His friends did all they could to comfort him, and at length they succeeded in persuading him to eat. But his sorrow was too great to let him stay in Corinth, so he left the city, and for several years he lived by himself. Even when he returned to Corinth, he still refused to take part in any public business. Timoleon was fifty years old when in 346 B.C. the Syracusans sent to the Corinthians to beg for help against the Carthaginians. The Corinthians determined to send an army to Sicily to help their fellow-countrymen, but they could find no one willing to go at its head. Some one proposed that Timoleon should be made commander of the force that had been raised, and he was at once appointed. Perhaps Timoleon thought that it was now time that he should do something for his country; in any case he undertook the task that was given him with goodwill. One worthy citizen bade Timoleon act ‘like a man of worth and gallantry. For,’ said he, ‘if you do bravely in this service we shall believe that you delivered us from a tyrant; but if otherwise, that you killed your brother.’ CHAPTER LXXXV TIMOLEON SENDS DIONYSIUS TO CORINTH Timoleon was ready to sail to Sicily with a fleet of seven vessels and a force of about one thousand men, when a message from Icetes reached the Corinthians. The traitor told them it was useless to try to help the people of Sicily, for he had joined the Carthaginians, and their combined army would easily crush any force that was sent against them. This made the Corinthians so angry that they at once added two hundred soldiers to Timoleon’s small army, as well as three vessels to his fleet. Even so, Timoleon’s task seemed hopeless. Athens, with hundreds of ships and with tens of thousands of men, had failed to take Syracuse. How then could the Corinthian hope to do so with his handful of men and his small fleet? Before he sailed, Timoleon journeyed to Delphi to offer sacrifices to Apollo. As he prayed in the temple, a wreath slipped from its place and fell upon his head. It seemed to Timoleon that Apollo was already crowning him with victory. At length all was ready, and the army embarked and set sail with a favourable wind. Suddenly a bright flame leaped out from the sky and hovered over the ship in which Timoleon sailed. The flame soon changed into a torch which guided the ships until they reached Rhegium, a town in Sicily. Here Timoleon learned that Icetes had already defeated Dionysius, who was now shut up in the citadel of Syracuse, and that he had sent the Carthaginians with twenty warships to Rhegium to keep the Corinthians from reaching Sicily. Timoleon had only ten vessels, and he knew it would be impossible to leave Rhegium unless he could in some way cheat the enemy.