses for a thousand talents, affording the original citizens the option of purchasing their own houses. At the same time, to relieve the financial distress of the State, with a view to the approaching war, he even sold all the statues. A vote of the assembly was taken about each one, and he was condemned, like a criminal on his trial. On this occasion they say that the Syracusans, though they condemned all the rest, decided on keeping that of the ancient prince Gelo, because they admired and respected him for his victory over the Carthaginians at Himera.
XXIV. The life of Syracuse being rekindled by this influx of citizens from all quarters, Timoleon determined to set free the other cities also, and to exterminate the despots in Sicily. In the course of his campaigns against them he compelled Hiketes to renounce his alliance with the Carthaginians, to demolish his castle, and to live in Leontini as a private citizen. Leptines, the despot of Apollonia and of several smaller towns, fearing to be taken by him, surrendered. Timoleon spared his life, and sent him to Corinth, as he thought that it reflected credit upon his native city, that the despots of Sicily should be seen by all Greece living there as humble exiles. As for the soldiers whom he had in his pay, he determined not to keep them idle, but to support them by the plunder of an enemy's country. So while he himself returned to Syracuse, to superintend the reconstruction of the constitution, and to assist the lawgivers Kephalus and Dionysius in framing the best form of polity, he sent the troops under Deinarchus and Demaretus to subdue the western portion of the island, which had fallen into the hands of the Carthaginians. Here they induced several cities to revolt from the barbarians, and not only gained abundant pay and plunder for themselves from their conquests, but were able to furnish funds for the approaching war.
XXV. During this time the Carthaginian forces sailed to Lilybaeum with seventy thousand men, two hundred ships of war, and a thousand transports carrying engines of war, four horse chariots, provisions, and other war material, as they meant no longer to use half measures, but at one swoop to drive the Greeks out of Sicily. Their force indeed was sufficient for the conquest of the Sikeliot Greeks even if they had not been weakened by their internal strife.