Parallel Lives, Volume V — Plutarch
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Translation/edition: Bernadotte Perrin
Language: English
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## Demosthenes

[Dem. 1.1] 846 1 1 The author of the encomium upon Alcibiades for his victory in the chariot-race at Olympia, whether he was Euripides, as the prevailing report has it, or some other, says, Sosius, that the first requisite to man’s happiness is birth in “a famous city”; but in my opinion, for a man who would enjoy true happiness, which depends for the most part on character and disposition, it is no disadvantage to belong to an obscure and mean city, any more than it is to be born of a mother who is of little stature and without beauty. 2 For it were laughable to suppose that Iulis, which is a little part of the small island of Ceos, and Aegina, which a certain Athenian was urgent to have removed as an eye-sore of the Piraeus, should breed good actors and poets, but should never be able to produce a man who is just, independent, wise, and magnanimous. 3 The arts, indeed, since their object is to bring business or fame, naturally pine away in obscure and mean cities; but virtue, like a strong and hardy plant, takes root in any place, if she finds there a generous nature and a spirit that shuns no labour. 4 Wherefore we also, if we fail to live and think as we ought, will justly attribute this, not to the smallness of our native city, but to ourselves.
[Dem. 2.1] 2 1 However, when one has undertaken to compose a history based upon readings which are not readily accessible or even found at home, but in foreign countries, for the most part, and scattered about among different owners, for him it is really necessary, first and above all things, that he should live in a city which is famous, friendly to the liberal arts, and populous, in order that he may have all sorts of books in plenty, and may by hearsay and enquiry come into possession of all those details which elude writers and are preserved with more conspicuous fidelity in the memories of men. 2 He will thus be prevented from publishing a work which is deficient in many, and even in essential things. But as for me, I live in a small city, and I prefer to dwell there that it may not become smaller still; and during the time when I was in Rome and various parts of Italy I had no leisure to practise myself in the Roman language, owing to my public duties and the number of my pupils in philosophy. It was therefore late and when I was well on in years that I began to study Roman literature. And here my experience was an astonishing thing, but true. 3 For it was not so much that by means of words I came to a complete understanding of things, as that from things I somehow had an experience which enabled me to follow the meaning of words. 4 But to appreciate the beauty and quickness of the Roman style, the figures of speech, the rhythm, and the other embellishments of the language, while I think it a graceful accomplishment and one not without its pleasures, still, the careful practice necessary for attaining this is not easy for one like me, but appropriate for those who have more leisure and whose remaining years still suffice for such pursuits.
[Dem. 3.1] 847 3 1 Therefore, in this fifth book of my Parallel Lives, where I write about Demosthenes and Cicero, I shall examine their actions and their political careers to see how their natures and dispositions compare with one another, but I shall make no critical comparison of their speeches, nor try to show which was the more agreeable or the more powerful orator. 2 “For useless,” as Ion says, “is a dolphin’s might upon dry ground,” a maxim which Caecilius, who goes to excess in everything, forgot when he boldly ventured to put forth a comparison of Demosthenes and Cicero. But really it is possible that, if the “Know thyself” of the oracle were an easy thing for every man, it would not be held to be a divine injunction.
[Dem. 3.3] 3 In the case of Demosthenes and Cicero, then, it would seem that the Deity originally fashioned them on the same plan, implanting in their natures many similarities, such as their love of distinction, their love of freedom in their political activities, and their lack of courage for wars and dangers, and uniting in them also many similarities of fortune. 4 For in my opinion two other orators could not be found who, from small and obscure beginnings, became great and powerful; who came into conflict with kings and tyrants; who lost each a daughter; who were banished from their native cities and returned with honour; and who, after taking to flight again and being captured by their enemies, ended their lives as soon as their countrymen ceased to be free. 5 So that, if there should be a competition between nature and fortune, as between artists, it would be difficult to decide whether the one made the men more alike in their characters, or the other in the circumstances of their lives. But I must speak of the more ancient first.
[Dem. 4.1] 4 1 Demosthenes, the father of Demosthenes, belonged to the better class of citizens, as Theopompus tells us, and was surnamed Cutler, because he had a large factory and slaves who were skilled workmen in this business. 2 But as for what Aeschines the orator says of the mother of Demosthenes, namely, that she was a daughter of one Gylon, who was banished from the city on a charge of treason, and of a barbarian woman, I cannot say whether he speaks truly, or is uttering slander and lies. 3 However, at the age of seven, Demosthenes was left by his father in affluence, since the total value of his estate fell little short of fifteen talents; but he was wronged by his guardians, who appropriated some of his property to their own uses and neglected the rest, so that even his teachers were deprived of their pay. 4 It was for this reason, as it seems, that he did not pursue the studies which were suitable and proper for a well-born boy, and also because of his bodily weakness and fragility, since his mother would not permit him to work hard in the palaestra, and his tutors would not force him to do so. 5 For from the first he was lean and sickly, and his opprobrious surname of Batalus is said to have been given him by the boys in mockery of his physique. 6 Now Batalus, as some say, was an effeminate flute-player, and Antiphanes wrote a farce in which he held him up to ridicule for this. But some speak of Batalus as a poet who wrote voluptuous verses and drinking songs. 7 And it appears that one of the parts of the body which it is not decent to name was at that time called Batalus by the Athenians. 8 But the name of Argas (for they tell us that Demosthenes had this nickname also) was given him either with reference to his manners, which were harsh and savage, the snake being called “argas” by some of the poets; or with reference to his way of speaking, which was distressing to his hearers, Argas being the name of a composer of vile and disagreeable songs. So much on this head.
[Dem. 5.1] 5 1 The origin of his eager desire to be an orator, they tell us, was as follows. Callistratus the orator was going to make a plea in court 848 on the question of Oropus, and the trial was eagerly awaited, not only because of the ability of the orator, who was then at the very height of his reputation, but also because of the circumstances of the case, which was notorious. 2 Accordingly, when Demosthenes heard the teachers and tutors agreeing among themselves to be present at the trial, with great importunity he persuaded his own tutor to take him to the hearing. 3 This tutor, having an acquaintance with the public officials who opened the courts, succeeded in procuring a place where the boy could sit unseen and listen to what was said. 4 Callistratus won his case and was extravagantly admired, and Demosthenes conceived a desire to emulate his fame, seeing him escorted on his way by the multitude and congratulated by all; but he had a more wondering appreciation of the power of his oratory, which was naturally adapted to subdue and master all opposition. 5 Wherefore, bidding farewell to his other studies and to the usual pursuits of boyhood, he practised himself laboriously in declamation, with the idea that he too was to be an orator. 6 He also employed Isaeus as his guide to art of speaking, although Isocrates was lecturing at the time; either, as some say, because he was an orphan and unable to pay Isocrates his stipulated fee of ten minas, or because he preferred the style of Isaeus for its effectiveness and adaptability in actual use. 7 But Hermippus says that he once came upon some anonymous memoirs in which it was recorded that Demosthenes was a pupil of Plato and got most help from him in his rhetorical studies. He also quotes Ctesibius as saying that from Callias the Syracusan and certain others Demosthenes secretly obtained the rhetorical systems of Isocrates and Alcidamas and mastered them.
[Dem. 6.1] 6 1 However this may be, when Demosthenes came of age he began to bring suits against his guardians and to write speeches attacking them. They devised many evasions and new trials, but Demosthenes, after practising himself in these exercises, as Thucydides says, not without toil and danger, won his cause, although he was able to recover not even a small fraction of his patrimony. However, he acquired sufficient practice and confidence in speaking, and got a taste of the distinction and power that go with forensic contests, and therefore essayed to come forward and engage in public matters. 2 And just as Laomedon the Orchomenian — so we are told — practised long-distance running by the advice of his physicians, to ward off some disease of the spleen, and then, after restoring his health in this way, entered the great games and became one of the best runners of the long course, so Demosthenes, after applying himself to oratory in the first place for the sake of recovering his private property, by this means acquired ability and power in speaking, and at last in public business, as it were in the great games, won the first place among the citizens who strove with one another on the bema.
[Dem. 6.3] 3 And yet when he first addressed the people he was interrupted by their clamours and laughed at for his inexperience, since his discourse seemed to them confused by long periods and too harshly and immoderately tortured by formal arguments. 4 He had also, as it would appear, a certain weakness of voice and indistinctness of speech and shortness of breath which disturbed the sense of what he said by disjoining his sentences. 5 And finally, when he had forsaken the assembly and was wandering about dejectedly in the Piraeus, Eunomus the Thriasian, who was already a very old man, caught sight of him and upbraided him because, although he had a style of speaking which was most like that of Pericles, he was throwing himself away out of weakness and lack of courage, neither facing the multitude with boldness, nor preparing his body for these forensic contests, but suffering it to wither away in slothful neglect.
[Dem. 7.1] 7 1 At another time, too, they say, when he had been rebuffed by the people and was going off homewards disconcerted 849 and in great distress, Satyrus the actor, who was a familiar acquaintance of his, followed after and went indoors with him. 2 Demosthenes lamented to him that although he was the most laborious of all the orators and had almost used up the vigour of his body in this calling, he had no favour with the people, but debauchees, sailors, and illiterate fellows were listened to and held the bema, while he himself was ignored. 3 “You are right, Demosthenes, “ said Satyrus, “but I will quickly remedy the cause of all this, if you will consent to recite off-hand for me some narrative speech from Euripides or Sophocles.” 4 Demosthenes did so, whereupon Satyrus, taking up the same speech after him, gave it such a form and recited it with such appropriate sentiment and disposition that it appeared to Demosthenes to be quite another. 5 Persuaded, now, how much of ornament and grace action lends to oratory, he considered it of little or no use for a man to practise declaiming if he neglected the delivery and disposition of his words. 6 After this, at all, he built a subterranean study, which, in fact, was preserved in our time, and into this he would descend every day without exception in order to form his action and cultivate his voice, and he would often remain there even for two or three months together, shaving one side of his head in order that shame might keep him from going abroad even though he greatly wished to do so.
[Dem. 8.1] 8 1 Nor was this all, but he would make his interviews, conversations, and business with those outside, the foundation and starting point for eager toil. For as soon as he parted from his associates, he would go down into his study, and there would go over his transactions with them in due order, and the arguments used in defence of each course. 2 And still further, whatever speeches he chanced to hear delivered he would take up by himself and reduce to propositions and periods, and he would introduce all sorts of corrections and changes of expression into the speeches made by others against himself, or, contrariwise, by himself against others. 3 Consequently it was thought that he was not a man of good natural parts, but that his ability and power were the product of toil. And there would seem to be strong proof of this in the fact that Demosthenes was rarely heard to speak on the spur of the moment, but though the people often called upon him by name as he sat in the assembly, he would not come forward unless he had given thought to the question and was prepared to speak upon it. 4 For this, many of the popular leaders used to rail at him, and Pytheas, in particular, once told him scoffingly that his arguments smelt of lamp-wicks. To him, then, Demosthenes made a sharp answer. 5 “Indeed,” said he, “thy lamp and mine, O Pytheas, are not privy to the same pursuits.” To the rest, however, he made no denial at all, but confessed that his speeches were neither altogether unwritten, nor yet fully written out. 6 Moreover, he used to declare that he who rehearsed his speeches was a true man of the people: for such preparation was a mark of deference to the people, whereas heedlessness of what the multitude will think of his speech marks a man of oligarchical spirit, and one who relies on force rather than on persuasion. 7 Another circumstance, too, is made a proof of his lack of courage for an emergency, namely, that when he was interrupted by the clamours of the people, Demades often rose and spoke off-hand in his support, but he never rendered such a service to Demades.
[Dem. 9.1] 9 1 How, then, some one might say, could Aeschines call him a man of the most astonishing boldness in his speeches? And how was it that, when Python of Byzantium was inveighing with much boldness and a great torrent of words against the Athenians, Demosthenes alone rose up and spoke against him? Or how did it happen that, when Lamachus the Myrinaean had written an encomium on Kings Philip and Alexander, in which many injurious things were said of Thebes and Olynthus, and while he was reading it aloud at Olympia, 850 Demosthenes came forward and rehearsed with historical proofs all the benefits which the peoples of Thebes and Chalcidice had conferred upon Greece, and, on the other hand, all the evils of which the flatterers of the Macedonians had been the cause, and thereby so turned the minds of the audience that the sophist was terrified at the outcry against him and slunk away from the festival assemblage?
[Dem. 9.2] 2 But although Demosthenes, as it would appear, did not regard the other characteristics of Pericles as suitable for himself, he admired and sought to imitate the formality of his speech and bearing, as well as his refusal to speak suddenly or on every subject that might present itself, as if his greatness was due to these things; but he by no means sought the reputation which is won in a sudden emergency, nor did he often of his own free will stake his influence upon chance. 3 However, those orations which were spoken off-hand by him had more courage and boldness than those which he wrote out, if we are to put any confidence in Eratosthenes, Demetrius the Phalerian, and the comic poets. 4 Of these, Eratosthenes says that often in his speeches Demosthenes was like one frenzied, and the Phalerean says that once, as if under inspiration, he swore the famous metrical oath to the people: —
[Dem. 9.2b] “By earth, by springs, by rivers, and by streams.”
[Dem. 9.5] 5 Of the comic poets, one calls him a “rhopoperperethras,” or trumpery-braggart, and another, ridiculing his use of the antithesis, says this: —
[Dem. 9.5b] (First slave) “My master, as he took, retook.”
[Dem. 9.5c] (Second slave (?)) “Demosthenes would have been delighted to take over this phrase.”
[Dem. 9.6] 6 Unless, indeed, this, too, was a jest of Antiphanes upon the speech of Demosthenes concerning Halonnesus, in which the orator counselled the Athenians not to take the island from Philip, but to retake it.
[Dem. 10.1] 10 1 Still, all men used to agree that Demades, in the exercise of his natural gifts, was invincible, and that when he spoke on the spur of the moment he surpassed the studied preparations of Demosthenes. 2 And Ariston the Chian records an opinion which Theophrastus also passed upon the two orators. When he was asked, namely, what sort of an orator he thought Demosthenes was, he replied: “Worthy of the city”; and what Demades, “Too good for the city.” 3 And the same philosopher tells us that Polyeuctus the Sphettian, one of the political leaders of that time at Athens, declared that Demosthenes was the greatest orator, but Phocion the most influential speaker; since he expressed most sense in fewest words. 4 Indeed, we are told that even Demosthenes himself, whenever Phocion mounted the bema to reply to him, would say to his intimates: “Here comes the chopper of my speeches.” 5 Now, it is not clear whether Demosthenes had this feeling towards Phocion because of his oratory, or because of his life and reputation, believing that a single word or nod from a man who is trusted has more power than very many long periods.
[Dem. 11.1] 11 For his bodily deficiencies he adopted the exercises which I shall describe, as Demetrius the Phalerian tells us, who says he heard about them from Demosthenes himself, now grown old. The indistinctness and lisping in his speech he used to correct and drive away by taking pebbles in his mouth and then reciting speeches. His voice he used to exercise by discoursing while running or going up steep places, and by reciting speeches or verses at a single breath. Moreover, he had in his house a large looking-glass, and in front of this he used to stand and go through his exercises in declamation.
[Dem. 11.2] 2 A story is told of a man coming to him and begging his services as an advocate, and telling at great length how he had been assaulted and beaten by some one. “But certainly,” said Demosthenes, “you got none of the hurts which you describe.” Then the man raised his voice and shouted: “I, Demosthenes, no hurts?” “Now, indeed,” said Demosthenes, “I hear the voice of one who is wronged and hurt.” 3 So important in winning credence did he consider the tone and action of the speaker. Accordingly, his own action in speaking was astonishingly pleasing to most men, 851 but men of refinement, like Demetrius the Phalerian, thought his manner low, ignoble, and weak. 4 And Hermippus tells us that Aesion, when asked his opinion of the ancient orators as compared with those of his own time, said that one would have listened with admiration when the older orators discoursed to the people decorously and in the grand manner, but that the speeches, of Demosthenes, when read aloud, were far superior in point of arrangement and power. 5 Now, it is needless to remark that his written speeches have much in them that is harsh and bitter; but in his extempore rejoinders he was also humorous. For instance, when Demades said “Demosthenes teach me! As well might the sow teach Athena.” “It was this Athena,” said Demosthenes, “that was lately found laying the harlot in Collytus.” 6 And to the thief nicknamed Brazen, who attempted to make fun of him for his late hours and his writing at night, “I know,” he said, “that I annoy you with my lighted lamp. But you, men of Athens, must not wonder at the thefts that are committed, when we have thieves of brass, but house-walls of clay.” 7 However, though I have still more to say on this head, I shall stop here; the other traits of his character, and his disposition, should be surveyed in connection with his achievements as a statesman.
[Dem. 12.1] 12 1 Well, then, he set out to engage in public matters after the Phocian war had broken out, as he himself says, and as it is possible to gather from his Philippic harangues. 2 Some of these were made after the Phocian war was already ended, and the earliest of them touch upon affairs which were closely connected with it. 3 And it is clear that when he prepared himself to speak in the prosecution of Meidias he was thirty-two years old, but had as yet no power or reputation in the conduct of the city’s affairs. 4 And his fears on this score were the chief reason, in my opinion, why he compromised his case against the man he hated for a sum of money:
[Dem. 12.1b] “For he was not at all a sweet-tempered man or of gentle mood,”
[Dem. 12.1c] but vehement and violent in his requitals. 5 However, seeing that it was no mean task and one beyond his power to overthrow a man like Meidias, who was well hedged about with wealth, oratory and friends, he yielded to those who interceded in his behalf. 6 For it does not seem to me that the three thousand drachmas of themselves could have dulled the bitter feelings of Demosthenes if he had expected or felt able to triumph over his adversary.
[Dem. 12.7] 7 But when he had once taken as a noble basis for his political activity the defence of the Greeks against Philip, and was contending worthily here, he quickly won a reputation and was lifted into a conspicuous place by the boldness of his speeches, so that he was admired in Greece, and treated with deference by the Great King; Philip, too, made more account of him than of any other popular leader at Athens, and it was admitted even by those who hated him that they had to contend with a man of mark. 8 For both Aeschines and Hypereides say thus much for him while denouncing him.
[Dem. 13.1] 13 1 Wherefore I do not know how it occurred to Theopompus to say that Demosthenes was unstable in his character and unable to remain true for any length of time to the same policies or the same men. 2 For it is apparent that after he had at the outset adopted a party and a line of policy in the conduct of the city’s affairs, he maintained this to the end, and not only did not change his position while he lived, but actually gave up his life that he might not change it. 3 For he was not like Demades, who apologised for his change of policy by saying that he often spoke at variance with himself, but never at variance with the interests of the city; nor like Melanopus, who, though opposed politically to Callistratus, 852 was often bought over by him, and then would say to the people: “The man is my enemy, it is true, but the interests of the city shall prevail”; 4 nor like Nicodemus the Messenian, who first attached himself to Cassander, and then again advocated the interests of Demetrius, but said that he was not contradicting himself, for it was always advantageous to listen to one’s masters. We cannot say such things of Demosthenes also, as of one who is turned from his course and veers to and fro either in word or deed — nay, he followed one unchangeable scale, as it were, and ever held to one key in politics. 5 And Panaetius the philosopher says that most of his speeches also are written in the conviction that good alone is to be chosen for its own sake, as, for instance, the speech “On the Crown,” the one “Against Aristocrates,” that “For the Immunities,” and the Philippics; 6 for in all these he does not try to lead his countrymen to do what is pleasantest or easiest or most profitable, but in many places thinks they ought to make their safety and preservation secondary to what is honourable and fitting, so that, if the loftiness of his principles and the nobility of his speeches had been accompanied by such bravery as becomes a warrior and by incorruptibility in all his dealings, he would have been worthy to be numbered, not with such orators as Moerocles, Polyeuctus, Hypereides, and their contemporaries, but high up with Cimon, Thucydides, and Pericles.
[Dem. 14.1] 14 1 At any rate, Phocion, among his contemporaries, though he took the lead in a policy which is not to be commended, and though he had the reputation of favouring Macedonia, nevertheless, by reason of his bravery and integrity, was held to be in no wise inferior to Ephialtes and Aristides and Cimon. 2 Demosthenes, however, was not worthy of confidence when he bore arms, as Demetrius says, nor was he altogether inaccessible to bribes, but though he did not succumb to the gold which came from Philip and Macedonia, that which came down in streams from Susa and Ecbatana reached and overwhelmed him, and therefore while he was most capable of praising the virtues of earlier generations, he was not so good at imitating them. 3 For certainly the orators of his own day (though I leave Phocion out of the account) were surpassed by him even in his life and conversation. And it is manifest that beyond them all he reasoned boldly with the people, opposed himself to the desires of the multitude, and persistently attacked their faults, as may be gathered from his speeches. 4 And even Theopompus tells us that, when the Athenians nominated him to conduct a certain impeachment, and, on his refusal, raised a tumult against him, he rose and said: “Men of Athens, I will serve you as a counsellor, even though you do not wish it; but not as a false accuser, even though you wish it.” 5 Moreover, the measures which he took in the case of Antiphon were exceedingly aristocratic in their spirit. Antiphon had been acquitted by the assembly, but Demosthenes arrested him and brought him before the council of the Areiopagus, and making no account of the offence thus given to the people, convicted him of having promised Philip to set fire to the dockyards; and Antiphon was given up to justice by the council and suffered death. 6 He also accused the priestess Theoris of many misdemeanours, and particularly of teaching the slaves to practise deceit; and by fixing the penalty at death he brought about her execution.
[Dem. 15.1] 15 1 It is said, too, that the speech which Apollodorus used in order to secure the conviction of Timotheus the general in an action for debt was written for him by Demosthenes, and likewise the speeches which Apollodorus used against Phormio and Stephanus, in which cases Demosthenes properly won discredit. 2 For Phormio contended against Apollodorus with a speech which Demosthenes had written for him, the orator thus simply selling to the disputants, as it were from one and the same cutlery-shop, the knives with which to wound each other. 3 Moreover, of his public orations, those against Androtion and Timocrates and Aristocrates were written for others to pronounce, before he had as yet entered public life; 853 for it appears that these speeches were produced when he was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years of age. But he himself delivered the speech against Aristogeiton, as well as the one “On the Immunities,” at the instance, as he himself says, of Ctesippus the son of Chabrias, but as some say, because he was wooing the mother of this young man. 4 However, he did not marry this woman, but had a certain woman of Samos to wife, as Demetrius the Magnesian tells us in his work “On Persons of the Same Name.” 5 Whether the speech denouncing the treacherous embassage of Aeschines was delivered or not, is uncertain; and yet Idomeneus says that Aeschines got off by only thirty votes. But this would seem to be untrue, if we are to judge by the written speeches of both orators “On the Crown.” 6 For neither of them speaks clearly and distinctly of that contention as one which came to trial. This question, however, will have to be decided by others.
[Dem. 16.1] 16 1 The political attitude of Demosthenes was manifest even while peace still lasted, for he would let no act of the Macedonian pass uncensured, but on every occasion kept rousing and inflaming the Athenians against him. 2 Therefore Philip also made most account of him; and when Demosthenes came to Macedonia in an embassy of ten, Philip listened indeed to them all, but took most pains to answer his speech. 3 As regards all other marks of honour and kindly attention, however, Philip did not treat Demosthenes as well as the others, but courted rather the party of Aeschines and Philocrates. 4 And so when these lauded Philip as most powerful in speaking, most fair to look upon, and, indeed, as a most capable fellow-drinker, Demosthenes had to say in bitter raillery that the first encomium was appropriate for a sophist, the second for a woman, and the third for a sponge, but none of them for a king.
[Dem. 17.1] 17 1 And when matters were inclining at last to war, since Philip was unable to keep quiet and the Athenians were being stirred up by Demosthenes, in the first place, he urged the Athenians to invade Euboea, which had been brought into subjection to Philip by its tyrants; and it was on his motion that they crossed over to the island and drove out the Macedonians. 2 In the second place, he came to the aid of the citizens of Byzantium and Perinthus when Macedonian was making war upon them, by persuading the Athenian people to remit their hatred and forget the wrongs committed by each of these cities in the Social War, and to send them a force, — the force which saved them. 3 Next, he went on an embassy to the Greek states, and by arguing with them and pricking them on brought almost all of them into a league against Philip, so that they raised a mercenary force of fifteen thousand foot and two thousand horse, apart from the citizen soldiery, and readily contributed money to pay them. 4 It was at this time, as Theophrastus says, when the allies were demanding that their contributions be fixed within limits, that Crobylus the popular leader said: “War has no fixed rations.”
[Dem. 17.5] 5 Greece was now in suspense as it thought of the future, and its peoples and cities were leaguing themselves together, Euboeans, Achaeans, Corinthians, Megarians, Leucadians, and Corcyraeans. But the most important struggle still remained for Demosthenes in bringing the Thebans to join the alliance, for they had a territory bounding that of Attica and a force ready to take the field, and at that time were accounted the best soldiers in Greece. 6 But it was no easy matter, in view of the recent benefits with which Philip had cultivated their favour during the Phocian war, to make the Thebans change sides, and especially because in the petty quarrels brought on by their proximity to Athens the differences which made for war between the two cities were all the while stirred up anew.
[Dem. 18.1] 854 18 1 Philip, however, elated by his good-fortune in the matter of Amphissa, surprised Elateia and occupied Phocis. This step drove the Athenians out of their senses: no one ventured to ascend the bema and no one knew what ought to be said, but perplexity and silence reigned in the assembly. Then it was that Demosthenes, and he alone, came forward and advised the people to cling to Thebes; and after giving them courage in other ways and buoying them up with hopes, as he was wont to do, he was sent with others as ambassador to Thebes. 2 Philip also, as Marsyas tells us, sent Amyntas and Clearchus of Macedonia, Daochus of Thessaly, and Thrasydaeus, to speak in opposition to the Athenians.
[Dem. 18.1b] Well, then, the Thebans, in their calculations, were not blind to their own interests, but each of them had before his eyes the terrors of war, since their losses in the Phocian war were still fresh; however, the power of the orator, as Theopompus says, fanned up their courage and inflamed their honourable ambition and obscured all other considerations, so that, casting away fear and calculation and feelings of obligation, they were rapt away by his words into the path of honour. 3 And so great and glorious was the orator’s success seen to be that Philip at once sent an embassy and asked for peace, while Greece was confident and up in arms to aid Demosthenes for the future; and not only did the Athenian generals assist him and do what he ordered, but also the Boeotarchs. He managed at this time all the assemblies of the Thebans no less than those of the Athenians; he was beloved by both peoples and exercised supreme power, not illegally nor unworthily, as Theopompus declares, but rather with perfect propriety.
[Dem. 19.1] 19 1 But it would seem that some divinely ordered fortune in the revolution of affairs, which was putting an end at this time to the freedom of the Greeks, opposed their efforts, and showed forth many signs of what was to come. Among these were the dire prophecies which the Pythian priestess made known, and an ancient oracle which was recited from the Sibylline books: —
[Dem. 19.1b] “From the battle on Thermodon may I be far removed,
To behold it like an eagle in clouds and upper air.
[Dem. 19.1c] Tears are for the conquered there, and for the conqueror, death.”
[Dem. 19.2] 2 Now, the Thermodon, they say, is in my native territory, in Chaeroneia, being a little river which empties into the Cephisus. But I know of no river bearing this name at the present time; I conjecture, however, that the stream now called Haemon then bore the name of Thermodon. For it flows past the Heracleum, where the Greeks had their camp; and I judge that after the battle the river was filled with blood and corpses and therefore received its present name in exchange. 3 Duris, however, says that this Thermodon was not a river, but that some soldiers who were pitching a tent and digging a trench about it, found a small stone figure, an inscription upon which signified that it was Thermodon, carrying in its arms a wounded Amazon. They say also that in reference to this another oracle is recited as follows: —
[Dem. 19.2b] “For the battle on Thermodon wait thou, all-black bird;
There thou shalt have in abundance the flesh of men.”
[Dem. 20.1] 20 1 How this matter really stands, then, it is difficult to decide; but as for Demosthenes, he is said to have had complete confidence in the Greek forces, and to have been lifted into a state of glowing excitement by the strength and ardour of so many men eager to engage the enemy, so that he would not suffer his countrymen to give heed to oracles or listen to prophecies; nay, he even suspected the Pythian priestess of being in sympathy with Philip, reminding the Thebans of Epaminondas and the Athenians of Pericles, 855 and declaring that those great leaders regarded things of this kind as pretexts for cowardice, and therefore followed the dictates of reason. 2 Up to this point, then, he was a brave man; but in the battle he displayed no conduct that was honourable or consonant with his words, but forsook his post, cast away his arms, and ran away most disgracefully, nor was he ashamed to belie the inscription on his shield, as Pytheas said, whereon was written in letters of gold, “With good fortune.”
[Dem. 20.3] 3 Immediately after his victory, then, Philip waxed insolent for joy, and going forth in revel rout to see the bodies of the slain, and being in his cups, recited the beginning of the decree introduced by Demosthenes, dividing it into feet and marking off the time: —
[Dem. 20.3b] “Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes, of Paeania, thus moves;”
[Dem. 20.3c] but when he got sober and realized the magnitude of the struggle in which he had been involved, he shuddered at the power and the ability of the orator who had forced him to hazard his empire and his life in the brief span of a single day. 4 And the family of this orator penetrated even to the Persian king, who sent letters to his satraps on the coast, bidding them to offer money to Demosthenes, and to pay more attention to him than to any other Greek, since he was able to distract and detain the Macedonian with the troubles which he raised in Greece. 5 These things, now, were discovered at a later time by Alexander, who found at Sardis certain letters of Demosthenes and documents of the King’s generals, which disclosed the amount of money they had given him.
[Dem. 21.1] 21 1 At this time, however, when their disaster fell upon the Greeks, the orators of the opposing party assailed Demosthenes and prepared reckonings and indictments against him; 2 but the people not only absolved him from these, nay, they actually continued to honour him and invited him again, as a loyal man, to take part in public affairs. Consequently, when the bones of those who had fallen at Chaeroneia were brought home for burial, they assigned to him the honour of pronouncing the eulogy over the men; nor did they show a base or ignoble spirit under the calamity which had befallen them, as Theopompus writes in his inflated style, but by the special honour and respect which they paid to their counsellor they made it manifest that they did not repent of the counsels he had given them. 3 The oration, then, was pronounced by Demosthenes, but to the decrees which he proposed he would not put his own name, but rather those of his friends, one after the other, avoiding his own as inauspicious and unfortunate, until he once more took courage upon Philip’s death. 4 And Philip died, surviving success at Chaeroneia only a short time; and this, it would seem, was foretold by the last verse of the oracle: —
[Dem. 21.1b] “Tears are for the conquered there, and for the conqueror, death.”
[Dem. 22.1] 22 1 Now, Demosthenes had secret intelligence of Philip’s death, and by way of inspiring the Athenians with courage for the future, he came forth to the council with a glad countenance, declaring that he had had a dream which led him to expect some great blessing for Athens; and not long afterwards the messengers came with tidings of Philip’s death. 2 At once, then, the Athenians proceeded to make thank-offerings for glad tidings and voted a crown for Pausanias. 3 And Demosthenes came forth in public dressed in a splendid robe and wearing a garland on his head, although his daughter had died only six days before, as Aeschines says, who rails at him for this and denounces him as an unnatural father. And yet Aeschines himself was of a weak and ungenerous nature, if he considered mournings and lamentations as the signs of an affectionate spirit, but condemned the bearing of such losses serenely and without repining.
[Dem. 22.4] 4 For my own part, I cannot say that it was honourable in the Athenians to crown themselves with garlands and offer sacrifices to the gods on the death of a king who, in the midst of his successes, had treated them so mildly and humanely in their reverses; for besides provoking the indignation of the gods, it was also an ignoble thing to honour him while he was alive and make him a citizen of Athens, 856 but when he had fallen by another’s hand to set no bounds for their joy, nay, to leap, as it were, upon the dead, and sing paeans of victory, as if they themselves had wrought a deed of valour. 5 However, for leaving his domestic misfortunes and tears and lamentations to the women and going about such business as he thought advantageous to the city, I commend Demosthenes, and I hold it to be the part of a statesmanlike and manly spirit to keep ever in view the good of the community, to find support for domestic sorrows and concerns in the public welfare, and to preserve one’s dignity far more than actors do when they take the parts of kings and tyrants; for these, as we see in the theatres, neither weep nor laugh according to their own inclinations, but as the subject of the action demands.
[Dem. 22.6] 6 And apart from these considerations, if it is our duty not to allow the unfortunate to lie comfortless in his sorrow, but to address him with cheering words and turn his thoughts to pleasanter things (like those who tell people with sore eyes to withdraw their gaze from bright and hard colours and fix it upon those which are soft and green), how can a man obtain better consolation for his domestic griefs than by blending them with the general welfare of a prosperous country, thus making the better things obscure the worse? 7 These things, then I have been led to say on seeing that many have their hearts softened to effeminate pity by this discourse of Aeschines.
[Dem. 23.1] 23 1 The cities of Greece, under the incitations of Demosthenes, now formed themselves into a league again. The Thebans, whom Demosthenes had helped to provide with arms, fell upon their Macedonian garrison and slew many of them; while the Athenians made preparations to go to war along with them. 2 Demosthenes reigned supreme in the assembly, and wrote letters to the King’s generals in Asia stirring them up to make war upon Alexander, whom he called a boy and a Margites. When, however, Alexander had settled the affairs of his own country and came in person with his forces into Boeotia, prone lay the courage of the Athenians, and Demosthenes was extinguished, while the Thebans, betrayed by their allies, fought by themselves and lost their city. 3 Then, in the midst of the great confusion which reigned at Athens, Demosthenes was chosen and sent with others as an ambassador to Alexander, but fearing the wrath of the king he turned back at Cithaeron and abandoned the embassy. 4 Then straightway Alexander sent to Athens a demand for the surrender to him of ten of their popular leaders, according to Idomeneus and Duris, but according to the most and most reputable writers, only eight, namely, Demosthenes, Polyeuctus, Ephialtes, Lycurgus, Moerocles, Demon, Callisthenes, and Charidemus.
[Dem. 23.5] 5 It was on this occasion that Demosthenes told the Athenians the story of how the sheep surrendered their dogs to the wolves, comparing himself and his fellow-orators to dogs fighting in defence of the people, and called Alexander “the Macedonian arch-wolf.” 6 Moreover, he said further: “Just as grain-merchants sell their whole stock by means of a few kernels of wheat which they carry about with them in a bowl as a sample, so in surrendering us you unwittingly surrender also yourselves, all of you.” Such, then, is the account which Aristobulus of Cassandreia has given.
[Dem. 23.5b] The Athenians were deliberating on this demand and were at a loss how to treat it, when Demades, for five talents which he had received from the men demanded, agreed to go on an embassy to the king and entreat him in their behalf; either because he relied on the friendship of Alexander, or because he expected to find him sated, like a lion glutted with slaughter. At any rate, Demades persuaded the king to let the men off, and reconciled him with the city.
[Dem. 24.1] 857 24 1 So when Alexander went back to Macedonia, Demades and his associates were high in power, but Demosthenes acted a humble part. It is true that when Agis the Spartan was active in revolt Demosthenes once more made a feeble effort in his support, but then he cowered down, since the Athenians would not join in the uprising. Agis fell in battle, and the Lacedaemonians were crushed.
[Dem. 24.2] 2 It was at this time that the indictment against Ctesiphon in the matter of the crown came up for trial. It had been prepared in the archonship of Chaerondas a little before the battle of Chaeroneia, but came on for trial ten years later in the archonship of Aristophon. It became the most celebrated of all public causes, not only on account of the fame of the orators, but also because of the noble conduct of the judges, who, though the prosecutors of Demosthenes were then at the height of power and acting in the interests of Macedonia, would not vote against him, but acquitted him so decisively that Aeschines did not get a fifth part of their ballots. 3 Consequently, Aeschines forsook the city at once, and spent the rest of his life as a teacher of rhetoric in Rhodes and Ionia.
[Dem. 25.1] 25 1 Not long afterwards Harpalus came out of Asia to Athens. He had run away from Alexander, because he was conscious that his prodigality had led him into criminal practices, and because he was afraid of his master, who was now become harsh to his friends. 2 But after he had taken refuge with the Athenian people and put himself in their hands with his ships and his treasures, the other orators at once fixed their longing eyes upon his wealth, came to his aid, and tried to persuade the Athenians to receive and save the suppliant. 3 But Demosthenes, in the beginning, counselled them to drive Harpalus away, and to beware lest they plunge the city into war upon an unnecessary and unjust ground; a few days afterwards, however, while they were making an inventory of the treasure, Harpalus saw that Demosthenes was eyeing with pleasure a cup of barbarian make, with a keen appreciation of its fashion and of the ornamental work upon it. He therefore bade him poise it in his hand and see how heavy the gold was. 4 And when Demosthenes was amazed at its weight and asked how much it would amount to, Harpalus smiled and said, “For you it will amount to twenty talents;” and as soon as night was come he sent him the cup with the twenty talents. 5 Now, Harpalus was skilful in detecting the character of a man who had a passion for gold, by means of the look that spread over his face and the glances of his eyes. For Demosthenes could not resist, but was overcome by the bribe, and now that he had, as it were, admitted a garrison into his house, promptly went over to the side of Harpalus. Next day, after swathing his neck carefully in woollen bandages, he went forth into the assembly; and when he was urged to rise and speak, he made signs that his voice was ruined. 6 The wits, however, by way of raillery, declared that the orator had been seized overnight, not with an ordinary quinsy, but with a silver quinsy. And afterwards, when the whole people learned that he had been bribed, and would not permit him, when he wished it, to have a hearing and make his defence, but were angry and raised a tumult against him, someone rose and said jokingly: “Men of Athens, will you not listen to the man who holds the cup?”
[Dem. 25.7] 7 At that time, then, they sent Harpalus away from the city, and fearing lest they should be called to account for the moneys which the orators had seized, they made a zealous search for it, and went round to their houses on the quest, except that of Callicles the son of Arrhenides. 8 For his house was the only one which they would not allow to be searched, since he was newly married and his bride was within, as Theopompus relates.
[Dem. 26.1] 26 1 But Demosthenes put a bold face on the matter and introduced a bill providing that the case should be referred for investigation to the council of the Areiopagus, and that those should be brought to trial who were found guilty there. 2 He was himself, however, among the first condemned by the council, and came before the court for trial, where he was sentenced to a fine of fifty talents and delivered over to prison in default of payment. 858 But out of shame at the charge under which he lay, as he says, and owing to the weakness of his body, which could not endure confinement, he ran away, through the carelessness of some of his keepers and the connivance of others. 3 At any rate, we are told that when he was in flight at a short distance from the city, he learned that some of the citizens who were his enemies were in pursuit of him, and therefore wished to hide himself; and when they called upon him loudly by name, and came up near to him, and begged him to accept from them provision for his journey, declaring that they were bringing money from home for this very purpose, and were pursuing him only in order to get it to him; and when at the same time they exhorted him to be of good courage and not to be pained at what had happened, Demosthenes broke out all the more into cries of grief, saying: 4 “Surely I must be distressed to leave a city where my enemies are as generous as I can hardly find friends to be in another.”
[Dem. 26.5] 5 And he bore his exile without fortitude, taking up his quarters in Aegina and Troezen for the most part, and looking off towards Attica with tears in his eyes, so that utterances of his are on record which are not generous or consonant with his spirited efforts as a statesman. 6 We are told, namely, that as he was leaving the city he lifted up his hands towards the acropolis and said: “O potent Guardian of the City, Athena, how, pray, canst thou take delight in those three most intractable beasts, the owl, the serpent, and the people?” 7 Moreover, when young men came to visit and converse, he would try deter them from public life, saying that if two roads had been presented to him in the beginning, one leading to the bema and the assembly, and the other straight to destruction, and if he could have known beforehand the evils attendant on a public career, namely, fears, hatreds, calumnies and contentions, he would have taken that road which led directly to death.
[Dem. 27.1] 27 1 But while he was still undergoing the exile of which I have spoken, Alexander died, and the Greek states proceeded to form a league again, while Leosthenes was displaying deeds of valour and walling Antipater up in Lamia, where he held him in siege. 2 Accordingly, the orators Pytheas and Callimedon (called the Stag-beetle) fled from Athens and joined the party of Antipater, and travelling about with the regent’s friends and ambassadors tried to prevent the Greeks from revolting or attaching themselves to Athens; 3 but Demosthenes, joining himself to the ambassadors from Athens, used his utmost efforts in helping them to induce the cities to unite in attacking the Macedonians and expelling them from Greece. 4 And Phylarchus states that in Arcadia Pytheas and Demosthenes actually fell to abusing one another in an assembly, the one speaking in behalf of the Macedonians, the other in behalf of the Greeks. 5 Pytheas, we are told, said that just as we think that a house into which asses’ milk is brought must certainly have some evil in it, so also a city must of necessity be diseased into which an Athenian embassy comes; whereupon Demosthenes turned the illustration against him by saying that asses’ milk was given to restore health, and the Athenians came to bring salvation to the sick.
[Dem. 27.6] 6 At this conduct the Athenian people were delighted, and voted that Demosthenes might return from exile. The decree was brought in by Demon of Paeania, who was a cousin of Demosthenes; and a trireme was sent to Aegina to fetch him home. 7 When he set out to go up to the city from Piraeus, not an archon or a priest was missing, and all the rest of the people also met him in a body and welcomed him eagerly, It was at this time, too, as Demetrius the Magnesian says, that he lifted his hands towards heaven and blessed himself for that day, since he was coming home from exile more honourably than Alcibiades did; for he had persuaded, not forced, his fellow-citizens to welcome him. 8 It is true that his pecuniary fine remained standing against him (for it was not lawful to remit an assessment by act of grace), 859 but they found a device to evade the law. It was their custom, namely, in the case of a sacrifice to Zeus the Saviour, to pay a sum of money to those who prepared and adorned the altar, and they now gave Demosthenes the contract to make these preparations for fifty talents, which was just the amount of his assessment.
[Dem. 28.1] 28 1 However, he did not enjoy his native city for long after his return from exile, but the cause of Greece was speedily crushed, and in the month of Metageitnion the battle at Crannon took place, in that of Boëdromion the Macedonian garrison entered Munychia, and in that of Pyanepsion Demosthenes died, in the following manner.
[Dem. 28.2] 2 When Antipater and Craterus were reported to be advancing upon Athens, Demosthenes and his associates succeeded in escaping by stealth from the city, and the people, on motion of Demades, passed sentence of death upon them. 3 Since they dispersed themselves to different places, Antipater sent his soldiers about to arrest them, under the command of Archias the so called Exile-hunter. This man was a native of Thurii, and the story goes that he was once a tragic actor; indeed, it is recorded that Polus of Aegina, the best actor of his time, was a pupil of his. But Hermippus states that Archias was one of the pupils of Lacritus the rhetorician; while Demetrius says that he belonged to the school of Anaximenes. 4 This Archias, then, finding that Hypereides the orator and Aristonicus of Marathon and Himeraeus the brother of Demetrius the Phalerean had taken refuge in the sanctuary of Aeacus at Aegina, haled them away and sent them to Antipater at Cleonae. There they were put to death, and Hypereides, it is said, also had his tongue cut out.
[Dem. 29.1] 29 1 Moreover, on learning that Demosthenes had taken sanctuary in the temple of Poseidon at Calauria, Archias sailed across to the island in small boats, and after landing with Thracian spearmen tried to persuade the fugitive to leave the temple and go with him to Antipater, assuring him that he would suffer no harsh treatment. 2 But it chanced that Demosthenes, in his sleep the night before, had seen a strange vision. He dreamed, namely, that he was acting in a tragedy and contending with Archias for the prize, and that although he acquitted himself well and won the favour of the audience, his lack of stage decorations and costumes cost him the victory. 3 Therefore, after Archias had said many kindly things to him, Demosthenes, just as he sat, looked steadfastly at him and said: “O Archias, thou didst never convince me by thine acting, nor wilt thou now convince me by thy promises.” And when Archias began to threaten him angrily, “Now,” said he, “thou utterest the language of the Macedonian oracle; but a moment ago thou wert acting a part. Wait a little, then, that I may write a message to my family.” 4 With these words, he retired into the temple, and taking a scroll, as if about to write, he put his pen to his mouth and bit it, as he was wont to do when thinking what he should write, and kept it there some time, then covered and bent his head. 5 The spearman, then, who stood at the door, laughed at him for playing the coward, and called him weak and unmanly, but Archias came up and urged him to rise, and reïterating the same speeches as before, promised him a reconciliation with Antipater. 6 But Demosthenes, now conscious that the poison was affecting and overpowering him, uncovered his head; and fixing his eyes upon Archias, “Thou canst not be too soon now,” said he, “in playing the part of Creon in the tragedy and casting this body out without burial. But I, O beloved Poseidon, will depart from thy sanctuary while I am still alive; whereas Antipater and the Macedonians would not have left even thy temple undefiled.” 7 So speaking, and bidding someone support him, since he was now trembling and tottering, he had no sooner gone forth and passed by the altar than he fell, and with a groan gave up the ghost.
[Dem. 30.1] 860 30 1 As for the poison, Ariston says he took it from the pen, as I have said; but a certain Pappus, from whom Hermippus took his story, says that when he had fallen by the side of the altar, there was found written in the scroll the beginning of a letter, “Demosthenes to Antipater,” and nothing more; 2 and that when men were amazed at the suddenness of his death the Thracians who had stood at the door told the story that he took the poison into his hand from a cloth and put it to his mouth and swallowed it; and they themselves, strange to say, had supposed that what he swallowed was gold; and that the little maid who served him, when inquiries were made by Archias, said that Demosthenes had long worn that cloth girdle as a safeguard against his enemies. 3 And even Eratosthenes himself says that Demosthenes kept the poison in a hollow bracelet, and that he wore this bracelet as an ornament upon his arm. 4 But the divergent stories of all the others who have written about the matter, and they are very many, need not be recounted; except that Demarches the relative of Demosthenes says that in his opinion it was not due to poison, but to the honour and kindly favour shown him by the gods, that he was rescued from the cruelty of the Macedonians by a speedy and painless death. 5 And he died on the sixteenth of the month Pyanepsion, the most gloomy day of the Thesmophoria, which the women observe by fasting in the temple of the goddess.
[Dem. 30.1b] It was to this man, a little while after his death, that the Athenian people paid worthy honour by erecting his statue in bronze, and by decreeing that the eldest of his house should have public maintenance in the prytaneium. And this celebrated inscription was inscribed upon the pedestal of his statue: —
[Dem. 30.1c] “If thy strength had only been equal to thy purposes, Demosthenes,
Never would the Greeks have been ruled by a Macedonian Ares.”
[Dem. 30.6] 6 Of course those who say that Demosthenes himself composed these lines in Calauria, as he was about to put the poison to his lips, talk utter nonsense.
[Dem. 31.1] 31 1 Now, a short time before I took up my abode in Athens, the following incident is said to have occurred. A soldier who had been called to an account by his commander, put what little gold he had into the hands of this statue of Demosthenes. 2 It stood with its fingers interlaced, and hard by grew a small plane-tree. Many of the leaves from this tree, whether the wind accidentally blew them thither, or whether the depositor himself took this way of concealing his treasure, lay clustering together about the gold and hid it for a long time. 3 At last, however, the man came back, found his treasure intact, and an account of the matter was spread abroad, whereupon the wits of the city took for a theme the incorruptibility of Demosthenes and vied with one another in their epigrams.
[Dem. 31.4] 4 As for Demades, he had not long enjoyed his growing reputation when vengeance for Demosthenes brought him into Macedonia, whose people he had disgracefully flattered, only to be by them justly put to death. He had been obnoxious to them even before this, but now fell under a charge from which there was no escape. 5 A letter of his, namely, leaked out, in which he had urged Perdiccas to seize Macedonia and deliver the Greeks, who, he said, were fastened to it only by an old and rotten thread (meaning Antipater). 6 And when Deinarchus the Corinthian denounced him for this, Cassander flew into a rage and slew the son of Demades as he stood close by his father’s side, and then ordered that Demades should be likewise killed. Demades was now learning amid his extremest misfortunes that traitors sell themselves first, a truth of which Demosthenes had often assured him, but which he would not believe.
[Dem. 31.7] 7 And so, Sosius, thou hast the promised Life of Demosthenes, drawn from such written or oral sources as I could find.

## Cicero

[Cic. 1.1] 1 1 IT is said of Helvia, the mother of Cicero, that she was well born and lived an honourable life; but of his father nothing can be learned that does not go to an extreme. 2 For some say that he was born and reared in a fuller’s shop, while others trace the origin of his family to Tullus Attius, an illustrious king of the Volscians, who waged war upon the Romans with great ability. 3 However, the first member of the family who was surnamed Cicero seems to have been worthy of note, and for that reason his posterity did not reject the surname, but were fond of it, although many made it a matter of raillery. 4 For “cicer” is the Latin name for chick-pea, and this ancestor of Cicero, as it would seem, had a faint dent in the end of his nose like the cleft of a chick-pea, from which he acquired his surname. 5 Cicero himself, however, whose Life I now write, when he first entered public life and stood for office and his friends thought he ought to drop or change the name, is said to have replied with spirit that he would strive to make the name of Cicero more illustrious than such names as Scaurus or Catulus. 6 Moreover, when he was quaestor in Sicily and was dedicating to the gods a piece of silver plate, he had his first two names inscribed thereon, the Marcus and the Tullius, but instead of the third, by way of jest, he ordered the artificer to engrave a chick-pea in due sequence. This, then, is what is told about his name.
[Cic. 2.1] 2 1 It is said that Cicero was born, without travail or pain on the part of his mother, on the third day of the new Calends, the day on which at the present time the magistrates offer sacrifices and prayers for the health of the emperor. It would seem also that a phantom appeared to his nurse and foretold that her charge would be a great blessing to all the Romans. 2 And although these presages were thought to be mere dreams and idle fancies, he soon showed them to be true prophecy; for when he was of an age for taking lessons, his natural talent shone out clear and he won name and fame among the boys, so that their fathers used to visit the schools in order to see Cicero with their own eyes and observe the quickness and intelligence in his studies for which he was extolled, though the ruder ones among them were angry at their sons when they saw them walking with Cicero placed in their midst as a mark of honour. 3 And although he showed himself, as Plato thought a nature should do which was fond of learning and fond of wisdom, capable of welcoming all knowledge and incapable of slighting any kind of literature or training, he lent himself with somewhat greater ardour to the art of poetry. And a little poem which he wrote when a boy is still extant, called Pontius Glaucus, and composed in tetrameter verse. 4 Moreover, as he grew older and applied himself with greater versatility to such accomplishments, he got the name of being not only the best orator, but also the best poet among the Romans. 5 His fame for oratory abides to this day, although there have been great innovations in style; but his poetry, since many gifted poets have followed him, has altogether fallen into neglect and disrepute.
[Cic. 3.1] 3 1 After he had finished the studies of boyhood, he attended the lectures of Philon the Academic, whom, above all the other disciples of Cleitomachus, the Romans admired for his eloquence and loved for his character. 2 At the same time he consorted with Mucius Scaevola, a statesman and leader of the senate, and was helped by him to an acquaintance with the law; and for a little while he also did military service under Sulla in the war against the Marsians. 3 Then, seeing that the commonwealth was hurrying into factions, and from factions into unlimited monarchy, he betook himself to a retired and contemplative life, associated with Greek scholars, and pursued his studies, until Sulla got the mastery and the state appeared to be somewhat settled.
[Cic. 3.4] 4 About this time Chrysogonus, a freedman of Sulla’s, put up at public auction the estate of a man who, as it was said, had been put to death under proscription, and bought it in himself for two thousand drachmas. 5 Then Roscius, the son and heir of the deceased, was indignant and set forth clearly that the estate was worth two hundred and fifty talents, whereupon Sulla, enraged to have his actions called in question, indicted Roscius for the murder of his father, Chrysogonus having trumped up the evidence. No advocate would help Roscius, but all avoided him through their fear of Sulla’s cruelty, and so at last, in his destitution, the young man had recourse to Cicero. Cicero’s friends encouraged him to undertake the case, arguing that he would never again have a more brilliant or a more honourable opportunity to win fame. 6 Accordingly, he undertook the defence of Roscius, won his cause, and men admired him for it; but fearing Sulla, he made a journey to Greece, after spreading a report that his health needed attention. For in fact he was spare and lean, and owing to a weakness of the stomach could only with difficulty take a little light food late in the day; his voice, however, was full and strong, but harsh and unmodulated, and since, owing to the vehemence and passion of his oratory, it was always forced into the higher tones, it made men apprehensive for his health.
[Cic. 4.1] 4 1 On coming to Athens he attended the lectures of Antiochus of Ascalon, and was charmed by his fluency and grace of diction, although he disapproved of his innovations in doctrine. 2 For Antiochus had already fallen away from what was called the New Academy and abandoned the sect of Carneades, either moved thereto by the clear evidence of the sense-perceptions, or, as some say, led by a feeling of ambitious opposition to the disciples of Cleitomachus and Philon to change his views and cultivate in most cases the doctrine of the Stoics. 3 But Cicero loved the systems which Antiochus discarded and devoted himself the rather to them, purposing, in case he was altogether driven out of a public career, to change his home to Athens, away from the forum and the business of the state, and spend his life in the quiet pursuit of philosophy.
[Cic. 4.4] 4 But word was now brought to him that Sulla was dead, and since his body, strengthened by exercise, was taking on a vigorous habit, while his voice, acquiring modulation, had grown pleasant to the ear, and had been moderated into keeping with the habit of his body; and since, moreover, his friends at Rome earnestly besought him by letter and Antiochus strongly urged him to apply himself to public affairs, he once more sought to prepare for service therein his instrument, as it were, to wit his rhetorical style, and to rouse to action his political powers, diligently cultivating himself in declamation and taking lessons of the popular rhetoricians. With this end in view he made a voyage to Asia and Rhodes. 5 In Asia, he studied oratory with Xenocles of Adramyttium, Dionysius of Magnesia, and Menippus the Carian; in Rhodes, oratory with Apollonius the son of Milon, and philosophy with Poseidonius. 6 Apollonius, we are told, not understanding the Roman language, requested Cicero to declaim in Greek, with which request Cicero readily complied, thinking that in this way his faults could better be corrected. 7 After he had declaimed, his other hearers were astounded and vied with one another in their praises, but Apollonius was not greatly moved while listening to him, and when he had ceased sat for a long time lost in thought; then, since Cicero was distressed at this, he said: “Thee, indeed, O Cicero, I admire and commend; but Greece I pity for her sad fortune, since I see that even the only glories which were left to us, culture and eloquence, are through thee to belong also to the Romans.”
[Cic. 5.1] 5 1 However, though Cicero, full of hope, was being borne on towards a political career, a certain oracle took the edge from his eager desire. When he inquired, namely, of the god at Delphi how he could become most illustrious, the Pythian priestess enjoined upon him to make his own nature, and not the opinion of the multitude, his guide in life. 2 And so during the first part of his time at Rome he conducted himself with caution, was reluctant to sue for office, and was therefore neglected, being called “Greek” and “Scholar,” those names which the low and ignorant classes at Rome were wont to give so readily. 3 But he was naturally ambitious and was urged on by his father and his friends, and so when he gave himself in earnest to the work of an advocate, he did not advance slowly to the primary, but his fame shot forth at once, and he far surpassed those who strove with him for distinction in the forum.
[Cic. 5.4] 4 But it is said that he too, no less than Demosthenes, was weak in his delivery, and therefore sought with care to imitate now Roscius the comedian, and now Aesop the tragedian. 5 This Aesop, they tell us, was once acting in a theatre the part of Atreus planning to take vengeance on Thyestes, when one of the assistants suddenly ran across the scene, and the actor, losing control of himself in the intensity of his passion, smote him with his sceptre and laid him dead. 6 Now, Cicero’s delivery contributed not a little to his persuasive power. Moreover, of those orators who were given to loud shouting he used to say jestingly that they were led by their weakness to resort to clamour as cripples were to mount upon a horse. And his readiness to indulge in such jests and pleasantry was thought indeed to be a pleasant characteristic of a pleader; but he carried it to excess and so annoyed many and got the reputation of being malicious.
[Cic. 6.1] 6 1 He was appointed quaestor at a time when grain was scarce, and had the province of Sicily allotted to him, where he annoyed people at first by compelling them to send grain to Rome. But afterwards they found him careful, just, and mild, and honoured him beyond any governor they had ever had. 2 Moreover, when large numbers of young men from Rome, of illustrious and noble families, were accused of lack of discipline and courage in the war and sent up for trial to the praetor of Sicily, Cicero pleaded their cause brilliantly and won the day. 3 While he was journeying to Rome, then, highly elated over these successes, he had a laughable experience, as he tells us. In Campania, namely, he fell in with an eminent man whom he deemed his friend, and asked him what the Romans were saying and thinking about his achievements, supposing that he had filled the whole city with the name and fame of them; 4 but his friend said: “Where, pray, have you been, Cicero, all this while?” At that time, then, as he tells us, he was altogether disheartened, seeing that the story of his doings had sunk into the city as into a bottomless sea, without any visible effect upon his reputation; but afterwards he reasoned with himself and abated much of his ambition, convinced that the fame towards which he was emulously struggling was a thing that knew no bounds and had no tangible limit. 5 However, his excessive delight in the praise of others and his too passionate desire for glory remained with him until the very end, and very often confounded his saner reasonings.
[Cic. 7.1] 7 1 And now that he was engaging in public life with greater ardour, he considered it a shameful thing that while craftsmen, using vessels and instruments that are lifeless, know the name and place and capacity of every one of them, the statesman, on the contrary, whose instruments for carrying out public measures are men, should be indifferent and careless about knowing his fellow-citizens. 2 Wherefore he not only accustomed himself to remember their names, but also learned to know the quarter of the city in which every notable person dwelt, where he owned a country-place, what friends he had, and what neighbours; so that whatever road in Italy Cicero travelled, it was easy for him to name and point out the estates and villas of his friends.
[Cic. 7.3] 3 His property, though sufficient to meet his expenses, was nevertheless small, and therefore men wondered that he would accept neither fees nor gift for his services as advocate, and above all when he undertook the prosecution of Verres. 4 This man, who had been praetor of Sicily, and whom the Sicilians prosecuted for many villainous acts, Cicero convicted, not by speaking, but, in a way, by actually not speaking. 5 For the praetors favoured Verres, and by many obstacles and delays had put off the case until the very last day, since it was clear that a day’s time would not be enough for the speeches of the advocates and so the trial would not be finished. But Cicero rose and said there was no need of speeches, and then brought up and examined his witnesses and bade the jurors cast their votes. 6 Nevertheless, many witty sayings of his in connection with this trial are on record. For instance, “verres” is the Roman word for a castrated porker; when, accordingly, a freedman named Caecilius, who was suspected of Jewish practices, wanted to thrust aside the Sicilian accusers and denounce Verres himself, Cicero said: “What has a Jew to do with a Verres?” 7 Moreover, Verres had a young son, who had the name of lending himself to base practices. Accordingly, when Cicero was reviled by Verres for effeminacy, “You ought,” said he, “to revile your sons at home.” 8 And again, the orator Hortensius did not venture to plead the cause of Verres directly, but was persuaded to appear for him at the assessment of the fine, and received an ivory sphinx as his reward; and when Cicero made some oblique reference to him and Hortensius declared that he had no skill in solving riddles, “And yet,” said Cicero, “thou hast the Sphinx at thy house.”
[Cic. 8.1] 8 1 When Verres had thus been convicted, Cicero assessed his fine at seven hundred and fifty thousand denarii, and was therefore accused of having been bribed to make the fine a low one. 2 The Sicilians, however, were grateful to him, and when he was aedile brought him from their island all sorts of live stock and produce; from these he derived no personal profit, but used the generosity of the islanders only to lower the price of provisions.
[Cic. 8.3] 3 He owned a pleasant country-seat at Arpinum, and had a farm near Naples and another near Pompeii, both small. His wife Terentia brought him besides a dowry of a hundred thousand denarii, and he received a bequest which amounted to ninety thousand. 4 From these he lived, in a generous and at the same time modest manner, with the Greek and Roman men of letters who were his associates. He rarely, if ever, came to table before sunset, not so much on account of business, as because his stomach kept him in poor health. 5 In other ways, too, he was exact and over-scrupulous in the care of his body, so that he actually took a set number of rubbings and walks. By carefully managing his health in this way he kept it free from sickness and able to meet the demands of many great struggles and toils. 6 The house which had been his father’s he made over to his brother, and dwelt himself near the Palatine hill, in order that those who came to pay their court to him might not have the trouble of a long walk. And men came to his house every day to pay him court, no fewer than came to Crassus for his wealth or to Pompey because of his influence with the soldiery, and these were the two greatest men among the Romans and the most admired. 7 Nay, Pompey actually paid court to Cicero, and Cicero’s political efforts contributed much towards Pompey’s power and fame.
[Cic. 9.1] 9 1 Although many men of importance stood for the praetorship along with Cicero, he was appointed first of them all; and men thought that he managed the cases which came before him with integrity and fairness. 2 It is said, too, that Licinius Macer, a man who had great power in the city on his own account and also enjoyed the help of Crassus, was tried before Cicero for fraud, and that, relying upon his influence and the efforts made in his behalf, he went off home while the jurors were still voting, hastily trimmed his hair and put on a white toga in the belief that he had been acquitted, and was going forth again to the forum; but Crassus met him at the house-door and told him that he had been convicted unanimously, whereupon he turned back, lay down upon his bed, and died. And the case brought Cicero the reputation of having been a scrupulous presiding officer. 3 Again, there was Vatinius, a man who had a harsh manner and one which showed contempt for the magistrates before whom he pleaded; his neck also was covered with swellings. As this man once stood at Cicero’s tribunal and made some request of him, Cicero did not grant it at once, but took a long time for deliberation, whereupon Vatinius said that he himself would not have stuck at the matter had he been praetor. At this Cicero turned upon him and said: “But I have not the neck that you have.”
[Cic. 9.4] 4 Two or three days before his term of office expired, Manilius was brought before him on a charge of fraudulent accounting. This Manilius had the good will and eager support of the people, since it was thought that he was prosecuted on Pompey’s account, being a friend of his. 5 On his demanding several days in which to make his defence, Cicero granted him only one, and that the next; and the people were indignant because it was customary for the praetor to grant ten days at least to the accused. 6 And when the tribunes brought Cicero to the rostra and denounced him, he begged for a hearing, and then said that he had always treated defendants, so far as the laws allowed, with clemency and kindness, and thought it an unfortunate thing that Manilius should not have this advantage; wherefore, since only one day was left to his disposal as praetor, he had purposely set this day for the trial, and surely it was not the part of one who wished to help Manilius to defer it to another praetor’s term. 7 These words produced a wonderful change in the feelings of the people, and with many expressions of approval they begged Cicero to assume the defence of Manilius. This he willingly consented to do, chiefly for the sake of Pompey, who was absent, and once more mounting the rostra harangued the people anew, vigorously attacking the oligarchical party and those who were jealous of Pompey.
[Cic. 10.1] 10 1 Yet he was advanced to the consulship no less by the aristocrats than by the common people, and in the interests of the city, both parties seconding his efforts for the following reasons. 2 The change which Sulla had made in the constitution at first appeared absurd, but now it seemed to the majority, owing to lapse of time and their familiarity with it, to afford at last a kind of settlement which was not to be despised. There were those, however, who sought to agitate and change the existing status for the sake of their own gain, and not for the best interests of the state, while Pompey was still carrying on war with the kings in Pontus and Armenia, and there was no power in Rome which was able to cope with the revolutionaries. 3 These had for their chief a man of bold, enterprising, and versatile character, Lucius Catiline, who, in addition to other great crimes, had once been accused of deflowering his own daughter and of killing his own brother; and fearing prosecution for this murder, he persuaded Sulla to put his brother’s name, as though he were still alive, in the list of those who were to be put to death under proscription. 4 Taking this man, then, as their leader, the miscreants gave various pledges to one another, one of which was the sacrifice of a man and the tasting of his flesh. Moreover, Catiline had corrupted a large part of the young men in the city, supplying them continually with amusements, banquets, and amours, and furnishing without stint the money to spend on these things. 5 Besides, all Etruria was roused to revolt, as well as most of Cisalpine Gaul. And Rome was most dangerously disposed towards change on account of the irregularity in the distribution of property, since men of the highest reputation and spirit had beggared themselves on shows, feasts, pursuit of office, and buildings, and riches had streamed into the coffers of low-born and mean men, so that matters needed only a slight impulse to disturb them, and it was in the power of any bold man to overthrow the commonwealth, which of itself was in a diseased condition.
[Cic. 11.1] 11 However, Catiline wished to obtain first a strong base of operations, and therefore sued for the consulship; and he had bright hopes that he would share the consulship with Caius Antonius, a man who, of himself, would probably not take the lead either for good or for bad, but would add strength to another who took the lead. 2 Most of the better class of citizens were aware of this, and therefore put forward Cicero for the consulship, and as the people readily accepted him, Catiline was defeated, and Cicero and Caius Antonius were elected. 3 And yet Cicero was the only one of the candidates who was the son, not of a senator, but of a knight.
[Cic. 12.1] 12 1 The schemes of Catiline were still to remain concealed from the multitude, but great preliminary struggles awaited the consulship of Cicero. 2 For, in the first place, those who were prevented from holding office by the laws of Sulla, and they were neither few nor weak, sued for offices and tried to win the favour of the people, making many charges against the tyranny of Sulla which were just and true, indeed, but disturbing the government at an improper and unseasonable time; and, in the second place, the tribunes were introducing laws to the same purpose, appointing a commission of ten men with unlimited powers, to whom was committed, as supreme masters of all Italy, of all Syria, and of all the territories which Pompey had lately added to the empire, the right to sell the public lands, to try whom they pleased, to send into exile, to settle cities, to take moneys from the public treasury, and to levy and maintain as many soldiers as they wanted. 3 Therefore many of the prominent men also were in favour of the law, and foremost among them Antonius the colleague of Cicero, who expected to be one of the ten. It was thought also that he knew about the conspiracy of Catiline and was not averse to it, owing to the magnitude of his debts; 4 and this was what gave most alarm to the nobles.
[Cic. 12.1b] This alarm Cicero first sought to allay by getting the province of Macedonia voted to his colleague, while he himself declined the proffered province of Gaul; and by this favour he induced Antonius, like a hired actor, to play the second rôle to him in defence of their country. 5 Then, as soon as Antonius had been caught and was tractable, Cicero opposed himself with more courage to the innovators. Accordingly, he denounced the proposed law in the senate at great length, and so terrified the very promoters of it that they had no reply to make to him. 6 And when they made a second attempt and after full preparation summoned the consuls to appear before the people, Cicero had not the slightest fear, but bidding the senate follow him and leading the way, he not only got the law rejected, but also induced the tribunes to desist from the rest of their measures, so overpowered were they by his eloquence.
[Cic. 13.1] 13 1 For this man beyond all others showed the Romans how great a charm eloquence adds to the right, and that justice is invincible if it is correctly put in words, and that it behooves the careful statesman always in his acts to choose the right instead of the agreeable, and in his words to take away all vexatious features from what is advantageous. 2 A proof of the charm of his discourse may be found in an incident of his consulship connected with the public spectacles. In earlier times, it seems, the men of the equestrian order were mingled with the multitudes in the theatres and saw the spectacles along with the people, seated as chance would have it; Marcus Otho was the first to separate in point of honour the knights from the rest of the citizens, which he did when he was praetor, and gave them a particular place of their own at the spectacles, which they still retain. 3 The people took this as a mark of dishonour to themselves, and when Otho appeared in the theatre they hissed him insultingly, while the knights received him with loud applause. The people renewed and increased their hisses, and then the knights their applause. 4 After this they turned upon one another with reviling words, and disorder reigned in the theatre. When Cicero heard of this he came and summoned the people to the temple of Bellona, where he rebuked and exhorted them, whereupon they went back again to the theatre and applauded Otho loudly, and vied with the knights in showing him honour and esteem.
[Cic. 14.1] 14 1 But Catiline and his fellow-conspirators, who at first were cowed and terrified, began once more to take courage, and assembling themselves together exhorted one another to take matters in hand more boldly before Pompey came back, and he was said to be now returning with his army. 2 It was the old soldiers of Sulla, however, who were most of all urging Catiline on to action. These were to be found in all parts of Italy, but the greatest numbers and the most warlike of them had been scattered among the cities of Etruria, and were again dreaming of robbing and plundering the wealth that lay ready to hand. 3 These men, I say, with Manlius for a leader, one of the men who had served with distinction under Sulla, associated themselves with Catiline and came to Rome to take part in the consular elections. For Catiline was again a candidate for the consulship, and had determined to kill Cicero in the very tumult of the elections. 4 Moreover, even the heavenly powers seemed, by earthquakes and thunderbolts and apparitions, to foreshow what was coming to pass. And there were also human testimonies which were true, indeed, but not sufficient for the conviction of a man of reputation and great power like Catiline. 5 For this reason Cicero postponed the day of the elections, and summoning Catiline to the senate, examined him concerning what was reported. 6 But Catiline, thinking that there were many in the senate who were desirous of a revolution, and at the same time making a display of himself to the conspirators, gave Cicero the answer of a madman: “What dreadful thing, pray,” said he, “am I doing, if, when there are two bodies, one lean and wasted, but with a head, and the other headless, but strong and large, I myself become a head for this?” 7 Since this riddle of Catiline’s referred to the senate and the people, Cicero was all the more alarmed, and he wore a breastplate when all the nobles and many of the young men escorted him from his house to the Campus Martius. 8 Moreover, he purposely allowed the spectators to get a glimpse of his breastplate by loosing his tunic from his shoulders, thus showing them his peril. The people were incensed and rallied about him; and finally, when they voted, they rejected Catiline once more, and elected Silanus and Murena consuls.
[Cic. 15.1] 15 1 Not long after this, when Catiline’s soldiers in Etruria were already assembling and forming into companies, and when the day set for their attack was near, there came to the house of Cicero at midnight men who were the leading and most powerful Romans, Marcus Crassus, Marcus Marcellus, and Scipio Metellus; and knocking at the door and summoning the doorkeeper, they bade him wake Cicero and tell him they were there. Their business was what I shall now relate. 2 After Crassus had dined, his doorkeeper handed him some letters which an unknown man had brought; they were addressed to different persons, and one, which had no signature, was for Crassus himself. 3 Crassus read this letter only, and since its contents told him that there was to be much bloodshed caused by Catiline, and advised him to escape secretly from the city, he did not open the rest, but came at once to Cicero, terrified by the danger, and seeking to free himself somewhat from charges that had been made against him on account of his friendship for Catiline.
[Cic. 15.4] 4 Cicero, accordingly, after deliberation, convened the senate at break of day, and carrying the letters thither gave them to the persons to whom they had been sent, with orders to read them aloud. All the letters alike were found to tell of a plot. 5 And when also Quintus Arrius, a man of praetorian dignity, brought word of the soldiers who were being mustered into companies in Etruria, and Manlius was reported to be hovering about the cities there with a large force, in constant expectation of some news from Rome, the senate passed a decree that matters should be put in the hands of the consuls, who were to accept the charge and manage as best they knew how for the preservation of the city. Now, the senate is not wont to do this often, but only when it fears some great danger.
[Cic. 16.1] 16 1 On receiving this power Cicero entrusted matters outside to Quintus Metellus, while he himself kept the city in hand and daily went forth attended by so large a bodyguard that a great part of the forum was occupied when he entered it with his escort. Thereupon Catiline, no longer able to endure the delay, resolved to hasten forth to Manlius and his army, and ordered Marcius and Cethegus to take their swords and go early in the morning to the house of Cicero on pretence of paying him their respects, and there to fall upon him and dispatch him. 2 This scheme Fulvia, a woman of high rank, made known to Cicero, coming to him by night and urging him to be on his guard against Cethegus and his companion. 3 The men came at break of day, and when they were prevented from entering, they were incensed and made an outcry at the door, which made them the more suspected. Then Cicero went forth and summoned the senate to the temple of Jupiter Stesius (or Stator, as the Romans say), which was situated at the beginning of the Via Sacra, as you go up to the Palatine hill. 4 Thither Catiline also came with the rest in order to make his defence; no senator, however, would sit with him, but all moved away from the bench where he was. 5 And when he began to speak he was interrupted by outcries, and at last Cicero rose and ordered him to depart from the city, saying that, since one of them did his work with words and the other with arms, the city-wall must needs lie between them. 6 Catiline, accordingly, left the city at once with three hundred armed followers, assumed the fasces and axes as though he were a magistrate, raised standards, and marched to join Manlius; and since about twenty thousand men altogether had been collected, he marched round to the various cities endeavouring to persuade them to revolt, so that there was now open war, and Antonius was sent off to fight it out.
[Cic. 17.1] 17 1 The creatures of Catiline who had been left behind in the city were brought together and encouraged by Cornelius Lentulus, surnamed Sura, a man of illustrious birth, but one who had led a low life and for his licentiousness had formerly been expelled from the senate, though now he was serving as praetor for the second time, as is the custom with those who have recovered their senatorial dignity. 2 It is said too that he got his surname of Sura for the following reason. In Sulla’s time he was quaestor and lost and wasted large amounts of the public moneys. 3 Sulla was angry at this and demanded an accounting from him in the senate, whereupon Lentulus came forward with a very careless and contemptuous air and said that he would not give an account, but would offer his leg, as boys were accustomed to do when they were playing ball and made a miss. 4 On this account he was surnamed Sura, for “sura” is the Roman word for leg. At another time, too, he was under prosecution and had bribed some of the jurors, and when he was acquitted by only two votes, he said that what he had given to the second juror was wasted money, since it would have sufficed if he had been acquitted by one vote only.
[Cic. 17.5] 5 Such was the nature of this man who had been stirred up by Catiline, and he was further corrupted by vain hopes held out to him by false prophets and jugglers. These recited forged oracles in verse purporting to come from the Sibylline books, which set forth that three Cornelii were fated to be monarchs in Rome, two of whom had already fulfilled their destiny, namely, Cinna and Sulla, and that now to him, the third and remaining Cornelius, the heavenly powers were come with a proffer of the monarchy, which he must by all means accept, and not ruin his opportunities by delay, like Catiline.
[Cic. 18.1] 18 1 Accordingly, it was no trifling or insignificant plan which Lentulus was cherishing, nay, it was decided to kill all the senators and as many of the other citizens as they could, to burn down the city itself, and to spare no one except the children of Pompey; these they were to seize and hold in their own custody and keep as hostages for their reconciliation with Pompey; for already there was current a wide-spread and sure report of his coming back from his great expedition. 2 A night had also been fixed for the attempt, a night of the Saturnalia, and swords, tow, and brimstone had been carried to the house of Cethegus and hidden there. 3 Moreover, they had appointed a hundred men and assigned by lot as many quarters of Rome to each one severally, in order that within a short time many might play the incendiary and the city be everywhere in a blaze. Others, too, were to stop up the aqueducts and kill those who tried to bring water.
[Cic. 18.4] 4 But while this was going on, there chanced to be staying at Rome two ambassadors of the Allobroges, a nation which at that time was in a particularly evil plight and felt oppressed by the Roman sway. 5 These men Lentulus and his partisans thought would be useful in stirring up Gaul to revolt, and therefore took them into the conspiracy. They also gave them letters to their senate, and letters to Catiline, making the senate promises of freedom and urging Catiline to set the slaves free and march upon Rome. 6 They also sent with them to Catiline a certain Titus of Croton, who was to carry the letters. 7 But the conspirators were unbalanced men who seldom met together without wine and women, while Cicero was following their schemes industriously, with sober judgement and surpassing sagacity; he also had many men outside of their conspiracy who kept watch upon their doings and helped him track them down, and he conferred secretly and confidentially with many who were supposed to belong to the conspiracy; he therefore came to know of their conference with the strangers, and, laying an ambush by night, he seized the man of Croton and his letters with the secret co-operation of the Allobroges.
[Cic. 19.1] 19 1 At break of day, then, he assembled the senate in the temple of Concord, read the letters aloud, and examined the informers. Silanus Junius also said that certain ones had heard Cethegus declare that three consuls and four praetors were going to be taken off. Piso, too, a man of consular dignity, brought in other reports of a like nature. 2 Moreover, Caius Sulpicius, one of the praetors, on being sent to the house of Cethegus, found in it many missiles and weapons, and a huge quantity of swords and knives, all newly sharpened. 3 And finally, after the senate had voted immunity to the man of Croton on condition that he gave information, Lentulus was convicted, resigned his office (he was then praetor), and laying aside his purple-bordered toga in the senate, assumed in its place a garment suitable to his predicament. 4 He and his associates, therefore, were handed over to the praetors for custody without fetters.
[Cic. 19.1b] It was now evening, and the people were waiting about the temple in throngs, when Cicero came forth and told his fellow-citizens what had been done. They then escorted him to the house of a friend and neighbour, since his own was occupied by the women, who were celebrating mysterious rites to a goddess whom the Romans call Bona Dea, and the Greeks, Gynaeceia. 5 Sacrifice is offered to her annually in the house of the consul by his wife or his mother, in the presence of the Vestal Virgins. Cicero, then, having gone into his friend’s house, began to deliberate with himself — and he had only very few companions — what he should do with the men. 6 For he shrank from inflicting the extreme penalty, and the one befitting such great crimes, and he hesitated to do it because of the kindliness of his nature, and at the same time that he might not appear to make an excessive use of his power and to trample ruthlessly upon men who were of the highest birth and had powerful friends in the city; and if he treated them with less severity, he was afraid of the peril into which they would bring the state. 7 For if they suffered any milder penalty than death, he was sure they would not be satisfied, but would break out into every extreme of boldness, having added fresh rage to their old villainy: and he himself would be thought unmanly and weak, especially as the multitude already thought him very far from courageous.
[Cic. 20.1] 20 1 While Cicero was in this perplexity, a sign was given to the women who were sacrificing. The altar, it seems, although the fire was already thought to have gone out, sent forth from the ashes and burnt bark upon it a great bright blaze. 2 The rest of the women were terrified at this, but the sacred virgins bade Terentia the wife of Cicero go with all speed to her husband and tell him to carry out his resolutions in behalf of the country, since the goddess was giving him a great light on this path to safety and glory. 3 So Terentia, who was generally of no mild spirit nor without natural courage, but an ambitious woman, and, as Cicero himself tells us, more inclined to make herself a partner in his political perplexities than to share with him her domestic concerns, gave him this message and incited him against the conspirators; so likewise did Quintus, his brother, and Publius Nigidius, one of his philosophical companions, of whom he made the most and greatest use in his political undertakings.
[Cic. 20.4] 4 On the following day the senate discussed the punishment of the conspirators, and Silanus, who was the first to be asked to give his opinion, said that they ought to be taken to prison and there suffer extremest punishment. 5 All the senators acceded to his opinion one after the other, until it came to Caius Caesar, who afterwards became dictator. 6 At this time, however, he was a young man still and at the very beginning of his rise to power, but in his public policy and his hopes he had already entered upon that road by which he changed the Roman state into a monarchy. His designs were still unnoticed by the rest, but to Cicero he had given many grounds for suspicion, and yet no hold which could lead to his conviction, although many were heard to say that he had come near being caught by Cicero, but had eluded him. 7 Some, however, say that Cicero purposely overlooked and neglected the information against him through fear of his friends and his power, since it was clear to every one that the other conspirators would be included in Caesar’s acquittal, rather than Caesar in their punishment.
[Cic. 21.1] 21 1 When, then, it was Caesar’s turn to give his opinion, he rose and declared it to be against putting the conspirators to death, but in favor of confiscating their property and removing them to whatever cities of Italy Cicero might deem best, there to be put in fetters and closely guarded until Catiline should be defeated. 2 The proposal of Caesar was merciful and its author a very able speaker, and Cicero added no little weight to it. 3 For when he rose to speak himself, he handled the subject in both ways, now favouring the first proposal and now that of Caesar. All his friends, too, thinking that Caesar’s proposal was an advantageous one for Cicero, who would be less subject to censure if he did not put the conspirators to death, chose the second proposal rather, so that Silanus also changed his position and excused himself by saying that even his proposal had not meant death: for “extremest punishment,” in the case of a Roman senator, meant the prison. 4 Lutatius Catulus was the first to oppose the opinion which Caesar had given; then Cato followed him, helping by the vehemence of his speech to fix suspicion upon Caesar, and filled the senate with angry resolution, so that a decree of death was passed upon the conspirators. 5 As regarded the confiscation of their property, however, Caesar made opposition, deeming it wrong that the merciful part of his own proposal should be rejected and the one part that was most severe adopted. And when many of the senators insisted upon it, he invoked the aid of the tribunes, but they would not listen to his appeal; Cicero himself, however, yielded the point, and remitted that part of the vote which called for confiscation.
[Cic. 22.1] 22 1 Then he went with the senate to fetch the conspirators. These were not all in the same place, but different praetors had different ones under guard. 2 And first he took Lentulus from the Palatine hill and led him along the Via Sacra and through the middle of the forum, the men of highest authority surrounding him as a body-guard, and the people shuddering at what was being done and passing along in silence, and especially the young men, as though they thought they were being initiated with fear and trembling into some ancient mysteries of an aristocratic regime. 3 When Cicero had passed through the forum and reached the prison, he delivered Lentulus to the public executioner with the order to put him to death. Then Cethegus in his turn, and so each one of the others, he brought down to the prison and had him executed. 4 And seeing that many members of the conspiracy were still assembled in the forum in ignorance of what had been done and waiting for night to come, with the idea that the men were still living and might be rescued, he cried to them with a loud voice and said: “They have lived.” For thus the Romans who wish to avoid words of ill omen indicate death.
[Cic. 22.5] 5 It was now evening, and Cicero went up through the forum to his house, the citizens no longer escorting him on his way with silent decorum, but receiving him with cries and clapping of hands as he passed along, calling him the saviour and founder of his country. And many lights illuminated the streets, since people placed lamps and torches at their doors. 6 The women, too, displayed lights upon the house-tops in honour of the man, and that they might see him going up to his home in great state under escort of the noblest citizens. Most of these had brought to an end great wars and entered the city in triumph, and had added to the Roman dominion no small extent of land and sea; but they now walked along confessing to one another that to many of the commanders and generals of the time the Roman people were indebted for wealth and spoils and power, but for preservation and safety to Cicero alone, who had freed them from so peculiar and so great a peril. 7 For it was not his preventing their schemes and punishing the schemers which seemed so wonderful, but his quenching the greatest of all revolutions with the fewest possible evils, without sedition and commotion. 8 For most of those who had flocked to the standard of Catiline, as soon as they learned the fate of Lentulus and Cethegus, deserted him and went away; and Catiline, after a conflict with his remaining forces against Antonius, perished himself and his army with him.
[Cic. 23.1] 23 1 However, there were those who were ready to abuse Cicero for what he had done, and to work him harm, and they had as leaders, among the magistrates-elect, Caesar as praetor, and Metellus and Bestia as tribunes. 2 When these assumed office, Cicero having still a few days of consular authority, they would not permit him to harangue the people, but placing their benches so as to command the rostra, would not suffer or allow him to speak; instead, they ordered him, if he wished, merely to pronounce the oath usual on giving up office, and then come down. Cicero accepted these terms and came forward to pronounce his oath; 3 and when he had obtained silence, he pronounced, not the usual oath, but one of his own and a new one, swearing that in very truth he had saved his country and maintained her supremacy. And all the people confirmed his oath for him. 4 At this Caesar and the tribunes were still more vexed and contrived fresh troubles for Cicero. Among other things, a law was introduced by them for calling Pompey home with his army, in order, forsooth, that he might put down the arbitrary power of Cicero. 5 But Cato, who was tribune at this time, was a great help to Cicero and to the whole state, and opposed the measures of the other tribunes with an authority equal to theirs and a greater good repute. 6 For he easily put a stop to their other projects, and so highly extolled the “arbitrary power” of Cicero in a speech to the people, that they voted him the greatest honours ever conferred and called him the father of his country. For he was the first, as it seems, to receive this title, after Cato had given it to him before the people.
[Cic. 24.1] 24 1 So at this time Cicero had the greatest power in the state, but he made himself generally odious, not by any base action, but by continually praising and magnifying himself, which made him hateful to many. 2 For there could be no session either of senate or assembly or court of justice in which one was not obliged to hear Catiline and Lentulus endlessly talked about. 3 Nay, he even went so far as to fill his books and writings with these praises of himself; and he made his oratory, which was naturally very pleasant and had the greatest charm, irksome and tedious to his hearers, since this unpleasant practice clung to him like a fatality. 4 But nevertheless, although he cherished so strong an ambition, he was free from envying others, since he was most ungrudging in his encomiums upon his predecessors and contemporaries, as may be gathered from his writings. 5 There are also many sayings of his on record which prove this; for instance, he said of Aristotle that he was a river of liquid gold, and of the dialogues of Plato that Jupiter, were it his nature to use human speech, would thus discourse. 6 Theophrastus, too, he used to call his own special delight. And when he was asked which of the speeches of Demosthenes he thought the best, he replied, “the longest.” And yet some of those who pretend to be imitators of Demosthenes dwell much upon an expression which Cicero used in a letter to one of his friends, to the effect that in some parts of his speeches Demosthenes nods; but of the great and admirable praises which he often bestows upon him, and of the fact that those speeches of his own to which he devoted most labour, namely, the speeches against Antony, were entitled by him Philippics, they say nothing.
[Cic. 24.7] 7 Moreover, of the men of his own time who were famous for eloquence or learning, there is not one whom he did not make more famous by what he said or wrote in favour of him. For Cratippus the Peripatetic he obtained the Roman citizenship from Caesar, now in power, and he also induced the council of the Areopagus to pass a decree requesting him to remain at Athens and discourse with the young men, and thus be an ornament to the city. 8 Furthermore, there are letters from Cicero to Herodes, and others to his son, in which he urges them to study philosophy with Cratippus. 8 But Gorgias the rhetorician he censured for leading the young man into pleasures and drinking parties, and banished him from his son’s society. This is almost the only one of his Greek letters (there is also a second, addressed to Pelops of Byzantium) which was written in a spirit of anger; and Gorgias he properly rebukes, if, as he was thought to be, he was worthless and intemperate; but towards Pelops he shows a mean and querulous spirit for having neglected to obtain for him certain honorary decrees from the Byzantines.
[Cic. 25.1] 25 1 These complaints were characteristic of ambition, as well as the fact that he was often led on by the cleverness of his speech to disregard propriety. For instance, he once served as advocate for Munatius, who was no sooner acquitted than he prosecuted a friend of Cicero’s, Sabinus, whereupon, it is said, Cicero was so transported with anger as to say: “Was it, pray, on your own merits, Munatius, that you were acquitted, and not because I spread much darkness about the court when before there was light?” 2 And again, he gained great applause by an encomium on Marcus Crassus from the rostra, and then a few days afterwards as publicly reviled him, whereupon Crassus said: “What, did you not stand there yourself a day or two ago and praise me?” “Yea,” said Cicero, “exercising my eloquence by way of practice on a bad subject.” 3 Again, Crassus once said that no Crassus had lived in Rome to be older than sixty years, and then tried to deny it, exclaiming, “What could have led me to say this?” “You knew,” said Cicero, “that the Romans would be delighted to hear it, and by that means you tried to court their favour.” 4 And when Crassus expressed his satisfaction with the Stoics because they represented the good man as rich, “Consider,” said Cicero, “whether your satisfaction is not rather due to their declaration that all things belong to the wise.” Now, Crassus was accused of covetousness. 5 Again, one of the sons of Crassus who was thought to resemble a certain Axius, and on this account had brought his mother’s name into scandalous connection with that of Axius, once made a successful speech in the senate, and when Cicero was asked what he thought of him, he answered with the Greek words “Axios Krassou.”
[Cic. 26.1] 26 1 When Crassus was about to set out for Syria, wishing that Cicero should be a friend rather than an enemy, he said to him in a friendly manner that he wished to dine with him; and Cicero readily received him into his house. 2 But a few days afterwards, when some friends interceded with him for Vatinius, saying that the man sought reconciliation and friendship (for he was an enemy), “It surely cannot be,” said Cicero, “that Vatinius also wishes to dine with me.” Such, then, was his treatment of Crassus. 3 Now, Vatinius himself had swellings on his neck, and once when he was pleading a case Cicero called him a tumid orator. Again, after hearing that Vatinius was dead, and then after a little learning for a surety that he was alive, “Wretchedly perish, then,” said Cicero, “the wretch who lied!” 4 And again, Caesar once got a decree passed that the land in Campania should be divided among his soldiers, and many of the senators were dissatisfied, and Lucius Gellius, who was about the oldest of them, declared that it should never be done while he was alive; whereupon Cicero said: “Let us wait, since Gellius does not ask for a long postponement.” 5 There was a certain Octavius, too, who was reputed to be of African descent; to this man, who said at a certain trial that he could not hear Cicero, the orator replied: “And yet your ear is not without a perforation.” 6 And when Metellus Nepos declared that Cicero had brought more men to death as a hostile witness than he had saved from it as an advocate, “Yes,” said Cicero, “I admit that my credibility is greater than my eloquence.” 7 Again, when a certain young man who was accused of having given his father poison in a cake put on bold airs and threatened to cover Cicero with abuse, “That,” said Cicero, “I would rather have from you than a cake.” 8 There was Publius Sextius, too, who retained Cicero as an advocate in a case, along with others, and then wanted to do all the speaking himself, and would allow no one else a word; when it was clear that he was going to be acquitted by the jurors and the vote was already being given, “Use your opportunity to day, Sextius,” said Cicero, “for to morrow you are going to be a nobody.” 9 Publius Consta, too, who wanted to be a lawyer, but was ignorant and stupid, was once summoned by Cicero as witness in a case; and when he kept saying that he knew nothing, “Perhaps,” said Cicero, “you think you are being questioned on points of law.” Again, in a dispute with Cicero, Metellus Nepos asked repeatedly “Who is your father?” “In your case,” said Cicero, “your mother has made the answer to this question rather difficult.” 10 Now, the mother of Nepos was thought to be unchaste, and he himself a fickle sort of man.
[Cic. 26.1b] He once suddenly deserted his office of tribune and sailed off to join Pompey in Syria, and then came back from there with even less reason. 11 Moreover, after burying his teacher Philagrus with more than usual ceremony, he set upon his tomb a raven in stone; whereupon Cicero remarked: “In this you have acted more wisely than is your wont, for he taught you to fly rather than to speak.” 12 And again, when Marcus Appius prefaced his speech in a case by saying that his friend had begged him to exhibit diligence, eloquence, and fidelity, “And then,” said Cicero, “are you so hard-hearted as to exhibit none of those great qualities which your friend demanded?”
[Cic. 27.1] 27 1 Now, this use of very biting jests against enemies or legal opponents seems to be part of the orator’s business; but his indiscriminate attacks for the sake of raising a laugh made many people hate Cicero. And I will give a few instances of this also. 2 Marcus Aquinius, who had two sons-in law in exile, he called Adrastus. 3 Again, Lucius Cotta, who held the office of censor, was very fond of wine, and Cicero, when canvassing for the consulship, was a-thirst, and as his friends stood about him while he drank, said: “You have good reason to fear that the censor will deal harshly with me — for drinking water.” 4 And when he met Voconius escorting three very ugly daughters, he cried out: —
[Cic. 27.1b] “It was against the will of Phoebus that he begat children.”
[Cic. 27.5] 5 Again, when Marcus Gellius, who was thought to be of servile birth, had read letters to the senate in a loud and clear voice, “Do not marvel,” said Cicero, “he too is one of those who have cried aloud for their freedom.” 6 And when Faustus, the son of the Sulla who was dictator at Rome and placarded many people for death, got into debt, squandered much of his substance, and placarded his household goods for sale, Cicero said he liked this placarding better than his father’s.
[Cic. 28.1] 28 1 As a consequence of this he became odious to many; and besides, the partisans of Clodius combined against him on the following ground. Clodius was a man of noble birth, young in years, but bold and presumptuous in spirit. 2 This man, being in love with Pompeia, Caesar’s wife, got into his house secretly, by assuming the dress and guise of a lute-player; for the women of Rome were celebrating in Caesar’s house that mysterious rite which men were not allowed to witness, and no man was there; but being still a beardless youth Clodius hoped without being noticed to slip through to Pompeia along with the women. 3 But since he got in at night and the house was large, he lost his way in the passages; and as he was wandering about, a maid of Aurelia, Caesar’s mother, caught sight of him and asked him his name. Being thus compelled to speak, he said that he was looking for an attendant of Pompeia named Abra, whereupon the maid, perceiving that his voice was not that of a woman, raised a cry and called the women together. 4 These shut the doors, searched carefully all about, and found Clodius, who had taken refuge in the chamber of the girl with whom he came into the house. The affair having become noised abroad, Caesar divorced Pompeia and had an action for sacrilege brought against Clodius.
[Cic. 29.1] 29 1 Now, Cicero was a friend of Clodius, and in the affair of Catiline had found him a most eager co-worker and guardian of his person; but when Clodius replied to the charge against him by insisting that he had not even been in Rome at the time, but had been staying in places at the farthest remove from there, Cicero testified against him, declaring that Clodius had come to his house and consulted him on certain matters; which was true. 2 However, it was thought that Cicero did not give his testimony for the truth’s sake, but by way of defence against the charges of his own wife Terentia. 3 For there was enmity between her and Clodius on account of his sister Clodia, whom Terentia thought to be desirous of marrying Cicero and to be contriving this with the aid of a certain Tullus; now, Tullus was a companion and an especial intimate of Cicero, and his constant visits and attentions to Clodia, who lived near by, made Terentia suspicious. 4 So, being a woman of harsh nature, and having sway over Cicero, she incited him to join in the attack upon Clodius and give testimony against him. Moreover, many men of the better class bore witness against Clodius for perjury, recklessness, bribery of the multitude, and debauching of women. And Lucullus actually produced female slaves who testified that Clodius had commerce with his youngest sister when she was living with Lucullus as his wife. 5 There was also a general belief that Clodius had intercourse with his other two sisters, of whom Tertia was the wife of Marcius Rex, and Clodia of Metellus Celer; the latter was called Quadrantia, because one of her lovers had put copper coins into a purse and sent them to her for silver, and the smallest copper coin was called “quadrans.” It was with regard to this sister in particular that Clodius was in evil repute. 6 However, since the people at this time set themselves against those who combined and testified against him, the jurors were frightened and surrounded themselves with a guard, and most of them cast their voting-tablets with the writing on them confused. But nevertheless those who were for acquittal appeared to be in the majority; and some bribery also was said to have been used. 7 This led Catulus to say, when he met the jurors, “It was indeed as a measure of safety that you asked for your guard; you were afraid that someone would take your money away from you.” 8 And Cicero, when Clodius told him that as a witness he had found no credit with the jurors, said: “Nay, twenty-five of the jurors gave me credit, for so many voted against you; and thirty of them gave you no credit, for they did not vote to acquit you until they had got your money.” 9 Caesar, however, when summoned as a witness, gave no testimony against Clodius, but said that he had put her away because Caesar’s wife must be free not only from shameful conduct, but even from shameful report.
[Cic. 30.1] 30 1 But Clodius, having escaped his peril, and having been chosen tribune, at once began to attack Cicero, arraying and stirring up against him all things and all men alike. 2 He won the favour of the people by benevolent laws, got large provinces voted to each of the consuls (Macedonia to Piso, and Syria to Gabinius), brought many of the poorer class into organized political activity, and kept armed slaves about his person. 3 Now, of the three men who at that time had most power, Crassus was an out-and out foe of Cicero, Pompey was dallying with both, and Caesar was about to set out for Gaul with an army; into Caesar’s favour, therefore, Cicero insinuated himself (although Caesar was not a friend, but an object of suspicion owing to the affair of Catiline), and asked to accompany him on his campaign as legate. 4 But no sooner had Caesar granted the request than Clodius, seeing that Cicero was thus escaping his tribunicial power, pretended to be desirous of a reconciliation, and by laying the chief blame upon Terentia, and always speaking of Cicero in friendly terms and using kindly expressions about him, as one who bore him no hatred or even ill-will, but had moderate complaints to make of him in a friendly way, he altogether took away his fear, so that he declined the office of legate under Caesar and again applied himself to public matters. 5 But at this conduct Caesar was exasperated, and encouraged Clodius against Cicero, and completely alienated Pompey from him, while he himself testified before the people that he did not think it right or lawful that men should be put to death without a trial, as in the case of Lentulus, Cethegus, and their accomplices. 6 For such was the denunciation made against Cicero, and to this he was summoned to make answer. And so, being in peril of prosecution, he changed his attire, and with his hair untrimmed went about supplicating the people. 7 But Clodius met him everywhere in the streets, with a band of bold and insolent men about him, who made many unbridled jests upon Cicero’s change of attire, and often pelted him with mud and stones, and so interfered with his supplications to the people.
[Cic. 31.1] 31 1 However, in the first place, nearly the whole body of knights changed their attire with Cicero, and as many as twenty thousand young men escorted him with their hair untrimmed and joined in his suppliant entreaties to the people; and besides, when the senate had met in order to pass a vote that the people should change their dress in token of public calamity, and the consuls had opposed it, and Clodius was in arms about the senate-house, not a few of the senators ran out, rending their garments and crying aloud. 2 But since this sight awakened neither pity nor any mercy, but Cicero was obliged either to go into exile or to appeal to force and the sword against Clodius, he begged for aid from Pompey, who had purposely got out of the way and was staying at his country seat in the Alban hills. First Cicero sent Piso, his son-in law, to entreat for him; then he went up thither himself also. 3 Pompey, however, on learning of his coming, could not endure to see him, for he felt a strong sense of shame towards the man who had made great struggles in his behalf and had often adopted a political course to please him; but since he was Caesar’s son-in law, at his request he proved false to his old obligations, slipped out by another door, and so ran away from the interview. 4 Thus betrayed by him and left desolate, Cicero fled for refuge to the consuls. Gabinius was always severe with him, but Piso dealt with him more gently, advising him to stand aside and yield to the impetuous assaults of Clodius, to submit to the change in the times, and to become once more a saviour of his country when she was involved in seditions and misfortunes through Clodius.
[Cic. 31.5] 5 After getting such answer to his appeal, Cicero took counsel with his friends: Lucullus urged him to remain in the city, believing that he would prevail; but others advised him to go into exile, believing that the people would quickly long for him when they were sated with the folly and madness of Clodius. 6 This Cicero decided to do; so he took the statue of Minerva which had long stood in his house, and which he honoured exceedingly, carried it to the capitol, and dedicated it there with the inscription “To Minerva, Guardian of Rome”; then, accepting an escort from his friends, about midnight slipped out of the city, and set out on foot through Lucania, desiring to reach Sicily.
[Cic. 32.1] 32 1 But as soon as it was known that he had fled, Clodius caused a vote of banishment to be passed upon him, and issued an edict that all men should refuse him fire and water and that no man should give him shelter within five hundred miles of Italy. 2 Now, most men paid not the slightest heed to this edict out of respect for Cicero, and escorted him on his way with every mark of kindness; but at Hipponium, a city of Lucania, which is now called Vibo, Vibius, a Sicilian, who had profited much from Cicero’s friendship and pity by being made prefect of engineers during his consulship, would not receive him in his house, but sent him word that he would assign him his country-place for residence; and Caius Vergilius, the praetor of Sicily, who had been on most intimate terms with Cicero, wrote him to keep away from Sicily. 3 Disheartened at this treatment, he set out for Brundisium, and from there tried to cross to Dyrrhachium with a fair breeze, but since he met a counter-wind at sea he came back the next day, and then set sail again. 4 It is said, too, that after he had put in at Dyrrhachium and was about to land, there was an earthquake accompanied by a violent convulsion of the sea. Wherefore the soothsayers conjectured that his exile would not be lasting, since these were signs of change. 5 But although many people visited him out of goodwill, and the Greek cities vied with one another in sending him deputations, still, he passed his time for the most part in dejection and great grief, looking off towards Italy like a disconsolate lover, while in his spirit he became very petty and mean by reason of his misfortune, and was more humbled than one would have expected in a man who had enjoyed so lofty a discipline as his. 6 And yet he often asked his friends not to call him an orator, but a philosopher, because he had chosen philosophy as an occupation, but used oratory merely as an instrument for attaining the needful ends of a political career. 7 But public opinion has great power to wash away reason, like a dye, from the soul of man, and by force of familiar association to impress the feelings of the vulgar on those who engage in political life, unless one is right well on his guard when he engages himself in things external, and is resolved to participate only in the things themselves, and not in the feelings attendant upon them.
[Cic. 33.1] 33 1 As for Clodius, after driving Cicero away he burned down his villas, and burned down his house, and erected on its site a temple to Liberty; the rest of his property he offered for sale and had it proclaimed daily, but nobody would buy anything. 2 Being therefore formidable to the patricians, and dragging along with him the people, who indulged in great boldness and effrontery, he assailed Pompey, attacking fiercely some of the arrangements made by him on his expedition. 3 The disgrace which this brought upon Pompey led him to reproach himself for his abandonment of Cicero; and changing front he used every effort to effect Cicero’s return, and so did his friends. But since Clodius opposed himself to this, the senate decided to ratify no measure that came up in the mean time and to do no public business, unless Cicero should be permitted to return. 4 During the consulship of Lentulus, however, when the disorder went on increasing, so that tribunes were wounded in the forum and Quintus the brother of Cicero lay unnoticed for dead among the slain, the people began to change their minds, and Annius Milo, one of the tribunes, first ventured to prosecute Clodius for violence, and many joined themselves to Pompey both from the people and from the surrounding cities. 5 With these Pompey came forth, drove Clodius from the forum, and summoned the citizens to the vote. And it is said that the people never passed any vote with such unanimity. 6 The senate, too, vying with the people, wrote letters of thanks to all the cities which had ministered to Cicero during his exile, and decreed that his house and his villas, which Clodius had destroyed, should be restored at the public cost.
[Cic. 33.7] 7 Thus Cicero came home in the sixteenth month after his exile; and so great was the joy of the cities and the eagerness of men to meet him that what was said by Cicero afterwards fell short of the truth. 8 He said, namely, that Italy had taken him on her shoulders and carried him into Rome. And there Crassus also, who was his enemy before his exile, now readily met him and was reconciled with him, to gratify his son Publius, as he said, who was an ardent admirer of Cicero.
[Cic. 34.1] 34 1 After allowing only a short time to pass and watching for an opportunity when Clodius was absent from the city, Cicero went up with a great company to the capitol, and there tore away and destroyed the tablets of the tribunes, in which were the records of their administration. 2 When Clodius brought charges against him for this and Cicero argued that it was illegal for Clodius to pass from the ranks of the patricians into the tribunate, and that therefore none of his acts was valid, Cato was indignant and spoke against Cicero; not that he approved of Clodius, nay, he was actually displeased at his political course, but he set forth that it was a strange and violent measure for the senate to vote the abrogation of so many acts and decrees, among which were those for his own administration in Cyprus and Byzantium. 3 This led to an antagonism between him and Cicero which came to no open manifestation, but made their friendly treatment of one another less marked.
[Cic. 35.1] 35 1 After this Clodius was killed by Milo; and Milo, being prosecuted for murder, engaged Cicero as his advocate. But the senate was afraid that at the trial of Milo, who was a man of repute and high spirit, there might be a disturbance in the city, and therefore intrusted the superintendence of this and the other trials to Pompey, who was to furnish security for the city and the courts of justice. 2 So Pompey, while it was still night, posted his soldiers on the heights so as to command the forum, and Milo, fearing that Cicero might be disturbed at the unusual sight and conduct his case less successfully, persuaded him to be brought in a litter to the forum and to wait there quietly until the jurors assembled and the court-room was filled. 3 Now Cicero, as it would seem, was not only without courage under arms, but also felt fear when he began to speak, and in many trials he hardly ceased quivering and trembling after his eloquence had become high and sustained. 4 When he was to plead for Licinius Murena in a case brought against him by Cato, and was ambitious to surpass Hortensius, who had made a successful plea, he took no rest at all during the night before, so that his lack of sleep and his great anxiety did him harm, and he was thought inferior to himself in his plea. 5 And so at this time, when he came out of his litter to plead Milo’s cause and saw Pompey stationed on the heights as in a camp, and arms flashing all around the forum, he was confounded and could scarcely begin his speech, for his body quivered and his voice faltered; whereas Milo showed the good courage of a brave man at the trial and had not deigned to let his hair go untrimmed or to change his attire to a dark one; and this seems most of all to have contributed to his condemnation. However, Cicero’s behaviour led men to think him devoted to his friends rather than cowardly.
[Cic. 36.1] 36 1 He became also one of the priests whom the Romans call Augurs, in place of the younger Crassus, who had died among the Parthians. Then the lot gave him Cilicia as his province, with an army of twelve thousand men-at arms and twenty-six hundred horsemen, and he set sail, with instructions to keep Cappadocia friendly and obedient to King Ariobarzanes. 2 This he accomplished and arranged satisfactorily without war, and seeing that the Cilicians, in view of the Parthian disaster to the Romans and the uprising in Syria, were in an agitated state, he pacified them by his mild government. 3 Gifts he would not receive, not even when the kings offered them, and he relieved the provincials from the expense of entertainments; but he himself daily received men of pleasing accomplishments at banquets which were not expensive, although generous. 4 His house, too, had no door-keeper, nor did anyone ever see him lying a-bed, but early in the morning he would stand or walk in front of his chamber and receive those who came to pay him their respects. 5 It is said, moreover, that he never ordered any man to be chastised with rods or to have his raiment torn from him, and that he never inflicted angry abuse or contumelious punishments. He discovered that much of the public property had been embezzled, and by restoring it he made the cities well-to do, and men who made restitution he maintained in their civil rights without further penalties. 6 He engaged in war, too, and routed the robbers who made their homes on Mount Amanus; and for this he was actually saluted by his soldiers as Imperator. When Caelius the orator asked Cicero to send him panthers from Cilicia for a certain spectacle at Rome, Cicero, pluming himself upon his exploits, wrote to him that there were no panthers in Cilicia; for they had fled to Caria in indignation because they alone were warred upon, while everything else enjoyed peace. 7 On his voyage back from his province he first touched at Rhodes, and then gladly spent some time at Athens in fond remembrance of his old pursuits in that place. Then, after associating with men who were foremost for their learning, and after greeting his old-time friends and intimates, and after receiving from Greece the tokens of admiration that were his due, he returned to Rome, where a violent inflammation, as it were, was already forcing matters on towards the civil war.
[Cic. 37.1] 37 1 Accordingly, when the senators were voting him a triumph, he said he would more gladly follow in Caesar’s triumphal procession if matters could be settled; and privately he gave much advice to Caesar by letter, and much to Pompey in person by way of personal entreaty, trying to mollify and pacify each of them. 2 But when things were past healing, and Caesar was advancing upon the city, and Pompey did not stay there, but abandoned the city in the company of many good men, Cicero did not take part in this flight, and was thought to be attaching himself to Caesar. And it is clear that his judgement drew him strongly in both directions and that he was in distress. 3 For he writes in his letters that he knew not which way he ought to turn, since Pompey had honourable and good grounds for going to war, while Caesar managed matters better and had more ability to save himself and his friends; he therefore knew from whom he should flee, but not to whom he should flee. 4 And when Trebatius, one of the companions of Caesar, wrote him a letter stating that Caesar thought he ought above all things to range himself on his side and share his hopes, but that if he declined to do this by reason of his age, he ought to go to Greece and take up a quiet life there out of the way of both, Cicero was amazed that Caesar himself did not write, and replied in a passion that he would do nothing unworthy of his political career. Such, then, is the purport of his letters.
[Cic. 38.1] 38 1 But when Caesar set out for Spain, Cicero at once sailed to Pompey. The rest of Pompey’s followers were glad to see him, but when Cato saw him, he privately blamed him much for attaching himself to Pompey. In his own case, Cato said, it was not honourable to abandon the line of public policy which he had chosen from the beginning; but Cicero, though he was of more service to his country and his friends if he remained at home without taking sides and accommodated himself to the issue of events, without any reason and under no compulsion had made himself an enemy of Caesar, and had come thither to share in their great danger.
[Cic. 38.2] 2 By these words the purpose of Cicero was upset, as well as by the fact that Pompey made no great use of him. But he was himself to blame for this, since he made no denial that he was sorry he had come, made light of Pompey’s preparations and showed a lurking displeasure at his plans, and did not refrain from jests and witty remarks about his comrades in arms; nay, although he himself always went about in the camp without a smile and scowling, still he made others laugh in spite of themselves. 3 And it will be well to give a few instances of this also. When Domitius, then, was advancing to a post of command a man who was no soldier, with the remark that he was gentle in his disposition and prudent, “Why, then,” said Cicero, “do you not keep him as a guardian of your children?” 4 And when certain ones were praising Theophanes the Lesbian, who was prefect of engineers in the camp, because he had given excellent consolation to the Rhodians on the loss of their fleet, “What a great blessing it is,” said Cicero, “to have a Greek as prefect!” 5 Again, when Caesar was successful for the most part and in a way was laying siege to them, Lentulus said he had heard that Caesar’s friends were gloomy, to which Cicero replied: “You mean that they are ill-disposed to Caesar.” 6 And when a certain Marcius, who had recently come from Italy, spoke of a report which prevailed in Rome that Pompey was besieged, “And then,” said Cicero, “did you sail off that you might see with your own eyes and believe?” 7 Again, after the defeat, when Nonnius said they ought to have good hopes, since seven eagles were left in the camp of Pompey, “Your advice would be good,” said Cicero, “if we were at war with jackdaws.” 8 And when Labienus, insisting on certain oracles, said that Pompey must prevail, “Yes,” said Cicero, “this is the generalship that has now cost us our camp.”
[Cic. 39.1] 39 1 However, after the battle at Pharsalus, in which Cicero took no part because of illness, had been fought, and Pompey was in flight, Cato, who had a considerable army and a large fleet at Dyrrhachium, asked Cicero to take the command in accordance with custom and because of his superior consular rank. 2 But Cicero rejected the command and was altogether averse to sharing in the campaign, whereupon he came near being killed; for the young Pompey and his friends called him a traitor and drew their swords upon him, and that would have been the end of him had not Cato interposed and with difficulty rescued him and sent him away from the camp. 3 So Cicero put in at Brundisium and tarried there, waiting for Caesar, who was delayed by his affairs in Asia and Egypt. 4 But when word was brought that Caesar had landed at Tarentum and was coming round by land from there to Brundisium, Cicero hastened to meet him, being not altogether despondent, but feeling shame to test in the presence of many witnesses the temper of a man who was an enemy and victorious. 5 However, there was no need that he should do or say anything unworthy of himself. For Caesar, when he saw him approaching far in advance of the rest, got down and embraced him and journeyed on for many furlongs conversing with him alone. And after this he continued to show him honour and kindness, so that in his reply to the encomium upon Cato which Cicero wrote he praised Cicero’s eloquence and his life, as most of resembling that of Pericles and Theramenes. 6 Now, the discourse of Cicero was entitled “Cato,” and that of Caesar “Anti-Cato.”
[Cic. 39.1b] It is said also that when Quintus Ligarius was under prosecution because he had been one of the enemies of Caesar, and Cicero was his advocate, Caesar said to his friends: “What is to prevent our hearing a speech from Cicero after all this while, since Ligarius has long been adjudged a villain and an enemy?” 7 But when Cicero had begun to speak and was moving his hearers beyond measure, and his speech, as it proceeded, showed varying pathos and amazing grace, Caesar’s face often changed colour and it was manifest that all the emotions of his soul were stirred; and at last, when the orator touched upon the struggles at Pharsalus, he was so greatly affected that his body shook and he dropped from his hand some of his documents. At any rate he acquitted Ligarius under compulsion.
[Cic. 40.1] 40 1 After this, when the government had been changed to a monarchy, Cicero abstained from public affairs and devoted his time to those of the young men who wished to study philosophy, and mainly from his intimacy with these, since they were of the highest birth and standing, he was once more very influential in the state. 2 He made it his business also to compose and translate philosophical dialogues, and to render into Latin the several terms of dialectics and natural philosophy; for he it was, as they say, who first, or principally, provided Latin names for “phantasia,” “synkatathesis,” “epokhe,” and “katalepsis,” as well as for “atomon,” “ameres,” “kenon,” and many others like these, contriving partly by metaphors and partly by new and fitting terms to make them intelligible and familiar. 3 His facility in verse-making, too, he employed to divert himself. It is said, indeed, that when he applied himself to such work, he would make five hundred verses in a night.
[Cic. 40.1b] During this time, then, he lived for the most part at his country-seat in Tusculum, and he used to write to his friends that he was living the life of Laertes, either jesting, as was his wont, or because his ambition filled him with a desire for public activity and made him dissatisfied with the turn things had taken. 4 He rarely went down to the city, and then only to pay court to Caesar, and he was foremost among those who advocated Caesar’s honours and were eager to be ever saying something new about him and his measures. Of this sort is what he said about the statues of Pompey. These Caesar ordered to be set up again after they had been thrown down and taken away; and they were set up again. 5 What Cicero said was that by this act of generosity Caesar did indeed set up the statues of Pompey, but firmly planted his own also.
[Cic. 41.1] 41 1 He purposed, as we are told, to write a comprehensive history of his native country, combining with it many Greek details, and introducing there all the tales and myths which he had collected; but he was prevented by many public affairs which were contrary to his wishes, and by many private troubles, most of which seem to have been of his own choosing. 2 For in the first place he divorced his wife Terentia because he had been neglected by her during the war, so that he set out in lack of the necessary means for his journey, and even when he came back again to Italy did not find her considerate of him. 3 For she did not come to him herself, although he tarried a long time at Brundisium, and when her daughter, a young girl, made the long journey thither, she supplied her with no fitting escort and with no means; nay, she actually stripped and emptied Cicero’s house of all that it contained, besides incurring many large debts. These, indeed, are the most plausible reasons given for the divorce. 4 Terentia, however, denied that these were the reasons, and Cicero himself made her defence a telling one by marrying shortly afterwards a maiden. This he did, as Terentia asserted, out of love for her youthful beauty; but as Tiro, Cicero’s freedman, has written, to get means for the payment of his debts. 5 For the girl was very wealthy, and Cicero had been left her trustee and had charge of her property. So since he owed many tens of thousands he was persuaded by his friends and relatives to marry the girl, old as he was, and to get rid of his creditors by using her money. 6 But Antony, who spoke of the marriage in his replies to Cicero’s Philippics, says that he cast out of doors the wife with whom he had grown old, and at the same time makes witty jibes upon the stay-at home habits of Cicero, who was, he said, unfit for business or military service. 7 Not long after Cicero’s marriage his daughter died in child-birth at the house of Lentulus, to whom she had been married after the death of Piso, her former husband. 8 His friends came together from all quarters to comfort Cicero; but his grief at his misfortune was excessive, so that he actually divorced the wife he had wedded, because she was thought to be pleased at the death of Tullia.
[Cic. 42.1] 42 1 Such, then, were Cicero’s domestic affairs. But in the design that was forming against Caesar he took no part, although he was one of the closest companions of Brutus and was thought to be distressed at the present and to long for the old state of affairs more than anybody else. 2 But the conspirators feared his natural disposition as being deficient in daring, and his time of life, in which courage fails the strongest natures. 3 And so, when the deed had been accomplished by the partisans of Brutus and Cassius, and the friends of Caesar were combining against the perpetrators of it, and it was feared that the city would again be plunged into civil wars, Antony, as consul, convened the senate and said a few words about concord, while Cicero, after a lengthy speech appropriate to the occasion, persuaded the senate to imitate the Athenians and decree an amnesty for the attack upon Caesar, and to assign provinces to Cassius and Brutus. But none of these things came to pass. 4 For when the people, who of themselves were strongly moved to pity, saw Caesar’s body carried through the forum, and when Antony showed them the garments drenched with blood and pierced everywhere with the swords, they went mad with rage and sought for the murderers in the forum, and ran to their houses with fire-brands in order to set them ablaze. 5 For this danger the conspirators were prepared beforehand and so escaped it, but expecting others many and great, they forsook the city.
[Cic. 43.1] 43 1 At once, then, Antony was highly elated, and all men were fearful that he would make himself sole ruler, and Cicero most fearful of all. For Antony saw that Cicero’s power in the state was reviving, and knew that he was attached to Brutus and his party, and was therefore disturbed at his presence in the city. 2 And besides, they had previously been somewhat suspicious of one another because of the marked difference in their lives. 3 Fearing these things Cicero at first was inclined to sail to Syria with Dolabella, as his legate; but the consuls elect to succeed Antony, Hirtius and Pansa, who were good men and admirers of Cicero, begged him not to desert them, and undertook to put down Antony if Cicero would remain at Rome. So Cicero, who neither distrusted nor trusted them altogether, let Dolabella go without him, and after agreeing with Hirtius and Pansa to spend the summer at Athens, and to come back again when they had assumed office, set off by himself. 4 But there was some delay about his voyage, and, as is often the case, new and unexpected reports came from Rome, to the effect that Antony had undergone a wonderful change and was doing and administering everything to please the senate, and that matters needed only Cicero’s presence to assume the best possible complexion; he therefore blamed himself for his excessive caution and turned back again to Rome. 5 And in his first expectations he was not disappointed; for a great crowd of people, moved with joy and longing for him, poured forth to meet him, and almost a day’s time was consumed in the friendly greetings given him at the gates and as he entered the city. 6 On the following day, however, when Antony convened the senate and invited him to be present, Cicero did not come, but kept his bed, pretending to be indisposed from fatigue. The truth, however, seemed to be that he was afraid of a plot against him, in consequence of some suspicion and of information that had unexpectedly come to him on the road. 7 But Antony was indignant at the implication and sent soldiers with orders to bring Cicero or burn down his house; but since many opposed this course and entreated him to desist, he did so, after merely taking sureties. 8 And thenceforward they kept up this attitude, quietly ignoring one another and mutually on their guard, until the young Caesar came from Apollonia, assumed the inheritance of the elder Caesar, and engaged in a dispute with Antony concerning the twenty-five million drachmas which Antony was detaining from the estate.
[Cic. 44.1] 44 1 After this, Philip, who had married the mother, and Marcellus, who had married the sister of the young Caesar, came with the young man to Cicero and made a compact that Cicero should give Caesar the influence derived from his eloquence and political position, both in the senate and before the people, and that Caesar should give Cicero the security to be derived from his wealth and his armed forces. For already the young man had about him many of the soldiers who had served under the elder Caesar. 2 It was thought, too, that there was a stronger reason why Cicero so readily accepted the young man’s friendship. 3 For it would appear that while Pompey and Caesar were still living Cicero dreamed that someone invited the sons of the senators to the capitol, on the ground that Jupiter was going to appoint one of their number ruler of Rome; and that the citizens eagerly ran and stationed themselves about the temple, while the youths, in their purple-bordered togas, seated themselves there in silence. 4 Suddenly the door of the temple opened, and one by one the youths rose and walked round past the god, who reviewed them all and sent them away sorrowing. But when this young Caesar advanced into his presence the god stretched out his hand and said: “O Romans, ye shall have an end of civil wars when this youth has become your ruler.” 5 By such a dream as this, they say, Cicero had impressed upon him the appearance of the youth, and retained it distinctly, but did not know him. The next day, however, as he was going down to the Campus Martius, the youths, who had just finished exercising there, were coming away, and the youth of his dream was seen by Cicero for the first time, and Cicero, amazed, inquired who his parents were. 6 Now, his father was Octavius, a man of no great prominence, but his mother was Attia, a daughter of Caesar’s sister. For this reason Caesar, who had no children of his own, willed his property and his family name to him. 7 After this, it is said, Cicero took pains to converse with the youth when they met, and the youth welcomed his kind attentions; and indeed it happened that he was born during Cicero’s consulship.
[Cic. 45.1] 45 1 These, then, were the reasons that were mentioned; but it was Cicero’s hatred for Antony in the first place, and then his natural craving for honour, that attached him to the young Caesar, since he thought to add Caesar’s power to his own political influence. 2 And indeed the young man carried his court to him so far as actually to call him father. At this Brutus was very angry, and in his letters to Atticus attacked Cicero, saying that in paying court to Caesar through fear of Antony he was plainly not obtaining liberty for his country, but wooing a kind master for himself. 3 However, Brutus took up Cicero’s son who was studying philosophy at Athens, gave him a command, and achieved many successes through his instrumentality.
[Cic. 45.4] 4 Cicero’s power in the city reached its greatest height at this time, and since he could do what he pleased, he raised a successful faction against Antony, drove him out of the city, and sent out the two consuls, Hirtius and Pansa, to wage war upon him, while he persuaded the senate to vote Caesar the lictors and insignia of a praetor, on the ground that he was fighting in defence of the country. But after Antony had been defeated, and, both consuls having died after the battle, the forces had united under Caesar, 5 the senate became afraid of a young man who had enjoyed such brilliant good fortune, and endeavoured by honours and gifts to call his troops away from him and to circumscribe his power, on the ground that there was no need of defensive armies now that Antony had taken to flight. Under these circumstances Caesar took alarm and secretly sent messages to Cicero begging and urging him to obtain the consulship for them both, but to manage affairs as he himself thought best, after assuming the office, and to direct in all things a youthful colleague who only craved name and fame. 6 And Caesar himself admitted afterwards that it was the fear of having his troops disbanded and the danger of finding himself left alone which led him to make use in an emergency of Cicero’s love of power, by inducing him to sue for the consulship with his co-operation and assistance in the canvass.
[Cic. 46.1] 46 1 Here, indeed, more than at any other time, Cicero was led on and cheated, an old man by a young man. He assisted Caesar in his canvass and induced the senate to favour him. For this he was blamed by his friends at the time, and shortly afterwards he perceived that he had ruined himself and betrayed the liberty of the people. 2 For after the young man had waxed strong and obtained the consulship, he gave Cicero the go-by, and after making friends with Antony and Lepidus and uniting his forces with theirs, he divided the sovereignty with them, like any other piece of property. And a list was made out by them of men who must be put to death, more than two hundred in number. 3 The proscription of Cicero, however, caused most strife in their debates, Antony consenting to no terms unless Cicero should be the first man to be put to death, Lepidus siding with Antony, and Caesar holding out against them both. 4 They held secret meetings by themselves near the city of Bononia for three days, coming together in a place at some distance from the camps and surrounded by a river. 5 It is said that for the first two days Caesar kept up his struggle to save Cicero, but yielded on the third and gave him up. The terms of their mutual concessions were as follows. Caesar was to abandon Cicero, Lepidus his brother Paulus, and Antony Lucius Caesar, who was his uncle on the mother’s side. 6 So far did anger and fury lead them to renounce their human sentiments, or rather, they showed that no wild beast is more savage than man when his passion is supplemented by power.
[Cic. 47.1] 47 1 While this was going on, Cicero was at his own country-seat in Tusculum, having his brother with him; but when they learned of the proscriptions they determined to remove to Astura, a place of Cicero’s on the sea-coast, and from there to sail to Brutus in Macedonia; for already a report was current that he was in force there. 2 So they were carried along in litters, being worn out with grief; and on the way they would halt, and with their litters placed side by side would lament to one another. 3 But Quintus was the more dejected and began to reflect upon his destitute condition; for he said that he had taken nothing from home, nay, Cicero too had scanty provision for the journey; it was better, then, he said, that Cicero should press on in his flight, but that he himself should get what he wanted from home and then hasten after him. 4 This they decided to do, and after embracing one another and weeping aloud, they parted.
[Cic. 47.1b] So then Quintus, not many days afterwards, was betrayed by his servants to those who were in search of him, and put to death, together with his son. But Cicero was brought to Astura, and finding a vessel there he embarked at once and coasted along as far as Circaeum, with the wind in his favour. 5 From there his pilots wished to set sail at once, but Cicero, whether it was that he feared the sea, or had not yet altogether given up his trust in Caesar, went ashore and travelled along on foot a hundred furlongs in the direction of Rome. 6 But again losing resolution and changing his mind, he went down to the sea at Astura. And there he spent the night in dreadful and desperate calculations; he actually made up his mind to enter Caesar’s house by stealth, to slay himself upon the hearth, and so to fasten upon Caesar an avenging daemon. 7 But a fear of tortures drove him from this course also; then, revolving in his mind many confused and contradictory purposes, he put himself in the hands of his servants to be taken by sea to Caieta, where he had lands and an agreeable retreat in summer time, when the breath of the Etesian winds is most pleasant.
[Cic. 47.8] 8 The place has also a temple of Apollo, a little above the sea. From thence a flock of crows flew with loud clamour towards the vessel of Cicero as it was rowed towards land; and alighting on either end of the sail-yard, some cawed, and others pecked at the ends of the ropes, and everybody thought that the omen was bad. 9 Nevertheless Cicero landed, and going to his villa lay down to rest. Then most of the crows perched themselves about the window, cawing tumultuously, but one of them flew down upon the couch where Cicero lay with muffled head, and with its beak, little by little, tried to remove the garment from his face. 10 The servants, on seeing this, rebuked themselves for waiting to be spectators of their master’s murder, while wild beasts came to his help and cared for him in his undeserved misfortune, but they themselves did nothing in his defence. So partly by entreaty, and partly by force, they took him and carried him in his litter towards the sea.
[Cic. 48.1] 48 1 But meantime his assassins came to the villa, Herennius a centurion, and Popillius a tribune, who had once been prosecuted for parricide and defended by Cicero; and they had helpers. 2 After they had broken in the door, which they found closed, Cicero was not to be seen, and the inmates said they knew not where he was. Then, we are told, a youth who had been liberally educated by Cicero, and who was a freedman of Cicero’s brother Quintus, Philologus by name, told the tribune that the litter was being carried through the wooded and shady walks towards the sea. 3 The tribune, accordingly, taking a few helpers with him, ran round towards the exit, but Herennius hastened on the run through the walks, and Cicero, perceiving him, ordered the servants to set the litter down where they were. 4 Then he himself, clasping his chin with his left hand, as was his wont, looked steadfastly at his slayers, his head all squalid and unkempt, and his face wasted with anxiety, so that most of those that stood by covered their faces while Herennius was slaying him. 5 For he stretched his neck forth from the litter and was slain, being then in his sixty-fourth year. 6 Herennius cut off his head, by Antony’s command, and his hands — the hands with which he wrote the Philippics. For Cicero himself entitled his speeches against Antony “Philippics,” and to this day the documents are called Philippics.
[Cic. 49.1] 49 1 When Cicero’s extremities were brought to Rome, it chanced that Antony was conducting an election, but when he heard of their arrival and saw them, he cried out, “Now let our proscriptions have an end.” 2 Then he ordered the head and hands to be placed over the ships’ beaks on the rostra, a sight that made the Romans shudder; for they thought they saw there, not the face of Cicero, but an image of the soul of Antony. However, he showed at least one sentiment of fair dealing in the case when he handed over Philologus to Pomponia, the wife of Quintus. 3 And she, having got the man into her power, besides other dreadful punishments which she inflicted upon him, forced him to cut off his own flesh bit by bit and roast it, and then to eat it. 4 This, indeed, is what some of the historians say; but Cicero’s own freedman, Tiro, makes no mention at all of the treachery of Philologus.
[Cic. 49.5] 5 I learn that Caesar, a long time after this, paid a visit to one of his daughter’s sons; and the boy, since he had in his hands a book of Cicero’s, was terrified and sought to hide it in his gown; but Caesar saw it, and took the book, and read a great part of it as he stood, and then gave it back to the youth, saying: “A learned man, my child, a learned man and a lover of his country.” 6 Moreover, as soon as he had finally defeated Antony, and when he was himself consul, he chose Cicero’s son as his colleague in the office, and it was in his consulship that the senate took down the statues of Antony, made void the other honours that had been paid him, and decreed besides that no Antony should have the name of Marcus. Thus the heavenly powers devolved upon the family of Cicero the final steps in the punishment of Antony.

## Comparison of Demosthenes and Cicero

[Comp. Dem.–Cic. 1.1] 886 1 1 These, then, are the memorable incidents in the recorded careers of Demosthenes and Cicero which have come to our knowledge. 2 And though I have renounced the comparison of their oratorical styles, yet this, I think, ought not to be left unsaid, namely, that Demosthenes devoted to the rhetorical art all the powers of speech which he possessed by nature or acquired by practice, surpassing in force and effectiveness his rivals in forensic and judicial pleading, in pomp and majesty of utterance the professional declaimers, and in precision and skill the sophists; 3 Cicero, on the other hand, became widely learned and had a variety of interest in the pursuit of letters, and left behind him not a few philosophical treatises of his own conforming to the fashion of the Academy; indeed, even in the speeches which he wrote for the forum and the courts he clearly desires to display by the way a considerable acquaintance with letters.
[Comp. Dem.–Cic. 1.4] 4 It is possible, too, to get a glimpse of the character of each in his style of speaking. For that of Demosthenes, which had no prettiness or pleasantry, and was condensed with a view to power and earnestness, did not smell of lamp-wicks, as Pytheas scoffingly said, but of water-drinking and anxious thought, and of what men called the bitterness and sullenness of his disposition; whereas Cicero was often carried away by his love of jesting into scurrility, and when, to gain his ends in his cases, he treated matters worthy of serious attention with ironical mirth and pleasantry, he was careless of propriety. Thus, in his defence of Caelius, he said that his client, surrounded as he was by great luxury and extravagance, did nothing out of the way when indulging in pleasures; for not to enjoy what is in one’s possession was madness, he said, particularly when the most eminent philosophers assert that true happiness consists in pleasure. 5 And we are told that when Cato prosecuted Murena, Cicero, who was then consul, defended him, and because of Cato’s beliefs made much fun of the Stoic sect, in view of the absurdities of their so called paradoxes; and when loud laughter spread from the audience to the jurors, Cato, with a quiet smile, said to those who sat by: “What a funny man we have, my friends, for consul!” 6 And it would seem that Cicero was naturally prone to laughter and fond of jesting; his face, too, was smiling and peaceful. But in that of Demosthenes there was always a certain intense seriousness, and this look of thoughtfulness and anxiety he did not easily lay aside. For this reason his enemies, as he himself says, called him morose and ill-mannered.
[Comp. Dem.–Cic. 2.1] 2 1 Still further, then, in their writings it is possible to see that the one touches upon his praises cautiously and so as not to give offence, when there was need of this for some weightier end, while on other occasions he is careful and moderate; whereas Cicero’s immoderate boasting of himself in his speeches proves that he had an intemperate desire for fame, his cry being that arms must give place to the toga and the laurel of triumph to the tongue. And at last he praises not only his deeds and actions, but also his speeches, both those which he delivered himself and those which he committed to writing, as if he were impetuously vying with Isocrates and Anaximenes the sophists, instead of claiming the right to lead and instruct the Roman people,
[Comp. Dem.–Cic. 2.1b] “Steadfast, in heavy armour clad, destructive to foes.”
[Comp. Dem.–Cic. 2.3] It is necessary, indeed, that a political leader should prevail by reason of his eloquence, but ignoble for him to admire and crave the fame that springs from his eloquence. Wherefore in this regard Demosthenes is more stately and magnificent, since he declares that his ability in speaking was a mere matter of experience, depending greatly upon the goodwill of his hearers, and considers illiberal and vulgar, as they are, those who are puffed up at such success.
[Comp. Dem.–Cic. 3.1] 3 1 It is true that in haranguing and guiding the people both had equal power, so that even those who controlled armies and camps had need of their services; Chares, Diopeithes and Leosthenes needed Demosthenes, and Pompey and the young Caesar needed Cicero, as Caesar himself says in his Memoirs addressed to Agrippa and Maecenas. But what is thought and said most of all to reveal and rest the character of a man, namely power and authority, which rouses every passion and uncovers every baseness, this Demosthenes did not have, nor did he give any such proof of himself, since he held no conspicuous office, nor did he even command the force which was raised by him against Philip; 3 whereas Cicero was sent out as quaestor to Sicily, and as pro-consul to Cilicia and Cappadocia, at a time when the love of wealth was at its greatest height, and when those who were sent out as praetors and governors, feeling that theft was an ignoble thing, resorted to open plundering, so that the taking of property was not thought heinous, but he who did this in moderation was held in high esteem; and yet Cicero gave many proofs of his contempt for wealth, and many of his humanity and goodness. 4 And when in Rome itself he was appointed consul in name, but really received the power of a dictator and sole ruler against Catiline and his conspirators, he bore witness to the truth of Plato’s prophecy that states would then have respite from evil, when in one and the same person, by some happy fortune, great power and wisdom should be conjoined with justice.
[Comp. Dem.–Cic. 3.5] 5 Moreover, it is said to the reproach of Demosthenes that he made money by his eloquence, since he secretly wrote speeches for Phormio and Apollodorus, who were adversaries in the same case, and since he was accused in the matter of the Great King’s money, and condemned for taking that of Harpalus. 6 And if we should say that those who write these things (and these writers are not few) tell what is untrue, still, at least, that Demosthenes could not bring himself to look with indifference upon gifts which kings offered as marks of honour and favour, and that this was not to be expected of a man who lent money on bottomry, it is impossible to deny; 7 whereas, in the case of Cicero, that the Sicilians when he was quaestor, and the king of Cappadocia when he was pro-consul, and his friends in Rome when he was going into exile, offered him large sums and begged him to take them, only to meet with his refusal, has been said.
[Comp. Dem.–Cic. 4.1] 4 1 And surely in the matter of banishment, at least, for the one it was disgraceful, since he had been convicted of theft; but for the other it was a most honourable result, since he had rid his country of baleful men. 2 Therefore no account was made of the one when he went into exile; but for the other the senate changed its garb and put on mourning and could not be induced to discuss any business until Cicero’s return had been decreed. However, Cicero spent his exile idly, remaining quietly in Macedonia; but the exile of Demosthenes proved to be a great part of his service to the state. 3 For he took part in the struggles of the Greeks, as has been said, and drove out the Macedonian envoys in the various cities which he visited, and so showed himself to be a far better citizen than Themistocles or Alcibiades when they were having the same fortune; and furthermore, when he returned from exile, he again devoted himself to this same public service, and steadfastly continued waging war upon Antipater and the Macedonians. 4 Cicero, on the contrary, was reproached in the senate by Laelius for sitting silent when Caesar asked leave to stand for the consulship, which was contrary to law, since he was still a beardless youth. And Brutus also, in one of his letters, accused him of having reared up a tyranny greater and more severe than that which the writer himself had overthrown.
[Comp. Dem.–Cic. 5.1] 5 1 And after all, the one is to be pitied for the manner of his death — an old man ignobly carried up and down by servants, trying to escape death, hiding himself from those who were coming after him not much in advance of nature’s final summons, and then beheaded; 2 whereas in that of the other, even though it had a slight touch of supplication, we must admire the preparation of the poison and its place of custody, must admire, too, the use he made of it, because, since the god would not afford him asylum, he took refuge at a greater altar, as it were, made his escape from arms and mercenaries, and laughed to scorn the cruelty of Antipater.

## Demetrius

[Demetr. 1.1] 888 1 1 Those who first assumed that the arts are like the bodily senses, seem to me to have perceived very clearly the power of making distinctions which both possess, by which power we are enabled to apprehend opposites, as well in one case as in the other. For the arts and the senses have this power in common; though in the use to which we put the distinctions made, they differ. 2 For our sense-perception has no greater facility in distinguishing white objects than black, or sweet things than bitter, or soft and yielding substances than hard and resisting ones, but its function is to receive impressions from all objects alike, and having received them, to report the resulting sensation to the understanding. The arts, on the other hand, which proceed by the use of reason to the selection and adoption of what is appropriate, and to the avoidance and rejection what is alien to themselves, contemplate the one class of objects with direct intent and by preference, and yet incidentally contemplate the other class also, and in order to avoid them. 3 For instance, the art of healing has incidentally studied the nature of disease, and the art of harmony the nature of discord, in order to produce their opposites; and the most consummate arts of all, namely, temperance, justice, and wisdom, since their function is to distinguish, not only what is good and just and expedient, 889 but also what is bad and unjust and disgraceful, have no praises for a guilelessness which plumes itself on its inexperience of evil, nay, they consider it to be foolishness, and ignorance of what ought especially to be known by men who would live aright. 4 Accordingly, the ancient Spartans would put compulsion on their helots at the festivals to drink much unmixed wine, and would then bring them into the public messes, in order to show their young men what it was like to be drunk. And though I do not think that the perverting of some to secure the setting right of others is very humane, or a good civil policy, 5 still, when men have led reckless lives, and have become conspicuous, in the exercise of power or in great undertakings, for badness, perhaps it will not be much amiss for me to introduce a pair or two of them into my biographies, though not that I may merely divert and amuse my readers by giving variety to my writing. 6 Ismenias the Theban used to exhibit both good and bad players to his pupils on the flute and say, you must play like this one,” or again, “you must not play like this one”; and Antigenidas used to think that young men would listen with more pleasure to good flute-players if they were given an experience of bad ones also. So, I think, we also shall be more eager to observe and imitate the better lives if we are not left without narratives of the blameworthy and the bad.
[Demetr. 1.7] 7 This book will therefore contain the Lives of Demetrius the City-besieger and Antony the Imperator, men who bore most ample testimony to the truth of Plato’s saying that great natures exhibit great vices also, as well as great virtues. Both alike were amorous, bibulous, warlike, munificent, extravagant, and domineering, and they had corresponding resemblances in their fortunes. 8 For not only were they all through their lives winning great successes, but meeting with great reverses; making innumerable conquests, but suffering innumerable losses; unexpectedly falling low, but unexpectedly recovering themselves again; but they also came to their end, the one in captivity to his enemies, and the other on the verge of this calamity.
[Demetr. 2.1] 2 1 To begin, then, Antigonus had two sons by Stratonicé the daughter of Corrhagus, one of whom he named Demetrius, after his brother, and the other Philip, after his father. This is what the majority of writers say. But some have it that Demetrius was not the son, but the nephew of Antigonus; for his own father died when the boy was quite young, and then his mother immediately married Antigonus, so that Demetrius was considered to be his son. 2 Well, then, Philip, who was a few years younger than Demetrius, died. Demetrius, the surviving son, had not the height of his father, though he was a tall man, but he had features of rare and astonishing beauty, so that no painter or sculptor ever achieved a likeness of him. They had at once grace and strength, dignity and beauty, and there was blended with their youthful eagerness a certain heroic look and a kingly majesty that were hard to imitate. 3 And in like manner his disposition also was fitted to inspire in men both fear and favour. For while he was a most agreeable companion, and most dainty of princes in the leisure devoted to drinking and luxurious ways of living, on the other hand he had a most energetic and eager persistency and efficiency in action. Wherefore he used to make Dionysus his pattern, more than any other deity, since this god was most terrible in waging war, and on the other hand most skilful, when war was over, in making peace minister to joy and pleasure.
[Demetr. 3.1] 3 1 Moreover, Demetrius was also exceedingly fond of his father; 890 and from his devotion to his mother it was apparent that he honoured his father also from genuine affection rather than out of deference to his power. On one occasion, when Antigonus was busy with an embassy, Demetrius came home from hunting; he went up to his father and kissed him, and then sat down by his side just as he was, javelins in hand. 2 Then Antigonus, as the ambassadors were now going away with their answers, called out to them in a loud voice and said: “O men, carry back this report also about us, that this is the way we feel towards one another,” implying that no slight vigour in the royal estate and proof of its power were to be seen in his harmonious and trustful relations with his son. 3 So utterly unsociable a thing, it seems, is empire, and so full of ill-will and distrust, that the oldest and greatest of the successors of Alexander could make it a thing to glory in that he was not afraid of his son, but allowed him near his person lance in hand. However, this house was almost the only one which kept itself pure from crimes of this nature for very many generations, or, to speak more definitely, Philip was the only one of the descendants of Antigonus who put a son to death. But almost all the other lines afford many examples of men who killed their sons, and of many who killed their mothers and wives; and as for men killing their brothers, just as geometricians assume their postulates, so this crime came to be a common and recognized postulate in the plans of princes to secure their own safety.
[Demetr. 4.1] 4 1 In proof that in the beginning Demetrius was naturally humane and fond of his companions, the following illustration may be given. Mithridates the son of Ariobarzanes was a companion of his, and an intimate of the same age. He was one of the courtiers of Antigonus, and though he neither was nor was held to be a base fellow, still, in consequence of a dream, Antigonus conceived a suspicion of him. 2 Antigonus dreamed, namely, that he was traversing a large and fair field and sowing gold-dust. From this, to begin with, there sprang up a golden crop, but when he came back after a little while, he could see nothing but stubble. In his vexation and distress, he heard in his dream sundry voices saying that Mithridates had reaped the golden crop for himself and gone off to the Euxine Sea. 3 Antigonus was much disturbed by this vision, and after he had put his son under oath of silence, told it to him, adding that he had fully determined to destroy Mithridates and put him out of the way. On hearing this, Demetrius was exceedingly distressed, and when the young man, as was his wont, came to share his diversions with him, though he did not venture to open his lips on the matter or to warn him orally, because of his oath, he gradually drew him away from his friends, and when they were by themselves, with the sharp butt of his lance he wrote on the ground so that he could see it, “Fly, Mithridates.” 4 Mithridates understood, and ran away by night to Cappadocia. And soon the vision of Antigonus was accomplished for him by fate. For Mithridates made himself master of a large and fair territory, and founded the line of Pontic kings, which, in the eighth generation, was brought to an end by the Romans. This, then, is an illustration of the strong natural bent of Demetrius towards kindness and justice.
[Demetr. 5.1] 5 1 But just as among the elements of the universe, according to Empedocles, love and hate produce mutual dissension and war, particularly among those elements which touch or lie near one another, so the continuous wars which the successors of Alexander waged against one another were aggravated and more inflamed in some cases by the close proximity of interests and territories, as at this time in the case of Antigonus and Ptolemy. 2 Antigonus himself was tarrying in Phrygia, 891 and hearing there that Ptolemy had crossed over from Cyprus and was ravaging Syria and reducing or turning from their allegiance its cities, he sent against him his son Demetrius, who was only twenty-two years of age, and was then for the first time engaging with sole command in an expedition where great interests were at stake. But since he was young and inexperienced, and had for his adversary a man trained in the training-school of Alexander who had independently waged many great contests, he met with utter defeat near the city of Gaza, where eight thousand of his men were taken prisoners and five thousand were slain. 3 He lost also his tent, his money, and in a word, all his personal effects. But Ptolemy sent these back to him, together with his friends, accompanying them with the considerate and humane message that their warfare must not be waged for all things alike, but only for glory and dominion. Demetrius accepted the kindness, and prayed the gods that he might not long be indebted to Ptolemy for it, but might speedily make him a like return. 4 And he took his disaster, not like a stripling thwarted at the outset of an undertaking, but like a sensible general acquainted with reverses of fortune, and busied himself with the levying of men and the preparation of arms, while he kept the cities well in hand and practised his new recruits.
[Demetr. 6.1] 6 1 When Antigonus learned of the battle, he said that Ptolemy had conquered beardless youths, but must now fight with men; however, not wishing to humble or curtail the spirit of his son, he did not oppose his request that he might fight again on his own account, but suffered him to do it. And not long after, up came Cilles, a general of Ptolemy, with a splendid army, intending to drive Demetrius out of all Syria, and looking down upon him because of his previous defeat. 2 But Demetrius fell upon him suddenly and took him by surprise, put him to rout, and captured his camp, general and all; he also took seven thousand of his soldiers prisoners, and made himself master of vast treasures. However, he rejoiced to have won the day, not by reason of what he was going to have, but of what he could restore, and was delighted, not so much with the wealth and glory which his victory brought, as with the power it gave him to recompense the kindness and return the favour of Ptolemy. 3 And yet he did not do this on his own responsibility, but first wrote to his father about it. And when his father gave him permission and bade him dispose of everything as he liked, he sent back to Ptolemy both Cilles himself and his friends, after loading them with gifts. This reverse drove Ptolemy out of Syria, and brought Antigonus down from Celaenae; he rejoiced at the victory and yearned to get sight of the son who had won it.
[Demetr. 7.1] 7 1 After this, Demetrius was sent to bring into subjection the Arabs known as Nabataean, and incurred great peril by getting into regions which had no water; but he was neither terrified nor greatly disturbed, and his demeanour overawed the Barbarians, so that he took much booty and seven hundred camels from them and returned.
[Demetr. 7.2] 2 And now Seleucus, who had once been expelled from Babylonia by Antigonus, but had afterwards succeeded in recovering the realm and was now wielding the power there, went up with an army, designing to annex the tribes on the confines of India and the provinces about Mount Caucasus. Demetrius, accordingly, expecting that he would find Mesopotamia unprotected, suddenly crossed the Euphrates and invaded Babylonia before Seleucus could stop him. He expelled from one of its citadels (there were two of them) the garrison left there by Seleucus, got it into his power and established in it seven thousand of his own men. 3 But after ordering his soldiers to take and make booty of everything which they could carry or drive from the country, he returned to the sea-coast, leaving Seleucus more confirmed than before in his possession of the realm; for by ravaging the country Demetrius was thought to admit that it no longer belonged to his father. However, while Ptolemy was besieging Halicarnassus, Demetrius came swiftly to the aid of the city and rescued it.
[Demetr. 8.1] 8 1 The glory won by this noble deed inspired father and son 892 with a wonderful eagerness to give freedom to all Greece, which had been reduced to subjection by Cassander and Ptolemy. No nobler or juster war than this was waged by any one of the kings; for the vast wealth which they together had amassed by subduing the Barbarians, was now lavishly spent upon the Greeks, to win glory and honour. 2 As soon as father and son had determined to sail against Athens, one of his friends said to Antigonus that they must keep that city, if they took it, in their own hands, since it was a gangway to Greece. But Antigonus would not hear of it; he said that the goodwill of a people was a noble gangway which no waves could shake, and that Athens, the beacon-tower of the whole world, would speedily flash the glory of their deeds to all mankind. 3 So Demetrius sailed, with five thousand talents of money and a fleet of two hundred and fifty ships, against Athens, where Demetrius the Phalerean was administering the affairs of the city for Cassander and a garrison was set in Munychia. By virtue of forethought combined with good fortune, he appeared off Piraeus on the twenty-sixth of the month Thargelion. 4 Nobody knew beforehand of his approach, but as soon as his fleet was seen in the vicinity, everybody thought that the ships belonged to Ptolemy and prepared to receive them. At last, however, the generals discovered their mistake and came to the rescue, and there was confusion, as is natural when men are compelled to defend themselves against enemies who are making an unexpected landing. For Demetrius, finding the entrances to the harbours open and sailing through them, was presently inside and in view of all, and signalled from his ship a demand for quiet and silence. 5 When this was secured, he proclaimed by voice of herald at his side that he had been sent by his father on what he prayed might be a happy errand, to set Athens free, and to expel her garrison, and to restore to the people their laws and their ancient form of government.
[Demetr. 9.1] 9 1 On hearing this proclamation, most of the people at once threw their shields down in front of them, and with clapping of hands and loud cries urged Demetrius to land, hailing him as their saviour and benefactor. The party of Demetrius the Phalerean also thought they must by all means receive the conqueror, even though he should confirm none of his promises, but nevertheless sent ambassadors to supplicate his mercy. These Demetrius met in a friendly spirit, and sent back with them one of his father’s friends, Aristodemus of Miletus. 2 Now the Phalerean, owing to the change of government, was more afraid of his fellow-citizens than of the enemy. Demetrius, however, was not unmindful of him, but out of regard for the man’s good reputation and excellence, sent him and his friends under safe conduct to Thebes, as he desired. As for himself, he declared that, although he desired to see the city, he would not do so before he had completed his liberation by ridding it of its garrison; meanwhile, after running a trench and a palisade round Munychia, he sailed against Megara, where a garrison had been stationed by Cassander.
[Demetr. 9.3] 3 But on learning that Cratesipolis, who had been the wife of Polyperchon’sa son Alexander, was tarrying at Patrae, and would be very glad to make him a visit (and she was a famous beauty), he left his forces in the territory of Megara and set forth, taking a few light-armed attendants with him. And turning aside from these also, he pitched his tent apart, that the woman might pay her visit to him unobserved. 4 Some of his enemies learned of this, and made a sudden descent upon him. Then, in a fright, he donned a shabby cloak and ran for his life and got away, narrowly escaping a most shameful capture in consequence of his rash ardour. His tent, together with his belongings, was carried off by his enemies.
[Demetr. 9.5] 893 5 Megara, however, was captured, and the soldiers would have plundered it had not the Athenians made strong intercession for its citizens; Demetrius also expelled its garrison and gave the city its freedom. While he was still engaged in this, he bethought himself of Stilpo the philosopher, who was famous for his election of a life of tranquillity. Accordingly, Demetrius summoned him and asked him whether any one had robbed him of anything. “No one,” said Stilpo, “for I saw nobody carrying away knowledge.” 6 But nearly all the servants in the city were stolen away, and when Demetrius once more tried to deal kindly with the philosopher, and finally, on going away, said: “Your city, Stilpo, I leave in freedom,” “Thou sayest truly,” replied Stilpo, “for thou hast not left a single one of our slaves.”
[Demetr. 10.1] 10 1 Coming back again to Munychia and encamping before it, he drove out the garrison and demolished the fortress, and this accomplished, at last, on the urgent invitation of the Athenians, he made his entry into the upper city, where he assembled the people and gave them back their ancient form of government. He also promised that they should receive from his father a hundred and fifty thousand bushels of grain, and enough ship timber to build a hundred triremes. 2 It was fourteen years since the Athenians had lost their democratic form of government, and during the period which followed the Lamian war and the battle at Crannon their government had been administered, nominally as an oligarchy, but really as a monarchy, owing to the great influence of the Phalerean. And now that Demetrius had shown himself great and splendid in his benefactions, the Athenians rendered him odious and obnoxious by the extravagance of the honours which they voted him. 3 For instance, they were the first people in the world to give Demetrius and Antigonus the title of King, although both had up to that time shrunk from using the word, and although this was the only royal prerogative still left to the descendants of Philip and Alexander which it was thought that others could assume or share; moreover, the Athenians were the only people to give them the appellation of Saviour-gods, and they put a stop to the ancient custom of designating the year with the name of the annual archon, and elected every year a priest of the Saviour-gods, whose name they prefixed to their public edicts and private contracts. 4 They also decreed that the figures of Demetrius and Antigonus should be woven into the sacred robe, along with those of the gods; and the spot where Demetrius first alighted from his chariot they consecrated and covered with an altar, which they styled the altar of Demetrius Alighter; they also created two new tribes, Demetrias and Antigonis; and they increased the number of the senators, which had been five hundred, to six hundred, since each of the tribes must furnish fifty senators.
[Demetr. 11.1] 11 But the most monstrous thing that came into the head of Stratocles (he it was who invented these elegant and clever bits of obsequiousness) was his motion that envoys sent by public decree and at public expense to Antigonus and Demetrius should be called sacred deputies, instead of ambassadors, like those who conducted to Delphi and Olympia the ancient sacrifices in behalf of the cities at the great Hellenic festivals. 2 In all other ways also Stratocles was an audacious fellow; he lived an abandoned life, and was thought to imitate the scurrility and buffoonery of the ancient Cleon in his familiarities with the people. He had taken up with a mistress named Phylacion; and one day when she had brought in the market-place for his supper some brains and neck-bones, “Aha!” he cried, “thou hast bought just such delicacies for me as we statesmen used to play ball with.” 3 Again, when the Athenians suffered their naval defeat near Amorgus, before the tidings of the disaster could reach the city he put a garland on his head and drove through the Cerameicus, and after announcing that the Athenians were victorious, moved a sacrifice of glad tidings and made a generous distribution of meat to the people by tribes. 894 Then, a little later, when the wrecks were brought home from the battle and people in their wrath called him out, he faced the tumult recklessly and said: “What harm have I done you, pray, if for two days ye have been happy?” Such was the effrontery of Stratocles.
[Demetr. 12.1] 12 1 But there are things hotter even than fire, as Aristophanes puts it. For some one else, outdoing Stratocles in servility, proposed that whenever Demetrius visited the city he should be received with the hospitable honours paid to Demeter and Dionysus, and that to the citizen who surpassed all others in the splendour and costliness of his reception, a sum of money should be granted from the public treasury for a dedicatory offering. 2 And finally, they changed the name of the month Mounychion to Demetrion, and that of the last day of a month, the “Old and New,” to Demetrias, and to the festival called Dionysia they gave the name of Demetria. Most of these innovations were marked with the divine displeasure. The sacred robe, for instance, in which they had decreed that the figures of Demetrius and Antigonus should be woven along with those of Zeus and Athena, as it was being carried in procession through the midst of the Cerameicus, was rent by a hurricane which smote it; 3 again, all round the altars of those Saviour-gods the soil teemed with hemlock, a plant which did not grow in many other parts of the country at all; and on the day for the celebration of the Dionysia, the sacred procession had to be omitted on account of severe cold weather that came out of season. And a heavy frost followed, which not only blasted all the vines and fig-trees with its cold, but also destroyed most of the grain in the blade. 4 Therefore Philippides, who was an enemy of Stratocles, assailed him in a comedy with these verses: —
[Demetr. 12.1b] “Through him it was that hoar-frost blasted all the vines,
Through his impiety the robe was rent in twain,
Because he gave the gods’ own honours unto men.
[Demetr. 12.1c] Such work undoes a people, not its comedy.”
[Demetr. 12.5] 5 Philippides was a friend of Lysimachus, and for his sake the king bestowed many favours on the Athenian people. Moreover, when he was about to undertake anything or make an expedition, he thought it a good omen to meet or catch sight of Philippides. And in general the character of Philippides gave him a good repute, since he was no busybody, and had none of the officious ways of a courtier. On one occasion Lysimachus wished to do him a kindness, and said: “Philippides, what have I that I can share with thee?” “O King,” said Philippides, “anything but one of thy state secrets.” Such a man, then, I purposely compare with Stratocles, the man of the stage with the man of the bema.
[Demetr. 13.1] 13 1 But there was one honour proposed for Demetrius which was more strange and monstrous than any other. Dromocleides the Sphettian moved, when the dedication of certain shields at Delphi was in question, that the Athenians should get an oracle from Demetrius. And I will transcribe his very words from the decree; they run thus: 2 “May it be for the best. Decreed by the people that the people elect one man from the Athenians, who shall go to the Saviour-god, and, after a sacrifice with good omens, shall enquire of the Saviour-god in what most speedy, decorous, and reverent manner the people may accomplish the restoration to their places of the dedicatory offerings; and that whatever answer he shall give, the people shall act according thereunto.” With such mockery of adulation they finally perverted the man’s mind, which even before was not wholly sound.
[Demetr. 14.1] 14 1 Furthermore, while he lingered in Athens at this time, Demetrius took to wife Eurydicé, a widow. She was a descendant of the ancient Miltiades, had married Ophelasb the ruler of Cyrené, and after his death had come back to Athens. 2 The Athenians, accordingly, took this marriage as a graceful compliment to their city; but in general Demetrius made a rather light matter of marriages, and had many wives at the same time, of whom Phila enjoyed the greatest esteem and honour, 895 both because of her father, Antipater, and because she had been the wife of Craterus, the one of all the successors of Alexander who left behind him the most goodwill among the Macedonians. This woman, as it would appear, his father had persuaded Demetrius to marry when he was quite young, although she was not of his age, but older; 3 and when his son was disinclined to the match, it is said that Antigonus whispered in his ear the verse of Euripides:
[Demetr. 14.1b] “What there is gain, ‘gainst nature’s dictates must one wed,”
[Demetr. 14.1c] substituting off-hand “must one wed” for the similar inflection “must one serve.” However, so slight was the respect which Demetrius paid to Phila and to the rest of his wives, that he consorted freely with many courtesans, as well as with many women of free birth, and as regards this indulgence he had the worst reputation of all the kings of his time.
[Demetr. 15.1] 15 1 And now his father summoned him to wage war against Ptolemy for the possession of Cyprus. He must needs obey the summons, but was loth to abandon the war for the liberation of Greece, which was a nobler and more glorious war, and therefore sent to Cleonides, the general of Ptolemy who was occupying Sicyon and Corinth with a garrison, and offered him money to set the cities free. 2 Cleonides, however, would not accept the bribe, and Demetrius therefore put to sea in haste, and taking additional forces, sailed against Cyprus. There he joined battle with Menelaüs, a brother of Ptolemy, and promptly defeated him; but Ptolemy himself appeared on the scene with a large land and naval force combined, and there were sundry interchanges of threats and boasts, Ptolemy ordering Demetrius to sail away before the entire force should assemble and crush him, and Demetrius offering to let Ptolemy go if he would agree to withdraw his garrisons from Sicyon and Corinth. 3 And not only Demetrius and Ptolemy themselves, but also all the other potentates, awaited with great expectancy the uncertain issue of the impending struggle; they felt that not Cyprus, nor yet Syria, but the absolute supremacy would at once be the prize of the victor.
[Demetr. 16.1] 16 1 Well, then, Ptolemy himself sailed to the attack with a hundred and fifty ships, and ordered Menelaüs to put out from Salamis with sixty ships, and when the struggle was fiercest, to assail the ships of Demetrius in the rear, and throw them into confusion. But to these sixty ships Demetrius opposed only ten ships (for that small number sufficed to block the narrow exit from the harbour), 2 while he himself, after first drawing out his land forces and encompassing the headlands that extended into the sea, put out to battle with a hundred and eighty ships. He made his onset with great impetus and force, and utterly routed Ptolemy. Ptolemy himself, after his defeat, fled swiftly with eight ships only (for that small number were left from his whole fleet); of the rest, some had been destroyed in the sea-fight, and seventy had been captured, crews and all), 3 but of the throng of attendants, friends, and women which lay in ships of burden close at hand, and further, of all Ptolemy’s arms, money, and engines of war, absolutely nothing escaped Demetrius, but he took everything and brought it safely to his camp. Among this booty was the celebrated Lamia, originally held in esteem for her artistic skill (she was thought to play the flute quite admirably), but afterwards becoming illustrious in the annals of love also. 4 At this time, at any rate, although she was past her prime and found Demetrius much younger than herself, she so mastered and swayed him by her charms that he was a lover for her alone, but a beloved for all other women.
[Demetr. 16.1b] After the sea-fight, Menelaüs also made no further resistance, but handed over Salamis to Demetrius, 896 together with his fleet, and his land forces, which comprised twelve hundred horsemen and twelve thousand men-at arms.
[Demetr. 17.1] 17 1 This victory, which was so fair and brilliant, Demetrius adorned still more by his humanity and kindness of heart. He gave the enemy’s dead a magnificent burial, and set his captives free; moreover, upon the Athenians he bestowed twelve hundred suits of armour from the spoils.
[Demetr. 17.2] 2 As his special messenger to carry word of the victory to his father, Demetrius sent Aristodemus of Miletus, the arch-flatterer among all his courtiers, and ready now, as it would seem, to crown the achievement with the grossest of his flatteries. For when he had crossed over from Cyprus, he would not suffer his vessel to come to land, but ordered the crew to cast anchor and remain quietly on board, all of them, 3 while he himself got into the ship’s small boat, landed alone, and proceeded towards Antigonus, who was anxiously awaiting news of the battle, and was disposed as men are apt to be disposed who are struggling for so high a stake. And now, indeed, when he heard that Aristodemus was coming, he was more disturbed than before, and, with difficulty keeping himself indoors, sent servants and friends, one after the other, to learn from Aristodemus what had happened. 4 Aristodemus, however, would make no answer to anybody, but step by step and with a solemn face drew near in perfect silence. Antigonus, therefore, thoroughly frightened, and no longer able to restrain himself, came to the door to meet Aristodemus, who was now escorted by a large throng which was hurrying to the palace. 5 Accordingly, when he had come near, he stretched out his hand and cried with a loud voice: “Hail, King Antigonus, we have conquered Ptolemy in a sea-fight, and now hold Cyprus, with twelve thousand eight hundred soldiers as prisoners of war.” To this Antigonus replied: “Hail to thee also, by Heaven! but for torturing us in this way, thou shalt undergo punishment; the reward for thy good tidings thou shalt be some time in getting.”
[Demetr. 18.1] 18 1 Upon this, the multitude for the first time saluted Antigonus and Demetrius as kings. Antigonus, accordingly, was immediately crowned by his friends, and Demetrius received a diadem from his father, with a letter in which he was addressed as King. The followers of Ptolemy in Egypt on their part also, when these things were reported to them, gave him the title of King, that they might not appear to lose spirit on account of their defeat. 2 And thus their emulation carried the practice among the other successors of Alexander. For Lysimachus began to wear a diadem, and Seleucus also in his interviews with the Greeks; with the Barbarians he had before this dealt as king. Cassander, however, although the others gave him the royal title in their letters and addresses, wrote his letters in his own untitled name, as he had been wont to do.
[Demetr. 18.3] 3 Now, this practice did not mean the addition of a name or a change of fashion merely, but it stirred the spirits of the men, lifted their thoughts high, and introduced into their lives and dealings with others pomposity and ostentation, just as tragic actors adapt to their costumes their gait, voice, posture at table, and manner of addressing others. 4 Consequently they became harsher in their judicial decisions also; they laid aside that dissemblance of power which formerly had often made them more lenient and gentle with their subjects. So great influence had a flatterer’s single word, and with so great a change did it fill the whole world.
[Demetr. 19.1] 19 1 Antigonus, elated by the achievements of Demetrius at Cyprus, at once made an expedition against Ptolemy; he himself led his forces by land, while Demetrius with a great fleet coöperated with him by sea. How the enterprise was to issue, Medius, a friend of Antigonus, was warned by a vision in his sleep. 897 2 He dreamed, namely, that Antigonus himself, with his whole army, was competing in a race over the course and back; he ran vigorously and swiftly at first, then, little by little, his strength failed him; and at last, after he had made the turn, he became weak, breathed heavily, and with difficulty made the finish. And conformably to the vision, Antigonus himself encountered many difficulties by land, and since Demetrius also encountered a great storm and a heavy sea and was cast upon a rough coast which had no harbours, losing many of his ships, he returned without accomplishing anything.
[Demetr. 19.3] 3 Antigonus was at this time almost eighty years old, and his great size and weight, even more than his old age, made it difficult for him to conduct expeditions. He therefore made use of his son instead, whose good fortune and experience now enabled him to conduct the greatest affairs successfully, and whose luxuries, extravagances, and revelries gave his father no concern. For although in time of peace Demetrius plunged deep into these excesses and devoted his leisure to his pleasures without restraint and intemperately, yet in time of war he was as sober as those who were abstemious by nature. 4 And we are told that once, after Lamia was known of all men to be in complete control of Demetrius, he came home from abroad and greeted his father with a kiss, whereupon Antigonus said with a laugh, “One would think, my son, that thou wert kissing Lamia.” Again, on another occasion, when Demetrius had been at his revels for several days, and excused his absence by saying that he was troubled with a flux, “So I learned,” said Antigonus, “but was it Thasian or Chian wine that flowed?” 5 And again, learning that his son was sick, Antigonus was going to see him, and met a certain beauty at his door; he went in, however, sat down by his son, and felt his pulse. “The fever has left me now,” said Demetrius. “No doubt, my boy,” said Antigonus, “I met it just now at the door as it was going away.” 6 These failings of Demetrius were treated with such lenity by his father because the young man was so efficient otherwise. The Scythians, in the midst of their drinking and carousing, twang their bow-strings, as though summoning back their courage when it is dissolved in pleasure; but Demetrius, giving himself up completely, now to pleasure, and now to duty, and keeping the one completely separate from the other, was no less formidable in his preparations for war.
[Demetr. 20.1] 20 1 Nay, he was actually thought to be a better general in preparing than in employing a force, for he wished everything to be at hand in abundance for his needs, and could never be satisfied with the largeness of his undertakings in building ships and engines of war, or in gazing at them with great delight. For he had good natural parts and was given to speculation, and did not apply his ingenuity to things that would afford useless pleasure or diversion, like other kings who played on the flute, or painted, or chased metals. 2 Aeropus the Macedonian, for instance, used to spend his leisure time in making little tables or lamp-stands. And Attalus Philometor used to grow poisonous plants, not only henbane and hellebore, but also hemlock, aconite, and dorycnium, sowing and planting them himself in the royal gardens, and making it his business to know their juice and fruits, and to collect these at the proper season. And the kings of the Parthians used to take pride in notching and sharpening with their own hands the points of their missiles. 3 But with Demetrius, even the work of his hands was kingly, and his method had grandeur about it, since what he produced displayed loftiness of purpose and spirit combined with elegance and ingenuity, so that men thought it worthy, not only to be designed and paid for by a king, but actually to be wrought by his hand. For its magnitude terrified even his friends, and its beauty delighted even his enemies. And this has still more truth in it than elegance of diction. 4 His enemies would stand on shore 898 and admire his galleys of fifteen or sixteen banks of oars as they sailed along past, and his “city-takers” were a spectacle to those whom he was besieging, as the actual facts testify. For Lysimachus, although he was the bitterest enemy Demetrius had among the kings, and had arrayed himself against him when he was besieging Soli in Cilicia, sent and asked Demetrius to show him his engines of war, and his ships in full career; and when Demetrius had shown them, Lysimachus expressed his admiration and went away. 5 The Rhodians also, after they had been for a long time besieged by Demetrius and had come to terms with him, asked him for some of his engines of war, that they might keep them as a reminder of his power as well as of their own bravery.
[Demetr. 21.1] 21 1 Now, he made war upon the Rhodians because they were allies of Ptolemy, and brought up against their walls his greatest “city-taker.” Its base was square, and each of its sides measured at the bottom forty-eight cubits. It rose to a height of sixty-six cubits, and tapered from base to summit. 2 Within, it was divided off into many storeys and chambers, and the side of it which faced the enemy had windows opening out of every storey, and out through these issued missiles of every sort; for it was full of men who fought in every style of fighting. Moreover, it did not totter or lean when it moved, but remained firm and erect on its base, advancing evenly with much noise and great impetus, and this astounded the minds and at the same time greatly charmed the eyes of those who beheld it.
[Demetr. 21.3] 3 For his use in this war there were brought to Demetrius from Cyprus two iron coats of mail, each of which weighed only forty pounds. Wishing to show their strength and power of resistance, Zoilus their maker gave orders that a catapult’s missile should be shot at one of them from a distance of twenty paces, and in the place where it struck the iron remained intact, although it did get a faint scratch, such as might be made by a graver. 4 This coat of mail Demetrius wore himself; the other was worn by Alcimus the Epeirot, the sturdiest and most warlike of all the men under him, and the only one whose suit of armour weighed a hundred pounds (the rest used suits of fifty pounds weight); he fell in battle at Rhodes near the theatre.
[Demetr. 22.1] 22 1 But the Rhodians on their part made a vigorous resistance, and Demetrius, although he was accomplishing nothing worthy of mention, nevertheless kept up the fight against them in a rage, because, when Phila his wife sent him letters, bedding, and clothing, the Rhodians had captured the vessel containing them, and had sent it, just as it was, to Ptolemy. In this they did not imitate the considerate kindness of the Athenians, who, having captured Philip’s letter-carriers when he was making war upon them, read all the other letters, indeed, but one of them, which was from Olympias, they would not open; instead, they sent it back to the king with its seal unbroken. 2 However, although Demetrius was exceedingly exasperated by this, when the Rhodians soon after gave him a chance to retaliate, he would not allow himself to do so. It happened, namely, that Protogenes the Caunian had been making a painting for them which illustrated the story of Ialysus, and this picture, nearly finished, had been captured by Demetrius in one of the suburbs of the city. The Rhodians sent a herald and begged Demetrius to spare and not destroy the work, whereupon he replied that he would rather burn the likenesses of his father than so great a labour of art. 3 For we are told that it took Protogenes seven years to complete the painting. And Apelles says he was so smitten with amazement on beholding the work that his voice actually failed him, and that when at last he had recovered it, he cried, “Great is the toil and astonishing the work,” remarking, however, that it had not the graces which made the fame of his own paintings touch the heavens. 4 This painting, then, crowded into the same place with the rest at Rome, the fire destroyed. 899 As for the Rhodians, they continued their strenuous resistance in the war until Demetrius, who wanted a pretext for abandoning it, was induced to make terms with them by a deputation of Athenians, on condition that the Rhodians should be allies of Antigonus and Demetrius, except in a war against Ptolemy.
[Demetr. 23.1] 23 1 And now the Athenians called upon Demetrius because Cassander was besieging their city. So Demetrius sailed to their help with three hundred and thirty ships and a great number of men-at arms, and not only drove Cassander out of Attica, but actually pursued him in his headlong flight as far as Thermopylae, and then took Heracleia, which joined him of its own accord, and six thousand Macedonians, who also came over to him. 2 On his return, he gave their freedom to the Greeks on this side of Thermopylae, made the Boeotians his allies, and captured Cenchreae; he also reduced Phyle and Panactum, fortresses of Attica in which Cassander had garrisons, and gave them back to the Athenians. And they, although before this they had used up and exhausted all the honours that could be bestowed upon him, nevertheless devised a way to show themselves then also the authors of new and fresh flatteries. 3 For instance, they assigned him the rear chamber of the Parthenon for his quarters; and there he lived, and there it was said that Athena received and entertained him, although he was no very orderly guest and did not occupy his quarters with the decorum due to a virgin. 4 And yet on one occasion when his father understood that his brother Philip was quartered in a house occupied by three young women, he said not a word to Philip himself, but in his presence said to the quartermaster whom he had summoned, “See here, wilt thou not remove my son from his narrow quarters?”
[Demetr. 24.1] 24 1 But Demetrius, who ought to have revered Athena, if for no other reason, at least because she was his elder sister (for this was what he liked to have her called), filled the acropolis with such wanton treatment of free-born youth and native Athenian women that the place was then thought to be particularly pure when he shared his dissolute life there with Chrysis and Lamia and Demo and Anticyra, the well-known prostitutes.
[Demetr. 24.2] 2 Now, to give all the particulars plainly would disgrace the fair fame of the city, but I may not pass over the modesty and virtue of Democles. He was still a young boy, and it did not escape the notice of Demetrius that he had a surname which indicated his comeliness; for he was called Democles the Beautiful. But he yielded to none of the many who sought to win him by prayers or gifts or threats, and finally, shunning the palaestras and the gymnasium, used to go for his bath to a private bathing-room. Here Demetrius, who had watched his opportunity, came upon him when he was alone. 3 And the boy, when he saw that he was quite alone and in dire straits, took off the lid of the cauldron and jumped into the boiling water, thus destroying himself, and suffering a fate that was unworthy of him, but showing a spirit that was worthy of his country and of his beauty. Not so Cleaenetus the son of Cleomedon, who, in order to obtain a letter from Demetrius to the people and therewith to secure the remission of a fine of fifty talents which had been imposed upon his father, not only disgraced himself, but also got the city into trouble. 4 For the people released Cleomedon from his sentence, but they passed an edict that no citizen should bring a letter from Demetrius before the assembly. However, when Demetrius heard of it and was beyond measure incensed thereat, they took fright again, and not only rescinded the decree, but actually put to death some of those who had introduced and spoken in favour of it, and drove others into exile; furthermore, they voted besides that it was the pleasure of the Athenian people that whatsoever King Demetrius should ordain in future, this should be held righteous towards the gods and just towards men. 900 5 And when one of the better class of citizens declared that Stratocles was mad to introduce such a motion, Demochares of Leuconoë said: “He would indeed be mad not to be mad.” For Stratocles reaped much advantage from his flatteries. Demochares, however, was brought under accusation for this and sent into exile. So fared it with the Athenians, who imagined that because they were rid of their garrison they therefore had their freedom.
[Demetr. 25.1] 25 1 And now Demetrius proceeded into Peloponnesus, where not one of his enemies opposed him, but all abandoned their cities and fled. He received into allegiance Acte, as it is called, and Arcadia (except Mantineia), and freed Argos, Sicyon, and Corinth by paying their garrisons a hundred talents. 2 At Argos, then, where there was a celebration of the festival of Hera, he presided at the games and attended the solemn assemblies with the Greeks, and married Deïdameia, the daughter of Aeacides king of the Molossians, and the sister of Pyrrhus. As for the Sicyonians, he told them their city was in the wrong place, and persuaded them to change its site to that which it now has; moreover, with the site he also changed the name of the city, calling it Demetrias instead of Sicyon. 3 And at the Isthmus of Corinth, where a general assembly was held and throngs of people came together, he was proclaimed Commander-in chief of the Greeks, as Philip and Alexander had been proclaimed before him; and to these he considered himself in no slight measure superior, lifted up as he was by the good fortune and power which he then enjoyed. And certainly King Alexander never refused to bestow the royal title upon other hands, nor did he proclaim himself King of Kings, although many kings received their position and title from him; 4 whereas Demetrius used to rail and mock at those who gave the title of King to any one except his father and himself, and was well pleased to hear his revellers pledge Demetrius as King, but Seleucus as Master of the Elephants, Ptolemy as Admiral, Lysimachus as Treasurer, and Agathocles of Sicily as Lord of the Isles. 5 When this was reported to these kings, they all laughed at Demetrius, except Lysimachus; he was incensed that Demetrius considered him a eunuch (it was the general practice to have eunuchs for treasurers). 6 And of all the kings Lysimachus had most hatred for Demetrius. He was once reviling the man’s passion for Lamia, and said that this was the first time he had ever seen a harlot coming forward to play a great tragic part; Demetrius, however, declared that his own harlot was more chaste than the Penelope of Lysimachus.
[Demetr. 26.1] 26 1 But to resume the story, when Demetrius was getting ready to return to Athens, he wrote letters to the people saying that he wished to be initiated into the mysteries as soon as he arrived, and to pass through all the grades in the ceremony, from the lowest to the highest (the “epoptica”). Now, this was not lawful, and had not been done before, but the lesser rites were performed in the month Anthesterion, the great rites in Boëdromion; and the supreme rites (the “epoptica”) were celebrated after an interval of at least a year from the great rites. 2 And yet when the letter of Demetrius was read, no one ventured to oppose the proposition except Pythodorus the Torch-bearer, and he accomplished nothing; instead, on motion of Stratocles, it was voted to call the current month, which was Munychion, Anthesterion, and so to regard it, and the lesser rites at Agra were performed for Demetrius; afterwards Munychion was again changed and became Boëdromion instead of Anthesterion, Demetrius received the remaining rites of initiation, and at the same time was also admitted to the highest grade of “epoptos.” 3 Hence Philippides, in his abuse of Stratocles, wrote: —
[Demetr. 26.1b] “Who abridged the whole year into a single month,”
and with reference to the quartering of Demetrius in the Parthenon: —
“Who took the acropolis for a caravansery,
901 And introduced to its virgin goddess his courtesans.”
[Demetr. 27.1] 27 1 But among the many lawless and shocking things done by Demetrius in the city at this time, this is said to have given the Athenians most displeasure, namely, that after he had ordered them to procure speedily two hundred and fifty talents for his use, and after they had levied the money rigorously and inexorably, when he saw the sum that had been collected, he commanded that it should be given to Lamia and her fellow courtesans to buy soapd with. For the shame they felt was more intolerable to the people than their loss, and the words which accompanied it than the deed itself. 2 But some say that those who received this treatment were Thessalians, not Athenians. Apart from this incident, however, Lamia, when she was preparing a supper for the king, exacted money on her own account from many citizens. And the costliness of this supper gave it so wide a renown that it was described in full by Lynceus the Samian. Hence also a comic poet not inaptly called Lamia “a veritable City-taker.” And Demochares of Soli called Demetrius himself “Fable,” because he too, like Fable, had a Lamia.
[Demetr. 27.3] 3 And not only among the wives of Demetrius, but also among his friends, did the favour and affection which he bestowed on Lamia awaken envy and jealousy. At all events, some ambassadors from him once came to Lysimachus, and Lysimachus, in an hour of leisure, showed them on his thighs and shoulders deep scars of wounds made by a lion’s claws; he also told them about the battle he had fought against the beast, with which he had been caged by Alexander the king. Then they laughingly told him that their own king also carried, on his neck, the bites of a dreadful wild beast, — a Lamia. 4 And it was astonishing that while in the beginning he was displeased at Phila’s disparity in years, he was vanquished by Lamia, and loved her so long, although she was already past her prime. At all events, when Lamia was playing on the flute at a supper, and Demetrius asked Demo, surnamed Mania, what she thought of her, “O King,” said Mania, “I think her an old woman.” And at another time, when some sweetmeats were served up, and Demetrius said to Mania, “Dost thou see how many presents I get from Lamia?” “My mother,” said Mania, “will send thee more, if thou wilt make her also thy mistress.” 5 And there is on record also Lamia’s comment on the famous judgment of Bocchoris. There was, namely, a certain Egyptian who was in love with Thonis the courtesan, and was asked a great sum of money for her favours; then he dreamed that he enjoyed those favours, and ceased from his desires. 6 Thereupon Thonis brought an action against him for payment due, and Bocchoris, on hearing the case, ordered the man to bring into court in its coffer the sum total demanded of him, and to move it hither and thither with his hand, and the courtesan was to grasp its shadow, since the thing imagined is a shadow of the reality. This judgment Lamia thought to be unjust; for though the dream put an end to the young man’s passion, the shadow of the money did not set the courtesan free from her desire of it. So much, then, for Lamia.
[Demetr. 28.1] 28 1 But the fortunes and achievements of the man whose Life I am narrating, brings my narrative back, as it were, from the comic to the tragic stage. For all the other kings leagued themselves together against Antigonus and united their forces, and so Demetrius set forth from Greece, and finding his father eager beyond his years for the war, he was himself still more encouraged. 2 And yet it would seem that if Antigonus had made some trifling concessions and had slackened his excessive passion for dominion, he might have always retained the supremacy for himself and have left it to his son. But he was naturally stern and haughty, and was harsh in what he said no less than in what he did, and therefore exasperated and incited against himself many young and powerful men; 902 and their combination and partnership at this time he said he would scatter asunder with a single stone and a single shout, as if they were a flock of granivorous birds.
[Demetr. 28.3] 3 He took the field with more than seventy thousand infantry, ten thousand horse, and seventy-five elephants; while he adversaries had sixty-four thousand infantry, five hundred more horse than he, four hundred elephants, and a hundred and twenty chariots. After he had drawn near them, the cast of his expectations rather than of his purposes underwent a change. 4 For he was wont to be lofty and boastful as he engaged in his conflicts, making pompous speeches in a loud voice, and many times also by the utterance of a casual jest or joke when the enemy was close at hand he would show the firmness of his own spirit and his contempt for them; but now he was observed to be thoughtful and silent for the most part, and he presented his son to the army and pronounced him his successor. 5 But what more than anything else astonished everybody was his conversing alone in his tent with his son, although it was not his custom to have secret conferences even with him; instead, he made his own plans, followed his own counsels, and then gave his orders openly. At all events, we are told that Demetrius, when he was still a stripling, asked his father when they were going to break camp; and that Antigonus replied in anger: “Art thou in distress lest thou alone shouldst not hear the trumpet?”
[Demetr. 29.1] 29 1 At this time, moreover, bad omens also subdued their spirits. For Demetrius dreamed that Alexander, in brilliant array of armour, asked him what watchword they were going to give for the battle; and when he replied, “Zeus and Victory,” also said: “Then I will go away and join your adversaries; they surely will receive me.” 2 Moreover, Antigonus, when his phalanx was already forming and he was leaving his tent, stumbled and fell prone upon his face, injuring himself severely; but he rose to his feet, and stretching out his hands towards heaven prayed that the gods would grant him victory, or a painless death before his defeat.
[Demetr. 29.3] 3 After the armies had engaged, Demetrius, with the largest and best part of the cavalry, clashed with Antiochus, the son of Seleucus; he fought brilliantly and routed his enemy, but by pursuing him too fiercely and eagerly he threw away the victory. For he himself was not able to turn back and rejoin his infantry, since the enemy’s elephants were thrown in his way; and Seleucus, observing that his opponents’ phalanx was unprotected by cavalry, took measures accordingly. He did not actually charge upon them, but kept them in fear of a charge by continually riding around them, thus giving them an opportunity to come over to his side. And this was what actually came to pass. 4 For a large body of them, detached from the rest, came over to him of their own accord, and the rest were routed. Then, as throngs of his enemies bore down upon him and one of his followers said, “They are making at thee, O King,” “Who else, pray,” said Antigonus, “should be their mark? But Demetrius will come to my aid.” 5 This was his hope to the last, and to the last he kept watching eagerly for his son; then a whole cloud of javelins were let fly at him and he fell. The rest of his friends and attendants abandoned him, and one only remained by his dead body, Thorax of Larissa.
[Demetr. 30.1] 30 1 The battle having been decided in this manner, the victorious kings carved up the entire domain which had been subject to Antigonus and Demetrius, as if it had been a great carcass, and took each his portion, adding thus to the provinces which the victors already had, those of the vanquished kings. But Demetrius, with five thousand foot and four thousand horse, came in unbroken flight to Ephesus. Here everybody thought that his lack of resources would lead him to lay hands upon the temple; 903 2 but he, fearing lest his soldiers might do this, departed speedily, and sailed for Greece, putting his chief remaining hopes in Athens. For he had left ships there, and moneys, and his wife Deïdameia, and thought that in his evil plight no refuge could be more secure than the goodwill of Athens. 3 Therefore when, as he drew near the Cyclades islands, an embassy from Athens met him with a request to keep away from the city, on the ground that the people had passed a vote to admit none of the kings, and informing him that Deïdameia had been sent to Megara with fitting escort and honour, his wrath drove him beyond all proper bounds, although he had borne his other misfortunes very easily, and in so great a reversal of his situation had shown himself neither mean-spirited nor ignoble. 4 But that the Athenians should disappoint his hopes and play him false, and that their apparent goodwill should prove on trial to be false and empty, was painful to him.
[Demetr. 30.5] And verily the least cogent proof, as it would seem, of a people’s goodwill towards a king or potentate is an extravagant bestowal of honours; for the beauty of such honours lies in the purpose of those who bestow them, and fear robs them of their worth (for the same decrees may be passed out of fear and out of affection). 5 Therefore men of sense look first of all at their own acts and achievements, and then estimate the value of the statues, paintings, or deifications offered to them, putting faith in these as genuine honours, or refusing to do so on the ground that they are compulsory; since it is certainly true that a people will often, in the very act of conferring its honours, have most hatred for those who accept such honours immoderately, ostentatiously, and from unwilling givers.
[Demetr. 31.1] 31 1 Be that as it may, in this case Demetrius thought himself grievously wronged; but since he was unable to avenge himself, he sent a message to the Athenians in which he mildly expostulated with them, and asked that his ships be given back to him, among which was also the one having thirteen banks of oars. These he obtained, and then coasted along to the Isthmus, where he found his affairs in a very sorry state. For his garrisons were everywhere being expelled, and there was a general defection to his enemies. 2 He therefore left Pyrrhus in charge of Greece, while he himself put to sea and sailed to the Chersonesus. Here he ravaged the territory of Lysimachus, thereby enriching and holding together his own forces, which were beginning to recover their spirit and to show themselves formidable again. Nor did the other kings try to help Lysimachus; they thought that he was no less objectionable than Demetrius, and that because he had more power he was even more to be feared.
[Demetr. 31.3] 3 Not long afterwards, however, Seleucus sent and asked the hand of Stratonicé, the daughter of Demetrius and Phila, in marriage. He had already, by Apama the Persian, a son Antiochus; but he thought that his realms would suffice for more successors than one, and that he needed this alliance with Demetrius, since he saw that Lysimachus also was taking one of Ptolemy’s daughters for himself, and the other for Agathocles his son. 4 Now, to Demetrius, a marriage alliance with Seleucus was an unexpected piece of good fortune. So he took his daughter and sailed with his whole fleet to Syria. He was obliged to touch at several places along the coast, and made landings in Cilicia, which country had been allotted by the kings to Pleistarchus, after their battle with Antigonus, and was now held by him. Pleistarchus was a brother of Cassander. 5 He thought his territories outraged by these descents of Demetrius upon them, and besides, he wished to upbraid Seleucus for making an alliance with the common enemy independently of the other kings. So he went up to see him.
[Demetr. 32.1] 32 1 On learning of this, Demetrius set out from the sea-coast for the city of Quinda; and finding twelve hundred talents of its treasure still left, he packed them up, got them safely on board ship, and put to sea with all speed. 904 His wife Phila was already with him, and at Rhosus he was met by Seleucus. 2 Their intercourse was at once put on a royal footing, and knew neither guile nor suspicion. First, Seleucus entertained Demetrius at his tent in the camp, then Demetrius in his turn received Seleucus on board the ship with thirteen banks of oars. There were also amusements, long conferences with one another and whole days spent together, all without guards or arms; until at length Seleucus took Stratonicé and went up in great state to Antioch. 3 But Demetrius took possession of Cilicia, and sent Phila his wife to Cassander, who was her brother, that she might bring to naught the denunciations of Pleistarchus. In the meantime, Deïdameia came by sea from Greece to join Demetrius, and after being with him a short time, succumbed to some disease. Then, by the intervention of Seleucus, friendship was made between Demetrius and Ptolemy, and it was agreed that Demetrius should take to wife Ptolemaïs the daughter of Ptolemy.
[Demetr. 32.4] 4 So far all was courtesy on the part of Seleucus. But presently he asked Demetrius to cede Cilicia to him for a sum of money, and when Demetrius would not consent, angrily demanded Tyre and Sidon from him. It seemed a violent and outrageous proceeding that one who had possessed himself of the whole domain from India to the Syrian sea should be so needy still and so beggarly in spirit as for the sake of two cities to harass a man who was his relative by marriage and had suffered a reverse of fortune. 5 Moreover, he bore splendid testimony to the wisdom of Plato in urging the man who would be truly rich, not to make his possessions greater, but his inordinate desires fewer; since he who puts no end to his greed, this man is never rid of poverty and want.
[Demetr. 33.1] 33 1 Demetrius, however, was not cowed, but declared that not even if he should lose ten thousand battles like that at Ipsus would he consent to pay for the privilege of having Seleucus as a son-in law. Then he strengthened his cities with garrisons, while he himself, learning that Lachares had usurped sovereign power over the Athenians in consequence of their dissensions, thought to appear upon the scene and make an easy capture of the city. So he crossed the sea in safety with a great fleet, but as he was sailing along the coast of Attica he encountered a storm in which most of his ships were lost and a great number of men perished with them. 2 He himself, however, escaped alive, and began a petty war against the Athenians. But since he could accomplish nothing, he sent men to collect another fleet for him, while he himself passed on into Peloponnesus and laid siege to Messene. Here, in an attack upon the walls, he came near losing his life; for a missile from a catapult struck him in the face and passed through his jaw into his mouth. 3 But he recovered, and after restoring to their allegiance certain cities which had revolted from him, he invaded Attica again, got Eleusis and Rhamnus into his power, and ravaged the country. He also seized a ship laden with grain for Athens, and hung its supercargo and its master. All other ships were thus frightened into turning back, and famine became acute in the city, where, besides lack of food, there was dearth also of other things. At any rate, a bushel of salt sold there for forty drachmas, and a peck of wheat was worth three hundred. 4 A slight respite was afforded the Athenians by the appearance off Aegina of a hundred and fifty ships which Ptolemy sent to assist them. Then numerous ships came to Demetrius from Peloponnesus, and many from Cyprus, so that his entire assemblage numbered three hundred, in consequence of which the ships of Ptolemy put off to sea in flight, and Lachares the tyrant abandoned the city and ran away.
[Demetr. 34.1] 34 1 Then the Athenians, although they had decreed death to anyone who should so much as mention peace and reconciliation with Demetrius, 905 straightway threw open the nearest gates and sent ambassadors to him. They did not expect any kindly treatment from him, but were driven to the step by their destitution, 2 in which, among many other grievous things, the following also is said to have occurred. A father and a son were sitting in a room and had abandoned all hope. Then a dead mouse fell from the ceiling, and the two, when they saw it, sprang up and fought with one another for it. At this time also, we are told, the philosopher Epicurus sustained the lives of his associates with beans, which he counted out and distributed among them.
[Demetr. 34.3] 3 Such, then, was the plight of the city when Demetrius made his entry and ordered all the people to assemble in the theatre. He fenced the stage-buildings round with armed men, and encompassed the stage itself with his body-guards, while he himself, like the tragic actors, came down into view through one of the upper side-entrances. The Athenians were more than ever frightened now; but with the first words that he uttered Demetrius put an end to their fears. 4 For avoiding all harshness of tone and bitterness of speech, he merely chided them lightly and in a friendly manner, and then declared himself reconciled, gave them besides a hundred thousand bushels of grain, and established the magistrates who were most acceptable to the people. So Dromocleides the orator, seeing that the people, in their joy, were shouting all sorts of proposals, and were eager to outdo the customary eulogies of the public speakers on the bema, brought in a motion that Piraeus and Munychia should be handed over to Demetrius the king. 5 This was voted, and Demetrius on his own account put a garrison into the Museium also, that the people might not again shake off the yoke and give him further trouble.
[Demetr. 35.1] 35 1 And now that he was in possession of Athens, he at once laid plans against Sparta. Near Mantineia, where Archidamus the king confronted him, he conquered and routed his foe, and then invaded Laconia. And after he had fought a second pitched battle hard by Sparta itself, where he captured five hundred men and slew two hundred, it was thought that he as good as had the city in his power, although up to this time it had never been taken. 2 But with none of the kings does Fortune appear to have taken so great and sudden turns, and in the career of no other did she so many times show herself now small and now great, now resplendent and now abased, now insignificant and now all powerful. For this reason, too, we are told that in his worst reverses Demetrius would apostrophise Fortune in the words of Aeschylus: —
[Demetr. 35.1b] “My flame thou fannest, indeed, and thou seemest to quench me, too.”
[Demetr. 35.3] 3 And so at this time, when events so generously favoured the increase of his dominion and power, word was brought to him, first, that Lysimachus had deprived him of his cities in Asia, and next, that Ptolemy had taken Cyprus, with the exception of the single city of Salamis, and had shut up in Salamis under siege his children and his mother. 4 However, even Fortune, who, like the woman in Archilochus, “in one deceitful hand bore water, and in the other fire,” while by tidings so dreadful and terrifying she drew him away from Sparta, at once inspired him with other hopes of new and great achievements, and on this wise.
[Demetr. 36.1] 36 1 After Cassander’s death, the eldest of his sons, Philip, reigned for a short time over the Macedonians and then died, and the two remaining brothers quarrelled with one another over the succession. One of them, Antipater, murdered his mother, Thessalonicé, and the other, Alexander, summoned to his help Pyrrhus from Epeirus, and Demetrius from Peloponnesus. 2 Pyrrhus was first to answer the summons, and after cutting off a large part of Macedonia 906 as a reward for his assistance, was already a neighbour whom Alexander feared. But Demetrius, who, when he received Alexander’s letters, had set out with his forces to join him, inspired the young man with still more fear because of his high position and reputation, and he therefore met Demetrius at Dium, and gave him a friendly welcome, but declared that the situation no longer demanded his presence. 3 Owing to these circumstances, then, the men were suspicious of one another, and besides, as Demetrius was on his way to supper at the young man’s invitation, some one told him of a plot to kill him in the very midst of the drinking.
[Demetr. 36.4] Demetrius was not at all disturbed, but delayed his coming a little, and ordered his officers to have his troops under arms, and all the attendants and servants in his train (and they were far more numerous than the retinue of Alexander) to go with him into the banqueting-hall and to remain there until he rose from the table. 4 This frightened Alexander, and he did not venture to attempt anything. Demetrius also made the excuse that he was not in condition to take wine, and went away very soon. On the following day he busied himself with preparations for departure, telling Alexander that unexpected troubles had arisen, which demanded his attention, asking his pardon for leaving so quickly, and assuring him that he would pay him a longer visit at another time when his affairs permitted it. Alexander was therefore well pleased, convinced that Demetrius was leaving his territories, not in hostility, but of his own free will, and escorted him on his way as far as Thessaly. 5 But when they came to Larissa, once more invitations to entertainments passed between them, and each plotted against the life of the other.
[Demetr. 36.6] This, more than anything else, put Alexander into the power of Demetrius. For he hesitated to take measures of precaution, that he might not thereby teach Demetrius also to take counter-measures, and he was forestalled by meeting the doom he was himself devising (since he delayed measures to prevent the other from escaping out of his hands). And so, when Demetrius rose up from table before supper was over, Alexander, filled with fear, rose up also and followed close upon his heels towards the door. 6 Demetrius, then, on reaching the door where his own body-guards stood, said merely, “Smite any one who follows me,” and quietly went out himself; but Alexander was cut down by the guards, together with those of his friends who came to his aid. One of these, we are told, as he was smitten, said that Demetrius had got one day’s start of them.
[Demetr. 37.1] 37 1 That night, naturally, was full of tumult. But with the day the Macedonians, who were in confusion and afraid of the forces of Demetrius, found that no enemy came against them, but that Demetrius sent to them a request for an interview and for an opportunity to explain what had been done. They therefore took heart and promised to receive him in a friendly spirit. 2 When he came to them, there was no need of his making long speeches, but owing to their hatred of Antipater, who was a matricide, and to their lack of a better man, they proclaimed Demetrius king of the Macedonians, and at once went down with him into Macedonia. Furthermore, to the Macedonians at home the change was not unwelcome, for they ever remembered with hatred the crimes which Cassander had committed against the posterity of Alexander the Great. 3 And if there still remained any kindly memories of the elder Antipater’s moderation and justice, of these also Demetrius reaped the benefit, since he was the husband of Phila, Antipater’s daughter, and had a son by her to be his successor in the realm, a son who was already quite a youth, and was serving in the army under his father.
[Demetr. 38.1] 38 1 While Demetrius was enjoying a good fortune so illustrious as this, he had tidings concerning his children and his mother, namely, that they had been set free, and that Ptolemy had given them gifts and honours besides; he had tidings also concerning his daughter who was wedded to Seleucus, namely, that she was now the wife of Antiochus the son of Seleucus, and had the title of Queen of Upper Asia. 2 For it came to pass, as it would seem, 907 that Antiochus fell in love with Stratonicé, who was young, and was already mother of a little boy by Seleucus. Antiochus was distressed, and resorted to many means of fighting down his passion, but at last, condemning himself for his inordinate desires, for his incurable malady, and for the subjugation of his reason, he determined to seek a way of escape from life, and to destroy himself gradually by neglecting his person and abstaining from food, under pretence of having some disease. 3 But Erasistratus, his physician, perceived quite easily that he was in love, and wishing to discover who was the object of his passion (a matter not so easy to decide), he would spend day after day in the young man’s chamber, and if any of the beauties of the court came in, male or female, he would study the countenance of Antiochus, and watch those parts and movements of his person which nature has made to sympathize most with the inclinations of the soul. 4 Accordingly, when any one else came in, Antiochus showed no change; but whenever Stratonicé came to see him, as she often did, either alone, or with Seleucus, lo, those tell-tale signs of which Sappho sings were all there in him, — stammering speech, fiery flushes, darkened vision, sudden sweats, irregular palpitations of the heart, and finally, as his soul was taken by storm, helplessness, stupor, and pallor. 5 And besides all this, Erasistratus reasoned further that in all probability the king’s son, had he loved any other woman, would not have persisted to the death in refusing to speak about it.
[Demetr. 38.5] He thought it a difficult matter to explain the case fully to Seleucus, but nevertheless, relying on the father’s kindly feelings towards his son, he took the risk one day, and told him that love was the young man’s trouble, a love that could neither be satisfied nor cured. 6 The king was amazed, and asked why his son’s love could not be satisfied. “Because, indeed,” said Erasistratus, “he is in love with my wife.” “Then canst thou not, O Erasistratus,” said Seleucus, “since thou art my son’s friend, give him thy wife in addition to thy friendship, especially when thou seest that he is the only anchor of our storm-tossed house?” “Thou art his father,” said Erasistratus, “and yet thou wouldst not have done so if Antiochus had set his affections on Stratonicé.” 7 “My friend,” said Seleucus, “would that someone in heaven or on earth might speedily convert and turn his passion in this direction; since I would gladly let my kingdom also go, if I might keep Antiochus.” So spake Seleucus with deep emotion and many tears, whereupon Erasistratus clasped him by the hand and told him he had no need of Erasistratus; for as father, husband, and king, he was himself at the same time the best physician also for his household. 8 Consequently Seleucus called an assembly of the entire people and declared it to be his wish and purpose to make Antiochus king of all Upper Asia, and Stratonicé his queen, the two being husband and wife; he also declared it to be his opinion that his son, accustomed as he was to be submissive and obedient in all things, would not oppose his father in this marriage; 9 and that if his wife were reluctant to take this extraordinary step, he called upon his friends to teach and persuade her to regard as just and honourable whatever seemed good to the king and conducive to the general welfare. On this wise, then, we are told, Antiochus and Stratonicé became husband and wife.
[Demetr. 39.1] 39 1 As for Demetrius, after Macedonia he became master of Thessaly also. And now that he had most of Peloponnesus, and, on this side the Isthmus, Megara and Athens, he turned his arms against the Boeotians. These at first made friendly agreements with him on reasonable terms; afterwards, however, when Cleonymus the Spartan made his way into Thebes with an army, the Boeotians were lifted up in spirit, and since at the same time Pisis of Thespiae, who was their leading man at this time in reputation and influence, added his instigations to the step, they revolted. 2 But when Demetrius brought up his engines-of war against Thebes 908 and laid siege to the city, Cleonymus took fright and stole away, and the Boeotians, in terror, surrendered. Demetrius put garrisons in their cities, exacted large sums of money from them, and left as their overseer and governor Hieronymus the historian, thereby giving a reputation for clemency, and particularly by his treatment of Pisis. For after capturing him Demetrius did him no harm, but actually greeted him, showed him kindness, and appointed him polemarch in Thespiae. 3 Not long afterwards, however, Lysimachus was taken prisoner by Dromichaetes, and in view of this Demetrius set out with all speed for Thrace, thinking to occupy a region destitute of defenders. Thereupon the Boeotians revolted again, and at the same time word was brought that Lysimachus had been set free. Quickly, therefore, and in wrath, Demetrius turned back, and finding that the Boeotians had been defeated in battle by his son Antigonus, once more laid siege to Thebes.
[Demetr. 40.1] 40 1 But Pyrrhus now overran Thessaly and was seen as far south as Thermopylae; Demetrius therefore left Antigonus to conduct the siege of Thebes, and himself set out against this new foe. Pyrrhus, however, made a swift retreat, whereupon Demetrius stationed ten thousand men-at arms and a thousand horsemen in Thessaly and once more devoted himself to Thebes. Here he brought up against the city his famous City-taker, but this was so laboriously and slowly propelled, owing to its weight and great size, that in the space of two months it hardly advanced two furlongs. 2 Besides, the Boeotians made a stout resistance, and Demetrius many times, out of contumacy rather than from need, forced his soldiers to risk their lives in battle. Antigonus saw that they were falling in great numbers, and in great concern said “Why, my father, should we suffer these lives to be squandered without any necessity for it?” But Demetrius was incensed, and said: “Why, pray, art thou disturbed at this? Are rations due from thee to the dead?” 3 However, wishing not to be thought reckless of other lives only, but also to share the perils of battle, he was pierced through the neck by a catapult-bolt. And yet, sore wounded as he was, he did not give up, but took Thebes again. His entry into the city filled the citizens with acute fear; they thought they were to suffer the most dreadful punishments; but he put to death only thirteen of them, banished a few, and pardoned the rest. 4 And so it was the fate of Thebes, which had been occupied less than ten years, to be captured twice during this time.
[Demetr. 40.1b] Furthermore, the time for the Pythian games being now at hand, Demetrius ventured upon a most unheard of proceeding. Since, namely, the Aetolians occupied the passes about Delphi, he conducted the games and the festival in person at Athens, declaring it to be especially fitting that Apollo should be honoured there, since he was a patron deity of the Athenians and was said to have been the founder of their race.
[Demetr. 41.1] 41 1 From Athens Demetrius returned to Macedonia, and since he was himself not prone by nature to keep quiet, and since he saw that his followers were more devoted to him when they were on a campaign, but at home were turbulent and meddlesome, he made an expedition against the Aetolians. After ravaging the country, he left Pantauchus there with a large part of his forces, while he himself moved against Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus also moved against him, but they missed one another on the march. 2 Demetrius therefore plundered Epeirus, but Pyrrhus fell upon Pantauchus, and after a battle in which the two commanders came to close quarters and wounded each other, routed him, took five thousand of his men prisoners, and slew many of the rest. 3 This wrought the greatest harm to the cause of Demetrius. For Pyrrhus, who was not so much hated for what he had done as he was admired for making most of his conquests in person, acquired from this battle a great and splendid name among the Macedonians, 909 and many of them were moved to say that in him alone of all the kings could they see an image of the great Alexander’s daring; whereas the others, and particularly Demetrius, did but assume Alexander’s majesty and pomp, like actors on a stage. 4 And there was in truth much of the theatrical about Demetrius, who not only had an extravagant array of cloakings and head-gear — double-mitred broad-brimmed hats and purple robes shot with gold, but also equipped his feet with gold-embroidered shoes of the richest purple felt. And there was one cloak which was long in the weaving for him, a magnificent work, on which was represented the world and the heavenly bodies; 5 this was left behind half-finished when the reversal of his fortunes came, and no succeeding king of Macedonia ventured to use it, although not a few of them were given to pomp and luxury.
[Demetr. 42.1] 42 1 And not only by such displays did he vex his subjects, who were unused to them, but his luxurious ways of living were also offensive, and above all else the difficulty of getting access to him or conversing with him. For either he would give no audience at all, or he was stern and harsh with his auditors. For instance, he kept an embassy from the Athenians, for whose favour he was more solicitous than for that of any other Greeks, two years in waiting; and when a single envoy came to him from Sparta, he thought himself despised, and was incensed. 2 However, when he cried, “What meanest thou? Have the Spartans sent but one envoy?” he got the neat and laconic reply, “Yea, O king, to one man.” On one occasion, when he was thought to be riding abroad in a more affable mood than usual, and seemed to encounter his subjects without displeasure, there was a large concourse of people who presented him with written petitions. He received them all and folded them away in his cloak, whereupon the people were delighted and escorted him on his way; but when he came to the bridge over the Axius, he shook out the folds of his cloak and cast all the petitions into the river. 3 This was a great vexation to the Macedonians, who thought themselves insulted, not ruled, and they called to mind, or listened to those who called to mind, how reasonable Philip used to be in such matters, and how accessible. An old woman once assailed Demetrius as he was passing by, and demanded many times that he give her a hearing. “I have no time,” said Demetrius. “Then don’t be king,” screamed the old woman. 4 Demetrius was stung to the quick, and after thinking upon the matter, went back to his house, and postponing every thing else, for several days devoted himself entirely to those who wished audience of him, beginning with the old woman who had rebuked him.
[Demetr. 42.5] 5 And surely nothing befits a king as the work of justice. For “Ares is tyrant,” in the words of Timotheus, but “Law is king of all things,” according to Pindar; and Homer speaks of kings as receiving from Zeus for protection and safe-keeping, not city-takers nor bronze-beaked ships, but “ordinances of justice”; and he calls a disciple and “confidant” of Zeus, not the most warlike or unjust or murderous of kings, but the most just. 6 Demetrius, on the contrary, was delighted to receive a surname most unlike those given to the king of the gods; for Zeus is surnamed City-guardian, or City-protector; but Demetrius, City-besieger. Thus a power devoid of wisdom advances evil to the place of good, and makes injustice co dweller with fame.
[Demetr. 43.1] 43 1 But while Demetrius lay most dangerously sick at Pella, he almost lost Macedonia; for Pyrrhus swiftly overran it and advanced as far as Edessa. As soon, however, as Demetrius had somewhat recovered his strength he easily drove Pyrrhus out of the country, and then came to a kind of agreement with him, being unwilling that continual collisions and local conflicts with this opponent should defeat his set purpose. 910 2 And his purpose was nothing less than the recovery of all the realm that had been subject to his father. Moreover, his preparations were fully commensurate with his hopes and undertakings. He had already gathered an army which numbered ninety-eight thousand foot, and besides, nearly twelve thousand horsemen. 3 At the same time, moreover, he had laid the keels for a fleet of five hundred ships, some of which were in Piraeus, some at Corinth, some at Chalcis, and some at Pella. And he would visit all these places in person, showing what was to be done and aiding in the plans, while all men wondered, not only at the multitude, but also at the magnitude of the works. 4 Up to this time no man had seen a ship of fifteen or sixteen banks of oars. At a later time, it is true, Ptolemy Philopator built one of forty banks of oars, which had a length of two hundred and eighty cubits, and a height, to the top of her stern, of forty-eight; she was manned by four hundred sailors, who did no rowing, and by four thousand rowers, and besides these she had room, on her gangways and decks, for nearly three thousand men-at arms. But this ship was merely for show; and since she differed little from a stationary edifice on land, being meant for exhibition and not for use, she was moved only with difficulty and danger. 5 However, in the ships of Demetrius their beauty did not mar their fighting qualities, nor did the magnificence of their equipment rob them of their usefulness, but they had a speed and effectiveness which was more remarkable than their great size.
[Demetr. 44.1] 44 1 Accordingly, while this great force, the like of which no man had possessed since Alexander, was getting under way against Asia, the three kings, Seleucus, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus, formed a league against Demetrius. Next, they sent a joint embassy to Pyrrhus, urging him to attack Macedonia, and not to regard a truce by which Demetrius had not given him the privilege of having no war made upon him, but had taken for himself the privilege of making war first on the enemy of his choice. Pyrrhus granted their requests, and a great war encompassed Demetrius before his preparations were completed. 2 For at one and the same time Ptolemy sailed to Greece with a great fleet and tried to bring it to revolt, while Lysimachus invaded Macedonia from Thrace, and Pyrrhus from the neighbouring Epeirus, and both plundered the land. But Demetrius left his son in charge of Greece, while he himself, hastening to the rescue of Macedonia, set out first against Lysimachus.
[Demetr. 44.3] But tidings came to him that Pyrrhus had taken Beroea. 3 The report quickly came to the ears of the Macedonians, and then Demetrius could no longer maintain discipline, but his camp was full of lamentations and tears, coupled with wrathful execrations against himself, and the soldiers would not hold together, but insisted on going away, ostensibly to their homes, but in reality to Lysimachus. 4 Demetrius therefore determined to put as much distance as possible between himself and Lysimachus, and to turn his arms against Pyrrhus; for Lysimachus as he thought, was a fellow-countryman and congenial to many of the Macedonians because of Alexander; while Pyrrhus was a new-comer and a foreigner, and would not be preferred by them before himself. In these calculations, however, he was greatly deceived. 5 For he drew nigh and pitched his camp by that of Pyrrhus; but his soldiers had always admired that leader’s brilliant exploits in arms, and from of old they had been wont to consider the man who was mightiest in arms as also the most kingly; besides this, they now learned that Pyrrhus treated his prisoners of war with mildness, and since they were seeking to be rid of Demetrius whether it took them to Pyrrhus or to another, they kept deserting him, at first secretly and in small companies.
[Demetr. 44.6] Then the whole camp was in open agitation and disorder, 6 and at last some of the soldiers ventured to go to Demetrius, bidding him to go away and save himself; 911 for the Macedonians, they said, were tired of waging war in support of his luxurious way of living. Demetrius thought this very moderate language compared with the harshness of the rest; so he went to his tent, and, as if he had been an actor and not a real king, put on a dark cloak in place of his stage-robes of royalty, and stole away unnoticed. 7 Most of the soldiers at once fell to pillaging and tearing down his tent, and fought with one another for the spoils; but Pyrrhus came up, mastered the camp without a blow, and took possession of it. And all Macedonia was divided between Pyrrhus and Lysimachus, after Demetrius had reigned over it securely for seven years.
[Demetr. 45.1] 45 1 When Demetrius thus lost his power and fled for refuge to Cassandreia, his wife Phila was full of grief and could not endure to see her husband, that most afflicted of kings, once more in private station and in exile; she gave up all hope, and in hatred of his fortune, which was more secure in adversity than in prosperity, she drank poison and died. But Demetrius, determined to cling still to what was left of his wrecked fortunes, went off to Greece, and tried to assemble his friends and generals who were there.
[Demetr. 45.2] The Menelaüs of Sophocles applies this simile to his own fortunes: —
2 “But my fate on the swiftly turning wheel of God
Goes whirling round forever and ever changes shape,
Just as the moon’s appearance for two kindly nights
Could never be identical and show no change,
But out of darkness first she comes forth young and new,
With face that ever grows more beautiful and full,
And when she reaches largest and most generous phase,
Again she vanisheth away and comes to naught.”
[Demetr. 45.3] 3 This simile might be better used of the fortunes of Demetrius, now waxing and now waning, now full-orbed and now diminished, since even at this time, when his power seemed to fail altogether and suffer extinction, it shot forth new rays of light, and sundry accessions of strength little by little filled out the measure of his hopes. At first he went about visiting the cities in the garb of a private man and without the insignia of a king, and one who saw him thus at Thebes applied to him, not inaptly, the verses of Euripides: —
[Demetr. 45.3b] “Exchanging now the form of god for that of man,
He visits Dirce’s rivulets and Ismenus’ flood.”
[Demetr. 46.1] 46 1 But as soon as he had entered upon the path of hope, as upon a royal highway, and had gathered about himself a body and form of sovereignty, he restored to the Thebans their ancient form of government; the Athenians, however, revolted from him. They voted to elect archons as had been their custom of old, and took away from Diphilus, who had been appointed priest of the Saviour-gods, the privilege of giving his name to the current year; and when they saw that Demetrius had more strength than they expected, they summoned Pyrrhus to their aid from Macedonia. 2 Demetrius came up against them in a rage, and began a strenuous siege of the city. But the people sent to him Crates the philosopher, a man of great repute and influence, and Demetrius, partly because he was induced to grant the ambassador’s appeals in behalf of the Athenians, and partly because he was convinced when the philosopher showed him what would be an advantageous course, raised the siege, and after assembling all the ships he had, and putting on board eleven thousand soldiers, together with his cavalry, he sailed for Asia, to wrest Caria and Lydia from Lysimachus.
[Demetr. 46.3] 3 He was met at Miletus by Eurydicé, a sister of Phila, who brought with her one of her daughters by Ptolemy, Ptolemaïs, 912 who had been betrothed to Demetrius before this through the agency of Seleucus. Demetrius married her now, and Eurydicé gave the bride away. After the marriage Demetrius at once turned his arms against the cities, many of which attached themselves to him of their own accord, and many also he forced into submission. 4 He took Sardis also; and some of the generals of Lysimachus came over to him bringing money and troops. But when Agathocles, the son of Lysimachus, came against him with an army, Demetrius retired into Phrygia; he had determined, if once he could reach Armenia, to bring Media to revolt and attempt the upper provinces, which afforded an ejected commander many refuges and retreats. 5 Agathocles followed him, and though Demetrius had the advantage in their engagements, he was shut off from getting provisions and forage, and was in great straits; besides, his soldiers were suspicious that he was trying to make his way towards Armenia and Media. And not only did famine press them harder, but also some mistake was made in crossing the river Lycus, and a large number of men were carried away by the current and lost. But nevertheless they would have their pleasantries; and one of them wrote up in front of the tent of Demetrius the opening words of the “Oedipus,” slightly changed: —
[Demetr. 46.3b] “O child of blind and aged Antigonus, what are
These regions whither we are come?”
[Demetr. 47.1] 47 1 But at last sickness assailed them as well as famine, which is wont to happen when men have recourse to foods which they must eat to save their lives, and after losing no less than eight thousand men in all, Demetrius retraced his steps with the rest and came down to Tarsus. Here he would gladly have spared the country, which was then under Seleucus, and so have given its ruler no ground of complaint; 2 but this was impossible, for his soldiers were suffering extreme privations, and Agathocles had fortified the passes of the Taurus against him. He therefore wrote a very long letter to Seleucus, bewailing his own misfortunes, and then begging and beseeching him to take pity on a man who was allied to him by marriage, and had suffered enough to win sympathy even from his enemies.
[Demetr. 47.3] Seleucus was somewhat softened by this appeal, and wrote to his generals in that province that they should furnish Demetrius himself with royal maintenance, and his troops with abundant supplies. 3 But Patrocles, a man in repute for wisdom, and a trusted friend of Seleucus, came to him and told him that the expense of maintaining the soldiers of Demetrius was a very small matter, but that it was unwise for him to allow Demetrius to remain in that country, since he had always been the most violent of the kings, and the most given to grand designs, and was now in a state of fortune where even naturally moderate men are led to commit deeds of daring and injustice. 4 Incited by this advice, Seleucus marched into Cilicia with a large force. Then Demetrius, filled with amazement and alarm at the sudden change of attitude in Seleucus, asked that above all things he might be permitted to acquire a petty empire among the independent Barbarians, in which he might end his days without further wanderings and flights; but if this might not be, he begged him to give his troops food for the winter there, and not to drive him forth, stripped and destitute of all things, and cast him into the hands of his enemies.
[Demetr. 48.1] 48 1 But Seleucus was suspicious of all this, and told Demetrius that he might, if he wished, spend two months in winter quarters in Cataonia, provided he gave the chief among his friends as hostages; and at the same time he fortified the passes into Syria against him. Then Demetrius, like a wild beast, hemmed in and attacked on all sides, was driven to defend himself; he overran the country, and when Seleucus attacked him, engaged with him and always had the advantage. 913 2 Once in particular, when the scythe-bearing chariots were dashing down upon him, he avoided the charge, routed his assailants, drove away those who were fortifying the passes into Syria, and made himself master of them. And now he was completely lifted up in spirit, and seeing that his soldiers had recovered their courage, he made ready to fight to the finish with Seleucus for the supreme prizes. Seleucus himself was already in perplexity. 3 For he had refused the assistance offered by Lysimachus, whom he distrusted and feared; and by himself he hesitated to join battle with Demetrius, fearing the man’s desperation and the perpetual change which brought him from the extremest destitution to the greatest affluence.
[Demetr. 48.4] However, a grievous sickness seized Demetrius at this juncture; it wrought terrible harm to his body, and utterly ruined his cause. For some of his soldiers went over to the enemy, and others dispersed. 4 But at last, after forty days, he recovered strength, and taking the soldiers that remained, set out, so far as his enemies could see or conjecture, for Cilicia; then, in the night and without signal by trumpet, he set out in the opposite direction, crossed the range of Amanus, and plundered the lower country as far as Cyrrhestica.
[Demetr. 49.1] 49 1 When Seleucus made his appearance there and encamped near by, Demetrius set his army in motion by night and advanced against him. Seleucus was ignorant of his approach for a long time, and lay sleeping. But when some deserters came and told him of his peril, he was astounded, and leaping up ordered the trumpets to be sounded, at the same time pulling on his boots and shouting to his companions that a terrible wild beast was upon them. But Demetrius, perceiving from the noise which his enemies made that they had been informed of his approach, drew off his troops with all speed. 2 When day came, however, Seleucus was pressing him hard, so he sent one of his officers to the other wing, and partially routed the enemy. But at this point Seleucus himself, quitting his horse, doffing his helmet, and taking a light shield, went to meet the mercenaries of Demetrius, showing them who he was, and exhorting them to come over to him, since they must for some time have been aware that his long forbearance had them in view, and not Demetrius. 3 Consequently they all welcomed him, hailed him as king, and went over to him.
[Demetr. 49.4] Then Demetrius, perceiving that the last of many reversals of fortune was now come upon him, left the field and fled to the passes of Amanus, where he plunged into a dense forest along with sundry friends and followers, few all told, and waited for the night. He wished, if possible, to take the road to Caunus and make his way through to the sea, where he expected to find his fleet. 4 But when he learned that the party had not provisions enough even for the coming day, he tried to think of other plans. At this point, however, Sosigenes came up, a companion of his, with four hundred pieces of gold in his belt; so hoping that with this money they could make their way through to the sea, the party set out towards the passes, in the darkness of night. In the passes, however, the enemy were burning fires, so the fugitives despaired of this road and once more returned to their place in the forest — not all of them, for some had run away; nor was the remnant as willing as before. 5 And when one of them ventured to speak out boldly and say that Demetrius ought to surrender himself to Seleucus, Demetrius drew his sword and would have killed himself; but his friends encompassed him, and with encouraging words persuaded him to do as the man had said. So he sent to Seleucus and put himself at his disposal.
[Demetr. 50.1] 50 1 When Seleucus heard of it, he declared that it was not the good fortune of Demetrius that brought him safety, but his own, which, in addition to her other blessings, gave him an opportunity to show generosity and kindness. Then he called his overseers and bade them pitch a royal tent, 914 and to make all other arrangements and preparations for a magnificent reception and entertainment. 2 There was also with Seleucus a certain Apollonides, who had been an intimate friend of Demetrius; this man was at once sent to him by Seleucus, to give him cheerfulness and confidence by reminders that he was coming into the presence of a man who was a friend and relative. When this purpose of Seleucus became evident, first a few of his friends, then the greater part of them, went off hot foot to Demetrius, vying with one another in their efforts to reach him first; for it was expected that he would at once be a very great personage at the court of Seleucus.
[Demetr. 50.3] 3 But this behaviour of his friends turned the king’s pity into jealousy, and gave malicious and mischievous persons an opportunity to thwart and put an end to his generosity. They frightened him by their insinuations that without any delay, but at the first sight of Demetrius, there would be a great revolution in the camp. 4 And so it came to pass that at the very time when Apollonides had come to Demetrius with a joyful countenance, and while the other courtiers were coming up and telling him wonderful tales about Seleucus and his generosity, and when Demetrius, after all his disasters and misfortunes, even if he had once thought his surrender a disgraceful act, had now changed his mind as a result of his courage and hopefulness, up came Pausanias at the head of a thousand soldiers, foot and horse together. 5 With these he surrounded Demetrius on a sudden, and after sending off everybody else, conducted him, not into the presence of Seleucus, but away to the Syrian Chersonese. Here, for the rest of his life, a strong guard was set over him, a sufficient number of attendants came to him from Seleucus, while money and maintenance was provided for him which was not to be despised, nay, royal courses for riding and walking, and parks with wild game in them, were set apart for his use; 6 any friend also who shared his exile and wished to visit him could do so, and notwithstanding his captivity sundry people kept coming to him from Seleucus bringing kindly messages and exhorting him to be of good cheer, since as soon as Antiochus came with Stratonicé, he was to be set at liberty.
[Demetr. 51.1] 51 1 Demetrius, however, finding himself in this plight, sent word to his son and the friends and commanders who were at Athens and Corinth, bidding them put no trust in letters or seal purporting to be his, but to treat him as dead, and to preserve for Antigonus his cities and the rest of his power. 2 When Antigonus learned of his father’s capture, he was deeply distressed, put on mourning apparel, and wrote to the other kings and especially to Seleucus himself, supplicating him, and offering to surrender to him whatever was left of his own and his father’s possessions, and above everything volunteering to be a hostage himself for his father. Many cities also and many rulers joined in these supplications. 3 But Lysimachus did not; he sent to Seleucus the promise of a large sum of money if he killed Demetrius. But Seleucus, who had always had a feeling of aversion for Lysimachus, all the more for this proposal thought him abominable and barbarous, and continued to keep Demetrius under watch and ward for Antiochus his son and Stratonicé, that the favour of his release might come from them.
[Demetr. 52.1] 52 1 But Demetrius, who in the beginning bore up under the misfortune that had come upon him, and presently grew accustomed to it and endured his situation with a better grace, at first, in one way or another, exercised his body, resorting to hunting, so far as he could, or riding; then, little by little, he came to have the greatest indifference and aversion to these sports, took eagerly to drinking and dice, and spent most of his time at these. 2 This was either because he thought escape from the thoughts on his present condition which tormented him when he was sober, and tried to smother his reflections in drunkenness; or because he had convinced himself that this was the real life, which he had long desired and striven to attain, but had foolishly missed it through folly and empty ambition, thereby bringing many troubles upon himself, and many upon others; 915 he had sought in arms and fleets and armies to find the highest good, but now, to his surprise, had discovered it in idleness and leisure and repose. 3 For what other end than this can worthless kings seek to attain by their wars and perils? Wicked and foolish indeed are they, not only because they seek after luxury and pleasure instead of virtue and honour, but also because they do not even know how to enjoy real pleasure or true luxury.
[Demetr. 52.4] So, then, Demetrius, after an imprisonment of three years in the Syrian Chersonese, through inactivity and surfeit of food and wine, fell sick and died, in the fifty-fifth year of his life. 4 Seleucus was in ill repute for this, and repented him bitterly for having cherished such suspicions against Demetrius, and for allowing himself to be outdone even by Dromichaetes, a barbarous Thracian, who had given Lysimachus, his captive, a treatment so humane and royal.
[Demetr. 53.1] 53 1 Moreover, there was something dramatic and theatrical even in the funeral ceremonies of Demetrius. For his son Antigonus, when he learned that his remains had been sent home, put to sea with his entire fleet and met them off the islands. They were given to him in a golden urn, and he placed them in the largest of his admiral’s ships. 2 Of the cities where the fleet touched in its passage, some brought garlands to adorn the urn, others sent men in funeral attire to assist in escorting it home and burying it. When the fleet put in at Corinth, the cinerary vase was conspicuous on the vessel’s poop, adorned with royal purple and a king’s diadem, and young men stood about it in arms as a bodyguard. Moreover, the most celebrated flute-player then living, Xenophantus, sat near, and with the most solemn melody upon his flute accompanied the rowers; 3 to this melody the oars kept perfect time, and their splashing, like funereal beatings of the breast, answered to the cadences of the flute-tones. But the most pity and lamentation among those who had come in throngs to the sea-shore was awakened by the sight of Antigonus himself, who was bowed down and in tears. After garlands and other honours had been bestowed upon the remains at Corinth, they were brought by Antigonus to Demetrias for burial, a city named after his father, who had settled it from the small villages about Iolcus.
[Demetr. 53.4] 4 The children left by Demetrius were these: Antigonus and Stratonicé, by Phila; two named Demetrius, one who was surnamed the Thin, by a woman of Illyria, and one who ruled Cyrené, by Ptolemaïs; and, by Deïdameia, Alexander, who lived and died in Egypt. It is said also that he had a son named Corrhagus, by Eurydicé. His line came down in a succession of kings to Perseus, the last, in whose reign the Romans subdued Macedonia.
[Demetr. 53.4b] And now that the Macedonian play has been performed, let us introduce the Roman.

## Antony

[Ant. 1.1] 1 1 ANTONY’S grandfather was the orator Antonius, who joined the party of Sulla and was put to death by Marius; his father was Antonius surnamed Creticus, a man of no great repute in public life, nor illustrious, but kindly and honest, and particularly a liberal giver, as one may see from a single instance. 2 He had not much property himself, and therefore was prevented by his wife from indulging his kindly feelings. When, accordingly, one of his intimates came to him with a request for money, money he had not, but he ordered a young slave to put water into a silver bowl and bring it to him, and when it was brought, he moistened his chin, as though about to shave. 3 The slave was then sent away on another errand improvised for the occasion, whereupon Antonius gave the bowl to his friend and bade him dispose of it. Later, when a careful search for it was made for it among the slaves, seeing that his wife was angry and proposed to put them to the torture one by one, Antonius confessed what he had done, and by his entreaties gained her pardon.
[Ant. 2.1] 2 1 His wife was Julia, of the house of the Caesars, and she could vie with the noblest and most discreet women of her time. By this mother her son Antony was reared, after the death of whose father she married Cornelius Lentulus, whom Cicero put to death for joining the conspiracy of Catiline. This would seem to have been the origin and ground of the violent hatred which Antony felt towards Cicero. 2 At any rate, Antony says that not even the dead body of Lentulus was given up to them until his mother had begged it from the wife of Cicero. This, however, is admittedly false; for no one of those who were punished at that time by Cicero was deprived of burial. 3 Antony gave brilliant promise in his youth, they say, until his intimate friendship with Curio fell upon him like a pest. For Curio himself was unrestrained in his pleasures, and in order to make Antony more manageable, engaged him in drinking bouts, and with women, and in immoderate and extravagant expenditures. This involved Antony in a heavy debt and one that was excessive for his years — a debt of two hundred and fifty talents. 4 For this whole sum Curio went surety, but his father heard of it and banished Antony from his house. Then Antony allied himself for a short time with Clodius, the most audacious and low-lived demagogue of his time, in the violent courses which were convulsing the state; but he soon became sated with that miscreant’s madness, and fearing the party which was forming against him, left Italy for Greece, where he spent some time in military exercises and the study of oratory. 5 He adopted what was called the Asiatic style of oratory, which was at the height of its popularity in those days and bore a strong resemblance to his own life, which was swashbuckling and boastful, full of empty exultation and distorted ambition.
[Ant. 3.1] 3 1 When Gabinius, a man of consular dignity, was sailing for Syria, he tried to persuade Antony to join the expedition. Antony refused to go out with him in a private capacity, but on being appointed commander of the horse, accompanied him on the campaign. And first, having been sent against Aristobulus, who was bringing the Jews to a revolt, he was himself the first man to mount the highest of the fortifications, and drove Aristobulus from all of them; then he joined battle with him, routed his many times more numerous forces with his own small band, and slew all but a few of them. Aristobulus himself was captured, together with his son.
[Ant. 3.2] 2 After this, Ptolemy tried to persuade Gabinius by a bribe of ten thousand talents to join him in an invasion of Egypt and recover the kingdom for him. But the greater part of the officers were opposed to the plan, and Gabinius himself felt a certain dread of the war, although he was completely captivated by the ten thousand talents. Antony, however, who was ambitious of great exploits and eager to gratify the request of Ptolemy, joined the king in persuading and inciting Gabinius to the expedition. 3 But more than the war the march to Pelusium was feared, since their route lay through deep sand, where there was no water, as far as the Ecregma and the Serbonian marshes. These the Egyptians call the blasts of Typhon, although they appear to be a residual arm of the Red Sea, helped by infiltration, where the isthmus between them and the Mediterranean is at its narrowest. 4 Antony was therefore sent with the cavalry, and he not only occupied the narrow pass, but actually took Pelusium, a large city, and got its garrison into his power, thus rendering its march safer for the main army and giving its general assured hope of victory. And even the enemy reaped advantage from Antony’s love of distinction. For Ptolemy, as soon as he entered Pelusium, was led by wrath and hatred to institute a massacre of the Egyptians; but Antony intervened and prevented him. 5 Moreover, in the ensuing battles and contests, which were many and great, he displayed many deeds of daring and sagacious leadership, the most conspicuous of which was his rendering the van of the army victorious by outflanking the enemy and enveloping them from the rear. For all this he received rewards of valour and fitting honours. Nor did the multitude fail to observe his humane treatment of the dead Archelaüs, 6 for after waging war upon him by necessity while he was living, although he had been a comrade and friend, when he had fallen, Antony found his body and gave it royal adornment and burial. Thus he left among the people of Alexandria a very high reputation, and was thought by the Romans on the expedition to be a most illustrious man.
[Ant. 4.1] 4 1 He had also a noble dignity of form; and a shapely beard, a broad forehead, and an aquiline nose were thought to show the virile qualities peculiar to the portraits and statues of Hercules. Moreover, there was an ancient tradition that the Antonii were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, a son of Heracles. 2 And this tradition Antony thought that he confirmed, both by the shape of his body, as has been said, and by his attire. For whenever he was going to be seen by many people, he always wore his tunic girt up to his thigh, a large sword hung at his side, and a heavy cloak enveloped him. However, even what others thought offensive, namely, his jesting and boastfulness, his drinking-horn in evidence, his sitting by a comrade who was eating, or his standing to eat at a soldier’s table, — it is astonishing how much goodwill and affection for him all this produced in his soldiers. 3 And somehow even his conduct in the field of love was not without its charm, nay, it actually won for him the favour of many; for he assisted them in their love affairs, and submitted pleasantly to their jests upon his own amours.
[Ant. 4.4] Furthermore, his liberality, and his bestowal of favours upon friends and soldiers with no scant or sparing hand, laid a splendid foundation for his growing strength, and when he had become great, lifted his power to yet greater heights, although it was hindered by countless faults besides. One illustration of his lavish giving I will relate. 4 To one of his friends he ordered that two hundred and fifty thousand drachmas should be given (a sum which the Romans call “decies”). His steward was amazed, and in order to show Antony the magnitude of the sum, deposited the money in full view. Antony, passing by, asked what that was; and when his steward told him it was the gift which he had ordered, he divined the man’s malice and said: “I thought the decies was more; this is a trifle; therefore add as much more to it.”
[Ant. 5.1] 5 1 This, however, was at a later time. But when matters at Rome came to a crisis, the aristocratic party attaching itself to Pompey, who was in the city, and the popular party summoning Caesar from Gaul, where he was in arms, then Curio, the friend of Antony, who had changed sides and was now favouring the cause of Caesar, brought Antony over to it. Curio had great influence with the multitude from his eloquence, and made lavish use of money supplied by Caesar, and so got Antony elected tribune of the people, and afterwards one of the priests, called augurs, who observe the flight of birds. 2 As soon as Antony entered upon his office he was of great assistance to those who were managing affairs in the interests of Caesar. In the first place, when Marcellus the consul proposed to put under Pompey’s control the soldiers already collected, and to give him power to levy others, Antony opposed him by introducing a decree that the forces already assembled should sail for Syria and give aid to Bibulus, who was carrying on war with the Parthians, and that the troops which Pompey was then levying should not belong to him. 3 In the second place, when the senate would not receive Caesar’s letters nor allow them to be read, Antony, whose office gave him power, read them himself, and thereby changed the opinion of many, who judged from Caesar’s letters that he was making only reasonable and just demands. 4 And finally, when two questions were before the senate, one, whether Pompey should dismiss his forces, and the other, whether Caesar should do so, and only a few were for having Pompey lay down his arms, and all but a few were for having Caesar do so, then Antony rose and asked whether it was the opinion of the senate that Pompey and Caesar alike should lay down their arms and dismiss their forces. This proposal all accepted with alacrity, and with shouts of praise for Antony they demanded that the question be put to a vote. But the consuls would not consent to this, and again the friends of Caesar put forward fresh demands which were thought to be reasonable. These Cato opposed, and Lentulus, in his capacity of consul, drove Antony from the senate. Antony went forth heaping many imprecations upon them, and putting on the dress of a slave, and hiring a car in company with Quintus Cassius, he set out to join Caesar. As soon as they came into Caesar’s presence they cried loudly that everything was now at loose ends in Rome, since even tribunes of the people had no freedom of speech, but everyone who raised his voice in behalf of justice was persecuted and ran risk of his life.
[Ant. 6.1] 6 1 Upon this, Caesar took his army and invaded Italy. Therefore Cicero, in his “Philippics,” wrote that as Helen was the cause of the Trojan war, so Antony was the cause of the civil war. But this was manifestly false. 2 For Caius Caesar was not a pliable man, nor easily led by anger to act on impulse. Therefore, had he not long ago determined upon his course, he would not thus, on the spur of the moment, have made war upon his country, just because he saw that Antony, meanly clad, with Cassius, on a hired car, had come in flight to him; 3 nay, this merely afforded a cloak and a specious reason for war to a man who had long wanted a pretext for it. And that which led him to war against all mankind, as it had led Alexander before him, and Cyrus of old, was an insatiable love of power and a mad desire to be first and greatest; this he could not achieve if Pompey were not put down.
[Ant. 6.4] 4 And so he came up against Rome and got it into his power, and drove Pompey out of Italy; and determining first to turn his efforts against the forces of Pompey which were in Spain, and afterwards, when he had got ready a fleet, to cross the sea against Pompey himself, he entrusted Rome to Lepidus, who was praetor, and Italy and the troops to Antony, who was tribune of the people. 5 Antony at once gained the favour of the soldiers by sharing their exercises, living with them for the most part, and making them presents as generously as he could; but to everybody else he was odious. For his easy disposition led him to neglect the wronged, he listened angrily to those who consulted him, and he was in ill repute for his relations with other men’s wives. 6 In a word, Caesar’s power, which proved to be anything rather than a tyranny so far as his own course was concerned, was brought into odium by his friends; and of these Antony, who had the greatest power and was thought to be the greatest transgressor, incurred the most blame.
[Ant. 7.1] 7 1 However, when Caesar came back from Spain, he ignored the charges against Antony, and since in the war he found him energetic, brave, and a capable leader, he made no mistake. Caesar himself, then, after crossing the Ionian sea from Brundisium with a few soldiers, sent back his transports with orders to Gabinius and Antony to embark their forces and come with all speed into Macedonia. 2 But Gabinius was afraid to make the voyage, which was difficult in the winter time, and started to lead his army a long way round by land. Antony, therefore, fearing for Caesar, who was hemmed in among numerous enemies, beat off Libo, who was blockading the harbour of Brundisium, by surrounding his galleys with a great number of small skiffs, and then, embarking eight hundred horsemen and twenty thousand legionaries, put to sea. 3 Being discovered by the enemy and pursued, he escaped the danger from them, since a violent south wind brought a heavy swell and put their galleys in the trough of the sea; but he was carried with his own ships towards a precipitous and craggy shore, and had no hope of escape. 4 Suddenly, however, there blew from the bay a strong south-west wind, and the swell began to run from the land out to sea, so that he was able to reverse his course, and, as he sailed gallantly along, he saw the shore covered with wrecks. For there the wind had cast up the galleys which were in pursuit of him, and many of them had been destroyed. Antony took many prisoners and much booty, captured Lissus, and inspired Caesar with great confidence by arriving in the nick of time with so large a force.
[Ant. 8.1] 8 1 The struggles which followed were many and continuous, and in all of them Antony distinguished himself. Twice, when Caesar’s men were in headlong flight, he met them, turned them back, forced them to stand and engage again their pursuers, and won the victory. Accordingly, next to Caesar, he was the man most talked about in the camp. 2 And Caesar showed plainly what opinion he had of him. For when he was about to fight the last and all-decisive battle at Pharsalus, he himself took the right wing, but he gave the command of the left to Antony, as the most capable officer under him. 3 And after the victory, when he had been proclaimed dictator, he himself pursued Pompey, but he chose Antony as his Master of Horse and sent him to Rome. This office is second in rank when the dictator is in the city; but when he is absent, it is the first and almost the only one. For only the tribuneship continues when a dictator has been chosen; all the other offices are abolished.
[Ant. 9.1] 9 1 However, Dolabella, who was tribune at this time — a newcomer in politics who aimed at a new order of things, introduced a law for the abolition of debts, and tried to persuade Antony, who was his friend and always sought to please the multitude, to take common action with him in the measure. But Asinius and Trebellius advised Antony to the contrary, and, as chance would have it, a dire suspicion fell upon him that he was wronged as a husband by Dolabella. 2 Antony took the matter much to heart, drove his wife from his house (she was his cousin, being a daughter of the Caius Antonius who was Cicero’s colleague in the consulship), made common cause with Asinius and Trebellius, and waged war upon Dolabella. For Dolabella had occupied the forum in order to force the passage of his law; so Antony, after the senate had voted that arms must be employed against Dolabella, came up against him, joined battle, slew some of his men, and lost some of his own. 3 This course naturally made him odious to the multitude, and to men of worth and uprightness he was not acceptable because of his life in general, as Cicero says, nay, he was hated by them. They loathed his ill-timed drunkenness, his heavy expenditures, his debauches with women, his spending the days in sleep or in wandering about with crazed and aching head, the nights in revelry or at shows, or in attendance at the nuptial feasts of mimes and jesters. 4 We are told, at any rate, that he once feasted at the nuptials of Hippias the mime, drank all night, and then, early in the morning, when the people summoned him to the forum, came before them still surfeited with food and vomited into his toga, which one of his friends held at his service. Sergius the mime also was one of those who had the greatest influence with him, and Cytheris, a woman from the same school of acting, a great favourite, whom he took about with him in a litter on his visits to the cities, and her litter was followed by as many attendants as that of his mother. 5 Moreover, people were vexed at the sight of golden beakers borne about on his excursions from the city as in sacred processions, at the pitching of tents when he travelled, at the laying out of costly repasts near groves and rivers, at chariots drawn by lions, and at the use of honest men and women’s houses as quarters for harlots and psaltery-players. 6 For it was thought a monstrous thing that, while Caesar himself was lodging under the skies outside of Italy and clearing away the remnants of the war at great toil and peril, his adherents, by virtue of his efforts, should revel in luxury and mock at their fellow citizens.
[Ant. 10.1] 10 1 These things are also thought to have augmented the discord, and to have incited the soldiery to deeds of violence and rapacity. For this reason, too, when Caesar came back, he pardoned Dolabella, and, on being chosen consul for the third time, selected Lepidus as his colleague, and not Antony. 2 The house of Pompey, when put up for sale, was bought by Antony; but when he was asked to pay the price for it, he was indignant. And he says himself that this was the reason why he did not go with Caesar on his African campaign, since he got no recompense for his private successes. However, it would seem that Caesar cured him of most of his prodigality and folly by not allowing his errors to pass unnoticed. 3 For Antony put away his reprehensible way of living, and turned his thoughts to marriage, taking to wife Fulvia, the widow of Clodius the demagogue. She was a woman who took no thought for spinning or housekeeping, nor would she deign to bear sway over a man of private station, but she wished to rule a ruler and command a commander. Therefore Cleopatra was indebted to Fulvia for teaching Antony to endure a woman’s sway, since she took him over quite tamed, and schooled at the outset to obey women.
[Ant. 10.4] 4 However, Antony tried, by sportive ways and youthful sallies, to make even Fulvia more light-hearted. For instance, when many were going out to meet Caesar after his victory in Spain, Antony himself went forth. Then, on a sudden, a report burst upon Italy that Caesar was dead and his enemies advancing upon the country, and Antony turned back to Rome. He took the dress of a slave and came by night to his house, and on saying that he was the bearer of a letter to Fulvia from Antony, was admitted to her presence, his face all muffled. 5 Then Fulvia, in great distress, before taking the letter, asked whether Antony was still alive; and he, after handing her the letter without a word, as she began to open and read it, threw his arms about her and kissed her.
[Ant. 10.4b] These few details, then, out of many, I have adduced by way of illustration.
[Ant. 11.1] 11 When Caesar returned from Spain, all the principal men went many days’ journey to meet him, but it was Antony who was conspicuously honoured by him. For as he journeyed through Italy he had Antony in the same car with himself, but behind him Brutus Albinus, and Octavius, his niece’s son, who was afterwards named Caesar and ruled Rome for a very long time. 2 Moreover, when Caesar had for the fifth time been appointed consul, he immediately chose Antony as his colleague. It was his purpose also to resign his own office and make it over to Dolabella; and he proposed this to the senate. But since Antony vehemently opposed the plan, heaped much abuse upon Dolabella, and received as much in return, for the time being Caesar desisted, being ashamed of their unseemly conduct. 3 And afterwards, when Caesar came before the people to proclaim Dolabella, Antony shouted that the omens were opposed. Caesar therefore yielded, and gave up Dolabella, who was much annoyed. And it would seem that Caesar abominated Dolabella also no less than he did Antony. For we are told that when a certain man was accusing both of them to him, he said he had no fear of those fat and long-haired fellows, but rather of those pale and thin ones, indicating Brutus and Cassius, by whom he was to be conspired against and slain.
[Ant. 12.1] 12 1 And it was Antony who also unwittingly supplied the conspirators with their most specious pretext. For at the festival of the Lycaea, which the Romans call Lupercalia, Caesar, arrayed in a triumphal robe and seated in the forum upon the rostra, was viewing the runners to and fro. Now, the runners to and fro are many noble youths and many of the magistrates, anointed with oil, and with leathern thongs they strike in sport those whom they meet. 2 Antony was one of these runners, but he gave the ancient usages the go-by, and twining a wreath of laurel round a diadem, he ran with it to the rostra, where he was lifted on high by his fellow runners and put it on the head of Caesar, thus intimating that he ought to be king. When Caesar with affected modesty declined the diadem, the people were delighted and clapped their hands. 3 Again Antony tried to put the diadem on Caesar’s head, and again Caesar pushed it away. This contest went on for some time, a few of Antony’s friends applauding his efforts to force the diadem upon Caesar, but all the people applauding with loud cries when Caesar refused it. And this was strange, too, that while the people were willing to conduct themselves like the subjects of a king, they shunned the name of king as though it meant the abolition of their freedom. 4 At last Caesar rose from the rostra in displeasure, and pulling back the toga from his throat cried out that anyone who pleased might smite him there. The wreath, which had been hung upon one of his statues, certain tribunes of the people tore down. These men the people greeted with favouring cries and clapping of hands; but Caesar deprived them of their office.
[Ant. 13.1] 13 1 This incident strengthened the party of Brutus and Cassius; and when they were taking count of the friends whom they could trust for their enterprise, they raised a question about Antony. The rest were for making him one of them, but Trebonius opposed it. For, he said, while people were going out to meet Caesar on his return from Spain, Antony had travelled with him and shared his tent, and he had sounded him quietly and cautiously; Antony had understood him, he said, but had not responded to his advances; Antony had not, however, reported the conversation to Caesar, but had faithfully kept silence about it. 2 Upon this, the conspirators again took counsel to kill Antony after they had slain Caesar; but Brutus prevented this, urging that the deed adventured in behalf of law and justice must be pure and free from injustice. But the conspirators were afraid of Antony’s strength, and of the consideration which his office gave him, and therefore appointed some of their number to look out for him, in order that, when Caesar entered the senate-chamber and their deed was about to be done, they might engage Antony outside in conversation about some urgent matter and detain him there.
[Ant. 14.1] This was done as planned, and Caesar fell in the senate-chamber. At once, then, Antony put on the dress of a slave and hid himself. But when he learned that the conspirators were laying hands upon nobody, but were merely assembled together on the Capitol, he persuaded them to come down by giving them his son as hostage; moreover, he himself entertained Cassius, and Lepidus entertained Brutus. 2 Besides, he called the senate together and spoke in favour of amnesty and a distribution of provinces among Brutus and Cassius and their partisans, and the senate ratified this proposal, and voted that no change should be made in what Caesar had done. So Antony went out of the senate the most illustrious of men; for he was thought to have put an end to civil war, and to have handled matters involving great difficulty and extraordinary confusion in a most prudent and statesmanlike manner.
[Ant. 14.3] 3 From such considerations as these, however, he was soon shaken by the repute in which he stood with the multitude, and he had hopes that he would surely be first in the state if Brutus were overthrown. Now, it happened that when Caesar’s body was carried forth for burial, Antony pronounced the customary eulogy over it in the forum. And when he saw that the people were mightily swayed and charmed by his words, he mingled with his praises sorrow and indignation over the dreadful deed, and at the close of his speech shook on high the garments of the dead, all bloody and tattered by the swords as they were, 4 called those who had wrought such work villains and murderers, and inspired his hearers with such rage that they heaped together benches and tables and burned Caesar’s body in the forum, and then, snatching the blazing faggots from the pyre, ran to the houses of the assassins and assaulted them.
[Ant. 15.1] 15 1 On account of these things Brutus and his associates left the city, the friends of Caesar united in support of Antony, and Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia, putting confidence in Antony, took most of the treasure from Caesar’s house and put it in his charge; it amounted in all to four thousand talents. 2 Antony received also the papers of Caesar, in which were written memoranda of his decisions and decrees; and making insertions in these, he appointed many magistrates and many senators according to his own wishes. He also brought some men back from exile, and released others from prison, as though Caesar had decided upon all this. Wherefore the Romans in mockery called all such men Charonitae; for when put to the test they appealed to the memoranda of the dead. 3 And Antony managed everything else in autocratic fashion, being consul himself, and having his brothers in office at the same time, Caius as praetor, and Lucius as tribune of the people.
[Ant. 16.1] 16 1 At this state of affairs the young Caesar came to Rome, a son of the dead Caesar’s niece, as has been said, who had been left heir to his property. He had been staying at Apollonia when Caesar was assassinated. The young man greeted Antony as his father’s friend, and reminded him of the moneys deposited with him. For he was under obligation to give every Roman seventy-five drachmas, according to the terms of Caesar’s will. 2 But Antony, at first despising him as a mere stripling, told him he was out of his sense, and that in his utter lack of good judgment and of friends he was taking up a crushing burden in the succession of Caesar. And when the young man refused to listen to this, and demanded the moneys, Antony kept saying and doing many things to insult him. For instance, he opposed him in his canvass for a tribuneship, and when he attempted to dedicate a golden chair in honour of his father by adoption, according to a decree of the senate, Antony threatened to hale him off to prison unless he stopped trying to win popular favour. 3 When, however, the young man made common cause with Cicero and all the other haters of Antony, and with their aid won the support of the senate, while he himself got the goodwill of the people and assembled the soldiers of Caesar from their colonies, then Antony was struck with fear and came to a conference with him on the Capitol, and they were reconciled.
[Ant. 16.4] Afterwards, as he lay asleep that night, Antony had a strange vision. He thought, namely, that his right hand was smitten by a thunder-bolt. 4 And after a few days a report fell upon his ears that the young Caesar was plotting against him. Caesar tried to make explanations, but did not succeed in convincing Antony. So once more their hatred was in full career, and both were hurrying about Italy trying to bring into the field by large pay that part of the soldiery which was already settled in their colonies, and to get the start of one another in winning the support of that part which was still arrayed in arms.
[Ant. 17.1] 17 1 But Cicero, who was the most influential man in the city, and was trying to incite everybody against Antony, persuaded the senate to vote him a public enemy, to send to Caesar the fasces and other insignia of a praetor, and to dispatch Pansa and Hirtius to drive Antony out of Italy. These men were consuls at that time, and in an engagement with Antony near the city of Mutina, at which Octavius Caesar was present and fought on their side, they conquered the enemy, but fell themselves. 2 Many difficulties befell Antony in his flight, the greatest of which was famine. But it was his nature to rise to his highest level when in an evil plight, and he was most like a good and true man when he was unfortunate. For it is a common trait in those whom some difficulty has laid low, that they perceive plainly what virtue is, but all have not the strength amid reverses to imitate what they admire and shun what they hate, nay, some are then even more prone to yield to their habits through weakness, and to let their judgment be shattered. 3 Antony, however, was at this time an amazing example to his soldiers, after such a life of luxury and extravagance as he had led drinking foul water contentedly and eating wild fruits and roots. Bark was also eaten, we are told, and animals never tasted before were food for them as they crossed the Alps.
[Ant. 18.1] 18 1 They were eager to fall in with the troops in those parts which Lepidus commanded, for he was thought to be a friend of Antony, and through him had reaped much advantage from Caesar’s friendship. But when Antony came and encamped near by, he met with no tokens of friendliness, and therefore determined upon a bold stroke. His hair was unkempt, and his beard had been allowed to grow long ever since his defeat, and putting on a dark garment he came up to the camp of Lepidus and began to speak. 2 Many of the soldiers were melted at his appearance and moved by his words, so that Lepidus was alarmed and ordered the trumpets to sound all at once in order to prevent Antony from being heard. But the soldiers felt all the more pity for Antony, and held a secret parley with him, sending Laelius and Clodius to him in the garb of women of the camp. These urged Antony to attack their camp boldly; for there were many, they said, who would welcome him and kill Lepidus, if he wished. 3 But Antony would not permit them to lay hands on Lepidus, and next day began to cross the river with his army. He himself was first to plunge in, and made his way towards the opposite bank, seeing already that many of the soldiers of Lepidus were stretching out their hands to him and tearing down their ramparts. After entering the camp and making himself master of everything, he treated Lepidus with the greatest kindness. Indeed, he embraced him and called him father; and though in fact he was in full control himself, still he did not cease to preserve for Lepidus the name and the honour of imperator. 4 This induced Munatius Plancus also to join him, who was encamped at no great distance with a considerable force. Thus raised again to great power, he crossed the Alps and led into Italy with him seventeen legions of infantry and ten thousand horse. And besides these, he left to guard Gaul six legions with Varius, one of his intimates and boon companions, who was surnamed Cotylon.
[Ant. 19.1] 19 1 Now, Octavius Caesar no longer held with Cicero, because he saw that Cicero was devoted to liberty, and he sent his friends to Antony with an invitation to come to terms. So the three men came together on a small island in the midst of a river, and there held conference for three days. All other matters were easily agreed upon, and they divided up the whole empire among themselves as though it were an ancestral inheritance; but the dispute about the men who were to be put to death gave them the greatest trouble. Each demanded the privilege of slaying his enemies and saving his kinsmen. 2 But at last their wrath against those whom they hated led them to abandon both the honour due to their kinsmen and the goodwill due to their friends, and Caesar gave up Cicero to Antony, while Antony gave up to him Lucius Caesar, who was Antony’s uncle on the mother’s side. Lepidus also was permitted to put to death Paulus his brother; although some say that Lepidus gave up Paulus to Antony and Caesar, who demanded his death. 3 Nothing, in my opinion, could be more savage or cruel than this exchange. For by this barter of murder for murder they put to death those whom they surrendered just as truly as those whom they seized; but their injustice was greater towards their friends, whom they slew without so much as hating them.
[Ant. 20.1] 20 1 To complete this reconciliation, then, the soldiers surrounded them and demanded that Caesar should also cement the friendship by a marriage, and should take to wife Clodia, a daughter of Antony’s wife Fulvia. After this also had been agreed upon, three hundred men were proscribed and put to death by them; 2 moreover, after Cicero had been butchered, Antony ordered his head to be cut off, and that right hand with which Cicero had written the speeches against him. When they were brought to him, he gazed upon them exultantly, laughing aloud for joy many times; then, when he was sated, he ordered them to be placed on the rostra in the forum, just as though he were putting insult upon the dead, and not rather making a display of his own insolence in good fortune and abuse of power. 3 His uncle, Lucius Caesar, being sought for and pursued, took refuge with his sister. She, when the executioners were at hand and trying to force their way into her chamber, stood in the doorway, spread out her arms, and cried repeatedly: “Ye shall not slay Lucius Caesar unless ye first slay me, the mother of your imperator.” By such behaviour, then, she got her brother out of the way and saved his life.
[Ant. 21.1] 21 1 Now, for the most part, the government of the triumvirate was odious to the Romans; and Antony bore most of the blame, since he was older than Caesar, more powerful than Lepidus, and threw himself once more into his old life of pleasure and dissipation as soon as he had shaken off some of his troubles. 2 And to his general ill-repute there was added the great hatred caused by the house in which he dwelt. It had been that of Pompey the Great, a man no less admired for sobriety and for the orderly and democratic disposition of his life than because of his three triumphs. Men were distressed, therefore, to see the house closed for the most part against commanders, magistrates, and ambassadors, who were thrust with insolence from its doors, and filled instead with mimes, jugglers, and drunken flatterers, on whom were squandered the greater part of the moneys got in the most violent and cruel manner. 3 For the triumvirate not only sold the properties of those whom they slew, bringing false charges against their wives and kindred, while they set on foot every kind of taxation, but learning that there were deposits with the Vestal Virgins made by both strangers and citizens, they went and took them. 4 And since nothing was sufficient for Antony, Caesar demanded to share the moneys with him. They shared the army also, and both led their forces into Macedonia against Brutus and Cassius, entrusting Rome to Lepidus.
[Ant. 22.1] 22 1 However, after they had crossed the sea, taken up war, and encamped near the enemy, Antony being opposed to Cassius, and Caesar to Brutus, no great achievements were performed by Caesar, but it was Antony who was everywhere victorious and successful. 2 In the first battle, at least, Caesar was overwhelmingly defeated by Brutus, lost his camp, and narrowly escaped his pursuers by secret flight; although he himself says in his Memoirs that he withdrew before the battle in consequence of a friend’s dream. 3 But Antony conquered Cassius; although some write that Antony was not present in the battle, but came up after the battle when his men were already in pursuit. Cassius, at his own request and command, was killed by Pindar, one of his trusty freedmen; Cassius was not aware that Brutus was victorious. 4 After a few days had intervened, a second battle was fought, and Brutus, being defeated, slew himself; but Antony won the greater credit for the victory, since, indeed, Caesar was sick. And as he stood beside the dead body of Brutus, Antony chided him a little for the death of his brother Caius, whom Brutus had executed in Macedonia to avenge Cicero, and declaring that Hortensius was more to blame than Brutus for his brother’s murder, he ordered Hortensius to be slaughtered on his brother’s tomb; but over Brutus he cast his own purple cloak, which was of great value, and ordered one of his own freedmen to see to the burial of the body. And learning afterwards that this fellow had not burned the purple cloak with the body of Brutus, and had purloined much of what had been devoted to the burial, he put him to death.
[Ant. 23.1] 23 1 After this, Caesar repaired to Rome, since it was thought that he would not live long in consequence of his illness; but Antony, that he might levy money in all the eastern provinces, made his way into Greece with a large army; for since the triumvirate had promised every one of their soldiers five hundred drachmas, they required a more vigorous policy in raising money and collecting tributes. 2 Toward the Greeks, then, Antony conducted himself without rudeness or offence, at least in the beginning, nay, he indulged his fondness for amusement by listening to literary discussions and by witnessing games and religious rites. In his judicial decisions also he was reasonable, and delighted to be called a Philhellene, and still more to be addressed as Philathenian, and he gave the city very many gifts. 3 But when the Megarians wished to show him something fine to rival Athens, and thought that he ought to see their senate-house, he went up and took a view of it; and when they asked him what he thought of it, “It is small,” he said, “but rotten.” He also had measurements taken of the temple of Pythian Apollo, with the purpose of completing it; indeed, he promised as much to the senate.
[Ant. 24.1] 24 1 But presently he left Lucius Censorinus in charge of Greece, and crossing over to Asia laid hands on the wealth that was there. Kings would often come to his doors, and wives of kings, vying with one another in their gifts and their beauty, would yield up their honour for his pleasure; and while at Rome Caesar was wearing himself out in civil strifes and wars, Antony himself was enjoying abundant peace and leisure, and was swept back by his passions into his wonted mode of life. 2 Lute-players like Anaxenor, flute-players like Xanthus, one Metrodorus, a dancer, and such other rabble of Asiatic performers, who surpassed in impudence and effrontery the pests from Italy, poured like a flood into his quarters and held sway there. It was past all endurance that everything was devoted to these extravagances. 3 For all Asia, like the famous city of Sophocles, “was filled alike with incense-offerings,
[Ant. 24.1b] Alike with paeans, too, and voice of heavy groans.”
[Ant. 24.4] At any rate, when Antony made his entry into Ephesus, women arrayed like Bacchanals, and men and boys like Satyrs and Pans, led the way before him, and the city was full of ivy and thyrsus-wands and harps and pipes and flutes, the people hailing him as Dionysus Carnivorous and Savage. 4 For he took their property from well-born men and bestowed it on flatterers and scoundrels. From many, too, who were actually alive, men got their property by asking him for it on the plea that the owners were dead. The house of a man of Magnesia he gave to a cook, who, as we are told, had won reputation by a single supper. 5 But finally, when he was imposing a second contribution on the cities, Hybreas, speaking in behalf of Asia, plucked up courage to say this: “If thou canst take a contribution twice in one year, thou hast power also to make summer for us twice, and harvest-time twice.” These words were rhetorical, it is true, and agreeable to Antony’s taste; but the speaker added in plain and bold words that Asia had given him two hundred thousand talents; “If,” said he, “thou hast not received this money, demand it from those who took it; but if thou didst receive it, and hast it not, we are undone.” 6 This speech made a powerful impression upon Antony; for he was ignorant of most that was going on, not so much because he was of an easy disposition, as because he was simple enough to trust those about him.
[Ant. 24.7] For there was simplicity in his nature, and slowness of perception, though when he did perceive his errors he showed keen repentance, and made full acknowledgement to the very men who had been unfairly dealt with, and there was largeness both in his restitution to the wronged and in his punishment of the wrong-doers. Yet he was thought to exceed due bounds more in conferring favours than in inflicting punishments. 7 And his wantonness in mirth and jest carried its own remedy with it. For a man might pay back his jests and insolence, and he delighted in being laughed at no less than in laughing at others. And this vitiated most of his undertakings. For he could not believe that those who used bold speech in jest could flatter him in earnest, and so was easily captivated by their praises, 8 not knowing that some men would mingle bold speech, like a piquant sauce, with flattery, and thus would take away from flattery its cloying character. Such men would use their bold babbling over the cups to make their submissive yielding in matters of business seem to be the way, not of those who associate with a man merely to please him, but of those who are vanquished by superior wisdom.
[Ant. 25.1] 25 1 Such, then, was the nature of Antony, where now as a crowning evil his love for Cleopatra supervened, roused and drove to frenzy many of the passions that were still hidden and quiescent in him, and dissipated and destroyed whatever good and saving qualities still offered resistance. And he was taken captive in this manner. As he was getting ready for the Parthian war, he sent to Cleopatra, ordering her to meet him in Cilicia in order to make answer to the charges made against her of raising and giving to Cassius much money for the war. 2 But Dellius, Antony’s messenger, when he saw how Cleopatra looked, and noticed her subtlety and cleverness in conversation, at once perceived that Antony would not so much as think of doing such a woman any harm, but that she would have the greatest influence with him. He therefore resorted to flattery and tried to induce the Egyptian to go to Cilicia “decked out in fine array” (as Homer would say), and not to be afraid of Antony, who was the most agreeable and humane of commanders. 3 She was persuaded by Dellius, and judging by the proofs which she had had before this of the effect of her beauty upon Caius Caesar and Gnaeus the son of Pompey, she had hopes that she would more easily bring Antony to her feet. For Caesar and Pompey had known her when she was still a girl and inexperienced in affairs, but she was going to visit Antony at the very time when women have the most brilliant beauty and are at the acme of intellectual power. 4 Therefore she provided herself with many gifts, much money, and such ornaments as high position and prosperous kingdom made it natural for her to take; but she went putting her greatest confidence in herself, and in the charms and sorceries of her own person.
[Ant. 26.1] 26 1 Though she received many letters of summons both from Antony himself and from his friends, she so despised and laughed the man to scorn as to sail up the river Cydnus in a barge with gilded poop, its sails spread purple, its rowers urging it on with silver oars to the sound of the flute blended with pipes and lutes. 2 She herself reclined beneath a canopy spangled with gold, adorned like Venus in a painting, while boys like Loves in paintings stood on either side and fanned her. Likewise also the fairest of her serving-maidens, attired like Nereïds and Graces, were stationed, some at the rudder-sweeps, and others at the reefing-ropes. Wondrous odours from countless incense-offerings diffused themselves along the river-banks. 3 Of the inhabitants, some accompanied her on either bank of the river from its very mouth, while others went down from the city to behold the sight. The throng in the market-place gradually streamed away, until at last Antony himself, seated on his tribunal, was left alone. And a rumour spread on every hand that Venus was come to revel with Bacchus for the good of Asia.
[Ant. 26.4] Antony sent, therefore, and invited her to supper; but she thought it meet that he should rather come to her. 4 At once, then, wishing to display his complacency and friendly feelings, Antony obeyed and went. He found there a preparation that beggared description, but was most amazed at the multitude of lights. For, as we are told, so many of these were let down and displayed on all sides at once, and they were arranged and ordered with so many inclinations and adjustments to each other in the form of rectangles and circles, that few sights were so beautiful or so worthy to be seen as this.
[Ant. 27.1] 27 1 On the following day Antony feasted her in his turn, and was ambitious to surpass her splendour and elegance, but in both regards he was left behind, and vanquished in these very points, and was first to rail at the meagreness and rusticity of his own arrangements. Cleopatra observed in the jests of Antony much of the soldier and the common man, and adopted this manner also towards him, without restraint now, and boldly. 2 For her beauty, as we are told, was in itself not altogether incomparable, nor such as to strike those who saw her; but converse with her had an irresistible charm, and her presence, combined with the persuasiveness of her discourse and the character which was somehow diffused about her behaviour towards others, had something stimulating about it. 3 There was sweetness also in the tones of her voice; and her tongue, like an instrument of many strings, she could readily turn to whatever language she pleased, so that in her interviews with Barbarians she very seldom had need of an interpreter, but made her replies to most of them herself and unassisted, whether they were Ethiopians, Troglodytes, Hebrews, Arabians, Syrians, Medes or Parthians. 4 Nay, it is said that she knew the speech of many other peoples also, although the kings of Egypt before her had not even made an effort to learn the native language, and some actually gave up their Macedonian dialect.
[Ant. 28.1] 28 1 Accordingly, she made such booty of Antony that, while Fulvia his wife was carrying on war at Rome with Caesar in defence of her husband’s interests, and while a Parthian army was hovering about Mesopotamia (over this country the generals of the king had appointed Labienus Parthian commander-in chief, and were about to invade Syria), he suffered her to hurry him off to Alexandria. There, indulging in the sports and diversions of a young man of leisure, he squandered and spent upon pleasures that which Antiphonc calls the most costly outlay, namely, time. 2 For they had an association called The Inimitable Livers, and every day they feasted one another, making their expenditures of incredible profusion. At any rate, Philotas, the physician of Amphissa, used to tell my grandfather, Lamprias, that he was in Alexandria at the time, studying his profession, and that having got well acquainted with one of the royal cooks, he was easily persuaded by him (young man that he was) to take a view of the extravagant preparations for a royal supper. 3 Accordingly, he was introduced into the kitchen, and when he saw all the other provisions in great abundance, and eight wild boars a-roasting, he expressed his amazement at what must be the number of guests.
[Ant. 28.4] But the cook burst out laughing and said: “The guests are not many, only about twelve; but everything that is set before them must be at perfection, and this an instant of time reduces. For it might happen that Antony would ask for supper immediately, and after a little while, perhaps, would postpone it and call for a cup of wine, or engage in conversation with some one. 4 Wherefore,” he said, “not one, but many suppers are arranged; for the precise time is hard to hit.” This tale, then, Philotas used to tell; and he said also that as time went on he became one of the medical attendants of Antony’s oldest son, whom he had of Fulvia, and that he usually supped with him at his house in company with the rest of his comrades, when the young man did not sup with his father. 5 Accordingly, on one occasion, as a physician was making too bold and giving much annoyance to them as they supped, Philotas stopped his mouth with some such sophism as the: “To the patient who is somewhat feverish cold water must be given; but everyone who has a fever is somewhat feverish; therefore to everyone who has a fever cold water should be given.” The fellow was confounded and put to silence, whereat Antony’s son was delighted and said with a laugh: “All this I bestow upon thee, Philotas,” pointing to a table covered with a great many large beakers. 6 Philotas acknowledged his good intentions, but was far from supposing that a boy so young had the power to give away so much.
[Ant. 28.7] After a little while, however, one of the slaves brought the beakers to him in a sack, and bade him put his seal upon it. And when Philotas protested and was afraid to take them, “You miserable man,” said the fellow, “why hesitate? Don’t you know that the giver is the son of Antony, and that he has the right to bestow so many golden vessels? 7 However, take my advice and exchange them all with us for money; since perchance the boy’s father might miss some of the vessels, which are of ancient workmanship and highly valued for their art.” Such details, then, my grandfather used to tell me, Philotas would recount at every opportunity.
[Ant. 29.1] 29 1 But Cleopatra, distributing her flattery, not into the four forms of which Plato speaks, but into many, and ever contributing some fresh delight and charm to Antony’s hours of seriousness or mirth, kept him in constant tutelage, and released him neither night nor day. She played at dice with him, drank with him, hunted with him, and watched him as he exercised himself in arms; and when by night he would station himself at the doors or windows of the common folk and scoff at those within, she would go with him on his round of mad follies, wearing the garb of a serving maiden. 2 For Antony also would try to array himself like a servant. Therefore he always reaped a harvest of abuse, and often of blows, before coming back home; though most people suspected who he was. However, the Alexandrians took delight in their graceful and cultivated way; they liked him, and said that he used the tragic mask with the Romans, but the comic mask with them.
[Ant. 29.3] 3 Now, to recount the greater part of his boyish pranks would be great nonsense. One instance will suffice. He was fishing once, and had bad luck, and was vexed at it because Cleopatra was there to see. He therefore ordered his fishermen to dive down and secretly fasten to his hook some fish that had been previously caught, and pulled up two or three of them. But the Egyptian saw through the trick, and pretending to admire her lover’s skill, told her friends about it, and invited them to be spectators of it the following day. 4 So great numbers of them got into the fishing boats, and when Antony had let down his line, she ordered one of her own attendants to get the start of him by swimming onto his hook and fastening on it a salted Pontic herring. Antony thought he had caught something, and pulled it up, whereupon there was great laughter, as was natural, and Cleopatra said: “Imperator, hand over thy fishing-rod to the fishermen of Pharos and Canopus; thy sport is the hunting of cities, realms, and continents.”
[Ant. 30.1] 30 1 While Antony was indulging in such trifles and youthful follies, he was surprised by reports from two quarters: one from Rome, that Lucius his brother and Fulvia his wife had first quarrelled with one another, and then had waged war with Octavius Caesar, but had lost their cause and were in flight from Italy; and another, not a whit more agreeable than this, that Labienus at the head of the Parthians was subduing Asia from the Euphrates and Syria as far as Lydia and Ionia. 2 At last, then, like a man roused from sleep after a deep debauch, he set out to oppose the Parthians, and advanced as far as Phoenicia; but on receiving from Fulvia a letter full of lamentations, he turned his course towards Italy, at the head of two hundred ships. On the voyage, however, he picked up his friends who were in flight from Italy, and learned from them that Fulvia had been to blame for the war, being naturally a meddlesome and headstrong woman, and hoping to draw Antony away from Cleopatra in case there should be a disturbance in Italy. 3 It happened, too, that Fulvia, who was sailing to meet him, fell sick and died at Sicyon. Therefore there was even more opportunity for a reconciliation with Caesar. For when Antony reached Italy, and Caesar manifestly intended to make no charges against him, and Antony himself was ready to put upon Fulvia the blame for whatever was charged against himself, the friends of the two men would not permit any examination of the proffered excuse, 4 but reconciled them, and divided up the empire, making the Ionian sea a boundary, and assigning the East to Antony, and the West to Caesar; they also permitted Lepidus to have Africa, and arranged that, when they did not wish for the office themselves, the friends of each should have the consulship by turns.
[Ant. 31.1] 31 1 These arrangements were thought to be fair, but they needed a stronger security, and this security Fortune offered. Octavia was a sister of Caesar, older than he, though not by the same mother; for she was the child of Ancharia, but he, by a later marriage, of Atia. Caesar was exceedingly fond of his sister, who was, as the saying is, a wonder of a woman. 2 Her husband, Caius Marcellus, had died a short time before, and she was a widow. Antony, too, now that Fulvia was gone, was held to be a widower, although he did not deny his relations with Cleopatra; he would not admit, however, that she was his wife, and in this matter his reason was still battling with his love for the Egyptian. Everybody tried to bring about this marriage. For they hoped that Octavia, who, besides her great beauty, had intelligence and dignity, when united to Antony and beloved by him, as such a woman naturally must be, would restore harmony and be their complete salvation. 3 Accordingly, when both men were agreed, they went up to Rome and celebrated Octavia’s marriage, although the law did not permit a woman to marry before her husband had been dead ten months. In this case, however, the senate passed a decree remitting the restriction in time.
[Ant. 32.1] 32 1 Now, Sextus Pompeius was holding Sicily, was ravaging Italy, and, with his numerous piratical ships under the command of Menas the corsair and Menecrates, had made the sea unsafe for sailors. But he was thought to be kindly disposed to Antony, since he had given refuge to Antony’s mother when she fled from Rome with Fulvia, and so it was decided to make terms with him. 2 The men met at the promontory and mole of Misenum, near which Pompey’s fleet lay at anchor and the forces of Antony and Caesar were drawn up. After it had been agreed that Pompey should have Sardinia and Sicily, should keep the sea clear of robbers, and should send up to Rome a stipulated amount of grain, they invited one another to supper. 3 Lots were cast, and it was the lot of Pompey to entertain the others first. And when Antony asked him where the supper would be held, “There,” said he, pointing to his admiral’s ship with its six banks of oars, “for this is the ancestral house that is left to Pompey.” This he said by way of reproach to Antony, who was now occupying the house which had belonged to the elder Pompey. So he brought his ship to anchor, made a sort of bridge on which to cross to it from the headland, and gave his guests a hearty welcome on board. 4 When their good fellowship was at its height and the jokes about Antony and Cleopatra were in full career, Menas the pirate came up to Pompey and said, so that the others could not hear, “Shall I cut the ship’s cables and make thee master, not of Sicily and Sardinia, but of the whole Roman empire?” 5 Pompey, on hearing this, communed with himself a little while, and then said: “Menas, you ought to have done this without speaking to me about it beforehand; but now let us be satisfied with things as they are; for perjury is not my way.” Pompey, then, after being feasted in his turn by Antony and Caesar, sailed back to Sicily.
[Ant. 33.1] 33 1 After this settlement, Antony sent Ventidius on ahead into Asia to oppose the further progress of the Parthians, while he himself, as a favour to Caesar, was appointed to the priesthood of the elder Caesar; everything else also of the most important political nature they transacted together and in a friendly spirit. But their competitive diversions gave Antony annoyance, because he always came off with less than Caesar. 2 Now, there was with him a seer from Egypt, one of those who cast nativities. This man, either as a favour to Cleopatra, or dealing truly with Antony, used frank language with him, saying that his fortune, though most great and splendid, was obscured by that of Caesar; and he advised Antony to put as much distance as possible between himself and that young man. “For thy guardian genius,” said he, “is afraid of his; and though it has a spirited and lofty mien when it is by itself, when his comes near, thine is cowed and humbled by it.” 3 And indeed events seemed to testify in favour of the Egyptian. For we are told that whenever, by way of diversion, lots were cast or dice thrown to decide matters in which they were engaged, Antony came off worsted. They would often match cocks, and often fighting quails, and Caesar’s would always be victorious.
[Ant. 33.4] At all this Antony was annoyed, though he did not show it, and giving rather more heed now to the Egyptian, he departed from Italy, after putting his private affairs in the hands of Caesar; and he took Octavia with him as far as Greece (she had borne him a daughter). 4 It was while he was spending the winter at Athens that word was brought to him of the first successes of Ventidius, who had conquered the Parthians in battle and slain Labienus, as well as Pharnapates, the most capable general of King Hyrodes. To celebrate this victory Antony feasted the Greeks, and acted as gymnasiarch for the Athenians. He left at home the insignia of his command, and went forth carrying the wands of a gymnasiarch, in a Greek robe and white shoes, and he would take the young combatants by the neck and part them.
[Ant. 34.1] 34 1 When he was about to go forth to the war, he took a wreath from the sacred olive-tree, and in obedience to a certain oracle, filled a vessel with water from the Clepsydra and carried it with him. In the meantime Pacorus, the king’s son, advanced again with a large army of Parthians against Syria; but Ventidius engaged and routed him in Cyrrhestica, and slew great numbers of his men. Pacorus fell among the first. 2 This exploit, which became one of the most celebrated, gave the Romans full satisfaction for the disaster under Crassus, and shut the Parthians up again within the bounds of Media and Mesopotamia, after they had been utterly defeated in three successive battles. Ventidius, however, decided not to pursue the Parthians further, because he feared the jealousy of Antony; but he attacked and subdued the peoples which had revolted from Rome, and besieged Antiochus of Commagené in the city of Samosata. 3 When Antiochus proposed to pay a thousand talents and obey the behests of Antony, Ventidius ordered him to send his proposal to Antony, who had now advanced into the neighbourhood, and would not permit Ventidius to make peace with Antiochus. He insisted that this one exploit at least should bear his own name, and that not all the successes should be due to Ventidius. 4 But the siege was protracted, and the besieged, since they despaired of coming to terms, betook themselves to a vigorous defence. Antony could therefore accomplish nothing, and feeling ashamed and repentant, was glad to make peace with Antiochus on his payment of three hundred talents. After settling some trivial matters in Syria, he returned to Athens, and sent Ventidius home, with becoming honours, to enjoy his triumph.
[Ant. 34.5] 5 Ventidius is the only man up to the present time who ever celebrated a triumph over the Parthians. He was a man of lowly birth, but his friendship with Antony bore fruit for him in opportunities to perform great deeds. Of these opportunities he made the best use, and so confirmed what was generally said of Antony and Caesar, namely, that they were more successful in campaigns conducted by others than by themselves. 6 For Sossius, Antony’s general, effected much in Syria, and Canidius, who was left by Antony in Armenia, conquered that people, as well as the kings of the Iberians and Albanians, and advanced as far as the Caucasus. Consequently the name and fame of Antony’s power waxed great among the Barbarians.
[Ant. 35.1] 35 1 But Antony himself, once more irritated against Caesar by certain calumnies, sailed with three hundred ships for Italy; and when the people of Brundisium would not receive his armament, he coasted along to Tarentum. Here he sent Octavia, who had sailed with him from Greece, at her own request, to her brother. She was with child, and had already borne Antony two daughters. 2 Octavia met Caesar on the way, and after winning over his friends Agrippa and Maecenas, urged him with many prayers and many entreaties not to permit her, after being a most happy, to become a most wretched woman. For now, she said, the eyes of all men were drawn to her as the wife of one imperator and the sister of another: 3 “But if,” she said, “the worse should prevail and there should be war between you, one of you, it is uncertain which, is destined to conquer, and one to be conquered, but my lot in either case will be one of misery.” Caesar was overcome by these words, and came in a peaceful manner to Tarentum. Then the inhabitants beheld a most noble spectacle — a large army on land inactive, and many ships lying quietly off shore, while the commanders and their friends met one another with friendly greetings. 4 Antony entertained Caesar first, who consented to it for his sister’s sake. And after it had been agreed that Caesar should give to Antony two legions for his Parthian war, and Antony to Caesar one hundred bronze-beaked galleys, Octavia, independently of this agreement, obtained twenty light sailing craft from her husband for her brother, and one thousand soldiers from her brother for her husband. 5 Thus they separated, and Caesar at once engaged in the war against Pompey, being ambitious to get Sicily, while Antony, after putting Octavia in Caesar’s charge, together with his children by her and Fulvia, crossed over into Asia.
[Ant. 36.1] 36 1 But the dire evil which had been slumbering for a long time, namely, his passion for Cleopatra, which men thought had been charmed away and lulled to rest by better considerations, blazed up again with renewed power as he drew near to Syria. And finally, like the stubborn and unmanageable beast of the soul, of which Plato speaks, he spurned away all saving and noble counsels and sent Fonteius Capito to bring Cleopatra to Syria. 2 And when she was come, he made her a present of no slight or insignificant addition to her dominions, namely, Phoenicia, Coele Syria, Cyprus, and a large part of Cilicia; and still further, the balsam-producing part of Judaea, and all that part of Arabia Nabataea which slopes toward the outer sea. These gifts particularly annoyed the Romans. And yet he made presents to many private persons of tetrarchies and realms of great peoples, and he deprived many monarchs of their kingdoms, as, for instance, Antigonus the Jew, whom he brought forth and beheaded, though no other king before him had been so punished. 3 But the shamefulness of the honours conferred upon Cleopatra gave most offence. And he heightened the scandal by acknowledging his two children by her, and called one Alexander and the other Cleopatra, with the surname for the first of Sun, and for the other of Moon. However, since he was an adept at putting a good face upon shameful deeds, he used to say that the greatness of the Roman empire was made manifest, not by what the Romans received, but by what they bestowed; and that noble families were extended by the successive begettings of many kings. 4 In this way, at any rate, he said, his own progenitor was begotten by Heracles, who did not confine his succession to a single womb, nor stand in awe of laws like Solon’s for the regulation of conception, but gave free course to nature, and left behind him the beginnings and foundations of many families.
[Ant. 37.1] 37 1 And now Phraates put Hyrodes his father to death and took possession of his kingdom, other Parthians ran away in great numbers, and particularly Monaeses, a man of distinction and power, who came in flight to Antony. Antony likened the fortunes of the fugitive to those of Themistocles, compared his own abundant resources and magnanimity to those of the Persian kings, and gave him three cities, Larissa, Arethusa, and Hierapolis, which used to be called Bambycé. 3 But when the Parthian king made an offer of friendship to Monaeses, Antony gladly sent Monaeses back to him, determined to receive Phraates with a prospect of peace, and demanding back the standards captured in the campaign of Crassus, together with such of his men as still survived. Antony himself, however, after sending Cleopatra back to Egypt, proceeded through Arabia and Armenia to the place where his forces were assembled, together with those of the allied kings. These kings were very many in number, but the greatest of them all was Artavasdes, king of Armenia, who furnished six thousand horse and seven thousand foot. Here Antony reviewed his army. There were, of the Romans themselves, sixty thousand foot-soldiers, together with the cavalry classed as Roman, namely, ten thousand Iberians and Celts; of the other nations there were thirty thousand, counting alike horsemen and light-armed troops.
[Ant. 37.4] 4 And yet we are told that all this preparation and power, which terrified even the Indians beyond Bactria and made all Asia quiver, was made of no avail to Antony by reason of Cleopatra. For so eager was he to spend the winter with her that he began the war before the proper time, and managed everything confusedly. He was not master of his own faculties, but, as if he were under the influence of certain drugs or of magic rites, was ever looking eagerly towards her, and thinking more of his speedy return than of conquering the enemy.
[Ant. 38.1] 38 1 In the first place, then, though he ought to have spent the winter in Armenia and to have given his army rest, worn out as it was by a march of eight thousand furlongs, and to have occupied Media at the opening of spring, before the Parthians had left their winter quarters, he could not hold out that length of time, but led his army on, taking Armenia on his left, and skirting Atropatené, which country he ravaged. 2 Secondly, his engines necessary for siege operations were carried along on three hundred waggons, and among them was a battering ram eighty feet long. Not one of these, if destroyed, could be replaced in time to be of use, because the upper country produced only wood of insufficient length and hardness. Nevertheless, in his haste, he left these behind him, on the ground that they retarded his speed, setting a considerable guard under the command of Statianus over the waggons, while he himself laid siege to Phraata, a large city, in which were the wives and children of the king of Media. 3 But the exigencies of the case at once proved what a mistake he had made in leaving behind him his engines, and coming to close quarters he began to build a mound against the city, which rose slowly and with much labour. In the meantime, however, Phraates came down with a great army, and when he heard that the waggons carrying the engines had been left behind, he sent a large number of his horsemen against them. By these Statianus was surrounded and slain himself, and ten thousand of his men were slain with him. Moreover, the Barbarians captured the engines and destroyed them. They also took a great number of prisoners, among whom was Polemon the king.
[Ant. 39.1] 39 1 This calamity naturally distressed all the followers of Antony, for they had received an unexpected blow at the outset; besides, Artavasdes, the king of Armenia, despairing of the Roman cause, took his own forces and went off, although he had been the chief cause of the war. 2 And now the Parthians presented themselves to the besiegers in brilliant array, and threatened them insultingly. Antony, therefore, not wishing that the inactivity of his army should confirm and increase among them consternation and dejection, took ten legions and three praetorian cohorts of men-at arms, together with all his cavalry, and led them out to forage, thinking that in this way the enemy would best be drawn into a pitched battle. 3 After advancing a single day’s march, he saw that the Parthians were enveloping him and seeking to attack him on the march. He therefore displayed the signal for battle in his camp, and after taking down his tents, as though his purpose was not to fight but to withdraw, he marched along past the line of the Barbarians, which was crescent-shaped. But he had given orders that when the first ranks of the enemy should appear to be within reach of his legionaries, the cavalry should charge upon them. 4 To the Parthians in their parallel array, the discipline of the Romans seemed to beggar description, and they watched them marching past at equal distances from one another, without confusion, and in silence, brandishing their javelins. But when the signal was given, and the Roman horsemen wheeled about and rode down upon them with loud shouts, they did indeed receive their onset and repel them, although their foes were at once too close for them to use their arrows; when, however, the legionaries joined in the charge, with shouts and clashing of weapons, the horses of the Parthians took fright and gave way, and the Parthians fled without coming to close quarters.
[Ant. 39.5] 5 Antony pressed hard upon them in pursuit, and had great hopes that he had finished the whole war, or the greater part of it, in that one battle. His infantry kept up the pursuit for fifty furlongs, and his cavalry for thrice that distance; and yet when he took count of those of the enemy who had fallen or had been captured, he found only thirty prisoners and eighty dead bodies. Despondency and despair therefore fell upon all; they thought it a terrible thing that when victorious they had killed so few, and when vanquished they were to be robbed of so many men as they had lost at the waggons. 6 On the following day they packed up and started on the road to Phraata and their camp. As they marched they met, first a few of the enemy, then more of them, and finally the whole body, which, as though unconquered and fresh, challenged and attacked them from every side; but at last, with difficulty and much labour, they got safely to their camp. 7 Then the Medes made a sally against their mound and put its defenders to flight. At this Antony was enraged, and visited those who had played the coward with what is called decimation. That is, he divided the whole number of them into tens, and put to death that one from each ten upon whom the lot fell. For the rest he ordered rations of barley instead of wheat.
[Ant. 40.1] 40 1 The war was full of hardship for both sides, and its future course was still more to be dreaded. Antony expected a famine; for it was no longer possible to get provisions without having many men wounded and killed. Phraates, too, knew that his Parthians were able to do anything rather than to undergo hardships and encamp in the open during winter, and he was afraid that if the Romans persisted and remained, his men would desert him, since already the air was getting sharp after the summer equinox. He therefore contrived the following stratagem. 2 Those of the Parthians who were most acquainted with the Romans attacked them less vigorously in their forays for provisions and other encounters, allowing them to take some things, praising their valour, and declaring that they were capital fighting men and justly admired by their own king. 3 After this, they would ride up nearer, and quietly putting their horses alongside the Romans, would revile Antony because, when Phraates wished to come to terms and spare so many such excellent men, Antony would not give him an opportunity, but sat there awaiting those grievous and powerful enemies, famine and winter, which would make it difficult for them to escape even though the Parthians should escort them on their way. Many persons reported this to Antony, but though his hope inclined him to yield, he did not send heralds to the Parthians until he had inquired of the Barbarians who were showing such kindness whether what they said represented the mind of their king. 4 They assured him that it did, and urged him to have no fear or distrust, whereupon he sent some of his companions with a renewed demand for the return of the standards and the captives, that he might not be thought altogether satisfied with an escape in safety. But the Parthian told him not to urge this matter, and assured him of peace and safety as soon as he started to go away; whereupon, within a few days Antony packed up his baggage and broke camp. 5 But though he was persuasive in addressing a popular audience and was better endowed by nature than any man of his time for leading an army by force of eloquence, he could not prevail upon himself, for shame and dejection of spirits, to make the usual speech of encouragement to the army, but ordered Domitius Ahenobarbus to do it. Some of the soldiers were incensed at this, and felt that he had held them in contempt; but the majority of them were moved to the heart as they comprehended the reason. Therefore they thought they ought to show all the more respect and obedience to their commander.
[Ant. 41.1] 41 1 As he was about to lead his army back by the road over which it had come, which ran through a level country without trees, a man of the Mardian race, who had great familiarity with the Parthian habits, and had already shown himself faithful to the Romans in the battle over the engines of war, came to Antony and urged him in his flight to keep close to the hills upon his right, and not to expose an encumbered army of legionaries to so large a force of mounted archers, in bare and extended tracts; 2 this was the very thing, he said, which Phraates had designed when he induced him by friendly conferences to raise the siege; he himself, he said, would conduct the army by a way that was shorter and furnished a greater abundance of provisions.
[Ant. 41.3] On hearing this, Antony took counsel with himself. He did not wish to have the appearance of distrusting the Parthians, now that a truce had been made, but since he approved of the shorter road and of having their march take them past inhabited villages, he asked the Mardian for a pledge of his good faith. 3 The Mardian offered to let himself be put in fetters until he should bring the army safely into Armenia, and he was put in fetters, and led them for two days without their encountering trouble. But on the third day, when Antony had put the Parthians entirely out of his thoughts, and was marching along in looser order because of his confidence, the Mardian noticed that a dike of the river had been recently torn away, and that the stream was flowing out in great volume towards the road over which their march must be made. 4 He comprehended that this was the work of the Parthians, throwing the river in their way to obstruct and delay the Roman march, and urged Antony to look out and be on his guard, as the enemy were near. And just as Antony was setting his legionaries in array and arranging to have his javelineers and slingers make a sally through them against the enemy, the Parthians came into view and began to ride around the army in order to envelop and throw it into confusion on all sides. 5 Whenever the Roman light-armed troops sallied out against them, the Parthians would inflict many wounds with their arrows, but sustain yet more from the leaden bullets and javelins of the Romans, and therefore withdraw. Then they would come up again, until the Celts, massing their horses together, made a charge upon them and scattered them, so that they showed themselves no more that day.
[Ant. 42.1] 42 1 Having thus learned what he ought to do, Antony covered not only his rear, but also both his flanks, with numerous javelineers and slingers, led his army in the form of a hollow square, and gave orders to his horsemen to rout the enemy when they attacked, but after routing them not to pursue them further. Consequently the Parthians, during four successive days, suffered greater loss than they inflicted, became less eager, and made the winter an excuse for thoughts of going away.
[Ant. 42.2] 2 On the fifth day, however, Flavius Gallus, an efficient and able soldier in high command, came to Antony and asked him for more light-armed troops from the rear, and for some of the horsemen from the van, confident that he would achieve a great success. Antony gave him the troops, and when the enemy attacked, Gallus beat them back, not withdrawing and leading them on towards the legionaries, as before, but resisting and engaging them more hazardously. 3 The leaders of the rear guard, seeing that he was being cut off from them, sent and called him back; but he would not listen to them. Then, they say, Titius the quaestor laid hold of his standards and tried to turn them back, abusing Gallus for throwing away the lives of so many brave men. But Gallus gave back the abuse and exhorted his men to stand firm, whereupon Titius withdrew. Then Gallus forced his way among the enemy in front of him, without noticing that great numbers of them were enveloping him in the rear. 4 But when missiles began to fall upon him from all sides, he sent and asked for help. Then the leaders of the legionaries, among whom was Canidius, a man of the greatest influence with Antony, are thought to have made no slight mistake. For when they ought to have wheeled their entire line against the enemy, they sent only a few men at a time to help Gallus, and again, when one detachment had been overcome, sent out others, and so, before they were aware of it, they came near plunging the whole army into defeat and flight. But Antony himself speedily came with his legionaries from the van to confront the fugitives, and the third legion speedily pushed its way through them against the enemy and checked his further pursuit.
[Ant. 43.1] 43 1 There fell no fewer than three thousand, and there were carried to their tents five thousand wounded men, among whom was Gallus, who was pierced in front by four arrows. Gallus, indeed, did not recover from his wounds, but Antony went to see all the others and tried to encourage them, with tears of sympathy in his eyes. The wounded men, however, with cheerful faces, seized his hand and exhorted him to go away and take care of himself, and not to be distressed. They called him Imperator, and said that they were safe if only he were unharmed. 2 For, to put it briefly, no other imperator of that day appears to have assembled an army more conspicuous for prowess, endurance, or youthful vigour. Nay, the respect which his soldiers felt for him as their leader, their obedience and goodwill, and the degree to which all of them alike — men of good repute or men of no repute, commanders or private soldiers — preferred honour and favour from Antony to life and safety, left even the ancient Romans nothing to surpass. 3 And the reasons for this were many, as I have said before: his high birth, his eloquence, his simplicity of manners, his love of giving and the largeness of his giving, his complaisance in affairs of pleasure or social intercourse. And so at this time, by sharing in the toils and distresses of the unfortunate and bestowing upon them whatever they wanted, he made the sick and wounded more eager in his service than the well and strong.
[Ant. 44.1] 44 1 The enemy, however, who had been already worn out and inclined to abandon their task, were so elated by their victory, and so despised the Romans, that they even bivouacked for the night near their camp, expecting very soon to be plundering the empty tents and the baggage of runaways. 2 At daybreak, too, they gathered for attack in far greater numbers, and there are said to have been no fewer than forty thousand horsemen, since their king had sent even those who were always arrayed about his person, assured that it was to manifest and assured success; for the king himself was never present at a battle. Then Antony, wishing to harangue his soldiers, called for a dark robe, that he might be more pitiful in their eyes. But his friends opposed him in this, and he therefore came forward in the purple robe of a general and made his harangue, praising those who had been victorious, and reproaching those who had fled. 3 The former exhorted him to be of good courage, offered themselves to him for decimation, if he wished, or for any other kind of punishment; only they begged him to cease being distressed and vexed. In reply, Antony lifted up his hands and prayed the gods that if, then, any retribution were to follow his former successes, it might fall upon him alone, and that the rest of the army might be granted victory and safety.
[Ant. 45.1] 45 1 On the following day they went forward under better protection; and the Parthians met with a great surprise when they attacked them. For they thought they were riding up for plunder and booty, not battle, and when they encountered many missiles and saw that the Romans were fresh and vigorous and eager for the fray, they were once more tired of the struggle. 2 However, as the Romans were descending some steep hills, the Parthians attacked them and shot at them as they slowly moved along. Then the shield-bearers wheeled about, enclosing the lighter armed troops within their ranks, while they themselves dropped on one knee and held their shields out before them. The second rank held their shields out over the heads of the first, and the next rank likewise. The resulting appearance is very like that of a roof, affords a striking spectacle, and is the most effective of protections against arrows, which glide off from it. 3 The Parthians, however, thinking that the Romans dropping on one knee was a sign of fatigue and exhaustion, laid aside their bows, grasped their spears by the middle and came to close quarters. But the Romans, with a full battle cry, suddenly sprang up, and thrusting with their javelins slew the foremost of the Parthians and put all the rest to rout. This happened also on the following days as the Romans, little by little, proceeded on their way.
[Ant. 45.4] 4 Famine also attacked the army, which could provide itself with little grain even by fighting, and was not well furnished with implements for grinding. These had been abandoned, for the most part, since some of the beasts of burden died, and the others had to carry the sick and wounded. It is said that one Attic choenix of wheat brought fifty drachmas; and loaves of barley bread were sold for their weight in silver. 5 Resorting, therefore, to vegetables and roots, they could find few to which they were accustomed, and were compelled to make trial of some never tasted before. Thus it was that they partook of an herb which produced madness, and then death. He who ate of it had no memory, and no thought of anything else than the one task of moving or turning every stone, as if he were accomplishing something of great importance. 6 The plain was full of men stooping to the ground and digging around the stones or removing them; and finally they would vomit bile and die, since the only remedy, wine, was not to be had. Many perished thus, and the Parthians would not desist, and Antony, as we are told, would often cry: “O the Ten Thousand!” thereby expressing his admiration of Xenophon’s army, which made an even longer march to the sea from Babylon, and fought with many times as many enemies, and yet came off safe.
[Ant. 46.1] 46 1 And now the Parthians, unable to throw the army into confusion or break up its array, but many times already defeated and put to flight, began once more to mingle peaceably with the men who went out in search of fodder or grain, and pointing to their unstrung bows would say that they themselves were going back, and that this was the end of their retaliation, although a few Medes would still follow the Romans one or two days’ march, not molesting them at all, but merely protecting the more outlying villages. 2 To these words they added greetings and acts of friendliness, so that once more the Romans became full of courage, and Antony, when he heard about it, was more inclined to seek the plains, since the way through the mountains was said to be waterless. But as he was about to do this, there came a man to the camp from the enemy, Mithridates by name, a cousin of the Monaeses who had been with Antony and had received the three cities as a gift. Mithridates asked that someone should come to him who could speak the Parthian or Syrian language. 3 So Alexander of Antioch came to him, being a close friend of Antony, whereupon Mithridates, after explaining who he was, and attributing to Monaeses the favour now to be shown, asked Alexander if he saw a range of lofty hills on beyond. Alexander said he did see them. “Under those hills,” said Mithridates, “the Parthians with all their forces are lying in ambush for you. 4 For the great plains adjoin these hills, and they expect that you will be beguiled by them into turning in that direction and leaving the road through the mountains. That road, it is true, involves thirst and hard labour, to which you are now accustomed; but if Antony proceeds by way of the plains, let him know that the fate of Crassus awaits him.”
[Ant. 47.1] 47 1 After giving this information the man went away, and Antony, who was much troubled by what he now heard, called together his friends and his Mardian guide, who was himself of the same opinion as their visitor. For he knew that even were there no enemy the lack of roads through the plains would involve them in blind and grievous wanderings, and he showed them that the rough road through the mountains had no other annoyance than lack of water for a single day. 2 Accordingly, Antony took this route and led his army along by night, after ordering his men to carry water with them. The greater part of them, however, had no vessels, and therefore some actually filled their helmets with water and carried them, while others took it in skins.
[Ant. 47.3] But word was at once brought to the Parthians that Antony was advancing, and contrary to their custom they set out in pursuit while it was yet night. Just as the sun was rising they came up with the rear-guard of the Romans, which was foredone with sleeplessness and toil; for they had accomplished two hundred and forty furlongs in the night. Moreover, they did not expect that the enemy would come upon them so quickly, and were therefore disheartened. 3 Besides, their contest intensified their thirst; for they had to ward off the enemy and make their way forward at the same time. Those who marched in the van came to a river, the water of which was clear and cold, but had a salty taste and was poisonous. This water, as soon as one drank it, caused pains, accompanied by cramping of the bowels and an inflammation of one’s thirst. Of this too the Mardian had warned them, but none the less the soldiers forced aside those who tried to turn them back, and drank. 4 Antony went round and begged the men to hold out a little while; for not far ahead, he said, there was another river which was potable, and then the rest of the way was too rough for cavalry, so that the enemy must certainly turn back. At the same time, too, he called his men back from fighting and gave the signal for pitching the tents, that the soldiers might at least enjoy the shade a little.
[Ant. 48.1] 48 1 Accordingly, the Romans went to pitching their tents, and the Parthians, as their custom was, at once began to withdraw. At this point Mithridates came again, and after Alexander had joined him he advised Antony to let the army rest only a little while, and then to get it under way and hasten to the river, assuring him that the Parthians would not cross it, but would continue the pursuit until they reached it. This message was carried to Antony by Alexander, who then brought out from Antony golden drinking-cups in great numbers, as well as bowls. Mithridates took as many of these as he could hide in his garments and rode off. 2 Then, while it was still day, they broke camp and proceeded on their march. The enemy did not molest them, but they themselves made that night of all other nights the most grievous and fearful for themselves. For those who had gold or silver were slain and robbed of it, and the goods were plundered from the beasts of burden; and finally the baggage-carriers of Antony were attacked, and beakers and costly tables were cut to pieces or distributed about.
[Ant. 48.3] 3 And now, since there was great confusion and straggling throughout the whole army (for they thought that the enemy had fallen upon them and routed and dispersed them), Antony called one of the freedmen in his body-guard, Rhamnus by name, and made him take oath that, at the word of command, he would thrust his sword through him and cut off his head, that he might neither be taken alive by the enemy nor recognized when he was dead. 4 Antony’s friends burst into tears, but the Mardian tried to encourage him, declaring that the river was near: for a breeze blowing from it was moist, and a cooler air in their faces made their breathing pleasanter. He said also that the time during which they had been marching made his estimate of the distance conclusive; for little of the night was now left. 5 At the same time, too, others brought word that the tumult was a result of their own iniquitous and rapacious treatment of one another. Therefore, wishing to bring the throng into order after their wandering and distraction, Antony ordered the signal to be given for encampment.
[Ant. 49.1] 49 1 Day was already dawning, and the army was beginning to assume a certain order and tranquillity, when the arrows of the Parthians fell upon the rear ranks, and the light-armed troops were ordered by signal to engage. The men-at arms, too, again covered each other over with their shields, as they had done before, and so withstood their assailants, who did not venture to come to close quarters. 2 The front ranks advanced little by little in this manner, and the river came in sight. On its bank Antony drew up his sick and disabled soldiers across first. And presently even those who were fighting had a chance to drink at their ease; for when the Parthians saw the river, they unstrung their bows and bade the Romans cross over with good courage, bestowing much praise also upon their valour. 3 So they crossed without being disturbed and recruited themselves, and then resumed their march, putting no confidence at all in the Parthians. And on the sixth day after their last battle with them they came to the river Araxes, which forms the boundary between Media and Armenia. Its depth and violence made it seem difficult of passage; and a report was rife that the enemy were lying in ambush there and would attack them as they tried to cross. 4 But after they were safely on the other side and had set foot in Armenia, as if they had just caught sight of that land from the sea, they saluted it and fell to weeping and embracing one another for joy. But as they advanced through the country, which was prosperous, and enjoyed all things in abundance after great scarcity, they fell sick with dropsies and dysenteries.
[Ant. 50.1] 50 1 There Antony held a review of his troops and found that twenty thousand of the infantry and four thousand of the cavalry had perished, not all at the hands of the enemy, but more than half by disease. They had, indeed, marched twenty-seven days from Phraata, and had defeated the Parthians in eighteen battles, but their victories were not complete or lasting because the pursuits which they made were short and ineffectual. 2 And this more than all else made it plain that it was Artavasdes the Armenian who had robbed Antony of the power to bring that war to an end. For if the sixteen thousand horsemen who were led back from Media by him had been on hand, equipped as they were like the Parthians and accustomed to fighting with them, and if they, when the Romans routed the fighting enemy, had taken off the fugitives, it would not have been in the enemy’s power to recover themselves from defeat and to venture again so often. 3 Accordingly, all the army, in their anger, tried to incite Antony to take vengeance on the Armenian. But Antony, as a measure of prudence, neither reproached him with his treachery nor abated the friendliness and respect usually shown to him, being now weak in numbers and in want of supplies. 4 But afterwards, when he once more invaded Armenia, and by many invitations and promises induced Artavasdes to come to him, Antony seized him, and took him in chains down to Alexandria, where he celebrated a triumph. And herein particularly did he give offence to the Romans, since he bestowed the honourable and solemn rites of his native country upon the Egyptians for Cleopatra’s sake. This, however, took place at a later time.
[Ant. 51.1] 51 1 But now, hastening on through much wintry weather, which was already at hand, and incessant snow-storms, he lost eight thousand men on the march. He himself, however, went down with a small company to the sea, and in a little place between Berytus and Sidon, called White Village, he waited for Cleopatra to come; and since she was slow in coming he was beside himself with distress, promptly resorting to drinking and intoxication, 2 although he could not hold out long at table, but in the midst of the drinking would often rise or spring up to look out, until she put into port, bringing an abundance of clothing and money for the soldiers. There are some, however, who say that he received the clothing from Cleopatra, but took the money from his own private funds, and distributed it as a gift from her.
[Ant. 52.1] 52 1 And now the king of the Medes had a quarrel with Phraortes the Parthian; it arose, as they say, over the Roman spoils, but it made the Mede suspicious and fearful that his dominion would be taken away from him. For this reason he sent and invited Antony to come, promising to join him in the war with his own forces. 2 Antony, accordingly, was in high hopes. For the one thing which he thought had prevented his subjugation of the Parthians, namely, his lack of a large number of horsemen and archers on his expedition, this he now saw supplied for him, and he would be granting and not asking a favour. He therefore made preparations to go up again through Armenia, effect a junction with the Mede at the river Araxes, and then prosecute the war.
[Ant. 53.1] 53 1 But at Rome Octavia was desirous of sailing to Antony, and Caesar gave her permission to do so, as the majority say, not as a favour to her, but in order that, in case she were neglected and treated with scorn, he might have plausible ground for war. When Octavia arrived at Athens, she received letters from Antony in which he bade her remain there and told her of his expedition. 2 Octavia, although she saw through the pretext and was distressed, nevertheless wrote Antony asking whither he would have the things sent which she was bringing to him. For she was bringing a great quantity of clothing for his soldiers, many beasts of burden, and money and gifts for the officers and friends about him; and besides this, two thousand picked soldiers equipped as praetorian cohorts with splendid armour. These things were announced to Antony by a certain Niger, a friend of his who had been sent from Octavia, and he added such praises of her as was fitting and deserved.
[Ant. 53.3] 3 But Cleopatra perceived that Octavia was coming into a contest at close quarters with her, and feared lest, if she added to the dignity of her character and the power of Caesar her pleasurable society and her assiduous attentions to Antony, she would become invincible and get complete control over her husband. She therefore pretended to be passionately in love with Antony herself, and reduced her body by slender diet; she put on a look of rapture when Antony drew near, and one of faintness and melancholy when he went away. 4 She would contrive to be often seen in tears, and then would quickly wipe the tears away and try to hide them, as if she would not have Antony notice them. And she practised these arts while Antony was intending to go up from Syria to join the Mede. Her flatterers, too, were industrious in her behalf, and used to revile Antony as hard-hearted and unfeeling, and as the destroyer of a mistress who was devoted to him and him alone. 5 For Octavia, they said, had married him as a matter of public policy and for the sake of her brother, and enjoyed the name of wedded wife; but Cleopatra, who was queen of so many people, was called Antony’s beloved, and she did not shun this name nor disdain it, as long as she could see him and live with him; but if she were driven away from him she would not survive it. 6 At last, then, they so melted and enervated the man that he became fearful lest Cleopatra should throw away her life, and went back to Alexandria, putting off the Mede until the summer season, although Parthia was said to be suffering from internal dissensions. However, he went up and brought the king once more into friendly relations, and after betrothing to one of his sons by Cleopatra one of the king’s daughters who was still small, he returned, his thoughts being now directed towards the civil war.
[Ant. 54.1] 54 1 As for Octavia, she was thought to have been treated with scorn, and when she came back from Athens Caesar ordered her to dwell in her own house. But she refused to leave the house of her husband, nay, she even entreated Caesar himself, unless on other grounds he had determined to make war upon Antony, to ignore Antony’s treatment of her, since it was an infamous thing even to have it said that the two greatest imperators in the world plunged the Romans into civil war, the one out of passion for, and the other out of resentment in behalf of, a woman. 2 These were her words, and she confirmed them by her deeds. For she dwelt in her husband’s house, just as if he were at home, and she cared for his children, not only those whom she herself, but also those whom Fulvia had borne him, in a noble and magnificent manner; she also received such friends of Antony as were sent to Rome in quest of office or on business, and helped them to obtain from Caesar what they wanted. Without meaning it, however, she was damaging Antony by this conduct of hers; for he was hated for wronging such a woman. 3 He was hated, too, for the distribution which he made to his children in Alexandria; it was seen to be theatrical and arrogant, and to evince hatred of Rome. For after filling the gymnasium with a throng and placing on a tribunal of silver two thrones of gold, one for himself and the other for Cleopatra, and other lower thrones for his sons, 4 in the first place he declared Cleopatra Queen of Egypt, Cyprus, Libya, and Coele Syria, and she was to share her throne with Caesarion. Caesarion was believed to be a son of the former Caesar, by whom Cleopatra was left pregnant. In the second place, he proclaimed his own sons by Cleopatra Kings of Kings, and to Alexander he allotted Armenia, Media and Parthia (when he should have subdued it), to Ptolemy Phoenicia, Syria, and Cilicia. 5 At the same time he also produced his sons, Alexander arrayed in Median garb, which included a tiara and upright head-dress, Ptolemy in boots, short cloak, and broad-brimmed hat surmounted by a diadem. For the latter was the dress of the kings who followed Alexander, the former that of Medes and Armenians. 6 And when the boys had embraced their parents, one was given a bodyguard of Armenians, the other of Macedonians. Cleopatra, indeed, both then and at other times when she appeared in public, assumed a robe sacred to Isis, and was addressed as the New Isis.
[Ant. 55.1] 55 1 By reporting these things to the senate and by frequent denunciations before the people Caesar tried to inflame the multitude against Antony. Antony, too, kept sending counter-accusations against Caesar. The chief accusations which he made were, in the first place, that after taking Sicily away from Pompey, Caesar had not assigned a part of the island to him; in the second place, that after borrowing ships from him for the war he had kept them for himself; thirdly, that after ejecting his colleague Lepidus from office and degrading him, he was keeping for himself the army, the territory, and the revenues which had been assigned to Lepidus; 2 finally that he had distributed almost all Italy in allotments, to his own soldiers, and had left nothing for the soldiers of Antony. To these charges Caesar replied by saying that he had deposed Lepidus from office because he was abusing it, and as for what he had acquired in war, he would share it with Antony whenever Antony, on his part, should share Armenia with him; and Antony’s soldiers had no claim upon Italy, since they had Media and Persia, which countries they had added to the Roman dominion by their noble struggles under their imperator.
[Ant. 56.1] 56 1 Antony heard of this while he was tarrying in Armenia; and at once he ordered Canidius to take sixteen legions and go down to the sea. But he himself took Cleopatra with him and came to Ephesus. It was there that his naval force was coming together from all quarters, eight hundred ships of war with merchant vessels, of which Cleopatra furnished two hundred, besides twenty thousand talents, and supplies for the whole army during the war. 2 But Antony, listening to the advice of Domitius and sundry others, ordered Cleopatra to sail to Egypt and there await the result of the war. Cleopatra, however, fearing that Octavia would again succeed in putting a stop to the war, persuaded Canidius by large bribes to plead her cause with Antony, and to say that it was neither just to drive away from the war a woman whose contributions to it were so large, 3 nor was it for the interest of Antony to dispirit the Egyptians, who formed a large part of his naval force; and besides, it was not easy to see how Cleopatra was inferior in intelligence to anyone of the princes who took part in the expedition, she who for a long time had governed so large a kingdom by herself, and by long association with Antony had learned to manage large affairs. These arguments (since it was destined that everything should come into Caesar’s hands) prevailed; and with united forces they sailed to Samos and there made merry. 4 For just as all the kings, dynasts, tetrarchs, nations, and cities between Syria, the Maeotic Lake, Armenia, and Illyria had been ordered to send or bring their equipment for the war, so all the dramatic artists were compelled to put in an appearance at Samos; and while almost all the world around was filled with groans and lamentations, a single island for many days resounded with flutes and stringed instruments; theatres there were filled, and choral bands were competing with one another. 5 Every city also sent an ox for the general sacrifice, and kings vied with one another in their mutual entertainments and gifts. And so men everywhere began to ask: “How will the conquerors celebrate their victories if their preparations for the war are marked by festivals so costly?”
[Ant. 57.1] 57 1 When these festivities were over, Antony gave the dramatic artists Priene as a place for them to dwell, and sailed himself to Athens, where sports and theatres again engaged him. Cleopatra, too, jealous of Octavia’s honours in the city (for Octavia was especially beloved by the Athenians), tried by many splendid gifts to win the favour of the people. 2 So the people voted honours to her, and sent a deputation to her house carrying the vote, of whom Antony was one, for was he not a citizen of Athens? And standing in her presence he delivered a speech in behalf of the city. To Rome, however, he sent men who had orders to eject Octavia from his house. 3 And we are told that she left it taking all his children with her except his eldest son by Fulvia, who was with his father; she was in tears of distress that she herself also would be regarded as one of the causes of the war. But the Romans felt pity for Antony, not for her, and especially those who had seen Cleopatra and knew that neither in youthfulness nor beauty was she superior to Octavia.
[Ant. 58.1] 58 1 When Caesar heard of the rapidity and extent of Antony’s preparations, he was much disturbed, lest he should be forced to settle the issue of the war during that summer. For he was lacking in many things, and people were vexed by the exactions of taxes. The citizens were generally compelled to pay one fourth of their income, and the freedmen one eighth of their property, and both classes cried out against Caesar, and disturbances arising from these causes prevailed throughout all Italy. 2 Wherefore, among the greatest mistakes of Antony men reckon his postponement of the war. For it gave Caesar time to make preparations and put an end to the disturbances among the people. For while money was being exacted from them, they were angry, but when it had been exacted and they had paid it, they were calm. Moreover, Titius and Plancus, friends of Antony and men of consular rank, being abused by Cleopatra (for they had been most opposed to her accompanying the expedition) ran away to Caesar, and they gave him information about Antony’s will, the contents of which they knew. 3 This will was on deposit with the Vestal Virgins, and when Caesar asked for it, they would not give it to him; but if he wanted to take it, they told him to come and do so. So he went and took it; and to begin with, he read its contents through by himself; and marked certain reprehensible passages; then he assembled the senate and read it aloud to them, although most of them were displeased to hear him do so. 4 For they thought it a strange and grievous matter that a man should be called to account while alive for what he wished to have done after his death. Caesar laid most stress on the clause in the will relating to Antony’s burial. For it directed that Antony’s body, even if he should die in Rome, should be borne in state through the forum and then sent away to Cleopatra in Egypt. 5 Again, Calvisius, who was a companion of Caesar, brought forward against Antony the following charges also regarding his behaviour towards Cleopatra: he had bestowed upon her the libraries from Pergamum, in which there were two hundred thousand volumes; at a banquet where there were many guests he had stood up and rubbed her feet, in compliance with some agreement and compact which they had made; he had consented to have the Ephesians in his presence salute Cleopatra as mistress; 6 many times, while he was seated on his tribunal and dispensing justice to tetrarchs and kings, he would receive love-billets from her in tablets of onyx or crystal, and read them; and once when Furnius was speaking, a man of great worth and the ablest orator in Rome, Cleopatra was carried through the forum on a litter, and Antony, when he saw her, sprang up from his tribunal and forsook the trial, and hanging on to Cleopatra’s litter escorted her on her way.
[Ant. 59.1] 59 1 However, most of the charges thus brought by Calvisius were thought to be falsehoods; but the friends of Antony went about in Rome beseeching the people in his behalf, and they sent one of their number, Geminius, with entreaties that Antony would not suffer himself to be voted out of his office and proclaimed an enemy of Rome. 2 But Geminius, after his voyage to Greece, was an object of suspicion to Cleopatra, who thought that he was acting in the interests of Octavia; he was always put upon with jokes at supper and insulted with places of no honour at table, but he endured all this and waited for an opportunity to confer with Antony. Once, however, at a supper, being bidden to tell the reasons for his coming, he replied that the rest of his communication required a sober head, but one thing he knew, whether he was drunk or sober, and that was all would be well if Cleopatra was sent off to Egypt. 3 At this, Antony was wroth, and Cleopatra said: “Thou has done well, Geminius, to confess the truth without being put to the torture.” Geminius, accordingly, after a few days, ran away to Rome. And Cleopatra’s flatterers drove away many of the other friends of Antony also who could not endure their drunken tricks and scurrilities. 4 Among these were Marcus Silanus and Dellius the historian. And Dellius says that he was also afraid of a plot against him by Cleopatra, of which Glaucus the physician had told him. For he had offended Cleopatra at supper by saying that while sour wine was served to them, Sarmentus, at Rome, was drinking Falernian. Now, Sarmentus was one of the youthful favourites of Caesar, such as the Romans call “deliciae.”
[Ant. 60.1] 60 1 When Caesar had made sufficient preparations, a vote was passed to wage war against Cleopatra, and to take away from Antony the authority which he had surrendered to a woman. And Caesar said in addition that Antony had been drugged and was not even master of himself, and that the Romans were carrying on war with Mardion the eunuch, and Potheinus, and Iras, and the tire-woman of Cleopatra, and Charmion, by whom the principal affairs of the government were managed.
[Ant. 60.2] 2 The following signs are said to have been given before the war. Pisaurum, a city colonized by Antony situated near the Adriatic, was swallowed by chasms in the earth. From one of the marble statues of Antony near Alba sweat oozed for many days, and though it was wiped away it did not cease. In Patrae, while Antony was staying there, the Heracleium was destroyed by lightning; and at Athens the Dionysus in the Battle of the Giants was dislodged by the winds and carried down into the theatre. 3 Now, Antony associated himself with Heracles in lineage, and with Dionysus in the mode of life which he adopted, as I have said, and he was called the New Dionysus. The same tempest fell upon the colossal figures of Eumenes and Attalus at Athens, on which the name of Antony had been inscribed, and prostrated them, and them alone out of many. Moreover the admiral’s ship of Cleopatra was called Antonius, and a dire sign was given with regard to it. Some swallows, namely, made their nest under its stern; but other swallows attacked these, drove them out and destroyed their nestlings.
[Ant. 61.1] 61 1 When the forces came together for the war, Antony had no fewer than five hundred fighting ships, among which were many vessels of eight and ten banks of oars, arrayed in pompous and festal fashion; he also had one hundred thousand infantry soldiers and twelve thousand horsemen. Of subject kings who fought with him, there were Bocchus the king of Libya, Tarcondemus the king of Upper Cilicia, Archelaüs of Cappadocia, Philadelphus of Paphlagonia, Mithridates of Commagene, and Sadalas of Thrace. 2 These were with him, while from Pontus Polemon sent an army, and Malchus from Arabia, and Herod the Jew, besides Amyntas the king of Lycaonia and Galatia; the king of the Medes also sent an auxiliary force. Caesar had two hundred and fifty ships of war, eighty thousand infantry, and about as many horsemen as his enemies. 3 Antony’s authority extended over the country from the Euphrates and Armenia to the Ionian sea and Illyria; Caesar’s over the country reaching from Illyria to the Western Ocean and from the ocean back to the Tuscan and Sicilian seas. Of Libya, the part extending opposite to Italy, Gaul, and Iberia as far as the pillars of Hercules, belonged to Caesar; the part extending from Cyrene as far as Armenia, to Antony.
[Ant. 62.1] 62 1 But to such an extent, now, was Antony an appendage of the woman that although he was far superior on land, he wished the decision to rest with his navy, to please Cleopatra, and that too when he saw that for lack of crews his trierarchs were haling together out of long-suffering Greece wayfarers, mule-drivers, harvesters, and ephebi, and that even then their ships were not fully manned, but most of them were deficient and sailed wretchedly. 2 Caesar’s fleet, on the other hand, was perfectly equipped, and consisted of ships which had not been built for a display of height or mass, but were easily steered, swift, and fully manned. This fleet Caesar kept assembled at Tarentum and Brundisium, and he sent to Antony a demand to waste no time, but to come with his forces; Caesar himself would furnish his armament with unobstructed roadsteads and harbours, and would withdraw with his land forces a day’s journey for a horseman from the sea-shore, until Antony should have safely landed and fixed his camp. 3 This boastful language Antony matched by challenging Caesar to single combat, although he was an older man than Caesar; and if Caesar declined this, Antony demanded that they should fight out the issue at Pharsalus, as Caesar and Pompey had once done. But while Antony was lying at anchor off Actium, where now Nicopolis stands, Caesar got the start of him by crossing the Ionian sea and occupying a place in Epirus called Toruné (that is, ladle); and when Antony and his friends were disturbed by this, since their infantry forces were belated, Cleopatra, jesting, said: “What is there dreadful in Caesar’s sitting at a ladle?”
[Ant. 63.1] 63 1 But Antony, when the enemy sailed against him at daybreak, was afraid lest they should capture his ships while they had no fighting crews, and therefore armed the rowers and drew them up on the decks so as to make a show; then he grouped his ships at the mouth of the gulf near Actium, their ranks of oars on either side lifted and poised as for the stroke, and their prows towards the enemy, as if they were fully manned and prepared to fight. 2 Caesar, thus outwitted and deceived, withdrew. Antony was also thought to have shown great skill in enclosing the potable water within certain barriers and thus depriving the enemy of it, since the places round about afforded little, and that of bad quality. He also behaved with magnanimity towards Domitius, contrary to the judgment of Cleopatra. For when Domitius, who was already in a fever, got into a small boat and went over to Caesar, Antony, though deeply chagrined, nevertheless, sent off to him all his baggage, together with his friends and servants. 3 And Domitius, as if repenting when his faithlessness and treachery became known, straightway died.
[Ant. 63.4] There were also defections among the kings, and Amyntas and Deiotarus went over to Caesar. Besides, since his navy was unlucky in everything and always too late to be of assistance, Antony was again compelled to turn his attention to his land forces. Canidius also, the commander of the land forces, changed his mind in presence of the danger, and advised Antony to send Cleopatra away, to withdraw into Thrace or Macedonia, and there to decide the issue by a land battle. 4 For Dicomes the king of the Getae promised to come to their aid with a large force; and it would be no disgrace, Canidius urged, for them to give up the sea to Caesar, who had practised himself there in the Sicilian war; but it would be a strange thing for Antony, who was most experienced in land conflicts, not to avail himself of the strength and equipment of his numerous legionary soldiers, but to distribute his forces among ships and so fritter them away.
[Ant. 63.5] 5 However, Cleopatra prevailed with her opinion that the war should be decided by the ships, although she was already contemplating flight, and was disposing her own forces, not where they would be helpful in winning the victory, but where they could most easily get away if the cause was lost. Moreover, there were two long walls extending down to the naval station from the camp, and between these Antony was wont to pass without suspecting any danger. 6 But a slave told Caesar that it was possible to seize Antony as he went down between the walls, and Caesar sent men to lie in ambush for him. These men came near accomplishing their purpose, but seized only the man who was advancing in front of Antony, since they sprang up too soon; Antony himself escaped with difficulty by running.
[Ant. 64.1] 64 1 When it had been decided to deliver a sea battle, Antony burned all the Egyptian ships except sixty; but the largest and best, from those having three to those having ten banks of oars, he manned, putting on board twenty thousand heavy-armed soldiers and two thousand archers. It was on this occasion, we are told, that an infantry centurion, a man who had fought many a battle for Antony and was covered with scars, burst into laments as Antony was passing by, and said; 2 “Imperator, why dost thou distrust these wounds and this sword and put thy hopes in miserable logs of wood? Let Egyptians and Phoenicians do their fighting at sea, but give us land, on which we are accustomed to stand and either conquer our enemies or die.” To this Antony made no reply, but merely encouraged the man by a gesture and a look to be of good heart, and passed on. He had no good hopes himself, since, when the masters of his ships wished to leave their sails behind, he compelled them to put them on board and carry them, saying that not one fugitive of the enemy should be allowed to make his escape.
[Ant. 65.1] 65 1 During that day, then, and the three following days the sea was tossed up by a strong wind and prevented the battle; but on the fifth, the weather becoming fine and the sea calm, they came to an engagement. Antony had the right wing, with Publicola, Coelius the left, and in the centre were Marcus Octavius and Marcus Insteius. 2 Caesar posted Agrippa on the left, and reserved the right wing for himself. Of the land forces, that of Antony was commanded by Canidius, that of Caesar by Taurus, who drew them up along the sea and remained quiet. As for the leaders themselves, Antony visited all his ships in a row-boat, exhorting the soldiers, owing to the weight of their ships, to fight without changing their position, as if they were on land; 3 he also ordered the masters of the ships to receive the attacks of the enemy as if their ships were lying quietly at anchor, and to maintain their position at the mouth of the gulf, which was narrow and difficult. Caesar, we are told, who had left his tent while it was still dark and was going round to visit his ships, was met by a man driving an ass. Caesar asked the man his name, and he, recognizing Caesar, replied: “My name is Prosper, and my ass’s name is Victor.” Therefore, when Caesar afterwards decided the place with the beaks of ships, he set up bronze figures of an ass and a man. 4 After surveying the rest of his line of battle, he was carried in a small boat to his right wing, and there was astonished to see the enemy lying motionless in the narrows; indeed, their ships had the appearance of riding at anchor. For a long time he was convinced that this was really the case, and kept his own ships at a distance of about eight furlongs from the enemy. But it was now the sixth hour, and since a wind was rising from the sea, the soldiers of Antony became impatient at the delay, and, relying on the height and size of their own ships as making them unassailable, they put their left wing in motion. 5 When Caesar saw this he was delighted, and ordered his right wing to row backwards, wishing to draw the enemy still farther out from the gulf and the narrows, and then to surround them with his own agile vessels and come to close quarters with ships which, owing to their great size and the smallness of their crews, were slow and ineffective.
[Ant. 66.1] 66 1 Though the struggle was beginning to be at close range, the ships did not ram or crush one another at all, since Antony’s, owing to their weight, had no impetus, which chiefly gives effect to the blows of the beaks, while Caesar’s not only avoided dashing front to front against rough and hard bronze armour, but did not even venture to ram the enemy’s ships in the side. 2 For their beaks would easily have been broken off by impact against vessels constructed of huge square timbers fastened together with iron. The struggle was therefore like a land battle; or, to speak more truly, like the storming of a walled town. For three or four of Caesar’s vessels were engaged at the same time about one of Antony’s, and the crews fought with wicker shields and spears and punting-poles and fiery missiles; the soldiers of Antony also shot with catapults from wooden towers.
[Ant. 66.3] 3 And now, as Agrippa was extending the left wing with a view to encircling the enemy, Publicola was forced to advance against him, and so was separated from the centre. The centre falling into confusion and engaging with Arruntius, although the sea-fight was still undecided and equally favourable to both sides, suddenly the sixty ships of Cleopatra were seen hoisting their sails for flight and making off through the midst of the combatants; for they had been posted in the rear of the large vessels, and threw them into confusion as they plunged through. 4 The enemy looked on with amazement, seeing that they took advantage of the wind and made for Peloponnesus. Here, indeed, Antony made it clear to all the world that he was swayed neither by the sentiments of a commander nor of a brave man, nor even by his own, but, as someone in pleasantry said that the soul of the lover dwells in another’s body, he was dragged along by the woman as if he had become incorporate with her and must go where she did. 5 For no sooner did he see her ship sailing off than he forgot everything else, betrayed and ran away from those who were fighting and dying in his cause, got into a five-oared galley, where Alexas the Syrian and Scellius were his only companions, and hastened after the woman who had already ruined him and would make his ruin still more complete.
[Ant. 67.1] 67 1 Cleopatra recognized him and raised a signal on her ship; so Antony came up and was taken on board, but he neither saw nor was seen by her. Instead, he went forward alone to the prow and sat down by himself in silence, holding his head in both hands. 2 At this point, Liburnian ships were seen pursuing them from Caesar’s fleet; but Antony ordered the ship’s prow turned to face them, and so kept them off, except the ship of Eurycles the Laconian, who attacked vigorously, and brandished a spear on the deck as though he would cast it at Antony. And when Antony, standing at the prow, asked, “Who is this that pursues Antony?” the answer was, “I am Eurycles the son of Lachares, whom the fortune of Caesar enables to avenge the death of his father.” 3 Now, Lachares had been beheaded by Antony because he was involved in a charge of robbery. However, Eurycles did not hit Antony’s ship, but smote the other admiral’s ship (for there were two of them) with his bronze beak and whirled her round, and one of the other ships also, which contained costly equipment for household use. 4 When Eurycles was gone, Antony threw himself down again in the same posture and did not stir. He spent three days by himself at the prow, either because he was angry with Cleopatra, or ashamed to see her, and then put in at Taenarum. Here the women in Cleopatra’s company at first brought them into a parley, and then persuaded them to eat and sleep together.
[Ant. 67.5] 5 Presently not a few of their heavy transport ships and some of their friends began to gather about them after the defeat, bringing word that the fleet was destroyed, but that, in their opinion, the land forces still held together. So Antony sent messengers to Canidius, ordering him to retire with his army as fast as he could through Macedonia into Asia; 6 he himself, however, since he purposed to cross from Taenarum to Libya, selected one of the transport ships which carried much coined money and very valuable royal utensils in silver and gold, and made a present of it to his friends, bidding them divide up the treasure and look out for their own safety. They refused his gift and were in tears, but he comforted them and besought them with great kindness and affection, and finally sent them away, 7 after writing to Theophilus, his steward in Corinth, that he should keep the men in safe hiding until they could make their peace with Caesar. This Theophilus was the father of Hipparchus, who had the greatest influence with Antony, was the first of Antony’s freedmen to go over to Caesar, and afterwards lived in Corinth.
[Ant. 68.1] 68 1 This, then, was the situation of Antony. But at Actium his fleet held out for a long time against Caesar, and only after it had been most severely damaged by the high sea which rose against it did it reluctantly, and at the tenth hour, give up the struggle. There were not more than five thousand dead, but three hundred ships were captured, as Caesar himself has written. 2 Only a few were aware that Antony had fled, and to those who heard of it the story was at first an incredible one, that he had gone off and left nineteen legions of undefeated men-at arms and twelve thousand horsemen, as if he had not many times experienced both kinds of fortune and were not exercised by the reverses of countless wars and fightings. 3 His soldiers, too, had a great longing for him, and expected that he would presently make his appearance from some quarter or other; and they displayed so much fidelity and bravery that even after his flight had become evident they held together for seven days, paying no heed to the messages which Caesar sent them. But at last, after Canidius their general had run away by night and forsaken the camp, being now destitute of all things and betrayed by their commanders, they went over to the conqueror.
[Ant. 68.4] 4 In consequence of this, Caesar sailed to Athens, and after making a settlement with the Greeks, he distributed the grain which remained over after the war among their cities; these were in a wretched plight, and had been stripped of money, slaves, and beasts of burden. At any rate, my great-grandfather Nicarchus used to tell how all his fellow-citizens were compelled to carry on their shoulders a stipulated measure of wheat down to the sea at Anticyra, and how their pace was quickened by the whip; 5 they had carried one load in this way, he said, the second was already measured out, and they were just about to set forth, when word was brought that Antony had been defeated, and this was the salvation of the city; for immediately the stewards and soldiers of Antony took to flight, and the citizens divided the grain among themselves.
[Ant. 69.1] 69 1 After Antony had reached the coast of Libya and sent Cleopatra forward into Egypt from Paraetonium, he had the benefit of solitude without end, roaming and wandering about with two friends, one a Greek, Aristocrates a rhetorician, and the other a Roman, Lucilius, about whom I have told a story elsewhere. He was at Philippi, and in order that Brutus might make his escape, pretended to be Brutus and surrendered himself to his pursuers. His life was spared by Antony on this account, and he remained faithful to him and steadfast up to the last crucial times. 2 When the general to whom his forces in Libya had been entrusted brought about their defection, Antony tried to kill himself, but was prevented by his friends and brought to Alexandria. Here he found Cleopatra venturing upon a hazardous and great undertaking. The isthmus, namely, which separates the Red Sea from the Mediterranean Sea off Egypt and is considered to be the boundary between Asia and Libya, in the part where it is most constricted by the two seas and has the least width, measures three hundred furlongs. 3 Here Cleopatra undertook to raise her fleet out of water and drag the ships across, and after launching them in the Arabian Gulf with much money and a large force, to settle in parts outside of Egypt, thus escaping war and servitude. But since the Arabians about Petra burned the first ships that were drawn up, and Antony still thought that his land forces at Actium were holding together, she desisted, and guarded the approaches to the country. 4 And now Antony forsook the city and the society of his friends, and built for himself a dwelling in the sea at Pharos, by throwing a mole out into the water. Here he lived an exile from men, and declared that he was contentedly imitating the life of Timon, since, indeed, his experiences had been like Timon’s; for he himself also had been wronged and treated with ingratitude by his friends, and therefore hated and distrusted all mankind.
[Ant. 70.1] 70 1 Now, Timon was an Athenian, and lived about the time of the Peloponnesian War, as may be gathered from the plays of Aristophanes and Plato. For he is represented in their comedies as peevish and misanthropical; but though he avoided and repelled all intercourse with men, he was glad to see Alcibiades, who was then young and headstrong, and showered kisses upon him. And when Apemantus was amazed at this and asked the reason for it, Timon said he loved the youth because he knew that he would be a cause of many ills to Athens. 2 This Apemantus alone of all men Timon would sometimes admit into his company, since Apemantus was like him and tried sometimes to imitate his mode of life; and once, at the festival of The Pitchers, the two were feasting by themselves, and Apemantus said: “Timon, what a fine symposium ours is!” “It would be,” said Timon, “if thou wert not here.” We are told also that once when the Athenians were holding an assembly, he ascended the bema, and the strangeness of the thing caused deep silence and great expectancy; then he said: 3 “I have a small building lot, men of Athens, and a fig-tree is growing in it, from which many of my fellow citizens have already hanged themselves. Accordingly, as I intend to build a house there, I wanted to give public notice to that effect, in order that all of you who desire to do so may hang yourselves before the fig-tree is cut down.” After he had died and been buried at Halae near the sea, the shore in front of the tomb slipped away, and the water surrounded it and made it completely inaccessible to man. 4 The inscription on the tomb was:
[Ant. 70.1b] “Here, after snapping the thread of a wretched life, I lie.
[Ant. 70.1c] Ye shall not learn my name, but my curses shall follow you.”
[Ant. 70.1d] This inscription he is said to have composed himself, but that in general circulation is by Callimachus:
[Ant. 70.1e] “Timon, hater of men, dwells here; so pass along;
Heap many curses on me, if thou wilt, only pass along.”
[Ant. 71.1] 71 1 These are a few things out of many concerning Timon. As for Antony, Canidius in person brought him word of the loss of his forces at Actium, and he heard that Herod the Jew, with sundry legions and cohorts, had gone over to Caesar, and that the other dynasts in like manner were deserting him and nothing longer remained of his power outside of Egypt. 2 However, none of these things greatly disturbed him, but, as if he gladly laid aside his hopes, that so he might lay aside his anxieties also, he forsook that dwelling of his in the sea, which he called Timoneum, and after he had been received into the palace by Cleopatra, turned the city to the enjoyment of suppers and drinking-bouts and distributions of gifts, inscribing in the list of ephebi the son of Cleopatra and Caesar, 3 and bestowing upon Antyllus the son of Fulvia the toga virilis without purple hem, in celebration of which, for many days, banquets and revels and feastings occupied Alexandria. Cleopatra and Antony now dissolved their famous society of Inimitable Livers, and founded another, not at all inferior to that in daintiness and extravagant outlay, which they called the society of Partners in Death. For their friends enrolled themselves as those who would die together, and passed the time delightfully in a round of suppers. 4 Moreover, Cleopatra was getting together collections of all sorts of deadly poisons, and she tested the painless working of each of them by giving them to prisoners under sentence of death. But when she saw that the speedy poisons enhanced the sharpness of death by the pain they caused, while the milder poisons were not quick, she made trial of venomous animals, watching with her own eyes as they were set upon another. 5 She did this daily, tried them almost all; and she found that the bite of the asp alone induced a sleepy torpor and sinking, where there was no spasm or groan, but a gentle perspiration on the face, while the perceptive faculties were easily relaxed and dimmed, and resisted all attempts to rouse and restore them, as is the case with those who are soundly asleep.
[Ant. 72.1] 72 1 At the same time they also sent an embassy to Caesar in Asia, Cleopatra asking the realm of Egypt for her children, and Antony requesting that he might live as a private person at Athens, if he could not do so in Egypt. But owing to their lack of friends and the distrust which they felt on account of desertions, Euphronius, the teacher of the children, was sent on the embassy. 2 For Alexas the Laodicean, who had been made known to Antony in Rome through Timagenes and had more influence with him than any other Greek, who had also been Cleopatra’s most effective instrument against Antony and had overthrown the considerations arising in his mind in favour of Octavia, had been sent to keep Herod the king from apostasy; 3 but after remaining there and betraying Antony he had the audacity to come into Caesar’s presence, relying on Herod. Herod, however, could not help him, but the traitor was at once confined and carried in fetters to his own country, where he was put to death by Caesar’s orders. Such was the penalty for his treachery which Alexas paid to Antony while Antony was yet alive.
[Ant. 73.1] 73 1 Caesar would not listen to the proposals for Antony, but he sent back word to Cleopatra that she would receive all reasonable treatment if she either put Antony to death or cast him out. He also sent with the messengers one of his own freedmen, Thyrsus, a man of no mean parts, and one who would persuasively convey messages from a young general to a woman who was haughty and astonishingly proud in the matter of beauty. 2 This man had longer interviews with Cleopatra than the rest, and was conspicuously honoured by her, so that he roused suspicion in Antony, who seized him and gave him a flogging, and then sent him back to Caesar with a written message stating that Thyrsus, by his insolent and haughty airs, had irritated him, at a time when misfortunes made him easily irritated. “But if thou dost not like the thing,” he said, “thou has my freedman Hipparchus; hang him up and give him a flogging, and we shall be quits.” 3 After this, Cleopatra tried to dissipate his causes of complaint and his suspicions by paying extravagant court to him; her own birthday she kept modestly and in a manner becoming to her circumstances, but she celebrated his with an excess of all kinds of splendour and costliness, so that many of those who were bidden to the supper came poor and went away rich. Meanwhile Caesar was being called home by Agrippa, who frequently wrote him from Rome that matters there greatly needed his presence.
[Ant. 74.1] 74 1 Accordingly, the war was suspended for the time being; but when the winter was over, Caesar again marched against his enemy through Syria, and his generals through Libya. When Pelusium was taken there was a rumour that Seleucus had given it up, and not without the consent of Cleopatra; but Cleopatra allowed Antony to put to death the wife and children of Seleucus, and she herself, now that she had a tomb and monument built surpassingly lofty and beautiful, which she had erected near the temple of Isis, 2 collected there the most valuable of the royal treasures, gold, silver, emeralds, pearls, ebony, ivory, and cinnamon; and besides all this she put there great quantities of torch-wood and tow, so that Caesar was anxious about the reason, and fearing lest the woman might become desperate and burn up and destroy this wealth, kept sending on to her vague hopes of kindly treatment from him, at the same time that he advanced with his army against the city. 3 But when Caesar had taken up position near the hippodrome, Antony sallied forth against him and fought brilliantly and routed his cavalry, and pursued them as far as their camp. Then, exalted by his victory, he went into the palace, kissed Cleopatra, all armed as he was, and presented to her the one of his soldiers who had fought most spiritedly. Cleopatra gave the man as a reward of valour a golden breastplate and a helmet. The man took them, of course, — and in the night deserted to Caesar.
[Ant. 75.1] 75 1 And now Antony once more sent Caesar a challenge to single combat. But Caesar answered that Antony had many ways of dying. Then Antony, conscious that there was no better death for him than that by battle, determined to attack by land and sea at once. And at supper, we are told, he bade the slaves pour out for him and feast him more generously; 2 for it was uncertain, he said, whether they would be doing this on the morrow, or whether they would be serving other masters, while he himself would be lying dead, a mummy and a nothing. Then, seeing that his friends were weeping at these words, he declared that he would not lead them out to battle, since from it he sought an honourable death for himself rather than safety and victory.
[Ant. 75.3] 3 During this night, it is said, about the middle of it, while the city was quiet and depressed through fear and expectation of what was coming, suddenly certain harmonious sounds from all sorts of instruments were heard, and the shouting of a throng, accompanied by cries of Bacchic revelry and satyric leapings, as if a troop of revellers, making a great tumult, were going forth from the city; 4 and their course seemed to lie about through the middle of the city toward the outer gate which faced the enemy, at which point the tumult became loudest and then dashed out. Those who sought the meaning of the sign were of the opinion that the god to whom Antony always most likened and attached himself was now deserting him.
[Ant. 76.1] 76 1 At daybreak, Antony in person posted his infantry on the hills in front of the city, and watched his ships as they put out and attacked those of the enemy; and as he expected to see something great accomplished by them, he remained quiet. But the crews of his ships, as soon as they were near, saluted Caesar’s crews with their oars, and on their returning the salute changed sides, and so all the ships, now united into one fleet, sailed up towards the city prows on. 2 No sooner had Antony seen this than he was deserted by his cavalry, which went over to the enemy, and after being defeated with his infantry he retired into the city, crying out that he had been betrayed by Cleopatra to those with whom he waged war for her sake. But she, fearing his anger and his madness, fled for refuge into her tomb and let fall the drop-doors, which were made strong with bolts and bars; then she sent messengers to tell Antony that she was dead. 3 Antony believed that message, and saying to himself, “Why doest thou longer delay, Antony? Fortune has taken away thy sole remaining excuse for clinging to life,” he went into his chamber. Here, as he unfastened his breastplate and laid it aside, he said: “O Cleopatra, I am not grieved to be bereft of thee, for I shall straightway join thee; but I am grieved that such an imperator as I am has been found to be inferior to a woman in courage.”
[Ant. 76.4] 4 Now, Antony had a trusty slave named Eros. Him Antony had long before engaged, in case of need, to kill him, and now demanded the fulfilment of his promise. So Eros drew his sword and held it up as though he would smite his master, but then turned his face away and slew himself. And as he fell at his master’s feet Antony said: “Well done, Eros! though thou wast not able to do it thyself, thou teachest me what I must do”; and running himself through the belly he dropped upon the couch. 5 But the wound did not bring a speedy death. Therefore, as the blood ceased flowing after he had lain down, he came to himself and besought the bystanders to give him the finishing stroke. But they fled from the chamber, and he lay writhing and crying out, until Diomedes the secretary came from Cleopatra with orders to bring him to her in the tomb.
[Ant. 77.1] 77 1 Having learned, then, that Cleopatra was alive, Antony eagerly ordered his servants to raise him up, and he was carried in their arms to the doors of her tomb. Cleopatra, however, would not open the doors, but showed herself at a window, from which she let down ropes and cords. To these Antony was fastened, and she drew him up herself, with the aid of the two women whom alone she had admitted with her into the tomb. 2 Never, as those who were present tell us, was there a more piteous sight. Smeared with blood and struggling with death he was drawn up, stretching out his hands to her even as he dangled in the air. For the task was not an easy one for the women, and scarcely could Cleopatra, with clinging hands and strained face, pull up the rope, while those below called out encouragement to her and shared her agony. 3 And when she had thus got him in and laid him down, she rent her garments over him, beat and tore her breasts with her hands, wiped off some of his blood upon her face, and called him master, husband, and imperator; indeed, she almost forgot her own ills in her pity for his. But Antony stopped her lamentations and asked for a drink of wine, either because he was thirsty, or in the hope of a speedier release. 4 When he had drunk, he advised her to consult her own safety, if she could do it without disgrace, and among all the companions of Caesar to put most confidence in Proculeius, and not to lament him for his last reverses, but to count him happy for the good things that had been his, since he had become most illustrious of men, had won greatest power, and now had been not ignobly conquered, a Roman by a Roman.
[Ant. 78.1] 78 1 Scarcely was he dead, when Proculeius came from Caesar. For after Antony had smitten himself and while he was being carried to Cleopatra, Dercetaeus, one of his body-guard, seized Antony’s sword, concealed it, and stole away with it; and running to Caesar, he was the first to tell him of Antony’s death, and showed him the sword all smeared with blood. 2 When Caesar heard these tidings, he retired within his tent and wept for a man who had been his relation by marriage, his colleague in office and command, and his partner in many undertakings and struggles. Then he took the letters which had passed between them, called in his friends, and read the letters aloud, showing how reasonably and justly he had written, and how rude and overbearing Antony had always been in his replies. 3 After this, he sent Proculeius, bidding him, if possible, above all things to get Cleopatra into his power alive; for he was fearful about the treasures in her funeral pyre, and he thought it would add greatly to the glory of his triumph if she were led in the procession. Into the hands of Proculeius, however, Cleopatra would not put herself; 4 but she conferred with him after he had come close to the tomb and stationed himself outside at a door which was on a level with the ground. The door was strongly fastened with bolts and bars, but allowed a passage for the voice. So they conversed, Cleopatra asking that her children might have the kingdom, and Proculeius bidding her be of good cheer and trust Caesar in everything.
[Ant. 79.1] 79 1 After Proculeius had surveyed the place, he brought back word to Caesar, and Gallus was sent to have another interview with the queen; and coming up to the door he purposely prolonged the conversation. Meanwhile Proculeius applied a ladder and went in through the window by which the women had taken Antony inside. Then he went down at once to the very door at which Cleopatra was standing and listening to Gallus, and he had two servants with him. 2 One of the women imprisoned with Cleopatra cried out, “Wretched Cleopatra, thou art taken alive,” whereupon the queen turned about, saw Proculeius, and tried to stab herself; for she had at her girdle a dagger such as robbers wear. But Proculeius ran swiftly to her, threw both his arms about her, and said: “O Cleopatra, thou art wronging both thyself and Caesar, by trying to rob him of an opportunity to show great kindness, and by fixing upon the gentlest of commanders the stigma of faithlessness and implacability.” 3 At the same time he took away her weapon, and shook out her clothing, to see whether she was concealing any poison. And there was also sent from Caesar one of his freedmen, Epaphroditus, with injunctions to keep the queen alive by the strictest vigilance, but otherwise to make any concession that would promote her ease and pleasure.
[Ant. 80.1] 80 1 And now Caesar himself drove into the city, and he was conversing with Areius the philosopher, to whom he had given his right hand, in order that Areius might at once be conspicuous among the citizens, and be admired because of the marked honour shown him by Caesar. After he had entered the gymnasium and ascended a tribunal there made for him, the people were beside themselves with fear and prostrated themselves before him, but he bade them rise up, and said that he acquitted the people of all blame, first, because of Alexander, their founder; second, because he admired the great size and beauty of the city; and third, to gratify his companion, Areius. 2 This honour Caesar bestowed upon Areius, and pardoned many other persons also at his request. Among these was Philostratus, a man more competent to speak extempore than any sophist that ever lived, but he improperly represented himself as belonging to the school of the Academy. Therefore Caesar, abominating his ways, would not listen to his entreaties. 3 So Philostratus, having a long white beard and wearing a dark robe, would follow behind Areius, ever declaiming this verse: —
[Ant. 80.1b] “A wise man will a wise man save, if wise he be.”
[Ant. 80.1c] When Caesar heard of this, he pardoned him, wishing rather to free Areius from odium than Philostratus from fear.
[Ant. 81.1] 81 1 As for the children of Antony, Antyllus, his son by Fulvia, was betrayed by Theodorus his tutor and put to death; and after the soldiers had cut off his head, his tutor took away the exceeding precious stone which the boy wore about his neck and sewed it into his own girdle; and though he denied the deed, he was convicted of it and crucified. 2 Cleopatra’s children, together with their attendants, were kept under guard and had generous treatment. But Caesarion, who was said to be Cleopatra’s son by Julius Caesar, was sent by his mother, with much treasure, into India, by way of Ethiopia. There Rhodon, another tutor like Theodorus, persuaded him to go back, on the ground that Caesar invited him to take the kingdom. But while Caesar was deliberating on the matter, we are told that Areius said: —
[Ant. 81.1b] “Not a good thing were a Caesar too many.”
[Ant. 82.1] 82 1 As for Caesarion, then, he was afterwards put to death by Caesar, — after the death of Cleopatra; but as for Antony, though many generals and kings asked for his body that they might give it burial, Caesar would not take it away from Cleopatra, and it was buried by her hands in sumptuous and royal fashion, such things being granted her for the purpose as she desired. But in consequence of so much grief as well as pain (for her breasts were wounded and inflamed by the blows she gave them) a fever assailed her, and she welcomed it as an excuse for abstaining from food and so releasing herself from life without hindrance. 2 Moreover, there was a physician in her company of intimates, Olympus, to whom she told the truth, and she had his counsel and assistance in compassing her death, as Olympus himself testifies in a history of these events which he published. But Caesar was suspicious, and plied her with threats and fears regarding her children, by which she was laid low, as by engines of war, and surrendered her body for such care and nourishment as was desired.
[Ant. 83.1] 83 1 After a few days Caesar himself came to talk with her and give her comfort. She was lying on a mean pallet-bed, clad only in her tunic, but sprang up as he entered and thew herself at his feet; her hair and face were in terrible disarray, her voice trembled, and her eyes were sunken. There were also visible many marks of the cruel blows upon her bosom; in a word, her body seemed to be no better off than her spirit. 2 Nevertheless, the charm for which she was famous and the boldness of her beauty were not altogether extinguished, but, although she was in such a sorry plight, they shone forth from within and made themselves manifest in the play of her features. After Caesar had bidden her to lie down and had seated himself near her, she began a sort of justification of her course, ascribing it to necessity and fear of Antony; but as Caesar opposed and refuted her on every point, she quickly changed her tone and sought to move his pity by prayers, as one who above all things clung to life. 3 And finally she gave him a list which she had of all her treasures; and when Seleucus, one of her stewards, showed conclusively that she was stealing away and hiding some of them, she sprang up, seized him by the hair, and showered blows upon his face. 4 And when Caesar, with a smile, stopped her, she said: “But is it not a monstrous thing, O Caesar, that when thou hast deigned to come to me and speak to me though I am in this wretched plight, my slaves denounce me for reserving some women’s adornments, — not for myself, indeed, unhappy woman that I am, — but that I may make trifling gifts to Octavia and thy Livia, and through their intercession find thee merciful and more gentle?” 5 Caesar was pleased with this speech, being altogether of the opinion that she desired to live. He told her, therefore, that he left these matters for her to manage, and that in all other ways he would give her more splendid treatment than she could possibly expect. Then he went off, supposing that he had deceived her, but the rather deceived by her.
[Ant. 84.1] 84 1 Now, there was a young man of rank among Caesar’s companions, named Cornelius Dolabella. This man was not without a certain tenderness for Cleopatra; and so now, in response to her request, he secretly sent word to her that Caesar himself was preparing to march with his land forces through Syria, and had resolved to send off her and her children within three days. 2 After Cleopatra had heard this, in the first place, she begged Caesar that she might be permitted to pour libations for Antony; and when the request was granted, she had herself carried to the tomb, and embracing the urn which held his ashes, in company with the women usually about her, she said: “Dear Antony, I buried thee but lately with hands still free; now, however, I pour libations for thee as a captive, and so carefully guarded that I cannot either with blows or tears disfigure this body of mine, which is a slave’s body, and closely watched that it may grace the triumph over thee. 3 Do not expect other honours or libations; these are the last from Cleopatra the captive. For though in life nothing could part us from each other, in death we are likely to change places; thou, the Roman, lying buried here, while I, the hapless woman, lie in Italy, and get only so much of thy country as my portion. 4 But if indeed there is any might or power in the gods of that country (for the gods of this country have betrayed us), do not abandon thine own wife while she lives, nor permit a triumph to be celebrated over myself in my person, but hide and bury me here with thyself, since out of all my innumerable ills not one is so great and dreadful as this short time that I have lived apart from thee.”
[Ant. 85.1] 85 1 After such lamentations, she wreathed and kissed the urn, and then ordered a bath to be prepared for herself. After her bath, she reclined at table and was making a sumptuous meal. And there came a man from the country carrying a basket; and when the guards asked him what he was bringing there, he opened the basket, took away the leaves, and showed them that the dish inside was full of figs. 2 The guards were amazed at the great size and beauty of the figs, whereupon the man smiled and asked them to take some; so they felt no mistrust and bade him take them in. After her meal, however, Cleopatra took a tablet which was already written upon and sealed, and sent it to Caesar, and then, sending away all the rest of the company except her two faithful women, she closed the doors.
[Ant. 85.3] 3 But Caesar opened the tablet, and when he found there lamentations and supplications of one who begged that he would bury her with Antony, he quickly knew what had happened. At first he was minded to go himself and give aid; then he ordered messengers to go with all speed and investigate. But the mischief had been swift. For though his messengers came on the run and found the guards as yet aware of nothing, when they opened the doors they found Cleopatra lying dead upon a golden couch, arrayed in royal state. 4 And of her two women, the one called Iras was dying at her feet, while Charmion, already tottering and heavy-handed, was trying to arrange the diadem which encircled the queen’s brow. Then somebody said in anger: “A fine deed, this, Charmion!” “It is indeed most fine,” she said, “and befitting the descendant of so many kings.” Not a word more did she speak, but fell there by the side of the couch.
[Ant. 86.1] 86 1 It is said that the asp was brought with those figs and leaves and lay hidden beneath them, for thus Cleopatra had given orders, that the reptile might fasten itself upon her body without her being aware of it. But when she took away some of the figs and saw it, she said: “There it is, you see,” and baring her arm she held it out for the bite. 2 But others say that the asp was kept carefully shut up in a water jar, and that while Cleopatra was stirring it up and irritating it with a golden distaff it sprang and fastened itself upon her arm. But the truth of the matter no one knows; for it was also said that she carried about poison in a hollow comb and kept the comb hidden in her hair; and yet neither spot nor other sign of poison broke out upon her body. 3 Moreover, not even was the reptile seen within the chamber, though people said they saw some traces of it near the sea, where the chamber looked out upon it with its windows. And some also say that Cleopatra’s arm was seen to have two slight and indistinct punctures; and this Caesar also seems to have believed. For in his triumph an image of Cleopatra herself with the asp clinging to her was carried in the procession. These, then, are the various accounts of what happened.
[Ant. 86.4] 4 But Caesar, although vexed at the death of the woman, admired her lofty spirit; and he gave orders that her body should be buried with that of Antony in splendid and regal fashion. Her women also received honourable interment by his orders. When Cleopatra died she was forty years of age save one, and had shared her power with Antony more than fourteen. 5 Antony was fifty-six years of age, according to some, according to others, fifty-three. Now, the statues of Antony were torn down, but those of Cleopatra were left standing, because Archibius, one of her friends, gave Caesar two thousand talents, in order that they might not suffer the same fate as Antony’s.
[Ant. 87.1] 87 1 Antony left seven children by his three wives, of whom Antyllus, the eldest, was the only one who was put to death by Caesar; the rest were taken up by Octavia and reared with her own children. Cleopatra, the daughter of Cleopatra, Octavia gave in marriage to Juba, the most accomplished of kings, and Antony, the son of Fulvia, she raised so high that, while Agrippa held the first place in Caesar’s estimation, and the sons of Livia the second, Antony was thought to be and really was third. 2 By Marcellus Octavia had two daughters, and one son, Marcellus, whom Caesar made both his son and his son-in law, and he gave one of the daughters to Agrippa. But since Marcellus died very soon after his marriage and it was not easy for Caesar to select from among his other friends a son-in law whom he could trust, Octavia proposed that Agrippa should take Caesar’s daughter to wife, and put away her own. 3 First Caesar was persuaded by her, then Agrippa, whereupon she took back her own daughter and married her to young Antony, while Agrippa married Caesar’s daughter. Antony left two daughters by Octavia, of whom one was taken to wife by Domitius Ahenobarbus, and the other, Antonia, famous for her beauty and discretion, was married to Drusus, who was the son of Livia and the step-son of Caesar. From this marriage sprang Germanicus and Claudius; 4 of these, Claudius afterwards came to the throne, and of the children of Germanicus, Caius reigned with distinction, but for a short time only, and was then put to death with his wife and child, and Agrippina, who had a son by Ahenobarbus, Lucius Domitius, became the wife of Claudius Caesar. And Claudius, having adopted Agrippina’s son, gave him the name of Nero Germanicus. This Nero came to the throne in my time. He killed his mother, and by his folly and madness came near subverting the Roman empire. He was the fifth in descent from Antony.

## Comparison of Demetrius and Antony

[Comp. Demetr.–Ant. 1.1] 956 1 1 Since, then, both these men experienced great reversals of fortune, let us first observe, with regard to their power and fame, that in the one case these were acquired for him by his father and inherited, since Antigonus became the strongest of Alexander’s successors, and before Demetrius came of age had attacked and mastered the greater part of Asia; 2 Antony, on the contrary, was the son of a man who, though otherwise gifted, was yet no warrior, and could leave him no great legacy of reputation; and yet Antony had the courage to seek the power of Caesar, to which his birth gave him no claim, and to all that Caesar had wrought out before him he made himself the rightful successor. And so great strength did he attain, in reliance upon his own resources alone, that, after forcing a division of the empire into two parts, he chose one, and took the more splendid one of the two; and though absent himself, through his assistants and lieutenant-generals he defeated the Parthians many times, and drove the barbarous tribes about the Caucasus as far as the Caspian Sea. 3 Moreover, even the things that brought him ill-repute bear witness to his greatness. For Antigonus was well pleased to have his son Demetrius marry Phila, the daughter of Antipater, in spite of her disparity in years, because he thought her a greater personage; whereas Antony’s marriage to Cleopatra was a disgrace to him, although she was a woman who surpassed in power and splendour all the royalties of her time except Arsaces. But he made himself so great that men thought him worthy of greater things than he desired.
[Comp. Demetr.–Ant. 2.1] 2 1 As regards their resolution to win empire, this was blameless in the case of Demetrius, who sought to subdue and reign as king over men who were accustomed to subjection and kings; but in the case of Antony it was harsh and tyrannical, since he tried to enslave the Roman people when it had just escaped from the sole rule of Caesar. 2 Moreover, as regards the greatest and most brilliant of his achievements, namely, the war against Cassius and Brutus, it was to deprive his country and his fellow citizens of their liberty that the war was waged. But Demetrius, even before he felt the constraints of adversity, kept on liberating Greece and expelling their garrisons from her cities, unlike Antony, whose boast was that he had slain in Macedonia the men who had given liberty to Rome. 3 And besides, as regards their love of giving and the largeness of their gifts, one of the things for which Antony is lauded, Demetrius far surpassed in this, and bestowed more upon his enemies than Antony ever gave to his friends. It is true that for ordering the body of Brutus to be robed and buried Antony won a good name; but Demetrius gave obsequies to all his enemy’s dead, and sent his prisoners back to Ptolemy with money and gifts.
[Comp. Demetr.–Ant. 3.1] 3 1 Both were insolent in prosperity, and abandoned themselves to luxury and enjoyment. But it cannot be said that Demetrius, for all his pleasures and amours, ever let slip the time for action, nay, it was only when his leisure was abundant that he introduced his pleasures; and his Lamia, like the creature of fable, he made his pastime only when he was sportive or drowsy. 2 But when he got ready for war, his spear was not tipped with ivy, nor did his helmet smell of myrrh, nor did he go forth to his battles from the women’s chamber, sleek and blooming, but quieting down and stopping the revels and orgies of Bacchus, he became, in the words of Euripides, a “minister of unhallowed Ares,” and got not a single slip or fall because of his indolence or pleasures.
[Comp. Demetr.–Ant. 3.3] 3 Antony, on the contrary, like Heracles in paintings where Omphalé is seen taking away his club and stripping off his lion’s skin, was often disarmed by Cleopatra, subdued by her spells, 957 and persuaded to drop from his hands great undertakings and necessary campaigns, only to roam about and play with her on the sea-shores by Canopus and Taphosiris. 4 And at last, like Paris, he ran away from the battle and sank upon her bosom; although, more truly stated, Paris ran away to Helen’s chamber after he had been defeated; but Antony ran away in chase of Cleopatra, and thereby threw away the victory.
[Comp. Demetr.–Ant. 4.1] 4 1 Further, Demetrius, in making several marriages, did not do what was prohibited, but what had been made customary for the kings of Macedonia by Philip and Alexander; he did just what Lysimachus and Ptolemy did, and held all his wives in honour. Antony, on the contrary, in marrying two wives at once, in the first place did what no Roman had ever dared to do; and in the second place, he drove away his Roman and lawfully wedded wife, in order to gratify the foreigner, with whom he was living contrary to law. Hence marriage brought no harm to Demetrius, but to Antony the greatest of his evils.
[Comp. Demetr.–Ant. 4.2] 2 On the other hand, the lascivious practices of Antony are marked by no such sacrilege as are those of Demetrius. For historians tell us that bitches are excluded from the entire acropolis, because these animals couple without the least concealment; but the very Parthenon itself saw Demetrius cohabiting with harlots and debauching many Athenian women. 3 And that vice which one would think least associated with such wanton enjoyments, namely, the vice of cruelty, this enters into Demetrius’ pursuit of pleasure, since he suffered, or rather compelled, the lamentable death of the most beautiful and the most chaste of Athenians, who thus sought to escape his shameful treatment. In a word, Antony wronged himself by his excesses, while Demetrius wronged others.
[Comp. Demetr.–Ant. 5.1] 5 1 Again, towards his parents Demetrius was in all respects blameless; whereas Antony surrendered his mother’s brother for the privilege of killing Cicero, a deed in itself so abominable and cruel that Antony would hardly have been forgiven had Cicero’s death been the price of his uncle’s safety.
[Comp. Demetr.–Ant. 5.2] 2 Further, as regards violations of oaths and treaties by both, in the seizure of Artabazus by the one, and the killing of Alexander by the other, for Antony there is the excuse which men admit to be valid, namely, that he had been deserted in Media by Artabazus and betrayed; but Demetrius, as many say, invented false accusations, upon which he acted, and denounced one who had been wronged by him; the murder was not retaliation for wrongs done to him.
[Comp. Demetr.–Ant. 5.2b] And again, Demetrius was himself the author of his successes; Antony, on the contrary, won his greatest and fairest victories through his generals, on fields where he was not present.
[Comp. Demetr.–Ant. 6.1] 6 1 But the downfall of both was due to themselves, though the manner of it differed. Demetrius was deserted by others, for the Macedonians went away from him; whereas Antony deserted others, for he ran away from those who were risking their lives for him. Demetrius may therefore be blamed for making his soldiers so hostile to him, and Antony for abandoning a goodwill and confidence which was so much in evidence.
[Comp. Demetr.–Ant. 6.2] 2 As for their deaths, neither is to be commended, but that of Demetrius is the more to be censured. For he suffered himself to be taken prisoner, and was well content to add to his life three years of imprisonment. He was tamed, like a wild beast, by way of his belly and by wine. Whereas Antony took himself off, — in a cowardly, pitiful, and ignoble way, it is true, but at least before his enemy became master of his person.

## Dion

[Dion 1.1] 958 If it be true, then, O Sossius Senecio, as Simonides says, that Ilium “is not wroth with the Corinthians” for coming up against her with the Achaeans, because the Trojans also had Glaucus, who sprang from Corinth, as a zealous ally, so it is likely that neither Romans nor Greeks will quarrel with the Academy, since they fare alike in this treatise containing the lives of Dion and Brutus, 2 for Dion was an immediate disciple of Plato, while Brutus was nourished on the doctrines of Plato. Both therefore set out from one training-school, as it were, to engage in the greatest struggles. 3 And we need not wonder that, in the performance of actions that were often kindred and alike, they bore witness to the doctrine of their teacher in virtue, that wisdom and justice must be united with power and good fortune if public careers are to take on beauty as well as grandeur. 4 For as Hippomachus the trainer used to declare that he could recognize his pupils from afar even though they were but carrying meat from the market-place, so it is natural that the principles of those who have been trained alike should permeate their actions, inducing in these a similar rhythm and harmony along with their propriety.
[Dion 2.1] 2 1 Moreover, the fortunes of the two men, which were the same in what befell them rather than in what they elected to do, make their lives alike. 2 For both were cut off untimely, without being able to achieve the objects to which they had determined to devote the fruits of their many and great struggles. 3 But the most wonderful thing of all was that Heaven gave to both an intimation of their approaching death, by the visible appearance to each alike of an ill-boding spectre. 4 And yet there are those who deny such things and say that no man in his right mind was ever visited by a spectre or an apparition from Heaven, but that little children and foolish women and men deranged by sickness, in some aberration of spirit or distemper of body, have indulged in empty and strange imaginings, because they had the evil genius of superstition in themselves. 5 But if Dion and Brutus, men of solid understanding and philosophic training and not easily cast down are overpowered by anything that happened to them, were so affected by a spectre that they actually told others about it, I do not know but we shall be compelled to accept that most extraordinary doctrine of the oldest times, that mean and malignant spirits, 6 in envy of good men and opposition to their noble deeds, try to confound and terrify them, causing their virtue to rock and totter, in order that they may not continue erect and inviolate in the path of honour and so attain a better portion after death than the spirits themselves. 7 But this subject must be reserved for discussion elsewhere, and in this, the twelfth book of my Parallel Lives, I shall begin with that of the elder man.
[Dion 3.1] 3 1 Dionysius the Elder, after assuming the reins of government, at once married the daughter of Hermocrates the Syracusan. 959 2 But she, since the tyranny was not yet securely established, was terribly and outrageously abused in her person by the seditious Syracusans, and in consequence put an end to her own life. 3 Then Dionysius, after resuming the power and making himself strong again, married two wives at once, one from Locri, whose name was Doris, the other a native of the city, Aristomache, daughter of Hipparinus, who was a leading man in Syracuse, and had been a colleague of Dionysius when he was first chosen general with full powers for the war. 4 It is said that he married both wives on one day, and that no man ever knew with which of the two he first consorted, but that ever after he continued to devote himself alike to each; it was their custom to sup with him together, and they shared his bed at night by turns. 5 And yet the people of Syracuse wished that their countrywoman should be honoured above the stranger; but Doris had the good fortune to become a mother first, and by presenting Dionysius with his eldest son she atoned for her foreign birth. 6 Aristomache, on the contrary, was for a long time a barren wife, although Dionysius was desirous to have children by her; at any rate, he accused the mother of his Locrian wife of giving Aristomache drugs to prevent conception, and put her to death.
[Dion 4.1] 4 1 Now, Dion was a brother of Aristomache, and at first was honoured because of his sister; afterwards, however, he gave proof of his wisdom, and was presently beloved by the tyrant for his own sake. 2 In addition to all his other favours, Dionysius ordered his treasurers to give Dion whatever he asked, although they were to tell Dionysius on the same day what they had given. 3 But though Dion was even before of a lofty character, magnanimous, and manly, he advanced still more in these high qualities when, by some divine good fortune, Plato came to Sicily. 4 This was not of man’s devising, but some heavenly power, as it would seem, laying far in advance of the time a foundation for the liberty of Syracuse, and devising a subversion of tyranny, brought Plato from Italy to Syracuse and made Dion his disciple. 5 Dion was then quite young, but of all the companions of Plato 6 he was by far the quickest to learn and the readiest to answer the call of virtue, as Plato himself has written, and as events testify. For though he had been reared in habits of submission under a tyrant, and though he was fully accustomed to a life that was subservient and timorous, as well as to ostentatious service at court and vulgar luxury and a regimen that counts pleasures and excesses as the highest good, 7 nevertheless, as soon as he got a taste of a rational philosophy which led the way to virtue, his soul was speedily on fire; from his own ready obedience to the call of higher things, that the same arguments would have a like persuasive force with Dionysius, he earnestly set to work and at last brought it to pass that the tyrant, in a leisure hours, should meet Plato and hear him discourse.
[Dion 5.1] 5 1 At this meeting the general subject was human virtue, and most of the discussion turned upon manliness. And when Plato set forth that tyrants least of all men had this quality, and then, treating of justice, maintained that the life of the just was blessed, while that of the unjust was wretched, 2 the tyrant, as if convicted by his arguments, would not listen to them, and was vexed with the audience because they admired speaker and were charmed by his utterances. 3 At last he got exceedingly angry and asked the philosopher why he had come to Sicily. 4 And when Plato said that he was come to seek a virtuous man, the tyrant answered and said: “Well, by the gods, it appears that you have not yet found such an one.” 5 Dion thought that this was the end of his anger, 960 and as Plato was eager for it, sent him away upon a trireme, which was conveying Pollis the Spartan to Greece. 6 But Dionysius privily requested Pollis to kill Plato on the voyage, if it were in any way possible, but if not, at all events to sell him into slavery; for he would take no harm, but would be quite as happy, being a just man, even if he should become a slave. 7 Pollis, therefore, as we are told, carried Plato to Aegina and there sold him; for the Aeginetans were at war with the Athenians and had made a decree that any Athenian taken on the island should be put up for sale.
[Dion 5.8] 8 In spite of all this, Dion stood in no less honour and credit with Dionysius than before, but had the management of the most important embassies, as, for instance, when he was sent to Carthage and won great admiration. The tyrant also bore with his freedom of speech, and Dion was almost the only one who spoke his mind fearlessly, as, for example, when he rebuked Dionysius for what he said about Gelon. 9 The tyrant was ridiculing the government of Gelon, and when he said that Gelon himself, true to his name, became the laughing-stock (“gelos”) of Sicily, the rest of his hearers pretended to admire the joke, but Dion was disgusted and said: “Indeed, thou art now tyrant because men trusted thee for Gelon’s sake; but no man hereafter will be trusted for thy sake.” 10 For, as a matter of fact, Gelon seems to have made a city under absolute rule a very fair thing to look upon, but Dionysius a very shameful thing.
[Dion 6.1] 6 1 Dionysius had three children by his Locrian wife, and four by Aristomache, two of whom were daughters, Sophrosyne and Arete. Sophrosyne became the wife of his son Dionysius, and Arete of his brother Thearides, but after the death of Thearides, Arete became the wife of Dion, her uncle. 2 Now, when Dionysius was sick and seemed likely to die, Dion tried to confer with him in the interests of his children by Aristomache, but the physicians, who wished to ingratiate themselves with the heir apparent, would not permit it; 3 moreover, according to Timaeus, when the sick man asked for a sleeping potion, they gave him one that robbed him of his sense and made death follow sleep.
[Dion 6.4] 4 However, in the first conference held between the young Dionysius and his friends, Dion discoursed upon the needs of the situation in such a manner that his wisdom made all the rest appear children, and his boldness of speech made them seem mere slaves of tyranny, who were wont to give their counsels timorously and ignobly to gratify the young man. 5 But what most amazed them in their fear of the peril that threatened the realm from Carthage, was Dion’s promise that, if Dionysius wanted peace, he would sail at once to Africa and put a stop to the war on the best terms possible; but if war was the king’s desire, he himself would furnish him with fifty swift triremes for the war, and maintain them at his own costs.
[Dion 7.1] 7 1 Dionysius, then, was greatly astonished at his magnanimity and delighted with his ardour; 2 but the other courtiers, thinking themselves put out of countenance by Dion’s generosity and humbled by his power, began hostilities forthwith, and said everything they could to embitter the young king against him, accusing him of stealing into the position of tyrant by means of his power on the sea, and of using his ships to divert the power into the hands of the children of Aristomache, who were his nephews and nieces. 3 But the strongest and most apparent grounds for their envy and hatred of him lay in the difference between his way of life and theirs, and in his refusal to mingle with others. 4 For from the very outset they obtained converse and intimacy with a tyrant who was young and had been badly reared by means of pleasures and flatteries, and were ever contriving for him sundry amours, idle amusements with wine and women, and other unseemly pastimes. 961 5 In this way the tyranny, being softened, like iron in the fire, appeared to its subjects to be kindly, and gradually remitted its excessive cruelty, though its edge was blunted not so much by any clemency in the sovereign as by his love of ease. 6 As a consequence, the laxity of the young king gained ground little by little, until at last those “adamantine bonds” with which the elder Dionysius said he had left the monarchy fastened, were melted and destroyed. 7 For it is said that the young king once kept up a drinking bout for ninety consecutive days from its beginning, and that during this time the court gave no access or admission to men or matters of consequence, but drunkenness and raillery and music and dancing and buffoonery held full sway.
[Dion 8.1] 8 1 Dion, then, as was natural, was obnoxious to these men, since he indulged in no pleasure or youthful folly, And so they tried to calumniate him by actually giving to his virtues plausible names of vices; for instance, they called his dignity haughtiness, and his boldness of speech self-will. Even when he admonished, he was thought to denounce, and when he would not share men’s sins, to despise. 2 And in very truth his character had naturally a certain majesty, together with a harshness that repelled intercourse and was hard to deal with. 3 For not only to a man who was young and whose ears had been corrupted by flattery was he an unpleasant and irksome associate, but many also who were intimate with him and who loved the simplicity and nobility of his disposition, were apt to find fault with the manner of his intercourse with men, on the ground that he dealt with those who sought his aid more rudely and harshly than was needful in public life. 4 On this head Plato also afterwards wrote to him, in a tone almost prophetic, that he should be on his guard against self-will, which was a “companion of solitude.” 5 However, at this time, though circumstances led men to think him of more value than any one else, and the only or the chief supporter and guardian of storm-tossed tyranny, he knew that it was not out of goodwill, but against the wishes of the tyrant and owing to his needs, that he was first and greatest.
[Dion 9.1] 9 1 Considering, then, that a reason for this lay in the tyrant’s want of education, he sought to engage him in liberal studies, and to give him a taste of such literature and science as formed the character, in order that he might cease to be afraid of virtue, and become accustomed to take delight in what was high and noble. 2 For by nature Dionysius did not belong to the worst class of tyrants, but his father, fearing that if he should get wisdom and associate with men of sense, he would plot against him and rob him of his power, used to keep him closely shut up at home, where, through lack of association with others and in ignorance of affairs, as we are told, he made little waggons and lampstands and wooden chairs and tables. 3 For the elder Dionysius was so distrustful and suspicious towards every body, and his fear led him to be so much on his guard, that he would not even have his hair cut with barbers’ scissors, but a hairdresser would come and singe his locks with a live coal. 4 Neither his brother nor his son could visit him in his apartment wearing any clothes they pleased, but every one had to take off his own apparel before entering and put on another, after the guards had seen him stripped. 5 And once, when his brother Leptines was describing to him the nature of a place, and drew the plan of it on the ground with a spear which he took from one of his body-guards, he was extremely angry with him, and had the man who gave him the spear put to death. 6 He used to say, too, that he was on his guard against his friends who were men of sense, because he knew that they would rather be tyrants than subjects of a tyrant. 7 And he slew Marsyas, one of those whom he had advanced to positions of high command, for having dreamed that he killed him, 962 declaring that this vision must have visited his sleep because in his waking hours he had purposed and planned such a deed. 8 Yes, the man who was angry with Plato because he would not pronounce him the most valiant man alive, had a spirit as timorous as this, and so full of all the evils induced by cowardice.
[Dion 10.1] 10 1 This tyrant’s son, as I have said, Dion saw to be dwarfed and deformed in character from his lack of education, and therefore exhorted him to apply himself to study, and to use every entreaty with the first of philosophers to come to Sicily, 2 and, when he came, to become his disciple, in order that his character might be regulated by the principles of virtue, and that he might be conformed to that divinest and most beautiful model of all being, in obedience to whose direction the universe issues from disorder into order; 3 in this way he would procure great happiness for himself, and great happiness for his people, and that obedience which they now rendered dejectedly and under the compulsion of his authority, this his moderation and justice would base upon goodwill and a filial spirit, and he would become a king instead of a tyrant. 4 For the “adamantine bonds” of sovereignty were not, as his father used to say, fear and force and a multitude of ships and numberless barbarian body-guards, but goodwill and ardour and favour engendered by virtue and justice; these, though they were more flexible than the bonds of severity and harshness, were stronger to maintain a lasting leadership. 5 And besides all this, it was mean and spiritless in a ruler, while his body was magnificently clothed and his habitation resplendent with luxurious furnishings, to be no more majestic in his intercourse and conversation than an ordinary man, and not to insist that the royal palace of his soul should be adorned in meet and royal fashion.
[Dion 11.1] 11 Since Dion frequently gave him such advice, and artfully mingled with it some of Plato’s doctrines, Dionysius was seized with a keen and even frenzied passion for the teachings and companionship of Plato. 2 At once, then, many letters began to come to Athens from Dionysius, and many injunctions from Dion, as well as others from the Pythagorean philosophers of Italy, all of whom urged Plato to come and get control of a youthful soul now tossed about on a sea of great authority and power, and steady it by his weighty reasonings. 3 Plato, accordingly, as he tells us himself, out of shame more than any thing else, lest men should think him nothing but theory and unwilling to take any action; and further, because he expected that by the purification of one man, who was, as it were, a controlling factor, he would cure all Sicily of her distempers, yielded to these requests.
[Dion 11.4] 4 But the enemies of Dion, afraid of the alteration in Dionysius, persuaded him to recall from exile Philistus, a man versed in letters and acquainted with the ways of tyrants, that they might have in him a counterpoise to Plato and philosophy. 5 For Philistus at the outset had most zealously assisted in establishing the tyranny, and for a long time was commander of the garrison that guarded the citadel. There was a story, too, that he was very intimate with the mother of the elder Dionysius, and that the tyrant was not wholly ignorant of the fact. 6 But when Leptines, who had two daughters by a woman whom he had corrupted when she was living with another man and then taken to wife, gave one of them to Philistus without so much as telling Dionysius, the tyrant was wroth, put the wife of Leptines into fetters and prison, and banished Philistus from Sicily. Philistus took refuge with some friends in Adria, and there, it would seem, in his leisure, composed the better part of his history. 7 For he did not return to Syracuse while the elder Dionysius was alive, but after his death, 963 as I have said, the envy which the other courtiers felt towards Dion brought about his recall; they thought him a more suitable man for their purposes, and a stauncher friend of the tyranny.
[Dion 12.1] 12 1 Philistus, then, as soon as he had returned, was in close touch with the tyranny; and there were others also who brought slanders and accusations against Dion to the tyrant, alleging that he had been in conference with Theodotes and Heracleides concerning a subversion of the government. 2 For Dion had hopes, as it seems likely, that by means of the visit of Plato he could mitigate the arrogance and excessive severity of the tyranny, and convert Dionysius into a fit and lawful ruler; 3 but if Dionysius should oppose his efforts and refuse to be softened, he had determined to depose him and restore the civil power to the Syracusan people; not that he approved of a democracy, but he thought it altogether better than a tyranny in lack of a sound and healthy aristocracy.
[Dion 13.1] 13 1 Such was the condition of affairs when Plato came to Sicily, and in the first instances he met with astonishing friendliness and honour. 2 For a royal chariot, magnificently adorned, awaited him as he left his trireme, and the tyrant offered a sacrifice of thanksgiving for the great blessing that had been bestowed upon his government. 3 Moreover, the modesty that characterized his banquets, the decorum of the courtiers, and the mildness of the tyrant himself in all his dealings with the public, inspired the citizens with marvellous hopes of his reformation. 4 There was also something like a general rush for letters and philosophy, and the palace was filled with dust, as they say, owing to the multitude of geometricians there. 5 After a few days had passed, there was one of the customary sacrifices of the country in the palace grounds; and when the herald, as was the custom, prayed that the tyranny might abide unshaken for many generations, it is said that Dionysius, who was standing near, cried: 6 “Stop cursing us!” This quite vexed Philistus and his party, who thought that time and familiarity would render Plato’s influence almost irresistible, if now, after a brief intimacy, he had so altered and transformed the sentiments of the youthful prince.
[Dion 14.1] 14 1 They therefore no longer abused Dion one by one and secretly, but all together and openly, saying that he was manifestly enchanting and bewitching Dionysius with Plato’s doctrines, in order that the tyrant might of his own accord relinquish and give up the power, which Dion would then assume and devolve upon the children of Aristomache, whose uncle he was. 2 And some pretended to be indignant that the Athenians, who in former times had sailed to Sicily with large land and sea forces, but had perished utterly without taking Syracuse, 3 should now, by means of one sophist, overthrow the tyranny of Dionysius, by persuading him to dismiss his ten thousand body-guards, and abandon his four hundred triremes and his ten thousand horsemen and his many times that number of men-at arms, in order to seek in Academic philosophy for a mysterious good, and make geometry his guide to happiness, surrendering the happiness that was based on dominion and wealth and luxury to Dion and Dion’s nephews and nieces.
[Dion 14.4] 4 As a consequence of all this, Dionysius became at first suspicious, and afterwards more openly angry and hostile, and just then a certain letter was secretly brought to him, which Dion had written to the Carthaginian officials, urging them, whenever they should treat with Dionysius for peace, not to hold their interview without including him, since he would help them to arrange everything securely. 5 This letter Dionysius read to Philistus, and after consulting with him, according to Timaeus, he beguiled Dion by a feigned reconciliation. 6 That is, after moderate protestations and a declaration that their quarrel was at an end, 964 he led him off alone beneath the acropolis down to the sea, and then showed him the letter and accused him of conspiring with the Carthaginians against him. 7 And when Dion wished to defend himself, he would not suffer it, but at once placed him, just as he was, on board a small boat, and commanded the sailors in it to set him ashore in Italy.
[Dion 15.1] 15 1 At this proceeding, which seemed to men a cruel one, the women in the household of the tyrant put on mourning, but the citizens of Syracuse were cheered by the expectation of a revolution and a speedy change in the government, since Dion’s treatment caused such a commotion and the rest of the courtiers distrusted the tyrant. 2 Dionysius saw this and was afraid, and sought to console the friends of Dion and the women by saying that he had not sent Dion into exile, but upon a journey, in order that his wrath at the man’s self-will when at home might not drive him to do him some worse wrong. 3 He also handed over two ships to the kinsmen of Dion and bade them to put on board whatever property and servants of Dion’s they pleased and convey them to him in Peloponnesus. 4 Now, Dion had great riches and an almost princely splendour of appointment in his way of living, and this his friends got together and conveyed to him. 5 Besides, many other things were sent to him from the women of the court and from his adherents, so that, as far as wealth and riches went, he was a brilliant figure among the Greeks, to whom the affluence of the exile gave some idea of the power of the tyrant.
[Dion 16.1] 16 1 As for Plato, Dionysius at once removed him to the acropolis, where he contrived to give him a guard of honour under pretence of hospitable kindness, in order that he might not accompany Dion and bear witness to his wrongs. 2 But after time and intercourse had accustomed Dionysius to tolerate his society and discourse, just as a wild beast learns to have dealings with men, he conceived a passion for him that was worthy of a tyrant, demanding that he alone should have his love returned by Plato and be admired beyond all others, and he was ready to entrust Plato with the administration of the tyranny if only he would not set his friendship for Dion above that which he had for him. 3 Now, this passion of his was a calamity for Plato, for the tyrant was mad with jealousy, as desperate lovers are, and in a short space of time would often be angry with him and as often beg to be reconciled; for he was extravagantly eager to hear his doctrines and share in his philosophical pursuits, but he dreaded the censure of those who tried to divert him from this course as likely to corrupt him.
[Dion 16.4] 4 At this juncture, however, a war broke out, and he sent Plato away, promising him that in the summer he would summon Dion home. 5 This promise, indeed, he immediately broke, but he kept sending to Dion the revenues from his property, and asked Plato to pardon his postponement of the time of Dion’s recall, because of the war; 6 as soon as peace was made he would summon Dion home, and he asked him to be quiet, and to attempt no revolution, and to say no evil of him to the Greeks.
[Dion 17.1] 17 1 This Plato tried to effect, and kept Dion with him in the Academy, where he turned his attention to philosophy. 2 Dion dwelt in the upper city of Athens with Callippus, one of his acquaintances, but for diversion he bought a country-place, and afterwards, when he sailed to Sicily, he gave this to Speusippus, 3 who was his most intimate friend at Athens. For Plato desired that Dion’s disposition should be tempered and sweetened by association with men of charming presence who indulged seasonably in graceful pleasantries. 4 And such a man was Speusippus; wherefore Timon, in his “Silli,” spoke of him as “good at a jest.” 5 And when Plato himself was called upon to furnish a chorus of boys, Dion had the chorus trained and defrayed all the expense of its maintenance, and Plato encouraged in him such an ambition to please the Athenians, 965 on the ground that it would procure goodwill for Dion rather than fame for himself.
[Dion 17.6] 6 Dion used to visit the other cities also, where he shared the leisure and festal enjoyments of the noblest and most statesmanlike men, manifesting in his conduct with them nothing that was rude or arrogant or effeminate, but rather great moderation, virtue, and manliness, and a becoming devotion to letters and philosophy. 7 This procured him the emulous goodwill of all men, and decrees of public honours from the cities. 8 The Lacedaemonians even made him a citizen of Sparta, without any regard for the anger of Dionysius, although at that time the tyrant was their zealous ally against the Thebans. 9 And it is related that Dion once went to pay a visit to Ptoeodorus the Megarian, upon his invitation. Now Ptoeodorus, it would seem, was one of the wealthy and influential men of the city; 10 and when, therefore, Dion saw a crowd of people at his door, and a press of business, which made him difficult of access and hard to come at, he turned to his friends, who were vexed and indignant at it, and said: “Why should we blame this man? For we ourselves used to do just so in Syracuse.”
[Dion 18.1] 18 1 But as time went on, Dionysius became jealous of Dion and afraid of his popularity among the Greeks. He therefore stopped sending him his revenues, and handed his estate over to his own private stewards. 2 However, with a desire to make head against the bad repute which he had also won among the philosophers on Plato’s account, he assembled at his court many men with a reputation for learning. 3 But he was ambitious to surpass them all in discussion, and was therefore driven to use inaptly what he had imperfectly learned from Plato. 4 So he yearned once more for that philosopher, and reproached himself for not having utilised his presence to learn all that he should have learned. 5 And since, like a tyrant, he was always extravagant in his desires and headstrong in all that he undertook, he set out at once to secure Plato, and, leaving no stone unturned, persuaded Archytas and his fellow Pythagoreans to become sureties for his agreements, and to summon Plato; for it was through Plato, in the first place, that he had entered into friendly relations with these philosophers. 6 So they sent Archedemus to Plato, and Dionysius also sent a trireme for him, and friends to entreat his return. 7 He also wrote to him himself in clear and express terms, saying that no mercy should be shown to Dion unless Plato were persuaded to come to Sicily; but if he were persuaded, every mercy. 8 Dion also received many injunctions from his wife and sister, that he should beg Plato to listen to Dionysius and not afford him an excuse for further severity. 9 Thus it was, then, that Plato, as he himself says, “came for the third time to the straits of Scylla,
[Dion 18.1b] That he might once more measure back his way to fell Charybdis.”
[Dion 19.1] 19 1 His arrival filled Dionysius with great joy, and the Sicilians again with great hope; they all prayed and laboured zealously that Plato might triumph over Philistus, and philosophy over tyranny. 2 The women also were very earnest in his behalf, 3 and Dionysius gave him a special token of his trust, which no one else had, in the privilege of coming into his presence without being searched. The tyrant offered him, too, presents of money, much money and many times, but Plato would not accept them. Whereupon Aristippus of Cyrene, who was present on one of these occasions, said that Dionysius was safely munificent; for he offered little to men like him, who wanted more, but much to Plato, who would take nothing.
[Dion 19.4] 4 After the first acts of kindness, however, Plato introduced the subject of Dion, 5 and then there were postponements at first on the part of Dionysius, and afterwards faultfindings and disagreements. These were unnoticed by outsiders, since Dionysius tried to conceal them, 966 and sought by the rest of his kind attentions and honourable treatment to draw Plato away from his goodwill towards Dion. And even Plato himself did not at first reveal the tyrant’s perfidy and falsehood, but bore with it and dissembled his resentment. 6 But while matters stood thus between them, and no one knew of it, as they supposed, Helicon of Cyzicus, one of Plato’s intimates, predicted an eclipse of the sun. This took place as he had predicted, in consequence of which he was admired by the tyrant and presented with a talent of silver. 7 Thereupon Aristippus, jesting with the rest of the philosophers, said that he himself also could predict something strange. And when they besought him to tell what it was, “Well, then,” said he, “I predict that ere long Plato and Dionysius will become enemies.” 8 At last Dionysius sold the estate of Dion and appropriated the money, and removing Plato from his lodging in the palace garden, put him in charge of his mercenaries, who had long hated the philosopher and sought to kill him, on the ground that he was trying to persuade Dionysius to renounce the tyranny and live without a body-guard.
[Dion 20.1] 20 1 Now when Archytas and his fellow Pythagoreans learned that Plato was in such peril, they quickly sent a galley with an embassy, demanding him from Dionysius and declaring 2 that Plato had taken them for sureties of his safety when he sailed to Syracuse. Dionysius sought to disprove his enmity to Plato by giving banquets in his honour and making kind provisions for his journey, and went so far as to say something like this to him: “I suppose, Plato, thou wilt bring many dire accusations against me to the ears of your fellow philosophers.” 3 To this Plato answered with a smile: “Heaven forbid that there should be such a dearth of topics for discussion in the Academy that any one mention thee.” 4 Such, they say, was the dismissal of Plato; Plato’s own words, however, do not entirely agree with this account.
[Dion 21.1] 21 1 But Dion was vexed by all this, and shortly afterwards became altogether hostile when he learned how his wife had been treated, on which matter Plato also spoke covertly in a letter to Dionysius. 2 The case was as follows. After the expulsion of Dion, and when Dionysius was sending Plato back, he bade him learn from Dion confidentially 3 whether he would oppose his wife’s marrying another man; for there was a report, whether true or concocted by Dion’s enemies, that his marriage had not proved agreeable to him, and that he did not live harmoniously with his wife. 4 Accordingly, after Plato came to Athens and had conferred with Dion about everything, he wrote a letter to the tyrant which spoke of other matters in a way that was clear to anybody, but of this particular matter in language that could be understood by Dionysius alone, saying that he had talked with Dion about that business, and that Dion would evidently be exceedingly angry if Dionysius should carry it through. 5 Now, as long as there were many hopes of a reconciliation, the tyrant took no violent measures with his sister, but suffered her to continue living with Dion’s young son; 6 when, however, the estrangement was complete, and Plato, who had come to Sicily a second time, had been sent away in enmity, then he gave Arete in marriage, against her will, to Timocrates, one of his friends. And in this action, at least, he did not imitate the reasonableness of his father.
[Dion 21.7] 7 For the elder tyrant also, as it would appear, had a sister, Theste, whose husband, Polyxenus, had become his enemy. When, therefore, Polyxenus was moved by fear to run away and go into exile from Sicily, the tyrant sent for his sister and upbraided her because she had been privy to her husband’s flight and had not told her brother about it. 8 But she, without consternation, and, indeed, without fear, replied: “Dost thou think me, Dionysius, such a mean and cowardly wife that, had I known beforehand of my husband’s flight, I would not have sailed off with him and shared his fortunes? Indeed, I did not know about it; 967 since it would have been well for me to be called the wife of Polyxenus the exile, rather than the sister of Dionysius the tyrant.” 9 The tyrant is said to have admired Theste for this bold speech. And the Syracusans also admired the virtue of the woman, so that even after the dissolution of the tyranny she retained the honours and services paid to royalty, and when she died, the citizens, by public consent, attended her funeral. This is a digression, it is true, but not a useless one.
[Dion 22.1] 22 1 From this time on Dion turned his thoughts to war. With this Plato himself would have nothing to do, out of respect for his tie of hospitality with Dionysius, and because of his age. But Speusippus and the rest of his companions co-operated with Dion and besought him to free Sicily, which stretched out her arms to him and eagerly awaited his coming. 2 For when Plato was tarrying in Syracuse, Speusippus, as it would appear, mingled more with its people and learned to know their sentiments; 3 and though at first they were afraid of his boldness of speech, thinking it a trap set for them by the tyrant, yet in time they came to trust him. For all now spoke in the same strain, begging and exhorting Dion to come without ships, men-at arms, or horses; he was simply to come himself in a small boat, and lend the Sicilians his person and his name against Dionysius. 4 Encouraged by this information from Speusippus, Dion collected mercenaries secretly and by the agency of others, concealing his purpose. 5 He was assisted also by many statesmen and philosophers, such as Eudemus the Cyprian, on whose death Aristotle wrote his dialogue “On the Soul,” and Timonides the Leucadian. 6 Furthermore, they enlisted on his side Miltas the Thessalian also, who was a seer and had studied in the Academy. But of those who had been banished by the tyrant, and there were not less than a thousand of them, only twenty-five took part in the expedition; the rest played the coward and abandoned it. 7 The rendezvous was the island of Zacynthus, and here the soldiers were assembled. 8 They numbered fewer than eight hundred, but they were all well known in consequence of many great campaigns, their bodies were exceptionally well trained, while in experience and daring they had no equals in the world, and were capable of inciting and inflaming to share their prowess all the host which Dion expected to have in Sicily.
[Dion 23.1] 23 1 At first, indeed, when these men heard that their expedition was directed against Dionysius and Sicily, they were full of consternation and denounced the enterprise, declaring that Dion, in a mad frenzy of anger, or in despair, was plunging into desperate undertakings; they were also enraged at their own leaders and recruiting officers for not having told them at the very outset about the war. 2 But when Dion addressed them, setting forth in detail the unsound condition of the tyranny, and declaring that he was taking them, not as soldiers, but as commanders of the Syracusans and the rest of the Sicilians, who had long been ready for a revolt; and when, after Dion, Alcimenes, who was an Achaean of the highest birth and reputation and a member of the expedition, had argued with them, they were persuaded.
[Dion 23.3] 3 It was now midsummer, the Etesian winds prevailed at sea, and the moon was at the full. Dion had prepared a magnificent sacrifice to Apollo, and marched in solemn procession to the temple with his soldiers, who were arrayed in full armour. 4 After the sacrifice, he gave them a banquet in the stadium of the Zacynthians, where, as they reclined on their couches, they wondered at the splendour of the gold and silver beakers, and of the tables, for it passed the limits set by a private man’s fortune; they reasoned, too, 968 that a man who was already past his prime and was master of such great affluence, would not engage in hazardous enterprises unless he had solid hopes of success, and friends over there who offered him unbounded resources.
[Dion 24.1] 24 1 But after the libations and the customary prayers, the moon was eclipsed. Now, to Dion this was nothing astonishing, for he knew that eclipses recurred at regular intervals, and that the shadow projected on the moon was caused by the interposition of earth between her and the sun. 2 But since the soldiers, who were greatly disturbed, needed some encouragement, Miltas the seer stood up amongst them and bade them be of good cheer, and expect the best results; for the divine powers indicated an eclipse of something that was now resplendent; 3 but nothing was more resplendent than the tyranny of Dionysius, and it was the radiance of this which they would extinguish as soon as they reached Sicily. 4 This interpretation, then, Miltas made public for all to know; but that of the bees, which were seen settling in swarms upon the swarms of Dion’s transports, he told privately to him and his friends, expressing a fear that his undertakings would thrive at the outset, but after a short season of flowering would wither away. 5 It is said that Dionysius also had many portentous signs from Heaven. 6 An eagle snatched a lance from one of his body-guards, carried it aloft, and then let it drop into the sea. 7 Furthermore, the water of the sea which washed the base of the acropolis was sweet and potable for a whole day, as all who tasted it could see. 8 Again, pigs were littered for him which were perfect in their other parts, but had no ears. 9 This the seers declared to be a sign of disobedience and rebellion, since, as they said, the citizens would no longer listen to the commands of the tyrant; the sweetness of the sea-water indicated for the Syracusans a change from grievous and oppressive times to comfortable circumstances; 10 an eagle, moreover, was servant of Zeus, and a spear, an emblem of authority and power, wherefore the prodigy showed that the greatest of the gods desired the dissolution of the tyranny. Such, at all events, is the account which Theopompus has given.
[Dion 25.1] 25 1 The soldiers of Dion filled two merchant-ships, and a third transport of small size, together with two thirty-oared galleys, accompanied these. Moreover, besides the arms which his soldiers had, Dion carried two thousand shields, missiles and spears in great numbers, and a boundless store of provisions, that they might suffer no lack as they traversed the high sea. For they put themselves entirely at the mercy of winds and sea during their voyage, because they were afraid of the coast, and learned that Philistus was watching for them with a fleet at Iapygia. 3 After sailing with a light and gentle breeze for twelve days, on the thirteenth they reached Pachynus, a headland of Sicily. 4 Here Protus their pilot urged them to disembark with all speed, since, if they should be forced away from the shore, and should relinquish the headland which they had gained, they would be tossed about on the high sea for many days and nights, awaiting a south wind in the summer season. 5 But Dion, fearing to disembark near the enemy, and wishing to land farther along the coast, sailed past Pachynus. 6 Thereupon a boisterous wind from the north rushed down upon them, raised a great sea, and drove the ships away from Sicily, while flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, now that Arcturus was just rising, conspired to pour down from the heavens against storm of furious rain. 7 The sailors were confounded by this and driven from their course, until on a sudden they saw that their ships were driving with the sea upon Cercina, off the coast of Africa, at a point where the island presented the roughest and most precipitous shore for their approach. 8 Accordingly, after a narrow escape from being cast ashore and dashed to pieces on the rocks, they plied their punting-poles and forced their way along with great difficulty, until the storm abated, when they learned from a vessel with which they spoke 969 that they were at what were called the Heads of the Great Syrtis. 9 And now they were disheartened by the calm in which they found themselves, and were drifting up and down, when a gentle southerly breeze was wafted to them from the land, although they were by no means expecting a south wind and could not believe in the change. 10 Little by little, however, the wind freshened and grew strong, so that they spread all the sail they had, and praying to the gods, fled over the sea from Africa towards Sicily. 11 For five days they ran swiftly on, and came to anchor at Minoa, a little town in that part of Sicily which the Carthaginians controlled. 12 Now, it chanced that Synalus, the Carthaginian commander, was in the place, and he was a guest-friend of Dion’s.
[Dion 25.13] But not knowing of Dion’s presence or of his expedition, he tried to prevent his soldiers from landing. 13 These, however, rushed on shore with their arms, and although they had killed no one, since Dion had forbidden it because of his friendship with the Carthaginian, they put their opponents to flight, dashed into the place with the fugitives, and captured it. 14 But as soon as the two commanders had met and greeted one another, Dion restored the city to Synalus, without doing it any harm, and Synalus entertained the soldiers and supplied Dion with what he wanted.
[Dion 26.1] 26 1 But what most of all encouraged them was the accidental absence of Dionysius from Syracuse; for it chanced that he had recently sailed with eighty ships to Italy. 2 Therefore, even though Dion urged his soldiers to recruit themselves here after their long hardships on the sea, they would not consent to it, so eager were they of themselves to seize their opportunity, but urged him to lead them towards Syracuse. 3 Accordingly, he deposited his superfluous arms and baggage there, asked Synalus to send them to him as opportunity offered, and marched against Syracuse. 4 As he was on his way thither, first he was joined by two hundred horsemen belonging to the Agrigentines who dwell about Ecnomum, and then by men of Gela.
[Dion 26.5] 5 But the report of his doings quickly flew to Syracuse, where Timocrates, who had married Dion’s wife, the sister of Dionysius, and who stood at the head of the tyrant’s friends now left in the city, speedily sent off a messenger to Dionysius with letters announcing the arrival of Dion. 6 He himself, moreover, took steps to prevent any disturbances or tumults in the city, where all were greatly excited, but as yet kept quiet owing to their distrust and fear. 7 But a strange misfortune befell the man who had been sent with the letters. After he had crossed to Italy and passed through the territory of Rhegium, and as he was hastening on the Dionysius at Caulonia, he met one of his acquaintances who was carrying an animal that had been recently sacrificed, and after accepting from him a portion of the flesh, went on his way with all speed. 8 But after travelling part of the night, he was compelled by weariness to take a little sleep, and lay down, just as he was, in a wood by the side of the road. 9 Then a wolf came to the spot, attracted by the scent, and seizing the flesh which had been fastened to the wallet in which the man had his letters, went off with it and the wallet too. 10 When the man awoke and perceived what had happened, he wandered about a long time in search of what he had lost, but could not find it, and therefore determined not to go to the tyrant without the letters, but to run away and disappear.
[Dion 27.1] 27 1 Dionysius, therefore, was destined to learn of the war in Sicily late and from other sources; but meanwhile, as Dion proceeded on his march, he was joined by the Camarinaeans, and no small multitude of the rural Syracusans revolted and swelled his ranks. 2 Moreover, the Leontines and Campanians who were guarding Epipolae with Timocrates, 970 in consequence of a false report which Dion sent to them that he would attack their cities first, deserted Timocrates and went off to assist their own peoples. 3 When news of this was brought to Dion as he lay encamped near Acrae, he roused up his soldiers while it was still night and came to the river Anapus, which is ten furlongs distant from the city. 4 There he halted and sacrificed by the river, addressing his prayers to the rising sun, and on the instant the soothsayers declared that the gods promised him victory. When, too, the audience beheld Dion with a wreath on his head for the sacrifice, with one impulse they all crowned themselves with wreaths. 5 No fewer than five thousand men had joined him on the march, and though they were wretchedly armed with such weapons as came to hand, their enthusiasm made up for their lack of equipment, so that when Dion gave the word they advanced on the run, exhorting one another with joyful shouts to win their liberty.
[Dion 28.1] 28 1 As for the Syracusans in the city, the men of note and cultivation, in fresh apparel, went to met them at the gates, while the multitude set upon the tyrant’s friends and seized those called tale-bearers, wicked men whom the gods hated, who went up and down in the city busily mingling with the Syracusans and reporting to the tyrant the sentiments and utterances of every one. 2 These, then, were the first to suffer retribution, being beaten to death by those who came upon them; but Timocrates, unable to join the garrison of the acropolis, took horse and dashed out of the city, and as he fled, filled everything with fear and confusion, exaggerating the strength of Dion, that he might not be thought to have abandoned the city through fear of any trivial danger. 3 Meanwhile Dion drew near the city and was presently seen, leading the way himself in brilliant armour, with his brother Megacles on one side of him, and on the other, Callippus the Athenian, both crowned with garlands. 4 A hundred of his mercenaries followed Dion as a body-guard, and his officers led the rest in good order, the Syracusans looking on and welcoming as it were a sacred religious procession for the return of liberty and democracy into the city, after an absence of forty-eight years.
[Dion 29.1] 29 1 After Dion had entered the city by the Temenitid gate, he stopped the noise of the people by a blast of the trumpet, and made proclamation that Dion and Megacles, who were come to overthrow the tyranny, declared the Syracusans and the rest of the Sicilians free from the tyrant. 2 Then, wishing to harangue the people himself, he went up through the Achradina, while on either side of the street the Syracusans set out tables and sacrificial meats and mixing-bowls, and all, as he came to them, pelted him with flowers, and addressed him with vows and prayers as if he were a god. 3 Now, there stood below the acropolis and the Pentapyla a tall and conspicuous sun-dial, which Dionysius had set up. Mounted upon this, Dion harangued the citizens and exhorted them to assert their liberty. 4 And they, in their joy and affection, made Dion and Megacles generals with absolute powers, and besides, at their wish and entreaty, chose twenty colleagues to hold office with them, half of whom were of those who had come back from exile with Dion. 5 To the soothsayers, moreover, it seemed a most happy omen, that Dion, when he harangued the people, had put under his feet the ambitious monument of the tyrant; but because it was a sun-dial upon which he stood when he was elected general, they feared that his enterprise might undergo some speedy change of fortune. 6 After this, Dion captured Epipolae and set free the citizens who were imprisoned there; then he walled off the acropolis. 971 7 On the seventh day Dionysius put in with his fleet and entered the acropolis, and waggons brought Dion the armour and weapons which he had left with Synalus. 8 These he distributed among the citizens as far as they would go, and all the rest equipped themselves as best they could and zealously offered their services as men-at arms.
[Dion 30.1] 30 1 At first, Dionysius sent envoys privately to Dion and tried to make terms with him; then, when Dion bade him confer publicly with the Syracusans, on the ground that they were a free people, the envoys brought generous propositions from the tyrant, who promised such moderate taxes and easy military service as people themselves should agree to vote. These offers were derided by the Syracusans, 2 and Dion made answer to the envoys that Dionysius was not to confer with them unless he renounced his sovereignty; but on his renouncing this, Dion would himself procure immunity for him, and any other reasonable privilege that was in his power, mindful of the close relationship between them. 3 These conditions Dionysius approved, and again sent envoys, bidding some of the Syracusans to come to the acropolis, where, both parties making concessions, he would confer with them concerning the common good. 4 Accordingly, men were sent to him whom Dion approved. And frequent reports came to the Syracusans from the citadel that Dionysius would renounce the tyranny, and would do this to please himself rather than Dion.
[Dion 30.5] 5 But this was a treacherous pretence on the part of the tyrant, and a piece of knavery directed against the Syracusans. For he kept in close custody the deputation that came to him from the city, and towards morning plied his mercenaries with strong wine and sent them on a dash against the siege-wall about the acropolis. 6 The attack was unexpected, and the Barbarians, with great boldness and loud tumult, began to tear down the cross-wall and attack the Syracusans, so that no one dared to stand on the defensive, except the mercenaries of Dion, who first noticed the disturbance and came to the rescue. 7 And even these knew not how to render aid, nor could they hear what was said to them, owing to the shouts and wild movements of the fugitive Syracusans, who mingled confusedly with them and broke through their ranks. But at last Dion, since no one could hear his orders, wishing to show by his example what should be done, charged foremost into the Barbarians. 8 Then there arose about him a fierce and dreadful battle, since he was recognized by the enemy as well as by his friends, and all rushed towards him at the same time with loud shouts. 9 He was now, by reason of his age, too unwieldy for such struggles, but he withstood and cut down his assailants with vigour and courage until he was wounded in the hand with a lance; besides, he breastplate hardly sufficed to resist the other missiles and hand-to hand thrusts, and he was smitten through his shield by many spears and lances, and when these were broken off he fell to the ground. 10 Then, after he had been snatched away by his soldiers, he put Timonides in command of these, while he himself, mounting a horse, rode about the city rallying the flying Syracusans, and bringing up a detachment of his mercenaries who were guarding Achradina, led them against the Barbarians, — fresh and eager reserves against a worn-out foe, and one that had already despaired of his cause. 11 For they had expected at their first onset to overrun and occupy the whole city, and now that they had unexpectedly encountered men who could smite and fight, they retired towards the acropolis. 12 But as they gave ground, the Greeks pressed all the harder upon them, so that they turned their backs and were driven into the shelter of the citadel; they had slain seventy-four of Dion’s men, and had lost many of their own number.
[Dion 31.1] 31 1 The victory was a brilliant one, and the Syracusans rewarded Dion’s mercenaries with a hundred minas, while the mercenaries honoured Dion with a wreath of gold. 972 2 And now heralds came down from Dionysius bringing letters to Dion from the women of his family. There was also one addressed outside, 3 “To his father, from Hipparinus”; for this was the name of Dion’s son. Timaeus, it is true, says he was called Aretaeus, from his mother Arete; but on this point at least, in my opinion, Timonides is rather to be trusted, who was a friend and fellow-soldier of Dion’s. 4 Well, then, the rest of the letters were read aloud to the Syracusans, and contained many supplications and entreaties from the women; but that which purported to be from Dion’s son, the people would not allow to be opened in public. Dion, however, insisted upon it, and opened the letter. 5 It was from Dionysius, who nominally addressed himself to Dion, but really to the Syracusans; and it had the form of entreaty and justification, but was calculated to bring odium on Dion. 6 For there were reminders of his zealous services in behalf of the tyranny, and threats against the persons of his dearest ones, his sister, children, and wife; there were also dire injunctions coupled with lamentations, and, what affected him most of all, a demand that he should not abolish, but assume, the tyranny; that he should not give liberty to men who hated him and would never forget their wrongs, but take the power himself, and thereby assure his friends and kindred of their safety.
[Dion 32.1] 32 1 When all this had been read aloud, it did not occur to the Syracusans, as it should have done, to be astonished at the firmness and magnanimity of Dion, who was resisting in behalf of honour and justice such strong claims of relationship, 2 but they found occasion for suspecting and fearing him, on the ground that he was under a strong necessity of sparing Dionysius, and at once turned their eyes towards other leaders. And particularly, when they learned that Heracleides was putting in to the harbour, they were all excitement. 3 Now, Heracleides was one of the exiles, a man of military capacity and well known for the commands which he had held under the tyrants, but irresolute, fickle, and least to be relied upon as partner in an enterprise involving power and glory. 4 He had quarrelled with Dion in Peloponnesus, and had resolved to sail on his own account and with his own fleet against the tyrant; but when he reached Syracuse, with seven triremes and three transports, he found Dionysius once more beleaguered, and the Syracusans elated with victory. 5 At once, then, he sought to win the favour of the multitude, having a certain natural gift of persuading and moving a populace that seeks to be courted, and winning them over to his following all the more easily because they were repelled by the gravity of Dion. This they resented as severe and out of place in a public man, because their power had given them license and boldness, and they wished to be flattered by popular leaders before they were really a people.
[Dion 33.1] 33 1 So, to begin with, they held an assembly of their own calling, and chose Heracleides admiral. 2 But Dion came forward down protested that in giving this office to Heracleides, they had done away with that which they had before given to him, for he would no longer be general with absolute powers if another should have command of the navy. Then the Syracusans reluctantly revoked the appointment of Heracleides. 3 When this had been done, Dion summoned Heracleides to his house and gently reproached him, on the ground that he was not acting well or wisely in quarrelling with him for honours at a crisis where a slight impulse might ruin their cause. Then he himself called a fresh assembly and appointed Heracleides admiral, and persuaded the citizens to give him a body-guard, like his own. 4 In word and mien, now, Heracleides paid court to Dion, acknowledged his thanks to him, 973 and attended submissively upon him, performing his commands; but in secret he perverted and stirred up the multitude and the revolutionaries, and encompassed Dion with disturbances which reduced him to utter perplexity. 5 For if he advised to let Dionysius leave the citadel under a truce, he would be charged with sparing and preserving him; and for, wishing to give no offence, he simply continued the siege, it would be said that he was protracting the war, in order that he might the longer be in command and overawe the citizens.
[Dion 34.1] 34 1 Now, there was a certain Sosis, a man whose baseness and impudence gave him renown in Syracuse, where it was thought that abundance of liberty could only be shown by such license of speech as his. 2 This man, with hostile designs upon Dion, first rose in an assembly and roundly abused the Syracusans for not comprehending that they had merely exchanged a stupid and drunken tyrant for a watchful and sober master; 3 and having thus declared himself an open enemy of Dion, he left the assembly. Next, on the following day he was seen running through the city naked, his head and face covered with blood, as though he were trying to escape pursuit. 4 In this condition he dashed into the assembly and told the people there that he had been set upon by Dion’s mercenaries, and showed them his head and its wounds. He found many to share his resentment and take sides with him against Dion, who, they said, was committing dire acts of tyranny, if by murder and peril of life he sought to rob the citizens of their free speech. 5 However, although the assembly had become confused and tumultuous, Dion came forward and showed in his own defence that Sosis was a brother of one of the body-guards of Dionysius, and had been induced by him to raise confusion and faction among the citizens, since there was no safety for Dionysus except in their mutual distrust and dissension. 6 At the same time, too, the physicians examined the wound of Sosis and discovered that it had been made by razure rather than by a downright blow. 7 For the blows of a sword, by reason of its weight, make wounds that are deepest in the middle, but that of Sosis was shallow all along, and intermittent, as would be natural if he stopped his work on account of pain, and then began it again. 8 Besides, certain well known persons brought a razor to the assembly, and stated that as they were walking along the street, Sosis met them, all bloody, and declaring that he was running away from Dion’s mercenaries, by whom he had just been wounded; 9 at once, then, they ran after them, and found no one, but saw a razor lying under a hollow rock in the quarter from which Sosis had been seen to come.
[Dion 35.1] 35 1 Well, then, the case of Sosis was already desperate; but when, in addition to these proofs, his servants testified that while it was still night he had left the house alone and carrying the razor, Dion’s accusers withdrew, and the people, after condemning Sosis to death, were reconciled with Dion.
[Dion 35.2] 2 However, they were none the less suspicious of his mercenaries, and especially so, now that most of the struggles against the tyrant were carried on at sea, since Philistus had come from Iapygia with a large number of triremes to help Dionysius; and since the mercenaries were men-at arms, they thought them of no further use for the war, nay, they felt that even these troops were dependent for protection upon the citizens themselves, who were seamen, and derived their power from their fleet. 3 And they were still more elated by a successful engagement at sea, in which they defeated Philistus, and then treated him in a barbarous and savage fashion. 4 Ephorus, it is true, says that when his ship was captured, Philistus slew himself; but Timonides, 974 who was engaged with Dion in all the events of this war from the very first, in writing to Speusippus the philosopher, relates that Philistus was taken alive after his trireme had run aground, 5 and that the Syracusans, to begin with, stripped off his breast-plate and exposed his body, naked, to insult and abuse, although he was now an old man; then, that they cut off his head, and gave his body to the boys of the city, with orders to drag it through Achradina and throw it into the stone quarries. 6 And Timaeus, enlarging upon these indignities, says that the boys tied a rope to the lame leg of the dead Philistus and dragged his body through the city, while all the Syracusans mocked and jeered as they saw drawn about by the leg the man who had said to Dionysius that he must not run away from his tyranny on a swift horse, but wait until he was dragged from it by the leg. 7 And yet Philistus has stated explicitly that this was said to Dionysius, and not by himself.
[Dion 36.1] 36 1 But Timaeus, finding a fair excuse for his animosity in the zeal and fidelity which Philistus showed in behalf of the tyranny, gluts himself with the slanders against him. Now, those who were wronged by Philistus while he lived may perhaps be pardoned for carrying their resentment to the length of maltreating his unconscious body; 2 but those who in later times write histories of that period, and who were not harmed by his life, but avail themselves of his writings, owe it to his reputation not to reproach him, in insolent and scurrilous language, for calamities in which fortune may involve even the best of men. 3 However, Ephorus also is unsound in heaping praises upon Philistus; for, although he is most skilful in furnishing unjust deeds and base natures with specious motives, and in discovering decorous names for them, still, even he, with all his artifice, cannot extricate himself from the charge of having been the greatest lover of tyrants alive, and more than any one else always an emulous admirer of luxury, power, wealth, and marriage alliances of tyrants. 4 Verily, he who neither praises the conduct of Philistus, nor gloats insultingly over his misfortunes, takes the fittest course.
[Dion 37.1] 37 1 After the death of Philistus, Dionysius sent to Dion offering to surrender to him the acropolis, his munitions of war, and his mercenaries, with five months’ full pay for these, 2 and demanding for himself the privilege of retiring unmolested into Italy, and of enjoying during his residence there the revenues of Gyarta, a large and rich tract in the territory of Syracuse, extending from the sea to the interior of the island. 3 Dion, however, would not accept these terms, but bade him apply to the Syracusans, and these, hoping to take Dionysius alive, drove away his ambassadors. 4 Upon this, the tyrant handed over the citadel to Apollocrates, his eldest son, while he himself, after watching for a favourable wind and putting on board his ships the persons and property that he held most dear, eluded the vigilance of Heracleides the admiral, and sailed off.
[Dion 37.5] 5 Heracleides was now stormily denounced by the citizens, whereupon he induced Hippo, one of their leaders, to make proposals to the people for a distribution of land, urging that liberty was based on equality, and slavery on the poverty of those who had naught. 6 Supporting Hippo, and heading a faction which overwhelmed the opposition of Dion, Heracleides persuaded the Syracusans to vote this measure, to deprive the mercenaries of their pay, and to elect other generals, thus ridding themselves of the severities of Dion. 7 So the people, attempting, as it were, to stand at once upon their feet after their long sickness of tyranny, 975 and to act the part of independence out of season, stumbled in their undertakings, and yet hated Dion, who, like a physician, wished to subject the city to a strict and temperate regimen.
[Dion 38.1] 38 1 As they met in assembly to assign new commands, the time being midsummer, extraordinary peals of thunder and evil portents from the heavens occurred for fifteen days together, and dispersed the people, whose superstitious fears prevented them from appointing other generals. 2 And when, after waiting for settled fair weather, the popular leaders were proceeding to hold the elections, a draught-ox, who was quite accustomed to crowds, but now for some reason or other got angry at his driver and broke away from his yoke, 3 made a dash for the theatre, and at once dispersed and scattered the people in disorderly flight; then he ran, plunging and throwing everything into confusion, over as much of the rest of the city as the enemy afterwards occupied. 4 However, the Syracusans paid no heed to all this, but elected twenty-five generals, one of whom was Heracleides; they also sent secretly and without his knowledge to Dion’s mercenaries, and tried to get them to leave his service and come over to their side, promising them even an equality of civic rights. 5 They, however, would not listen to these proposals, but showing fidelity and zeal, took their weapons in their hands, put Dion in their midst, encompassed him round about, and tried to conduct him out of the city, doing violence to no one, but roundly reviling those whom they encountered for their base ingratitude. 6 Then the citizens, seeing that the mercenaries were few in number and did not offer to attack, despised them, and having become far more numerous than they, set upon them, thinking to overpower them easily before they got out of the city, and slay them all.
[Dion 39.1] 39 1 And now Dion, seeing that fortune compelled him either to fight against his fellow citizens or perish with his mercenaries, fervently besought the Syracusans, stretching out his hands to them, and pointing out to them the acropolis, which was full of enemies peering over the walls and watching what was going on below; 2 but since no entreaties could stay the onset of the multitudes, and the city, like a ship at sea, was at the mercy of the blasts of its demagogues, he ordered his mercenaries not to make a charge, but simply to run towards their assailants with loud cries and brandishing of weapons; which being done, not a Syracusan stood his ground, but all promptly took to flight along the streets, where none pursued them. For Dion immediately ordered his men to wheel about, and led them forth to Leontini.
[Dion 39.3] 3 But the leaders of the Syracusans, now that they were become a laughing-stock for the women, sought to redeem their disgrace, armed the citizens again, and pursued after Dion. 4 They came upon him as he was crossing a river, and their horsemen rode up for a skirmish; but when they saw that he no longer bore with their faults in a mild and paternal spirit, but was angrily wheeling his mercenaries about and putting them in battle array, they broke into a more disgraceful flight than before, and retired into the city, with the loss of a few men.
[Dion 40.1] 40 1 The Leontines received Dion with splendid honours, took his mercenaries into their service, and gave them civic rights; they also sent an embassy to the Syracusans with a demand that they should do the mercenaries justice. 2 The Syracusans, however, sent envoys to denounce Dion. But when all the confederates had assembled at Leontini and discussed the matter, it was decided that the Syracusans were in the wrong. 3 By this decision of their confederates, however, the Syracusans would not abide, being now insolent and full of pride because they were subject to no one, but had generals who were in slavish fear of the people.
[Dion 41.1] 41 1 After this, there put in at the city triremes from Dionysius, under the command of Nypsius the Neapolitan, 976 who brought food and money for the beleaguered garrison of the acropolis. 2 In a naval battle that ensued the Syracusans were indeed victorious, and captured four of the tyrant’s ships, but they were made wanton by their victory, and in their utter lack of discipline turned their rejoicing into drinking-bouts and mad carousals, and were so neglectful of their real interests that, when they thought themselves already in possession of the acropolis, they actually lost both it and their city besides. 3 For Nypsius, seeing no saving remnant in the city, but the multitude given over to music and revelry from dawn till midnight, and their generals delighted with this festivity and reluctant to use compulsion with men in their cups, 4 made the best use of his opportunity and attacked their siege-works, and having mastered these and broken them down, he let his Barbarians loose upon the city, bidding them treat those whom they encountered as they could and would. 5 Quickly, then, were the Syracusans aware of the mischief, but slowly and with difficulty did they rally to oppose it, so utterly distracted were they. 6 For it was a sack of the city that was now going on, its men being slain, its walls torn down, and its women and children dragged shrieking to the acropolis, while its generals gave up all for lost and were unable to employ the citizens against the enemy, who were everywhere inextricably mingled with them.
[Dion 42.1] 42 1 While the city was in this plight and the Achradina in imminent peril, all knew who was the only man left upon whom they could fasten their hopes, but no one spoke his name, because they were ashamed of their ingratitude and folly towards Dion. 2 However, now that necessity constrained them, some of the allies and horsemen cried out that Dion and his Peloponnesians should be summoned from Leontini. 3 As soon as this venture was made and the name heard, the Syracusans fell to shouting and weeping for joy; they prayed that Dion might appear upon the scene, and yearned for the sight of him, and called to mind his ardour and vigour in the presence of danger, remembering that he was not only undaunted himself, but made them also bold and fearless in engaging their enemies. 4 Immediately, therefore, they sent a delegation to him, Archonides and Telesides from the allies, and Hellanicus with four others from the horsemen. 5 These, sending their horses over the road at full gallop, came to Leontini just as the sun was setting. 6 Then, leaping from their horses and throwing themselves at the feet of Dion first of all, with streaming eyes they told him the calamities of the Syracusans. 7 Presently, too, some of the Leontines came up and many of the Peloponnesians gathered about Dion, conjecturing from the haste and suppliant address of the men that something quite extraordinary was the matter. 8 At once, then, Dion led his visitors to the place of assembly, the people eagerly gathered there, Archonides and Hellanicus with their companions came before them, reported to them briefly the great disaster, and called upon the mercenaries to put away their feelings of resentment and come to the aid of the Syracusans, since those who had wronged them had suffered a heavier punishment than those who had been wronged would have thought it right to exact.
[Dion 43.1] 43 1 When the messengers had made an end of speaking, there was a profound silence in the theatre; then Dion rose and began to speak, but copious tears checked his utterance; his mercenaries, however, sympathized with him and bade him take heart. 2 Accordingly, after he had recovered a little from his grief, he said: “Men of Peloponnesus and allies, I have brought you together here to deliberate upon your own course of action. 3 As for me, it is not meet that 977 I should consult my own interests now that Syracuse is perishing, but if I cannot save her, I shall return to seek a grave amid the blazing ruins of my native city. 4 But you, if you are willing even now, after all that has passed, to come to our help, who are the most foolish and the most unfortunate of men, pray restore the city of Syracuse and the work of your own hands. 5 If, however, in your displeasure at the Syracusans, you shall leave them to their fate, at least for your former bravery and zeal in my behalf may you obtain a worthy reward from the gods, and may you think of Dion as one who abandoned neither you when you were wronged, nor, afterwards, his fellow citizens when they were in distress.”
[Dion 43.6] 6 While he was still speaking, the mercenaries sprang to their feet with shouts and bade him lead them speedily to the city’s relief, while the Syracusan envoys embraced them passionately, invoking many blessings from the gods upon Dion, and many upon his mercenaries. 7 And when the tumult was allayed, Dion ordered his men to go to their quarters and make themselves ready, and, after taking supper, to come with their arms to that very place, for he was determined to go to the rescue by night.
[Dion 44.1] 44 1 But the soldiers of Dionysius at Syracuse, as long as it was day, did much mischief to the city; when night came, however, they retired to the acropolis, having lost some few of their number. 2 Upon this, the popular leaders of the Syracusans plucked up courage, and in the hope that the enemy would rest content with what they had done, exhorted the citizens once more to ignore Dion, and if he should come up with his mercenaries, not to admit them, nor yield precedence to them as superior in point of bravery, but to save their city and their liberty by their own efforts. 3 Accordingly, fresh messengers were sent to Dion, some from the generals forbidding his advance, but others from the horsemen and more reputable citizens urging him to hasten it. 4 For this reason he came marching on now slowly, and now at top speed. 5 As the night advanced the enemies of Dion took possession of the gates in order to shut him out, but Nypsius, 978 sending his mercenaries once more from the citadel in greater numbers and with more impetuosity than before, tore down at once the entire siege-wall, and overran and sacked the city. 6 And now there was a slaughter not only of men, but also of women and children; there was little haling away of prisoners, but a great destruction of all alike. 7 For since Dionysius now despaired of his cause and fiercely hated the Syracusans, he wished to make their city as it were a tomb for his falling tyranny. 8 So his soldiers, forestalling the succour which Dion was bringing, resorted to the speediest destruction and annihilation of everything by burning, setting fire to what was near them with the brands and torches in their hands, and scattering fiery arrows from their bows among the remoter parts. 9 As the Syracusans fled, some were overtaken and slain in the streets, and those who sought cover in their houses were driven out again by the fire, many buildings being now ablaze and falling upon those who were running about.
[Dion 45.1] 45 1 Owing to this disaster more than to any thing else, the city was thrown open to Dion by unanimous consent. For he was no longer marching in haste, since he had heard that the enemy had shut themselves up in the acropolis. 2 But as the day advanced, first, horsemen met him with tidings of the second capture of the city; next, even some of his opponents came with entreaties that he would hasten his march. 3 Moreover, as the mischief grew worse, Heracleides sent out his brother, and then Theodotes his uncle, begging Dion to help them, since no one now resisted the enemy, he himself was wounded, and the city was almost demolished and consumed by fire. 4 When these amazing messages reached Dion, he was still sixty furlongs distant from the city gates; but after telling his mercenaries of the city’s peril and exhorting them, he led his army towards the city, no longer in marching step, but on the run, while one messenger after another met him and begged him to hasten. 5 His mercenaries advancing with astonishing speed and ardour, he burst through the gates into what was called the Hecatompedon, 6 and at once sent his light-armed troops to charge upon the enemy, in order that the Syracusans might take courage at the sight; he also marshalled his men-at arms in person, together with those of the citizens who kept running up and forming with them, dividing his commands and forming companies in column, that he might make a more formidable attack from many points at once.
[Dion 46.1] 46 1 When he had made these preparations and had prayed to the gods, and was seen leading his forces through the city against the enemy, shouts of joy and loud battle-cries mingled with prayers and supplications were raised by the Syracusans, who called Dion their saviour and god, and his mercenaries their brethren and fellow citizens. 2 And no one was so fond of self or fond of life in that emergency as not to show himself more anxious about Dion alone than about all the rest, as he marched at their head to meet the danger, through blood and fire and the mass of dead bodies lying in the streets.
[Dion 46.3] 3 It was true, indeed, that the enemy presented a formidable appearance, for they had become altogether savage, and had drawn themselves up along the demolished siege-wall, which made the approach to them difficult and hard to force; but the peril from the fire disturbed the mercenaries of Dion more, and made their progress arduous. 4 For they were surrounded on all sides by glowing flames which were spreading among the houses; they trod upon blazing ruins and ran at the risk of their lives under falling fragments of great size; they made their way through clouds of dust and smoke; and yet they tried to keep together and not break their ranks. 5 Moreover, when they joined battle with the enemy, only a few on each side could fight at close quarters, so narrow and uneven was the place; but the Syracusans encouraged them with eager shouts, and Nypsius and his men were overpowered. 6 Most of them fled back into the acropolis, which was near, and so saved themselves; but those who were left outside and scattered hither and thither, were pursued and slain by the mercenaries. 7 No immediate enjoyment of their victory, however, and none of the glad congratulations befitting so great an achievement were possible for the Syracusans in that emergency; they turned their attention to their burning houses, and only by toiling all night did they succeed in putting out the fire.
[Dion 47.1] 47 1 When it was day, not one of the other popular leaders would remain in the city, but passed judgement on themselves by taking to flight; Heracleides and Theodotes, however, came of their own accord and surrendered themselves to Dion, acknowledging that they had done him wrong, and begging him to treat them better than they had treated him; 2 it was meet, they said, that Dion, who was their superior in every other virtue, should also show himself a better master of his anger than his ungrateful foes, who were now come confessing that in the very quality to which they had formerly disputed his claim, namely, virtue, they were his inferiors. 3 Though Heracleides and Theodotes thus besought Dion, his friends exhorted him not to spare such base and envious men, but to give Heracleides over to the mercy of his soldiers, and to rid the commonwealth of the hunt for mob-favour, which, no less than tyranny, was a raging distemper. 4 But Dion tried to soften their resentment, saying that while other generals trained themselves mostly for arms and war, he himself had studied for a long time in the Academy how to conquer anger, envy, and all contentiousness; 5 and it was no manifestation of such self-mastery, he said, when one was kind to friends and benefactors, but when one who had been wronged was merciful and mild towards the erring; 6 besides, he wished men to see 979 that he was superior to Heracleides, not so much in power and wisdom, as in goodness and justice; for therein lay real superiority; 7 whereas successes in war, even though they had to be shared with no man, must at least be shared with fortune. 8 Moreover, if envy led Heracleides to be faithless and base, surely anger must not drive Dion to sully his virtue; for although taking vengeance for a wrong was in the eyes of the law more just than the doing of the wrong unprovoked, by nature it sprang from one and the same weakness. 9 Furthermore, baseness in a man, even though it be a grievous thing, was not so altogether savage and obstinate that it could not be conquered by frequent benefactions and altered by a sense of gratitude.
[Dion 48.1] 48 1 After using such arguments as these, Dion set Heracleides and Theodotes free. 2 Then turning his attention to the siege-wall, he bade each one of the Syracusans to cut a stake and lay it down near the works, and setting his mercenaries to the task all night, while the Syracusans were resting, he succeeded in fencing off the acropolis, so that when day came the citizens and the enemy alike were amazed to see with what speed the work had been accomplished. 3 He also buried the dead Syracusans, ransomed those who had been taken prisoners, although they were fully two thousand in number, and then held an assembly. 4 Here Heracleides came forward with a motion that Dion should be chosen general with absolute powers by land and sea. 5 The aristocracy approved of this motion and urged the appointment; but the mob of sailors and day-labourers tumultuously opposed it, being vexed that Heracleides should lose his office of admiral, and considering him, even though good for nothing in other ways, at least altogether more of a man of the people than Dion and more under the control of the multitude. 6 This point Dion yielded to them, and restored the command by sea to Heracleides; but when they insisted upon the redistribution of land and houses, he opposed them and repealed their former decrees on this head, thereby winning their displeasure. 7 Wherefore Heracleides at once renewed his machinations, and, when he was stationed at Messana, artfully tried to exasperate against Dion the soldiers and sailors who had sailed thither with him, declaring that Dion intended to make himself tyrant; but he himself was all the while making secret compacts with Dionysius through the agency of Pharax the Spartan. 8 When this was suspected by the better class of Syracusans, there was dissension in the army, and therefore perplexity and want of provisions in Syracuse, 9 so that Dion was altogether at a loss what to do, and was blamed by his friends for having strengthened against himself a man so perverse and so corrupted by envy and baseness as Heracleides was.
[Dion 49.1] 49 1 Now, Pharax was encamped at Neapolis, in the territory of Agrigentum, and thither Dion led forth the Syracusans. Dion wished to settle the issue between them at a later opportunity, but Heracleides and his sailors kept crying out against him, saying that his wish was not to decide the war by a battle, but to have it last forever, that he might remain in power. 2 He was therefore forced into an engagement, and was worsted. Since, however, the defeat of his men was not severe, but due more to their own seditious disorders than to the enemy, Dion again prepared for battle and drew up his forces, persuading and encouraging them. 3 But in the evening word was brought to him that Heracleides with his fleet was sailing for Syracuse, determined to occupy the city and shut Dion and his army out of it. 4 Immediately, therefore, he took with him his most influential and zealous supporters and rode all night, and about nine o’clock next day was at the gates of the city, having covered seven hundred furlongs. 980 5 But Heracleides, who, in spite of all his efforts, arrived too late with his ships, put out to sea again, and being without definite plans, fell in with Gaesylus the Spartan, who insisted that he was sailing from Sparta to take command of the Sicilians, as Gylippus had formerly done. 6 Heracleides, accordingly, gladly took up this man, attached him to himself like an amulet, as it were, against the influence of Dion, and showed him to his confederates; then, secretly sending a herald to Syracuse, he ordered the citizens to receive their Spartan commander. 7 Dion, however, made answer that the Syracusans had commanders enough, and that if their situation absolutely required a Spartan also, he himself was the man, since he had been made a citizen of Sparta. Thereupon Gaesylus gave up his pretensions to the command, and sailing to Dion, effected a reconciliation between him and Heracleides, who took oaths and made the most solemn pledges, in support of which Gaesylus himself swore that he would avenge Dion and punish Heracleides if he worked any more mischief.
[Dion 50.1] 50 1 After this the Syracusans discharged their fleet, since it was of no use, while it involved great outlays for the crews, and caused dissension among their commanders; they also laid siege to the citadel after they had finished building the wall that enclosed it. 2 No one came to the help of the besieged, provisions failed them, and the mercenaries became mutinous, so that the son of Dionysius gave up his cause for lost and made terms with Dion. The citadel he handed over to him together with the arms and other equipment there, while he himself, taking his mother and sisters and manning five triremes, sailed away to his father. 3 Dion allowed him to depart in safety, and no one who was then in Syracuse missed that sight, nay, they called upon the absent ones also, pitying them because they could not behold this day and the rising of the sun upon a free Syracuse. 4 For since, among the illustrations men give of the mutations of fortune, the expulsion of Dionysius is still to this day the strongest and plainest, what joy must we suppose those men themselves then felt, and how great a pride, who, with the fewest resources, overthrew the greatest tyranny that ever was!
[Dion 51.1] 51 1 After Apollocrates had sailed away, and when Dion was on his way to the acropolis, the women could not restrain themselves nor await his entrance, but ran out to the gates, Aristomache leading Dion’s son, while Arete followed after them with tears, and at a loss how to greet and address her husband now that she had lived with another man. 2 After Dion had greeted his sister first, and then his little son, Aristomache led Arete to him, and said: “We were unhappy, Dion, while thou wast in exile; 3 but now that thou art come and art victorious, thou hast taken away our sorrow from all of us, except from this woman alone, whom I was so unfortunate as to see forced to wed another while thou wast still alive. 4 Since, then, fortune has made thee our lord and master, how wilt thou judge of the compulsion laid upon her? Is it as her uncle or as her husband that she is to greet thee?” 5 So spake Aristomache, and Dion, bursting into tears, embraced his wife fondly, gave her his son, and bade her go to his own house; and there he himself also dwelt, after he had put the citadel in charge of the Syracusans.
[Dion 52.1] 52 1 And now that his enterprise had been so successful, he thought it not right to enjoy his present good fortune before distributing thanks to his friends, rewards to his allies, and particularly to his Athenian associates and to his mercenaries some mark of kindness and honour, his generosity leading him beyond his resources. 2 But as for himself, he lived with simplicity and moderation on what he had, and men wondered at him because, while his successes drew upon him the eyes not only of Sicily and Carthage, 981 but also of all Hellas, and while he was regarded by the people of that time as the greatest of living men, and was thought to be blessed with courage and good fortune beyond any other commander, 3 he was nevertheless so modest in his dress, his attendance, and his table, just as though he were messing with Plato in the Academy, and not living among captains of mercenaries and paid soldiers, who find in their daily feastings, and other enjoyments, a solace for their toils and perils. 4 Plato, indeed, wrote to him that the eyes of all the world were now fixed upon him alone, but Dion himself, as it would seem, kept his eyes fixed upon one spot in one city, namely, the Academy, and considered that his spectators and judges there admired neither great exploits nor boldness nor victories, but watched to see only whether he made a discreet and decorous use of his good fortune, and showed himself modest in his high estate. 5 Nevertheless, he made it a point not to remit or relax at all the gravity of his manners or his haughtiness in dealing with the people, although his situation called for a gracious demeanour, and although Plato, as I have said, wrote and warned him that self-will was “a companion of solitude.” 6 But he seems to have been of a temper naturally averse to graciousness, and, besides, he was ambitious to curb the Syracusans, who were given to excessive license and luxury.
[Dion 53.1] 53 1 For Heracleides once more set himself in opposition to him. To begin with, when he was invited by Dion to attend the council, he refused to come, saying that as a man in private station he would meet in assembly with the other citizens. Next, he publicly denounced Dion for not demolishing the citadel, and for checking the people when they set out to open the tomb of Dionysius and cast out his dead body, and for sending to Corinth for counsellors and colleagues in the government, thereby showing contempt for his fellow citizens. 3 And in fact Dion did send for assistance to the Corinthians, hoping the more easily to establish the civil polity which he had in mind if they were at his side. 4 And he had it mind to put a curb upon unmixed democracy in Syracuse, regarding it as not a civil polity, but rather, in the words of Plato, a “bazaar of polities”; also to establish and set in order a mixture of democracy and royalty, somewhat after the Spartan and Cretan fashion, wherein an aristocracy should preside, and administer the most important affairs; for he saw that the Corinthians had a polity which leaned towards oligarchy, and that they transacted little public business in their assembly of the people.
[Dion 53.5] 5 Accordingly, since he expected that these measures would find their chief opponent in Heracleides, and since the man was in every way turbulent, fickle, and seditious, he now yielded to those who had long wished to kill him, but whom he had hitherto restrained; so they made their way into the house of Heracleides and slew him. 6 His death was keenly resented by the Syracusans; but nevertheless, when Dion gave him a splendid funeral, followed the body to its grave with his army, and then discoursed to them upon the matter, they came to see that it was impossible for the city to be free from tumults while Heracleides and Dion together concluded its affairs.
[Dion 54.1] 54 1 Now, there was a certain comrade of Dion’s named Callippus, an Athenian, who, as Plato says, had become intimately acquainted with him, not as a fellow pupil in philosophy, but in consequence of initiation into the mysteries and the recurrent comradeship which this brought. He took part in Dion’s expedition and was held in honour by him, so that he even entered Syracuse with him at the head of all his comrades, with a garland on his head, after winning glorious distinction in battle. 2 But now that the chief and noblest friends of Dion had been consumed away by the war, 982 and Heracleides was dead, he saw that the people of Syracuse were without a leader, and that he himself was very much in favour with Dion’s soldiers. 3 Therefore, showing himself the vilest of men, and altogether expecting that he would have Sicily as a reward for murdering his friend, and, as some say, having received twenty talents from the enemy to pay him for doing the murder, he bribed some of Dion’s mercenaries into a conspiracy against him, beginning his work in a most malicious and rascally manner. 4 For he was always reporting to Dion various speeches of his soldiers against him, either actually uttered or fabricated by himself, and in this way won his confidence, and was authorized to meet secretly with whom he would and talk with them against Dion, in order that no lurking malcontents might remain undiscovered. 5 By this means Callippus succeeded in quickly discovering and banding together the evil-minded and discontented citizens, and, whenever any one who had repulsed his overtures told Dion about them, Dion was not disturbed nor vexed, but assumed that Callippus was merely carrying out his injunctions.
[Dion 55.1] 55 1 As the plot was ripening, Dion saw an apparition of great size and portentous aspect. He was sitting later in the day in the vestibule of his house, alone and lost in thought, 2 when suddenly a noise was heard at the other end of the colonnade, and turning his gaze in that direction he saw (for it was not yet dark) a woman of lofty stature, in garb and countenance exactly like a tragic Fury, sweeping the house with a sort of broom. 3 He was terribly shocked, and, becoming apprehensive, summoned his friends, told them what he had seen, and begged them to remain and spend the night with him, being altogether beside himself, and fearing that if he were left alone the portent would appear to him again. This, indeed, did not occur a second time. 4 But a few days afterwards his son, who was hardly a boy any more, in a fit of angry displeasure caused by some trivial and childish grievance, threw himself headlong from the roof and was killed.
[Dion 56.1] 56 1 While Dion was thus heavily afflicted, Callippus was all the more intent upon his plot, and spread a report that Dion, being now childless, had made up his mind to send for Apollocrates, the son of Dionysius, and make him his successor, since he was his wife’s nephew and his sister’s grandson. 2 And presently both Dion and his wife and sister began to suspect what was going on, and information of the plot came to them from every quarter. 3 But Dion, as it would seem, being in distress at the fate of Heracleides, and suffering continual vexation and depression at the thought of the man’s murder, which he regarded as a stain upon his life and actions, declared that he was ready now to die many deaths and to suffer any one who wished to slay him, if it was going to be necessary for him to live on his guard, not only against his enemies, but also against his friends.
[Dion 56.4] 4 But Callippus, seeing that the women were investigating the matter carefully, and taking alarm, came to them with denials and in tears and offering to give them whatever pledge of fidelity they desired. 5 So they required him to swear the great oath. This was done in the following manner. The one who gives this pledge goes down into the sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone, where, after certain sacred rites have been performed, he puts on the purple vestment of the goddess, takes a blazing torch in his hand, and recites the oath. 6 All this Callippus did, and recited the oath; but he made such a mockery of the gods as to wait for the festival of the goddess by whom he had sworn, the Coreia, and then to do the murder. And yet it is possible that he took no account of the day, since he knew that the goddess would have been utterly outraged even if at another time her mystic were slain by his mystagogue.
[Dion 57.1] 57 1 Many had conspired to do the deed, and as Dion was sitting with his friends in an apartment containing couches for entertainment, 983 some of the conspirators invested the house outside, while others stood at the doors and windows of the apartment. 2 The actual assassins, who were Zacynthians, came in unarmed and without their cloaks. Then at the same time those outside closed the doors and held them fast, while those inside fell upon Dion and tried to strangle and crush him. 3 They made no headway, however, and called for a sword; but no one ventured to open the door. For Dion’s companions inside were many in number; but each of them thought that by abandoning Dion to his fate he would save his own life, and so no one ventured to help him. 4 After some delay, Lycon the Syracusan handed through the window to one of the Zacynthians a shortsword, and with this they cut Dion’s throat as if he had been a victim at the altar; he had long since been overpowered and was quivering before the stroke. 5 At once, too, they cast his sister into prison, together with his wife, who was big with child. His wife had a most wretched confinement, and gave birth in the prison to a male child, which the women ventured to rear, with the consent of their guards, and all the more because Callippus was already involved in great trouble.
[Dion 58.1] 58 1 At the outset, indeed, after he had killed Dion, Callippus was a glorious personage, and had Syracuse in his power. He actually wrote a letter to the city of Athens, which, next to the gods, he ought to have held in awe and fear after setting his hands to so great a pollution. 2 But it appears to be truly said of that city that the good men whom she breeds are of the highest excellence, and the bad men of the most despicable baseness, just as her soil produces sweetest honey and deadliest hemlock. 3 However, Callippus did not long remain a scandal to fortune and the gods, as though they had no eyes for a man who won leadership and power by so great an impiety, but speedily paid a fitting penalty. 4 For on setting out to take Catana, he at once lost Syracuse; at which time, as they say, he remarked that he had lost a city and got a cheese-grater. 5 Then he attacked Messana and lost most of his soldiers, among whom were the murderers of Dion; and since no city in Sicily would receive him, but all hated and spurned him, he took possession of Rhegium. 6 But there, being in straitened circumstances and unable to support his mercenaries properly, he was put to death by Leptines and Polyperchon, who, as fortune would have it, used the shortsword with which Dion also was said to have been smitten. 7 And it was known by its size, which was short, after the Spartan fashion, and by the style of its workmanship, being delicately and cunningly wrought. Such, then, was the penalty which Callippus paid.
[Dion 58.8] 8 As for Aristomache and Arete, when they were released from prison, they were taken up by Hicetas the Syracusan, who had been one of Dion’s friends, and who was thought to be faithfully and honourably disposed towards them. 9 Afterwards, having been persuaded by the enemies of Dion, he got a ship ready for them, pretending that they were to be sent into Peloponnesus, and ordered the sailors, during the voyage, to cut their throats and cast them into the sea. Others, however, say that they were thrown overboard alive, and the little boy with them. 10 But Hicetas also met with a punishment worthy of his crimes. For he himself was captured by Timoleon and put to death, and the Syracusans, to avenge Dion, slew his two daughters also; of which things I have written at length in my Life of Timoleon.

## Brutus

[Brut. 1.1] 1 1 MARCUS Brutus was a descendant of that Junius Brutus whose bronze statue, with a drawn sword in its hand, was erected by the ancient Romans on the Capitol among those of the kings, in token that he was most resolute in dethroning the Tarquins. 2 But that Brutus, like the tempered steel of swords, had a disposition which was hard by nature and not softened by letters, so that his wrath against the tyrants drove him upon the dreadful act of slaying his sons; 3 whereas this Brutus, of whom I now write, modified his disposition by means of the training and culture which philosophy gives, and stimulated a nature which was sedate and mild by active enterprises, and thus seems to have been most harmoniously attempered for the practice of virtue. 4 As a consequence, even those who hated him on account of his conspiracy against Caesar ascribed whatever was noble in the undertaking to Brutus, but laid the more distressing features of what was done to the charge of Cassius, who was a kinsman of Brutus, indeed, and his friend, but not so simple and sincere in his character. 5 Servilia, the mother of Brutus, traced her lineage back to Servilius Ahala, who, when Spurius Maelius was seditiously plotting to usurp absolute power, took a dagger under his arm, went into the forum, drew nigh the man, as if intending to confer privately with him, and when he inclined his head to listen, stabbed him to death.
[Brut. 1.6] 6 This, at all events, is generally admitted; but as to the lineage of Brutus by his father’s side, those who display great hatred and malevolence towards him because of the murder of Caesar deny that it goes back to that Brutus who expelled the Tarquins, since no offspring was left to him when he had slain his sons. The ancestor of Brutus, they say, was a plebeian, son of a steward by the name of Brutus, and had only recently risen to office. 7 Poseidonius the philosopher, however, says that the two sons of Brutus who were of age perished according to the story, but that a third son was left, an infant, from whom the family descended. 8 He says, moreover, that there were certainly industrious men of this house in his own day, some of whom called attention to their likeness in form and features to the statue of Brutus. Thus much, then, on this head.
[Brut. 2.1] 2 1 Servilia, the mother of Brutus, was a sister of Cato the philosopher, and Brutus had a higher esteem for him than for any other Roman, Cato being his uncle and afterwards becoming his father-in law. 2 There was practically no Greek philosopher with whom Brutus was unacquainted or unfamiliar, but he devoted himself particularly to the disciples of Plato. 3 To the New and Middle Academy, as they are called, he was not very partial, but clung to the Old. He was therefore always an admirer of Antiochus of Ascalon, whose brother Aristus he had made his friend and housemate, a man who in learning was inferior to many philosophers, but who in good sense and gentleness vied with the foremost. 4 Empylus also, who is often mentioned by Brutus himself in his letters, and also by his friends, as a housemate of his, was a rhetorician, and has left a brief but excellent account of the assassination of Caesar, entitled “Brutus.”
[Brut. 2.5] 5 In Latin, now, Brutus was sufficiently trained for narrative or pleading; but in Greek he affected the brevity of the apophthegm and the Spartan, of which he sometimes gives a striking example in his letters. 6 For instance, when he had already embarked upon the war, he wrote to the Pergamenians: “I hear that ye have given money to Dolabella; if ye gave it willingly confess that ye have wronged me; if unwillingly, prove it by giving willingly to me.” 7 Again, to the Samians: “Your counsels are paltry, your subsidies slow; what, think ye, will be the end of this?” 8 And in another letter: “The Xanthians ignored my benefactions, and have made their country a grave for their madness; but the Patareans entrusted themselves to me, and now enjoy their freedom in all its fulness. It is in your power also to choose the decision of the Patareans or the fate of the Xanthians.” Such, then, is the style of his remarkable letters.
[Brut. 3.1] 3 1 While he was still a youth, he made a journey to Cyprus with his uncle Cato, who was sent out against Ptolemy. 2 And when Ptolemy made away with himself, Cato, who was himself obliged to tarry a while in Rhodes, had already dispatched one of his friends, Canidius, to take charge of the king’s treasures; but fearing that he would not refrain from theft, he wrote to Brutus bidding him sail with all speed to Cyprus from Pamphylia, where he was recruiting his health after a severe sickness. 3 Brutus set sail, but very much against his will, both because he had regard for Canidius, whom he thought to have been ignominiously discarded by Cato, and because on general grounds he considered such painstaking attention to administrative matters to be illiberal and unworthy of himself as a young man addicted to letters. 4 However, he applied himself to this task also, and won Cato’s praise, and after converting the king’s property into money, took most of the treasure and set sail for Rome.
[Brut. 4.1] 4 1 Here, when the state was rent by factions, Pompey and Caesar appealing to arms and the supreme power being confounded, Brutus was expected to choose the side of Caesar, since his father had been put to death a while before at the instigation of Pompey; 2 but thinking it his duty to put the public good above his own, and holding that Pompey’s grounds for going to war were better than Caesar’s, he attached himself to Pompey. 3 And yet before this he would not even speak to Pompey when he met him, considering it a great abomination to converse with the murderer of his father; now, however, looking upon him as his country’s ruler, he put himself under his orders, and set sail for Cilicia as legate with Sestius, to whom the province had been allotted. 4 But since there was nothing of importance for him to do there, and since Pompey and Caesar were now about to meet in a supreme struggle, he came of his own accord into Macedonia to share the danger. 5 It was then, they say, that Pompey was so filled with delight and admiration that he rose from his seat as Brutus approached, and in the sight of all embraced him as a superior. 6 During the campaign, for whatever part of the day he was not with Pompey, he busied himself with books and literature, not only the rest of the time, but even before the great battle. 7 It was the height of summer, the heat was great (since they had encamped in marshy regions), and they that carried the tent of Brutus were slow in coming. 8 But though he was thus all worn out, and though it was almost noon before he anointed himself and took a little food, nevertheless, while the rest were either sleeping or occupied with anxious thoughts about the future, he himself was busy until evening in making and writing out a compend of Polybius.
[Brut. 5.1] 5 1 It is said, moreover, that Caesar also was concerned for his safety, and ordered his officers not to kill Brutus in the battle, but to spare him, and take him prisoner if he gave himself up voluntarily, and if he persisted in fighting against capture, to let him alone and do him no violence; and that Caesar did this out of regard for Servilia, the mother of Brutus. 2 For while he was still a young man, as it seems, Caesar had been intimate with Servilia, who was madly in love with him, and he had some grounds for believing that Brutus, who was born at about the time when her passion was in full blaze, was his own son. 3 It is said also that when the great conspiracy of Catiline, which came near overthrowing the city, had come to the ears of the senate, Cato and Caesar, who were of different opinions about the matter, were standing side by side, and just then a little note was handed to Caesar from outside, which he read quietly. But Cato cried out that Caesar was outrageously receiving letters of instruction from the enemy. 4 At this, a great tumult arose, and Caesar gave the missive, just as it was, to Cato. Cato found, when he read it, that it was a wanton bit of writing from his sister Servilia, and throwing it to Caesar with the words “Take it, thou sot,” turned again to the business under discussion. So notorious was Servilia’s passion for Caesar.
[Brut. 6.1] 6 1 After the defeat at Pharsalus, when Pompey had made his escape to the sea and his camp was besieged, Brutus went out unnoticed by a gate leading to a place that was marshy and full of water and reeds, and made his way safely by night to Larissa. 2 From thence he wrote to Caesar, who was delighted at his safe escape, and bade him come to him, and not only pardoned him, but actually made him a highly honoured companion. 3 Now, since no one could tell whither Pompey was fleeing, and all were in great perplexity, Caesar took a long walk with Brutus alone, and sounded him on the subject. 4 Certain considerations advanced by Brutus made his opinion concerning Pompey’s flight seem the best, and Caesar therefore renounced all other courses and hastened towards Egypt. 5 But as for Pompey, he put in at Egypt, as Brutus conjectured, and there met his doom; as for Caesar, however, Brutus tried to soften him towards Cassius also. 6 He also served as advocate for the king of Africa, and though he lost the case, owing to the magnitude of the accusations against his client, still, by supplications and entreaties in his behalf he saved much of his kingdom for him. 7 And it is said that Caesar, when he first heard Brutus speak in public, said to his friends: “I know not what this young man wants, but all that he wants he wants very much.” 8 For the weight of his character, and the fact that no one found it easy to make him listen to appeals for favour, but that he accomplished his ends by reasoning and the adoption of noble principles, made his efforts, whithersoever directed, powerful and efficacious. 9 No flattery could induce him to grant an unjust petition, and that inability to withstand shameless importunity, which some call timidity, he regarded as most disgraceful in a great man, and he was wont to say that those who were unable to refuse anything, in his opinion, must have been corrupted in their youth.
[Brut. 6.10] 10 When Caesar was about to cross over into Africa against Cato and Scipio, he put Brutus in charge of Cisalpine Gaul, to the great good-fortune of the province; 11 for while the other provinces, owing to the insolence and rapacity of their governors, were plundered as though they had been conquered in war, to the people of his province Brutus meant relief and consolation even for their former misfortunes. 12 And he attached the gratitude of all to Caesar, so that, after Caesar’s return, and as he traversed it, he found the cities under Brutus a most pleasing sight, as well as Brutus himself, who enhanced his honour and was a delightful companion.
[Brut. 7.1] 7 1 Now that there were several praetorships to be had, it was expected that the one of greatest dignity, that is, the praetorship of the city, would fall either to Brutus or to Cassius; and some say that the two men, who were already slightly at variance for other reasons, were still more estranged by this circumstance, although they were relatives, since Cassius was the husband of Junia, a sister of Brutus. 2 But others say that this rivalry was the work of Caesar, who secretly favoured the hopes of each until, thus induced and incited, they entered into competition with one another. 3 Brutus, however, made the contest supported only by his fair fame and his virtue, as against many brilliant and spirited exploits of Cassius in the Parthian war. 4 But Caesar, after hearing the claims of each, said, in council with his friends: “Cassius makes the juster plea, but Brutus must have the first praetorship.” 5 So Cassius was appointed to another praetorship, but he was not so grateful for what he got as he was angry over what he had lost.
[Brut. 7.6] 6 And in all other ways, too, Brutus had as large a share in Caesar’s power as he wished. Indeed, had he wished it, he might have been first among Caesar’s friends and exercised the greatest power; 7 but the party of Cassius drew him away from such a course. Not that he was reconciled to Cassius himself as yet, after their struggle for honours, but he gave ear to the friends of Cassius, who urged him not to suffer himself to be charmed and softened by Caesar, but rather to flee the tyrant’s kindnesses and favours, for these were shown to him, not to reward his virtue, but to root out his vigour and his haughty spirit.
[Brut. 8.1] 8 1 However, even Caesar was not wholly without suspicion, nor free from the effects of accusations against Brutus, but, while he feared his high spirit, his great repute, and his friends, he had faith in his character. 2 Once, when he was told that Antony and Dolabella were plotting revolution, he said it was not the fat and long-haired fellows that troubled him, but those pale and lean ones; meaning Brutus and Cassius. 3 And again, when certain ones were accusing Brutus to him, and urging him to be on his guard against him, he laid his hand upon his breast and said: “What? Think ye not that Brutus can wait for this poor flesh?” implying that no one besides Brutus was fit to succeed him in such great power. 4 And verily it appears that Brutus might have been first in the city with none to dispute him, could he have endured for a little while to be second to Caesar, suffering his power to wane and the fame of his successes to wither. 5 But Cassius, a man of violent temper, and rather a hater of Caesar on his own private account than a hater of tyranny on public grounds, fired him up and urged him on. 6 Brutus, it is said, objected to the rule, but Cassius hated the ruler, and among other charges which he brought against him was that of taking away some lions which Cassius had provided when he was about to be aedile; 7 the beasts had been left at Megara, and when the city was taken by Calenus, Caesar appropriated them. And the beasts are said to have brought great calamity upon the Megarians. For these, just as their city was captured, drew back the bolts and loosened the fetters that confined the animals, in order that they might obstruct the oncoming foe, but they rushed among the unarmed citizens themselves and preyed upon them as they ran hither and thither, so that even to the enemy the sight was a pitiful one.
[Brut. 9.1] 9 1 In the case of Cassius, then, they say this was the chief reason for his plotting against Caesar; but it is not so. For from the outset there was in the nature of Cassius great hostility and bitterness towards the whole race of tyrants, as he showed when he was still a boy and went to the same school with Faustus the son of Sulla. 2 For when Faustus blustered among the boys and bragged about his father’s absolute power, Cassius sprang up and gave him a thrashing. 3 The guardians and relatives of Faustus wished to carry the matter into court, but Pompey forbade it, and after bringing the two boys together, questioned them both about the matter. 4 Then, as the story goes, Cassius said: “Come now, Faustus, have the courage to utter in this man’s presence that speech which angered me, and I will smash your face again.”
[Brut. 9.5] 5 Such was Cassius; but Brutus was exhorted and incited to the undertaking by many arguments from his comrades, and by many utterances and writings from his fellow citizens. 6 For instance, on the statue of his ancestor, the Brutus who overthrew the power of the kings, there was written: “O that we had thee now, Brutus!” and “O that Brutus were alive!” 7 Besides, the praetorial tribunal of Brutus himself was daily found covered with such writings as these: “Brutus, art thou asleep?” and “Thou art not really Brutus.” 8 These things were brought about by the flatterers of Caesar, who, among other invidious honours which they invented for him, actually put crowns upon his statues by night, hoping to induce the multitude to address him as king instead of dictator. 9 But the contrary came to pass, as I have written fully in my Life of Caesar.
[Brut. 10.1] 10 1 Moreover, when Cassius sought to induce his friends to conspire against Caesar, they all agreed to do so if Brutus took the lead, arguing that the undertaking demanded, not violence nor daring, but the reputation of a man like him, who should consecrate the victim, as it were, and ensure by the mere fact of his participation the justice of the sacrifice; 2 otherwise they would be more timid in doing the deed and more suspected after they had done it, since men would say that Brutus would not have declined the task if the purpose of it had been honourable. 3 After reflecting on this, Cassius made Brutus his first visit since the quarrel above mentioned, and when they were again on a friendly footing, asked him whether he had made up his mind to attend the meeting of the senate on the Calends of March; for it had come to his ears, he said, that Caesar’s friends would then move to have him made king. 4 When Brutus answered that he should not attend, “What, then,” said Cassius, “if we should be summoned?” “It would at once be my duty,” said Brutus, “not to hold my peace, but to defend my country and die in behalf of liberty.” 5 Then Cassius, elated, said: “But what Roman will consent to have thee die in such defence? 6 Dost thou not know thyself, Brutus? Or dost thou think that thy tribunal was covered with inscriptions by weavers and hucksters, and not by the foremost and most influential citizens? From their other praetors they demand gifts and spectacles and gladiatorial combats; but from thee, as a debt thou owest to thy lineage, the abolition of the tyranny; and they are ready and willing to suffer anything in thy behalf, if thou showest thyself to be what they expect and demand.” 7 After this, he embraced Brutus and kissed him, and thus reconciled they betook themselves to their friends.
[Brut. 11.1] 11 There was a certain Caius Ligarius among the friends of Pompey, who had been denounced as such, but pardoned by Caesar. 2 This man, cherishing no gratitude for his pardon, but rather offended by the power which had put his life in jeopardy, was an enemy of Caesar, and one of the most familiar friends of Brutus. 3 Once, when this man was sick, Brutus came to see him, and said: “O Ligarius, what a time this is to be sick!” Ligarius at once raised himself on his elbow, clasped Brutus by the hand, and said: “Nay, Brutus, if thou hast a purpose worthy of thyself, I am well.”
[Brut. 12.1] 12 1 After this, they secretly tested the sentiments of well known men in whom they had confidence, selecting not only from their intimates, but all whom they knew to be bold, brave, and contemptuous of death. 2 For this reason, too, they kept their plans a secret from Cicero, although he was foremost among them, not only for the confidence, but also for the good will which he inspired. They feared that the caution which time and old age had brought him, combined with his natural timidity, and further, his habit of calculating all the details of every enterprise so as to ensure the utmost safety, would blunt the edge of their ardour at a crisis which demanded speed. 3 Besides, Brutus also passed by, among his other friends, Statilius the Epicurean and Favonius the devoted follower of Cato. The reason was that some time before he had put them to a very similar test by the round-about method of a philosophical discussion, when Favonius had answered that civil war was worse than illegal monarchy; and Statilius had declared that it did not become a wise and sensible man to be thrown into turmoil and peril for the sake of feeble and foolish folk. 4 Labeo, however, who was present, argued against them both. At that time, on the ground that the question was rather difficult and hard to decide, Brutus held his peace, but afterwards imparted his purpose to Labeo, who readily concurred in it. 5 Then it was decided to bring over to their cause the other Brutus, surnamed Albinus; in other ways he was not an enterprising nor even a courageous man, but the large number of gladiators whom he was maintaining for the Roman spectacles made him powerful, and he had Caesar’s confidence. 6 When Cassius and Labeo discussed the matter with him, he would make no answer; but he had a private interview by himself with Brutus, and on learning that he was the leader of the enterprise, readily agreed to co-operate. 7 The most and best of the rest also were won over by the reputation in which Brutus stood. 8 And although they exchanged neither oaths nor sacred pledges, they all kept the undertaking so much to themselves and were so secret in carrying it out together that, although it was foretold by the gods in prophecies and oracles and sacrificial omens, no one would believe in it.
[Brut. 13.1] 13 1 Now Brutus, since he had made the foremost men of Rome for dignity, family, and virtue, dependent on himself, and since he understood all the danger involved, in public tried to keep his thoughts to himself and under control; 2 but at home, and at night, he was not the same man. Sometimes, in spite of himself, his anxious thoughts would rouse him out of sleep, and sometimes, when he was more than ever immersed in calculation and beset with perplexities, his wife, who slept by his side, perceived that he was full of unwonted trouble, and was revolving in his mind some difficult and complicated plan.
[Brut. 13.3] 3 Porcia, as has been said, was a daughter of Cato, and when Brutus, who was her cousin, took her to wife, she was not a virgin; she was, however, still very young, and had by her deceased husband a little son whose name was Bibulus. A small book containing memoirs of Brutus was written by him, and is still extant. 4 Porcia, being of an affectionate nature, fond of her husband, and full of sensible pride, did not try to question her husband about his secrets until she had put herself to the following test. 5 She took a little knife, such as barbers use to cut the finger nails, and after banishing all her attendants from her chamber, made a deep gash in her thigh, so that there was a copious flow of blood, and after a little while violent pains and chills and fever followed from the wound. 6 Seeing that Brutus was disturbed and greatly distressed, in the height of her anguish she spoke to him thus: 7 “Brutus, I am Cato’s daughter, and I was brought into thy house, not, like a mere concubine, to share thy bed and board merely, but to be a partner in thy joys, and a partner in thy troubles. 8 Thou, indeed, art faultless as a husband; but how can I show thee any grateful service if I am to share neither thy secret suffering nor the anxiety which craves a loyal confidant? 9 I know that woman’s nature is thought too weak to endure a secret; but good rearing and excellent companionship go far towards strengthening the character, 10 and it is my happy lot to be both the daughter of Cato and the wife of Brutus. Before this I put less confidence in these advantages, but now I know that I am superior even to pain.” 11 Thus having spoken, she showed him her wound and explained her test; whereupon Brutus, amazed, and lifting his hands to heaven, prayed that he might succeed in his undertaking and thus show himself a worthy husband of Porcia. Then he sought to restore his wife.
[Brut. 14.1] 14 1 A meeting of the senate having been called, to which it was expected that Caesar would come, they determined to make their attempt there; for they could then gather together in numbers without exciting suspicion, and would have all the best and foremost men in one place, who, once the great deed was done, would straightway espouse the cause of liberty. 2 It was thought, too, that the place of meeting was providentially in their favour; for it was one of the porticoes around the theatre, containing a session-room in which stood a statue of Pompey. This statue the city had erected in his honour when he adorned that place with the porticoes and the theatre. 3 Hither, then, the senate was summoned about the middle of March (the Romans call the day the Ides of March), so that some heavenly power seemed to be conducting Caesar to Pompey’s vengeance.
[Brut. 14.4] 4 When the day came, Brutus girt on a dagger, to the knowledge of his wife alone, and went forth, while the rest assembled at the house of Cassius and conducted his son, who was about to assume what was called the “toga virilis,” down to the forum. 5 Thence they all hastened to the portico of Pompey and waited there, expecting that Caesar would straightway come to the meeting of the senate. 6 There any one who knew what was about to happen would have been above all things astonished at the indifference and composure of the men on the brink of this terrible crisis. Many of them were praetors and therefore obliged to perform the duties of their office, wherein they not only listened calmly to those who had petitions to offer or quarrels to compose, as if they had ample time, but also took pains to give their verdicts in every case with accuracy and judgment. 7 And when a certain man who was unwilling to submit to the verdict of Brutus appealed to Caesar with loud cries and attestations, Brutus turned his gaze upon the bystanders and said: “Caesar does not prevent me from acting according to the laws, nor will he prevent me.”
[Brut. 15.1] 15 1 And yet many things occurred to surprise and disturb them. First and foremost, though the day was advancing, Caesar delayed his coming, being detained at home by his wife because his omens were unpropitious, and prevented from going forth by the soothsayers. 2 In the second place, some one came up to Casca, one of the conspirators, took him by the hand, and said: “You hid the secret from us, Casca, but Brutus has told me everything.” 3 And when Casca was dumb with amazement, the man burst out laughing and said: “How did you get so rich on a sudden, my good fellow, as to stand for the aedileship?” So near did Casca come, in the mistake caused by the man’s ambiguity, to disclosing the secret. 4 Moreover, Brutus and Cassius were greeted more warmly than usual by Popilius Laenas, a senator, who then whispered quietly to them: “I join you in praying for the accomplishment of what you have in mind, and exhort you not to delay, for the matter is on men’s tongues.” Having said this, he went away, leaving them full of suspicion that their undertaking had become known.
[Brut. 15.5] 5 At this juncture, too, a messenger from his house came running to Brutus with the tidings that his wife was dead. 6 For Porcia, being distressed about what was impending and unable to bear the weight of her anxiety, could with difficulty keep to herself at home, and at every noise or cry, like women in Bacchic frenzy, she would rush forth and ask every messenger who came in from the forum how Brutus was faring, and kept sending out others continually. 7 Finally, as the time grew long, her bodily powers could no longer endure the strain, but were relaxed and enfeebled as her perplexities threatened to drive her mad. She had not time to go to her chamber, but just as she was, sitting in the midst of her servants, she was overwhelmed with faintness and helpless stupor, her colour fled, and her speech was utterly stayed. 8 Her maids shrieked at the sight, and since the neighbours came running in a crowd to the door, a report went speedily forth and a story was spread abroad that she was dead. 9 However, she revived in a short time, came to herself, and was cared for by her women; but Brutus, though he was confounded, naturally, by the startling tale, nevertheless did not abandon his public duty, nor was he driven by his affliction to dwell on his private concerns.
[Brut. 16.1] 16 1 And now word was brought that Caesar was coming, borne on a litter. For in consequence of the dejection caused by his omens, he had determined not to sanction any important business at that time, but to postpone it, under pretext of indisposition. 2 As he descended from his litter, Popilius Laenas, who, a little while before, had wished Brutus success in his enterprise, hurried up to him and conversed with him for some time, and Caesar stood and listened to him. 3 The conspirators (for so they shall be called) could not hear what he said, but judging from their suspicions that what he told Caesar was a revelation of their plot, they were disconcerted in their plans, and mutually agreed by looks which passed between them that they must not await arrest, but at once dispatch themselves. 4 Cassius and some others, indeed, had already grasped the handles of the daggers beneath their robes and were about to draw them, when Brutus observed from the mien of Laenas that he was asking eagerly for something and not denouncing anyone. Brutus said nothing, because many were about him who were not in the plot, but by the cheerfulness of his countenance gave courage to Cassius and his friends. 5 And after a little while Laenas kissed Caesar’s hand and withdrew. He had made it clear that it was in his own behalf and on something which closely concerned himself that he had consulted Caesar.
[Brut. 17.1] 17 1 When the senate had preceded Caesar into the session-room, the rest of the conspirators stationed themselves about Caesar’s chair, as if they intended to have some conference with him, 2 and Cassius is said to have turned his face towards the statue of Pompey and to have invoked it, as if it had understanding; but Trebonius drew Antony into conversation at the door and kept him outside. 3 As Caesar entered, the senate rose in his honour, but as soon as he was seated the conspirators surrounded him in a body, putting forward Tullius Cimber of their number with a plea in behalf of his brother, who was in exile. The others all joined in his plea, and clasping Caesar’s hands, kissed his breast and his head. 4 At first, Caesar merely rejected their pleas, and then, when they would not desist, tried to free himself from them by force. At this, Tullius tore Caesar’s robe from his shoulders with both hands, and Casca, who stood behind him, drew his dagger and gave him the first stab, not a deep one, near the shoulder. 5 Caesar caught the handle of the dagger and cried out loudly in Latin: “Impious Casca, what doest thou?” Then Casca, addressing his brother in Greek, bade him come to his aid. 6 And now Caesar had received many blows and was looking about and seeking to force his way through his assailants, when he saw Brutus setting upon him with drawn dagger. At this, he dropped the hand of Casca which he had seized, covered his head with his robe, and resigned himself to the dagger-strokes. 7 The conspirators, crowding eagerly about the body, and plying their many daggers, wounded one another, so that Brutus also got a wound in the hand as he sought to take part in the murder, and all were covered with blood.
[Brut. 18.1] 18 1 Caesar thus slain, Brutus went out into the middle of the session-room and tried to speak, and would have detained the senators there with encouraging words; but they fled in terror and confusion, and there was a tumultuous crowding at the door, although no one pressed upon them in pursuit. 2 It had been firmly decided not to kill any one else, but to summon all to the enjoyment of liberty. 3 All the rest of the conspirators, indeed, when they were discussing their enterprise, had been minded to kill Antony as well as Caesar, since he was a lawless man and in favour of a monarchy, and had acquired strength by familiar association with the soldiery; and particularly because to his natural arrogance and ambition he had added the dignity of the consulship, and was at that time a colleague of Caesar. 4 But Brutus opposed the plan, insisting in the first place on a just course, and besides, holding out a hope of a change of heart in Antony. 5 For he would not give up the belief that Antony, who was a man of good parts, ambitious, and a lover of fame, if once Caesar were out of the way, would assist his country in attaining her liberty, when their example had induced him to follow emulously the nobler course. 6 Thus Antony’s life was saved by Brutus; but in the fear which then reigned, he put on a plebeian dress and took to flight.
[Brut. 18.7] 7 And now Brutus and his associates went up to the Capitol, their hands smeared with blood, and displaying their naked daggers they exhorted the citizens to assert their liberty. 8 At first, then, there were cries of terror, and the tumult was increased by wild hurryings to and fro which succeeded the disaster; 9 but since there were no further murders and no plundering of property, the senators and many of the common people took heart and went up to the men on the Capitol. 10 When the multitude was assembled there, Brutus made a speech calculated to win the people and befitting the occasion. 11 The audience applauding his words and crying down to him to come down from the Capitol, the conspirators took heart and went down into the forum. The rest of them followed along in one another’s company, but Brutus was surrounded by many eminent citizens, escorted with great honour down from the citadel, and placed on the rostra. 12 At sight of him the multitude, although it was a mixed rabble and prepared to raise a disturbance, was struck with awe, and awaited the issue in decorous silence. 13 Also when he came forward to speak, all paid quiet attention to his words; but that all were not pleased with what had been done was made manifest when Cinna began to speak and to denounce Caesar. The multitude broke into a rage and reviled Cinna so bitterly that the conspirators withdrew again to the Capitol. 14 There Brutus, who feared that they would be besieged, sent away the most eminent of those who had come up with them, not deeming it right that they should incur the danger too, since they had no share in the guilt.
[Brut. 19.1] 19 1 However, on the following day the senate met in the temple of Tellus, and Antony, Plancus, and Cicero spoke in favour of amnesty and concord. It was then voted not only that the conspirators should have immunity, but also that the consuls should lay before the people a measure to pay them honours. After passing these votes, the senate broke up. 2 Then, when Antony had sent his son to the Capitol as a hostage, Brutus and his associates came down, and there were salutations and greetings for all without discrimination. 3 Cassius was taken home and entertained by Antony, Brutus by Lepidus, and the rest by their several comrades or friends. 4 Early next morning the senate assembled again. In the first place, they gave a vote of thanks to Antony for having stopped an incipient civil war; next, they passed a vote of commendation for the followers of Brutus who were present; and finally, they distributed the provinces. 5 It was voted that Brutus should have Crete, Cassius Africa, Trebonius Asia, Cimber Bithynia, and the other Brutus Cisalpine Gaul.
[Brut. 20.1] 20 1 After this, the subjects of Caesar’s will and of his burial came up for discussion. Antony demanded that the will should be read publicly, and that the body should be carried forth to burial, not secretly, nor without honours, lest this also should exasperate the people. Cassius, indeed, vehemently opposed these measures, but Brutus yielded and agreed to them, thus making a second mistake, as was thought. 2 For by sparing Antony’s life as he had done he incurred the charge of raising up against the conspirators a bitter and formidable foe; and now, in allowing Caesar’s funeral rites to be conducted as Antony demanded, he committed a fatal error. 3 For, in the first place, when it was found that the will of Caesar gave to every Roman seventy-five drachmas, and left to the people his gardens beyond the Tiber, where now stands a temple of Fortune, an astonishing kindliness and yearning for Caesar seized the citizens; 4 and in the second place, after Caesar’s body had been brought to the forum, Antony pronounced the customary eulogy, and when he saw that the multitude were moved by his words, changed his tone to one of compassion, and taking the robe of Caesar, all bloody as it was, unfolded it to view, pointing out the many places in which it had been pierced and Caesar wounded. 5 All further orderly procedure was at an end, of course; some cried out to kill the murderers, and others, as formerly in the case of Clodius the demagogue, dragged from the shops the benches and tables, piled them upon one another, and thus erected a huge pyre; 6 on this they placed Caesar’s body, and in the midst of many sanctuaries, asylums, and holy places, burned it. 7 Moreover, when the fire blazed up, people rushed up from all sides, snatched up half-burnt brands, and ran round to the houses of Caesar’s slayers to set them on fire.
[Brut. 20.8] These men, indeed, having previously barricaded themselves well, repelled the danger; 8 but there was a certain Cinna, a poet, who had no share in the crime, but was actually a friend of Caesar’s. 9 This man dreamed that he was invited to supper by Caesar and declined to go, but that Caesar besought and constrained him, and finally took him by the hand and led him into a yawning and darksome place, whither he followed unwilling and bewildered. 10 After having this vision, he fell into a fever which lasted all night; but in the morning, nevertheless, when the funeral rites were held over Caesar’s body, he was ashamed not to be present, and went out into the crowd when it was already becoming savage. 11 He was seen, however, and being thought to be, not the Cinna that he really was, but the one who had recently reviled Caesar before the assembled people, he was torn in pieces.
[Brut. 21.1] 21 1 This incident more than anything else, except, perhaps, Antony’s change of heart, frightened Brutus and his adherents, and they withdrew from the city. At first they spent some time in Antium, with the idea of returning to Rome when the people’s wrath had passed its climax and subsided. 2 This they thought would readily come to pass, since multitudes are fickle and impetuous, and, besides, they had the senate in their favour, which let those who tore Cinna to pieces go unpunished, and yet tried to seek out and arrest those who had assaulted the houses of the conspirators. 3 Already, too, the people were disturbed because Antony was assuming almost absolute power, and they longed for Brutus; it was also expected that he would be present in person and conduct the spectacles which it was his duty as praetor to furnish. 4 But Brutus learned that many of the veteran soldiers of Caesar who had received land and cities from their commander, were now plotting against his life and in small bands streaming into the city. He therefore had not the courage to come. The people, however, had their spectacles, in spite of his absence, and these were very lavishly and magnificently appointed. 5 For Brutus had purchased a great number of wild beasts, and now gave orders that not one should be sold or left behind, but that all should be used; and he himself went down to Naples and conferred with a very large number of actors; 6 and regarding Canutius, an actor who enjoyed great fame, he wrote to his friends that they should persuade him to go to Rome; for no Greek could properly be compelled to go. He wrote also to Cicero, begging him by all means to attend the spectacles.
[Brut. 22.1] 22 1 Matters were at such a pass when a fresh turn was given to them by the arrival of the young Caesar. He was a son of Caesar’s niece, but had been formally adopted by him, and left his heir. 2 He was pursuing his studies at Apollonia when Caesar was killed, and had been awaiting him there after his determination to march at once against the Parthians. 3 As soon as he learned of Caesar’s fate, he came to Rome, and as a first step towards winning the favour of the people, assumed the name of Caesar and distributed to the citizens the money which had been left them by his will. Thus he deposed Antony from popular favour, and by a lavish use of money assembled and got together many of Caesar’s veteran soldiers. 4 When Cicero was led by his hatred of Antony to take the side of Octavius Caesar, Brutus rebuked him severely, writing that Cicero did not object to a despot as such, but only feared a despot who hated him, and that when he declared in his letters and speeches that Octavius was a worthy man, his policy meant the choice of a kindly slavery. “Our ancestors, however,” said he, “could not endure even gentle despots.” 5 As for himself, he had not as yet definitely decided, he said, either for war or for peace, but on one thing only was he determined, and that was not to be a slave; 6 and he was amazed, he said, that Cicero dreaded a civil war with all its perils, but was not afraid of a shameful and inglorious peace, and that, as a reward for driving Antony from the tyranny, he asked the privilege of making Octavius tyrant.
[Brut. 23.1] 23 1 Thus, then, did Brutus express himself in his first letters to Cicero. But already one faction was forming about Octavius, and another about Antony, and the soldiers, as though for sale at auction, flocked to the highest bidder. Altogether despairing, therefore, of the state, Brutus determined to abandon Italy, and came by land through Lucania to Elea by the sea. 2 As Porcia was about to return thence to Rome, she tried to conceal her distress, but a certain painting betrayed her, in spite of her noble spirit hitherto. 3 Its subject was Greek, — Andromache bidding farewell to Hector; she was taking from his arms their little son, while her eyes were fixed upon her husband. 4 When Porcia saw this, the image of her own sorrow presented by it caused her to burst into tears, and she would visit it many times a day and weep before it. 5 And when Acilius, one of the friends of Brutus, recited the verses containing Andromache’s words to Hector,
[Brut. 23.1b] “But, Hector, thou to me art father and honoured mother
And brother; my tender husband, too, art thou,”
[Brut. 23.6] Brutus smiled and said: 6 “But I, certainly, have no mind to address Porcia in the words of Hector,
[Brut. 23.6b] ‘Ply loom and distaff and give orders to thy maids,’
[Brut. 23.6c] for though her body is not strong enough to perform such heroic tasks as men do, still, in spirit she is valiant in defence of her country, just as we are.” This story is told by Porcia’s son, Bibulus.
[Brut. 24.1] 24 1 From thence Brutus put to sea and sailed for Athens. Here the people welcomed him eagerly and extolled him in public decrees. He dwelt with a certain guest-friend, attended the lectures of Theomnestus the Academic and Cratippus the Peripatetic, discussed philosophy with them, and was thought to be wholly given up to literary pursuits. 2 But without any one’s suspecting it, he was getting ready for war. For he sent Herostratus into Macedonia, desiring to win over the commanders of the armies there, and he united in his service all the young Romans who were studying at Athens. 3 One of these was Cicero’s son, on whom he bestows high praise, declaring that whether awake or asleep and dreaming, he was amazed to find him of such a noble spirit and such a hater of tyranny.
[Brut. 24.4] 4 Afterwards he began to act openly, and having learned that Roman transports full of treasure were approaching from Asia, and that an accomplished and well-known man was in command of them, he went to meet him at Carystus. 5 After conferring with him and persuading him to hand over the transports, he prepared an entertainment of unusual splendour; for it was Brutus’s birthday. 6 Accordingly, when they were come to their wine, and were pledging “Victory to Brutus,” and “Liberty to the Romans,” wishing to animate them still more, Brutus called for a larger beaker, and then, when he had received it, without any ostensible reason, recited this verse: —
[Brut. 24.4b] “But I am slain by baleful Fate and Leto’s son.”
[Brut. 24.7] 7 And still further, in addition to this, historians tell us that when he was going out to fight his last battle at Philippi, the watchword which he gave out to his soldiers was “Apollo.” Therefore they concluded that when he recited that verse, it also was a presage of his calamity.
[Brut. 25.1] 25 1 After this, Antistius gave him five hundred thousand drachmas from the moneys which he was personally taking to Italy, and all Pompey’s soldiers who were still wandering about Thessaly gladly flocked to his standard. He also took from Cinna five hundred horsemen that he was conducting to Dolabella in Asia. 2 Then sailing to Demetrias, whence great quantities of arms, which the elder Caesar had ordered to be made for his Parthian war, were being conducted to Antony, he took possession of them. 3 After Hortensius the praetor had delivered up Macedonia to him, and while all the surrounding kings and potentates were uniting on his side, word was brought that Caius, the brother of Antony, had crossed over from Italy and was marching directly to join the forces under Vatinius in Epidamnus and Apollonia. 4 Wishing, therefore, to anticipate his arrival and capture these forces, Brutus suddenly set out with the forces under him and marched through regions difficult of passage, in snow storms, and far in advance of his provision-train. Accordingly, when he had nearly reached Epidamnus, fatigue and cold gave him the distemper called “boulimia.” 5 This attacks more especially men and beasts toiling through snow; whether it is that the vital heat, being wholly shut up within the body by the cold that surrounds and thickens it, consumes its nourishment completely, or that a keen and subtle vapour arising from the melting snow pierces the body and destroy its heat as it issues forth. 6 For the sweat of the body seems to be produced by its heat, and this is extinguished by the cold which meets it at the surface. But I have discussed this matter more at length elsewhere.
[Brut. 26.1] 26 1 Now, since Brutus was faint, and since not one of his soldiers had anything in the shape of food, his attendants were obliged to have recourse to their enemies, and going down to the gate of the city they asked the sentinels for bread. 2 These, when they heard of the mishap of Brutus, came to him themselves, bringing food and drink. Wherefore Brutus, when the city had surrendered to him, treated not only these men humanely, but also all the other citizens for their sake.
[Brut. 26.3] 3 When Caius Antonius drew near Apollonia, he summoned the soldiers who were in the vicinity. These, however, went to Brutus, and Caius perceived also that the people of Apollonia favoured the cause of Brutus. He therefore left the city behind and set out for Buthrotum. 4 To begin with, he lost three cohorts on the march, which were cut to pieces by Brutus; next, when he tried to force the positions near Byllis which his opponents had earlier occupied, and joined battle, he was defeated by Cicero. For Brutus employed this young man as general, and won many successes through him. 5 When, however, he came upon Caius in marshy regions and with his forces widely scattered, Brutus would not permit his men to attack them, but rode about giving orders to spare them, in the belief that they would soon be his own. And this actually came to pass. For they surrendered themselves and their general, so that now Brutus had a large force about him. 6 For a long time, then, he held Caius in honour, and would not deprive him of the insignia of his command, although, as we are told, Cicero and many others besides wrote to him from Rome and urged him to put the man to death. 7 However, when Caius began to hold secret communications with the officers of Brutus, and incited a revolt, Brutus put him on board a ship and kept him under guard. 8 And when the soldiers who had been corrupted by Caius withdrew to Apollonia and invited Brutus to come to them there, he told them this was not a Roman custom, but that they must come themselves to their commander and seek to avert his wrath at their transgressions. And when they came and asked his pardon, he granted it.
[Brut. 27.1] 27 1 But as he was about to cross into Asia, tidings came to him of the change that had taken place at Rome. For Octavius Caesar had been strengthened by the senate against Antony, and after ejecting his rival from Italy, was himself now an object of fear, soliciting the consulship illegally, and maintaining large armies, of which the city had no need. 2 But when he saw that even the senate was displeased at this and turned their eyes abroad to Brutus, confirming him in command of his provinces by their vote, he became afraid. 3 So he sent and invited Antony to become his friend, and then, stationing his forces about the city, secured the consulship, although he was still a mere youth, being in his twentieth year, as he himself has stated in his Commentaries. 4 Straightway, then, he brought indictments for murder against Brutus and his associates, accusing them of having slain the first magistrate of the city without a trial. He appointed Lucius Cornificius to be prosecutor of Brutus, and Marcus Agrippa of Cassius. Accordingly, their cases went by default, the jurors voting under compulsion. 5 And it is said that when the herald on the rostra pronounced the customary summons for Brutus to appear, the multitude groaned audibly, while the better classes bowed their heads in silence; and that Publius Silicius was seen to burst into tears, and was for this reason afterwards put on the list of the proscribed. 6 After this, the three men, Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus, were reconciled with one another, distributed the provinces among themselves, and sentenced to death by proscription two hundred men. Among those put to death was Cicero.
[Brut. 28.1] 28 1 Accordingly, when tidings of these events were brought to Macedonia, Brutus felt compelled to write to Hortensius commanding him to kill Caius Antonius, on the plea that he was thus avenging Cicero and Brutus Albinus, one of whom was his friend, and the other his kinsman. For this reason, at a later time, when Antony had captured Hortensius at the battle of Philippi, he slew him on the tomb of his brother. 2 Brutus, however, says that he felt more shame at the cause of Cicero’s death than grief at the event itself, and threw the blame upon his friends at Rome. He said their servitude was due to themselves rather than to their tyrants, and that they consented to be eyewitnesses of things of which they ought not even to hear.
[Brut. 28.3] 3 He now crossed into Asia with his army, which was already a splendid one, and equipped a fleet in Bithynia and at Cyzicus, while he himself, proceeding by land, settled the affairs of the cities and gave audiences to the potentates of the country. He also sent to Cassius in Syria, recalling him from his expedition to Egypt; 4 for it was not to win empire for themselves, he said, but to give liberty to their country, that they were wandering about and collecting forces with which to overthrow the tyrants; 5 they must therefore keep their purpose carefully in mind and not get far removed from Italy, but rather hasten thither and give aid to their countrymen.
[Brut. 28.6] 6 Cassius obeyed, and as he was returning, Brutus went to meet him. Their interview at Smyrna was the first that they had had since they parted at Piraeus and set out, the one for Syria, the other for Macedonia. 7 They therefore derived great pleasure and courage from the forces which each now had. For they had set out from Italy like the most wretched of exiles, without money, without arms, having not a ship equipped with oars, not a single soldier, not a city; but before very long they had met, having a fleet, an army of foot and horse, and money, which made them worthy antagonists in the struggle for supremacy at Rome.
[Brut. 29.1] 29 1 Now, Cassius was desirous that Brutus and he should have equal honour, but Brutus forestalled this by coming to him generally, since he was an older man and unable to endure the same amount of hardship. 2 Cassius had the reputation of being an able soldier, but harsh in his anger, and with an authority largely based on fear, although with his familiars he was rather prone to laughter and fond of banter. 3 But the virtues of Brutus, as we are told, made him beloved by the multitude, adored by his friends, admired by the nobility, and not hated even by his enemies. For he was remarkably gentle and large-minded, free from all anger, pleasurable indulgence, and greed, and kept his purpose erect and unbending in defence of what was honourable and just. 4 And the strongest reason for the favour and fame which he achieved was the confidence felt in his principles. For no one had expected that Pompey the Great, if he overthrew Caesar, would insist on dismissing his forces in obedience to the laws, but all thought that he would continue to retain his power, appeasing the people by using the name of consulship or dictatorship or some other less obnoxious form of government. 5 And now it was thought that Cassius, vehement and passionate man that he was, and often swept from the path of justice by his passion for gain, was incurring the perils of wars and wanderings principally to establish some great power for himself, and not liberty for his countrymen. 6 For the men of a still earlier time than Pompey and Cassius, men like Cinna and Marius and Carbo, made their country the booty or prize round which they fought, and they all but confessed that they waged war to establish a tyranny. 7 But Brutus, we are told, was not accused even by his enemies of such a departure from his principles; nay, Antony at least, in the hearing of many, declared that in his opinion Brutus was the only conspirator against Caesar who was impelled by the splendour and by what seemed to him the nobility of the enterprise, whereas the rest banded together against the man because they envied and hated him. 8 Wherefore Brutus relied not so much on his armies as on his virtuous cause, as is clear from his letters. 9 When he was already nearing the perilous crisis, he wrote to Atticus that his cause had the fairest outlook that fortune could bestow, for he would either conquer and give liberty to the Roman people, or die and be freed from slavery; and that amid the general security and safety of their lot one thing only was uncertain, namely, whether they were to live as freemen or die. 10 He says also that Mark Antony was paying a fitting penalty for his folly, since, when it was in his power to be numbered with such men as Brutus and Cassius and Cato, he had given himself to Octavius as a mere appendage; 11 and that if he should not now be defeated with him, in a little while he would be fighting him. Herein, then, he seems to have been an excellent prophet.
[Brut. 30.1] 30 1 At the time when they were in Smyrna, Brutus asked Cassius to give him a part of the large treasure which he had collected, since he had expended what he had himself in building a fleet large enough to give them control of all the Mediterranean. 2 The friends of Cassius, then, tried to dissuade him from giving anything to Brutus, arguing that it was not right that what he was keeping by his frugality and getting together at the price of men’s hatred should be taken by Brutus for the winning of popular favour and the gratification of his soldiers. However, Cassius gave him a third of the whole amount. 3 Then they parted again for their respective undertakings. Cassius took Rhodes, but managed matters there with undue rigour, and that too though he had replied to those who hailed him, when he entered the city, as their lord and king, “Neither lord nor king, but chastiser and slayer of your lord and king.” Brutus, on his part, demanded money and soldiers from the Lycians. 4 But Naucrates, the popular leader, persuaded the cities to revolt, and the inhabitants occupied certain commanding hills in order to prevent the passage of Brutus. Brutus, therefore, in the first place, sent horsemen against them while they were at breakfast, and these slew six hundred of them; 5 next, he took their strongholds and villages, but dismissed all his captives without ransom, in order that he might win the people over by kindness. 6 They were obstinate, however, feeding their anger upon their injuries, and despising his clemency and kindness, until he drove the most warlike of them into Xanthus and laid siege to the city. 7 They tried to escape by swimming under the surface of the river which flowed past the city. But they were caught in nets which were let down deep across the channel; the tops of these had bells attached to them which indicated at once when any one was entangled. 8 Then the Xanthians made a sally by night and set fire to some of the siege-engines, but they were perceived by the Romans and driven back to their walls; and when a brisk wind fanned the flames back towards the battlements and some of the adjoining houses took fire, Brutus, fearing for the safety of the city, ordered his men to assist in putting out the fire.
[Brut. 31.1] 31 1 But the Lycians were suddenly possessed by a dreadful and indescribable impulse to madness, which can be likened best to a passion for death. 2 At any rate, all ages of them, freemen and slaves with their wives and children, shot missiles from the walls at the enemy who were helping them to combat the flames, and with their own hands brought up reeds and wood and all manner of combustibles, and so spread the fire over the city, feeding it with all sorts of material and increasing its strength and fury in every way. 3 When the flames had darted forth and encircled the city on all sides, and blazed out mightily, Brutus, distressed at what was going on, rode round outside the city in his eagerness to help, and with outstretched hands begged the Xanthians to spare and save their city. No one heeded him, however, but all sought in every way to destroy themselves, 4 men and women alike; nay, even the little children with shouts and shrieks either leaped into the fire, or threw themselves headlong from the walls, or cast themselves beneath their fathers’ swords, baring their throats and begging to be smitten. 5 After the city had been thus destroyed, a woman was seen dangling in a noose; she had a dead child fastened to her neck, and with a blazing torch was trying to set fire to her dwelling. 6 So tragic was the spectacle that Brutus could not bear to see it, and burst into tears on hearing of it; he also proclaimed a prize for any soldier who should succeed in saving the life of a Lycian. But there were only a hundred and fifty, we are told, who did not escape such preservation. 7 So then the Xanthians, after long lapse of time, as though fulfilling a period set by fate for their destruction, had the boldness to renew the calamity of their ancestors; for these too, in the time of the Persian wars, had likewise burned down their city and destroyed themselves.
[Brut. 32.1] 32 1 When Brutus saw that the city of Patara was holding out strongly against him, he hesitated to attack it, and was in perplexity, fearing that it would be afflicted with the same madness; but as he held some of its women prisoners of war, he released them without ransom. 2 They were the wives and daughters of prominent men, and by rehearsing the praises of Brutus, calling him a man of the greatest moderation and justice, they persuaded them to yield and surrender their city. 3 Consequently all the rest of the Lycians came and entrusted themselves to him, and found that his goodness and kindness exceeded their hopes. 4 For whereas Cassius, about the same time, compelled the Rhodians individually to pay in to him all the gold and silver they possessed (thus accumulating about eight hundred talents), and fined the city as a whole five hundred talents more, Brutus exacted only a hundred and fifty talents from the Lycians, and, without doing them any other injury, set out with his army for Ionia.
[Brut. 33.1] 33 1 Many were his memorable achievements in meting out rewards or punishments to those who deserved them, but I shall here describe only that in which both he himself and the chief men of Rome took especial pleasure. 2 When Pompey the Great, after he had been stripped of his great power by Caesar, put in as a fugitive at Pelusium in Egypt, the guardians of the boy king were holding a council with their friends, at which opinions differed. Some thought they should receive Pompey, others that they should repulse him from Egypt. 3 But a certain Theodotus, of Chios, who was attached to the king as a paid teacher of rhetoric, and was at this time deemed worthy of a place in the council for lack of better men, declared that both were wrong, both those who would admit and those who would reject Pompey; 4 for there was but one advantageous course in view of the circumstances, and that was to receive him and put him to death. 5 And he added, as he closed his speech, “A dead man does not bite.” The council adopted his opinion, and Pompey the Great lay dead, an example of the unexpected and incredible in human life, and it was the work of Theodotus and his clever rhetoric, as the sophist himself was wont to say with boasting. 6 A little while afterwards, however, when Caesar came, the other wretches paid the penalty for their crime and perished wretchedly; as for Theodotus, after borrowing from Fortune enough time for a wandering, destitute, and inglorious life, he did not escape the notice of Brutus, who at this time traversed Asia, but was brought to him and punished, and won more fame for his death than for his life.
[Brut. 34.1] 34 1 Brutus now summoned Cassius to Sardis, and as he drew near, went to meet him with his friends; and the whole army, in full array, saluted them both as Imperators. 2 But, as is wont to be the case in great undertakings where there are many friends and commanders, mutual charges and accusations had passed between them, and therefore, immediately after their march and before they did anything else, they met in a room by themselves. The doors were locked, and, with no one by, they indulged in fault-finding first, then in rebukes and denunciations. 3 After this, they were swept along into passionate speeches and tears, and their friends, amazed at the harshness and intensity of their anger, feared so untoward a result; they were, however, forbidden to approach. 4 But Marcus Favonius, who had become a devotee of Cato, and was more impetuous and frenzied than reasonable in his pursuit of philosophy, tried to go in to them, and was prevented by their servants. 5 It was no easy matter, however, to stop Favonius when he sprang to do anything, for he was always vehement and rash. The fact that he was a Roman senator was of no importance in his eyes, and by the “cynical” boldness of his speech he often took away its offensiveness, and therefore men put up with his impertinence as a joke. 6 And so at this time he forced his way through the bystanders and entered the room, reciting in an affected voice the verses wherein Homer represents Nestor as saying: —
[Brut. 34.1b] “But do ye harken to me, for ye both are younger than I am,”
[Brut. 34.7] and so forth. 7 At this Cassius burst out laughing; but Brutus drove Favonius out of the room, calling him a mere dog, and a counterfeit Cynic. However, at the time, this incident put an end to their quarrel, and they separated at once. 8 Furthermore, Cassius gave a supper, to which Brutus invited his friends. And as the guests were already taking their places at the feast, Favonius came, fresh from his bath. Brutus protested that he had come without an invitation, and ordered the servants to conduct him to the uppermost couch; but Favonius forced his way past them and reclined upon the central one. And over the wine mirth and jest abounded, seasoned with wit and philosophy.
[Brut. 35.1] 35 1 But on the following day Lucius Pella, a Roman who had been praetor and had enjoyed the confidence of Brutus, being denounced by the Sardians as an embezzler of the public moneys, was condemned by Brutus and disgraced; 2 and the matter vexed Cassius beyond measure. For a few days before, when two friends of his had been convicted of the same misdeeds, he had privately admonished them but publicly acquitted them, and continued to employ them. 3 He therefore found fault with Brutus on the ground that he was too observant of law and justice at a time which demanded a policy of kindness. 4 But Brutus bade him remember the Ides of March, on which they had slain Caesar, not because he was himself plundering everybody, but because he enabled others to do this; 5 since, if there is any good excuse for neglecting justice, it had been better for us to endure the friends of Caesar than to suffer our own to do wrong. 6 “For in the one case,” said he, “we should have had the reputation of cowardice merely; but now, in addition to our toils and perils, we are deemed unjust.” Such were the principles of Brutus.
[Brut. 36.1] 36 1 When they were about to cross over from Asia, Brutus is said to have had a great sign. 2 He was naturally wakeful, and by practice and self-restraint had reduced his hours of sleep to few, never lying down by day, and by night only when he could transact no business nor converse with any one, since all had gone to rest. 3 At this time, however, when the war was begun and he had in his hands the conduct of a life and death struggle, and was anxiously forecasting the future, he would first doze a little in the evening after eating, and then would spend the rest of the night on urgent business. 4 But whenever he had fully met the demands of such business in shorter time, he would read a book until third watch, at which hour the centurions and tribunes usually came to him. 5 Once, accordingly, when he was about to take his army across from Asia, it was very late at night, his tent was dimly lighted, and all the camp was wrapped in silence. 6 Then, as he was meditating and reflecting, he thought he heard some one coming into the tent. He turned his eyes towards the entrance and beheld a strange and dreadful apparition, a monstrous and fearful shape standing silently by his side. 7 Plucking up courage to question it, “Who art thou,” said he, “of gods or men, and what is thine errand with me?” Then the phantom answered “I am thy evil genius, Brutus, and thou shalt see me at Philippi.” And Brutus, undisturbed, said: “I shall see thee.”
[Brut. 37.1] 37 1 When the shape had disappeared, Brutus called his servants; but they declared that they had neither heard any words nor seen any apparition, and so he watched the night out. As soon as it was day, however, he sought out Cassius and told him of the apparition. 2 Cassius, who belonged to the school of Epicurus, and was in the habit of taking issue on such topics with Brutus, said: “This is our doctrine, Brutus, that we do not really feel or see everything, but perception by the senses is a pliant and deceitful thing, and besides, the intelligence is very keen to change and transform the thing perceived into any and every shape from one which has no real existence. 3 An impression on the senses is like wax, and the soul of man, in which the plastic material and the plastic power alike exist, can very easily shape and embellish it at pleasure. 4 This is clear from the transformations which occur in dreams, where slight initial material is transformed by the imagination into all sorts of emotions and shapes. 5 The imagination is by nature in perpetual motion, and this motion which it has is fancy, or thought. In thy case, too, the body is worn with hardships and this condition naturally excites and perverts the intelligence. 6 As for genii, it is incredible either that they exist, or, if they do exist, that they have the appearance or the speech of men, or a power that extends to us. For my part, I could wish it were so, in order that not only our men-at arms, and horses, and ships, which are so numerous, but also the assistance of the gods might give us courage, conducting as we do the fairest and holiest enterprises.” With such discourse did Cassius seek to calm Brutus.
[Brut. 37.7] 7 Furthermore, as the soldiers were embarking, two eagles perched upon the foremost standards and were borne along with them, and they kept the army company, being fed by the soldiers, as far as Philippi. There, only one day before the battle, they flew away.
[Brut. 38.1] 38 1 Most of the peoples encountered on the march Brutus had already brought into subjection; and now, whatever city or potentate had been omitted, they won them all over, and advanced as far as the Thasian sea. 2 There Norbanus and his army were encamped, at what were called The Narrows, and near Symbolum; but they surrounded him and compelled him to withdraw and abandon his positions. 3 They almost captured his forces, too, since Octavius was delayed by sickness; and they would have done so had not Antony come to his aid with such astonishing swiftness that Brutus could not believe it. 4 Octavius came, however, ten days later, and encamped over against Brutus, while Antony faced Cassius.
[Brut. 38.5] The plains between the armies the Romans call Campi Philippi, and Roman forces of such size had never before encountered one another. 5 In numbers the army of Brutus was much inferior to that of Octavius, but in the splendid decoration of its arms it presented a wonderful sight. 6 For most of their armour was covered with gold and silver, although in other matters he accustomed his officers to adopt a temperate and restricted regimen. 7 But he thought that the wealth which they held in their hands and wore upon their persons gave additional spirit to the more ambitious, and made the covetous even more warlike, since they clung to their armour as to so much treasure.
[Brut. 39.1] 39 1 Octavius and Antony now made a lustration of their armies in their camps, and then distributed a little meal and five drachmas to every man for a sacrifice; 2 but Brutus and Cassius, despising their enemies’ poverty or parsimony, first made lustration of their armies in the open field, as the custom is, and then distributed great numbers of cattle for sacrifice among their cohorts, and fifty drachmas to every soldier, and thus, in the goodwill and zeal of their forces, they were at an advantage. 3 However, it was thought that Cassius had a baleful sign during the lustration; for the lictor brought him his wreath turned upside down. 4 And it is said that before this, also, in a procession at some festival, a golden victory belonging to Cassius, which was being borne along, fell to the ground, its bearer having slipped. 5 And besides, many carrion birds hovered over the camp daily, and swarms of bees were seen clustering at a certain place inside the camp; 6 this place the soothsayers shut off from the rest of the camp, in order to avert by their rites the superstitious fears which were gradually carrying even Cassius himself away from his Epicurean doctrines, and which had altogether subjugated his soldiers.
[Brut. 39.7] 7 For these reasons Cassius was not eager to have the issue decided by battle at present, but thought it best to protract the war, since they were strong financially, although inferior in the number of their arms and men. 8 Brutus, however, even before this had been anxious to have the issue decided by the speediest of hazards, that he might either restore freedom to his country, or relieve mankind of calamitous expenditures and requisitions for military service. At this time, too, he saw that his horsemen were successful and victorious in the preliminary skirmishes, and was therefore lifted up in spirit. 9 Besides, sundry desertions to the enemy, and suspicions and assertions that others would follow, brought many of the friends of Cassius in the council over to the side of Brutus. 10 But one of the friends of Brutus, Atillius, opposed his wishes, and urged delay till winter at least was past. And when Brutus asked him how he thought he would be better off another year, “If in no other way,” said Atillius, “I shall have lived longer.” 11 At this answer Cassius was vexed, and the rest also were not a little annoyed by Atillius. So it was presently decided to give battle on the next day.
[Brut. 40.1] 40 1 Brutus was full of hopefulness at supper, and after engaging in philosophical discussion, went to rest; but Cassius, as Messala tells us, supped in private with a few of his intimates, and was seen to be silent and pensive, contrary to his usual nature. 2 When supper was over, he grasped Messala’s hand warmly, and, speaking in Greek, as was his custom when he would show affection, said: 3 “I call thee to witness, Messala, that I am in the same plight as Pompey the Great, in that I am forced to hazard the fate of my country on the issue of a single battle. With good courage, however, let us fix our waiting eyes on fortune, of whom, even though our counsels be infirm, it is not right that we should be distrustful.” 4 With these last words to him, Messala says, Cassius embraced him; and he had already invited him to supper on the following day, which was his birthday.
[Brut. 40.5] 5 As soon as it was day, a scarlet tunic, the signal for battle, was displayed before the camps of Brutus and Cassius, and they themselves came together into the space between their armies. 6 Here Cassius said: “May we be victorious, Brutus, and ever afterwards share a mutual prosperity; but since the most important of human affairs are most uncertain, and since, if the battle goes contrary to our wishes, we shall not easily see one another again, what is thy feeling about flight and death?” 7 And Brutus made answer: “When I was a young man, Cassius, and without experience of the world, I was led, I know not how, to speak too rashly for a philosopher. I blamed Cato for making away with himself, on the ground that it was impious and unmanly to yield to one’s evil genius, not accepting fearlessly whatever befalls, but running away. 8 In my present fortunes, however, I am become of a different mind; and if God does not decide the present issue in our favour, I do not ask once more to put fresh hopes and preparations to the test, but I will go hence with words of praise for Fortune; on the Ides of March I gave my own life to my country, and since then, for her sake, I have lived another life of liberty and glory.” 9 At these words Cassius smiled, and after embracing Brutus, said: “Thus minded, let us go against the enemy; for either we shall be victorious, or we shall not fear the victors.”
[Brut. 40.10] 10 After this, they conferred together about the order of battle in the presence of their friends. And Brutus asked Cassius that he might have command of the right wing himself, although his years and experience made this post more appropriate for Cassius. 11 However, Cassius not only granted him this favour, but also ordered Messala with the most warlike of the legions to take position on the right. 12 Brutus at once led out his horsemen magnificently equipped, and with no less promptness put his infantry also in array.
[Brut. 41.1] 41 1 The soldiers of Antony were engaged in running trenches from the marshes, at which they were encamped, into the plain, thus cutting off Cassius from access to the sea. 2 Octavius was quietly watching the course of events, — not being present in person, owing to sickness, but his forces for him; they had no expectation at all that their enemies would give battle, but thought they would merely sally out against the works and with light missiles and clamorous cries try to disturb the workers in the trenches. 3 So paying no attention to their opponents, they were amazed at the loud and confused outcries which came to them from the trenches. 4 At this point, while ticketsc with the watchword written upon them were being carried to his officers from Brutus, and while Brutus himself was riding along past the legions and encouraging them, few of his men succeeded in hearing the watchword as it was passed along, but most of them, without waiting for it, with one impulse and with one war-cry, rushed upon the enemy. 5 This disorder threw the legions out of line and touch with one another, and first that of Messala, then those that had been drawn up with it, went beyond the left wing of Octavius; 6 they had only a brief contact with its outermost lines, and slew only a few men, but outflanked it and burst into their camp. 7 And Octavius, as he himself tells us in his Commentaries, in consequence of a vision which visited one of his friends, Marcus Artorius, and ordered that Octavius should rise up from his bed and depart from the camp, barely succeeded in having himself carried forth, and was thought to have been slain. 8 For his litter, when empty, was pierced by the javelins and spears of his enemies. Those who were taken prisoners in the camp were slaughtered, and two thousand Lacedaemonians who had recently come as auxiliaries were cut to pieces along with them.
[Brut. 42.1] 42 1 The legions of Brutus which had not outflanked the forces of Octavius, but engaged them in battle, easily routed them in their confusion and cut to pieces three legions at close quarters; then they dashed into their camp with the fugitives, borne on by the impetus of their victory and carrying Brutus with them. 2 But here the vanquished saw an opportunity of which the victors were not aware; for they charged upon the broken and exposed parts of their opponents’ line, from which the right wing had been drawn away in pursuit. The centre did not yield to them, but fought them vigorously; the left wing, however, owing to their disorder and ignorance of what had happened, they routed and pursued into their camp, which they sacked. Neither of the generals was with his men; 3 for Antony, we are told, turned aside from the attack at the outset and withdrew into the marsh, and was nowhere to be seen after he had forsaken his camp; indeed, sundry soldiers declared that they had slain him, showing Brutus their bloody swords and describing his youthful appearance. 4 But presently the centre drove back their opponents with great slaughter, and it appeared that Brutus was completely victorious, as Cassius was completely defeated. 5 And one thing alone brought ruin to their cause, namely, that Brutus thought Cassius victorious and did not go to his aid, while Cassius thought Brutus dead and did not wait for his aid; since Messala considers it a certain proof of the victory that he captured three eagles and many standards from the enemy, while they took nothing.
[Brut. 42.6] 6 As Brutus was returning from his victory, the camp of Caesar having been already destroyed, he was amazed not to see the tent of Cassius towering above the others, as usual, nor the other tents in their wonted place; for most of them had been demolished at once when the enemy burst in. 7 But the sharper sighted among his companions told him they could see many helmets gleaming, and many silver breastplates moving about in the camp of Cassius; 8 they did not think that either the number or the armour was that of the garrison left behind; however, they said, there were not so many dead bodies visible there as might have been expected if so many legions had been overwhelmed. 9 This was what first made Brutus aware of the calamity; and leaving a guard in the captured camp of the enemy, he called his men back from the pursuit and united his forces with the purpose of assisting Cassius.
[Brut. 43.1] 43 1 With Cassius matters had gone as follows. He had been disturbed to see the first sally of the troops of Brutus, which was made without watchword or command, and when, being victorious, they rushed at once after booty and spoil, with no thought for the envelopment of the enemy, he was vexed at the way things were going. 2 Besides, exercising his command with hesitation and delay rather than with readiness and decision, he was enveloped by the enemy’s right wing. His horsemen at once broke away in flight towards the sea, and seeing his infantry also giving ground, he tried to rally them. 3 He snatched the standard from a standard-bearer who was in flight, and planted it in the ground before him, although not even his body-guard were inclined to hold together any more. 4 Thus, then, under compulsion, he withdrew with a few followers to a hill overlooking the plain. But he himself could see nothing, or next to nothing, of the sacking of his camp, for his vision was weak; the horsemen about him, however, saw a great troop riding up which Brutus had sent. 5 But Cassius conjectured that they were enemies, and in pursuit of him. Nevertheless, he sent out one of those who were with him, Titinius, to reconnoitre. 6 The horsemen spied this man as he came towards them, and when they saw that he was a trusted friend of Cassius, his intimates, shouting for joy, leaped from their horses and embraced him warmly, while the rest rode round him with shouts and clashing of arms, thus, in their boundless joy, working the greatest mischief.
[Brut. 43.7] 7 For Cassius thought that Titinius was actually taken by the enemy, and with the words “My love of life has brought me to the pass of seeing a friend seized by the enemy,” he withdrew into an empty tent, forcing along with him one of his freedmen, Pindarus, whom, after the disaster which befell Crassus, he used to keep in readiness for this emergency. 8 From the Parthians, indeed, he had made his escape; but now, drawing his robes up over his face and laying bare his neck, he offered it to the sword. For his head was found severed from his body. Pindarus, however, no man saw after the bloody deed, and therefore some have thought that he slew his master unbidden. 9 A little later it became evident who the horsemen were, and Titinius, whom they had crowned with garlands, came up to report to Cassius. But when the lamentable cries of his distressed and weeping friends made known to him the grievous fate of his general and his error, he drew his sword, reproached himself bitterly for his slowness, and slew himself.
[Brut. 44.1] 44 1 When Brutus learned of the defeat of Cassius, he rode towards him, but heard of his death when he was already near his camp. 2 He mourned over the body, and called Cassius “the last of the Romans,” implying that such an exalted spirit could no longer arise in the city. Then he decked the body for burial and sent it to Thasos, in order that the funeral rites might not disturb the camp. 3 He himself, however, assembled the soldiers of Cassius and comforted them; and seeing that they were deprived of all the necessaries of life, he promised them two thousand drachmas the man, to make good what they had lost. 4 They were encouraged by his words and amazed at the largeness of his gift; and they sent him on his way with shouts, exalting him as the only one of the four commanders who had not been defeated in the battle. 5 And the results bore witness that his confidence in a victory in the battle was well grounded; for with a few legions he routed all those opposed to him. 6 And if he had employed them all in fighting, and if the most of them had not passed by the enemy and set upon the enemy’s possessions, it would seem that his victory must have been complete.
[Brut. 45.1] 45 1 There fell on his side eight thousand men, including the camp servants whom Brutus called Briges; but the enemy, in the opinion of Messala, lost more than twice as many. 2 They were therefore the more dejected of the two, until an attendant of Cassius, named Demetrius, came to Antony in the evening, bringing the robes and the sword which he had taken at once from the dead body. This encouraged them so much that at break of day they led their forces out arrayed for battle. 3 But both the camps over which Brutus had command were in dangerous straits. His own was filled with prisoners of war and required a heavy guard; while that of Cassius was dissatisfied with the change of commanders, and besides, as vanquished men, they were full of hatred and jealousy towards those who had been victorious. Brutus therefore decided to put his army in array, but to refrain from battle. 4 Moreover, the multitude of slaves among his captives were found suspiciously moving about among the men-at arms, and he ordered them to be put to death; of the freemen, however, he released some, declaring that they had more truly been captured by his enemies, in whose hands they were prisoners and slaves, while with him they were freemen and citizens; 5 and when he saw that his friends and officers were implacably hostile to them, he saved their lives by hiding them and helping them to escape. 6 Among the prisoners there was a certain Volumnius, an actor, and Saculio, a buffoon, to whom Brutus paid no attention; but the friends of Brutus brought them forward and denounced them for not refraining even now from insolent and mocking speeches to them. 7 Brutus had nothing to say, being concerned about other matters, but Messala Corvinus gave his opinion that they should be publicly flogged and then sent back naked to the enemy’s generals, in order to let these know what sort of boon companions they required on their campaigns. At this some of the bystanders burst out laughing, 8 but Publius Casca, the one who first smote Caesar, said: “It is not meet for us to celebrate the funeral rites of Cassius with jests and mirth; and thou, Brutus, wilt show what esteem thou hast for the memory of that general according as thou punishest or shieldest those who will abuse and revile him.” 9 To this Brutus, in high dudgeon, said: “Why, then, do ye enquire of me, Casca, instead of doing what seems best to you?” This answer was taken to be a condemnation of the poor wretches, and they were led off and put to death.
[Brut. 46.1] 46 1 After this, he gave the soldiers their promised rewards, and after gently chiding them for not getting the watchword and for rushing upon the enemy without command and in great disorder, he promised that if they now fought well, he would turn over to them two cities for plunder and booty, Thessalonica and Lacedaemon. 2 This is the only accusation in the life of Brutus against which no defence can be made, even though Antony and Octavius practised far greater cruelty than this in rewarding their soldiers, and drove her ancient inhabitants out of almost the whole of Italy, in order that their followers might get land and cities to which they had no right. 3 But in their minds conquest and dominion were the end and object of the war; whereas Brutus had such a reputation for virtue with the multitude that he was not permitted either to conquer or to gain safety except with honour and justice, especially now that Cassius was dead, who was accused of leading Brutus with him into some acts of violence. 4 But just as sailors, when their rudder has been shattered, try to fit and fasten other timbers in its place, striving to meet their needs, not well, indeed, but as best they can, so Brutus, not having in his great army and dangerous plight a general who was equal to the emergency, was forced to employ such as he had, and to do and say many things which they approved. 5 And so he decided to do whatever they thought would make the soldiers of Cassius better men. For these were very intractable; their lack of a leader made them bold in camp, while their defeat made them afraid to face the enemy.
[Brut. 47.1] 47 1 But Octavius and Antony were no better off; they were scantily provisioned, and the low site of their camp made them expect a grievous winter. 2 For they were huddled together on the edge of marshes, and the autumn rains which fell after the battle kept filling their tents with mud and water that froze at once, so cold was the weather. 3 Moreover, while they were in this plight, word came to them of the disaster that had befallen them at sea. For a large force which was being brought from Italy by command of Octavius was attacked by the ships of Brutus and destroyed, and the small remnant of them that escaped their enemies were driven by hunger to subsist on the sails and tackle of their ships. 4 On hearing of this, they were eager to have the issue decided by battle before Brutus learned what great good fortune had come to him. 5 But by some chance, rather than by the fault of his naval commanders, Brutus was ignorant of their success until twenty days afterwards. 6 Otherwise he would not have proceeded to a second battle, since his army was supplied with provisions for a long time, and he was posted in an advantageous position, so that his camp did not suffer from wintry weather, and on the side towards the enemy was almost impregnable, while his secure mastery of the sea and the victory of the land forces under his own command had put him in high hopes and spirits.
[Brut. 47.7] 7 But since, as it would seem, the government of Rome could no longer be a democracy, and a monarchy was necessary, Heaven, wishing to remove from the scene the only man who stood in the way of him who was able to be sole master, cut off from Brutus the knowledge of that good fortune, although it very nearly reached him in time; 8 for only one day before the battle which he was about to fight, late in the day, a certain Clodius deserted from the enemy, and brought word that Octavius had learned of the destruction of his fleet and was therefore eager for a decisive struggle. 9 The man found no credence for his story, nor did he even come into the presence of Brutus, but was altogether despised; it was thought that either he had heard an idle tale, or was bringing false tidings in order to win favour.
[Brut. 48.1] 48 1 On that night, they say, the phantom visited Brutus again, manifesting the same appearance as before, but went away without a word. 2 Publius Volumnius, however, a philosopher, and a companion of Brutus in all his campaigns, makes no mention of this omen, but says that the foremost standard was covered with bees; 3 and that of its own accord the arm of one of the officers sweated oil of roses, and though they often rubbed and wiped it off, it was of no avail. 4 He says also that just before the battle itself two eagles fought a pitched battle with one another in the space between the camps, and as all were gazing at them, while an incredible silence reigned over the plain, the eagle towards Brutus gave up the fight and fled. 5 And the story of the Ethiopian is well known, who, as the gate of the camp was thrown open, met the standard-bearer, and was cut to pieces by the soldiers, who thought his appearance ominous.
[Brut. 49.1] 49 1 After Brutus had led out his forces in battle array and stationed them over against the enemy, he waited a long time; for as he was reviewing his troops he became suspicious of some of them, and heard them accused of treachery; 2 he saw, too, that his horsemen were not very eager to begin the battle, but always waited to see what the infantry did. 3 Then, of a sudden, a man who was a good soldier and had been conspicuously honoured for his bravery by Brutus, rode out of the ranks and went over to the enemy; his name was Camulatus. 4 The sight of this gave Brutus great distress; and partly from anger, partly because he was afraid of greater treachery and desertion, he led at once against the enemy, at about three o’clock in the afternoon. 5 With the part under his own immediate command he was victorious, and advanced, pressing hard upon the retreating left wing of the enemy; his cavalry, too, dashed forward along with the infantry and fell upon a disordered foe; 6 the other wing, however, which was extended by its commanders to prevent their being surrounded by the enemy, to whom they were inferior in numbers, was thus weakened in the centre and could not hold out against their opponents, but fled first. 7 After cutting their way through this wing, the enemy at once enveloped Brutus. He himself displayed all the valour possible in a soldier and commander, contending with judgment and personal prowess for victory in the terrible crisis; but that which was an advantage for him in the former battle was a detriment to him now. 8 For in the former battle the conquered wing of the enemy had been at once destroyed, but when the soldiers of Cassius were routed, only few of them were slain, and those who then escaped, rendered fearful now by their former defeat, filled the greater part of his army with dejection and confusion. 9 Here Marcus the son of Cato also, fighting among the bravest and noblest young men, was overpowered, but would not yield nor fly, but plying his sword, and declaring that he was Marcus Cato and Marcus Cato’s son, fell dead upon the many enemies whom he had slain. 10 The bravest of the rest fell also, risking their lives in defence of Brutus.
[Brut. 50.1] 50 1 Now, there was a certain Lucilius, a brave man, among the comrades of Brutus. This man, seeing some barbarian horsemen ignoring all others in their pursuit and riding impetuously after Brutus, determined at the risk of his life to stop them. 2 So falling behind a little, he told them that he was Brutus. The Barbarians believed him because he asked them to conduct him to Antony, pretending to be afraid of Octavius but to have no fear of Antony. 3 They were delighted with their unexpected prize, and thinking themselves amazingly fortunate, led Lucilius along in the darkness which had now fallen, after sending ahead some messengers to Antony. 4 Antony himself was pleased, of course, and set out to meet the escort, and all the rest also who learned that Brutus was being brought in alive flocked together, some thinking him to be pitied for his misfortune, others that he was unworthy of his fame in thus allowing his love of life to make him a prey of Barbarians. 5 When they were near, however, Antony paused, at a loss to know how to receive Brutus; but Lucilius, as he was brought forward, said with great boldness: “Marcus Brutus, O Antony, no foe has taken or can take; may fortune not so far prevail over virtue! 6 Nay, he will be found living, or possibly even lying dead as becomes him. It is by cheating these soldiers of thine that I am come, and I am ready to suffer for it any fatal penalty.” 7 When Lucilius had thus spoken and all were in amazement, Antony turned to his conductors and said: “I suppose, my fellow soldiers, you are vexed at your mistake and think that you have been flouted; 8 but be assured that you have taken a better prey than that you sought. For you sought an enemy, but you come bringing me a friend. Since, by the gods, I know not how I could have treated Brutus, had he come into my hands alive; but such men as this I would have my friends rather than my enemies.” 9 With these words he embraced Lucilius, and for the time being put him in charge of one of his friends, but ever afterwards found in him a sure and trusty helper.
[Brut. 51.1] 51 1 But Brutus, after crossing a brook which ran among trees and had precipitous banks, would go no further, since it was already dark, but sat down in a hollow place with a great rock in front of it, having a few officers and friends about him. First, he turned his eyes to the heavens, which were studded with stars, and recited two verses, one of which Volumnius has recorded: —
[Brut. 51.1b] O Zeus, do not forget the author of these ills!”
[Brut. 51.2] 2 the other Volumnius says he has forgotten. Then, after a little, he called the name of each of his comrades who had fallen in the battle to defend him, groaning most heavily at the mention of Flavius and Labeo. Labeo was his legate, and Flavius his chief of engineers. 3 At this point, someone who was thirsty himself and saw that Brutus was thirsty too, took a helmet and ran down to the river. Then a noise fell upon their ears from the opposite direction, and Volumnius went forth to reconnoitre, and with him Dardanus his shield-bearer. 4 After a little while, however, they returned, and asked about the water to drink. Whereupon, with a very expressive smile, Brutus said to Volumnius: “It is drunk up; but another draught shall be fetched for you.” Then the same man who had brought the first was sent for more, but he ran the risk of being captured by the enemy, was wounded, and with difficulty came off safe. 5 Now, since Brutus conjectured that not many of his men had been killed in the battle, Statyllius promised him that after cutting his way through the enemy (there was no other way) he would reconnoitre the camp, raise a blazing torch if he found things there in safety, and then come back to him. 6 Accordingly, the blazing torch was raised, since Statyllius succeeded in reaching the camp; but after a long time had passed and he did not return, Brutus said: “If Statyllius is alive, he will come back.” But it so happened that he fell in with the enemy on his way back, and was slain.
[Brut. 52.1] 52 1 As the night advanced, Brutus turned, just as he sat, towards his servant Cleitus, and talked with him. And when Cleitus wept and made no answer, Brutus next drew Dardanus his shield-bearer and had some private conversation with him. 2 Finally, he spoke to Volumnius himself in Greek, reminding him of their student life, and begged him to grasp his sword with him and help him drive home the blow. 3 And when Volumnius refused, and the rest likewise, and some one said they must not tarry but fly, Brutus rose and said: “By all means must we fly; not with our feet, however, but with our hands.” 4 Then, after clasping each by the hand, with a very cheerful countenance he said he rejoiced with exceeding joy that not one of his friends had proved false to him, and as for Fortune, he blamed her only for his country’s sake; 5 himself he regarded as more to be envied than his conquerors, not yesterday and the day before merely, but even now, since he was leaving behind him a reputation for virtue, which those who surpassed in arms or wealth would not do; since the world would believe that base and unjust men who put to death the good and just were unfit to rule. 6 Then, after earnestly entreating them to save themselves, he withdrew a little way in the company of two or three friends, among whom was Strato, who had been his intimate since they studied rhetoric together. 7 This man he placed nearest to himself, and then, grasping with both hands the hilt of his naked sword, he fell upon it and died. 8 Some, however, say that it was not Brutus himself, but Strato, who at his very urgent request, and with averted eyes, held the sword in front of him, upon which he fell with such force that it passed quite through his breast and brought him instant death.
[Brut. 53.1] 53 1 As for this Strato Messala, the comrade of Brutus, after a reconciliation with Octavius, once found occasion to introduce him to his new master, and said, with a burst of tears: “This is the man, O Caesar, who did the last kind office for my dear Brutus.” 2 Accordingly, Strato was kindly received by Octavius, who, in his subsequent labours, and especially at the battle of Actium, found him, as well as other Greeks, a brave partisan. 3 And it is said that Messala himself was once praised by Octavius because, though at Philippi he had been most hostile to him and Antony for the sake of Brutus, at Actium he had been a most zealous adherent of his; whereupon Messala said: “Indeed, O Caesar, I have ever been on the better and juster side.”
[Brut. 53.4] 4 When Antony found Brutus lying dead, he ordered the body to be wrapped in the most costly of his own robes and afterwards, on hearing that the robe had been stolen, put the thief to death. The ashes of Brutus he sent home to his mother Servilia. 5 As for Porcia, the wife of Brutus, Nicolaüs the philosopher, as well as Valerius Maximus, relates that she now desired to die, but was opposed by all her friends, who kept strict watch upon her; whereupon she snatched up live coals from the fire, swallowed them, kept her mouth fast closed, and thus made away with herself. 6 And yet there is extant a letter of Brutus to his friends in which he chides them with regard to Porcia and laments her fate, because she was neglected by them and therefore driven by illness to prefer death to life. 7 It would seem, then, that Nicolaüs was mistaken in the time of her death, since her distemper, her love for Brutus, and the manner of her death, are also indicated in the letter, if, indeed, it is a genuine one.

## Comparison of Dion and Brutus

[Comp. Dion–Brut. 1.1] 1 1 WE see, therefore, that both men had many noble traits, and especially that they rose to the greatest heights from the most inconsiderable beginnings; but this is most to the credit of Dion. 2 For he had no one to dispute his eminence, as Brutus had in Cassius, a man whose virtue and fame did not inspire confidence in like degree, but who, by reason of his boldness, ability, and efficiency, contributed no less than Brutus did to the war; 3 indeed, some attribute to him the origin of the whole enterprise, declaring that he took the lead in the plot against Caesar when Brutus was passive. 4 Dion, however, appears to have acquired by his own efforts, not only arms and vessels and a military force, but also friends and co workers for his enterprise. 5 However, Dion did not, like Brutus, win wealth and power from the course of the war itself, nay, he contributed his own wealth for the war, expending in behalf of the liberty of his countrymen those resources which supported him in his exile. 101 06 And further, it was not safe for Brutus and Cassius to keep quiet after their banishment from Rome, but since they were condemned to death and pursued, it was of necessity that they resorted to war; and in committing their persons to the protection of their arms they incurred danger in their own behalf rather than in behalf of their countryman; 7 whereas Dion was living with greater confidence and pleasure in his banishment than the tyrant who banished him, and yet of his own accord he hazarded a peril so great in order to save Sicily.
[Comp. Dion–Brut. 2.1] 2 1 And verily it was not a like thing for Syracuse to be rid of Dionysius and Rome of Caesar. For Dionysius was even an avowed tyrant, and filled Sicily with countless ills; 2 whereas the rule of Caesar, although during its establishment it gave no little trouble to its opponents, still, after they had been overpowered and had accepted it, they saw that it was a tyranny only in name and appearance, and no cruel or tyrannical act was authorized by it; nay, it was plain that the ills of the state required a monarchy, and that Caesar, like a most gentle physician, had been assigned to them by Heaven itself. 3 Therefore the Roman people felt at once a yearning for Caesar, and in consequence became harsh and implacable towards his murders; whereas Dion, for letting Dionysius escape from Syracuse, and for not demolishing the tomb of the former tyrant, was held most culpable by his countrymen.
[Comp. Dion–Brut. 3.1] 3 1 Next, as regards their actual military achievements, Dion was a consummate general; where he himself made the plans, he achieved the best results, and where failure was due to others, he restored and bettered the situation. 2 Brutus, on the other hand, as it seems, was unwise in entering upon the last supreme struggle, and when he was defeated, could not find a way to restore his cause, but gave up and abandoned his hopes, not even facing adverse fortune with as much resolution as Pompey, 3 and that too although on land he had much ground for confidence left in his troops, and with his fleet was secure master of all the sea.
[Comp. Dion–Brut. 3.4] 4 Moreover, the gravest charge which is brought against Brutus, namely, that although his life was spared by the kindness of Caesar, together with the lives of all the fellow captives for whom he wished to intercede, and although Caesar held him a friend and honoured him above many, he struck down his preserver with his own hand, — this charge no one can bring against Dion. 5 On the contrary, while he was a courtier and friend of Dionysius, he tried to set the state in order and help in preserving it; but when he had been banished from his country, wronged as a husband, and deprived of his property, he openly resorted to a war that was lawful and just. 6 Or does this argument reverse itself at once? For that which redounds to the praise of both men is their hostility to tyrants and hatred of their baseness, and this is disinterested and sincere in the case of Brutus, since without any private grievance against Caesar he risked his life for the common liberty; 7 whereas, had not Dion himself been mistreated, he would not have gone to war. And this is made manifest by the letters of Plato, from which it is clear that Dion did not revolt, but was cast out from the tyranny, and therefore overthrew Dionysius. 8 Still further, it was the public good that made Brutus a friend even to Pompey, who was his foe, and an enemy to Caesar, since he determined both hatred and friendship by justice alone; 9 Dion, on the other hand, gave Dionysius much support in order to win his favour, when he was secure in his confidence, and when he was discredited by him, it was to gratify anger that he went to war. 10 Therefore Dion was not trusted even by all his friends, who felt that after removing Dionysius he might secure the government for himself, enticing his countrymen along by some milder name than that of tyranny; 11 but the enemies of Brutus were wont to say that of all the conspirators against Caesar he alone had one aim from first to last, namely the restoration to the Romans of their ancient form of government.
[Comp. Dion–Brut. 4.1] 4 1 However, apart from these considerations, the struggle against Dionysius was surely unlike that against Caesar. 2 For Dionysius must have been despised by every one of his associates, devoted as he was to wine, dice, and women; 3 but to plan the overthrow of Caesar, and not to fear the ability, power, and good fortune of the man whose very man robbed the kings of Parthia and India of their sleep, betokened an extraordinary spirit, and one which fear could never induce to remit its lofty purposes. 4 Therefore Dion had only to be seen in Sicily, and many thousands joined him in attacking Dionysius; whereas the fame of Caesar, even after he had fallen, supported his friends, and his name raised the helpless boy who adopted it to be at once the foremost Roman, and he wore it as a charm against the power and hatred of Antony.
[Comp. Dion–Brut. 4.5] 5 But should it be objected that Dion cast out the tyrant only after great struggles, while Brutus slew Caesar unarmed and unguarded, this very circumstance was a result of the highest ability and generalship, namely, that a man enveloped in such great power should be taken unarmed and unguarded. 6 For not on a sudden, nor alone, or with a few helpers only, did he fall upon him and slay him, nay, his plan was long in forming, and his attack was made with many helpers, not one of whom proved false to him. For either he chose out at once the best men, or his choice of them before others, and his confidence in them, made them good. 7 But Dion either chose unwisely and entrusted himself to bad men, or else treated the men of his choice so as to turn them from good to bad, neither of which mistakes a prudent man ought to make. 8 And in fact Plato censures him for choosing such friends as proved his ruin.
[Comp. Dion–Brut. 5.1] 5 1 Further, no one arose to avenge Dion’s death; but in the case of Brutus, Antony, an enemy, gave him illustrious burial, and Octavius, an enemy, actually took care to preserve his honours. 2 For a bronze statue of him stood in Mediolanum in Cisalpine Gaul. This statue, at a later time, Octavius noticed as he passed by, for it was a good likeness and an artistic piece of work; then stopping, after a little, in the hearing of many he summoned the magistrates and declared that he had caught their city violating its treaty and harbouring an enemy of his. 3 At first, then, as was natural, they denied it, and looked at one another in perplexity, not knowing what he meant. Then Octavius, turning to the statue and knitting his brows, said: “Well, is not this an enemy of mine who stands here?” At this, the magistrates were still more dumbfounded and held their peace. 4 But Octavius, with a smile, praised the Gauls because they were true to their friends even in adversity, and gave orders that the statue should remain where it was.

## Artaxerxes

[Art. 1.1] 11 THE FIRST Artaxerxes, preëminent among the kings of Persia for gentleness and magnanimity, was surnamed Longimanus, because his right hand was longer than his left, and was the son of Xerxes; the second Artaxerxes, the subject of this Life, was surnamed Memor, or Mindful, and was the grandson of the first by his daughter Parysatis. For Dareius and Parysatis had four sons — an eldest, Artaxerxes, and next to him Cyrus, and after these Ostanes and Oxathres. 2 Cyrus took his name from Cyrus of old, who, as they say, was named from the sun; for “Cyrus” is the Persian word for sun. Artaxerxes was at first called Arsicas; although Deinon gives the name as Oarses. But it is unlikely that Ctesias, even if he has put into his work a perfect farrago of extravagant and incredible tales, should be ignorant of the name of the king at whose court he lived as physician to the king’s wife and mother and children.
[Art. 2.1] 2 1 Now Cyrus, from his very earliest years, was high-strung and impetuous, but Artaxerxes seemed gentler in everything and naturally milder in his impulses. His wife, a beautiful and excellent woman, he married in compliance with his parents’ bidding, and kept her in defiance of them; for after the king had put her brother to death, he wished to kill her also. 2 But Arsicas, throwing himself at his mother’s feet and supplicating her with many tears, at last obtained her promise that his wife should neither be killed nor separated from him. But the mother had more love for Cyrus, and wished that he should succeed to the throne. Therefore when his father was now lying sick, Cyrus was summoned home from the sea-coast, and went up in full hope that by his mother’s efforts he had been designated as successor to the kingdom. 3 For Parysatis had a specious argument (the same that Xerxes the Elder employed on the advice of Demaratus), to the effect that she had borne Arsicas to Dareius when he was in private station, but Cyrus when he was a king. However, she could not prevail, but the elder son was declared king, under the new name of Artaxerxes, while Cyrus remained satrap of Lydia and commander of the forces in the maritime provinces.
[Art. 3.1] 3 1 A little while after the death of Dareius, the new king made an expedition to Pasargadae, that he might receive the royal initiation at the hands of the Persian priests. Here there is a sanctuary of a warlike goddess whom one might conjecture to be Athena. 2 Into this sanctuary the candidate for initiation must pass, and after laying aside his own proper robe, must put on that which Cyrus the Elder used to wear before he became king; then he must eat of a cake of figs, chew some turpentine-wood, and drink a cup of sour milk. Whatever else is done besides this is unknown to outsiders. 3 As Artaxerxes was about to perform these rites, Tissaphernes brought to him a certain priest who had conducted Cyrus through the customary discipline for boys, had taught him the wisdom of the Magi, and was thought to be more distressed than any one in Persia because his pupil had not been declared king. 4 For this reason, too, his accusation against Cyrus won credence. And he accused him of planning to lie in wait for taking in the sanctuary until he should put off his garment, and then to fall upon him and kill him. Some say that Cyrus was arrested in consequence of this false charge, others that he actually made his way into the sanctuary and hid himself there, and was delivered into custody by the priest. 5 But now, as he was about to be put to death, his mother clasped him in her arms, twined her tresses about him, pressed his neck against her own, and by much lamentation and entreaty prevailed upon the king to spare him, and sent him back to the sea-coast. Here he was not satisfied with the office assigned to him, nor mindful of his release, but only of his arrest; and his anger made him more eager than before to secure the kingdom.
[Art. 4.1] 4 1 Some say that he revolted from the king because his allowance did not suffice for his daily meals, which is absurd. For had no other resource been his, still, his mother was resource enough, who gave freely from her own wealth all that he wished to take and use. And that he had wealth is proved by the mercenary troops that were maintained for him in many places by his friends and connections, as Xenophon tells us. For he did not bring these together into one body, since he was still trying to conceal his preparations, but in one place and another, and on many pretexts, he kept recruiting-agents. 2 And as for the king’s suspicions, his mother, who was at court, tried to remove them, and Cyrus himself would always write in a submissive vein, sometimes asking favours from him, and sometimes making countercharges against Tissaphernes, as if his eager contention were against him.
[Art. 4.3] 3 There was, too, a certain dilatoriness in the nature of the king, which most people took for clemency. Moreover, in the beginning he appeared to be altogether emulous of the gentleness of the Artaxerxes whose name he bore, showing himself very agreeable in intercourse, and bestowing greater honours and favours than were really deserved, while from all his punishments he took away the element of insult or vindictive pleasure, and in his acceptance and bestowal of favours appeared no less gracious and kindly to the givers than to the recipients. 4 For there was no gift so small that he did not accept it with alacrity; indeed, when a certain Omisus brought him a single pomegranate of surpassing size, he said: “By Mithra, this man would speedily make a city great instead of small were he entrusted with it.”
[Art. 5.1] 5 1 Once when he was on a journey and various people were presenting him with various things, a labouring man, who could find nothing else at the moment, ran to the river, and, taking some water in his hands, offered it to him; at which Artaxerxes was so pleased that he sent him a goblet of gold and a thousand darics. To Eucleidas the Lacedaemonian, who would often say bold and impudent things to him, he sent this word by his officer of the guard: “It is in thy power to say what thou pleasest, but it is in mine both to say and to do.” 2 Again, when he was hunting once and Teribazus pointed out that the king’s coat was rent, he asked him what was to be done. And when Teribazus replied, “Put on another for thyself, but give this one to me,” the king did so, saying, “I give this to thee, Teribazus, but I forbid thee to wear it.” Teribazus gave no heed to this command (being not a bad man, but rather light-headed and witless), and at once put on the king’s coat, and decked himself with golden necklaces and women’s ornaments of royal splendour. Everybody was indignant at this (for it was a forbidden thing); but the king merely laughed, and said: “I permit thee to wear the trinkets as a woman, and the robe as a madman.” 3 Again, no one shared the table of a Persian king except his mother or his wedded wife, the wife sitting below him, the mother above him; but Artaxerxes invited to the same table with him his brothers Ostanes and Oxathres, although they were his juniors. But what gratified the Persians most of all was the sight of his wife Stateira’s carriage, which always appeared with its curtains up, and thus permitted the women of the people to approach and greet the queen. This made her beloved of the common folk.
[Art. 6.1] 6 1 Nevertheless, restless and factious men thought that affairs demanded Cyrus, a man who had a brilliant spirit, surpassing skill in war, and great love for his friends; and that the magnitude of the empire required a king of lofty purpose and ambition. Accordingly, Cyrus relied quite as much upon the people of the interior as upon those of his own province and command, when he began the war. He also wrote to the Lacedaemonians, inviting them to aid him and send him men, and promising that he would give to those who came, if they were footmen, horses; if they were horsemen, chariots and pairs; if they had farms, he would give them villages; if they had villages, cities; and the pay of the soldiers should not be counted, but measured out. 3 Moreover, along with much high-sounding talk about himself, he said he carried a sturdier heart than his brother, was more of a philosopher, better versed in the wisdom of the Magi, and could drink and carry more wine than he. His brother, he said, was too effeminate and cowardly either to sit his horse in a hunt, or his throne in a time of peril. 4 The Lacedaemonians, accordingly, sent a dispatch-roll to Clearchus ordering him to give Cyrus every assistance. So Cyrus marched up against the king with a large force of Barbarians and nearly thirteen thousand Greek mercenaries, alleging one pretext after another for his expedition. But the real object of it was not long concealed, for Tissaphernes went in person to the king and informed him of it. Then there was a great commotion at the court, Parysatis being most blamed for the war, and her friends undergoing suspicion and accusation. 5 And above all was she vexed by Stateira, who was greatly distressed at the war, and kept crying: “Where now are those pledges of thine? And where are the entreaties by which thou didst rescue the man who had plotted against the life of his brother, only to involve us in war and calamity?” Therefore Parysatis hated Stateira, and being naturally of a harsh temper and savage in her wrath and resentment, she plotted to kill her. 6 Deinon says that her plot was carried out during the war. Ctesias, however, says that it was accomplished afterwards, and neither is it likely that he was ignorant of the time since he was at the scene of action, nor had he any occasion, in his narrative of the deed, to change the time of it on purpose, however often his story turns aside from the truth into fable and romance. I shall therefore give the event the place which he has assigned to it.
[Art. 7.1] 7 1 As Cyrus proceeded on his march, rumours and reports kept coming to his ears that the king had decided not to give battle at once, and was not desirous of coming to close quarters with him, but rather of waiting in Persia until his forces should assemble there from all parts. For he had run a trench, ten fathoms in width and as many in depth, four hundred furlongs through the plain; and yet he allowed Cyrus to cross this and to come within a short distance of Babylon itself. 2 And it was Teribazus, as we are told, who first plucked up courage to tell the king that he ought not to shun a battle, nor to retire from Media and Babylon, as well as Susa, and hide himself in Persia, when he had a force many times as numerous as that of the enemy, and countless satraps and generals who surpassed Cyrus in wisdom and military skill. The king therefore determined to fight the issue out as soon as possible.
[Art. 7.3] 3 So, to begin with, by his sudden appearance with an army of nine hundred thousand men in brilliant array, he so terrified and confounded the enemy, who were marching along in loose order and without arms because of their boldness and contempt for the king, that Cyrus could with difficulty bring them into battle array amid much tumult and shouting; and again, by leading his forces up slowly and in silence, he filled the Greeks with amazement at his good discipline, since they had expected in so vast a host random shouting, and leaping, with great confusion and dissipation of their lines. 4 Besides this, he did well to draw up in front of his own line, and over against the Greeks, the mightiest of his scythe-bearing chariots, in order that by the force of their charge they might cut to pieces the ranks of the Greeks before they had come to close quarters.
[Art. 8.1] 8 1 Now, since many writers have reported to us this battle, and since Xenophon brings it all before our eyes, and by the vigour of his description makes his reader always a participant in the emotions and perils of the struggle, as though it belonged, not to the past, but to the present, it would be folly to describe it again, except so far as he has passed over things worthy of mention. 2 The place, then, where the armies were drawn up, is called Cunaxa, and it is five hundred furlongs distant from Babylon. And we are told that Cyrus, before the battle, when Clearchus besought him to remain behind the combatants and not risk his life, replied: “What sayest thou, Clearchus? Dost thou bid me, who am reaching out for a kingdom, to be unworthy of a kingdom?” 3 It was a great mistake for Cyrus to plunge headlong into the midst of the fray, instead of trying to avoid its dangers; but it was no less a mistake, nay, even a greater one, for Clearchus to refuse to array his Greeks over against the king, and to keep his right wing close to the river, that he might not be surrounded. For if he sought safety above everything else and made it his chief object to avoid losses, it had been best for him to stay at home. 4 But he had marched ten thousand furlongs up from the sea-coast under arms, with no compulsion upon him, but in order that he might place Cyrus upon the royal throne; and then, in looking about for a place and position which would enable him, not to save his leader and employer, but to fight safely and as he pleased, he was like one who, through fear of instant peril, had cast aside the plans made for general success and abandoned the object of the expedition. 5 For had the Greeks charged upon the forces arrayed about the king, not a man of them would have stood his ground; and had these been routed and the king either slain or put to flight, Cyrus would have won by his victory, not only safety, but a kingdom. This is clear from the course of the action. Therefore the caution of Clearchus rather than the temerity of Cyrus must be held responsible for the ruin of Cyrus and his cause. 6 For if the king himself had sought out a place to array the Greeks in which their attack would be least injurious to him, he could have found no other than that which was most remote from himself and his immediate following, since he himself did not know that his forces had been defeated there, and Cyrus could take no advantage at all of the victory of Clearchus, because he was cut down too soon. And yet Cyrus well knew what was for the best, and ordered Clearchus to take his position accordingly in the centre. 7 But Clearchus, after telling Cyrus he would see to it that the best was done, ruined everything.
[Art. 9.1] 9 1 For the Greeks were victorious to their hearts’ content over the Barbarians, and went forward a very great distance in pursuit of them; but Cyrus, riding a horse that was high-bred, but fierce and hard to guide (his name was Pasacas, as Ctesias tells us), was met in full course by Artagerses, commander of the Cadusians, who cried with a loud voice: 2 “O thou who disgracest the name of Cyrus, that noblest name among the Persians, thou most unjust and senseless of men, thou art come with evil Greeks on an evil journey after the good things of the Persians, and thou hopest to slay thine own brother and thy master, who hath a million servants that are better men than thou. And thou shalt at once have proof of this; for thou shalt lose thine own head here before thou hast seen the face of the king.” 3 With these words he hurled his spear at Cyrus. But the breastplate of Cyrus stoutly resisted, and its wearer was not wounded, though he reeled under the shock of the mighty blow. Then, as Artagerses turned his horse away, Cyrus hurled his spear and hit him, and drove its head through his neck past the collar-bone.
[Art. 9.4] 4 Thus Artagerses died at the hands of Cyrus, as nearly all writers are agreed in saying; but as regards the death of Cyrus himself, since Xenophon makes simple and brief mention of it, because he was not present himself when it happened, there is no objection perhaps to my recounting, first what Deinon says about it, and then what Ctesias says.
[Art. 10.1] 10 1 Accordingly, Deinon says that after Artagerses had fallen, Cyrus charged furiously into those drawn up in front of the king, and wounded the king’s horse, and that the king fell to the ground; but Teribazus quickly mounted him upon another horse, saying, “O king, remember this day, for it deserves not to be forgotten”; whereupon Cyrus again plunged in and dismounted Artaxerxes. 2 But at his third assault, the king, being enraged, and saying to those who were with him that death was better, rode out against Cyrus, who was rashly and impetuously rushing upon the missiles of his opponents. The king himself hit him with a spear, and he was hit by the attendants of the king. 3 Thus Cyrus fell, as some say, by a wound at the hands of the king, but as sundry others have it, from the blow of a Carian, who was rewarded by the king for this exploit with the privilege of always carrying a golden cock upon his spear in front of the line during an expedition; for the Persians call the Carians themselves cocks, because of the crests with which they adorn their helmets.
[Art. 11.1] 11 But the narrative of Ctesias, to give it in a much-abbreviated form, is something as follows. After he had slain Artagerses, Cyrus rode against the king himself, and the king against him, both without a word. But Ariaeus, the friend of Cyrus, was beforehand in hurling his spear at the king, though he did not wound him. And the king, casting his spear at Cyrus, did not hit him, but struck and killed Satiphernes, a trusted friend of Cyrus and a man of noble birth. 2 But Cyrus threw his spear at the king and wounded him in the breast through the cuirass, so that the weapon sank in two fingers deep, and the king fell from his horse with the blow. Amid the ensuing confusion and flight of his immediate followers, the king rose to his feet, and with a few companions among whom also was Ctesias, took possession of a certain hill near by and remained there quietly; but Cyrus, enveloped by his enemies, was borne on a long distance by his spirited horse, and since it was now dark, his enemies did not recognize him and his friends could not find him. 3 But lifted up by his victory, and full of impetuosity and confidence, he rode on through his foes, crying out, “Clear the way, ye beggars!” Thus he cried out many times, in Persian, and they cleared the way, and made him their obeisance. But the turban of Cyrus fell from his head, and a young Persian, Mithridates by name, running to his side, smote him with his spear in the temple, near the eye, not knowing who he was. 4 Much blood gushed from the wound, and Cyrus, stunned and giddy, fell to the ground. His horse escaped and wandered about the field, but the horse’s saddle-cloth, which had slipped off, was captured by the attendant of the man who had struck Cyrus, and it was soaked with blood. Then, as Cyrus was slowly and with difficulty recovering from the blow, a few eunuchs who were at hand tried to put him upon another horse and bring him to a place of safety. 5 But since he was unable to ride and desired to go on his own feet, they supported him and led him along. His head was heavy and he reeled to and fro, but he thought he was victorious because he heard the fugitives saluting Cyrus as king and begging him to spare them. Meanwhile some Caunians — low and poverty-stricken men who followed the king’s army to do menial service — chanced to join the party about Cyrus, supposing them to be friends. 6 But when at last they perceived that the tunics over their breastplates were of a purple colour, whereas all the king’s people wore white ones, they knew that they were enemies. Accordingly, one of them, not knowing who Cyrus was, ventured to smite him from behind with his spear. The vein in the ham of Cyrus was ruptured and he fell, and at the same time struck his wounded temple against a stone, and so died. Such is the story of Ctesias, in which, as with a blunt sword, he is long in killing Cyrus, but kills him at last.
[Art. 12.1] 12 1 When Cyrus was now dead, Artasyras, the king’s eye, chanced to pass by on horseback, and recognizing the eunuchs as they lamented, he asked the trustiest of them, “Who is this man, Pariscas, by whom thou sittest mourning?” And Pariscas answered: “O Artasyras, dost thou not see Cyrus dead?” Astonished at this, then, Artasyras bade the eunuch be of good courage and guard the dead body, 2 but he himself went in hot haste to Artaxerxes (who had already given up his cause for lost, and besides was physically in a wretched plight from thirst and from his wound), and joyfully told him that with his own eyes he had seen Cyrus dead. At first the king promptly set out to go in person to the place, and ordered Artasyras to conduct him thither; but since there was much talk about the Greeks, and it was feared that they were pursuing and conquering and making themselves masters everywhere, he decided to send a larger company to see where Cyrus lay. So thirty men were sent, with torches. 3 Meanwhile, since the king was almost dead with thirst, Satibarzanes the eunuch ran about in quest of a drink for him; for the place had no water, and the camp was far away. At last, then, he came upon one of those low Caunians, who had vile and polluted water in a wretched skin, about two quarts in all: this he took, brought it to the king, and gave it to him. After the king had drunk it all off, the eunuch asked him if he was not altogether disgusted with the drink. 4 But the king swore by the gods that he had never drunk wine, or the lightest and purest water, with so much pleasure. “Therefore,” said the king, “if I should be unable to find and reward the man who gave thee this drink, I pray the gods to make him rich and happy.”
[Art. 13.1] 13 1 And now the thirty messengers came riding up with joy and exultation in their faces, announcing to the king his unexpected good fortune. Presently, too, he was encouraged by the number of men who flocked back to him and formed in battle array, and so he came down from the hill under the light of many torches. 2 And after he had halted at the dead body of Cyrus, and its right hand and head had been cut off (in accordance with a law of the Persians), he ordered the head to be brought to him; and grasping it by the hair, which was long and bushy, he showed it to those who were still wavering and disposed to fly. These were amazed, and made obeisance to the king, so that very soon seventy thousand men were about him and marched back with him to their camp. 3 He had marched out to the battle, as Ctesias says, with four hundred thousand men. But Deinon and Xenophon say that the army which fought under him was much larger. As to the number of his dead, Ctesias says that it was reported to Artaxerxes as nine thousand, but that he himself thought the slain no fewer than twenty thousand. This matter, then, is in dispute. But it is certainly a glaring falsehood on the part of Ctesias to say that he was sent to the Greeks along with Phalinus the Zacynthian and certain others. 4 For Xenophon knew that Ctesias was in attendance upon the king, since he makes mention of him and had evidently read his works; if, then, Ctesias had come to the Greeks and served as an interpreter in so momentous a colloquy, Xenophon would not have left him nameless and named only Phalinus the Zacynthian. The truth is that Ctesias, being prodigiously ambitious, as it would seem, and none the less partial to Sparta and to Clearchus, always allows considerable space in his narrative for himself, and there he will say many fine things about Clearchus and Sparta.
[Art. 14.1] 14 1 After the battle, the king sent the largest and most beautiful gifts to the son of that Artagerses who fell at the hands of Cyrus; he also gave generous rewards to Ctesias and others, and when he had found out the Caunian who had given him the skin of water, he raised him from obscurity and poverty to honour and wealth. There was much watchful care also in his punishment of those who had gone wrong. 2 For example, in the case of Arbaces, a Mede, who had run away to Cyrus during the battle, and, when Cyrus fell, had changed back again, the king pronounced him guilty, not of treachery, nor even of malice, but of cowardice and weakness, and ordered him to take a naked harlot astride his neck and carry her about in the market-place for a whole day. And in the case of another man, who, besides going over to the enemy, had lyingly boasted that he had slain two of them, the king ordered that his tongue should be pierced with three needles. 3 Moreover, believing, and wishing all men to think, and say, that he had killed Cyrus with his own hand, he sent gifts to Mithridates, the one who first hit Cyrus, and ordered the bearers of the gifts to say: “This is thy reward from the king because thou didst find and bring to him the trappings of the horse of Cyrus.” Again, when the Carian, from whom Cyrus received the blow in the ham which brought him down, asked that he also should receive a gift, the king ordered its bearers to say: “The king gives thee these things as a second prize for good tidings; for Artasyras came first, and after him thou didst come, with tidings of the death of Cyrus.” 4 Now, Mithridates went away without a word, although he was vexed; but the wretched Carian, in his folly, gave way to a common feeling. That is, he was corrupted, it would seem, by the good things which he had, and led by them to aspire at once to things beyond his reach, so that he would not deign to take the gifts as a reward for good tidings, but was indignant, calling men to witness and crying in loud tones that it was he himself, and no one else, who had killed Cyrus, and that he was unjustly robbed of his glory. When the king heard of this, he was vehemently angry and gave orders that the man should be beheaded. 5 Whereupon the king’s mother, who was present, said to him: “O King, do not let this accursed Carian off so easily, but leave him to me, and he shall receive the fitting reward for his daring words.” So the king consigned the man to Parysatis, who ordered the executioners to take him and rack him on the wheel for ten days, then to gouge out his eyes, and finally to drop molten brass into his ears until he died.
[Art. 15.1] 15 1 Mithridates also came to a miserable end a little while after, of that same folly. For being invited to a banquet at which eunuchs of the king and of the queen-mother were present, he came decked out with raiment and gold which he had received from the king. 2 And when the company were at their cups, the chief eunuch of Parysatis said to him: “Mithridates, how beautiful this raiment is which the king gave thee, and how beautiful the collars and bracelets! Costly, too, is thy scimitar. Verily the king has made thee happy in the admiring eyes of all men.” Then Mithridates, now flushed with wine, replied: “Sparamizes, what do these things amount to? Surely my services to the king on that day were worthy of greater and more beautiful gifts.” 3 Here Sparamizes smiled at him and said: “There’s no grudging them to thee, Mithridates; but since, according to the Greek maxim, there is truth in wine, what great or brilliant exploit was it, my good fellow, to find a horse’s trappings that had slipped off, and bring them to the king?” In saying this, Sparamizes was not ignorant of the truth, but he wished to unveil Mithridates to the company, and therefore slyly stirred up his vanity when wine had made him talkative and robbed him of self-control. 4 Accordingly, Mithridates threw away constraint and said: “Ye may talk as ye please about horse-trappings and such nonsense; but I declare to you explicitly that Cyrus was slain by this hand of mine; for I did not, like Artagerses, make a futile and an idle cast of spear, but I narrowly missed his eye, struck him in the temple, pierced it, and brought the man down; and it was of that wound that he died.” 5 The rest of the company, who already saw the end of Mithridates and his hapless fate, bowed their faces towards the ground; and their host said: “My good Mithridates, let us eat and drink now, revering the good genius of the king, and let us waive discourse that is too weighty for us.”
[Art. 16.1] 16 1 Afterwards the eunuch told the matter to Parysatis, and she to the king; and the king was incensed, as being openly convicted of falsehood, and likely to forfeit the fairest and most pleasing feature of his victory. For he wished that all Barbarians and all Greeks should be fully persuaded that when he and his brother had charged and grappled with each other, he had given and received a blow, being only wounded himself, but killing his brother. He therefore gave orders that Mithridates should be put to death by the torture of the boats.
[Art. 16.2] 2 Now, this torture of the boats is as follows. Two boats are taken, which are so made as to fit over one another closely; in one of these the victim is laid, flat upon his back; then the other is laid over the first and carefully adjusted, so that the victim’s head, hands, and feet are left projecting, while the rest of his body is completely covered up. Then they give him food to eat, and if he refuse it, they force him to take it by pricking his eyes. After he has eaten, they give him a mixture of milk and honey to drink, pouring it into his mouth, and also deluge his face with it. 3 Then they keep his eyes always turned towards the sun, and a swarm of flies settles down upon his face and hides it completely. And since inside the boats he does what must needs be done when men eat and drink, worms and maggots seethe up from the corruption and rottenness of the excrement, devouring his body, and eating their way into his vitals. 4 For when at last the man is clearly dead and the upper boat has been removed, his flesh is seen to have been consumed away, while about his entrails swarms of such animals as I have mentioned are clinging fast and eating. In this way Mithridates was slowly consumed for seventeen days, and at last died.
[Art. 17.1] 17 1 And now there was one mark left for the vengeance of Parysatis — the man who had cut off the head and right hand of Cyrus, Masabates, an eunuch of the king. Against this man, then, since he himself gave her no chance to get at him, Parysatis concocted a plot of the following sort. 2 She was in general an ingenious woman, and greatly addicted to playing at dice. For this reason she frequently played at dice with the king before the war, and after the war was over and she had been reconciled with him, she did not try to avoid his friendly overtures, but actually joined in his diversions, and took part in his amours by her coöperation and presence, and, in a word, left very little of the king for Stateira’s use and society. For she hated Stateira above all others, and wished to have the chief influence herself. 3 So, one day, finding Artaxerxes trying to amuse himself in a vacant hour, she challenged him to play at dice for a thousand darics, allowed him to win the game, and paid the money down. Then, pretending to be chagrined at her loss and to seek revenge, she challenged the king to play a second game, with an eunuch for the stake, and the king consented. 4 They agreed that both might reserve five of their most trusty eunuchs, but that from the rest the loser must give whichever one the winner might select, and on these conditions played their game. Parysatis took the matter much to heart and was in great earnest with her playing, and since the dice also fell in her favour, she won the game, and selected Masabates; for he was not among those who had been excepted. 5 And before the king suspected her design, she put the eunuch in the hands of the executioners, who were ordered to flay him alive, to set up his body slantwise on three stakes, and to nail up his skin to a fourth. This was done, and when the king was bitterly incensed at her, she said to him, with a mocking laugh: “What a blessed simpleton thou art, to be incensed on account of a wretched old eunuch, when I, who have diced away a thousand darics, accept my loss without a word.” 6 So the king, although sorry that he had been deceived, kept quiet in the matter, but Stateira openly opposed Parysatis in other things, and above all was angry with her because, for the sake of Cyrus, she was cruelly and lawlessly putting to death eunuchs and others who were faithful to the king.
[Art. 18.1] 18 1 Now, when Clearchus and his fellow-generals had been completely deceived by Tissaphernes, and, contrary to solemn oaths, had been seized and sent up to the king in chains, Ctesias tells us that he was asked by Clearchus to provide him with a comb. Clearchus got the comb and dressed his hair, and being pleased at the service rendered, gave Ctesias his ring as a token of friendship which he might show to his kindred and friends in Sparta; and the device in the seal was a group of dancing Caryatides. 2 Moreover, as Ctesias says, the provisions sent to Clearchus were seized by the soldiers in captivity with him, who consumed them freely and gave only a small part of them to Clearchus. This hardship also Ctesias says he remedied, by getting more provisions sent to Clearchus, and a separate supply given to the soldiers; and these services he says he rendered and performed to please Parysatis, and at her suggestion. 3 He says further that a flitch of bacon was sent to Clearchus every day to supplement his rations, and that Clearchus earnestly advised him that he ought to bury a small knife in the meat and send it to him thus hidden away, and not allow his fate to be determined by the cruelty of the king; but he was afraid, and would not consent to do this. The king, Ctesias says, at the solicitation of his mother, agreed and swore not to kill Clearchus; but he was won back again by Stateira, and put all the generals to death except Menon. 4 It was because of this, Ctesias says, that Parysatis plotted against the life of Stateira and prepared the poison for her. But it is an unlikely story, and one that gives an absurd motive for her course, to say that Parysatis thus risked and wrought a dreadful deed because of Clearchus, and dared to kill the king’s lawful wife, who was the mother by him of children reared for the throne. 5 Nay, it is quite evident that he adds this sensational detail out of regard for the memory of Clearchus. For he says that after the generals had been put to death, the rest of them were torn by dogs and birds, but that in the case of Clearchus, a blast of wind carried a great mass of earth and heaped it in a mound which covered his body; upon this some dates fell here and there, and in a short time a wonderful grove of trees sprang up and overshadowed the place, so that even the king was sorely repentant, believing that in Clearchus he had killed a man whom the gods loved.
[Art. 19.1] 19 1 Parysatis, accordingly, who from the outset had a lurking hatred and jealousy of Stateira, saw that her own influence with the king was based on feelings of respect and honour, while that of Stateira was grounded fast and strong in love and confidence; she therefore plotted against her life and played for what she thought the highest stake. 2 She had a trusted maidservant named Gigis, who had most influence with her and assisted her in preparing the poison, according to Deinon, although Ctesias says she was merely privy to the deed, and that against her will. The poison was actually given by a man named Belitaras, according to Ctesias; Deinon gives his name as Melantas. After a period of dissension and suspicion, the two women had begun again to meet and eat with one another, although their mutual fear and caution led them to partake of the same dishes served by the same hands. 3 Now, there is a little Persian bird which has no excrement, but is all full of fat inside; and the creature is thought to live upon air and dew; the name of it is “rhyntaces.” It was a bird of this species, according to Ctesias, that Parysatis cut in two with a little knife smeared with poison on one side, thus wiping the poison off upon one part only of the bird; the undefiled and wholesome part she then put into her own mouth and ate, but gave to Stateira the poisoned part. 4 Deinon, however, says it was not Parysatis, but Melantas who cut the bird with the knife and placed the flesh that was poisoned before Stateira. Be that as it may, the woman died, in convulsions and great suffering, and she comprehended the evil that had befallen her, and brought the king to suspect his mother, whose fierce and implacable nature he knew. 5 The king, therefore, at once set out upon the inquest, arrested the servants and table-attendants of his mother, and put them on the rack. Gigis, however, Parysatis kept for a long time at home with her, and would not give her up at the king’s command. But after a while Gigis herself begged to be dismissed to her own home by night. The king learned of this, set an ambush for her, seized her, and condemned her to death. 6 Now, the legal mode of death for poisoners in Persia is as follows. There is a broad stone, and on this the head of the culprit is placed; and then with another stone they smite and pound until they crush the face and head to pulp. It was in this manner, then, that Gigis died; but Parysatis was not further rebuked or harmed by Artaxerxes, except that he sent her off to Babylon, in accordance with her wish, saying that as long as she lived he himself would not see Babylon. Such was the state of the king’s domestic affairs.
[Art. 20.1] 20 1 Now, the king was no less eager to capture the Greeks who had come up with Cyrus than he had been to conquer Cyrus and preserve his throne. Nevertheless, he could not capture them, but though they had lost Cyrus their leader and their own commanders, they rescued themselves from his very palace, as one might say, thus proving clearly to the world that the empire of the Persians and their king abounded in gold and luxury and women, but in all else was an empty vaunt. 2 Therefore all Greece took heart and despised the Barbarians, and the Lacedaemonians in particular thought it strange if now at least they could not rescue the Greeks that dwelt in Asia from servitude, and put a stop to their outrageous treatment at the hands of the Persians. The war they waged was at first conducted by Thimbron, and then by Dercyllidas, but since they accomplished nothing worthy of note, they at last put the conduct of the war in the hands of their king, Agesilaüs. 3 He crossed over to Asia with a fleet, went to work at once, won great fame, defeated Tissaphernes in a pitched battle, and set the Greek cities in revolt. This being the case, Artaxerxes considered how he must carry on the war with Agesilaüs, and sent Timocrates the Rhodian into Greece with a great sum of money, bidding him use it for the corruption of the most influential men in the cities there, and for stirring up the Greeks to make war upon Sparta. 4 Timocrates did as he was bidden, the most important cities conspired together against Sparta, Peloponnesus was in a turmoil, and the Spartan magistrates summoned Agesilaüs home from Asia. It was at this time, as we are told, and as he was going home, that Agesilaüs said to his friends: “The king has driven me out of Asia with thirty thousand archers”; for the Persian coin has the figure of an archer stamped upon it.
[Art. 21.1] 21 1 The king also expelled the Lacedaemonians from the sea, employing Conon the Athenian as his commander along with Pharnabazus. For Conon passed the time at Cyprus, after the sea-fight at Aegospotami, not satisfied with mere safety, but awaiting a reversal in the course of affairs, as he would a change of wind at sea. 2 And seeing that his own plans needed a military force, and the king’s force needed a sagacious leader, he wrote a letter to king explaining his purposes. This letter he ordered the bearer, if possible, to give the king by the hand of Zeno the Cretan or Polycritus the Mendaean (Zeno was a teacher of dancing, and Polycritus was a physician); but if these were not at court, by the hand of Ctesias the physician. 3 And it is said that Ctesias, on receiving the letter, added to the suggestions which Conon made to the king a request to send Ctesias also to him, as likely to be of service in matters on the sea-coast. Ctesias, however, says that the king of his own accord conferred upon him this new duty.
[Art. 21.4] 4 But after Artaxerxes, by the sea-fight which Pharnabazus and Conon won for him off Cnidus, had stripped the Lacedaemonians of their power on the sea, he brought the whole of Greece into dependence upon him, so that he dictated to the Greeks the celebrated peace called the Peace of Antalcidas. 5 Now Antalcidas was a Spartan, son of Leon, and acting in the interests of the king he induced the Lacedaemonians to surrender to the king all the Greek cities of Asia, and all the islands adjacent to Asia, to possess them on payment of tribute; and peace was thus established among the Greeks, if the mockery and betrayal of Greece can be called peace, a peace than which no war ever brought a more inglorious consummation to the defeated.
[Art. 22.1] 22 1 For this reason Artaxerxes, although he always held other Spartans in abomination, and considered them, as Deinon tells us, the most shameless of all mankind, showed great affection for Antalcidas when he came up to Persia. On one occasion he actually took a wreath of flowers, dipped it in the most costly ointment, and sent it to Antalcidas after supper; and all men wondered at the kindness. 2 But Antalcidas was a fit person, as it would seem, to be exquisitely treated and to receive such a wreath, now that he had danced away among the Persians the fair fame of Leonidas and Callicratidas. For Agesilaüs, as it would appear, when someone said to him: “Alas for Greece, now that the Spartans are medizing,” replied, “Are not the Medes the rather spartanizing?” However, the wittiness of the speech could not remove the shame of the deed, and the Spartans lost their supremacy in the disastrous battle of Leuctra, though the glory of Sparta had been lost before that by this treaty.
[Art. 22.3] 3 So long, then, as Sparta kept the first place in Greece, Artaxerxes treated Antalcidas as his guest and called him his friend; but after the Spartans had been defeated at Leuctra, they fell so low as to beg for money, and sent Agesilaüs to Egypt, while Antalcidas went up to Artaxerxes to ask him to supply the wants of the Lacedaemonians. 4 The king, however, so neglected and slighted and rejected him that, when he came back home, being railed at by his enemies, and being in fear of the ephors, he starved himself to death.
[Art. 22.5] Ismenias the Theban also, and Pelopidas, who had just been victorious in the battle of Leuctra, went up to the king. Pelopidas did nothing to disgrace himself; but Ismenias, when ordered to make the obeisance to the king, threw his ring down on the ground in front of him, and then stooped and picked it up, thus giving men to think that he was making the obeisance. 5 With Timagoras the Athenian, however, who sent to him by his secretary, Beluris, a secret message in writing, the king was so pleased that he gave him ten thousand darics, and eighty milch cows to follow in his train because he was sick and required cow’s milk; and besides, he sent him a couch, with bedding for it, and servants to make the bed (on the ground that the Greeks had not learned the art of making beds), and bearers to carry him down to the sea-coast, enfeebled as he was. 6 Moreover, during his presence at court, he used to send him a most splendid supper, so that Ostanes, the brother of the king, said “Timagoras, remember this table; it is no slight return which thou must make for such an array.” Now this was a reproach for his treachery rather than a reminder of the king’s favour. At any rate, for his venality, Timagoras was condemned to death by the Athenians.
[Art. 23.1] 23 1 But there was one thing by which Artaxerxes gladdened the hearts of the Greeks, in return for all the evils which he wrought them, and that was his putting Tissaphernes to death, their most hated and malicious enemy. And he put him to death in consequence of accusations against him which were seconded by Parysatis. For the king did not long persist in his wrath against his mother, but was reconciled with her and summoned her to court, since he saw that she had intellect and a lofty spirit worthy of a queen, and since there was no longer any ground for their suspecting and injuring one another if they were together. 2 After this she consulted the king’s pleasure in all things, and by approving of everything that he did, acquired influence with him and achieved all her ends. She perceived that the king was desperately in love with one of his two daughters, Atossa, and that, chiefly on his mother’s account, he was trying to conceal and restrain his passion, although some say that he had already had secret intercourse with the girl. 3 When, accordingly, Parysatis became suspicious of the matter, she showed the girl more affection than before, and would speak to Artaxerxes in praise of her beauty and her despair, saying that she was truly royal and magnificent. At last, then, she persuaded the king to marry the girl and proclaim her his lawful wife, ignoring the opinions and laws of the Greeks, and regarding himself as appointed by Heaven to be a law upon the Persians and an arbitrator of good and evil. 4 Some, however, say, and among them is Heracleides of Cymé, that Artaxerxes married, not one of his daughters only, but also a second, Amestris, of whom we shall speak a little later. Atossa, however, was so beloved by her father as his consort, that when her body was covered with leprosy he was not offended at this in the least, 5 but offered prayers to Hera in her behalf, making his obeisance and clutching the earth before this goddess as he did before no other; while his satraps and friends, at his command, sent the goddess so many gifts that the sixteen furlongs between her sanctuary and the royal palace were filled with gold and silver and purple and horses.
[Art. 24.1] 24 1 In the war which Pharnabazus and Iphicrates conducted for him against Egypt he was unsuccessful, owing to the dissensions of these commanders; against the Cadusians, therefore, he made an expedition in person, with three hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand horse. But the country which he penetrated was rough and hard to traverse, abounded in mists, and produced no grains, although its pears and apples and other such tree-fruits supported warlike and courageous population. 2 Unawares, therefore, he became involved in great distress and peril. For no food was to be got in the country or imported from outside, and they could only butcher their beasts of burden, so that an ass’s head was scarcely to be bought for sixty drachmas. Moreover, the royal banquets were abandoned; and of their horses only a few were left, the rest having been consumed for food.
[Art. 24.3] Here it was that Teribazus, a man whose bravery often set him in a leading place, but whose levity as often cast him down, so that at this time he was in disgrace and overlooked, saved the king and his army. 3 For the Cadusians had two kings, and each of them encamped separately. So Teribazus, after an interview with Artaxerxes in which he told him what he purposed to do, went himself to one of the Cadusian kings, and sent his son secretly to the other. Each envoy, then, deceived his man, telling him that the other king was sending an embassy to Artaxerxes to secure friendship and alliance for himself alone: he should, therefore, if he were wise, have an interview with Artaxerxes before the other did, and he himself would help him all he could. 4 Both kings were persuaded by this argument, and each thinking that he was anticipating the other, one sent his envoys along with Teribazus, and the other with the son of Teribazus. But matters were delayed, and suspicions and calumnies against Teribazus came to the ears of Artaxerxes he himself also was ill at ease, and repented him of having put confidence in Teribazus, and gave occasion to his rivals to malign him. 5 But at last Teribazus came, and his son came too, both bringing their Cadusian envoys, and a peace was ratified with both kings; whereupon Teribazus, now a great and splendid personage, set out for home with the king. And the king now made it plain that cowardice and effeminacy are not always due to luxury and extravagance, as most people suppose, but to a base and ignoble nature under the sway of evil doctrines. 6 For neither gold nor robe of state nor the twelve thousand talents’ worth of adornment which always enveloped the person of the king prevented him from undergoing toils and hardships like an ordinary soldier; nay, with his quiver girt upon him and his shield on his arm he marched in person at the head of his troops, over precipitous mountain roads, abandoning his horse, so that the rest of the army had wings given them and felt their burdens lightened when they saw his ardour and vigour; for he made daily marches of two hundred furlongs and more.
[Art. 25.1] 25 1 At length he came down to a royal halting-place which had admirable parks in elaborate cultivation, although the region round about was bare and treeless; and since it was cold, he gave permission to his soldiers to cut the trees of the park for wood, sparing neither pine nor cypress. 2 And when they hesitated and were inclined to spare the trees on account of their great size and beauty, he took an axe himself and cut down the largest and most beautiful tree. After this the men provided themselves with wood, and making many fires, passed the night in comfort. Nevertheless, he lost many and brave men, and almost all his horses before he reached home. 3 And now, thinking that his subjects despised him because of the disastrous failure of his expedition, he was suspicious of his chief men; many of these he put to death in anger, and more out of fear. For it is cowardly fear in a tyrant that leads to most bloodshed; but bold confidence makes him gracious and mild and unsuspicious. So also among wild beasts, those that are refractory and hardest to tame are timorous and fearful, whereas the nobler sorts are led by their courage to put more confidence in men, and do not reject friendly advances.
[Art. 26.1] 26 1 But Artaxerxes, being now advanced in years, perceived that his sons were forming rival parties among his friends and chief men with reference to the royal succession. For the conservatives thought it right that, as he himself had received the royal power by virtue of seniority, in like manner he should leave it to Dareius. But his youngest son, Ochus, who was of an impetuous and violent disposition, not only had many adherents among the courtiers, but hoped for most success in winning over his father through the aid of Atossa. 2 For he sought to gain Atossa’s favour by promising that she should be his wife and share the throne with him after the death of his father. And there was a report that even while his father was alive Ochus had secret relations with Atossa. But Artaxerxes was ignorant of this; and wishing to shatter at once the hopes of Ochus, that he might not venture upon the same course as Cyrus and so involve the kingdom anew in wars and contests, he proclaimed Dareius, then fifty years of age, his successor to the throne, and gave him permission to wear the upright “kitanis,” as the tiara was called. 3 Now, there was a custom among the Persians that the one appointed to the royal succession should ask a boon, and that the one who appointed him should give whatever was asked, if it was within his power. Accordingly, Dareius asked for Aspasia, who had been the special favourite of Cyrus, and was then a concubine of the king. She was a native of Phocaea, in Ionia, born of free parents, and fittingly educated. 4 Once when Cyrus was at supper she was led in to him along with other women. The rest of the women took the seats given them, and when Cyrus proceeded to sport and dally and jest with them, showed no displeasure at his friendly advances. But Aspasia stood by her couch in silence, and would not obey when Cyrus called her; and when his chamberlains would have her led to him, she said: “Verily, whosoever lays his hands upon me shall rue the day.” The guests therefore thought her a graceless and rude creature. 5 But Cyrus was delighted, and laughed, and said to the man who had brought the women: “Dost thou not see at once that this is the only free and unperverted woman thou hast brought me?” From this time on he was devoted to her, and loved her above all women, and called her The Wise. She was taken prisoner when Cyrus fell in the battle at Cunaxa and his camp was plundered.
[Art. 27.1] 27 1 This was the woman for whom Dareius asked, and he gave offence thereby to his father; for the Barbarian folk are terribly jealous in all that pertains to the pleasures of love, so that it is death for a man, not only to come up and touch one of the royal concubines, but even in journeying to go along past the waggons on which they are conveyed. 2 And yet there was Atossa, whom the king passionately loved and had made his wife contrary to the law, and he kept three hundred and sixty concubines also, who were of surpassing beauty. However, since he had been asked for Aspasia, he said that she was a free woman, and bade his son take her if she was willing, but not to constrain her against her wishes. So Aspasia was summoned, and contrary to the hopes of the king, chose Dareius. And the king gave her to Dareius under constraint of the custom that prevailed, but a little while after he had given her, he took her away again. 3 That is, he appointed her a priestess of the Artemis of Ecbatana, who bears the name of Anaïtis, in order that she might remain chaste for the rest of her life, thinking that in this way he would inflict a punishment upon his son which was not grievous, but actually quite within bounds and tinctured with pleasantry. The resentment of Dareius, however, knew no bounds, either because he was deeply stirred by his passion for Aspasia, or because he thought that he had been insulted and mocked by his father.
[Art. 27.4] 4 And now Teribazus, who became aware of the prince’s feelings, sought to embitter him still more, finding in his grievance a counterpart of his own, which was as follows. The king had several daughters, and promised to give Apama in marriage to Pharnabazus, Rhodogune to Orontes, and Amestris to Teribazus. He kept his promise to the other two, but broke his word to Teribazus and married Amestris himself, betrothing in her stead to Teribazus his youngest daughter, Atossa. 5 But soon he fell enamoured of Atossa also and married her, as has been said, and then Teribazus became a downright foe to him. Teribazus was at no time of a stable disposition, but uneven and precipitate. And so, when he would be at one time in highest favour, and at another would find himself in disgrace and spurned aside, he could not bear either change of fortune with equanimity, but if he was held in honour his vanity made him offensive, and when he fell from favour he was not humble or quiet, but harsh and ferocious.
[Art. 28.1] 28 1 Accordingly, it was adding fire to fire when Teribazus attached himself to the young prince and was forever telling him that the tiara standing upright on the head was of no use to those who did not seek by their own efforts to stand upright in affairs of state, and that he was very foolish if, when his brother was insinuating himself into affairs of state by way of the harem, and his father was of a nature so fickle and insecure, he could suppose that the succession to the throne was securely his. 2 Surely he whom regard for a Greek courtesan had led to violate the inviolable custom of the Persians, could not be trusted to abide by his agreements in the most important matters. Moreover, he said it was not the same thing for Ochus not to get the kingdom and for Dareius to be deprived of it; for no one would hinder Ochus from living happily in private station, but Dareius had been declared king, and must needs be king or not live at all.
[Art. 28.3] Now, perhaps it is generally true, as Sophocles says, that —
3 “Swiftly doth persuasion upon evil conduct make its way”
[Art. 28.3b] for smooth and downward sloping is the passage to what a man desires, and most men desire the bad through inexperience and ignorance of the good. However, it was the greatness of the empire and the fear which Dareius felt towards Ochus that paved the way for Teribazus although, since Aspasia had been taken away, the Cyprus-born goddess of love was not altogether without influence in the case.
[Art. 29.1] 29 1 Accordingly, Dareius put himself in the hands of Teribazus; and presently, when many were in the conspiracy, an eunuch made known to the king the plot and the manner of it, having accurate knowledge that the conspirators had resolved to enter the king’s chamber by night and kill him in his bed. When Artaxerxes heard the eunuch’s story, he thought it a grave matter to neglect the information and ignore so great a peril, and a graver still to believe it without any proof. 2 He therefore acted on this wise. He charged the eunuch to attend closely upon the conspirators; meanwhile he himself cut away the wall of his chamber behind the bed, put a doorway there, and covered the door with a hanging. Then, when the appointed hour was at hand and the eunuch told him the exact time, he kept his bed and did not rise from it until he saw the faces of his assailants and recognised each man clearly. 3 But when he saw them advancing upon him with drawn swords, he quickly drew aside the hanging, retired into the inner chamber, closed the door with a slam, and raised a cry. The murderers, accordingly, having been seen by the king, and having accomplished nothing, fled back through the door by which they had come, and told Teribazus and his friends to be off since their plot was known. 4 The rest, then, were dispersed and fled; but Teribazus slew many of the king’s guards as they sought to arrest him, and at last was smitten by a spear at long range, and fell. Dareius, together with his children, was brought to the king, who consigned him to the royal judges for trial. The king was not present in person at the trial, but others brought in the indictment. However, the king ordered clerks to take down in writing the opinion of each judge and bring them all to him. 5 All the judges were of one opinion and condemned Dareius to death, whereupon the servants of the king seized him and led him away into a chamber near by, whither the executioner was summoned. The executioner came, with a sharp knife in his hand, wherewith the heads of condemned persons are cut off; but when he saw Dareius, he was confounded, and retired towards the door with averted gaze, declaring that he could not and would not take the life of a king. 6 But since the judges outside the door plied him with threats and commands, he turned back, and with one hand clutching Dareius by the hair, dragged him to the ground, and cut off his head with the knife.
[Art. 29.7] Some say, however, that the trial was held in the presence of the king, and that Dareius, when he was overwhelmed by the proofs, fell upon his face and begged and sued for mercy; 7 but Artaxerxes rose up in anger, drew his scimitar, and smote him till he had killed him; then, going forth into court, he made obeisance to the sun and said: “Depart in joy and peace, ye Persians, and say to all whom ye meet that those who have contrived impious and unlawful things have been punished by great Orosmasdes.”
[Art. 30.1] 30 1 Such, then, was the end of the conspiracy. And now Ochus was sanguine in the hopes with which Atossa inspired him, but he was still afraid of Ariaspes, the only legitimate son of the king remaining, and also of Arsames among the illegitimate sons. For Ariaspes, not because he was older than Ochus, but because he was mild and straightforward and humane, was deemed by the Persians worthy to be their king; Arsames, however, was thought to have wisdom, and the fact that he was especially dear to his father was not unknown to Ochus. 2 Accordingly, he plotted against the lives of both, and being at once wily and bloody-minded, he brought the cruelty of his nature into play against Arsames, but his villainy and craft against Ariaspes. For he secretly sent to Ariaspes eunuchs and friends of the king, who constantly brought him word of sundry threatening and terrifying utterances implying that his father had determined to put him to a cruel and shameful death. 3 Since they pretended that these daily reports of theirs were secrets of state, and declared, now that the king was delaying in the matter, and now that he was on the point of acting, they so terrified the prince, and filled his mind with so great trepidation, confusion, and despair, that he drank a deadly poison which he had prepared, and thus rid himself of life. 4 When the king was informed of the manner of his death, he bewailed his son. He also suspected what had caused his death, but being unable by reason of his age to search out and convict the guilty one, he was still more well-affectioned towards Arsames, and clearly made him his chief support and confidant. Wherefore Ochus would not postpone his design, but set Arpates, a son of Teribazus, to the task and by his hand slew the prince. 5 Now Artaxerxes, by reason of his age, was already hovering between life and death; and when the sad fate of Arsames came to his ears, he could not hold out even a little while, but straightway expired of grief and despair. He had lived ninety-four years, and had been king sixty-two, and had the reputation of being gentle and fond of his subjects; though this was chiefly due to his son Ochus, who surpassed all men in cruelty and blood-guiltiness.

## Aratus

[Arat. 1.1] 1 1 THERE is an ancient proverb, Polycrates, which the philosopher Chrysippus puts not as it really is, but as he thought better: —
[Arat. 1.1b] “Who will praise a father, except happy sons?”
[Arat. 1.1c] But Dionysodorus of Troezen corrects him, and restores the true form thus:
“Who will praise a father, except unhappy sons?”
[Arat. 1.2] 2 And he says that the proverb stops the mouths of those who, being worthless in themselves, take refuge in the virtues of certain ancestors and are forever praising them. But surely for a man in whom, to use Pindar’s words, “the noble spirit naturally displayes itself as inherited from sires,” and who, like thee, patterns his life after the fairest examples in his family line, — for such men it will be good fortune to be reminded of their noblest progenitors, ever and anon hearing the story of them, or telling it themselves. 3 For it is not that they lack noble qualities of their own and make their reputation dependent on their praises of others, nay rather, they associate their own careers with the careers of their great ancestors, whom they hail both as founders of their line and as directors of their lives. And therefore, now that I have written the life of Aratus, who was thy countryman and forefather, and to whom thou thyself art no discredit in either reputation or influence, I send it to thee, not as though thou hadst not been at pains from the beginning to have the most precise knowledge of thy great ancestor’s career, 4 but in order that thy sons Polycrates and Pythocles may be reared, now by hearing and now by reading, after examples found in their own family line — examples which it well becomes them to imitate. For it is the lover of himself, and not the lover of goodness, who thinks himself always superior to others.
[Arat. 2.1] 2 1 The city of Sicyon, as soon as it had fallen away from its pure Doric form of aristocracy (which was now like a harmony dissolved) and had become a prey to factions and the ambitious schemes of demagogues, was without cease distempered and agitated, and kept changing one tyrant for another, until, after the murder of Cleon, Timocleides and Cleinias were chosen chief magistrates, men of the highest repute and influence among the citizens. 2 But no sooner did the government appear to be somewhat settled than Timocleides died, and Abantidas the son of Paseas, attempting to make himself tyrant, slew Cleinias, and, of the friends and kinsmen of Cleinias, banished some and killed others. He tried to kill also the son of Cleinias, Aratus, left fatherless at the age of seven. 3 But in the confusion which prevailed about the house the boy made his escape with the fugitives, and wandering about in the city, full of fear and helpless, by chance got unnoticed into the house of a woman who was a sister of Abantidas, but had married Prophantus the brother of Cleinias. Her name was Soso. This woman, who was of a noble nature, and thought it a divine dispensation that the boy had taken refuge with her, hid him in the house, and at night sent him secretly off to Argos.
[Arat. 3.1] 3 1 Thus was Aratus stolen away from the peril that threatened him, and at once that vehement and glowing hatred of tyrants for which he was noted became a part of his nature and grew with his growth. He was reared in liberal fashion among the guests and friends of his father’s house at Argos, and since he saw that his bodily growth promised high health and stature, he devoted himself to the exercises of the palaestra, going so far as to win wreaths of victory in contesting the pentathlum. 2 And indeed even his statues have plainly an athletic look, and the sagacity and majesty of his countenance do not altogether disown the athlete’s full diet and wielding of the mattock. Wherefore his cultivation of oratory was perhaps less intense than became a man in public life; and yet he is said to have been a more ornate speaker than some think who judge from the Commentaries which he left; these were a bye-work, and were composed in haste, off-hand, and in the words that first occurred to him in the heat of contest.
[Arat. 3.3] 3 Some time after the escape of Aratus, Abantidas was slain by Deinias and Aristotle the logician. The tyrant was wont to attend all their public disputations in the market-place and to take part in them; they encouraged him in this practice, laid a plot, and took his life. Paseas also, the father of Abantidas, after assuming the supreme power, was treacherously slain by Nicocles, who then proclaimed himself tyrant. 4 This man is said to have borne a very close resemblance to Periander the son of Cypselus, just as Orontes the Persian did to Alcmaeon the son of Amphiaraüs, and as the Spartan youth mentioned by Myrtilus did to Hector. Myrtilus tells us that when the throng of spectators became aware of this resemblance, the youth was trampled underfoot.
[Arat. 4.1] 4 1 Nicocles was tyrant of the city for four months, during which he wrought the city much harm, and narrowly escaped losing it to the Aetolians when they plotted to seize it. By this time Aratus, now a young man, was held in marked esteem on account of his high birth, and of his spirit. This was showing itself to be not insignificant nor yet unenterprising, but earnest, and tempered with a judgement safe beyond his years. 2 Wherefore the exiles from Sicyon had their minds fixed most of all upon him, and Nicocles was not neglectful of what was going on, but kept secret watch and ward over his undertakings, not because he feared any deed of so great daring and hazard as that in which Aratus finally engaged, but because he suspected that Aratus was in communication with the kings who had been on terms of friendship and hospitality with his father. 3 And in truth Aratus had attempted to travel along that path. But since Antigonus neglected his promises and prolonged the time, and since the hopes derived from Egypt and Ptolemy were a long way off, he resolved to overthrow that tyrant by his own efforts.
[Arat. 5.1] 5 1 The first to whom he imparted his design were Aristomachus and Ecdelus. Of these, the one was an exile from Sicyon, and Ecdelus was an Arcadian of Megalopolis, a student of philosophy and a man of action, who had been an intimate friend of Arcesilaüs the Academic at Athens. 2 These men eagerly adopted his proposals, and he then began conversations with the other exiles. A few of these took part in the enterprise because they were ashamed to disappoint the hope placed in them, but the majority actually tried to stop Aratus, on the ground that his inexperience made him over-bold.
[Arat. 5.3] 3 While he was planning to seize some post in the territory of Sicyon from which he might sally forth and make war upon the tyrant, there came to Argos a man of Sicyon who had run away from prison. He was a brother of Xenocles, one of the exiles; and when he had been brought to Aratus by Xenocles, he told him that the part of the city’s wall over which he had climbed to safety was almost level with the ground on the inside, where it had been attached to steep and rocky places, and that on the outside it was not at all too high for scaling-ladders. 4 When Aratus had heard this, he sent with Xenocles two servants of his own, Seuthas and Technon, to make an examination of the wall; for he was resolved, if he could, to hazard the whole enterprise on one secret and swift attempt, rather than in a long war and in open contests to match his private resources against those of a tyrant. 5 So when Xenocles and his party came back with measurements of the wall which they had taken, and with a report that the place was by nature not impassable nor even difficult (although they declared that it was hard to get to it undetected owing to a certain gardener’s dogs, which were little beasts, but extraordinarily fierce and savage), Aratus at once undertook the business.
[Arat. 6.1] 6 1 Now the laying in of arms was nothing unusual, since almost everybody at that time indulged in robberies and predatory forays; and as for scaling-ladders, Euphranor the engineer made them openly, since his trade screened him from suspicion; and he too was one of the exiles. 2 As for men, each of the friends of Aratus in Argos furnished him with ten out of the few they had, and he himself equipped thirty of his own servants with arms. Through Xenophilus, the foremost of the robber captains, he also hired a few soldiers, to whom it was given out that a foray was to be made into the territory of Sicyon to seize the horses of Antigonus. And most of them were sent on ahead in small bands to the tower of Polygnotus, with orders to wait there. 3 Aratus also sent on in advance Caphisias, lightly armed, with four companions; their orders were to come to the gardener’s when it was dark, pretending to be travellers, and after taking up quarters there for the night, to shut up him and his dogs; for there was no other way to get past them. The scaling-ladders, which could be taken apart, were packed in boxes, and thus concealed were sent on ahead in waggons.
[Arat. 6.4] 4 In the meantime some spies of Nicocles appeared in Argos and were reported to be secretly going about and watching the movements of Aratus. As soon as it was day, therefore, Aratus left his house and showed himself openly in the market-place, conversing with his friends; then he anointed himself in the gymnasium, took with him from the palaestra some of the young men who were wont to drink and make holiday with him, and went back home; and after a little one of his servants was seen carrying garlands through the market-place, another buying lights, and another talking with the women that regularly furnished music of harp and flute at banquets. 5 When the spies saw all this, they were completely deceived, and with loud laughter said to one another: “Nothing, you see, is more timorous than a tyrant, since even Nicocles, though master of so great a city and so large a force, is in fear of a stripling who squanders on pleasures and mid-day banquets his means of subsistence in exile.”
[Arat. 7.1] 7 1 The spies, then, thus misled, left the city; but Aratus, immediately after the morning meal, sallied forth, joined his soldiers at the tower of Polygnotus, and led them on to Nemea. Here he disclosed his design, to most of them then for the first time, and made them exhortations and promises. 2 Then, after giving out as watchword “Apollo Victorious,” he led them forward against Sicyon, quickening or retarding his progress according to the revolution of the moon, so as to enjoy her light while on the march, and as soon as she was setting to be at the garden near the wall. 3 There Caphisias came to meet him; he had not secured the dogs (for they had bounded off before he could do this), but had locked up the gardener. Most of his men were disheartened at this and urged Aratus to retire; but he tried to encourage them, promising to lead them back if the dogs should prove too troublesome for them. 4 At the same time he sent forward the men who carried the scaling-ladders, under the command of Ecdelus and Mnasitheus, while he himself followed after them slowly, the dogs already barking vigorously and running along by the side of Ecdelus and his party. However, they reached the wall and planted their ladders against it without mishap. 5 But as the first men were mounting the ladders, the officer who was to set the morning-watch began making his rounds with a bell, and there were many lights and the noise of the sentries coming up. The invaders, however, crouched down just where they were on the ladders, and so escaped the notice of this party without any trouble; but since another watch was coming up to meet the first, they incurred the greatest danger. 6 However, they escaped the notice of this guard also as it passed by, and then the leaders, Mnasitheus and Ecdelus, at once mounted to the top, and after occupying the approaches to the wall on either side, sent Technon to Aratus, urging him to hasten up.
[Arat. 8.1] 8 1 Now it was no great distance from the garden to the wall, and to the tower, in which a huge dog was on the watch, a hunter. The dog himself did not notice their approach, either because he was naturally sluggish, or because during the day he had become tired out. But when the gardener’s whelps challenged him from below, he began to growl in response, faintly and indistinctly at first, then bayed out more loudly as they passed by. 2 Presently the whole place resounded with barking, so that the watchman opposite called with a loud cry to the huntsman asking why his dog was baying so savagely and whether some mischief was not afoot. The huntsman answered him from the tower that there was nothing to fear, but that his dog had been excited by the lights of the sentries and the din of the bell. 3 This more than anything else gave heart to the soldiers of Aratus. They thought that the huntsman was privy to their design and was trying to conceal it, and that there were many others also in the city who would assist them. However, when the rest of the company essayed the wall, their peril was grievous and protracted, since the ladders shook unless they mounted one by one and slowly; moreover, time was pressing, since cocks were already crowing, and directly the people who brought produce from the country to the market-place would be coming up. 4 Therefore Aratus also mounted the wall in haste, after forty in all had mounted before him; and when he had been joined by a few more of those below, he went up against the tyrant’s house and the praetorium, where the mercenary soldiers passed the night. And after falling upon these suddenly and capturing them all, but killing none, he straightway sent messages to his friends summoning them all from their homes, and they ran together from all quarters. 5 Day was now breaking, and the theatre was thronged with people who still were in suspense because of the uncertain rumour that prevailed and in utter ignorance of what was afoot, until the herald came forward and made proclamation that Aratus the son of Cleinias invited the citizens to secure their freedom.
[Arat. 9.1] 9 1 Then, convinced that what they had long expected was come, they rushed in a body to the residence of the tyrant, carrying firebrands. A great flame arose as the house caught fire, and it was visible as far as Corinth, so that the people of Corinth were astonished and were on the point of sallying forth to help. Nicocles, then, slipped out unnoticed by way of certain underground passages, and ran away from the city, 2 and the soldiers, after extinguishing the fire with the aid of the Sicyonians, plundered his house. Nor did Aratus prevent this, but put the rest of the wealth of the tyrants at disposition of the citizens. And not a man was killed or even wounded at all, either among the assailants or their enemies, but fortune preserved the enterprise free from the taint of civil bloodshed.
[Arat. 9.3] 3 Aratus restored eighty exiles who had been banished by Nicocles, and those also who had fled the city during the reign of former tyrants, to the number of five hundred. These had long been wanderers, yes, for close to fifty years. And now that they had come back, most of them in poverty, they laid claim to the property which they had formerly held, and by going to their farms and houses threw Aratus into great perplexity. For he saw that the city was plotted against by outsiders and eyed with jealousy by Antigonus because it had regained its freedom, while it was full of internal disturbances and faction.
[Arat. 9.4] 4 Wherefore, as things stood, he thought it best to attach the city promptly to the Achaean League; and so, though the people of Sicyon were Dorians, they voluntarily assumed the name and civil polity of the Achaeans, who at that time had neither brilliant repute nor great strength. For most of them lived in small cities, owned land that was neither fertile nor extensive, and were neighbours to a sea that had no harbours and for the most part washed a precipitous and rocky shore. 5 But this people more than any other showed the world that Greek prowess was invincible, whenever it enjoyed good order, harmonious discipline, and a sensible leader. For though they had taken almost no part in the ancient glories of Greece, 6 and at this time, though counted all together, had not the power of a single considerable city, still, owing to their good counsels and their concord, and because they were able, in place of envying, to obey and follow the one who was pre-eminent among them for virtue, they not only preserved their own freedom in the midst of so great cities and powers and tyrannies, but also were continually saving and setting free very many of the other Greeks.
[Arat. 10.1] 10 1 Aratus was by natural bent a statesman, high-minded, more exact in his public than in his private relations, a bitter hater of tyrants, and ever making a regard for the public weal determine his enmity or his friendship. 2 Wherefore he seems to have proved not so much a strict friend, as a considerate and mild enemy, changing his ground in either direction according to the exigencies of the state, loving concord between nations, community of cities, and unanimity of council and assembly, beyond all other blessings. It was manifest that he resorted to open warfare and strife without courage and with little confidence, but that in stealing advantages and secretly managing cities and tyrants he was most proficient. 3 Therefore, though he won many unexpected successes where he showed courage, he seems to have lost no fewer favourable opportunities through over-caution. For not only in the case of certain wild beasts, as it would seem, is the vision strong by night but wholly blinded in the day-time (since the humour in their eyes is too dry and delicate to bear contact with the light), but there is also in some men a cleverness and sagacity which is prone to be confounded in transactions that are carried out under the open sky and proclaimed abroad by public criers, but when confronting hidden and secret enterprises recovers its courage. 4 Such unevenness a lack of philosophy may cause in men of good natural parts; they produce virtue without scientific knowledge, and it is like spontaneous and uncultivated fruit. This can be proved by examples.
[Arat. 11.1] 11 Aratus, now, after uniting himself and his city with the Achaeans, served in the cavalry, and was beloved by his commanders on account of his ready obedience. For although he had made great contributions to the commonwealth in his own reputation and the power of his native city, he gave his services like those of any ordinary person to the one who from time to time was general of the Achaeans, whether he was a man of Dyme or of Tritaea, or of a meaner city. 2 And there came to him also a gift of money from the king of Egypt, five-and twenty talents. These Aratus accepted, but gave them at once to his fellow-citizens, who were in want of money, especially for the ransoming of such as had been taken prisoners.
[Arat. 12.1] 12 1 But the exiles were not to be dissuaded from molesting those who were in possession of their property, and the city was in danger of an upheaval. Aratus saw that his only hope was in the generosity of Ptolemy, and therefore determined to sail to Egypt and beg the king to furnish him with money for the settlement of these disputes. 2 So he put to sea from Mothone above Malea, intending to make the shortest passage. But the steersman could not make head against a strong wind and high waves that came in from the open sea, and being carried out of his course got with difficulty to Adria, which was a hostile place. For it was in the power of Antigonus, and held a garrison of his. Aratus anticipated arrest by landing, and forsaking the ship withdrew a long way from the sea, having with him one of his friends, Timanthes. 3 They threw themselves into a place that was thickly covered with woods, and had a grievous night of it. A little later the commander of the garrison came to the ship in search of Aratus, and was deceived by his servants, who had been instructed to say that he had run away at once and had sailed off to Euboea. The ship, however, with its cargo and the servants of Aratus, was declared a prize of war and detained.
[Arat. 12.4] 4 After a few days, while still in this helpless plight, Aratus met with a rare piece of good fortune, for a Roman ship put in at the place where he was staying, sometimes on a lookout-place, and sometimes hiding himself. The ship was bound for Syria, but after going on board Aratus persuaded the master of the vessel to convey him as far as Caria. Thither he was conveyed, encountering fresh perils by sea and perils as great as before. 5 From Caria, after a long time, he made his way across to Egypt, and found the king both naturally well disposed towards him, and much gratified because Aratus had sent him drawings and paintings from Greece. In these matters Aratus had a refined judgement, and was continually collecting and acquiring works of artistic skill and excellence, especially those of Pamphilus and Melanthus. These he would send to Ptolemy.
[Arat. 13.1] 13 1 For the fame of Sicyon’s refined and beautiful paintings was still in full bloom, and they alone were thought to have a beauty that was indestructible. Therefore even the great Apelles, when he was already admired, came to Sicyon and gave a talent that he might be admitted into the society of its artists, desiring to share their fame rather than their art. Hence it was that Aratus, although he at once destroyed the other portraits of the tyrants when he had given the city its freedom, deliberated a long time about that of Aristratus (who flourished in the time of Philip of Macedon). 2 For it was the work of Melanthus and all his pupils, and Aristratus was painted standing by a chariot in which was a Victory; Apelles also had a hand in the painting, as we are told by Polemon the Topographer. And the work was a marvellous one, so that Aratus was moved by the artistic skill therein; but afterwards, such was his hatred of the tyrants, that he ordered it to be removed and destroyed. 3 Accordingly, the painter Nealces, who was a friend of Aratus, interceded with him for the picture, as we are told, and with tears, and when he could not persuade him, said that war should be waged against the tyrants, but not against the treasures of the tyrants. “Let us therefore leave the chariot and the Victory, but Aristratus himself I will undertake to remove from the picture.” Aratus therefore yielded, and Nealces erased the figure of Aristratus, and in its place painted a palm-tree merely, not daring to introduce anything else. We are told, however, that the feet of the erased figure of Aristratus were left by an oversight beneath the chariot.
[Arat. 13.4] 4 In consequence of this love of art Aratus was already beloved by the king, and in personal intercourse grew yet more upon him, and received for his city a gift of a hundred and fifty talents. Forty of these Aratus took with him at once and sailed to Peloponnesus; the rest the king divided into instalments, and sent them to him afterwards one by one.
[Arat. 14.1] 14 1 Now it was a great achievement to procure so large a sum of money for his fellow-citizens; other generals and leaders of the people had taken but a fraction of this sum from kings in payment for wronging, enslaving, and betraying to them their native cities. But it was a far greater achievement by means of this money to have effected a harmonious adjustment of the disputes between rich and poor, and safety and security for the entire people. Moreover, we must admire the moderation of the man in the exercise of so great power. 2 For when he was appointed independent arbiter, with absolute powers for settling the money affairs of the exiles, he would not accept the office alone, but associated with himself fifteen of his fellow-citizens, by whose aid, after much toil and great trouble, he established peace and friendship among his fellow-citizens. For these services not only did the entire body of citizens bestow fitting public honours upon him, but the exiles also on their own account erected a bronze statue of him, and inscribed thereon the following elegiac verses: —
[Arat. 14.3] 3 “The counsels, valorous deeds, and prowess in behalf of Hellas, which this man has displayed, are known as far as the Pillars of Heracles; but we who achieved our return through thee, Aratus, for thy virtue and justice, have erected to the Saviour Gods this statue of our saviour, because to thy native city thou has brought a sacred and heavenly reign of law.”
[Arat. 15.1] 15 1 These successful achievements placed Aratus beyond the jealousy of his fellow-citizens, owing to the gratitude which he inspired; but Antigonus, the king, was annoyed by the policy of Aratus, and wished either to bring him over into complete friendship with himself or to alienate him from Ptolemy. He therefore showed him many kindnesses which were not at all welcome, and especially this, that as he was sacrificing to the gods at Corinth, he sent portions of the victims to Aratus at Sicyon. 2 And at the banquet which followed, where many guests were present, he said, so that all could hear: “I thought this Sicyonian youth was merely free-spirited and a lover of his fellow-citizens; but he would seem to be a capable judge also of the lives and actions of kings. For formerly he was inclined to overlook us, fixing his hopes elsewhere, and he admired the wealth of Egypt, hearing tales of its elephants, and fleets, and palaces; but now that he has been behind the scenes and seen that everything in Egypt is play-acting and painted scenery, he has come over entirely to us. 3 Therefore I both welcome the young man myself, having determined to make every possible use of him, and I would ask you to consider him a friend.” These words were seized upon by the envious and malevolent, who vied with one another in writing to Ptolemy many grievous charges against Aratus, so that the king sent an envoy and upbraided him. So great malice and envy attend upon the friendships of kings and tyrants, for which men strive and at which they aim with ardent passion.
[Arat. 16.1] 16 1 Aratus now, having been chosen general of the Achaean League for the first time, ravaged the opposite territories of Locris and Calydonia, and went to the assistance of the Boeotians with an army of ten thousand men. He came too late, however, for the battle at Chaeroneia, in which the Boeotians were defeated by the Aetolians, with the loss of Aboeocritus, their Boeotarch, and a thousand men. 2 A year later, being general again, he set on foot the enterprise for the recovery of Acrocorinthus, not in the interests of Sicyonians or Achaeans merely, but purposing to drive from that stronghold what held all Hellas in a common subjection, — the Macedonian garrison. 3 Chares the Athenian, having been successful in a battle with the king’s generals, wrote to the people of Athens that he had won a battle which was “sister to that at Marathon”; and this enterprise of Aratus may be rightly called a sister of those of Pelopidas the Theban and Thrasybulus the Athenian, in which they slew tyrants, except that it surpassed them in being undertaken, not against Greeks, but against a foreign and alien power. 4 For the Isthmus of Corinth, forming a barrier between the seas, brings together the two regions, and thus unites our continent; and when Acrocorinthus, which is a lofty hill springing up at this centre of Greece, is held by a garrison, it hinders and cuts off all the country south of the Isthmus from intercourse, transits, and the carrying on of military expeditions by land and sea, and makes him who controls the place with a garrison sole lord of Greece. 5 Therefore it is thought that the younger Philip of Macedon uttered no jest, but the truth, whenever he called the city of Corinth “the fetters of Greece.”
[Arat. 17.1] 17 1 Accordingly, the place was always an object of great contention among kings and dynasts, but the eagerness of Antigonus to secure it fell nothing short of the most frenzied passion, and he was wholly absorbed in schemes to take it by stratagem from its possessors, since an open attempt upon it was hopeless. 2 For when Alexander, in whose hands the place was, had died of poison given him (it is said) in obedience to Antigonus, and his wife Nicaea had succeeded to his power and was guarding the citadel, Antigonus at once sent his son Demetrius to her in furtherance of his schemes, and by inspiring her with pleasant hopes of a royal marriage and of wedded life with a young man who would be no disagreeable company for an elderly woman, 3 he captured her, using his son for all the world like a bait for her. The citadel, however, she did not give up, but kept it under strong guard. Pretending, therefore, indifference to this, Antigonus celebrated the nuptials of the pair in Corinth, exhibiting spectacles and giving banquets every day, as one whom pleasure and kindliness led to think chiefly of mirth and ease. 4 But when the crucial moment came, and as Amoebeus was about to sing in the theatre, he escorted Nicaea in person to the spectacle. She was borne in a litter which had royal trappings, plumed herself on her new honour, and had not the remotest suspicion of what was to happen. Then, arrived at the diverging street that led up to the citadel, Antigonus gave orders that Nicaea should be borne on into the theatre, while he himself, bidding adieu to Amoebeus, and adieu to the nuptials, went up to Acrocorinthus with a speed that belied his years; and, finding the gate locked, he beat upon it with his staff and ordered it to be opened. And the guards within, stupefied, opened it. 5 Thus master of the place, he could not contain himself for joy, but drank and disported himself in the streets, and with music-girls in his train and garlands on his head, old man that he was and acquainted with so great vicissitudes of fortune, revelled through the market-place, greeting and clasping hands with all who met him. Thus we see that neither grief nor fear transports and agitates the soul as much as joy that comes unexpectedly.
[Arat. 18.1] 18 1 Antigonus, then, having got Acrocorinthus into his power, as I have said, kept it under guard, putting men there whom he most trusted, and making Persaeus the philosopher their commander. Now Aratus, even while Alexander was still living, had set his hand to the enterprise, but an alliance was made between the Achaeans and Alexander, and he therefore desisted. 2 At the time of which I speak, however, a new and fresh basis for the enterprise was found by him in the following circumstances.
[Arat. 18.3] There were in Corinth four brothers, Syrians by race, one of whom, Diocles by name, was serving as a mercenary soldier in the citadel. The other three, after stealing some gold plate of the king’s, came to Aegias, a banker in Sicyon with whom Aratus did business. A portion of the gold they disposed of to him at once, but the remainder was being quietly exchanged by one of them, Erginus, in frequent visits. 3 Erginus thus became well acquainted with Aegias, and having been led by him into conversation about the garrison in the citadel, said that as he was going up to see his brother he had noticed in the face of the cliff a slanting fissure leading to where the wall of the citadel was at its lowest. Thereupon Aegias fell to jesting with him, and said: “Do you, then, best of men, thus for the sake of a little gold plate rifle the king’s treasures, when it is in your power to sell a single hour’s work for large sums of money? Don’t you know that burglars as well as traitors, if they are caught, have only one death to die?” 4 Erginus burst out laughing, and as a first step agreed to make trial of Diocles (saying that he had no confidence at all in his other brothers), and a few days afterwards came back and bargained to conduct Aratus to the wall at a spot where it was not more than fifteen feet in height, and to aid in the rest of the enterprise together with Diocles.
[Arat. 19.1] 19 1 Aratus on his part agreed to give the men sixty talents if he was successful, and in case he failed, and he as well as they got off safely, to give each of them a house and a talent. Then, since the sixty talents had to be deposited with Aegias for Erginus, and Aratus neither had them himself nor was willing by borrowing them to give anyone else a suspicion of his undertaking, he took most of his plate and his wife’s golden ornaments and deposited them with Aegias as security for his money. 2 For he was so exalted in spirit and had so great a passion for noble deeds that, knowing as he did that Phocion and Epaminondas were reputed to have been the justest and best of Greeks because they spurned great gifts and would not betray their honour for money, he elected to expend his own substance secretly, as an advance, on an enterprise in which he alone was risking his life for the whole body of citizens, who did not even know what was going on. 3 For who will not admire the magnanimity of the man, and yearn even now to lend a helping hand, who purchased at so high a price so great a danger, and pledged what he thought the most precious of his possessions in order that he might be introduced by night among his enemies and contend for his life, receiving as his security from his countrymen the hope of a noble action, and nothing else?
[Arat. 20.1] 20 1 Now the enterprise was dangerous in itself, but was made more dangerous still by a mistake which occurred at the very beginning through ignorance. For Technon, the servant of Aratus, had been sent to inspect the wall with Diocles, and had not yet met Diocles face to face, but thought he would know how he looked because Erginus had described him as curly-haired, of a swarthy complexion, and without a beard. 2 Having come, therefore, to the place appointed, he was waiting for Erginus to come there with Diocles, just outside the city, near what was called the Ornis. As he was waiting, however, the oldest brother of Erginus and Diocles, named Dionysius, who was not privy to the enterprise and took no part in it, but resembled Diocles, chanced to come up. So Technon, moved by the similarity in the marks of his outward appearance, asked him if he was connected at all with Erginus; 3 and on his saying that he was a brother, Technon was altogether convinced that he was talking with Diocles, and without inquiring his name, or waiting for any other proof whatever, gave him his hand and began chatting with him and asking him questions about what had been agreed upon with Erginus. Dionysius took cunning advantage of his mistake, assented to all that he said, and turning his back toward the city led him along in unsuspicious conversation. 4 But just as he was near the city, and was at the very point of seizing Technon, by a second chance Erginus met them. Erginus comprehended the trick and the danger, motioned Technon to fly, and both of them ran off and got safely to Aratus. Aratus, however, would not give up hope, but at once sent Erginus to bribe Dionysius and beg him to hold his tongue. 5 Erginus not only did this, but actually brought Dionysius with him to Aratus. And now that Dionysius was there they would not let him go, but bound him and kept him indoors under lock and key, while they themselves prepared for their attack.
[Arat. 21.1] 21 1 When all things were ready, Aratus ordered the rest of his forces to pass the night under arms, and taking with him four hundred picked men, few of whom knew what was on foot themselves, led them towards the gate of Corinth near by the temple of Hera. It was midsummer, the moon was at its full, and the night was cloudless and clear, so that they feared lest the gleam of their arms in the moonlight should disclose them to the sentinels. 2 But just as the foremost of them were near the wall, clouds ran up from the sea and enveloped the city itself and the region outside, which thus became dark. Then the rest of them sat down and took off their shoes, since men make little noise and do not slip if they are barefooted when they climb ladders; but Erginus, taking with him seven young men equipped as travellers, got unnoticed to the gate. 3 Here they slew the gate-keeper and the sentries who were with him. At the same time the ladders were clapped to the wall, and after getting a hundred men of in all haste, Aratus ordered the rest to follow as fast as they could; then he pulled his ladders up after him and marched through the city with his hundred men against the citadel, being already full of joy at his escape from detection and confident of success.
[Arat. 21.4] 4 A little farther on they encountered a watch of four men with a light; they were not seen by them, being still in the shade of the moon, but saw them coming up in the opposite direction. So they drew back a little for shelter beneath some walls and buildings, and set an ambush for the men. Three of them they killed in their attack, but the fourth, with a sword-wound in his head, took to flight, crying out that the enemy were in the city. 5 And presently the trumpets were sounding, the city was in an uproar over what was happening, many lights were flashing, some in the city below and some in the citadel above, and a confused shouting broke forth on all hands.
[Arat. 22.1] 22 1 Meanwhile Aratus was struggling up the steep with all his might, slowly and laboriously at first, unable to keep to the path and wandering from it, since it was everywhere sunk in the shadows of the jutting cliffs and had many twists and turns before it came out at the wall of the citadel. Then, marvellous to relate, the moon is said to have parted the clouds and shone out, making the most difficult part of the road plain, until he got to the wall at the spot desired; there the clouds came together again and everything was hidden in darkness.
[Arat. 22.2] 2 But the soldiers of Aratus whom he had left at the gate outside near the temple of Hera, three hundred in number, when once they had burst into the city and found it full of lights and manifold tumult, were unable to discover the path which their comrades had taken or follow in their steps. So they crouched down and huddled themselves together in a shaded flank of the cliff, and there remained in great distress and impatience. 3 For Aratus and his party were now assailed with missiles from the citadel and were fighting, the shouts of the combatants came down the slopes, and cries echoed round about which the reverberations from the hills rendered confused and of uncertain origin. Then, as they were at a loss which way to turn, Archelaüs, the commander of the king’s forces, having many soldiers with him, made up the ascent amid shouts and the blare of trumpets to attack Aratus and his party, and thus passed by the three hundred. 4 These, rising up from ambush as it were, fell upon him, slew the first whom they attacked, put the rest, together with Archelaüs, to panic flight, and pursued them until they were scattered and dispersed about the city. And just as this victory had been won, Erginus came from the party fighting on the heights, with tidings that Aratus was engaged with the enemy, that these were defending themselves vigorously, that a great struggle was going on at the very wall, and there was need of speedy help. 5 The three hundred at once ordered him to lead the way; and as they took to the ascent their cries signalled their coming and encouraged their friends; the light of the full moon also made their arms appear more numerous to the enemy than they really were, owing to the length of their line of march, and the echoes of the night gave the impression that the shouts proceeded from many times the number there really were. 6 At last, with a united onset, they repulsed the enemy, mastered the citadel, and held its garrison in their power. Day was now breaking, the sun at once shone out upon their success, and the rest of the forces of Aratus came up from Sicyon, the Corinthians readily receiving them by the gates and helping them to seize the king’s soldiers.
[Arat. 23.1] 23 1 When everything appeared to be safe Aratus came down from the citadel into the theatre whither an immense multitude streamed with an eager desire to see him and hear what he would say to the Corinthians. 2 After stationing his Achaeans at both the side-entrances, he himself advanced from the back-scene into the orchestra, with his breastplate still on and his countenance altered by toil and loss of sleep, so that the exultation and joy of his spirit were overpowered by the weariness of his body. 3 Since the multitude, when he came forward to address them, were profuse in their friendly expressions, taking his spear in his right hand and slightly inclining his knee and his body, he supported himself upon it and stood thus for a long time silently receiving their applause and acclamations, their praises of his valour and their congratulations on his success. 4 But when they had ceased and quiet had ensued, he summoned his strength and in behalf of the Achaeans made a speech which befitted their exploit, and persuaded the Corinthians to join the Achaean League. He also gave them back the keys to their gates, of which they then became possessed for the first time since the time of Philip of Macedon. Of the officers of Antigonus, he dismissed Archelaüs, who had been taken prisoner, but Theophrastus, who would not quit his post, he slew; 5 as for Persaeus, on the capture of the citadel he made his escape to Cenchreae. And at a later time, as we are told, when he was leading a life of leisure, and someone remarked that in his opinion the wise man only could be a good general, “Indeed,” he replied, “there was a time when I too particularly liked this doctrine of Zeno’s; but now, since the lesson I got from the young man of Sicyon, I am of another mind.” This story of Persaeus is told by many writers.
[Arat. 24.1] 24 1 As for Aratus, he at once made himself master of the temple of Hera and the harbour of Lechaeum; he also seized five-and twenty of the king’s ships, and sold five hundred horses and four hundred Syrians; Acrocorinthus, too, was garrisoned by the Achaeans with four hundred men-at arms, and fifty dogs with as many keepers were maintained in the citadel.
[Arat. 24.2] 2 Now the Romans, in their admiration of Philopoemen, call him “the last of the Greeks,” implying that no great man arose among the Greeks after him; but I should say that this capture of Acrocorinthus was the very last and latest achievement of the Greeks, and that it rivalled their best, not only in daring, but also in happy results, as events at once showed. 3 For Megara seceded from Antigonus and attached herself to Aratus; Troezen and Epidaurus were enrolled in the Achaean League; and Aratus, making a distant expedition for the first time, invaded Attica, and crossing the strait plundered Salamis, his Achaean forces, as though released from prison, obeying his every wish. But the freemen among his prisoners he sent back to the Athenians without ransom, thus laying a foundation for their revolt from Antigonus. 4 He also made Ptolemy an ally of the Achaeans, with the leadership in war on land and sea. And he was so influential among the Achaeans that, since it was not permissible every year, they chose him general every other year, though, in fact, his wisdom made him their leader all the time. For they saw that he put first and foremost, not wealth, not fame, not friendship with kings, not his own native city’s advantage, but only the growth in power of the Achaean League. 5 For he considered that the Greek states which were weak would be preserved by mutual support when once they had been bound as it were by the common interest, and that just as the members of the body have a common life and breath because they cleave together in a common growth, but when they are drawn apart and become separate they wither away and decay, in like manner the several states are ruined by those who dissever their common bonds, but are augmented by mutual support, when they become parts of a great whole and enjoy a common foresight.
[Arat. 25.1] 25 1 And so, whence he saw that the best of the neighbouring peoples were autonomous, and was distressed at the servitude of the Argives, he plotted to kill Aristomachus the tyrant of Argos, being ambitious to restore its freedom to the city as a reward for the rearing it had given him, as well as to attach it to the Achaean League. 2 Accordingly, men were found to dare the deed, of whom Aeschylus and Charimenes the seer were the chief. They had no swords, however, the tyrant having prohibited the possession of them under heavy penalties. Aratus, therefore, ordered small daggers to be made for them in Corinth and sewed them up in pack-saddles; these he put upon beasts of burden carrying ordinary wares and sent them into Argos. 3 But Charimenes the seer took on a partner in the enterprise, at which Aeschylus and his friends were incensed and proceeded to act on their own account, ignoring Charimenes. When Charimenes was aware of this, he was angry and informed against the men just as they were setting out to attack the tyrant; most of them, however, succeeded in escaping from the market-place and fled to Corinth.
[Arat. 25.4] 4 Nevertheless, after a little while Aristomachus was killed by slaves, and Aristippus, a more pernicious tyrant than he, soon succeeded in seizing the power. Aratus at once took all the Achaeans of military age who were at hand and went swiftly to the aid of the city, supposing that he would be welcomed by the Argives. But since most of them were by this time habituated to slavery and willing to endure it, so that not a man came over to his side, he retired, after involving the Achaeans in the charge of having gone to war in time of peace. 5 They were prosecuted on this charge before the Mantineans, and in the absence of Aratus, Aristippus as plaintiff won his case and was awarded damages to the amount of thirty minas. 6 Aratus himself the tyrant both hated and feared, and so laid plots to kill him with the assistance of Antigonus the king; and almost everywhere there were men who undertook this deed for them and watched for an opportunity.
[Arat. 25.7] 7 But there is no safeguard for a ruler like a sincere and steadfast goodwill on the part of the ruled. For when both the common people and the leading men are afraid, not of their leader, but for their leader, he sees with many eyes, hears with many ears, and so perceives betimes what is going on. Therefore I wish to stop my story at this point, in order to describe the life that Aristippus led. This was laid upon him by his office of tyrant, so envied of men, and by the pride and pomp of monarchy, which men celebrate and call blessed.
[Arat. 26.1] 26 1 For though he had Antigonus as ally, and kept many guards to protect his person, and had left no single enemy alive in the city, yet he would order his spearmen and guards to bivouac outside in the colonnade; and as for his servants, as soon as supper was over he would drive them all out. 2 Then he would lock the doors of the inner house, and betake himself with his mistress to a little upper room, which was closed by a trap-door; on this door he would place his couch and sleep, as one in his state of mind would naturally sleep, by fits and starts and in great fear. 3 The ladder the mother of his mistress would take away and lock up in another room, and in the morning would put it in place again and call the wonderful tyrant, who would come down like a creeping thing out of its hole. Aratus, on the other hand, not by force of arms, but legally and in consequence of his virtues, had invested himself with an enduring power, and yet went about in ordinary tunic and cloak; he declared himself a public foe of any and every tyrant; and he left behind him a posterity of the highest repute among the Greeks down to this day. 4 But of the men who seize citadels, maintain spearmen, and depend upon arms and gates and trap-doors for the safety of their persons, only a few, like timorous hares, have escaped a violent death; while not one of them has left a house, or a family, or a tomb to keep his memory in honour.
[Arat. 27.1] 27 1 Against Aristippus, then, and in trying to seize Argos, Aratus made many open and secret attempts in vain. Once he set up scaling-ladders, at great hazard got upon the wall with a few followers, and killed the sentries that defended the place. 2 The day came and the tyrant attacked him from all sides, while the Argives, as though it were not a battle to secure their liberties, but a contest in the Nemean games of which they were the judges, sat as just and impartial spectators of what was going on, without lifting a finger. Aratus, fighting sturdily, had his thigh transfixed by a spear-thrust, yet held his ground, though harassed by his enemies. 3 And if through the night also he had maintained the struggle, he would not have failed in his attempt; for the tyrant was already bent on flight and had sent on many of his goods to the sea. As it was, however, no one told Aratus of this, and since water was failing him and he could not use his strength by reason of his wound, he led his soldiers away.
[Arat. 28.1] 28 1 Then, since he despaired of success in this way, he openly invaded the territory of Argos with his army and ravaged it; and in a fierce battle with Aristippus at the river Chares, he was accused of abandoning the struggle and throwing away the victory. For although the rest of his forces admittedly had the upper hand and had gone far on ahead in pursuit, he himself, not so much because he was ousted from his position by his opponents, as out of mistrust of success and in utter fear, withdrew in disorder to his camp. 2 But when the rest of his army came back from the pursuit and were indignant because, though they had routed the enemy and slain far more of them than they had lost of their own number, they had suffered the vanquished to erect a trophy over the victors, Aratus was ashamed and determined again to fight out the question of the trophy, and on the next day but one put his army once more in battle array. 3 However, on perceiving that the forces of the tyrant were more numerous than before and more courageous in their resistance, he would not venture a decisive battle, but withdrew after being allowed to take up his dead under a truce. Nevertheless, by his skill in dealing with men and public affairs, and by the favour in which he stood, he retrieved this failure, brought Cleonae into the Achaean League, and celebrated the Nemean games in that city, on the ground that it had an ancient and more fitting claim upon them. 4 But the games were also celebrated at Argos, and then for the first time the privilege of asylum and safe-conduct which had been granted to contestants in the games was violated, since the Achaeans treated as enemies and sold into slavery all contestants in the games at Argos whom they caught travelling through their territory. So fierce and implacable was Aratus in his hatred of tyrants.
[Arat. 29.1] 29 1 A little while after this, Aratus heard that Aristippus was plotting against Cleonae, but feared to attack it while his enemy was posted at Corinth; he therefore assembled an army by public proclamation. And after ordering his troops to carry provisions for several days, he marched down to Cenchreae, by this stratagem inviting Aristippus to attack Cleonae in the belief that his enemy was not at hand; and this was actually what happened. For the tyrant set out at once from Argos with his forces. But 2 Aratus, returning from Cenchreae to Corinth as soon as it was dark, and posting guards along all the roads, led his Achaeans towards Cleonae, and they followed him in such good order and with such swiftness and alacrity that not only while they were on the march, but also when they had got into Cleonae, before the night was over, and had arrayed themselves for battle, Aristippus knew nothing at all of it. 3 Then, at daybreak, the gates were thrown open, the trumpet gave its loud signal, and dashing at a run and with shouts upon the enemy Aratus routed them at once, and kept on pursuing where he most suspected that Aristippus was in flight, the country having many diverging routes. 4 The pursuit continued as far as Mycenae, where the tyrant was overtaken and slain by a certain Cretan named Tragiscus, as Deinias relates; and besides him there fell over fifteen hundred. But although Aratus had won so brilliant a success, and had lost not a single one of his own soldiers, he nevertheless did not take Argos nor set it free, since Agias and the younger Aristomachus burst into the city with troops of the king and took control of affairs.
[Arat. 29.5] 5 This success, then, refuted much of the calumny heaped upon Aratus, as well as the scoffing and abusive stories of the flatterers of the tyrants, who would recount, to please their masters, how the general of the Achaeans always had cramps in the bowels when a battle was imminent, and how torpor and dizziness would seize him as soon as the trumpeter stood by to give the signal, and how, after he had drawn up his forces and passed the watchword along, he would ask his lieutenants and captains whether there was any further need of his presence (since the die was already cast), and then go off to await the issue anxiously at a distance. 6 For these stories were so prevalent that even in the schools of philosophy, when the query arises whether palpitation of the heart and change of colour and looseness of the bowels, in the presence of seeming peril, are the mark of cowardice, or of some faulty temperament and chilliness in the body, Aratus is always mentioned by name as one who was a good general, but always had these symptoms when a contest was impending.
[Arat. 30.1] 30 1 Having thus made away with Aristippus, Aratus at once began to plot against Lydiades, who was tyrant in his native city of Megalopolis. This Lydiades was neither of mean birth nor naturally lacking in high ambition, nor, like most sole rulers, had he been driven by licence and rapacity into this iniquity, but he had been fired with a love of glory while still young, and had thoughtlessly associated with his high spirit the false and empty doctrines current concerning tyranny, to the effect that it was a wonderful and blessed thing. And now that he had made himself tyrant, he was quickly sated with the burdens which devolve upon the sole ruler. 2 Therefore, at once envying the successes of Aratus and fearing his plots, he adopted a new and most admirable plan, first, to free himself from hatred and fear and guards and spearmen, and second, to become a benefactor of his native city. So he sent for Aratus, resigned his power, and made his city a member of the Achaean League. Wherefore the Achaeans exalted him and chose him general.
[Arat. 30.3] 3 Lydiades was at once ambitious to surpass Aratus in reputation, and not only did many other things which were thought unnecessary, but also proclaimed an expedition against the Lacedaemonians. Aratus opposed him, but was thought to do so out of jealousy; and Lydiades was chosen general for the second time, though Aratus openly worked against him and was eager to have the office given to someone else. 4 For Aratus himself, as I have said, held the office every other year. Accordingly, until he was general for the third time, Lydiades continued to be held in favour, and held the office every other year in alternation with Aratus; but after displaying an open enmity to him and frequently denouncing him before the Achaeans, he was cast aside and ignored, since it was apparent that he was contending, with a fictitious character, against a genuine and unadulterated virtue. 5 And just as the cuckoo, in the fable of Aesop, when he asks the little birds why they fly away from him, is told by them that he will one day be a hawk, so it would seem that since Lydiades had once been a tyrant he was never free from a suspicion, which did injustice to his real nature, that he would change again.
[Arat. 31.1] 31 1 In the Aetolian war also Aratus won a good repute. For when the Achaeans were bent on an engagement with the Aetolians in front of Megara, and Agis the king of the Lacedaemonians was come up with an army and joined in urging the Achaeans on to battle, Aratus opposed this counsel, and in spite of much vilification and much scoffing abuse for weakness and cowardice would not abandon, because of any seeming disgrace, which he judged to be for the general advantage, but allowed the enemy to cross the Geraneian range without a battle and pass on into Peloponnesus. 2 When, however, after thus passing on, they suddenly seized Pellene, he was no longer the same man, nor would he wait at all in order that his forces might assemble and come together from all quarters, but at once set out with those he had against the enemy, whom the disorder and wantonness attendant upon their success had wholly weakened. 3 For as soon as they had entered the city, the common soldiers had scattered themselves among the houses, jostling and fighting with one another over the booty, while the leaders and captains were going about and seizing the wives and daughters of the Pellenians, on whose heads they put their own helmets, that no one else might seize them, but that helmet might show to whom each woman belonged. But while they were in this situation and thus engaged, word was suddenly brought to them that Aratus had attacked. Dismay fell upon them, as was natural amid such disorder, and before all had learned of the danger the foremost of them, engaging with the Achaeans at the gates and in the suburbs, were already conquered and in full flight, and being driven in headlong rout, they filled with dismay those who were collecting together and coming to their aid.
[Arat. 32.1] 32 1 In the midst of this confusion, one of the captive women, daughter of Epigethes, a man of distinction, and herself conspicuous for beauty and stateliness of person, chanced to be sitting in the sanctuary of Artemis, where she had been placed by the captain of a picked corps, who had seized her for his prize and set his three-crested helmet upon her head. But suddenly she ran forth to view the tumult, 2 and as she stood in front of the gate of the sanctuary and looked down upon the combatants from on high, with the three-crested helmet on her head, she seemed to the citizens themselves a vision of more than human majesty, while the enemy thought they saw an apparition from heaven and were struck with amazement and terror, so that not a man of them thought of defending himself.
[Arat. 32.3] But the Pellenians themselves tell us that the image of the goddess usually stands untouched, and that when it is removed by the priestess and carried forth from the temple, no man looks upon it, but all turn their gaze away; for not only to mankind is it a grievous and terrible sight, but trees also, past which it may be carried, become barren and cast their fruit. 3 This image, then, he says, the priestess carried forth from the temple at this time, and by ever turning it in the faces of the Aetolians robbed them of their senses and took away their reason. Aratus, however, in his Commentaries, makes no mention of such a thing, but says that after routing the Aetolians and bursting into the city with them as they fled, he drove them out by main force, and slew seven hundred of them. The action was extolled as among the greatest exploits, and Timanthes the painter made a picture of the battle which in its composition vividly portrayed the event.
[Arat. 33.1] 33 1 Notwithstanding, since many peoples and dynasts were combining against the Achaeans, Aratus at once sought to make friends of the Aetolians, and with the assistance of Pantaleon, their most influential man, not only made peace, but also an alliance between them and the Achaeans.
[Arat. 33.2] 2 But in his eagerness to set Athens free he incurred the bitter reproaches of the Achaeans, because, though they had made a truce and suspended hostilities with the Macedonians, he attempted to seize the Peiraeus. He himself, however, in the Commentaries which he left, lays the blame for this attempt upon Erginus, with whose aid he had effected the capture of Acrocorinthus. 3 He says that Erginus attacked the Peiraeus on his own private account, and that when his scaling-ladder broke and the enemy were pursuing him, he kept calling upon Aratus by name, as if Aratus were there, and thus deceived and made his escape from them. But this defence does not seem to be convincing. For Erginus was a private man and a Syrian, and there is no likelihood that he would have conceived of so great an undertaking if he had not been under the guidance of Aratus and obtained from him the force and the fitting time for the attack. 4 And Aratus himself also made this plain, since he assaulted the Peiraeus, not twice or thrice, but many times, like a desperate lover, and would not desist in spite of his failures, but was roused to fresh courage by the very narrowness of the slight margin by which he was disappointed of his hopes. And once he actually put his leg out of joint as he fled through the Thriasian plain; and while he was under treatment for this, the knife was often used upon him, and for a long time was carried in a litter upon his campaigns.
[Arat. 34.1] 34 1 When Antigonus died and Demetrius succeeded to the throne, Aratus was all the more bent upon getting Athens, and wholly despised the Macedonians. And so, after he had been overcome in a battle at Phylacia by Bithys the general of Demetrius, and reports were rife, one that he had been captured, and another that he was dead, 2 Diogenes, the guardian of the Peiraeus, sent a letter to Corinth ordering the Achaeans to quit the city, since Aratus had been killed; but when the letter arrived at Corinth, Aratus chanced to be there in person, and so the messengers of Diogenes, after furnishing much diversion and laughter, went away. Moreover, the king himself sent a ship from Macedonia, on which Aratus was to be brought to him in chains. 3 And the Athenians, carrying their flattery of the Macedonians to the highest pitch of levity, crowned themselves with garlands as soon as they heard that Aratus was dead. Therefore he was wroth, and at once made an expedition against them, and advanced as far as the Academy; then he listened to their entreaties and did them no harm.
[Arat. 34.4] So the Athenians came to recognize the excellence of his character, and when, upon the death of Demetrius, they set out to regain their freedom, they called upon him. 4 Then Aratus, although another was at that time general of the Achaeans, and he himself was confined to his bed by a long sickness, nevertheless was carried in a litter to help the city in its time of need, and joined in persuading Diogenes, the commander of the garrison, to give up the Peiraeus, Munychia, Salamis, and Sunium to the Athenians for a hundred and fifty talents, twenty of which Aratus contributed himself. 5 Moreover, Aegina and Hermione at once came over to the Achaeans, and the greater part of Arcadia joined their league. And since the Macedonians were busy with certain neighbouring and adjacent wars, and the Aetolians were in alliance with the Achaeans, the power of the Achaean League was greatly increased.
[Arat. 35.1] 35 1 And now Aratus, seeking to effect his long-standing purpose, and impatient of the tyranny so near the Achaeans in Argos, sent messengers and tried to persuade Aristomachus to give his city freedom and attach it to the Achaean League, urging him to imitate Lydiades and be general of so great a nation with praise and honour, rather than tyrant of a single city with peril and hatred. 2 Aristomachus consented, and told Aratus to send him fifty talents, in order that he might disband and send away the soldiers under him, and the money was being provided. Upon this, Lydiades, who was still general and had an ambition that the Achaeans should regard this transaction as his own work, denounced Aratus to Aristomachus as a man who had always been an implacable enemy of tyrants, and after persuading Aristomachus to entrust the matter to himself, brought him before the Achaean council. 3 Then the members of the council put into clearest light their goodwill towards Aratus and their confidence in him. For when he angrily opposed the project, they drove Aristomachus away; but when he had been won over again, and came before them in person, and began to argue for the project, they speedily and readily adopted all his proposals, admitted Argos and Phlius into the league, and a year later actually chose Aristomachus general.
[Arat. 35.4] 4 Aristomachus, then, being in high favour with the Achaeans, and wishing to invade Laconia, summoned Aratus from Athens. Aratus wrote him a letter in which he tried to dissuade him from the expedition, and expressed unwillingness to involve the Achaeans in hostilities with Cleomenes, who was daring and growing marvellously in power; but, since Aristomachus was altogether insistent, Aratus obeyed orders and accompanied the expedition in person. 5 It was at this time that he prevented Aristomachus from joining battle when Cleomenes came upon them at Pallantium, and was denounced therefore by Lydiades, with whom he came into contest and competition for the office of general, winning the vote and being chosen general for the twelfth time.
[Arat. 36.1] 36 1 In the campaign of this year he was defeated by Cleomenes near Mount Lycaeum, and took to flight; and, since he lost his way in the night, he was thought to be dead, and once more a story to this effect had wide currency among the Greeks. But he escaped alive and rallied his soldiers, and then was not content to come off safely, 2 but making the best use of his opportunity, when no one expected or had any idea of what was to happen, he suddenly made an assault upon Mantineia, which was in alliance with Cleomenes; and having taken the city, he set a garrison there, and made its alien residents full citizens, thus acquiring single-handed for the conquered Achaeans what they could not easily have obtained as conquerors.
[Arat. 36.3] 3 And again, when the Lacedaemonians made an expedition against Megalopolis, he went to the aid of the city, but was loth to give Cleomenes a chance for the hand-to hand fighting which he desired, and resisted the importunities of the Megalopolitans. For he was never at any time well fitted by nature for set battles, and at this time in particular he was inferior in numbers, and was matched against a man who was young and daring, while his own courage was past its prime, and his ambition chastened. He also thought that the glory which his adversary was trying to acquire by his daring and did not possess, had already been acquired by himself and must be preserved by his caution.
[Arat. 37.1] 37 1 Nevertheless, his light infantry once made a sally, drove the Spartans as far as to their camp, and were scattered about among the tents. Aratus, however, would not even then lead up his men, but putting a ravine between himself and the enemy, halted there, and would not suffer his men-at arms to cross it. Then Lydiades, distressed at what was going on, and loading Aratus with reproaches, called his horsemen to him and exhorted them to go to the help of the pursuers, and not to let the victory slip out of their hands nor leave in the lurch a commander who was fighting in behalf of his native city. 2 Many brave men gathering at his call, he was emboldened to charge upon the right wing of the enemy, which he routed and pursued. But his ardour and ambition robbed him of discretion, and he was drawn on into places that were intricate and full of planted trees and broad trenches. Here Cleomenes attacked him and he fell, after a brilliant and most honourable combat at the gates of his native city. 3 The rest of his men fled to their main line, threw the men-at arms into confusion, and thus infected the whole army with their defeat. Aratus was severely blamed for this, being thought to have betrayed Lydiades; and when the Achaeans left the field in anger, they forced him to accompany them to Aegium. Here they held an assembly, and voted not to give him money and not to maintain mercenaries for him; if he wanted to wage war, he must provide the means himself.
[Arat. 38.1] 38 1 Smarting under this insult, he resolved to give up his seal at once, and resign the office of general, but upon reflection he held on for the present, and after leading the Achaeans forth to Orchomenus, fought a battle there with Megistonoüs, the stepfather of Cleomenes, in which he got the upper hand, killing three hundred of the enemy and taking Megistonoüs prisoner. 2 But when, accustomed as he was to be general every other year, his turn came round again and he was invited to take the office, he formally declined, and Timoxenus was chosen general. Now the grounds usually given for this refusal of Aratus, namely, his anger at the people, were not thought to be convincing, and the real reason for it was the situation of the Achaeans. For the invasions of Cleomenes were no longer quiet and restrained, as formerly, nor was he fettered by the civil authorities, 3 but after he had killed the ephors, divided up the land, advanced many resident aliens to the citizenship, and thus got an irresponsible power, he immediately pressed the Achaeans hard, and demanded the supreme leadership for himself.
[Arat. 38.4] And therefore men blame Aratus, because, when the ship of state was driving in a great surge and storm, he forsook the pilot’s helm and left it to another, although it had been well, even if the people were unwilling, to remain at their head and save them; 4 and if he despaired of the government and power of the Achaeans, he ought to have yielded to Cleomenes, and not to have made Peloponnesus quite barbarous again under Macedonian garrisons, nor to have filled Acrocorinthus with Illyrian and Gallic arms, nor, in the case of men whom he was always defeating in the fields of war and statesmanship and abusing in the pages of his Commentaries, to have made these men lords over the cities under the endearing name of allies. 5 And if Cleomenes was, as must be granted, lawless and arbitrary, still, Heracleidae were his ancestors, and Sparta was his native land, the meanest citizen of which was more worthy than the foremost Macedonian to be made their leader by those who had any regard for Greek nobility of birth.
[Arat. 38.6] And yet Cleomenes asked the Achaeans for the office with the promise that he would confer many benefits upon their cities in return for that honour and its title, 6 whereas Antigonus, although he was proclaimed leader with full powers by land and sea, would not accept the office until Acrocorinthus had been promised him as the pay for his leadership. In this he acted just like Aesop’s hunter. For he would not mount the Achaeans, although they prayed him to do so and presented their backs to him by way of embassies and decrees, until they consented to wear the bit and bridle of the garrison they received and the hostages they gave. 7 And yet Aratus says everything that he can say in explaining the necessity that was upon him. Polybius, however, says that for a long time, and before the necessity arose, Aratus mistrusted the daring temper of Cleomenes and made secret overtures to Antigonus, besides putting the Megalopolitans forward to beg the Achaeans to call in Antigonus.
[Arat. 38.8] For the Megalopolitans were most oppressed by the war, since Cleomenes was continually plundering their territory. 8 A similar account of these matters is given by Phylarchus also, in whom, but for the testimony of Polybius, one should not put entire credence. For goodwill makes his every mention of Cleomenes ecstatic, and as if he were pleading in a court of law, he is for ever accusing Aratus in his history, and defending Cleomenes.
[Arat. 39.1] 39 1 So, then, the Achaeans lost Mantineia, which was taken again by Cleomenes, and after being defeated in a great battle at Hecatombaeum they were so dismayed that they sent at once and invited Cleomenes to come to Argos and assume the leadership. 2 But Aratus, when he learned that Cleomenes was on the way and at Lerna with his forces, feared the issue, and sent an embassy to demand that he should come with three hundred men only, as to friends and allies, and that if he was distrustful, he should accept hostages. Cleomenes declared that he was insulted and mocked by this demand, and retired with his army, after writing a letter to the Achaeans which was full of bitter accusations against Aratus. 3 Aratus also wrote letters against Cleomenes; and their mutual abuse and defamation reached the point of maligning one another’s marriages and wives.
[Arat. 39.4] As a result of this, Cleomenes sent a herald to declare war against the Achaeans, and almost succeeded in seizing the city of Sicyon with the help of traitors; he turned aside, however, when close at hand, and assaulted and took the city of Pellene, from which the Achaean commander fled. And not long afterwards he took Pheneus also and Penteleium. 4 Then Argos went over to his side, and Phlius received a garrison which he sent. In a word, not one of their acquisitions longer held firm to the Achaeans, but a vast confusion suddenly encompassed Aratus. He saw Peloponnesus shaking, and its cities everywhere stirred to revolt by restless agitators.
[Arat. 40.1] 40 1 For there was no quiet anywhere, and no contentment with present conditions, but even among the Sicyonians and Corinthians themselves there were many who were known to have been in conference with Cleomenes, men whom a desire for private domination had long ago led into secret hostility towards the common interests. 2 For the punishment of these men Aratus was clothed with absolute power, and seizing those in Sicyon who were thus corrupted he put them to death; but when he tried to seek out and chastise those in Corinth, he roused the resentment of the populace there, which was already disaffected and ill at ease under the Achaean administration. So they assembled hastily in the temple of Apollo and sent for Aratus, determined to kill him or seize him, and then to revolt. 3 He came, accordingly, leading his horse after him, as though he had no distrust or suspicion, and when many sprang up and abused and denounced him, with a composed countenance and gentle word he bade them sit down and not stand there shouting in disorderly fashion, but to admit also those who were outside at the door; and as he spoke, he withdrew slowly, as if he would hand his horse over to somebody. 4 Having thus slipped out of the crowd, he conversed calmly with the Corinthians who met him, bidding them go to the temple of Apollo, and so, before his enemies were aware of it, came nigh the citadel. Then he leaped upon his horse, and after giving orders to Cleopater the commander of the garrison in the citadel to guard it with a strong hand, he rode off to Sicyon, followed by only thirty of his soldiers; the rest deserted him and dispersed.
[Arat. 40.5] 5 After a little while the Corinthians learned of his flight and pursued him, but did not overtake him. Then they sent for Cleomenes and delivered their city into his hands, although he thought that he had gained by what they gave him far less than he had lost by their letting Aratus get away. Cleomenes, accordingly, after the accession to him of the inhabitants of Acte, as the district is called, who placed their cities in his hands, proceeded to run a wall and palisade about Acrocorinthus.
[Arat. 41.1] 41 1 But a few of the Achaeans came together with Aratus at Sicyon; and in an assembly there held he was chosen general with full powers. And now he surrounded himself with a guard from among his own citizens. For three-and thirty years he had directed public affairs among the Achaeans, and had enjoyed more power and reputation than any other Greek; but now, abandoned by his allies and helplessly crushed, he was like one drifting about in great surge and peril on the wreck of his native city. 2 For the Aetolians refused him their aid when he asked for it, and the Athenians, whom gratitude made eager to help him, were prevented by Eurycleides and Micion. As for the house and property belonging to Aratus in Corinth, Cleomenes would not touch them at all, nor permit anyone else to do so, but sent for the friends and stewards of Aratus and ordered them to administer and watch over everything as though they were to render an account to Aratus. 3 Moreover, he privately sent Tripylus to Aratus, and afterwards Megistonoüs, his stepfather, promising to give him, besides many other things, a yearly pension of twelve talents, thus doubling the amount which Aratus received annually from Ptolemy; for he sent six talents each year to Aratus. Cleomenes demanded, however, that he should be proclaimed leader of the Achaeans, and together with them should have the keeping of Acrocorinthus. 4 Aratus made answer that he did not control affairs, but rather was controlled by them; whereupon Cleomenes, thinking himself mocked, at once invaded the territory of Sicyon, ravaged and laid it waste, and encamped before the city three months. All this while Aratus held out patiently, and debated with himself whether he should accept Antigonus as an ally on condition of handing over to him Acrocorinthus! for on any other terms Antigonus was unwilling to give him help.
[Arat. 42.1] 42 1 Accordingly, the Achaeans came together at Aegium and invited Aratus thither. But there was danger in his trying to get there, since Cleomenes was encamped before Sicyon. Besides, the citizens tried to detain him, beseeching him not to go and refusing to let him expose himself while the enemy were near; and presently the women and children were clinging to him and tearfully embracing him as a common father and preserver. 2 Nevertheless, after encouraging and comforting them, he rode out to the sea, accompanied by ten friends and by his son, who was now a young man. Vessels were lying at anchor off the shore, and upon these the party were conveyed to Aegium, where the assembly was sitting. Here it was voted to call in Antigonus and hand over to him Acrocorinthus. 3 Aratus even sent his son to Antigonus with the other hostages. At this the Corinthians were indignant; they plundered his property and made a present of his house to Cleomenes.
[Arat. 43.1] 43 1 And now, as Antigonus was approaching with his forces (he was followed by twenty thousand Macedonian footmen and thirteen hundred horse), Aratus, in company with his High Councillors, went by sea to meet him at Pegae, eluding the enemy. He had no very great confidence in Antigonus, and put no trust in the Macedonians. For he knew that his own rise to power had been a consequence of the harm he had done to them, and that he had found the first and the chief basis for his conduct of affairs in his hatred towards the former Antigonus. 2 But seeing how inexorable was the necessity laid upon him in the demands of the hour, to which those we call rulers are slaves, he went on towards the dread ordeal. But Antigonus, when he was told that Aratus was coming to him, gave the rest of the party an ordinary and moderate welcome; Aratus, however, he received at this first meeting with superlative honour, and afterwards, finding him to be a man of worth and wisdom, drew him in closer intimacy to himself.
[Arat. 43.3] 3 For Aratus was not only helpful in large undertakings, but also more acceptable than anyone else as a companion in the king’s leisure hours. Therefore, although Antigonus was young, as soon as he perceived that Aratus was naturally well fitted to be a king’s friend, he continually treated him with greater intimacy than anyone else, whether of the Achaeans, or of the Macedonians in his following; 4 and thus the omen proved true which the god had given to Aratus in his sacrificial victims. For it is related that as he was sacrificing a little while before this, a liver was found which had two gall-bladders enclosed in a single coil of fat; whereupon the seer had declared that Aratus would soon enter into close friendship with what he most hated and fought against. At the time, then, Aratus paid no heed to the utterance, since in general he put little faith in victims and divinations, and trusted rather to his reasoning powers. 5 Later, however, when the war was going on well, Antigonus gave a feast in Corinth, at which he had many guests, and made Aratus recline just above himself. After a little while the king called for a coverlet, and asked Aratus if he too did not think it cold; and when Aratus replied that he was very chilly, the king ordered him to come nearer; so that the rug which the servants brought was thrown over both of them together. Then, indeed, Aratus called to mind his sacrificial victims and burst out laughing, and told the king about the omen and the seer’s prediction. But this took place at a later time.
[Arat. 44.1] 44 1 At Pegae Antigonus and Aratus exchanged oaths of fidelity, and straightway marched against the enemy at Corinth. And there were conflicts about the city, Cleomenes being well fortified, and the Corinthians defending themselves with ardour. Meanwhile, however, Aristotle the Argive, who was a friend of Aratus, sent secretly to him and promised to bring his city to revolt from Cleomenes if Aratus would come thither with soldiers. 2 So Aratus, after informing Antigonus, took fifteen hundred men and sailed from the Isthmus to Epidaurus with all speed. But the Argives, revolting prematurely, attacked the garrison of Cleomenes and shut them up in the citadel, and Cleomenes, learning of this, and fearing that if his enemies got possession of Argos they would cut him off from a safe return home, abandoned Acrocorinthus while it was still night and went to their aid. 3 He succeeded in getting into Argos first, routing some of the enemy on the way; but shortly afterwards Aratus came up, and Antigonus showed himself with his forces, and Cleomenes therefore retreated to Mantineia. Upon this the cities all came over to the Achaeans again, Acrocorinthus was handed over to Antigonus, and Aratus, having been chosen general by the Argives, persuaded them to make a present to Antigonus of the property of the tyrants and of the traitors. 4 As for Aristomachus, he was tortured at Cenchreae and then thrown into the sea; for which deed, more than any other, Aratus was reproached, on the ground that he had allowed a man to be lawlessly put to death who was not wicked, but had coöperated with him, and at his persuasion had renounced his power and attached his city to the Achaean League.
[Arat. 45.1] 45 1 Presently, too, men began to blame Aratus for whatever else was done, as, for instance, that the Achaeans made a present to Antigonus of the city of Corinth, as if it had been an ordinary village; that they allowed the king to plunder Orchomenus and put a Macedonian garrison in it; that they decreed not to write or send an embassy to any other king against the wishes of Antigonus; 2 that they were forced to furnish supplies and pay for the Macedonian troops; and that they celebrated sacrifices, processions, and games in honour of Antigonus, the fellow-citizens of Aratus leading the way and receiving Antigonus into their city, where he was the guest of Aratus. For all these things men blamed Aratus, not knowing that, since he had entrusted the reins to the king and was dragged along in the wake of the king’s power, he was no longer master of anything except his tongue, which it was dangerous for him to use with freedom. 3 At any rate Aratus was plainly annoyed at many acts of the king, and especially at his treatment of the statues in Argos; for those of the tyrants, which had been cast down, Antigonus set up again, while those of the captors of Acrocorinthus, which were standing, he threw down, that of Aratus only excepted; and though Aratus made many appeals to him in the matter, he could not persuade him. 4 It was thought also that the treatment of Mantineia by the Achaeans was not in accord with the Greek spirit. For after mastering that city with the aid of Antigonus, they put to death the leading and most noted citizens, and of the rest, some they sold into slavery, while others they sent off into Macedonia in chains, and made slaves of their wives and children, dividing a third of the money thus raised among themselves, and giving the remaining two-thirds to the Macedonians. It is true that this came under the law of reprisal; for though it is a terrible thing to treat men of the same race and blood in this way, out of anger, still “in dire stress even cruelty is sweet,” as Simonides says, when men, as it were, give satisfaction and healing care to a mind that is in anguish and inflamed. But the subsequent treatment of the city by Aratus was neither necessary nor honourable, and cannot be excused. 6 For after the Achaeans had received the city from Antigonus as a present and had decided to colonize it, Aratus himself was chosen to be the founder of the new settlement, and being then general, got a decree passed that the city should no longer be called Mantineia, but Antigoneia, and this is its name down to the present time. And so it was due to Aratus that the name of “lovely Mantineia” was altogether extinguished, and the city continues to bear the name of him who destroyed and slew its former citizens.
[Arat. 46.1] 46 1 After this, Cleomenes, having been defeated in a great battle at Sellasia, forsook Sparta and sailed off to Egypt, and Antigonus, after having accorded to Aratus fair and kindly treatment in every way, led his army back to Macedonia. There, being now a sick man, he sent Philip, his successor in the kingdom, who was still a stripling, into the Peloponnesus, and urged him to attach himself to Aratus above all others, and through him to deal with the cities and make the acquaintance of the Achaeans. And indeed Aratus did take the prince in hand, and managed matters so as to send him back to Macedonia full of great goodwill towards his patron and of ardour and ambition for the conduct of Hellenic affairs.
[Arat. 47.1] 47 1 But upon the death of Antigonus the Aetolians, despising the Achaeans on account of their slothful ways (for now that they were accustomed to save themselves by other men’s prowess and had taken shelter behind the Macedonian arms, they were living in great inactivity and lack of discipline), proceeded to interfere in the affairs of Peloponnesus; and after plundering the territories of Patrae and Dyme on their way, they invaded Messenia and ravaged it. 2 At this Aratus was incensed, and seeing that Timoxenus, who at that time was general of the Achaeans, was hesitant and dilatory, since his term of office was just about to expire, he himself, having been chosen to succeed Timoxenus, anticipated his term of office by five days for the sake of giving aid to the Messenians. And having assembled the Achaeans, who were physically and mentally unfit for war, he met with defeat at Caphyae. 3 Then, being thought to have conducted the campaign with too much ardour, his purposes were once more blunted and he gave up the cause and his hopes for lost, so that oftentimes, when the Aetolians gave him an advantage, he neglected it, and suffered them to revel, as it were, in Peloponnesus, with great boldness and wantonness. 4 Once more, therefore, the Achaeans stretched out their hands imploringly to Macedonia, and brought Philip down to take part in Hellenic affairs, above all things because his goodwill towards Aratus and his confidence in him led them to hope that they would find him easy-tempered in all things and manageable.
[Arat. 48.1] 48 1 And now for the first time Apelles, Megaleas, and sundry other courtiers made false charges against Aratus to which the king listened, and joining in the canvass made by those of the opposite faction, he favoured the election of Eperatus as general of the Achaeans. 2 But Eperatus was altogether despised by the Achaeans, and as long as Aratus gave little heed to public matters nothing went well. Philip therefore perceived that he had been entirely wrong. So he reversed his course, went back to Aratus, and was wholly his; and since the progress of events now brought him increased power and reputation, he depended altogether upon Aratus, convinced that his repute and strength were due to him. 3 And all the world thought that Aratus was a good guardian and tutor for a kingdom no less than for a democracy; for his principles and character were manifest, like colour in a fabric, in the actions of the king. For instance, the moderation of the young prince in dealing with the offending Lacedaemonians, his engaging behaviour towards the Cretans, by means of which he won the whole island to obedience in a few days, and the astonishingly vigorous conduct of his campaign against the Aetolians, all added to the reputation of Philip for taking good advice, and to that of Aratus for giving it. 4 For this reason, too, the royal courtiers were all the more envious of him, and since they could accomplish nothing by their secret calumnies, they took to abusing and insulting him openly at their banquets, with great wantonness and scurrility; and once they actually pursued and threw stones at him as he was going to his tent after supper. At this Philip was enraged, and for the nonce fined them twenty talents; afterwards, however, regarding them as a noxious and confusing element in his affairs, he put them to death.
[Arat. 49.1] 49 1 But soon, as the king’s fortune flowed smoothly on, he was lifted up by his success, and developed many inordinate desires; his inherent badness, too, forcing aside the unnatural restraints of his assumed deportment and making its way to the light, little by little laid bare and revealed his true character. In the first place he inflicted a private wrong upon the younger Aratus by corrupting his wife, and was for a long time undetected, since he was a housemate and a guest of the family; in the second place, he began to show hostility towards the civil polities of the Greeks, and it was presently clear that he was trying to shake off Aratus. 2 First grounds of suspicion were afforded by his conduct at Messene. For there was factional strife in the city, and Aratus was tardy in coming to its aid, and Philip, who got to the city a day before Aratus, at once goaded on the two parties against one another. In private he asked the generals of the Messenians if they had not laws to enforce against the common people, and again in private he asked the leaders of the common people if they had not hands to lift against the tyrants. 3 Upon this the officials plucked up courage and tried to lay hands upon the leaders of the people, and they, coming to the attack at the head of their followers, slew the officials and nearly two hundred citizens besides.
[Arat. 50.1] 50 1 After this outrageous deed of Philip’s, and while he was striving more than ever to set the Messenians by the ears, Aratus reached the city. He showed clearly that he was indignant himself, and would not check his son when he bitterly reproached and reviled Philip. Now, it would seem that the young man was a lover of Philip; and so at this time he told Philip, among other things, that he no longer thought him fair to look upon, after so foul a deed, but the most repulsive of men. 2 Philip made no answer to him, although it was expected that he would, since in his anger he had many times cried out savagely while the young man was speaking, but as though he meekly submitted to what had been said and was a person of moderation and not above the ordinary citizen, he gave the elder Aratus his hand, led him forth from the theatre, and brought him to the Ithomatas, in order to sacrifice to Zeus and take a view of the place. 3 For it is quite as well walled in as Acrocorinthus, and with a garrison in it is difficult of access and a hard place for its neighbours to take by force. Thither Philip went up, and offered sacrifice, and when the seer brought him the entrails of the ox, he took them in both hands and showed them to Aratus and Demetrius of Pharos, leaning towards each one in turn and asking them what indications they saw in the omens; was he to be master of the citadel, or to give it back to the Messenians? 4 Demetrius, with a laugh, replied: “If thou hast the spirit of a seer, thou wilt give up the place; but if that of a king, thou wilt hold the ox by both its horns,” speaking darkly of Peloponnesus, which, if Philip added the Ithomatas to Acrocorinthus, would be altogether subject and submissive to him. 5 Aratus held his peace for a long time, but upon Philip’s asking him to express his opinion, said: “There are many lofty hills in Crete, O Philip, and many towering citadels in Boeotia and Phocis; in Acarnania, too, I suppose, as well inland as on its shores, there are many places which show an amazing strength; but not one of these dost thou occupy, and yet all these peoples gladly do thy bidding. 6 For it is robbers that cling to crags and cliffs, but for a king there is no stronger or more secure defence than trust and gratitude. Relying upon these, young as thou art, thou hast already made thyself leader here, and master there.” While he was yet speaking, Philip handed the entrails to the seer, and drawing Aratus to him by the hand, said: “Come hither, then, and let us take the same road,” implying that he had been constrained by him and made to give up the city.
[Arat. 51.1] 51 1 But Aratus presently began to withdraw from the court and little by little to retire from his intimacy with Philip. When the king was about to cross into Epeirus and asked him to join the expedition, he refused and remained at home, fearing that he would be covered with ignominy by the king’s proceedings. 2 Philip lost his fleet most shamefully at the hands of the Romans, and after utter failure in his undertakings, came back into Peloponnesus. Here he tried once more to hoodwink the Messenians, and after being detected in this, wronged them openly and ravaged their territory. Then Aratus was altogether estranged and filled with distrust of the king, being now aware also of the crime committed against his domestic life. At this he was sorely vexed himself, but kept it hidden from his son, 3 who could only know that he had been shamefully abused, seeing that he was not able to avenge himself. For Philip would seem to have undergone a very great and inexplicable change, in that from a gentle prince and chaste youth he became a lascivious man and a pernicious tyrant. In fact, however, this was not a change of nature, but a showing forth, in time of security, of a baseness which his fears had long led him to conceal.
[Arat. 52.1] 52 1 For that the feelings which he had cherished from the beginning towards Aratus had an admixture of shame and fear, was made plain by what he did to him at the last. For he desired to kill Aratus, and thought he could not be a free man while Aratus lived, much less a tyrant or a king. In a violent way, however, he made no attempt upon him, but ordered Taurion, one of his officers and friends, to do this in a secret way, preferably by poison, when the king was absent. 2 So Taurion made an intimate companion of Aratus, and gave him poison, not of a sharp and violent sort, but one of those which first induce gentle heats in the body, and a dull cough, and then little by little bring on consumption. The thing was not hidden from Aratus, but since it was no use for him to convict the criminal, he calmly and silently drank his cup of suffering to the dregs, as if his sickness had been of a common and familiar type. 3 However, when one of his intimate companions who was with him in his chamber saw him spit blood, and expressed surprise, “Such, my dear Cephalo,” said Aratus, “are the wages of royal friendship.”
[Arat. 53.1] 53 1 And so he died, at Aegium, while general for the seventeenth time, and the Achaeans were very desirous that he should have burial there and memorials befitting his life. But the Sicyonians regarded it as a calamity that he should not be buried in their city, and persuaded the Achaeans to surrender his body to them. 2 They had, however, an ancient law that no one should be buried inside the city walls, and the law was supported by strong feelings of superstition. So they sent to Delphi to get advice in the matter from the Pythian priestess, and she gave them the following oracular answer: —
[Arat. 53.1b] “Would’st thou, O Sicyon, pay Aratus lasting honour for the lives he saved,
And join in pious funeral rites for thy departed lord?
[Arat. 53.1c] Know that the place which vexes or is vexed by him
Is sacrilegious, be it in earth or sky or sea.”
[Arat. 53.3] 3 When the oracle was brought to them the Achaeans were all delighted, the Sicyonians, in particular, changing their mourning into festival, at once put on garlands and white raiment and brought the body of Aratus from Aegium into their city, amid hymns of praise and choral dances; and choosing out a commanding place, they buried him there, calling him founder and saviour of the city. 4 And the place is called to this day Arateium, and yearly sacrifices are made to Aratus there, one on the day when he freed the city from its tyranny — the fifth day of the month Daesius (which the Athenians call Anthesterion), which sacrifice has the name Soteria, and one on the day of the month when, according to the records, he was born. The first of these sacrifices was performed by the priest of Zeus the Saviour; the second by the priest of Aratus, who wore a headband, not pure white but purple and white, 5 and hymns with accompaniment of lyre were sung by the artists of Dionysus, and the gymnasiarch took part in the procession, at the head of the boys and young men of military age; then followed the councillors wearing garlands, and all other citizens who desired. Of these ceremonial rites the Sicyonians still preserve slight traces, celebrated on the same days of the year, but most of them, owing to the passage of time, and the pressure of other matters, have lapsed.
[Arat. 54.1] 54 1 Such was the life and such the nature of the elder Aratus, as history tells us; and as for his son, he was deprived of his reason by Philip, who had an abominable nature and added savage cruelty to his wanton exercise of power. He gave the young man poisons which did not kill, but crazed, and thus made him a prey to strange and dreadful impulses, under which he grasped at absurd activities, and experiences not only shameful but destructive, so that death came to him, although he was young and in the flower of his life, not as a calamity, but as release from evils, and salvation. 2 For this unholy deed, however, Philip paid ample penalties to Zeus, the guardian of hospitality and friendship, as long as he lived. For after being subdued by the Romans and putting his fortunes in their hands, he was stripped of most of his dominions, surrendered all his ships but five, agreed to pay a thousand talents besides, gave up his son to serve as a hostage, and only out of pity obtained Macedonia and its tributaries. But he was for ever putting to death the noblest of his subjects and his nearest kin, and thus filled his whole kingdom with horror and hatred of him. 3 One piece of good fortune only was his, amid so many ills, and that was a son of surpassing excellence; but this son he killed, out of envy and jealousy of the honour paid him by the Romans, and left his kingdom to his other son, Perseus, who was not legitimate, as we are told, but supposititious, the child of a sempstress, Gnathaenion. This king graced the triumph of Aemilius, and with him ended the royal line of the Antigonids; whereas the descendants of Aratus were living at Sicyon and Pellene in my time.

## Galba

[Galb. 1.1] 1 1 IPHICRATES the Athenian used to think that the mercenary soldier might well be fond of wealth and fond of pleasure, in order that his quest for the means to gratify his desires might lead him to fight with greater recklessness; but most people think that a body of soldiers, just like a natural body in full vigour, ought to have no initiative of its own, but should follow that of its commander. 2 Wherefore Paulus Aemilius, as we are told, finding that the army which he had taken over in Macedonia was infected with loquacity and meddlesomeness, as though they were all generals, gave out word that each man was to have his hand ready and his sword sharp, but that he himself would look out for the rest. Moreover, Plato sees that a good commander or general can do nothing unless his army is amenable and loyal; and he thinks that the quality of obedience, like the quality characteristic of a king, requires a noble nature and a philosophic training, which, above all things, blends harmoniously the qualities of gentleness and humanity with those of high courage and aggressiveness. Many dire events, and particularly those which befell the Romans after the death of Nero, bear witness to this, and show plainly that an empire has nothing more fearful to show than a military force given over to untrained and unreasoning impulses. 4 Demades, indeed, after Alexander had died, likened the Macedonian army to the blinded Cyclops, observing the many random and disorderly movements that it made; but the Roman Empire was a prey to convulsions and disasters like those caused by the Titans of mythology, being torn into many fragments, and again in many places collapsing upon itself, not so much through the ambition of those who were proclaimed emperors, as through the greed and licence of the soldiery, which drove out one commander with another as nail drives out nail. 5 And yet the Pheraean who ruled Thessaly for ten months and was then promptly killed, was called the tragedy-tyrant by Dionysius, with scornful reference to the quickness of the change. But the house of the Caesars, the Palatium, in a shorter time than this received four emperors, the soldiery ushering one in and another out, as in play. But the suffering people had one consolation at least in the fact that they needed no other punishment of the authors of their sufferings, but saw them slain by one another’s hands, and first and most righteously of all, the man who ensnared the soldiery and taught them to expect from the deposition of a Caesar all the good things which he promised them, thus defiling a most noble deed by the pay he offered for it, and turning the revolt from Nero into treachery.
[Galb. 2.1] 2 1 It was Nymphidius Sabinus, prefect of the court guard along with Tigellinus, as I have already stated, who, when Nero’s case was altogether desperate, and it was clear that he was going to run away to Egypt, persuaded the soldiery, as though Nero were no longer there but had already fled, to proclaim Galba emperor, 2 and promise as largess seventy-five thousand drachmas for those in service outside of Rome, a sum which it was impossible to raise without inflicting ten thousand times more evils upon the world than those inflicted by Nero. 3 This promise was at once the death of Nero, and soon afterwards of Galba: the one the soldiers abandoned to his fate in order to get their reward, the other they killed because they did not get it. Then, in trying to find someone who would give them as high a price, they destroyed themselves in a succession of revolts and treacheries before their expectations were satisfied. Now, the accurate and circumstantial narration of these events belongs to formal history; but it is my duty also not to omit such incidents as are worthy of mention in the deeds and fates of the Caesars.
[Galb. 3.1] 3 1 That Sulpicius Galba was the richest private person who ever came to the imperial throne, is generally admitted; moreover, his connection with the noble house of the Servii gave him great prestige, although he prided himself more on his relationship to Catulus, who was the foremost man in his time in virtue and reputation, even if he gladly left to others the exercise of greater power. 2 Galba was also somehow related to Livia, the wife of Augustus Caesar, and therefore, at the instance of Livia, he was made consul by the emperor. We are told also that he commanded an army in Germany with distinction, and that when he was pro-consul of Africa, he won such praise as few have done. But his simple and contented way of living, the sparing hand with which he dealt out money, always avoiding excess, were counted unto him, when he became emperor, as parsimony, so that the reputation which he bore for moderation and self-restraint was an insipid sort of thing. 3 By Nero he was sent out as governor of Spain, before Nero had yet learned to be afraid of citizens who were held in high esteem. Galba, however, was thought to be of a gentle nature, and his great age gave an added confidence that he would always act with caution.
[Galb. 4.1] 4 1 But when, as the nefarious agents of Nero savagely and cruelly harried the provinces, Galba could help the people in no other way than by making it plain that he shared in their distress and sense of wrong, this somehow brought relief and comfort to those who were being condemned in court and sold into slavery. And when verses were made about Nero, and men circulated and sang them freely, he did not put a stop to it nor share in the displeasure of Nero’s agents; wherefore he was still more beloved by the inhabitants. 2 For he was by this time well known to them, since it was in the eighth year of his governorship that Junius Vindex, a general in Gaul, revolted against Nero. It is said, indeed, that even before the open rebellion Galba received letters from Vindex, and that he neither put any trust in them nor gave accusing information about them, although other provincial governors sent to Nero the letters written to them, and thus did all they could to ruin the enterprise of Vindex; and yet they afterwards took part in it, and thus confessed that they had been false to themselves no less than to Vindex. 3 But after Vindex had openly declared war, he wrote to Galba inviting him to assume the imperial power, and thus to serve what was a vigorous body in need of a head, meaning the Gallic provinces, which already had a hundred thousand men under arms, and could arm other thousands besides. Then Galba took counsel with his friends. Some of these thought it best for him to wait and see what movement Rome would set on foot in response to the revolution; 4 but Titus Vinius, the captain of the praetorian guard, said to them: “O Galba, what counsels are these? For to ask whether we shall remain faithful to Nero means that we are already unfaithful. Assuming, then, that Nero is an enemy, we surely must not reject the friendship of Vindex; or else we must at once denounce him and make war upon him because he wishes the Romans to have thee as their ruler rather than Nero as their tyrant.”
[Galb. 5.1] 5 1 After this, Galba issued an edict appointing a day on which he would grant individual admissions to all who desired them, and gossip and rumour flying all abroad brought together a multitude of men who were eager for the revolution. 2 At any rate, no sooner was Galba seen upon the tribunal than all with one voice hailed him as emperor. However, he did not at once accept this appellation, but after denouncing Nero, and bewailing the most illustrious of the men who had been put to death by him, promised to devote his best powers to the service of his country, taking as his title, not Caesar, nor Emperor, but General of the Roman Senate and People.
[Galb. 5.3] 3 Now, that Vindex acted wisely and well in calling upon Galba to be emperor, was convincingly proved by Nero. For though he pretended to despise Vindex and to regard matters in Gaul as of no moment, as soon as he learned what Galba had done — Nero had just taken his bath and was at breakfast — he overturned his table. 4 However, after the Senate had voted Galba an enemy, Nero, with a desire to jest and put on a bold countenance with his friends, said that an excellent idea had occurred to him in his need of money: the property of the Gauls would not fall to him as spoil of war until after they should be subdued; but Galba’s estate was ready to be used and sold at once, now that Galba had been declared a public enemy. 5 So he ordered the property of Galba to be sold, and Galba, when he heard of it, put up at public sale all that Nero owned in Spain, and found many readier buyers.
[Galb. 6.1] 6 1 Many were now falling away from Nero, and almost all of them attached themselves to Galba; only Clodius Macer in Africa, and Verginius Rufus in Gaul (where he commanded the German forces), acted on their own account, though each took a different course. 2 Clodius, whose cruelty and greed had led him into robberies and murders, was clearly in a strait where he could neither retain nor give up his command; while Verginius, who commanded the strongest legions and was often saluted by them as emperor and strongly urged to take the title, declared that he would neither assume the imperial power himself, nor allow it to be given to anyone else whom the senate did not elect. 3 These things greatly disturbed Galba at first; but presently the armies of Verginius and Vindex in a manner forced their leaders, like charioteers who had lost control of the reins, into the crash of a great battle, and Vindex, after the loss of twenty thousand Gauls, died by his own hand, and a report was current that all the soldiers desired Verginius, in view of the great victory he had won, to assume the imperial power, or they would go back again to Nero. 4 Then indeed Galba was all alarm, and wrote to Verginius inviting him to join in efforts for the preservation alike of the empire and the freedom of the Romans. But after this he retired with his friends to Clunia, a city in Spain, and spent his time in repenting of what he had done and in longing for his habitual and wonted freedom from care, rather than in taking any of the steps now made necessary.
[Galb. 7.1] 7 1 It was now summer, and shortly before sunset there came from Rome a freedman named Icelus, who had made the journey in seven days. Having learned that Galba was reposing by himself, he went in hot haste to his chamber, opened the door in spite of the chamberlains, entered, 2 and announced that Nero was still alive, but in hiding, that the army first, and then the senate and the people, had proclaimed Galba emperor, and that a little while afterwards it was reported that Nero was dead; Icelus himself, however, as he said, had not believed the report, but had gone and seen the dead body where it lay, and then had set out on his journey. 3 This announcement highly elated Galba, and there came running to his door a multitude of men who had gained complete confidence as the result of Icelus’ report. And yet the messenger’s speed was incredible. But two days afterwards Titus Vinius with others came from the camp and reported in detail the decrees of the senate. Vinius, accordingly, was advanced to a position of honour, and as for the freedman, he was allowed to wear the gold ring, received the name of Marcianus instead of Icelus, and had the chief influence among the freedmen.
[Galb. 8.1] 8 1 But at Rome Nymphidius Sabinus was forcing the entire control of affairs into his own hands, not slowly and little by little, but all at once. He thought that Galba was an old man and would hardly have the strength to be carried to Rome on a litter, by reason of his age, for he was in his seventy-third year; moreover, he knew that the soldiery in the city had long been well disposed towards him and were now devoted to him alone, regarding him as their benefactor because of the large gifts which he promised, but Galba as their debtor. 2 Straightway, therefore, he ordered his colleague Tigellinus to lay down his sword, gave receptions at which he banqueted men who had been consuls or in high command (although he still affixed the name of Galba to his invitations), and instigated many of the soldiers to declare that a deputation ought to be sent to Galba demanding that Nymphidius be made prefect for life without a colleague.
[Galb. 8.3] 3 Moreover, the senate did much to enhance his honour and power, giving him the title of benefactor, assembling daily at his door, and allowing him the privilege of initiating and confirming all their decrees. This raised him to a still higher pitch of boldness, so that within a short time those who paid court to him were filled, not only with jealousy, but also with fear. 4 When the consuls provided public servants to carry the decrees of the senate to the emperor, and gave to these the diplomas, as they were called, sealed with their official seal (in order that the magistrates of the various cities, recognising this, might expedite the supply of fresh vehicles for the journey of the couriers), he was vexed beyond all bounds because the decrees had not been sent under his seal and in charge of his soldiers, nay, it is said that he actually thought of proceeding against the consuls, but put away his wrath when they excused themselves and begged for forgiveness. 5 Again, in his desire to gratify the people, he would not prevent them from beating to death any follower of Nero who fell into their hands. Accordingly, they cast Spiculus the gladiator under statues of Nero that were being dragged about in the forum, and killed him; Aponius, one of Nero’s informers, they threw to the ground and dragged waggons laden with stone over him; and many others, some of whom had done no wrong, they tore in pieces, so that Mauricus, who was justly deemed one of the best men in Rome, told the senate that he was afraid they would soon be searching for a Nero.
[Galb. 9.1] 9 1 Thus coming in his hopes nearer and nearer to his goal, Nymphidius was not averse to having it said that he was the son of the Caius Caesar who succeeded Tiberius. For Caius, as it would appear, while still a young man, had been intimate with the mother of Nymphidius, a woman of comely appearance and a daughter of Callistus, Caesar’s freedman, by a hired sempstress. 2 But this intimacy, as it would seem, was later than the birth of Nymphidius, and it was believed that he was a son of Martianus, the gladiator (with whom Nymphidia fell in love on account of his fame), and his resemblance to Martianus was thought to favour this connection. 3 But although he certainly admitted that Nymphidia was his mother, he took to himself sole credit for the overthrow of Nero, and thinking himself insufficiently rewarded for this by the honours and wealth which he enjoyed, and by the company of Sporus, Nero’s favourite (whom he had sent for at once, while Nero’s body was yet burning on its pyre, and treated as his consort, and addressed by the name of Poppaea), he aspired to the succession of the empire. 4 Some secret steps to this end he himself took at Rome through the agency of his friends, and certain women and men of senatorial rank secretly assisted him, and one of his friends, Gellianus, he sent to Spain to keep an eye upon matters there.
[Galb. 10.1] 10 1 But everything went well with Galba after the death of Nero. Verginius Rufus, it is true, who was still hesitating, gave him anxiety. For besides commanding a large and most efficient army, Verginius had the added prestige of his victory over Vindex and his subjugation of all Gaul, which was a large part of the Roman Empire and had been in the throes of revolt. Galba therefore feared that Verginius might listen to those who invited him to take the supreme power. 2 For no man’s name was greater than that of Verginius, and no man had a reputation equal to his, since he had exercised the greatest influence in ridding the Roman state alike of a grievous tyrant and of Gallic wars. But in the present crisis he was true to his original resolves and maintained the senate’s right to choose the emperor. And yet when Nero’s death was known for certain, the mass of his soldiery were insistent again with Verginius, and one of the military tribunes in his tent drew his sword and ordered Verginius to choose between imperial power and the steel. 3 But after Fabius Valens, commander of a legion, had led off in taking the oath of allegiance to Galba, and letters had come from Rome telling of the senate’s decrees, he succeeded at last, though with the greatest difficulty, in persuading his soldiers to declare Galba emperor; and when Galba sent Flaccus Hordeonius to succeed him, Verginius received that officer, handed over his army to him, and went himself to meet Galba as he advanced, and turned back in his company without receiving any clear mark either of his anger or esteem. 4 This was due, in the one case, to Galba himself, who had a wholesome respect for Verginius, and in the other to Galba’s friends, especially Titus Vinius. Vinius was jealous of Verginius, and thought to block his career; but without knowing it he was aiding the man’s good genius, which was now removing him from all the wars and miseries which encompassed the other leaders, and bringing him into a calm haven of life, and an old age full of peace and quiet.
[Galb. 11.1] 11 At Narbo, a city of Gaul, Galba was met by the deputies from the senate, who greeted him and begged him to gratify speedily the eager desire of the people to see him. In his general interviews and meetings with them he was kind and unassuming, and when he entertained them, though there was an abundance of royal furniture and service at his command, which Nymphidius had sent him from Nero’s palace, he used none of it, but only what was his own, thus winning a good repute, and showing himself a man of large mind who was superior to vulgarity. 2 Vinius, however, by declaring to him that this dignified, simple, and unassuming course was merely a flattery of the people and a refinement of delicacy which thought itself unworthy of great things, soon persuaded him to make use of Nero’s riches, and in his receptions not to shrink from a regal wealth of outlay. And in general the aged man let it be seen little by little that he was going to be under the direction of Vinius.
[Galb. 12.1] 12 1 Now Vinius was to the last degree and beyond all compare a slave of money, and was also addicted to loose conduct with women. For when he was still a young man and was serving his first campaign, under Calvisius Sabinus, he brought his commander’s wife, an unchaste woman, by night into the camp in the garb of a soldier, and had commerce with her in the general’s quarters (the Romans call them “principia”). 2 For this offence Caius Caesar put him in prison; but on the death of the emperor he had the good fortune to be released. While he was at supper with Claudius Caesar, he purloined a drinking-cup, and Caesar, learning of it, invited him to supper again the next day, and when he came, ordered the attendants to set before him no silver plate at all, but only earthenware. 3 This misdeed, it is true, owing to the comic turn which Caesar’s moderation took, was thought worthy of laughter, not of anger; but what he did when he had Galba under his control and was most influential with him in financial matters, was partly a cause and partly a pretext for tragic events and great calamities.
[Galb. 13.1] 13 1 For Nymphidius, as soon as Gellianus had come back to him, whom he had sent to be a sort of spy upon Galba, heard that Cornelius Laco had been appointed prefect of the praetorian guard, and that Vinius was all powerful with Galba, while Gellianus had never stood near him or seen him in private, but had been looked upon with suspicion and distrust by everyone. Nymphidius was therefore much disturbed, 2 and calling together the officers of the army, told them that Galba was a well-meaning and moderate old man, but did not follow his own counsels in the least, and was badly directed by Vinius and Laco. Therefore, before these men had succeeded in secretly acquiring the power which Tigellinus had held, a deputation should be sent to the emperor from the camp, to inform him that if he would put away from his company of friends only these two men, he would be more acceptable and welcome to all on his arrival. 3 But this speech of Nymphidius did not convince his hearers; nay, they thought it a strange and unnatural thing to dictate to an aged emperor, as if he had been a youth just tasting power, what friends he was to have or not to have. Nymphidius therefore took another course, and wrote to Galba messages intended to alarm him — now, that there was much hidden distemper and unrest in the city, now, that Clodius Macer was holding back the grain supplies in Africa; again, that the legions in Germany were mutinous, and that like news came concerning the forces in Syria and Judaea. 4 But since Galba gave no heed to him whatever and put no confidence in his reports, he determined not to wait before making his attempt. And yet Clodius Celsus of Antioch, a man of good sense, who was well-disposed and faithful to him, tried to dissuade him, saying that in his opinion not a single precinct in Rome would give Nymphidius the title of Caesar. But many ridiculed Galba, and especially Mithridates of Pontus, who scoffed about his bald head and wrinkled face, and said that now the Romans thought him a great personage, but when they saw him they would regard all the days in which he had borne the title of Caesar a disgrace to them.
[Galb. 14.1] 14 1 It was decided, therefore, to bring Nymphidius into the camp about midnight and proclaim him emperor. But when it was evening, the leading military tribune, Antonius Honoratus, calling together the soldiers under his command, reviled himself, and reviled them for changing about so often in so short a time, not according to any plan or choice of better things, but because some evil spirit drove them from one treachery to another. 2 In the first instance, he said, they had an excuse in the crimes of Nero; but now, if they were to betray Galba, what charge of murdering his mother or slaying his wife could they bring against him, or what feelings of shame that their emperor should appear in public as musician or tragic actor? “Nay, not even with these provocations would we consent to abandon a Nero, but we had to be persuaded by Nymphidius that Nero had first abandoned us and fled to Egypt. 3 Shall we, then, sacrifice Galba after Nero, and choosing the son of Nymphidia as our Caesar, shall we slay the scion of the house of Livia, as we have slain the son of Agrippina? Or, shall we inflict punishment on Nymphidius for his evil deeds, and thereby show ourselves avengers of Nero, but true and faithful guardians of Galba?”
[Galb. 14.4] So spoke the tribune, and all his soldiers took his side, and visiting their fellow-soldiers, exhorted them to maintain their fidelity to the emperor; and they brought over the greater part of them. 4 But now loud shouts arose, and Nymphidius, either because he was convinced, as some say, that the soldiers were already calling him, or because he was anxious to win over betimes the element that was still unruly and mutinous, came up in a glare of lights, carrying in his hand a speech written out for him by Cingonius Varro; this he had got by heart to deliver to the soldiers. 5 But when he saw the gate of the camp closed and a great number of men under arms along the walls, he was struck with fear; and drawing near, he asked what they meant, and by whose command they were under arms. One cry came to him from the lips of all, and this was that they acknowledged Galba as emperor, whereupon he also, as he joined them, shouted in approval, and bade his followers do the same. 6 But after the soldiers at the gate had permitted him to enter with a few followers, a lance was hurled at him. This weapon was received in the shield which Septimius interposed, but others assailed him, with drawn swords, whereupon he fled, was pursued, and was cut down in a soldier’s hut. His dead body was dragged forth, surrounded with a paling, and exposed to public view all day.
[Galb. 15.1] 15 1 Such was the violent end of Nymphidius, and when Galba learned of it, he ordered such of his fellow-conspirators as had not at once taken their own lives to be put to death. Among these was Cingonius, who wrote the speech for Nymphidius, and Mithridates of Pontus. But it was held to be illegal and despotic, even though just, to put to death without a trial men who were not without distinction. For everyone expected a different mode of government, being thoroughly deceived, as is usual, by assurances made in the beginning. 2 And people took it still more amiss when Petronius Turpilianus, a man of consular dignity who was faithful to Nero, was ordered to take his own life. For in having Macer taken off in Africa at the hands of Trebonius, and Fonteius in Germany at the hands of Valens, Galba could excuse himself with the fear they inspired as commanders of armed forces. But there was no reason why Turpilianus, a helpless old man and unarmed, should not have a chance to defend himself, if the emperor was really going to observe that moderation in his dealings which he promised.
[Galb. 15.3] 3 Such, then, was the censure to which these acts exposed Galba. Moreover, when, in his approach to the city, he was distant from it about five-and twenty furlongs, he fell in with a disorderly and tumultuous crowd of seamen, who beset his way and encompassed him on all sides. These were men whom Nero had formed into a legion and given the title of soldiers. 4 And now they were there to enforce their just rights as soldiers, and would not suffer the emperor to be seen or heard by those who came to meet him, but with tumultuous shouts demanded standards for their legion and regular quarters. When Galba put off their demand and told them to renew it at another time, they declared that the postponement was merely a way of refusing their demands, and were incensed, and followed along with unremitted shouts. Some actually drew their swords, and then Galba ordered his horsemen to charge upon them. Not a man of them stood his ground, but some were done to death at once in the route, and others as they fled, nor was it a happy and auspicious omen that Galba should enter the city through so much slaughter and so many dead bodies. But whereas many had before this despised him and looked upon him as a weak old man, now all regarded him with shuddering fear.
[Galb. 16.1] 16 1 And now, in his desire to display a great change from Nero’s immoderate and extravagant manner of living, he was thought to fall short of what was fitting. For example, after Canus had played on the flute for him at a banquet (now Canus was a performer of high repute), he was loud in his praises and ordered his purse to be brought to him; and taking from it a few gold pieces, he gave them to Canus, with the remark that the gift was made from his own, and not from the public moneys. 2 Again, he ordered that the gifts which Nero had made to people of the theatre and palaestra should be demanded back again with strictness, all but the tenth part; and then, when he got only slight and grudging returns (for most of the recipients had squandered their largess, being men of a loose and improvident way of living), he had a search made for such as had bought or received anything whatsoever from them, and tried to exact from these. 3 The business had no limits, but was far extended and affected many; it gave the emperor himself a bad name, and brought envy and hatred upon Vinius as having made the emperor ungenerous and sordid with everybody else, while he himself used money lavishly, taking everything that was offered and selling freely. 4 For Hesiod bids men to
[Galb. 16.1b] “Drink without stint at the beginning and end of the cask,”
[Galb. 16.1c] and so Vinius, seeing that Galba was old and feeble, sated himself with the good fortune which he thought was just beginning and at the same time was soon to end.
[Galb. 17.1] 17 1 But the aged emperor suffered injustice not only when Vinius, as at first, administered affairs badly, but also when he brought into odium or prevented wise measures set on foot by Galba himself; as, for instance, in the matter of punishing the adherents of Nero. 2 For Galba set out to kill the bad ones, among whom were Helius and Polycleitus and Petinus and Patrobius. And the people applauded the act, and shouted, as the culprits were dragged through the forum to their doom, that it was a goodly procession indeed, and acceptable to the gods, but that gods and men alike demanded justice on the tutor and teacher of the tyrant, namely, Tigellinus. That worthy minister, however, had won the protection of Vinius betimes, by means of large advances. 3 Again, Turpilianus, who was hated merely because he would not betray nor show hatred to Nero in spite of all that emperor’s crimes, but apart from this had participated in no one serious offence, was put to death; whereas the man who had made Nero worthy of death, and betrayed and forsook him when he had come to that pass, was left alive — a great object-lesson to show that Vinius could do anything and fulfill any expectation for those who gave him enough. 4 For there was no spectacle on which the Roman people had so set their hearts as that of Tigellinus dragged away to punishment, and in all the theatres and circuses they would not cease demanding him, until they were quelled by an edict of the emperor in which he declared that Tigellinus was wasting away with consumption and had not much longer to live, and advised them not to exasperate the government or force it to be tyrannical. 5 Then, in mockery of the dissatisfied people, Tigellinus offered sacrifices for his preservation and prepared a splendid feast; and Vinius, rising from beside the emperor, afterwards went to a drinking-bout in Tigellinus’ house, leading his daughter, who was a widow. Tigellinus pledged her health with a gift of twenty-five myriads of money, and ordered the governess of his concubines to take the necklace from her own neck and put it about hers. The necklace was said to be worth fifteen myriads.
[Galb. 18.1] 18 1 After this, even the reasonable measures of the emperor fell under censure, as, for instance, his treatment of the Gauls who had conspired with Vindex. For they were thought to have obtained their remission of tribute and their civil rights, not through the kindness of the emperor, but by purchase from Vinius. 2 Such were the reasons, then, why most of the people hated the government; but the soldiers, though they had not received their promised largess, were led on at first by the hope that Galba would give them, if not the whole of it, at least as much as Nero had given. When, however, Galba heard that they were complaining, he spoke out as became a great emperor, and declared that it was his custom to enroll soldiers, not to buy them; whereupon they began to cherish a dire and savage hatred towards him. For they thought that he was not only defrauding them himself, but laying down the law and giving instructions for succeeding emperors.
[Galb. 18.3] 3 But the agitation at Rome was still smouldering, and at the same time a certain respect for Galba’s presence blunted and delayed the spirit of revolution, and the absence of any manifest occasion for a change repressed and kept under cover, somehow or other, the resentment of the soldiers. But the army which had formerly served under Verginius, and was now serving under Flaccus in Germany, thinking themselves deserving of great rewards on account of the battle they had fought against Vindex, and getting nothing, could not be appeased by their officers. 4 Of Flaccus himself, who was physically incapacitated by an acute gout, and inexperienced in the conduct of affairs, they made no account whatever. And once at a spectacle, when the military tribunes and centurions, after the Roman custom, invoked health and happiness upon the emperor Galba, the mass of the soldiery raised a storm of dissent at first, and then, when the officers persisted in their invocation, cried out in response, “If he deserves it.”
[Galb. 19.1] 19 1 The legions also that were under the command of Tigellinus frequently behaved with similar insolence, and letters on the subject were sent to Galba by his agents. So the emperor, fearing that it was not only his old age but also his childlessness that brought him into contempt, planned to adopt some young man of illustrious family and appoint him his successor. 2 Marcus Otho, now, was a man of good lineage, but from his very childhood corrupted by luxury and the pursuit of pleasure as few Romans were. And as Homer often calls Paris “the husband of fair-haired Helen,” giving him a dignity borrowed from his wife, since he had no other title to fame, so Otho was celebrated at Rome for his marriage with Poppaea. With Poppaea Nero was enamoured while she was the wife of Crispinus, but since he respected his own wife still and feared his mother, he put Otho up to soliciting her favours for him. 3 For because of Otho’s prodigality Nero made an intimate friend of him, and was well pleased to be rallied by him often for parsimony and meanness. Thus, we are told that Nero once anointed himself with costly ointment and sprinkled a little of it upon Otho; whereupon Otho, entertaining the emperor in his turn on the following day, suddenly brought into play gold and silver pipes on all sides of the room, out of which ointment gushed freely, like so much water. 4 But as for Poppaea, Otho corrupted her with hopes of Nero’s favour and seduced her first himself, and persuaded her to leave her husband. However, after she had come to live with him as his wife, he was not content to have only a share in her favours, and was loth to give Nero a share, while Poppaea herself, as we are told, was not displeased at the rivalry between them. 5 For it is said that she would shut out Nero although Otho was not at home; whether it was that she sought to keep his pleasure in her from cloying, or whether, as some say, she recoiled from a marriage with the emperor, but was not averse to having him as a lover, out of mere wantonness. Otho, accordingly, came into peril of his life; and it was strange that although his own wife and sister were put to death by Nero on account of his marriage with Poppaea, Otho himself was spared.
[Galb. 20.1] 20 1 But Otho had the good will of Seneca, by whose advice and persuasion Nero sent him out as governor of Lusitania to the shores of the western ocean. Here he made himself acceptable and pleasing to his subjects, although he knew that his office had been given him to disguise and mitigate his banishment. 2 When Galba revolted, Otho was the first of the provincial governors to go over to him, and bringing all the gold and silver that he had in the shape of drinking-cups and tables, he gave it to him for conversion into coin, presenting him also with those of his servants who were qualified to give suitable service for the table of an emperor. In other ways he was trusted by Galba, and when put to the test was thought to be inferior to none as a man of affairs; and during the entire journey of the emperor he would travel in the same carriage with him for many days together. 3 Moreover, amid the intimacies of the common journey he paid court to Vinius, both in person and by means of gifts, and, above all else, by yielding to him the first place, he got his aid in holding securely the place of influence next to him. But in avoiding envy he was superior to Vinius, for he gave his petitioners every aid without any reward, and showed himself easy of access and kindly to all men. But it was the soldiers whom he was most ready to help, and he advanced many of them to places of command, sometimes asking the appointment from the emperor, and sometimes getting the support of Vinius, and of the freedmen Icelus and Asiaticus; for these were the most influential men at court. And as often as he entertained Galba, he would compliment the cohort on duty for the day by giving each man a gold piece, thus showing honour to the emperor, as it was thought, while really scheming for the support and favour of the soldiery.
[Galb. 21.1] 21 1 So, then, while Galba was deliberating upon a successor, Vinius suggested Otho. And yet not even this was done for nothing, but as a return for the marriage of his daughter. For it had been agreed that Otho should marry her when he had been adopted by Galba and declared his successor. But Galba always showed clearly that he placed the public good before his private interests, and in the present case that he aimed to adopt, not the man who was most agreeable to himself, but the one who would be most serviceable to the Romans. 2 And it does not seem that he would have chosen Otho merely as the heir of his own private fortune, since he knew that he was unrestrained and extravagant and immersed in debts amounting to five millions. Wherefore, after listening to Vinius calmly and without a word, he postponed his decision. But he appointed himself and Vinius consuls for following year, and it was expected that on their accession to office he would declare his successor. And the soldiery would have been glad that Otho, rather than anyone else, should be so declared.
[Galb. 22.1] 22 1 But while the emperor was hesitating and deliberating, he was overtaken by the disorders which broke out among the troops in Germany. For the soldiers in all parts of the empire had a common hatred of Galba because he had not given them their usual largess, but those in Germany made special excuses for themselves out of the fact that Verginius Rufus had been cast off in dishonour; that the Gauls who had fought against them were getting rewards, 2 while all those who had not joined Vindex were being punished; and that to Vindex alone Galba showed gratitude by honouring him when he was dead and giving him the distinction of public obsequies, on the ground that Vindex had proclaimed him emperor of the Romans. 3 Such arguments as these were already circulating openly in the camp, when the first day of the first month came, which the Romans call the Calends of January. On this day Flaccus assembled the soldiers that they might take the customary oath of allegiance to the emperor; but they overturned and pulled down all the statues of Galba which they could find, and after swearing allegiance to the senate and people of Rome, went to their quarters. 4 Then their officers began to fear that their lawless spirit might issue in revolt, and one of them made this speech: “What is wrong with us, my fellow soldiers? We are neither supporting the present emperor nor setting up another. It is as though we were averse, not to Galba, but to all rule and obedience. 5 Flaccus Hordeonius, indeed, who is nothing but a shadow and image of Galba, we must ignore, but there is Vitellius, who is only a day’s march distant from us, and commands the forces in the other Germany. His father was censor, thrice consul, and in a manner the colleague of Claudius Caesar, and Vitellius himself, in the poverty with which some reproach him, affords a splendid proof of probity and magnanimity. Come, let us choose him, and so show the world that we know how to select an emperor better than Iberians and Lusitanians.”
[Galb. 22.6] 6 While some of the soldiers were already for adopting this proposal and others for rejecting it, one standard-bearer stole away and brought tidings of the matter by night to Vitellius, as he was entertaining many guests. The news spread swiftly to the troops, and first Fabius Valens, commander of a legion, rode up next day with a large body of horsemen and saluted Vitellius as emperor. 7 Hitherto Vitellius had seemed to decline and avoid the office, fearing the magnitude of it; but on this day, as they say, being fortified with wine and a midday meal, he came out to the soldiers and accepted the title of Germanicus which they conferred upon him, though he rejected that of Caesar. 8 And straightway the army with Flaccus also, casting aside those fine and democratic oaths of theirs to support the senate, took oath that they would obey the orders of Vitellius the emperor.
[Galb. 23.1] 23 1 Thus was Vitellius proclaimed emperor in Germany; and when Galba learned of the revolution there he no longer deferred his act of adoption. Knowing that some of his friends favoured the selection of Dolabella, and most of them that of Otho, neither of whom was approved by himself, he suddenly, and without any previous notice of his intention, sent for Piso (whose parents, Crassus and Scribonia, had been put to death by Nero), 2 a young man in whose predisposition to every virtue the traits of gravity and decorum were most conspicuous; then he went down to the camp to declare him Caesar and heir to the throne. And yet as soon as he set out, great signs from heaven accompanied him on his way, and after he had begun to pronounce and read his address to the soldiers, there were many peals of thunder and flashes of lightning, and much darkness and rain pervaded both the camp and the city, so that it was plain that the act of adoption was inauspicious and was not favoured or approved by the heavenly powers. 3 The soldiers also were secretly disloyal and sullen, since not even then was their largess given to them.
[Galb. 23.4] As for Piso, those who were present at the scene and observed his voice and countenance were amazed to see him receive so great a favour without great emotion, though not without appreciation; whereas in the outward aspect of Otho there were many clear signs of the bitterness and anger with which he took the disappointment of his hopes. He had been the first to be thought worthy of the prize, and had come very near attaining it, and his not attaining it was regarded by him as a sign of ill-will and hatred on Galba’s part towards him. 4 Wherefore he was not without apprehension for the future, and fearing Piso, blaming Galba, and angry with Vinius, he went away full of various passions. For the soothsayer and Chaldaeans who were always about him would not suffer him to abandon his hopes or give up altogether, particularly Ptolemaeus, who dwelt much upon his frequent prediction that Nero would not kill Otho, but would die first himself, and that Otho would survive him and be emperor of the Romans (for now that he could point to the first part of the prediction as true, he thought that Otho should not despair of the second part). Above all, Otho was encouraged by those who secretly shared his resentment and chagrin on the ground that he had been thanklessly treated. Moreover, most of the adherents of Tigellinus and Nymphidius, men who had once been in high honour, but were now cast aside and of no account, treacherously went over to Otho, shared his resentment, and spurred him on to action.
[Galb. 24.1] 24 1 Among these were Veturius and Barbius, the one an “optio,” the other a “tesserarius” (these are the Roman names for scout and messenger). In company with these Onomastus, a freedman of Otho’s, went round corrupting the soldiers, some with money, and others with fair promises. The soldiers were already disaffected and wanted only a pretext for treachery. For four days would not have sufficed to change the allegiance of a loyal army, and only so many days intervened between the act of adoption and the murder, since on the sixth day after the adoption (the Romans call it the eighteenth before the Calends of February), Galba and Piso were slain.
[Galb. 24.2] 2 On that day, shortly after dawn, Galba was sacrificing in the Palatium in the presence of his friends; and as soon as Umbricius, the officiating priest, had taken the entrails of the victim in his hands and inspected them, he declared not ambiguously, but in so many words, that there were signs of a great commotion, and that peril mixed with treachery hung over the emperor’s head. Thus the god all but delivered Otho over to arrest. 3 For Otho was standing behind Galba, and noted what was said and pointed out by Umbricius. But as he stood there in confusion and with a countenance changing to all sorts of colours through fear, Onomastus his freedman came up and told him that the builders were come and were waiting for him at his house. Now, this was a token that the time was at hand when Otho was to meet the soldiers. 4 With the remark, then, that he had bought an old house and wished to show its defects to the vendors, he went away, and passing through what was called the house of Tiberius, went down into the forum, to where a gilded column stood, at which all the roads that intersect Italy terminate.
[Galb. 25.1] 25 1 Here, as we are told, the soldiers who first welcomed him and saluted him as emperor were no more than twenty-three. Therefore, although he was not sunken in spirit to match the weakness and effeminacy of his body, but was bold and adventurous in presence of danger, he began to be afraid. 2 The soldiers who were there, however, would not suffer him to desist, but surrounding his litter with their swords drawn, ordered it to be taken up, while Otho urged the bearers to hasten, saying to himself many times that he was a lost man. For he was overheard by some of the bystanders, and they were astonished rather than disturbed, owing to the small number of those who had ventured upon the deed. But as he was thus borne through the forum, he was met by as many more soldiers, and others again kept joining the party by threes and fours. 3 Then all crowded around the litter, saluting Otho as emperor and brandishing their drawn swords. At the camp, Martialis, the military tribune in charge of the watch at the time, who was not privy to the plot, as they say, but was confounded by their unexpected appearance and terrified, permitted them to enter. And after Otho was inside the camp, no one opposed him. For those who were ignorant of what was going on, scattered about as they were by ones and twos, were designedly enveloped by those who knew and were privy to the plot, and so gave in their adherence, at first through fear, and then under persuasion.
[Galb. 25.4] 4 News of this was carried at once to Galba in the Palatium and the priest was still standing there with the entrails in his hands, so that even men who were altogether indifferent and sceptical about such matters were confounded and filled with wonder at the divine portent. And now a motley crowd came streaming out from the forum; Vinius and Laco and some of the freedmen stood at Galba’s side brandishing their naked swords; Piso went out and held conference with the guards on duty in the court; 5 and Marius Celsus, a man of worth, was sent off to secure the allegiance of the Illyrian legion encamped in what was called the Vipsanian portico.
[Galb. 26.1] 26 1 And now, as Galba purposed to go forth, and Vinius would not permit it, while Celsus and Laco urged it and vehemently chided Vinius, a rumour spread insistently that Otho had been slain in the camp; and after a little, Julius Atticus, a soldier of distinction among the guards, was seen rushing up with his sword drawn, and crying out that he had slain the enemy of Caesar; and forcing his way through the crowd about Galba, he showed him his sword all stained with blood. 2 Then Galba fixed his eyes upon him and said, “Who gave thee thy orders?” Whereupon the man replied that it was his fidelity and the oath that he had sworn, at which the multitude cried out that he had done well, and gave him their applause. Then Galba got into his litter and was carried forth, wishing to sacrifice to Jupiter and show himself to the citizens. But when he was come into the forum, there met him, like a change of wind, a report that Otho was master of the army. 3 Then, as might be expected in so great a crowd, some cried out to him to turn back, others to go forward; some bade him to be of good courage, others urged him to be cautious; and so, while his litter was swept hither and thither, as in a surging sea, and often threatened to capsize, there came into view, first horsemen, and then men-at arms, charging through the basilica of Paulus, and with one voice loudly ordering all private citizens out of their way. 4 The multitude, accordingly, took to their heels, not scattering in flight, but seeking the porticoes and eminences of the forum, as if to get a view of the spectacle. Hostilities began with the overthrow of a statue of Galba by Attilius Vergilio, and then the soldiers hurled javelins at the litter; and since they failed to strike it, they advanced upon it with their swords drawn. No one opposed them or tried to defend the emperor, except one man, and he was the only one, among all the thousands there on whom the sun looked down, who was worthy of the Roman empire. 5 This was Sempronius Densus, a centurion, and though he had received no special favours from Galba, yet in defence of honour and the law he took his stand in front of the litter. And first, lifting up the switch with which centurions punish soldiers deserving of stripes, he cried out to the assailants and ordered them to spare the emperor. Then, as they came to close quarters with him, he drew his sword, and fought them off a long time, until he fell with a wound in the groin.
[Galb. 27.1] 27 1 The litter was upset at the place called Lacus Curtius, and there Galba tumbled out and lay in his corselet, while the soldiers ran up and struck at him. But he merely presented his neck to their swords, saying: “Do your work, if this is better for the Roman people.” 2 So, then, after receiving many wounds in his legs and arms, he was slain, as most writers state, by a certain Camurius, of the fifteenth legion. Some, however, ascribe his death to Terentius, others to Lecanius, and others still to Fabius Fabulus, who, they say, cut off Galba’s head and was carrying it wrapped in his cloak, since its baldness made it difficult to grasp; 3 then, since his companions would not suffer him to hide his deed of valour, but insisted on his displaying it to all eyes, he impaled on his spear and thrust on high the head of an aged man, who had been a temperate ruler, a high priest, and a consul, and ran with it, like a bacchanal, whirling about often, and brandishing the spear all dripping with blood.
[Galb. 27.4] But Otho, as they say, when the head was brought to him, cried out: “This is nothing, fellow-soldiers; show me the head of Piso.” 4 And after a little it was brought to him; for the young man had been wounded and tried to escape, and a certain Murcus ran him down and slew him at the troop of Vesta. Vinius also was slain, and he admitted himself a party to the conspiracy against Galba by crying out that he was put to death contrary to the wishes of Otho. However, they cut off his head, and Laco’s too, and brought them to Otho, of whom they demanded largess. 5 And as Archilochus says that,
[Galb. 27.4b] “Only seven lay dead on the ground, where we trod their bodies under foot. But we who slew are a thousand,”
[Galb. 27.6] so in this case, many who had no part in the murder smeared their hands and swords with blood and showed them to Otho, as they presented him with written petitions for largess. At any rate, a hundred and twenty were afterwards discovered by means of these petitions, all of whom were sought out and put to death by Vitellius. 6 Marius Celsus also came into the camp. There many denounced him for trying to persuade the soldiers to defend Galba, and the majority clamoured for his death, but Otho did not wish it; however, since he was afraid to oppose them, he said he would not put Celsus to death so quickly, since there were matters about which he must first question him. He therefore ordered that he be fettered and kept under guard, and handed over to those in whom he put most trust.
[Galb. 28.1] 28 1 A senate was now convened. And as if they were now other men, or had other gods to swear by, they united in swearing an oath to support Otho — an oath which he himself had sworn in support of Galba, but had not kept. Moreover, they gave him the titles of Caesar and Augustus, while the dead bodies, all headless in their consular robes, were still strewn over the forum. 2 And as for the heads, when they had no further use for them, that of Vinius they sold to his daughter for twenty-five hundred drachmas; that of Piso was given to his wife Verania in answer to her prayers; and that of Galba was bestowed upon the servants of Patrobius. 3 They took it, and after heaping all manner of insult and outrage upon it, cast it into a place called Sessorium, where those under condemnation of the emperors were put to death. The body of Galba was taken up by Priscus Helvidius, with the permission of Otho; and it was buried at night by Argivus, a freedman.
[Galb. 29.1] 29 1 Such were the fortunes of Galba, a man surpassed by few Romans in lineage and wealth, and both in wealth and lineage the foremost of his time. During the reigns of five emperors he lived with honour and high repute, so that it was by his high repute, rather than by his military power, that he overthrew Nero. 2 For of his partners in the task, some were by all men deemed unworthy of the imperial dignity, and others deemed themselves unworthy. But to Galba the imperial title was offered and by him it was accepted; and by simply lending his name to the bold measures of Vindex, he gave to his revolt (as his rebellious agitation was called) the character of a civil war, because it had acquired a man who was worthy to rule. 3 Wherefore, in the belief that he was not seizing the conduct of affairs for himself, but rather giving himself for the conduct of affairs, he set out with the idea of commanding the petted creatures of Tigellinus and Nymphidius as Scipio and Fabricius and Camillus used to command the Romans of their time. 4 But being gradually weighed down by his years, in arms and camps, indeed, he was an “imperator” of a severe and ancient type; but just as Nero put himself in the hands of his most insatiate favourites, so Galba put himself in the hands of Vinius and Laco and their freedmen, and they made merchandise of everything, so that he left behind him no one who wished him still in power, but very many who were moved to pity at his death.

## Otho

[Oth. 1.1] 1 1 AT daybreak the new emperor went forth to the Capitol and sacrificed; then, having ordered Marius Celsus to be brought to him, he greeted that officer, conversed with him kindly, and urged him to forget the cause of his imprisonment rather than to remember his release. Celsus replied in a manner that was neither ignoble nor ungrateful, saying that the very charge made against him afforded proof of his character, for the charge was that he had been loyal to Galba, from whom he had received no special favours. Both speakers were admired by those who were present, and the soldiery gave their approval. 2 In the senate Otho spoke at length in a kindly strain and like a popular leader. For part of the time during which he himself was to have been consul, he assigned the office to Verginius Rufus, and all those who had been designated as future consuls by Nero or Galba he confirmed in their appointment. To the priesthoods he promoted those who were preëminent in age or reputation. 3 Moreover, to all the men of senatorial rank who had been exiled under Nero and restored under Galba, he restored whatever portions of each man’s property he found to be unsold. Wherefore the citizens of highest birth and greatest influence, who before this had felt a shuddering fear that it was not a man, but some genius of retribution or avenging spirit, that had suddenly fallen upon the state, became more cheerful in their hopes for a government which wore a face so smiling.
[Oth. 2.1] 2 1 But nothing so gladdened all Romans alike, and won their allegiance to the new emperor so much, as his treatment of Tigellinus. Men were not aware that Tigellinus was already punished by his very fear of that punishment which the city was demanding as a debt due to the public, 2 and also by incurable bodily diseases; and besides, there were those unhallowed and unspeakable grovellings of his among the vilest harlots, for which his lustful nature still panted, clutching after them as his life painfully ebbed away; these were looked upon by reasonable men as extremest punishment and an equivalent of many deaths. Nevertheless it vexed the common people that he should see the light of day after so many good men had been robbed of that light by him. 3 Accordingly, Otho sent a messenger to fetch him from his country estate at Sinuessa; for he was staying there, where vessels lay at anchor, that he might fly to more distant parts. He tried to bribe the messenger with a large sum of money to let him go, but failing in this, he made him gifts nevertheless, and begged him to wait till he had shaved; and taking the razor he cut his own throat.
[Oth. 3.1] 3 1 And now that the emperor had given the people this most righteous gratification, he did not remember his own private grievances against any man soever, and in his desire to please the multitude did not refuse at first to be hailed in the theatres by the name of Nero, and when statues of Nero were produced in public, he did not prevent it. 2 Moreover, Cluvius Rufus tells us that “diplomas,” such as couriers are provided with, were sent to Spain, in which the cognomen of Nero was added to the name of Otho. However, perceiving that the men of highest birth and greatest influence were displeased at this, Otho gave up the practice.
[Oth. 3.3] But while he was placing his government on this basis, the paid soldiers began to make themselves troublesome by urging him not to trust the influential citizens, but to be on his guard against them and restrict their power. It is uncertain whether their goodwill led them to be really apprehensive for him, or whether they used this pretext for raising disturbance and war. 3 And so, when the emperor sent Crispinus to bring back the seventeenth legion from Ostia, and while that officer was still getting his baggage together at night and loading the arms upon the waggons, the boldest of the soldiers all began to cry out that Crispinus was come on no good errand, and that the senate was attempting to bring about a revolution, and that the transportation of the arms was an act of hostility, not of service, to the emperor. 4 The notion prevailed with great numbers and exasperated them; some attacked the waggons, others killed two centurions who opposed them, as well as Crispinus himself; and then the whole body, putting themselves in array and exhorting one another to go to the help of the emperor, marched to Rome. Here, learning that eighty senators were at supper with Otho, they rushed to the palace, declaring that now was a good time to take off all the emperor’s enemies at one stroke. 5 Accordingly, the city was in a great commotion, expecting to be plundered at once; in the palace there were runnings to and fro; and a dire perplexity fell upon Otho. For while he had fears about the safety of his guests, he himself was an object of fear to them, and he saw that they kept their eyes fixed upon him in speechless terror, some of them having even brought their wives with them to the supper. 6 But he sent the prefects of the guard with orders to explain matters to the soldiers and appease them, while at the same time he dismissed his guests by another door; and they barely succeeded in making their escape as the soldiers, forcing their way through the guards into the great hall, asked what was become of the enemies of Caesar. 7 In this crisis, then, Otho stood up on his couch, and after many exhortations, and entreaties, and not without plentiful tears, at last succeeded in sending them away; but on the following day, after making a gift of twelve hundred and fifty drachmas to every man, he went into the camp. 8 There he commended the great body of the soldiers for their goodwill and zeal in his service, but said that there were a few of them who were intriguing to no good purpose, thereby bringing his moderation and their fidelity into disrepute, and he demanded that they share his resentment against these and assist him in punishing them. All his hearers approving of this and bidding him to do as he wished, he took two men only, at whose punishment no one was likely to be distressed, and went away.
[Oth. 4.1] 4 1 Those who were already fond of Otho and put confidence in him admired this change in his behaviour, but others thought it a policy forced upon him by the situation, wherein he courted popular favour because of the war. For already there were sure tidings that Vitellius had assumed the dignity and power of emperor; and swift couriers were continually coming with accounts of ever new accessions to him, although others made it clear that the armies in Pannonia, Dalmatia, and Mysia, with their leaders, adhered to Otho. 2 And quickly there came also friendly letters from Mucianus and Vespasian, who were at the head of large forces, the one in Syria, the other in Judaea. Otho was elated by these, and wrote to Vitellius advising him not to have more than a soldier’s ambitions, in which case he should be rewarded with a large sum of money, and a city, where he could live in the utmost ease and pleasure and be undisturbed. 3 Vitellius also wrote to Otho in reply, at first in a somewhat dissembling manner; but afterwards both got excited and wrote one another abusive letters filled with shameful insults; not that either brought false charges, but it was foolish and ridiculous for one to storm the other with reproaches applicable to both. For as regards prodigality, effeminacy, inexperience in war, and multiplicity of debts incurred in a previous state of poverty, it were hard to say which of them had the advantage.
[Oth. 4.4] 4 There were many reports of signs and apparitions, most of which were of uncertain and dubious origin; but everybody saw that a Victory standing in a chariot on the Capitol had dropped the reins from her hands, as if she had not power to hold them, and that the statue of Caius Caesar on the island in the Tiber, without the occurrence of earthquake or wind, had turned from west to east, 5 which is said to have happened during the time when Vespasian was at last openly trying to seize the supreme power. The behaviour of the Tiber, too, was regarded by most people as a baleful sign. It was a time, to be sure, when rivers are at their fullest, but the Tiber had never before risen so high, nor caused so great ruin and destruction. It overflowed its banks and submerged a great part of the city, and especially the grain-market, so that dire scarcity of food prevailed for many days altogether.
[Oth. 5.1] 5 1 And now, when word was brought to Rome that Caecina and Valens, who were in command with Vitellius, were in possession of the Alps, Dolabella, a man of noble family, was suspected by the praetorian soldiers of revolutionary designs. Otho therefore sent him away (through fear of him or of someone else) to the town of Aquinum, with words of encouragement. And in his selection of the men in authority what were to accompany him on his expedition he included also Lucius, the brother of Vitellius, without either increasing or diminishing his honours. 2 He also took strong measures for the safety of the wife and mother of Vitellius, that they might have no fear for themselves. Moreover, he appointed Flavius Sabinus, a brother of Vespasian, prefect of the city, either because in this way also he could honour the memory of Nero (for Nero had bestowed the office upon Sabinus, but Galba had deprived him of it), or rather because, by advancing Sabinus, he could show how he favoured and trusted Vespasian.
[Oth. 5.3] 3 Well, then, Otho himself tarried behind at Brixillum, a town of Italy on the river Po, but sent his forces on under the command of Marius Celsus and Suetonius Paulinus, besides Gallus and Spurina. These were men of distinction, but were unable to conduct the campaign according to their own plans and wishes, owing to the disorderly and arrogant spirit of their soldiers. 4 For these would not deign to obey other officers, since, as they said, they had made the emperor their commander. It is true that the enemy’s troops also were not altogether in condition, nor under the control of their officers, but fierce and haughty, and for the same reason. Nevertheless, they were certainly experienced in fighting, and being accustomed to hard labour, they did not shun it; 5 whereas Otho’s men were soft, owing to their lack of employment and their unwarlike mode of life, having spent most of their time at spectacles and festivals and plays, and they wished to cloak their weakness with insolence and boasting, disdaining to perform the services laid upon them because they were above the work, not because they were unable to do it. When Spurina tried to force them into obedience, he came near being killed by them. 6 They spared him no abuse nor insolence, declaring that he was betraying and ruining the opportunities and the cause of Caesar. Nay, some of them who were drunk came at night to his tent and demanded money for a journey, for they must go, they said, to Caesar, in order to denounce their commander.
[Oth. 6.1] 6 1 But Spurina and the emperor’s cause were helped for the time by the abuse which his soldiers received at Placentia. For when the troops of Vitellius assaulted walls, they railed at the soldiers of Otho who manned the ramparts, calling them actors, dancers, spectators at Pythian and Olympian games, men who had never known or seen a campaign or fighting, and thought highly of themselves because they had cut off the head of a defenceless old man (meaning Galba), but would not openly enter a conflict and battle of men. 2 Otho’s soldiers were so disturbed by these reproaches, and so inflamed, that they threw themselves at the feet of Spurina, begging him to use them and command them, and pleading excuse from no danger or toil. And so, when a fierce assault was made upon the walls and many siege-engines were brought to bear upon them, Spurina’s men prevailed, repulsed their opponents with great slaughter, and held safe a city which was famous and more flourishing than any in Italy.
[Oth. 6.3] 3 In other ways, too, the generals of Vitellius were more vexatious than those of Otho in their dealings with both cities and private persons. One of them, Caecina, had neither the speech nor the outward appearance of a Roman citizen, but was offensive and strange, a man of huge stature, who wore Gaulish trousers and long sleeves, and conversed by signs even with Roman officials. 4 His wife, too, accompanied him, with an escort of picked horsemen; she rode a horse, and was conspicuously adorned. Fabius Valens, the other general, was so rapacious that neither what he plundered from the enemy nor what he stole or received as gifts from the allies could satisfy him. Indeed, it was thought that this rapacity of his had delayed his march, so that he was too late for the battle at Placentia. 5 But some blame Caecina, who, they say, was eager to win the victory himself before Valens came, and so not only made other minor mistakes, but also joined battle inopportunely and without much spirit, thereby almost ruining their whole enterprise.
[Oth. 7.1] 7 1 For when Caecina, repulsed from Placentia, had set out to attack Cremona, another large and prosperous city, first Annius Gallus, who was coming to the help of Spurina at Placentia, hearing upon the march that Placentia was safe, but that Cremona was in peril, changed his course and led his army to Cremona, where he encamped near the enemy; then his colleagues came one by one to his aid. 2 Caecina now placed a large body of men-at arms in ambush where the ground was rough and woody, and then ordered his horsemen to ride towards the enemy, and if they were attacked, to withdraw little by little and retreat, until they had in this way drawn their pursuers into the ambush. But deserters brought word of all this to Celsus, who rode out with good horsemen to meet the enemy, followed up his pursuit with caution, surrounded the men in ambush, and threw them into confusion. Then he summoned his men-at arms from the camp. 3 And apparently, if these had come up in time to the support of the cavalry, not a man of the enemy would have been left alive, but the whole army with Caecina would have been crushed and slain. As it was, however, Paulinus came to their aid too slowly and too late, and incurred the charge of sullying his reputation as a commander through excessive caution. 4 But most of the soldiers actually accused him of treachery, and tried to incense Otho against him, loudly boasting that they had been victorious, but that their victory was made incomplete by the cowardice of their commanders. Otho did not believe them, and yet wished to avoid the appearance of disbelieving them. He therefore sent to the armies his brother Titianus, and Proculus, the prefect of the guards; of these two men Proculus had the entire authority in reality, and Titianus only in appearance. 5 Celsus and Paulinus, too, enjoyed the empty title of friends and counsellors, but had no power or influence in the conduct of affairs. There were disturbances also among the enemy, and especially among the troops of Valens; for when these were told about the battle at the ambuscade, they were enraged because they were not present and had given no aid where so many men had lost their lives. They actually began to stone Valens, but he finally succeeded in pacifying them, and then broke camp and joined Caecina.
[Oth. 8.1] 8 1 Otho now came to the camp at Bedriacum (a little village near Cremona)c and held a council of war. Proculus and Titianus were of the opinion that he ought to fight a decisive battle while his armies were flushed with their recent victory, and not sit there dulling the efficiency of his troops and waiting for Vitellius to come in person from Gaul. 2 Paulinus, on the contrary, said that the enemy already had all the resources with which they would give battle, and lacked nothing, whereas, in the case of Otho, a force as large as the one he already had might be expected from Mysia and Pannonia, if he would only wait for his own best opportunity and conduct the campaign to suit that of the enemy. 3 For his men were now confident of success in spite of their inferior numbers, and he would not find them less keen after they had received reinforcements, nay, their superiority would lead them to fight all the better. And besides, delay was to their advantage, since they had everything in abundance, while to the enemy time would bring a scarcity of supplies, since they were occupying a hostile country. 4 So Paulinus argued, and Marius Celsus voted with him. Annius Gallus was not present, being under treatment for a fall from his horse, but Otho asked his advice by letter, and his counsel was not to hasten the battle, but to await the forces from Mysia, which were already on the march. Nevertheless, Otho would not listen to these counsels, and the day was carried by those who urged immediate battle.
[Oth. 9.1] 9 1 Various other reasons for this are given by various writers; but manifestly the praetorian soldiers, as they were called, who served as the emperor’s guards, since they were now getting a more generous taste of real military service and longed for their accustomed life of diversion in Rome in which festivals abounded and war was unknown, could not be restrained, but were eager for the battle, feeling sure that at the very first onset they would overwhelm their opponents. 2 Moreover, it would seem that Otho himself could not longer bear up against the uncertainty of the issue, nor endure (so effeminate was he and so unused to command) his own thoughts of the dire peril confronting him; but worn out by his anxieties, he veiled his eyes, like one about to leap from a precipice, and hastened to commit his cause to fortune. 3 And this is the account given by Secundus the rhetorician, who was Otho’s secretary. But others would tell us that both armies were strongly inclined to confer; and above all, if they could agree, to elect as emperor the best of the commanders who were with them, but if not, to convene the senate and commit to it the choice of an emperor. 4 And since neither of the men who then had the title of emperor enjoyed high repute, it is not unlikely that the real soldiers, those who knew what hardship was and had sense, should be led to reflect that it would be a dreadful and most hateful thing if the evils which the citizens had once to their sorrow inflicted upon one another and suffered because of Sulla and Marius, and again because of Caesar and Pompey, should now be endured again only to make the imperial power a means for providing for the gluttony and drunkenness of Vitellius or for the luxury and licentiousness of Otho. 5 It is suspected, then, that Celsus was aware of these feelings, and therefore tried to interpose delay, hoping that the issue would thus be decided without hardship and battle, and that Otho, fearing this, hastened on the battle.
[Oth. 10.1] 10 1 Otho himself returned to Brixillum, and in this too he made a mistake, not only because he took away from the combatants the respect and ambition which his presence and oversight inspired, but also because, by leading away as his bodyguard of foot and horse the men who were most vigorous and eager to please him, he cut away, as it were, the head and front of his army.
[Oth. 10.2] 2 During this time there was also a conflict at the river Po, where Caecina tried to build a bridge across the stream, and Otho’s soldiers attacked him and tried to prevent it. Not succeeding, Otho’s men loaded their vessels with torchwood full of sulphur and pitch, and began to cross the river; but a blast of wind suddenly smote the material which they had prepared for use against the enemy, and fanned it afire. 3 First smoke arose from it, then bright flames, so that the crews were confounded and leaped overboard into the river, upsetting their boats, and putting themselves at the mercy of a jeering enemy. Moreover, the Germans attacked Otho’s gladiators at an island in the river, overpowered them and slew not a few of them.
[Oth. 11.1] 11 These disasters threw Otho’s soldiers at Bedriacum into a rage for battle, and Proculus therefore led them forth out of Bedriacum, and after a march of fifty furlongs pitched his camp, but in a manner so ignorant and ridiculous that his men were troubled by lack of water, although it was the spring of the year and the plains around abounded in running streams and rivers that never dried up. 2 On the following day he proposed to make a march of no less than a hundred furlongs and attack the enemy, but Paulinus objected, and thought they ought to wait and not tire themselves beforehand, nor join battle immediately after a march with men who had armed and arrayed themselves at their leisure, while they themselves were advancing so great a distance with all their beasts of burden and camp-followers. 3 While the generals were disputing about the matter, there came from Otho a Numidian courier with a letter which ordered them not to wait or delay, but to march at once against the enemy. Accordingly, they decamped and moved forward, and Caecina, who was much disturbed on learning of their approach, hastily abandoned his operations at the river and came to his camp. 4 There most of the soldiers had already armed themselves, and Valens was giving out the watchword to them, and while the legions were taking up their positions, the best of the cavalry were sent out in advance.
[Oth. 12.1] 12 1 And now, for some reason, it was believed and rumoured among Otho’s vanguard that the generals of Vitellius would come over to their side. Accordingly, when these drew near, Otho’s men greeted them in a friendly fashion and called them fellow-soldiers. The enemy, however, returned the salutation in no kindly spirit, but with anger and hostile cries, so that those who had greeted them were dejected, and were suspected of treachery by the others on their side. 2 This was the first thing that threw Otho’s men into confusion, and at a time when the enemy were close at hand. And besides, nothing else was done properly, since the baggage-train wandered about among the fighting men and caused great disorder. Moreover, the line of battle was often broken by the nature of the ground, which was full of trenches and pits, and in avoiding or going around these the men were compelled to engage their opponents promiscuously and in many detachments. 3 Only two legions (to use the Roman word), that of Vitellius called “Rapax” (or Devourer) and that of Otho called “Adiutrix” (or Helper), got out into a treeless and extended plain, engaged in full formation, and fought a regular battle for a long time. Otho’s men were sturdy and brave, but were now for the first time getting a taste of war and fighting; those of Vitellius, on the other hand, had seen many battles and were used to them, but they were now old and past their prime.
[Oth. 12.4] 4 So Otho’s men charged upon them, drove them back, and captured their eagle, killing nearly all who stood in the first rank; but the others, impelled by shame and anger, fell upon their foes, slew Orfidius, the commander of the legion, and seized many of their standards. Against Otho’s gladiators, too, who were supposed to have experience and courage in close fighting, Alfenus Varus led up the troops called Batavians. 5 They are the best cavalry of the Germans, and come from an island made by the Rhine. A few of the gladiators withstood these, but most of them fled towards the river, where they encountered cohorts of the enemy in battle array, and in defending themselves against these, were cut off to a man. 6 But the praetorian soldiers fought more shamefully than any others. They did not even wait for their opponents to come to close quarters, but fled through the ranks of their still unvanquished comrades, filling them with fear and confusion. Notwithstanding all this, many of Otho’s men conquered those who opposed them, forced their way through the victorious enemy, and regained their camp.
[Oth. 13.1] 13 1 But as for their generals, neither Proculus nor Paulinus ventured to enter the camp with them, but turned aside through fear of the soldiers, who were already laying the blame for their defeat upon their commanders. But Annius Gallus received into the town the soldiers who gathered there out of the battle, and tried to encourage them. The battle had been nearly equal, he said, and in many parts of it they had overcome their enemies. 2 Marius Celsus, moreover, assembled the officers and urged them to consult the public good. In view of so great a calamity, he said, and the slaughter of so many citizens, not even Otho himself, if he were a good man, would wish to make further trial of his fortune, since even Cato and Scipio, by refusing to yield to a victorious Caesar after Pharsalus, had incurred the charge of needlessly squandering the lives of many brave men in Africa, although their struggle was in behalf of Roman freedom. 3 For in general all men alike are subject to the decrees of fortune, but of one thing she cannot rob a good man, and that is the privilege, in case of adversity, of taking reasonable measures to correct the situation that confronts him.
[Oth. 13.4] By this speech Celsus won over the officers. And after they had sounded the soldiers and found them desirous of peace, and when Titianus urged that an embassy be sent in the interest of concord, Celsus and Gallus decided to go and confer with Caecina and Valens. 4 But as they were on the way they were met by some centurions of the enemy, who said that their army was already in motion and was on its way to Bedriacum, and that they themselves had been sent out by their generals to treat for concord. Accordingly, Celsus commended them, and bade them turn back with him and go to meet Caecina. But when they were near the army of Caecina, Celsus ran risk of his life. For it chanced that the horsemen who had formerly been worsted by him at the ambush were riding on in advance. 5 So when they saw Celsus coming up, they forthwith raised a shout and dashed against him. But the centurions stood in front of him and kept them off; the other officers also shouted to the horsemen to spare Celsus, and Caecina, hearing their cries, rode up and speedily brought his horsemen to order. Then he greeted Celsus in a friendly manner and went on with him to Bedriacum. 6 But meanwhile Titianus had repented of having sent the embassy, and after ordering the more resolute of the soldiers back again upon the walls, he exhorted the rest to go to their support. However, when Caecina rode up on his horse and stretched out his hand to them, not a man resisted further, but some greeted his soldiers from the walls, while others, throwing open the gates, went forth and mingled with the advancing troops. 7 There were no hostilities, on the part of Otho’s men, but only friendly salutations and greetings, and all took oath to support Vitellius and went over to his side.
[Oth. 14.1] 14 1 This is the account which most of the participants give of the battle, although they themselves confess that they were ignorant of its details, owing to the disorder and the unequal fortunes of the several groups. At a later time, when I was travelling through the plain, Mestrius Florus, one of the men of consular rank who were at that time with Otho (by constraint, and not of their own will), pointed out to me an ancient temple, and told me how, as he came up to it after the battle, he saw a heap of dead bodies so high that those on top of it touched the gable of the temple. 2 The reason for this he said he could neither discover himself nor learn from anyone else. It is natural, indeed, that in civil wars, when a rout takes place, more men should be killed, because no quarter is given (there being no use for prisoners); but why the dead bodies should be collected and heaped up in such a manner is not easy to determine.
[Oth. 15.1] 15 1 To Otho there came at first, as is usual in such catastrophes, an indistinct rumour of the result; but presently some of his soldiers who had been wounded came with direct tidings of the battle. Here one cannot so much wonder that his friends would not let him give up all for lost, and exhorted him to be of good cheer; but the feelings of his soldiers towards him passed all belief. 2 Not a man of them left him, or went over to the victorious side, or was seen to despair of the emperor’s cause and seek his own safety, but all alike came to his door, called upon him as emperor, became his humble suppliants when he appeared before them, seized his hands with cries and prayers, fell down before him, wept, begged him not to abandon them, and not to betray them to their enemies, but to use their lives and persons in his service as long as they had breath. Such were their united supplications. 3 And one obscure soldier held up his sword, and with the words “Know, O Caesar, that all of us stand in this fashion at thy side,” slew himself.
[Oth. 15.4] None of these things, however, broke Otho down, but looking all around with a countenance composed and cheerful, he said: “This day, my fellow-soldiers, I deem more blessed than that on which ye first made me emperor, since I see you so devoted to me and am judged worthy of so high honour at your hands. 4 But do not rob me of a great blessedness — that of dying nobly in behalf of fellow-citizens so many and so good. If I was worthy to be Roman emperor, I ought to give my life freely for my country. I know that the victory of our adversaries is neither decisive nor assured. I have word that our forces from Mysia are already approaching the Adriatic, and are only a few days distant from us. 5 Asia, Syria, Egypt, and the armies fighting against the Jews, are on our side; the senate, too, is with us, as well as the wives and children of our adversaries. Still, it is not to defend Italy against Hannibal, or Pyrrhus, or the Cimbri, that our war is waged, but both parties are waging war against Romans, and we sin against our country whether we conquer or are conquered. For the victor’s gain is our country’s loss. 6 Believe me when I insist that I can die more honourably than I can reign. For I do not see how my victory can be of so great advantage to the Romans as my offering up my life to secure peace and concord, and to prevent Italy from beholding such a day again.”
[Oth. 16.1] 16 1 So he spake, and after resisting firmly those who tried to oppose and dissuade him, he ordered his friends to depart, as well as the men of senatorial rank who were present; to those who were absent he sent the same command, and wrote to the cities urging them to escort the travellers on their way with honour and in safety. 2 Then he sent for his nephew Cocceius, who was still a youth, and bade him be of good cheer and not fear Vitellius, whose mother and wife and children he had kept safe and cared for as though they were his own. He had desired, he said, to make him his son, but had put off the adoption, in order that the youth might share his power after he had prevailed, and not perish with him after he had failed. “And now, my boy,” he said, “this is my last charge to thee; do not altogether forget, and do not too well remember, that thou hadst a Caesar for an uncle.”
[Oth. 16.3] 3 This done, after a little he heard tumult and shouting at his door. For as the men of senatorial rank were departing, the soldiers threatened to kill them if they did not remain, instead of forsaking their emperor. Once more, then, he went forth, since he feared for the men’s safety. He was no longer gentle and suppliant, however, but stern of countenance, and looking angrily round upon the most turbulent of the soldiers, he made them go away submissively and in fear.
[Oth. 17.1] 17 1 It was now evening, and being thirsty, he drank a little water. He had two swords, and after examining the blade of each for a long time, he laid one of them aside, but put the other under his arm, and then called his servants. These he addressed kindly, and distributed money to them, more to one and less to another, not as though lavish with what was no longer to be his, but with strict regard to moderation and the claims of merit. 2 After sending the servants away, he betook himself to rest for the remainder of the night, and slept so soundly that his chamberlains heard his heavy breathing. Just before dawn he called a freedman with whom he had arranged for the departure of the senators, and bade him learn how they fared. And when he was told that all of them had what was needful for their journey, “Go thou, then,” he said to the freedman, “and show thyself to the soldiers, unless thou wishest them to put thee to a miserable death for helping me to die.” 3 Then, when the man had gone out, with both hands he held his sword upright beneath him, and fell upon it, giving but a single groan as he felt the pang. The servants outside heard his groan and raised a wailing cry, and at once the whole camp and the city were filled with lamentation. The soldiers, with loud cries, burst in at the door, and then bewailed their emperor, full of anguish, and reviling themselves because they had not watched over him and prevented him from dying in their behalf. 4 Not one of his followers went away, although the enemy were near, but after attiring the body and preparing a funeral pyre for it, they escorted it thither with military honours, and full of exultation were those who won the privilege of carrying the bier. Of the rest, some embraced the emperor’s body and kissed his wound, others grasped his hands, and others still made him their obeisance at a distance. There were some, too, who first put their torches to the pyre and then slew themselves, not, so far as could be known, because they were either indebted to the dead for favours, or fearful of punishment at the hands of the victor. 5 Nay, it would seem that no king or tyrant was ever possessed by so dire and frenzied a passion for ruling as was that of these soldiers for being ruled and commanded by Otho; not even after his death did their yearnings for him leave them, nay, it abode with them until it finally changed into an incurable hatred for Vitellius.
[Oth. 18.1] 18 1 Well, then, the rest of the story is now in place. They buried the remains of Otho, and made a tomb for them which neither by the great size of its mound nor by the boastfulness of its inscription could awaken jealousy. I saw it when I was at Brixillum. It is a modest memorial and the inscription on it, in translation, runs thus: “To the memory of Marcus Otho.”
[Oth. 18.2] 2 Otho died at the age of thirty-seven years, but he had ruled only three months, and when he was gone, those who applauded his death were no fewer or less illustrious than those who blamed his life. For though he lived no more decently than Nero, he died more nobly.
[Oth. 18.3] 3 As for his soldiers, when Pollio, their remaining prefect, ordered them to swear allegiance at once to Vitellius, they were incensed; and when they learned that some of the senators were still there, they let all of them go except Verginius Rufus, and him they annoyed by going to his house in military array and inviting him again, and even urging him, to assume the imperial power, or to go on an embassy in their behalf. 4 But Verginius thought it would be madness for him to accept the imperial dignity now, when they were defeated, after refusing it before, when they were victorious, and as for going on an embassy to the Germans, he feared to do so, since they felt that he had often done them violence beyond all reason; and so he stole away unobserved by another door. When the soldiers learned of this, they consented to take the oaths, and joined the forces of Caecina, thus obtaining pardon.