And Chares, in the tenth book of his History of Alexander, says—"When he took Darius prisoner, he celebrated a marriage-feast for himself and his companions, having had ninety-two bedchambers prepared in the same place. There was a house built capable of containing a hundred couches; and in it every couch was adorned with wedding paraphernalia to the value of twenty minæ, and was made of silver itself; but his own bed had golden feet. And he also invited to the banquet which he gave, all his own private friends, and those he arranged opposite to himself and the other bridegrooms; and his forces also belonging to the army and navy, and all the ambassadors which were present, and all the other strangers who were staying at his court. And the apartment was furnished in the most costly and magnificent manner, with sumptuous garments and cloths, and beneath them were other cloths of purple, and scarlet, and gold. And, for the sake of solidity, pillars supported the tent, each twenty cubits long, plated all over with gold and silver, and inlaid with precious stones; and all around these were spread costly curtains embroidered with figures of animals, and with gold, having gold and silver curtain-rods. And the circumference of the court was four stadia. And the banquet took place, beginning at the sound of trumpet, at that marriage feast, and on other occasions whenever the king offered a solemn sacrifice, so that all the army knew it. And this marriage feast lasted five days. And a great num- ber both of barbarians and Greeks brought contributions to it; and also some of the Indian tribes did so. And there were present some wonderful conjurors—Scymnus of Tarentum, and Philistides of Syracuse, and Heraclitus of Mitylene; after whom also Alexis of Tarentum, the rhapsodist, exhibited his skill. There came also harp-players, who played without singing,—Cratinus of Methymne, and Aristonymus the Athenian, and Athenodorus the Teian. And Heraclitus the Tarentine played on the harp, accompanying himself with his voice, and so did Aristocrates the Theban. And of fluteplayers accompanied with song, there were present Dionysius of Heraclea, and Hyperbolus of Cyzicus. And of other fluteplayers there were the following, who first of all played the air called The Pythian, and afterwards played with the choruses,—Timotheus, Phrynichus, Caphesias, Diophantus, and also Evius the Chalcidian. And from this time forward, those who were formerly called Dionysio-colaces, were called Alexandro-colaces, on account of the extravagant liberality of their presents, with which Alexander was pleased. And there were also tragedians who acted,—Thessalus, and Athenodorus, and Aristocritus; and of comic actors there were Lycon, and Phormion, and Ariston. There was also Phasimelus the harp-player. And the crowns sent by the ambassadors and by other people amounted in value to fifteen thousand talents.
Χάρης δ’ ἐν τῇ δεκάτῃ τῶν περὶ Ἀλέξανδρον Ἱστοριῶν ὅτε, φησίν, εἷλε Δαρεῖον, γάμους συνετέλεσεν ἑαυτοῦ τε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων φίλων, ἐνενήκοντα καὶ δύο θαλάμους κατασκευασάμενος ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τόπῳ. ἦν δὲ ὁ οἶκος ἑκατοντάκλινος, ἐν ᾧ ἑκάστη ἦν κλίνη κεκοσμημένη στολῇ γαμικῇ εἴκοσι μνῶν ἀργυρᾶ· ἡ δὲ αὐτοῦ χρυσόπους ἦν. συμπαρέλαβεν δὲ εἰς τὸ συμπόσιον καὶ τοὺς ἰδιοξένους ἅπαντας καὶ κατέκλινεν ἀντιπροσώπους ἑαυτῷ τε καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις νυμφίοις, τὴν δὲ λοιπὴν δύναμιν πεζήν τε καὶ ναυτικὴν καὶ τὰς πρεσβείας καὶ τοὺς παρεπιδημοῦντας ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ. κατεσκεύαστο δὲ ὁ οἶκος πολυτελῶς καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἱματίοις τε καὶ ὀθονίοις πολυτελέσιν, ὑπὸ δὲ ταῦτα πορφυροῖς καὶ φοινικοῖς χρυσουφέσιν, τοῦ δὲ μένειν τὴν σκηνὴν ὑπέκειντο κίονες εἰκοσαπήχεις περίχρυσοι καὶ διάλιθοι καὶ περιάργυροι. περιεβέβληντο δὲ ἐν τῷ περιβόλῳ πολυτελεῖς αὐλαῖαι ζῳωτοὶ καὶ διάχρυσοι, κανόνας ἔχουσαι περιχρύσους καὶ περιαργύρους. τῆς δ’ αὐλῆς ἦν τὸ περίμετρον στάδιοι τέσσαρες, ἐγίνετο δὲ τὰ δεῖπνα πρὸς σάλπιγγα τότε μὲν ἐν τοῖς γάμοις, καὶ ἄλλως δ’ αἰεὶ ὅτε τύχοι σπονδοποιούμενος, ὥστε πᾶν εἰδέναι τὸ στρατόπεδον. ἐπὶ πέντε δὲ ἡμέρας ἐπετελέσθησαν οἱ γάμοι, καὶ ἐλειτούργησαν πάνυ πολλοὶ καὶ βαρβάρων καὶ Ἑλλήνων, καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς θαυματοποιοὶ ἦσαν διαπρέποντες, ἔτι δὲ Σκύμνος Ταραντῖνος καὶ Φιλιστίδης Συρακόσιος ʽ Ἡράκλειτός τε ὁ Μιτυληναῖος· μεθ’ οὓς ἐπεδείξατο ῥαψῳδὸς Ἄλεξις Ταραντῖνος. παρῆλθον δὲ καὶ ψιλοκιθαρισταὶ Κρατῖνος Μηθυμναῖος, Ἀριστώνυμος Ἀθηναῖος, Ἀθηνόδωρος Τήιος· ἐκιθαρῴδησαν δὲ ʽ Ἡράκλειτός τε ὁ Ταραντῖνος καὶ Ἀριστοκράτης ὁ Θηβαῖος. αὐλῳδοὶ δὲ παρῆλθον Διονύσιος ὁ Ἡρακλεώτης, Ὑπέρβολος Κυζικηνός· παρῆλθον δὲ καὶ αὐληταί, οἳ πρῶτον τὸ Πυθικὸν ηὔλησαν, εἶθ’ ἑξῆς μετὰ τῶν χορῶν, Τιμόθεος, Φρύνιχος, Καφισίας, Διόφαντος, ἔτι δὲ· Εὔιος ὁ Χαλκιδεύς. καὶ ἔκτοτε οἱ πρότερον καλούμενοι Διονυσοκόλακες Ἀλεξανδροκόλακες ἐκλήθησαν διὰ τὰς τῶν δώρων ὑπερβολάς, ἐφ’ οἷς καὶ ἥσθη ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος. ὑπεκρίθησαν δὲ τραγῳδοὶ μὲν Θεσσαλὸς καὶ Ἀθηνόδωρος καὶ Ἀριστόκριτος, κωμῳδοὶ δὲ Λύκων καὶ Φορμίων καὶ Ἀρίστων, παρῆν δὲ καὶ Φασίμηλος ὁ ψάλτης. οἱ δὲ πεμφθέντες, φησί, στέφανοι ὑπὸ τῶν πρεσβευτῶν καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ταλάντων ἦσαν μυρίων πεντακισχιλίων.
But Polycletus of Larissa, in the eighth book of his History, says that Alexander used to sleep on a golden couch, and that flute-playing men and women followed him to the camp, and that he used to drink till daybreak. And Clearchus, in his treatise on Lives, speaking of Darius who was dethroned by Alexander, says, “The king of the Persians offered prizes to those who could invent pleasures for him, and by this conduct allowed his whole empire and sovereignty to be subverted by pleasures. Nor was he aware that he was defeating himself till others had wrested his sceptre from him and had been proclaimed in his place.” And Phylarchus, in the twenty-third book of his History, and Agatharchides of Cnidus, in the tenth book of his History of Asia, say that the companions also of Alexander gave way to the most extravagant luxury. And one of them was a man named Agnon, who used to wear golden studs in his sandals and shoes. And Cleitus, who was surnamed The White, whenever he was about to transact business, used to converse with every one who came to him while walking about on a purple carpet. And Perdiccas and Craterus, who were fond of athletic exercises, had men follow them with hides fastened together so as to cover a place an entire stadium in extent; and then they selected a spot within the encampment which they had covered with these skins as an awning; and under this they practised their gymnastics. They were followed also by numerous beasts of burden, which carried sand for the use of the palæstra. And Leonnatus and Menelaus, who were very fond of hunting, had curtains brought after them calculated to enclose a space a hundred stadia in circumference, with which they fenced in a large space and then practised hunting within it. And as for the golden plane-trees, and the golden vine—having on it bunches of grapes made of emeralds and Indian carbuncles, and all sorts of other stones of the most costly ad magnificent description, under which the kings of Persia used often to sit when transacting business,—the expense of all this, says Phylarchus, was far less than the daily sums squandered by Alexander; for he had a tent capable of containing a hundred couches, and fifty golden pillars supported it. And over it were spread golden canopies wrought with the most superb and costly embroidery, to shade all the upper part of it. And first of all, five hundred Persian Melophori stood all round the inside of it, clad in robes of purple and apple-green; and besides them there were bowmen to the number of a thousand, some clad in garments of a fiery red, and others in purple; and many of them had blue cloaks. And in front of them stood five hundred Macedonian Argyraspides; and in the middle of the tent was placed a golden chair, on which Alexander used to sit and transact business, his body-guards standing all around. And on the outside, all round the tent, was a troop of elephants regularly equipped, and a thousand Macedonians, having Macedonian dresses; and then ten thousand Persians: and the number of those who wore purple amounted to five hundred, to whom Alexander gave this dress for them to wear. And though he had such a numerous retinue of friends and servants, still no one dared to approach Alexander of his own accord; so great was his dignity and the veneration with which they regarded him. And at that time Alexander wrote letters to the cities in Ionia, and to the Chians first of all, to send him a quantity of purple; for he wished all his companions to wear purple robes. And when his letter was read among the Chians, Theocritus the philosopher being present, said—He fell by purple death and mighty fate.
Πολύκλειτος δ’ ὁ Λαρισαῖος ἐν τῇ ὀγδόῃ τῶν Ἱστοριῶν καὶ ἐπὶ χρυσῆς κλίνης κοιμᾶσθαί φησι τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον καὶ αὐλητρίδας αὐτῷ καὶ αὐλητὰς αἰεὶ ἕπεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον καὶ πίνειν ἄχρι τῆς ἕω. Κλέαρχος δ’ ἐν τοῖς περὶ Βίων περὶ Δαρείου λέγων τοῦ καθαιρεθέντος ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου φησὶν ὁ Περσῶν βασιλεὺς ἀθλοθετῶν τοῖς τὰς ἡδονὰς αὐτῷ πορίζουσιν ὑπὸ πάντων τῶν ἡδέων ἡττωμένην ἀπέδειξε τὴν βασιλείαν καὶ καταγωνιζόμενος ἑαυτὸν οὐκ ᾔσθετο πρότερον ἢ τὸ σκῆπτρον ἕτεροι λαβόντες ἀνεκηρύχθησαν. Φύλαρχος δ’ ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ καὶ εἰκοστῇ τῶν Ἱστοριῶν καὶ Ἀγαθαρχίδης ὁ Κνίδιος ἐν τῷ δεκάτῳ περὶ ᾽ ᾽Ἀσίας καὶ τοὺς ἑταίρους φησὶ τοὺς Ἀλεξάνδρου ὑπερβαλλούσῃ τρυφῇ χρήσασθαι. ὧν εἷς ὢν καὶ Ἄγνων χρυσοῦς ἥλους ἐν ταῖς κρηπῖσι ἐφόρει. Κλεῖτος δ’ ὁ Λευκὸς καλούμενος ὅτε χρηματίζειν μέλλοι, ἐπὶ πορφυρῶν ἱματίων διαπεριπατῶν τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν διελέγετο. Περδίκκᾳ δὲ καὶ Κρατερῷ φιλογυμναστοῦσιν ἠκολούθουν διφθέραι σταδιαῖαι τοῖς μεγέθεσιν, ὑφ’ αἷς περιλαμβάνοντες τόπον ἐν ταῖς καταστρατοπεδείαις ἐγυμνάζοντο· ἠκολούθει δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ ὑποζύγια πολλὰ τὰ τὴν κόνιν κομίζοντα πρὸς τὴν ἐν τῇ παλαίστρᾳ χρείαν. Λεοννάτῳ δὲ καὶ Μενελάῳ φιλοκυνήγοις οὖσιν αὐλαῖαι σταδίων ἑκατὸν ἠκολούθουν, αἷς περιιστάντες τὰς θήρας ι ἐκυνήγουν, τὰς δὲ χρυσᾶς πλατάνους καὶ τὴν χρυσῆν ἄμπελον ὑφ’ ἣν οἱ Περσῶν βασιλεῖς ἐχρημάτιζον πολλάκις καθήμενοι, σμαραγδίνους βότρυς ἔχουσαν καὶ τῶν ᾽ Ἰνδικῶν ἀνθράκων ἄλλων τε παντοδαπῶν λίθων ὑπερβαλλόντων ταῖς πολυτελείαις, ἐλάττω φησὶν ὁ Φύλαρχος φαίνεσθαι τῆς καθ’ ἡμέραν ἑκάστοτε γινομένης παρ’ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ δαπάνης, ἦν γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἡ σκηνὴ κλινῶν ρ᾽, χρυσοῖ δὲ κίονες ν’ κατεῖχον αὐτήν. οἱ δὲ ὑπερτείνοντες οὐρανίσκοι διάχρυσοι ποικίλμασιν ἐκπεπονημένοι πολυτελέσιν ἐσκέπαζον τὸν ἄνω τόπον, καὶ πρῶτοι μὲν Πέρσαι φ’ μηλοφόροι περὶ αὐτὴν ἐντὸς εἱστήκεσαν πορφυραῖς καὶ μηλίναις ἐσθῆσιν ἐξησκημένοι μετὰ δὲ τούτους τοξόται τὸν ἀριθμὸν χίλιοι, οἱ μὲν φλόγινα ἐνδεδυκότες, οἱ δὲ ὑσγινοβαφῆ, πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ κυάνεα εἶχον περιβόλαια. προειστήκεσαν δὲ τούτων ἀργυράσπιδες Μακεδόνες πεντακόσιοι, κατὰ δὲ μέσην τὴν σκηνὴν χρυσοῦς ἐτίθετο δίφρος, ἐφ’ οὗ καθήμενος ἐχρημάτιζεν ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος τῶν σωματοφυλάκων πανταχόθεν ἐφεστηκότων. ἔξωθεν δὲ κύκλῳ τῆς σκηνῆς τὸ τῶν ἐλεφάντων ἄγημα διεσκευασμένον ἐφειστήκει καὶ Μακεδόνες χίλιοι Μακεδονικὰς στολὰς ἔχοντες, εἶτα μύριοι Πέρσαι, τό τε τὴν πορφύραν ἔχον πλῆθος εἰς πεντακοσίους ἦν, οἷς Ἀλέξανδρος ἔδωκε φορεῖν τὴν στολὴν ταύτην. τοσούτων δὲ ὄντων καὶ τῶν φίλων καὶ τῶν θεραπευόντων οὐδεὶς ἐτόλμα προσπορεύεσθαι Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τοιοῦτον ἐγεγόνει τὸ περὶ αὐτὸν ἀξίωμα, ἔγραψεν δὲ καὶ ποτε Ἀλέξανδρος ταῖς ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ πόλεσιν καὶ πρώτοις Χίοις, ὅπως αὐτῷ πορφύραν ἀποστείλωσιν. ἤθελεν γὰρ τοὺς ἑταίρους ἅπαντας ἁλουργὰς ἐνδῦσαι στολάς. ἀναγνωσθείσης δὲ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς Χίοις παρὼν Θεόκριτος ὁ σοφιστὴς νῦν ἐγνωκέναι ἔφη τὸ παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ εἰρημένον ἔλλαβε πορφύρεος θάνατος καὶ μοῖρα κραταιή.
And Posidonius, in the twenty-eighth book of his History, says that “Antiochus the king, who was surnamed Grypus, when he was celebrating the games at Daphne, gave a magnificent entertainment; at which, first of all, a distribution of entire joints took place, and after that another distribution of geese, and hares, and antelopes all alive. There were also,” says he, “distributed golden crowns to the feasters, and a great quantity of silver plate, and of servants, and horses, and camels. And every one was expected to mount a camel, and drink; and after that he was presented with the camel, and with all that was on the camel, and the boy who stood by it.” And in his fourteenth book, speaking of his namesake Antiochus, who made war upon Arsaces, and invaded Media, he says that "he made a feast for a great multitude every day; at which, besides the things which were consumed, and the heaps of fragments which were left, every one of the guests carried away with him entire joints of beasts, and birds, and fishes which had never been carved, all ready dressed, in sufficient quantities to fill a waggon. And after this they were presented with a quantity of sweetmeats, and chaplets, and crowns of myrrh and frankincense, with turbans as long as a man, made of strips of gold brocade.
Ἀντίοχον δὲ τὸν Γρυπὸν ἐπικαλούμενον βασιλέα φησὶ Ποσειδώνιος ἐν τῇ ὀγδόῃ καὶ εἰκοστῇ τῶν Ἱστοριῶν τὰς ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ πανηγύρεις ἐπιτελοῦντα ὑποδοχὰς λαμπρὰς ἐπιτελεῖν. ἐν αἷς τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἀναδόσεις ἐγίγνοντο ὁλομελῶν βρωμάτων, εἶτ’ ἤδη καὶ ζώντων χηνῶν καὶ λαγωῶν καὶ δορκάδων. ἀνεδίδοντο δέ, φησίν, καὶ χρυσοῖ στέφανοι; τοῖς δειπνοῦσιν καὶ ἀργυρωμάτων πλῆθος καὶ θεραπόντων καὶ ἵππων καὶ καμήλων. ἔδει τε ἀναβάντα ἐπὶ τὴν κάμηλον ἕκαστον πιεῖν καὶ λαβεῖν τὴν κάμηλον καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τὴν κάμηλον καὶ τὸν παρεστῶτα παῖδα. ἐν δὲ τῇ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ περὶ τοῦ ὁμωνύμου αὐτοῦ Ἀντιόχου λέγων τοῦ ἐπ᾽ Ἀρσάκην εἰς Μηδίαν στρατεύσαντός φησιν ὅτι ὑποδοχὰς ἐποιεῖτο καθ’ ἡμέραν ὀχλικάς· ἐν αἷς χωρὶς τῶν ἀναλισκομένων καὶ ἐκφατνιζομένων σωρευμάτων ἕκαστος ἀπέφερε τῶν ἑστιατόρων ὁλομελῆ κρέα χερσαίων τε καὶ πτηνῶν καὶ θαλαττίων ζῴων ἀδιαίρετα ἐσκευασμένα, ἅμαξαν πληρῶσαι δυνάμενα· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα μελιπήκτων καὶ στεφάνων ἐκ σμύρνης καὶ λιβανωτοῦ σὺν· ἀνδρομήκεσι λημνίσκων χρυσῶν πιλήμασιν πλήθη.
But Clytus, the pupil of Aristotle, in his History of Miletus, says that “Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, collected everything that was worth speaking of everywhere to gratify his luxury, having assembled dogs from Epirus, and goats from Scyros, and sheep from Miletus, and swine from Sicily.” And Alexis, in the third book of his Samian Annals, says that “Samos was adorned by Polycrates with the productions of many other cities; as he imported Molossian and Lacedæmonian dogs, and goats from Scyros and Naxos, and sheep from Miletus and Attica. He also,” says he, “sent for artists, promising them enormous wages. But before he became tyrant, having prepared a number of costly couches and goblets, he allowed any one the use of them who was prepping any marriage-feast or extraordinary entertainment.” And after hearing all these particulars we may well admire the tyrant, because it was nowhere written that he had sent for any women or boys from any other countries, although he was of a very amorous constitution, and was a rival in love of Anacreon the poet; and once, in a fit of jealousy, he cut off all the hair of the object of his passion. And Polycrates was the first man who called the ships which he had built Samians, in honour of his country. But Clearchus says that “Polycrates, the tyrant of the effeminate Samos, was ruined by the intemperance of his life, imitating the effeminate practices of the Lydians; on which account, in opposition to the place in Sardis called the beautiful Ancon, he prepared a place in the chief city of the Samians, called Laura; he made those famous, Samian flowers in opposition to the Lydian. And the Samian Laura was a narrow street in the city, full of common women, and of all kinds of food calculated to gratify intemperance and to promote enjoyment, with which he actually filled Greece. But the flowers of the Samians are the preeminent beauty of the men and women, and indeed of the whole city, at its festivals and banquets.” And these are the words of Clearchus. And I myself am acquainted with a narrow street in my native city of Alexandria, which to this very day is called the Happy Street, in which every apparatus of luxury used to be sold. But Aristotle, in his treatise on Admirable and Wonderful Things, says that “Alcisthenes of Sybaris, out of luxury, had a garment prepared for him of such excessive expensive-ness that he exhibited it at Lacinium, at the festival of Juno, at which all the Italians assemble, and that of all the things which were exhibited that was the most admired.” And he says that “Dionysius the elder afterwards became master of it, and sold it to the Carthaginians for a hundred and twenty talents.” Polemo also speaks of it in his book entitled, A Treatise concerning the Sacred Garments at Carthage. But concerning Smindyrides of Sybaris, and his luxury, Herodotus has told us, in his sixth book, saying that he sailed from Sybaris to court Agariste, the daughter of Clisthenes the tyrant of Sicyon. “And,” says he, “there came from Italy Smindyrides, the son of Hippocrates, a citizen of Sybaris; who carried his luxury to the greatest height that ever was heard of among men. At all events he was attended by a thousand cooks and bird-catchers.” Timæus also mentions him in his seventh book. But of the luxury of Dionysius the younger, who was also tyrant of Sicily, an account is given by Satyrus the Peripatetic, in his Lives. For he says that he used to fill rooms holding thirty couches with feasters. And Clearchus, in the fourth book of his Lives, writes as follows:—“But Dionysius, the son of Dionysius, the cruel oppressor of all Sicily, when he came to the city of the Locrians, which was his metropolis, (for Doris his mother was a Locrian woman by birth,) having strewed the floor of the largest house in the city with wild thyme and roses, sent for all the maidens of the Locrians in turn; and then rolled about naked, with them naked also, on this layer of flowers, omitting no circumstance of infamy. And so, not long afterwards, they who had been insulted in this manner having got his wife and children into their power, prostituted them in the public roads with great insult, sparing them no kind of degradation. And when they had wreaked their vengeance upon them, they thrust needles under the nails of their fingers, and put them to death with torture. And when they were dead, they pounded their bones in mortars, and having cut up and distributed the rest of their flesh, they imprecated curses on all who did not eat of it; and in accordance with this unholy imprecation, they put their flesh into the mills with the flour, that it might be eaten by all those who made bread. And all the other parts they sunk in the sea. But Dionysius himself, at last going about as a begging priest of Cybele, and beating the drum, ended his life very miserably. We, therefore, ought to guard against what is called luxury, which is the ruin of a man's life; and we ought to think insolence the destruction of everything.”
Κλύτος δ’ ὁ Ἀριστοτελικὸς ἐν τοῖς περὶ Μιλήτου Πολυκράτην φησὶ τὸν Σαμίων τύραννον ὑπὸ τρυφῆς τὰ πανταχόθεν συνάγειν, κύνας μὲν ἐξ ἠπείρου, αἶγας δὲ ἐκ Σκύρου, ἐκ δὲ Μιλήτου πρόβατα, ὗς δ’ ἐκ Σικελίας. Ἄλεξις δ’ ἐν τρίτῳ Σαμίων ῝ Ὥρων ἐκ πολλῶν πόλεών φησιν κοσμηθῆναι τὴν Σάμον ὑπὸ τοῦ Πολυκράτους, κύνας μὲν Μολοττικὰς καὶ Λακαίνας εἰσαγαγόντος, αἶγας δ’ ἐκ Σκύρου καὶ Νάξου, πρόβατα δ’ ἐκ Μιλήτου καὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς, μετεστέλλετο δέ, φησί, καὶ τεχνίτας ἐπὶ μισθοῖς μεγίστοις. πρὸ δὲ τοῦ τυραννῆσαι κατασκευασάμενος στρωμνὰς πολυτελεῖς καὶ ποτήρια ἐπέτρεπε χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἢ γάμον ἢ μείζονας ὑποδοχὰς ποιουμένοις. ἐκ πάντων οὖν τούτων ἄξιον θαυμάζειν τὸν τύραννον ὅτι οὐδαμόθεν ἀναγέγραπται γυναῖκας ἢ παῖδας μεταπεμψάμενος, καίτοι περὶ τὰς τῶν ἀρρένων ὁμιλίας ἐπτοημένος, ὡς καὶ ἀντερᾶν Ἀνακρέοντι τῷ ποιητῇ ὅτε καὶ δι’ ὀργὴν ἀπέκειρε τὸν ἐρώμενον. πρῶτος δ’ ὁ Πολυκράτης καὶ ναῦς τινας πήξας ἀπὸ τῆς πατρίδος Σαμαίνας ἐκάλεσεν. Κλέαρχος δέ φησιν ὡς Πολυκράτης ὁ τῆς ἁβρᾶς Σάμου τύραννος διὰ τὴν περὶ τὸν βίον ἀκολασίαν ἀπώλετο, ζηλώσας τὰ Λυδῶν μαλακά, ὅθεν τῷ τ’ ἐν Σάρδεσιν Ἀγκῶνι Γλυκεῖ προσαγορευομένῳ τὴν παρὰ τοῖς Σαμίοις λαύραν ἀντικατεσκεύασεν ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ τοῖς Λυδῶν ἄνθεσιν ἀντέπλεξε τὰ διαγγελθέντα Σαμίων ἄνθεα. τούτων δὲ ἡ μὲν Σαμίων λαύρα στενωπή τις ἦν γυναικῶν δημιουργῶν πλήθουσα καὶ τῶν πρὸς ἀπόλαυσιν καὶ ἀκρασίαν πάντων βρωμάτων ὄντως ἐνέπλησε τὴν Ἑλλάδα· τὰ δὲ Σαμίων ἄνθη γυναικῶν καὶ ἀνδρῶν κάλλη διάφορα. ἔτι δὲ τῆς συμπάσης πόλεως ἐν ἑορταῖς τε καὶ μέθαις … καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Κλέαρχος, οἶδα δὲ κἀγὼ παρὰ τοῖς ἐμοῖς ᾽ Ἀλεξανδρεῦσιν λαύραν τινὰ καλουμένην μέχρι καὶ νῦν Εὐδαιμόνων, ἐν ᾗ πάντα τὰ πρὸς τρυφὴν ἐπωλεῖτο, Ἀλκισθένην δὲ τὸν Συβαρίτην φησὶν Ἀριστοτέλης ἐν τοῖς Θαυμασίοις ὑπὸ τρυφῆς ἱμάτιον τοιοῦτον κατασκευάσασθαι τῇ πολυτελείᾳ ὡς προτίθεσθαι αὐτὸ ἐπὶ Λακινίου ἐν τῇ πανηγύρει τῆς Ἥρας, εἰς ἣν συμπορεύονται πάντες Ἰταλιῶται, καὶ τῶν δεικνυμένων μάλιστα πάντων ἐκεῖνο θαυμάζεσθαι. οὗ φασι κυριεύσαντα Διονύσιον τὸν πρεσβύτερον ἀποδόσθαι Καρχηδονίοις ρ’ καὶ κ’ ταλάντων, ἱστορεῖ δὲ καὶ Πολέμων περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ περὶ τῶν ἐν Καρχηδόνι Πέπλων. περὶ δὲ Σμινδυρίδου τοῦ Συβαρίτου καὶ τῆς τούτου. τρυφῆς ἱστόρησεν Ἡρόδοτος ἐν τῇ ἕκτῃ ὡς ἀποπλέων ἐπὶ τὴν μνηστείαν τῆς Κλεισθένους τοῦ Σικυωνίων τυράννου θυγατρὸς Ἀγαρίστης, φησίν, ἀπὸ μὲν Ἰταλίης ἦλθε Σμινδυρίδης ὁ Ἱπποκράτεος Συβαρίτης, ὃς ἐπὶ πλεῖστον δὴ χλιδῆς εἷς ἀνὴρ ἀφίκετο. ᾽ εἵποντο γοῦν αὐτῷ χίλιοι μάγειροι καὶ ὀρνιθευταί. ἱστορεῖ περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ Τίμαιος διὰ τῆς ἑβδόμης. περὶ δὲ τῆς Διονυσίου τοῦ νεωτέρου Σικελίας τυράννου τρυφῆς Σάτυρος ὁ περιπατητικὸς ἱστορῶν ἐν τοῖς Βίοις πληροῦσθαί φησιν παρ’ αὐτῷ τριακοντακλίνους οἴκους ὑπὸ τῶν εὐωχουμένων. καὶ Κλέαρχος δὲ ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ τῶν Βίων γράφει οὕτως· Διονύσιος δ’ ὁ Διονυσίου ἁπάσης γενόμενος Σικελίας ἀλάστωρ εἰς τὴν Λοκρῶν πόλιν παρελθὼν οὖσαν αὐτῷ μητρόπολιν Δωρὶς γὰρ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ τὸ γένος ἦν Λοκρίς στρώσας οἶκον τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει τὸν μέγιστον ἑρπύλλοις καὶ ῥόδοις μετεπέμπετο μὲν ἐν μέρει τὰς Λοκρῶν παρθένους· καὶ γυμνὸς μετὰ γυμνῶν οὐδὲν αἰσχύνης παρέλιπεν ἐπὶ τοῦ στρώματος κυλινδούμενος. τοιγαροῦν μετ’ οὐ πολὺν χρόνον οἱ ὑβρισθέντες γυναῖκα καὶ τέκνα ἐκείνου λαβόντες ὑποχείρια ἐπὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ στήσαντες μεθ’ ὕβρεως ἐνηκολάσταινον αὐτοῖς· καὶ ἐπεὶ τῆς ὕβρεως πλήρεις ἐγένοντο, κεντοῦντες ὑπὸ τοὺς τῶν χειρῶν ὄνυχας βελόναις ἀνεῖλον αὐτούς, καὶ τελευτησάντων τὰ μὲν ὀστᾶ κατέκοψαν ἐν ὅλμοις, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ κρεανομησάμενοι ἐπηράσαντο τοῖς μὴ γευσαμένοις αὐτῶν· ὅθεν πρὸς τὴν ἀνόσιον ἀρὰν κατήλεσαν αὐτῶν τὰς σάρκας, ἵν’ ἡ τροφὴ σιτοποιουμένων κατεδεσθῇ· τὰ δὲ λείψανα κατεπόντωσαν. αὐτὸς δὲ Διονύσιος τέλος μητραγυρτῶν καὶ τυμπανοφορούμενος· οἰκτρῶς τὸν βίον κατέστρεψεν. εὐλαβητέον οὖν τὴν καλουμένην τρυφὴν οὖσαν τῶν βίων ἀνατροπὴν ἁπάντων τε ὀλέθριον ἡγεῖσθαι τὴν ὕβριν.
But Diodorus Siculus, in his books On the Library, says that “the citizens of Agrigentum prepared for Gelon a very costly swimming-bath, being seven stadia in circumference” and twenty cubits deep; and water was introduced into it from the rivers and fountains, and it serve for a great pond to breed fish in, and supplied great quantities of fish for the luxury and enjoyment of Gelon. A great number of swans also," as he relates, “flew into it; so that it was a very beautiful sight. But afterwards the lake was destroyed by becoming filled with mud.” And Duris, in the tenth book of his History of Agathocles, says that near the city of Hip- ponium a grove is shown of extraordinary beauty, excellently well watered; in which there is also a place called the Horn of Amalthea; and that this grove was made by Gelon. But Silenus of Calatia, in the third book of his History of Sicily, says that near Syracuse there is a garden laid out in a most expensive manner, which is called Mythus, in which Hiero the king used to transact his business. And the whole country about Panormus, in Sicily, is called The Garden, because it is full of highly-cultivated trees, as Callias tells us in the eighth book of his History of Agathocles. And Posidonius, in the eighth book of his History, speaking of Damophilus the Sicilian, by whose means it was that the Servile war was stirred up, and saying that he was a slave to his luxury, writes as follows:—"He therefore was a slave to luxury and debauchery. And he used to drive through the country on a four-wheeled chariot, taking with him horses, and servants of great personal beauty, and a disorderly crowd of flatterers and military boys running around his chariot. And ultimately he, with his whole family, perished in a disgraceful manner, being treated with the most extreme violence and insult by his own slaves.
Διόδωρος δ’ ὁ Σικελιώτης ἐν τοῖς περὶ Βιβλιοθήκης Ἀκραγαντίνους φησὶ κατασκευάσαι Γέλωνι κολυμβήθραν πολυτελῆ τὸ περίμετρον ἔχουσαν σταδίων ζ᾽, βάθος δὲ πηχῶν κ᾽, εἰς ἣν ἐπαγομένων ποταμίων καὶ κρηναίων ὑδάτων ἰχθυοτροφεῖον εἶναι καὶ πολλοὺς παρέχεσθαι ἰχθῦς εἰς τὴν τρυφὴν καὶ ἀπόλαυσιν τῷ Γέλωνι· καθίπτασθαι δὲ καὶ κύκνων πλῆθος εἰς αὐτήν, ὡς γίνεσθαι ἐπιτερπεστάτην τὴν θέαν. ὕστερον δὲ αὕτη διεφθάρη καταχωσθεῖσα. Δοῦρις δὲ ἐν τῇ δ’ τῶν περὶ Ἀγαθοκλέα καὶ πλησίον Ἱππωνίου πόλεως ἄλσος τι δείκνυσθαι κάλλει διάφορον καὶ κατάρρυτον ὕδασιν, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τόπον τινὰ εἶναι καλούμενον Ἀμαλθείας Κέρας, ὃ τὸν Γέλωνα κατασκευάσαι. Σιληνὸς δ’ ὁ Καλακτῖνος ἐν τρίτῳ Σικελικῶν περὶ Συρακούσας φησὶν κῆπον εἶναι πολυτελῶς κατεσκευασμένον ὃν καλεῖσθαι Μῦθον, ἐν ᾧ χρηματίζειν ʽ Ἱέρωνα τὸν βασιλέα, ἡ δὲ Πανορμῖτις τῆς Σικελίας πᾶσα κῆπος προσαγορεύεται διὰ τὸ πᾶσα εἶναι πλήρης δένδρων ἡμέρων, ὥς φησιν Καλλίας ἐν ὀγδόῃ τῶν περὶ Ἀγαθοκλέα Ἱστοριῶν. Ποσειδώνιος δ’ ἐν τῇ ὀγδόῃ τῶν Ἱστοριῶν περὶ Δαμοφίλου λέγων τοῦ Σικελιώτου, δι’ ὃν ὁ δουλικὸς ἐκινήθη πόλεμος, ὅτι τρυφῆς ἦν οἰκεῖος, γράφει καὶ ταῦτα· τρυφῆς οὖν δοῦλος ἦν καὶ κακουργίας, διὰ μὲν τῆς χώρας τετρακύκλους ἀπήνας περιαγόμενος καὶ ἵππους καὶ θεράποντας ὡραίους καὶ παραδρομὴν ἀνάγωγον κολάκων τε καὶ παίδων στρατιωτικῶν. ὕστερον δὲ πανοικίᾳ ἐφυβρίστως κατέστρεψε τὸν βίον ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκετῶν περιυβρισθείς.
And Demetrius Phalereus, as Duris says in the sixteenth volume of his Histories, being possessed of a revenue of twelve hundred talents a-year, and spending a small portion of it on his soldiers, and on the necessary expenses of the state, squandered all the rest of it on gratifying his innate love of debauchery, having splendid banquets eve y day, and a great number of guests to feast with him. And in the prodigality of his expense in his entertainments he outdid even the Macedonians, and, at the same time, in the elegance of them, he surpassed the Cyprians and Phœnicians. And perfumes were sprinkled over the ground, and many of the floors in the men's apartments were inlaid with flowers, and were exquisitely wrought in other ways by the artists. There were also secret meetings with women, and other scenes more shameful still. And Demetrius, who gave laws to others, and who regulated the lives of others, exhibited in his own life an utter contempt of all law. He also paid great attention to his personal appearance, and dyed the hair of his head with a yellow colour, and anointed his face with rouge, and smeared himself over with other unguents also; for he was anxious to appear agreeable and beautiful in the eyes of all whom he met. And in the procession of the Dionysia, which he celebrated when he was archon at Athens, a chorus sang an ode of Siromen the Solensian, addressed to him, in which he was called, Like the Sun:—And above all the noble princeDemetrius, like the sun in face,Honours you, Bacchus, with a holy worship.And Carystius of Pergamus, in the third book of his Commentaries, says—“Demetrius Phalereus, when his brother Himeræus was put to death by Antipater, was himself staying with Nicanor; and he was accused of having sacrificed the Epiphaneia in honour of his brother. And after he became a friend of Cassander, he was very powerful. And at first his dinner consisted of a kind of pickle, containing olives from all countries, and cheese from the islands; but when he became rich, he bought Moschion, the most skilful of all the cooks and confectioners of that age. And he had such vast quantities of food prepared for him every day, that, as he gave Moschion what was left each day, he (Moschion) in two years purchased three detached houses in the city; and insulted free-born boys, and some of the wives of the most eminent of the citizens: and all the boys envied Theognis, with whom he was in love. And so important an honour was it considered to be allowed to come near Demetrius, that, as he one day had walked about after dinner near the Tripods, on all the following days all the most beautiful boys came together to that place, in the hopes of being seen by him.” And Nicolaus the Peripatetic, in the tenth book of his History, and again in the twentieth book, says that Lucullus, when he came to Rome and celebrated his triumph, and gave an account of the war against Mithridates, ran into the most unbounded extravagance, after having previously been very moderate; and was altogether the first guide to luxury, and the first example of it, among the Romans, having become master of the riches of two kings, Mithridates and Tigranes. And Sittius, also, was a man very notorious among the Romans for his luxury and effeminacy, as Rutilitius tells us; for as to Apicius, we have already spoken of him. And almost all historians relate that Pausanias and Lysander were very notorious for their luxury; on which account Agis said of Lysander, that Sparta had produced him as a second Pausanias. But Theopompus, in the tenth book of his History of the Affairs of Greece, gives exactly the contrary account of Lysander, saying that “he was a most laborious man, able to earn the goodwill of both private individuals and monarchs, being very moderate and temperate, and superior to all the allurements of pleasure; and accordingly, when he had become master of almost the whole of Greece, it will be found that he never in any city indulged in amatory excesses, or in unreasonable drinking parties and revels.”
Δημήτριος δ’ ὁ Φαληρεύς, ὥς φησι Δοῦρις ἐν τῇ ἑκκαιδεκάτῃ τῶν Ἱστοριῶν, χιλίων καὶ διακοσίων ταλάντων κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν κύριος γενόμενος καὶ ἀπὸ τούτων βραχέα δαπανῶν εἰς τοὺς στρατιώτας καὶ τὴν τῆς πόλεως διοίκησιν τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα διὰ. τὴν ἔμφυτον ἀκρασίαν ἠφάνιζεν, θοίνας καθ’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν λαμπρὰς ἐπιτελῶν καὶ πλῆθός τι συνδείπνων ἔχων. καὶ ταῖς μὲν δαπάναις ταῖς εἰς τὰ δεῖπνα τοὺς Μακεδόνας ὑπερέβαλλε, τῇ δὲ καθαρειότητι Κυπρίους καὶ Φοίνικας· ῥάσματά τε μύρων ἔπιπτεν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, ἀνθινά τε πολλὰ τῶν ἐδαφῶν ἐν τοῖς ἀνδρῶσιν κατεσκευάζετο διαπεποικιλμένα ὑπὸ δημιουργῶν, ἦσαν δὲ καὶ πρὸς γυναῖκας ὁμιλίαι σιωπώμεναι καὶ νεανίσκων ἔρωτες νυκτερινοί, καὶ ὁ τοῖς ἄλλοις τιθέμενος θεσμοὺς Δημήτριος καὶ τοὺς βίους τάττων ἀνομοθέτητον ἑαυτῷ τὸν βίον κατεσκεύαζεν. ἐπεμελεῖτο δὲ καὶ τῆς ὄψεως, τήν τε τρίχα τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς ξανθιζόμενος καὶ παιδέρωτι τὸ πρόσωπον ὑπαλειφόμενος καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀλείμμασιν ἐγχρίων ἑαυτόν ἠβούλετο γὰρ τὴν ὄψιν ἱλαρὸς καὶ τοῖς ἀπαντῶσιν ἡδὺς φαίνεσθαι. ἐν δὲ τῇ πομπῇ τῶν Διονυσίων ἣν ἔπεμψεν ἄρχων γενόμενος, ᾖδεν ὁ χορὸς εἰς αὐτὸν ποιήματα Καστορίωνος τοῦ Σολέως, ἐν οἷς ἡλιόμορφος προσηγορεύετο ἐξόχως δ’ εὐγενέτας ἡλιόμορφος ζαθέοις ἄρχων σε τιμαῖσι γεραίρει. Καρύστιος δὲ ὁ Περγαμηνὸς ἐν τρίτῳ Ὑπομνημάτων Δημήτριος, φησίν, ὁ Φαληρεὺς Ἱμεραίου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ἀναιρεθέντος ὑπ’ Ἀντιπάτρου αὐτὸς μετὰ Νικάνορος διέτριβεν, αἰτίαν ἔχων ὡς τὰ ἐπιφάνεια τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ θύων. Κασάνδρῳ δὲ γενόμενος φίλος μέγα ᾽ἴσχυσεν. καὶ κατ’ ἀρχὰς μὲν ἦν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἄριστον ὀξύβαφα παντοδαπὰς ἐλάας ἔχοντα καὶ τυρὸν νησιωτικόν. ὡς δ’ ἐπλούτησε, Μοσχίωνα τὸν ἄριστον τῶν τότε μαγείρων καὶ δειπνοποιῶν ἐωνήσατο, καὶ τοσαῦτα ἦν αὐτῷ τὰ ἐν δείπνοις παρασκευαζόμενα καθ’ ἡμέραν ὥστε χαρισαμένου τῷ Μοσχίωνι τὰ λείψανα Μοσχίων ἐν ἔτεσι δύο τρεῖς συνοικίας ἐωνήσατο παῖδάς τε ἐλευθέρους ὕβριζεν καὶ γυναῖκας τὰς τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων. ἐζηλοτύπουν δὲ πάντες οἱ παῖδες τὸν ἐρώμενον αὐτοῦ Δίογνιν, καὶ τοσοῦτον ἦν τῷ Δημητρίῳ προσελθεῖν ὥστε μετ’ ἄριστον αὐτοῦ. περιπατήσαντος παρὰ τοὺς Τρίποδας συνῆλθον εἰς τὸν τόπον παῖδες οἱ κάλλιστοι ταῖς ἑξῆς ἡμέραις, ἵν’ ὀφθεῖεν αὐτῷ, Νικόλαος δ’ ὁ περιπατητικὸς ἐν τῇ δεκάτῃ καὶ ἑκατοστῇ τῶν Ἱστοριῶν Λεύκολλον φησιν ἀφικόμενον εἰς Ῥώμην καὶ θριαμβεύσαντα λόγον τε ἀποδόντα τοῦ πρὸς Μιθριδάτην πολέμου ἐξοκεῖλαι εἰς πολυτελῆ δίαιταν ἐκ τῆς παλαιᾶς σωφροσύνης τρυφῆς τε πρῶτον εἰς ἅπαν Ῥωμαίοις ἡγεμόνα γενέσθαι, καρπωσάμενον δυεῖν βασιλέων πλοῦτον Μιθριδάτου καὶ Τιγράνου, διαβόητος δ’ ἦν παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις καὶ Σίττιος ἐπὶ τρυφῇ καὶ μαλακίᾳ, ὥς φησι Ῥουτίλιος. περὶ γὰρ Ἀπικίου προειρήκαμεν. Παυσανίαν δὲ καὶ Λύσανδρον ἐπὶ τρυφῇ διαβοήτους γενέσθαι σχεδὸν πάντες ἱστοροῦσι. διόπερ καὶ Ἆγις ἐπὶ Λύσανδρον ἔφη ὅτι δεύτερον τοῦτον ἡ Σπάρτη φέρει Παυσανίαν. Θεόπομπος δὲ ἐν τῇ δεκάτῃ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν τἀναντία φησὶ περὶ τοῦ Λυσάνδρου, ὅτι φιλόπονος· ἦν καὶ θεραπεύειν δυνάμενος καὶ ἰδιώτας καὶ βασιλεῖς, σώφρων ὢν καὶ τῶν ἡδονῶν ἁπασῶν κρείττων. γενόμενος γοῦν τῆς Ἑλλάδος σχεδὸν ἁπάσης κύριος ἐν οὐδεμιᾷ φανήσεται τῶν πόλεων οὔτε πρὸς τὰς ἀφροδισίους ἡδονὰς ὁρμήσας οὔτε μέθαις καὶ πότοις ἀκαίροις χρησάμενος.
But luxury and extravagance were so very much prac- tised among the ancients, that even Parrhasius the painter always wore a purple robe, and a golden crown on his head, as Clearchus relates, in his Lives: for he, being most immoderately luxurious, and also to a degree beyond what was becoming to a painter, laid claim, in words, to great virtue, and inscribed upon the works which were done by him—Parrhasius, a most luxurious man,And yet a follower of purest virtue,Painted this work.But some one else, being indignant at this inscription, wrote by the side of it, ῥαβδοδίαιτος (worthy of a stick). Parrhasius also put the following inscription on many of his works:—Parrhasius, a most luxurious man,And yet a follower of purest virtue,Painted this work: a worthy citizenOf noble Ephesus. His father's nameEvenor was, and he, his lawful son,Was the first artist in the whole of Greece.He also boasted, in a way which no one could be indignant at, in the following lines:—This will I say, though strange it may appear,That clear plain limits of this noble artHave been discovered by my hand, and proved.And now the boundary which none can passIs well defined, though nought that men can doWill ever wholly escape blame or envy.And once, at Samos, when he was contending with a very inferior painter in a picture of Ajax, and was defeated, when his friends were sympathising with him and expressing their indignation, he said that he himself cared very little about it, but that he was sorry for Ajax, who was thus defeated a second time. And so great was his luxury, that he wore a purple robe, and a white turban on his head; and used to lean on a stick, ornamented all round with golden fretted work: and he used even to fasten the strings of his sandals with golden clasps. However, as regarded his art, he was not churlish or ill-tempered, but affable and good-humoured; so that he sang all the time that he was painting, as Theophrastus relates, in his treatise on Happiness. But once he spoke in a marvellous strain, more like a quack, when he said, when he was painting the Hercules at Lindus, that the god had appeared to him in a dream, in that form and dress which was the best adapted for painting; on which account he inscribed on the picture—Here you may see the god as oft he stoodBefore Parrhasius in his sleep by night.
οὕτω δὲ παρὰ τοῖς ἀρχαίοις τὰ τῆς τρυφῆς καὶ τῆς πολυτελείας ἠσκεῖτο ὡς καὶ Παρράσιόν τὸν Ἐφέσιον ζωγράφον πορφύραν ἀμπέχεσθαι, χρυσοῦν στέφανον ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἔχοντα, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Κλέαρχος ἐν τοῖς Βίοις. οὗτος γὰρ παρὰ μέλος ὑπὲρ τὴν γραφικὴν τρυφήσας λόγῳ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀντελαμβάνετο καὶ ἐπέγραφεν τοῖς ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ ἐπιτελουμένοις ἔργοις· ἁβροδίαιτος ἀνὴρ ἀρετήν τε σέβων τάδ’ ἔγραψεν. καί τις ὑπεραλγήσας ἐπὶ τούτῳ παρέγραψεν ῥαβδοδίαιτος ἀνήρ. ἐπέγραψεν δ’ ἐπὶ πολλῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ καὶ τάδε· ἁβροδίαιτος ἀνὴρ ἀρετήν τε σέβων τάδ’ ἔγραψεν Παρράσιος κλεινῆς πατρίδος ἐξ Ἐφέσου. οὐδὲ πατρὸς λαθόμην Εὐήνορος, ὃς ῥὰ μ’ ἔφυσε γνήσιον, Ἑλλήνων πρῶτα φέροντα τέχνης. ηὔχησε δ’ ἀνεμεσήτως ἐν τούτοις· εἰ καὶ ἄπιστα κλύουσι, λέγω τάδε· φημὶ γὰρ ἤδη τέχνης εὑρῆσθαι τέρματα τῆσδε σαφῆ χειρὸς ὑφ’ ἡμετέρης· ἀνυπέρβλητος δὲ πέπηγεν οὖρος. ἀμώμητον δ’ οὐδὲν ἔγεντο βροτοῖς. ἀγωνιζόμενος δέ ποτε πρὸς καταδεέστερον ἐν Σάμῳ τὸν Αἴαντα καὶ ἡττηθείς, συναχθομένων αὐτῷ τῶν φίλων, ἔφη ὡς αὐτὸς μὲν ὀλίγον φροντίζοι, Αἴαντι δὲ συνάχθοιτο δεύτερον ἡττηθέντι. ἐφόρει δὲ ὑπὸ τρυφῆς πορφυρίδα καὶ στρόφιον λευκὸν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς· εἶχεν σκίπωνί τε ἐπεστηρίζετο χρυσᾶς ἕλικας ἐμπεπαισμένῳ χρυσοῖς τε ἀνασπαστοῖς ἐπέσφιγγε τῶν βλαυτῶν τοὺς ἀναγωγέας. ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τὰ κατὰ τήν τέχνην ἀηδῶς ἐποιεῖτο ἀλλὰ ῥᾳδίως, ὡς καὶ ᾄδειν γράφοντα, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Θεόφραστος ἐν τῷ περὶ Εὐδαιμονίας τερατευόμενος δὲ ἔλεγεν, ὅτε τὸν ἐν Λίνδῳ Ἡρακλέα ἔγραφεν, ὡς ὄναρ αὐτῷ ἐπιφαινόμενος ὁ θεὸς σχηματίζοι αὑτὸν πρὸς τὴν τῆς γραφῆς ἐπιτηδειότητα. ὅθεν καὶ ἐπέγραψεν τῷ πίνακι· οἷος δ’ ἐννύχιος φαντάζετο πολλάκι φοιτῶν Παρρασίῳ δι’ ὕπνου, τοῖος ὅδ’ ἐστὶν ὁρᾶν.
We find also whole schools of philosophers which have openly professed to have made choice of pleasure. And there is the school called the Cyrenaic, which derives its origin from Aristippus the pupil of Socrates: and he devoted himself to pleasure in such a way, that he said that it was the main end of life; and that happiness was founded on it, and that happiness was at best but short-lived. And he, like the most debauched of men, thought that he had nothing to do either with the recollection of past enjoyments, or with the hope of future ones; but he judged of all good by the present alone, and thought that having enjoyed, and being about to enjoy, did not at all concern him; since the one case had no longer any existence, and the other did not yet exist and was necessarily uncertain: acting in this respect like thoroughly dissolute men, who are content with being prosperous at the present moment. And his life was quite consistent with his theory; for he spent the whole of it in all kinds of luxury and extravagance, both in perfumes, and dress, and women. Accordingly, he openly kept Lais as his mistress; and he delighted in all the extravagance of Dionysius, although he was often treated insultingly by him. Accordingly, Hegesander says that once, when he was assigned a very mean place at a banquet by Dionysius, he endured it patiently; and when Dionysius asked him what he thought of his present place, in comparison of his yesterday's seat, he said, “That the one was much the same as the other; for that one,” says he, “is a mean seat to-day, because it is deprived of me; but it was yesterday the most respectable seat in the room, owing to me: and this one to-day has become respectable, because of my presence in it; but yesterday it was an inglorious seat, as I was not present in it.” And in another place Hegesander says—“Aristippus, being ducked with water by Dionysius's servants, and being ridiculed by Antiphon for bearing it patiently, said, 'But suppose I had been out fishing, and got wet, was I to have left my employment, and come away? '” And Aristippus sojourned a considerable time in Aegina, indulging in every kind of luxury; on which account Xenophon says in his Memorabilia, that Socrates often reproved him, and invented the apologue of Virtue and Pleasure to apply it to him. And Aristippus said, respecting Lais, “I have her, and I am not possessed by her.” And when he was at the court of Diony- sius, he once had a quarrel with some people about a choice of three women. And he used to wash with perfumes, and to say that—E'en in the midst of Bacchanalian revelsA modest woman will not be corrupted.And Alexis, turning him into ridicule in his Galatea, represents one of the slaves as speaking in the following banner of one of his disciples:—For this my master once did turn his thoughtsTo study, when he was a stripling young,And set his mind to learn philosophy.And then a Cyrenean, as he calls himself,Named Aristippus, an ingenious sophist,And far the first of all the men of his time,But also far the most intemperate,Was in the city. Him my master sought,Giving a talent to become his pupil:He did not learn, indeed, much skill or wisdom,But got instead a sad complaint on his chest.And Antiphanes, in his Antæus, speaking of the luxurious habits of the philosophers, says—My friend, now do you know who this old manIs called By his look he seems to be a Greek.His cloak is white, his tunic fawn-colour'd,His hat is soft, his stick of moderate size,His table scanty. Why need I say more,I seem to see the genuine Academy.
καὶ φιλοσόφων δὲ αἱρέσεις ὅλαι τῆς περὶ τὴν τρυφὴν αἱρέσεως ἀντεποιήσαντο· καὶ ἥ γε Κυρηναικὴ καλουμένη ἀπ’ Ἀριστίππου τοῦ Σωκρατικοῦ τὴν ἀρχὴν λαβοῦσα, ὃς ἀποδεξάμενος τὴν ἡδυπάθειαν ταύτην τέλος εἶναι ἔφη καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν βεβλῆσθαι· καὶ μονόχρονον αὐτὴν εἶναι, παραπλησίως τοῖς ἀσώτοις οὔτε τὴν μνήμην τῶν γεγονυιῶν ἀπολαύσεων πρὸς αὑτὸν ἡγούμενος οὔτε τὴν ἐλπίδα τῶν ἐσομένων, ἀλλ’ ἑνὶ μόνῳ τὸ ἀγαθὸν κρίνων τῷ παρόντι, τὸ δὲ ἀπολελαυκέναι καὶ ἀπολαύσειν οὐδὲν νομίζων πρὸς αὑτόν, τὸ μὲν ὡς οὐκέτ’ ὄν, τὸ δὲ οὔπω καὶ ἄδηλον ὁποῖον καὶ οἱ τρυφῶντες πάσχουσι τὸ παρὸν εὖ ποιεῖν ἀξιοῦντες. ὡμολόγησεν δὲ αὐτοῦ τῷ δόγματι καὶ ὁ βίος, ὃν ἐβίωσεν ἐν πάσῃ τρυφῇ καὶ πολυτελείᾳ μύρων καὶ ἐσθήτων καὶ γυναικῶν. Λαίδα γοῦν ἀναφανδὸν εἶχε τὴν ἑταίραν καὶ ταῖς Διονυσίου πολυτελείαις ἔχαιρεν καίτοι πολλάκις ἐνυβριζόμενος. Ἡγήσανδρος γοῦν φησιν ὡς καὶ ἀδόξου ποτὲ κλισίας παρ’ αὐτῷ τυχὼν ἤνεγκεν ἐρωτήσαντός τε τοῦ Διονυσίου τί φαίνεται ἡ κατάκλισις πρὸς τὴν χθὲς ἔφησεν παραπλησίαν εἶναι. ἐκείνη τε γάρ, ἔφησεν, ἀδοξεῖ τήμερον χωρισθεῖσα ἐμοῦ, χθὲς δὲ πασῶν ἦν ἐνδοξοτάτη δι’ ἡμᾶς, αὕτη τε τήμερον καὶ ἔνδοξος γέγονεν διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν παρουσίαν, χθὲς δὲ ἠδόξει μὴ παρόντος ἐμοῦ. καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις δὲ φησιν ὁ Ἡγήσανδρος· Ἀρίστιππος ῥαινόμενος μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν τοῦ Διονυσίου θεραπόντων, σκωπτόμενος δ’ ἐπὶ τῷ ἀνέχεσθαι ὑπ’ Ἀντιφῶντος, ᾽ εἰ δ᾽ ἁλιευόμενος ἐτύγχανον ἔφη,᾽ καταλιπὼν τὴν ἐργασίαν ἂν ἀπῆλθον;᾽ διέτριβεν δ’ ὁ Ἀρίστιππος τὰ πολλὰ ἐν Αἰγίνῃ τρυφῶν διὸ καὶ ὁ Ξενοφῶν ἐν τοῖς Ἀπομνημονεύμασί φησιν ὅτι πολλάκις ἐνουθέτει αὐτὸν ὁ Σωκράτης καὶ τὴν ἠθοποιίαν πλάσας τῆς Ἀρετῆς καὶ τῆς Ἡδονῆς εἰσῆγεν. ὁ δ’ Ἀρίστιππος ἐπὶ τῆς Λαίδος ἔλεγεν ἔχω καὶ οὐκ ἔχομαι. καὶ παρὰ Διονυσίῳ διηνέχθη τισὶ περὶ τῆς ἐκλογῆς τῶν τριῶν γυναικῶν. καὶ μύροις ἐλούετο καὶ ἔφασκεν ὅτι· κἀν βακχεύμασιν οὖσ’ ἥ γε σώφρων οὐ διαφθαρήσεται. κωμῳδῶν δὲ αὐτὸν Ἄλεξις ἐν Γαλατείᾳ ποιεῖ τινα θεράποντα διηγούμενον περί τινος τῶν μαθητῶν τάδε· ὁ δεσπότης οὑμὸς περὶ λόγους γάρ ποτε διέτριψε μειρακίσκος ὢν καὶ φιλοσοφεῖν ἐπέθετο. Κυρηναῖος ἦν ἐνταῦθά τις, ὣς φασ᾽, Ἀρίστιππος, σοφιστὴς εὐφυής, μᾶλλον δὲ πρωτεύων ἁπάντων τῶν τότε ἀκολασίᾳ τε τῶν γεγονότων διαφέρων, τούτῳ τάλαντον δοὺς μαθητὴς γίνεται ὁ δεσπότης, καὶ τὴν τέχνην μὲν οὐ πάνυ ἐξέμαθε, τὴν δ’ ἀρτηρίαν συνήρπασεν. Ἀντιφάνης δ’ ἐν Ἀνταίῳ περὶ τῆς τῶν φιλοσόφων τρυφερότητος διαλεγόμενός φησιν· α. ὦ τάν, κατανοεῖς τίς ποτ’ ἐστὶν οὑτοσὶ ὁ γέρων; β. ἀπὸ τῆς μὲν ὄψεως Ἑλληνικὸς λευκὴ χλανίς, φαιὸς χιτωνίσκος καλός, πιλίδιον ἁπαλόν, εὔρυθμος βακτηρία, βαυκὶς τρυφῶσα τί μακρὰ δεῖ λέγειν; ὅλως αὐτὴν ὁρᾶν γὰρ τὴν Ἀκαδημίαν δοκῶ.
And Aristoxenus the musician, in his Life of Archytas, represents ambassadors as having been sent by Dionysius the younger to the city of the Tarentines, among whom was Polyarchus, who was surnamed the Luxurious, a man wholly devoted to sensual pleasures, not only in deed, but in word and profession also. And he was a friend of Archytas, and not wholly unversed in philosophy; and so he used to come with him into the sacred precincts, and to walk with him and with his friends, listening to his lectures and arguments: and once, when there was a long dispute and discussion about the passions, and altogether about sensual pleasures, Polyarchus said—“I, indeed, my friends, have often considered the matter, and it has seemed to me that this system of the virtues is altogether a long way removed from nature; for nature, when it utters its own voice, orders one to follow pleasure, and says that this is the conduct of a wise man: but that to oppose it, and to bring one's appetites into a state of slavery, is neither the part of a wise man, nor of a fortunate man, nor indeed of one who has any accurate understanding of what the constitution of human nature really is. And it is a strong proof of this, that all men, when they have acquired any power worth speaking of, betake themselves to sensual pleasures, and think the power of indulging them the principal advantage to be gained from the possession of power, and everything else, so to say, as unimportant and superfluous. And we may adduce the example of the Persian king at present, and every other tyrant possessed of any power worth speaking of,—and in former times, the sovereigns of the Lydians and of the Medes,—and even in earlier times still, the tyrants of the Syrians behaved in the same manner; for all these men left no kind of pleasure unexplored: and it is even said that rewards were offered by the Persians to any one who was able to invent a new pleasure. And it was a very wise offer to make; for the nature of man is soon satiated with long-continued pleasures, even if they be of very exquisite nature. So that, since novelty has a very great effect in making a pleasure appear greater, we must not despise it, but rather pay great attention to it. And on this account it is that many different kinds of dishes have been invented, and many sorts of sweetmeats; and many discoveries have been made in the articles of incenses and perfumes, and clothes, and beds, and, above all, of cups and other articles of furniture. For all these things contribute some amount of pleasure, when the material which is admired by human nature is properly employed: and this appears to be the case with gold and silver, and with most things which are pleasing to the eye and also rare, and with all things which are elaborated to a high degree of perfection by manual arts and skill.”
Ἀριστόξενος δ’ ὁ μουσικὸς ἐν τῷ Ἀρχύτα· βίῳ ἀφικέσθαι φησὶ παρὰ Διονυσίου τοῦ νεωτέρου πρεσβευτὰς πρὸς τὴν Ταραντίνων πόλιν, ἐν οἷς εἶναι καὶ πολύαρχον τὸν ἡδυπαθῆ ἐπικαλούμενον, ἄνδρα περὶ τὰς σωματικὰς ἡδονὰς ἐσπουδακότα καὶ οὐ μόνον τῷ ἔργῳ ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ λόγῳ. ὄντα δὲ γνώριμον τῷι Ἀρχύτᾳ καὶ φιλοσοφίας οὐ παντελῶς ἀλλότριον ἀπαντᾶν εἰς τὰ τεμένη καὶ συμπεριπατεῖν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἀρχύταν ἀκροώμενον τῶν λόγων, ἐμπεσούσης δέ ποτε ἀπορίας καὶ σκέψεως περί τε τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν καὶ τὸ σύνολον περὶ τῶν σωματικῶν ἡδονῶν ἔφη ὁ Πολύαρχος· ἐμοὶ μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες, πολλάκις ἤδη πέφηνεν ἐπισκοποῦντι κομιδῇ ἄτοπον τὸ τῶν ἀρετῶν τούτων κατασκεύασμα καὶ πολὺ τῆς φύσεως ἀφεστηκὸς εἶναι. ἡ γὰρ φύσις ὅταν φθέγγηται τὴν ἑαυτῆς φωνήν, ἀκολουθεῖν κελεύει ταῖς ἡδοναῖς καὶ τοῦτό φησιν εἶναι νοῦν ἔχοντος ι τὸ δὲ ἀντιτείνειν καὶ καταδουλοῦσθαι τὰς ἐπιθυμίας οὔτ’ ἔμφρονος οὔτε εὐτυχοῦς οὔτε ξυνιέντος εἶναι τίς ποτε ἐστὶν ἡ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως σύστασις. τεκμήριον δ’ ἰσχυρὸν εἶναι τὸ πάντας ἀνθρώπους, ὅταν ἐξουσίας ἐπιλάβωνται μέγεθος ἀξιόχρεων ἐχούσης, ἐπὶ τὰς σωματικὰς ἡδονὰς καταφέρεσθαι καὶ τοῦτο νομίζειν τέλος εἶναι τῆς ἐξουσίας, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα πάντα σχεδὸν ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν ἐν παρέργου τίθεσθαι χώρᾳ. προφέρειν δ’ ἔξεστι νῦν μὲν τοὺς Περσῶν βασιλεῖς καὶ εἲ τίς που τυραννίδος ἀξιολόγου κύριος ὢν τυγχάνει· πρότερον δὲ τούς τε Λυδῶν καὶ τοὺς Μήδων καὶ ἔτι ἀνώτερον καὶ τοὺς Σύρων οἷς οὐδὲν γένος ἡδονῆς ἀζήτητον γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ δῶρα παρὰ τοῖς Πέρσαις προκεῖσθαι λέγεται τοῖς δυναμένοις ἐξευρίσκειν καινὴν ἡδονὴν καὶ μάλα ὀρθῶς, ταχὺ γὰρ ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις ἐμπίπλαται τῶν χρονιζουσῶν ἡδονῶν, κἂν ὦσιν σφόδρα διηκριβωμέναι· ὥστε ἐπεὶ μεγάλην ἔχει δύναμιν ἡ καινότης πρὸς τὸ μείζω φανῆναι τὴν ἡδονήν, οὐκ ὀλιγωρητέον, ἀλλὰ πολλὴν ἐπιμέλειαν αὐτῆς ποιητέον. διὰ ταύτην δὲ τὴν αἰτίαν πολλὰ μὲν ἐξευρεθῆναι βρωμάτων εἴδη, πολλὰ δὲ πεμμάτων, πολλὰ δὲ θυμιαμάτων καὶ μύρων, πολλὰ δὲ ἱματίων καὶ στρωμάτων καὶ ποτηρίων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων σκευῶν πάντα γὰρ δὴ ταῦτα συμβάλλεσθαί τινας ἡδονάς, ὅταν ᾖ ἡ ὑποκειμένη ὕλη τῶν θαυμαζομένων ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ι ὃ δὴ πεπονθέναι δοκεῖ ὅ τε χρυσὸς καὶ ἄργυρος καὶ τὰ πολλὰ τῶν εὐοφθάλμων τε καὶ σπανίων, ὅσα καὶ κατὰ τὰς ἀπεργαζομένας τέχνας διηκριβωμένα φαίνεται.
And having discussed after this all the attendance with which the king of the Persians is surrounded, and what a number of servants he has, and what their different offices are, and also about his amorous indulgences, and also about the sweet perfume of his skin, and his personal beauty, and the way in which he lives among his friends, and the pleasing sights or sounds which are sought out to gratify him, he said that he considered “the king of Persia the happiest of all men now alive. For there are pleasures prepared for him which are both most numerous and most perfect in their kind. And next to him,” said he,any one may fairly rank our sovereign, though he falls far short of the king of Persia. For this latter has all Asia to supply him with luxury, but the store which supplies Dionysius will seem very contemptible if compared with his. That, then, such a life as h s is worth struggling for, is plain from what has happened. For the Medes, after encountering the greatest dangers, derived the Syrians of the supremacy, for no other object except to possess themselves of the unrestrained licence of the Syria ns. And the Persians overthrew the Medes for the same reason, namely, in order to have an unrestrained enjoyment of sensual pleasures. And the lawgivers who wish the whole race of men to be on an equality, and that no citizens shall indulge in superfluous luxury, have made some species of virtue hold its head up. And they have written laws about contracts and other matters of the same kind, and whatever appeared to be necessary for political communion, and also with respect to dress, and to all the other circumstances of life, that they should be similar among all the citizens. And so, as all the lawgivers made war upon every kind of covetousness, then first the praises of justice began to be more thought of: and one of the poets spoke of—The golden face of justice;and in another passage some one speaks of—The golden eye of justice.And the very name of justice came to be accounted divine, so that in some countries there were altars erected and sacrifices instituted to Justice. And next to this they inculcated a respect for modesty and temperance, and called an excess in enjoyment covetousness; so that a man who obeyed the laws and was influenced by the common conversation of men in general, was necessarily moderate with respect to sensual pleasures.
εἰπὼν δὲ τούτοις ἑξῆς τὰ περὶ τῆς θεραπείας τῆς τοῦ Περσῶν βασιλέως, οἵους καὶ ὅσους ἔχει θεραπευτῆρας, καὶ περὶ τῆς τῶν ἀφροδισίων αὐτοῦ χρήσεως καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸν χρῶτα αὐτοῦ ὀδμῆς καὶ τῆς εὐμορφίας καὶ τῆς ὁμιλίας καὶ περὶ τῶν θεωρημάτων καὶ τῶν ἀκροαμάτων, εὐδαιμονέστατον ἔφη κρῖναι τῶν νῦν τὸν τῶν Περσῶν βασιλέα. πλεῖσται γάρ εἰσιν αὐτῷ καὶ τελειόταται παρεσκευασμέναι ἡδοναί. δεύτερον δέ, φησί,τὸν ἡμέτερον τύραννον θείη τις ἂν καίπερ πολὺ λειπόμενον. ἐκείνῳ μὲν γὰρ ἥ τε Ἀσία ὅλη χορηγεῖ. τὸ δὲ Διονυσίου χορηγεῖον παντελῶς ἂν εὐτελές τι φανείη πρὸς ἐκεῖνο συγκρινόμενον. ὅτι μὲν οὖν περιμάχητός ἐστιν ὁ τοιοῦτος βίος φανερὸν ἐκ τῶν συμβεβηκότων. Σύρους μὲν γὰρ Μῆδοι μετὰ τῶν μεγίστων κινδύνων ἀφείλαντο τὴν βασιλείαν οὐκ ἄλλου τινὸς ἕνεκα ἢ τοῦ κυριεῦσαι τῆς Σύρων ἐξουσίας, Μήδους δὲ Πέρσαι διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν αὕτη δ’ ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν σωματικῶν ἡδονῶν ἀπόλαυσις. οἱ δὲ νομοθέται ὁμαλίζειν βουληθέντες τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος καὶ μηδένα τῶν πολιτῶν τρυφᾶν, ἀνακῦψαι πεποιήκασι τὸ τῶν ἀρετῶν εἶδος· καὶ ἔγραψαν νόμους περὶ συναλλαγμάτων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα ἐδόκει πρὸς τὴν πολιτικὴν κοινωνίαν ἀναγκαῖα εἶναι καὶ δὴ καὶ περὶ ἐσθῆτος καὶ τῆς λοιπῆς διαίτης, ὅπως ᾖ ὁμαλής, πολεμούντων οὖν τῶν νομοθετῶν τῷ τῆς πλεονεξίας γένει πρῶτον μὲν ὁ περὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἔπαινος ηὐξήθη, καὶ πού τις καὶ ποιητὴς ἐφθέγξατο· δικαιοσύνας τὸ χρύσεον πρόσωπον. καὶ πάλιν· τὸ χρύσεον ὄμμα τὸ τᾶς Δίκας. ἀπεθεώθη δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ τῆς Δίκης ὄνομα, ὥστε παρ’ ἐνίοις καὶ βωμοὺς καὶ θυσίας γίνεσθαι Δίκῃ. μετὰ ταύτην δὲ καὶ Σωφροσύνην καὶ Ἐγκράτειαν ἐπεισεκόμισαν καὶ πλεονεξίαν ἐκάλεσαν τὴν ἐν ἀπολαύσεσιν ὑπεροχὴν ὥστε τὸν πειθαρχοῦντα τοῖς νόμοις καὶ τῇ τῶν πολλῶν φήμῃ μετριάζειν περὶ τὰς σωματικὰς ἡδονάς.