1.1. Lucius Cornelius Sulla belonged to a patrician, or noble, family, and one of his ancestors, Rufinus, is said to have been consul, although he was not so conspicuous for this honour as for the dishonour which he incurred. For he was found to be possessed of more than ten pounds of silver plate, contrary to the law, and was for this reason expelled from the senate. His posterity became at once obscure, and continued so, nor did Sulla himself enjoy a wealthy parentage.
1.1. Λεύκιος δὲ Κορνήλιος Σύλλας γένει μὲν ἦν ἐκ πατρικίων, οὓς εὐπατρίδας ἄν τις εἴποι, τῶν δὲ προγόνων αὐτοῦ λέγουσι Ῥουφῖνον ὑπατεῦσαι, καὶ τούτῳ δὲ τῆς τιμῆς ἐπιφανεστέραν γενέσθαι τὴν ἀτιμίαν. εὑρέθη γὰρ ἀργυρίου κοίλου κεκτημένος ὑπὲρ δέκα λίτρας, τοῦ νόμου μὴ διδόντος· ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὲ τῆς βουλῆς ἐξέπεσεν. οἱ δὲ μετʼ ἐκεῖνον ἤδη ταπεινὰ πράττοντες διετέλεσαν, αὐτός τε Σύλλας ἐν οὐκ ἀφθόνοις ἐτράφη τοῖς πατρῴοις.
1.2. When he was a youth, he lived in lodgings, at a low price, and this was afterwards cast in his teeth when men thought him unduly prosperous. For instance, we are told that when he was putting on boastful airs after his campaign in Libya, a certain nobleman said to him: “How canst thou be an honest man, when thy father left thee nothing, and yet thou art so rich?”
1.2. γενόμενος δὲ μειράκιον ᾤκει παρʼ ἑτέροις ἐνοίκιον οὐ πολὺ τελῶν, ὡς ὕστερον ὠνειδίζετο παρʼ ἀξίαν εὐτυχεῖν δοκῶν, σεμνυνομένῳ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῷ καὶ μεγαληγοροῦντι μετὰ τὴν ἐν Λιβύῃ στρατείαν λέγεταί τις εἰπεῖν τῶν καλῶν τε κἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν, καὶ πῶς ἂν εἴης σὺ χρηστός, ὃς τοῦ πατρός σοι μηδὲν καταλιπόντος τοσαῦτα κέκτησαι·
1.3. For although the Romans of that time no longer retained their ancient purity and uprightness of life, but had degenerated, and yielded to the appetite for luxury and extravagance, they nevertheless held in equal opprobrium those who lost an inherited wealth and those who forsook an ancestral poverty.
1.3. καὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἔτι τῶν βίων ἐν ἤθεσιν ὀρθίοις καὶ καθαροῖς μενόντων, ἀλλʼ ἐγκεκλικότων καὶ παραδεδεγμένων τρυφῆς καὶ πολυτελείας ζῆλον, εἰς ἴσον ὅμως ὄνειδος ἐτίθεντο τοὺς ὑπάρχουσαν εὐπορίαν ἀπολέσαντας καὶ τοὺς πενίαν πατρῴαν μὴ διαφυλάξαντας.
1.4. And afterwards, when he had at last become absolute in power, and was putting many to death, a freedman, who was thought to be concealing one of the proscribed, and was therefore to be thrown down the Tarpeian rock, cast it in his teeth that they had long lived together in one lodging house, himself renting the upper rooms at two thousand sesterces, and Sulla the lower rooms at three thousand. The difference in their fortunes, therefore, was only a thousand sesterces, which are equivalent to two hundred and fifty Attic drachmas. Such, then, is the account we find of Sulla’s earlier fortune.
1.4. ὕστερον δὲ ἤδη κρατοῦντος αὐτοῦ καὶ πολλοὺς ἀποκτιννύντος, ἀπελευθερικὸς ἄνθρωπος, δοκῶν κρύπτειν ἕνα τῶν προγεγραμμένων καὶ κατακρημνίζεσθαι διὰ τοῦτο μέλλων, ὠνείδισε τὸν Σύλλαν ὅτι πολὺν χρόνον ἐν μιᾷ συνοικίᾳ διῃτῶντο, φέροντες ἐνοίκιον αὐτός μὲν τῶν ἄνω δισχιλίους νούμμους, ἐκεῖνος δὲ τῶν ὑποκάτω τρισχιλίους, ὥστε τῆς τύχης αὐτῶν τὸ μεταξὺ χιλίους εἶναι νούμμους, οἳ πεντήκοντα καὶ διακοσίας δραχμὰς Ἀττικὰς δύνανται, ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἱστοροῦσι περὶ τῆς παλαιᾶς τοῦ Σύλλα τύχης.
2.1. His personal appearance, in general, is given by his statues; but the gleam of his gray eyes, which was terribly sharp and powerful, was rendered even more fearful by the complexion of his face. This was covered with coarse blotches of red, interspersed with white. For this reason, they say, his surname was given him because of his complexion, and it was in allusion to this that a scurrilous jester at Athens made the verse:—Sulla is a mulberry sprinkled o’er with meal.
2.1. τοῦ δὲ σώματος αὐτοῦ τὸ μὲν ἄλλο εἶδος ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνδριάντων φαίνεται, τὴν δὲ τῶν ὀμμάτων γλαυκότητα δεινῶς πικρὰν καὶ ἄκρατον οὖσαν ἡ χρόα τοῦ προσώπου φοβερωτέραν ἐποίει προσιδεῖν. ἐξήνθει γὰρ τὸ ἐρύθημα τραχὺ καὶ σποράδην καταμεμιγμένον τῇ λευκότητι· πρὸς ὃ καὶ τοὔνομα λέγουσιν αὐτῷ γενέσθαι τῆς χρόας ἐπίθετον, καὶ τῶν Ἀθήνησι γεφυριστῶν ἐπέσκωψέ τις εἰς τοῦτο ποιήσας· συκάμινόν ἐσθʼ ὁ Σύλλας ἀλφίτῳ πεπασμένον.
2.2. Nor is it out of place to mention such testimonies in the case of a man said to have been by nature so fond of raillery, that when he was still young and obscure he spent much time with actors and buffoons and shared their dissolute life; and when he had made himself supreme master, he would daily assemble the most reckless stage and theatre folk to drink and bandy jests with them, although men thought that he disgraced his years, and although he not only dishonoured his high office, but neglected much that required attention.
2.2. τοῖς δὲ τοιούτοις τῶν τεκμηρίων οὐκ ἄτοπόν ἐστι χρῆσθαι περὶ ἀνδρός, ὃν οὕτω φιλοσκώμμονα φύσει γεγονέναι λέγουσιν, ὥστε νέον μὲν ὄντα καὶ ἄδοξον ἔτι μετὰ μίμων καὶ γελωτοποιῶν διαιτᾶσθαι καὶ συνακολασταίνειν, ἐπεὶ δὲ κύριος ἁπάντων κατέστη, συναγαγόντα τῶν ἀπὸ σκηνῆς καὶ θεάτρου τοὺς ἰταμωτάτους ὁσημέραι πίνειν καὶ διαπληκτίζεσθαι τοῖς σκώμμασι, τοῦ τε γήρως ἀωρότερα πράττειν δοκοῦντα καὶ πρὸς τῷ καταισχύνειν τὸ ἀξίωμα τῆς ἀρχῆς πολλὰ τῶν δεομένων ἐπιμελείας προϊέμενον.
2.3. For when Sulla was once at table, he refused to be serious at all, but, although at other times he was a man of business and wore an austere look, he underwent a complete change as soon as he betook himself to good-fellowship and drinking, so that comic singers and dancers found him anything but ferocious, and ready to listen and yield to every request. It was this laxity, as it seems, which produced in him a diseased propensity to amorous indulgence and an unrestrained voluptuousness, from which he did not refrain even in his old age, but continued his youthful love for Metrobius, an actor.
2.3. οὐ γὰρ ἦν τῷ Σύλλᾳ περὶ δεῖπνον ὄντι χρήσασθαι σπουδαῖον οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ ἐνεργὸς ὢν καὶ σκυθρωπότερος παρὰ τὸν ἄλλον χρόνον, ἀθρόαν ἐλάμβανε μεταβολὴν ὁπότε πρῶτον ἑαυτὸν εἰς συνουσίαν καταβάλοι καὶ πότον, ὥστε μιμῳδοῖς καὶ ὀρχησταῖς τιθασὸς εἶναι καὶ πρὸς πᾶσαν ἔντευξιν ὑποχείριος καὶ κατάντης. ταύτης δὲ τῆς ἀνέσεως ἔοικε γεγονέναι νόσημα καὶ ἡ πρὸς τοὺς ἔρωτας εὐχέρεια καὶ ῥύσις αὐτοῦ τῆς φιληδονίας, ἧς οὐδὲ γηράσας ἐπαύσατο, Μητροβίου δὲ τῶν ἀπὸ σκηνῆς τινος ἐρῶν διετέλεσεν ἔτι νέος ὤν.
2.4. He also had the following experience. He began by loving a common but wealthy woman, Nicopolis by name, and such was the charm of his intimacy and youthful grace that in the end he was beloved by her, and was left her heir when she died. He also inherited the property of his step-mother, who loved him as her own son. By these means he became moderately well off.
2.4. καὶ συνήντησεν αὐτῷ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀρξάμενος γὰρ ἐρᾶν κοινῆς μέν, εὐπόρου δὲ γυναικός, ὄνομα Νικοπόλεως, καὶ διὰ συνήθειαν καὶ χάριν, ἣν ἀφʼ ὥρας εἶχεν, εἰς ἐρωμένου σχῆμα περιελθών, ἀπελείφθη κληρονόμος ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνθρώπου τελευτώσης. ἐκληρονόμησε δὲ καὶ τὴν μητρυιάν, ἀγαπηθεὶς ὥσπερ υἱὸς ὑπʼ αὐτῆς· καὶ μετρίως μὲν ἀπὸ τούτων εὐπόρησεν.
3.1. Having been appointed quaestor to Marius in his first consulship, he sailed with him to Libya, to make war upon Jugurtha. He was put in charge of the camp, and won great credit for himself, especially by improving a favourable opportunity and making a friend of Bocchus, the king of Numidia. For he hospitably entertained ambassadors of the king, who had escaped from Numidian robbers, and sent them on their way with gifts and a safe escort.
3.1. ἀποδειχθεὶς δὲ ταμίας ὑπατεύοντι Μαρίῳ τὴν πρώτην ὑπατείαν, συνεξέπλευσεν εἰς Λιβύην πολεμήσων Ἰογόρθαν. γενόμενος δὲ ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου τά τε ἄλλα παρεῖχεν ἑαυτὸν εὐδόκιμον, καὶ καιρῷ παραπεσόντι χρησάμενος εὖ φίλον ἐποιήσατο τὸν τῶν Νομάδων βασιλέα Βόκχον. πρεσβευτὰς γὰρ αὐτοῦ λῃστήριον Νομαδικὸν ἐκφυγόντας ὑποδεξάμενος καὶ φιλοφρονηθείς, δῶρα καὶ πομπὴν ἀσφαλῆ παρασχὼν ἀπέστειλεν.
3.2. Now Bocchus had for a long time hated and feared his son-in-law, Jugurtha, who had been defeated and had fled to him for safety, and was then plotting against him. He therefore invited Sulla to come to him, wishing to have the seizure and surrender of Jugurtha effected through Sulla rather than through himself. Sulla imparted the matter to Marius, and taking with him a few soldiers, underwent the greatest peril; he put faith in a Barbarian, and one who was faithless towards his own relations, and to secure his surrender of another, placed himself in his hands.
3.2. ὁ δὲ Βόκχος ἐτύγχανε μὲν ἔτι γε πάλαι γαμβρὸν ὄντα μισῶν καὶ φοβούμενος τὸν Ἰογόρθαν, τότε δὲ ἡττημένῳ καὶ πεφευγότι πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπιβουλεύων ἐκάλει τὸν Σύλλαν, διʼ ἐκείνου μάλιστα βουλόμενος τὴν σύλληψιν καὶ παράδοσιν τοῦ Ἰογόρθα γενέσθαι ἢ διʼ αὑτοῦ, κοινωσάμενος δὲ τῷ Μαρίῳ καὶ λαβὼν στρατιώτας ὀλίγους ὁ Σύλλας τὸν μέγιστον ὑπέδυ κίνδυνον, ὅτι βαρβάρῳ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς οἰκειοτάτους ἀπίστῳ πιστεύσας, ὑπὲρ τοῦ παραλαβεῖν ἕτερον ἑαυτὸν ἐνεχείρισεν.
3.3. However, Bocchus, now that he had both in his power, and had laid himself under the necessity of proving false to one or the other, although he vacillated long, finally decided upon his original betrayal, and handed Jugurtha over to Sulla. It is true that the one who celebrated a triumph for this was Marius, but those who envied him attributed the glory of the success to Sulla, and this secretly annoyed Marius.
3.3. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ ὁ Βόκχος ἀμφοτέρων κύριος γενόμενος, καὶ καταστήσας ἑαυτὸν εἰς ἀνάγκην τοῦ παρασπονδῆσαι τὸν ἕτερον, καὶ πολλὰ διενεχθεὶς τῇ γνώμῃ, τέλος ἐκύρωσε τὴν πρώτην προδοσίαν καὶ παρέδωκε τῷ Σύλλᾳ τὸν Ἰογόρθαν. ὁ μὲν οὖν θριαμβεύων ἐπὶ τούτῳ Μάριος ἦν,?; δὲ δόξα τοῦ κατορθώματος, ἣν ὁ Μαρίου φθόνος Σύλλᾳ προσετίθει, παρελύπει τὸν Μάριον ἡσυχῇ.
3.4. And indeed Sulla himself was naturally vainglorious, and now that he had for the first time emerged from his lowly and obscure condition and become of some account among his countrymen, and was enjoying a taste of honour, he was arrogant enough to have a representation of his exploit engraved on a seal-ring which he wore, and continued to use it ever after. The device was, Bocchus delivering, and Sulla receiving, Jugurtha.
3.4. καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ Σύλλας φύσει τε μεγάλαυχος ὢν καὶ τότε πρῶτον ἐκ βίου ταπεινοῦ καὶ ἀγνῶτος ἔν τινι λόγῳ γεγονὼς παρὰ τοῖς πολίταις, καὶ τοῦ τιμᾶσθαι γευόμενος, εἰς τοῦτο φιλοτιμίας προῆλθεν ὥστε γλυψάμενος ἐν δακτυλίῳ φορεῖν εἰκόνα τῆς πράξεως, καὶ ταύτῃ γε χρώμενος ἀεὶ διετέλεσεν. ἦν δὲ ἡ γραφὴ Βόκχος μὲν παραδιδούς, Σύλλας δὲ παραλαμβάνων τὸν Ἰογόρθαν.
4.1. Of course this distressed Marius; but since he considered Sulla to be beneath his envy, he used him in his campaigns, during his second consulship as legate, or lieutenant, and during his third as military tribune, and through his agency performed many successful services. For instance, as legate, Sulla captured Copillus, chieftain of the Tectosages; and as tribune, he persuaded the great and populous nation of the Marsi to become friends and allies of Rome. But perceiving that Marius was vexed with him for these successes, and that he was no longer glad to give him opportunities for action, but opposed his advancement, he attached himself to Catulus, the colleague of Marius in the consulship, a worthy man, but too sluggish for arduous contests. By him he was entrusted with the leading and most important enterprises, and rose to power and fame.
4.1. ἠνία μὲν οὖν ταῦτα τὸν Μάριον· ἔτι δὲ ἡγούμενος ἐλάττονα τοῦ φθονεῖσθαι τὸν Σύλλαν, ἐχρῆτο πρὸς τὰς στρατείας, τὸ μὲν δεύτερον ὑπατεύων πρεσβευτῇ, τὸ δὲ τρίτον χιλιάρχῳ, καὶ πολλὰ διʼ ἐκείνου τῶν χρησίμων κατωρθοῦτο. πρεσβεύων τε γὰρ ἡγεμόνα Τεκτοσάγων Κόπιλλον εἷλε, καὶ χιλιαρχῶν μέγα καὶ πολυάνθρωπον ἔθνος Μαρσοὺς ἔπεισε φίλους γενέσθαι καὶ συμμάχους Ῥωμαίων, ἐκ δὲ τούτων τὸν Μάριον αἰσθόμενος ἀχθόμενον αὐτῷ καὶ μηκέτι προϊέμενον ἡδέως πράξεων ἀφορμάς, ἀλλὰ ἐνιστάμενον τῇ αὐξήσει, Κάτλῳ, τῷ συνάρχοντι τοῦ Μαρίου, προσένειμεν ἑαυτόν, ἀνδρὶ χρηστῷ μέν, ἀμβλυτέρῳ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας, ὑφʼ οὗ τὰ πρῶτα καὶ μέγιστα πιστευόμενος εἰς δύναμιν ἅμα δόξῃ προῄει.
4.3. He not only subdued in war a large part of the Barbarians of the Alps, but when provisions ran low, he undertook the task of furnishing them, and made them so abundant that the soldiers of Catulus lived in plenty, and had some to spare for those of Marius. At this, as Sulla himself says, Marius was greatly distressed.
4.3. καὶ πολέμῳ μὲν αἱρεῖ πολὺ μέρος τῶν ἐν ταῖς Ἄλπεσι βαρβάρων, ἐπιλιπούσης δὲ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἀναδεξάμενος τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν τοσαύτην ἐποίησε περιουσίαν, ὥστε τῶν Κάτλου στρατιωτῶν ἐν ἀφθόνοις διαγόντων καὶ τοῖς Μαρίου προσπαρασχεῖν. ἐφʼ ᾧ φησιν αὐτὸς ἰσχυρῶς ἀνιᾶσαι τὸν Μάριον.
4.4. So slight and puerile were the first foundations and occasions of that hatred between them, which afterwards led them through civil bloodshed and irreparable discords to tyranny and the confusion of the whole state. This proved that Euripides was a wise man, and acquainted with the distempers of civil government, when he exhorted men to beware of ambition as a deity most injurious and fatal to its votaries.
4.4. ἡ μὲν οὖν ἔχθρα βραχεῖαν οὕτω καὶ μειρακιώδη λαβοῦσα τὴν πρώτην ὑπόθεσιν καὶ ἀρχήν, εἶτα χωροῦσα διʼ αἵματος ἐμφυλίου καὶ στάσεων ἀνηκέστων ἐπὶ τυραννίδα καὶ σύγχυσιν ἁπάντων πραγμάτων, ἀπέδειξε τὸν Εὐριπίδην σοφὸν ἄνδρα καὶ πολιτικῶν ἐπιστήμονα νοσημάτων, διακελευσάμενον φυλάττεσθαι τὴν φιλοτιμίαν ὡς ὀλεθριωτάτην καὶ κακίστην δαίμονα τοῖς χρωμένοις.
5.1. Sulla now thought that the reputation which he had won in war was sufficient to justify political activities, and therefore at once exchanged military service for public life, offered himself as a candidate for the city praetorship, and was defeated. The responsibility for his defeat, however, be lays upon the populace. They knew, he says, about his friendship with Bocchus, and expected that if he should be made aedile before his praetorship, he would treat them to splendid hunting scenes and combats of Libyan wild beasts, and therefore appointed others to the praetorship, in order to force him into the aedileship.
5.1. ὁ δὲ Σύλλας οἰόμενος αὑτῷ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν πολεμικῶν δόξαν ἐπὶ τὰς πολιτικὰς πράξεις διαρκεῖν, καὶ δοὺς ἑαυτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς στρατείας εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ δήμου πρᾶξιν, ἐπὶ στρατηγίαν πολιτικὴν ἀπεγράψατο καὶ διεψεύσθη· τὴν δʼ αἰτίαν τοῖς ὄχλοις ἀνατίθησι. φησὶ γὰρ αὐτοὺς τὴν πρὸς Βόκχον εἰδότας φιλίαν, καὶ προσδεχομένους, εἰ πρὸ τῆς στρατηγίας ἀγορανομοίη, κυνηγέσια λαμπρὰ καὶ Λιβυκῶν θηρίων ἀγῶνας, ἑτέρους ἀποδεῖξαι στρατηγοὺς ὡς αὐτὸν ἀγορανομεῖν ἀναγκάσοντας.
5.2. But subsequent events would seem to show that Sulla does not confess the real reason for his failure. For in the following year he obtained the praetorship, partly because he was subservient to the people, and partly because he used money to win their support. And so it happened that, during his praetorship, when he angrily told Caesar that he would use his own authority against him, Caesar laughed and said: “You do well to consider the office your own, for you bought it.”
5.2. ἔοικε δὲ τὴν ἀληθῆ τῆς ἀποτεύξεως αἰτίαν οὐχ ὁμολογῶν ὁ Σύλλας ἐλέγχεσθαι τοῖς πράγμασιν. ἐνιαυτῷ γὰρ κατόπιν ἔτυχε τῆς στρατηγίας, τοῦ δήμου τὸ μέν τι θεραπείᾳ, τὸ δὲ καὶ χρήμασι προσαγαγόμενος. διὸ δὴ καὶ στρατηγοῦντος αὐτοῦ, καὶ πρὸς Καίσαρα μετʼ ὀργῆς εἰπόντος ὡς χρήσεται τῇ ἰδίᾳ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐξουσίᾳ, γελάσας ὁ Καῖσαρ, ὀρθῶς, ἔφη, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἰδίαν νομίζεις· ἔχεις γὰρ αὐτὴν πριάμενος.
5.3. After his praetorship, he was sent out to Cappadocia, ostensibly to reinstate Ariobarzanes, but really to check the restless activities of Mithridates, who was adding to his dominion and power fully as much as he had inherited. Accordingly, he took out with him no large force of his own, but made use of the allies, whom he found eager to serve him, and after slaying many of the Cappadocians themselves, and yet more of the Armenians who came to their aid, he drove out Gordius, and made Ariobarzanes king again.
5.3. μετὰ δὲ τὴν στρατηγίαν εἰς τὴν Καππαδοκίαν ἀποστέλλεται, τὸν μέν ἐμφανῆ λόγον ἔχων πρὸς τὴν στρατείαν Ἀριοβαρζάνην καταγαγεῖν, αἰτίαν δὲ ἀληθῆ Μιθριδάτην ἐπισχεῖν πολυπραγμονοῦντα καὶ περιβαλλόμενον ἀρχὴν καὶ δύναμιν οὐκ ἐλάττονα τῆς ὑπαρχούσης. ἰδίαν μέν οὖν δύναμιν οὐ πολλὴν ἐπήγετο, χρησάμενος δὲ τοῖς συμμάχοις προθύμοις, καὶ πολλοὺς μέν αὐτῶν Καππαδοκῶν, πλείονας δʼ αὖθις Ἀρμενίων προσβοηθοῦντας ἀποκτείνας, Γόρδιον μέν ἐξήλασεν, Ἀριοβαρζάνην δὲ ἀπέδειξε βασιλέα.
5.4. As he lingered on the banks of the Euphrates, he received a visit from Orobazus, a Parthian, who came as an ambassador from king Arsaces, although up to this time the two nations had held no intercourse with one another. This also is thought to have been part of Sulla’s great good fortune, that he should be the first Roman with whom the Parthians held conference when they wanted alliance and friendship. On this occasion, too, it is said that he ordered three chairs to be set, one for Ariobarzanes, one for Orobazus, and one for himself, and that he sat between them both and gave them audience.
5.4. διατρίβοντι δὲ αὐτῷ παρὰ τὸν Εὐφράτην ἐντυγχάνει Πάρθος Ὀρόβαζος, Ἀρσάκου βασιλέως πρεσβευτής, οὔπω πρότερον ἀλλήλοις ἐπιμεμιγμένων τῶν γενῶν· ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο τῆς μεγάλης δοκεῖ Σύλλα τύχης γενέσθαι, τὸ πρώτῳ Ῥωμαίων ἐκείνῳ Πάρθους συμμαχίας καὶ φιλίας δεομένους διὰ λόγων ἐλθεῖν. ὅτε καὶ λέγεται τρεῖς δίφρους προθέμενος, τὸν μέν Ἀριοβαρζάνῃ, τὸν δὲ Ὀροβάζῳ, τὸν δὲ αὐτῷ, μέσος ἀμφοῖν καθεζόμενος χρηματίζειν.
5.5. For this the king of Parthia afterwards put Orobazus to death; and while some people commended Sulla for the airs which he assumed with the Barbarians, others accused him of vulgarity and ill-timed arrogance. It is also recorded that a certain man in the retinue of Orobazus, a Chaldaean, after looking Sulla intently in the face, and studying carefully the movements of his mind and body, and investigating his nature according to the principles of his peculiar art, declared that this man must of necessity become the greatest in the world, and that even now the wonder was that he consented not to be first of all men. When Sulla came back to Rome, however, Censorinus brought suit against him for bribery, alleging that he had collected large sums of money illegally from a friendly and allied kingdom. However, Censorinus did not put in an appearance at the trial, but dropped his impeachment.
5.5. ἐφʼ ᾧ τὸν μέν Ὀρόβαζον ὕστερον ὁ τῶν Πάρθων βασιλεὺς ἀπέκτεινε, τὸν δὲ Σύλλαν οἱ μέν ἐπῄνεσαν ἐντρυφήσαντα τοῖς βαρβάροις, οἱ δὲ ὡς φορτικὸν ᾐτιάσαντο καὶ ἀκαίρως φιλότιμον. ἱστορεῖται δέ τις ἀνὴρ τῶν μετὰ Ὀροβάζου καταβεβηκότων, Χαλδαῖος, εἰς τὸ τοῦ Σύλλα πρόσωπον ἀπιδὼν καὶ ταῖς κινήσεσι τῆς τε διανοίας καὶ τοῦ σώματος οὐ παρέργως ἐπιστήσας, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς τῆς τέχνης ὑποθέσεις τὴν φύσιν ἐπισκεψάμενος, εἰπεῖν ὡς ἀναγκαῖον εἴη τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα μέγιστον γενέσθαι, θαυμάζειν δὲ καὶ νῦν πῶς ἀνέχεται μὴ πρῶτος ὢν ἁπάντων, ἀναχωρήσαντι δὲ αὐτῷ δίκην ἔλαχε δώρων Κηνσωρῖνος, ὡς πολλὰ χρήματα συνειλοχότι παρὰ τὸν νόμον ἐκ φίλης καὶ συμμάχου βασιλείας, οὐ μὴν ἀπήντησεν ἐπὶ τὴν κρίσιν, ἀλλʼ ἀπέστη τῆς κατηγορίας.
6.1. Moreover, Sulla’s quarrel with Marius broke out afresh on being supplied with fresh material by the ambition of Bocchus, who, desiring to please the people at Rome, and at the same time to gratify Sulla, dedicated on the Capitol some images bearing trophies, and beside them gilded figures representing Jugurtha being surrendered by Bocchus to Sulla.
6.1. ἡ μέντοι πρὸς Μάριον αὐτῷ στάσις ἀνερριπίζετο καινὴν ὑπόθεσιν λαβοῦσα τὴν Βόκχου φιλοτιμίαν, ὃς τόν τε δῆμον ἅμα θεραπεύων ἐν Ῥώμῃ καὶ τῷ Σύλλᾳ χαριζόμενος ἀνέθηκε εἰκόνας ἐν Καπιτωλίῳ τροπαιοφόρους καὶ παρʼ αὐταῖς χρυσοῦν Ἰογόρθαν ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ Σύλλᾳ παραδιδόμενον.
6.2. Thereupon Marius was very angry, and tried to have the figures taken down, but others were minded to aid Sulla in opposing this, and the city was all but in flames with their dispute, when the Social war. which had long been smouldering, blazed up against the city and put a stop for the time being to the quarrel. In this war, which proved of the greatest moment and most varied fortunes, and brought innumerable mischiefs and the gravest perils upon the Romans, Marius was unable to render any great service, and proved that military excellence requires a man’s highest strength and vigour. Sulla, on the other hand, did much that was memorable, and achieved the reputation of a great leader among his fellow-citizens, that of the greatest of leaders among his friends, and that of the most fortunate even among his enemies.
6.2. ἐφʼ ᾧ τοῦ Μαρίου βαρυθυμουμένου καὶ καθαιρεῖν ἐπιχειροῦντος, ἑτέρων δὲ ἀμύνειν τῷ Σύλλᾳ, καὶ τῆς πόλεως ὅσον οὔπω διακεκαυμένης ὑπʼ ἀμφοῖν, ὁ συμμαχικὸς πόλεμος πάλαι τυφόμενος ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν ἀναλάμψας τότε τὴν στάσιν ἐπέσχεν. ἐν τούτῳ, μεγίστῳ καὶ ποικιλωτάτῳ γενομένῳ καὶ πλεῖστα κακὰ καὶ βαρυτάτους παρασχόντι κινδύνους Ῥωμαίοις, Μάριος μὲν οὐδὲν ἀποδεῖξαι μέγα δυνηθεὶς ἤλεγχε τὴν πολεμικὴν ἀρετὴν ἀκμῆς καὶ ῥώμης δεομένην, Σύλλας δὲ πολλὰ δράσας ἄξια λόγου δόξαν ἔσχεν ἡγεμόνος μεγάλου μὲν παρὰ τοῖς πολίταις, μεγίστου δὲ παρὰ τοῖς φίλοις, εὐτυχεστάτου δὲ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς.
6.3. But he did not feel about this as Timotheus the son of Conon did, who, when his adversaries ascribed his successes to Fortune, and had him represented in a painting as lying asleep, while Fortune cast her net about the cities, was rudely angry with those who had done this, because, as he thought, they were robbing him of the glory due to his exploits, and said to the people once, on returning from a campaign in which he was thought to have been successful: “In this campaign, at least, men of Athens, Fortune has no share.”
6.3. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔπαθε ταὐτὸ Τιμοθέῳ τῷ τοῦ Κόνωνος, ὅς, εἰς τὴν τύχην αὐτοῦ τὰ κατορθώματα τῶν ἐχθρῶν τιθεμένων καὶ γραφόντων ἐν πίναξι; κοιμώμενον ἐκεῖνον, τὴν δὲ Τύχην δικτύῳ τὰς πόλεις περιβάλλουσαν, ἀγροικιζόμενος καὶ χαλεπαίνων πρὸς τοὺς ταῦτα ποιοῦντας ὡς ἀποστερούμενος ὑπʼ αὐτῶν τῆς ἐπὶ ταῖς πράξεσι δόξης, ἔφη ποτὲ πρὸς τόν δῆμον, ἐπανήκων ἐκ στρατείας εὖ κεχωρηκέναι δοκούσης, ἀλλὰ ταύτης γε τῆς στρατείας οὐδέν, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῇ τύχῃ μέτεστι.
6.4. Upon Timotheus, then, who had shown himself so covetous of honour, the deity is said to have requited his youthful petulance, so that from that time on he did nothing brilliant, but miscarried in all his undertakings, gave offence to the people, and was finally banished the city; whereas Sulla not only accepted with pleasure such felicitations and admiration, but actually joined in magnifying the aid of Heaven in what he did, and gave the credit of it to Fortune, either out of boastfulness, or because he had such a belief in the divine agency.
6.4. πρὸς Τιμόθεον μὲν οὖν φασιν οὕτω φανέντα φιλότιμον ἀντιμειρακιεύεσθαι τὸ δαιμόνιον, ὥστε μηδὲν ἔτι πρᾶξαι λαμπρόν, ἀλλὰ ὅλως ἀποτυγχάνοντα ταῖς πράξεσι καὶ προσκρούοντα τῷ δήμῳ τέλος ἐκπεσεῖν τῆς πόλεως· Σύλλας δὲ οὐ μόνον ἡδέως προσιέμενος τόν τοιοῦτον εὐδαιμονισμὸν καὶ ζῆλον, ἀλλὰ καὶ συναύξων καὶ συνεπιθειάζων τὰ πραττόμενα, τῆς τύχης ἐξῆπτεν, εἴτε κόμπῳ χρώμενος εἴθʼ οὕτως ἔχων τῇ δόξῃ πρὸς τὸ θεῖον.
6.5. For in his Memoirs he writes that, of the undertakings which men thought well-advised, those upon which he had boldly ventured, not after deliberation, but on the spur of the moment, turned out for the better. And further, from what he says about his being well endowed by nature for Fortune rather than for war, he seems to attribute more to Fortune than to his own excellence, and to make himself entirely the creature of this deity, since he accounts even his concord with Metellus, a man his equal in rank, and a relative by marriage, a piece of divine felicity; for whereas he expected much annoyance from him as a colleague in office, he found him most obliging.
6.5. καὶ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ὑπομνήμασι γέγραφεν ὅτι τῶν καλῶς αὐτῷ βεβουλεῦσθαι δοκούντων αἱ μὴ κατὰ γνώμην, ἀλλὰ πρὸς καιρὸν ἀποτολμώμεναι πράξεις ἔπιπτον εἰς ἄμεινον. ἔτι δὲ καὶ διʼ ὧν φησι πρὸς τύχην εὖ πεφυκέναι μᾶλλον ἢ πρὸς πόλεμον, τῇ τύχῃ τῆς ἀρετῆς πλέον ἔοικε νέμειν καὶ ὅλως ἑαυτὸν τοῦ δαίμονος ποιεῖν, ὅς γε καὶ τῆς πρὸς Μέτελλον ὁμονοίας, ἰσότιμον ἄνδρα καὶ κηδεστήν, εὐτυχίαν τινὰ θείαν αἰτιᾶται· πολλὰ γὰρ αὐτῷ πράγματα παρέξειν ἐπίδοξον ὄντα πρᾳότατον ἐν τῇ κοινωνίᾳ γενέσθαι τῆς ἀρχῆς.
6.6. And still further, in the dedication of his Memoirs to Lucullus, he advises him to deem nothing so secure as what the divine power enjoins upon him in his dreams. And he relates that when he was dispatched with an army to the Social war, a great chasm in the earth opened near Laverna, from which a great quantity of fire burst forth and a bright flame towered up towards the heavens; whereupon the soothsayers declared that a brave man, of rare courage and surpassing appearance, was to take the government in hand and free the city from its present troubles.
6.6. ἔτι δὲ Λευκόλλῳ μὲν ἐν τοῖς ὑπομνήμασιν, ὧν ἐκείνῳ τὴν γραφὴν ἀνατέθεικε, παραινεῖ μηδὲν οὕτως ἡγεῖσθαι βέβαιον ὡς ὅ τι ἂν αὐτῷ προστάξῃ νύκτωρ τὸ δαιμόνιον, ἐκπεμπομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ μετὰ δυνάμεως εἰς τὸν συμμαχικὸν πόλεμον ἱστορεῖ χάσμα τῆς γῆς μέγα γενέσθαι περὶ Λαβέρνην· ἐκ δὲ τούτου πῦρ ἀναβλῦσαι πολὺ καὶ φλόγα λαμπρὰν στηρίσαι πρὸς τόν οὐρανόν.
6.7. And Sulla says that he himself was this man, for his golden head of hair gave him a singular appearance, and as for bravery, he was not ashamed to testify in his own behalf, after such great and noble deeds as he had performed. So much, then, regarding his attitude towards the divine powers. In other respects he seems to have been of very uneven character, and at variance with himself; he robbed much, but gave more; bestowed his honours unexpectedly, as unexpectedly his insults; fawned on those he needed, but gave himself airs towards those who needed him; so that one cannot tell whether he was more inclined by nature to disdain or flattery.
6.7. εἰπεῖν δὴ καὶ τοὺς μάντεις ὡς ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς ὄψει διάφορος καὶ περιττὸς ἄρξας ἀπαλλάξει τῇ πόλει ταραχὰς τὰς παρούσας, τοῦτον δὲ αὑτὸν εἶναι φησιν ὁ Σύλλας· τῆς μὲν γὰρ ὄψεως ἴδιον εἶναι τὸ περὶ τὴν κόμην χρυσωπόν, ἀρετὴν δὲ οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθαι μαρτυρῶν ἑαυτῷ μετὰ πράξεις καλὰς οὕτω καὶ μεγάλας. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν περὶ τῆς θειότητος. τὸν δὲ ἄλλον τρόπον ἀνώμαλός τις ἔοικε γεγονέναι καὶ διάφορος πρὸς ἑαυτόν, ἀφελέσθαι πολλά, χαρίσασθαι πλείονα, τιμῆσαι παραλόγως, παραλόγως ἐφυβρίσαι, θεραπεύειν ὧν δέοιτο, θρύπτεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς δεομένους, ὥστε ἀγνοεῖσθαι πότερον ὑπερόπτης φύσει μᾶλλον ἢ κόλαξ γέγονε.
6.8. For as regards the irregularity of his punishments, cudgelling to death as he did on any chance grounds, and again gently submitting to the greatest wrongs readily open to reconciliation after the most irreparable injuries, but visiting small and insignificant offences with death and confiscation of goods; here one might decide that he was naturally of a stern and revengeful temper, but relaxed his severity out of calculating regard for his interests.
6.8. τὴν μὲν γὰρ ἐν ταῖς τιμωρίαις ἀνωμαλίαν, ἐξ ὧν ἔτυχεν αἰτιῶν ἀποτυμπανίζοντος αὐτοῦ καὶ πάλιν τὰ μέγιστα τῶν ἀδικημάτων πρᾴως φέροντος, καὶ διαλλαττομένου μὲν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀνηκέστοις μετὰ εὐκολίας, τὰ δὲ μικρὰ καὶ φαῦλα προσκρούσματα σφαγαῖς καὶ δημεύσεσιν οὐσιῶν μετιόντος, οὕτως ἄν τις διαιτήσειεν ὡς φύσει μὲν ὀργὴν χαλεπὸν ὄντα καὶ τιμωρητικόν, ὑφιέμενον δὲ τῆς πικρίας λογισμῷ πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον.
6.9. In this very Social war, for example, when his soldiers with clubs and stones did to death a legate, a man of praetorian dignity, Albinus by name, he passed over without punishment this flagrant crime, and solemnly sent the word about that he would find his men more ready and willing for the war on account of this transgression, since they would try to atone for it by their bravery. To those who censured the crime he paid no heed, but purposing already to put down the power of Marius and, now that the Social war was thought to be at an end, to get himself appointed general against Mithridates, he treated the soldiers under him with deference.
6.9. ἐν αὐτῷ γε τούτῳ τῷ συμμαχικῷ πολέμῳ τῶν στρατιωτῶν αὐτοῦ στρατηγικὸν ἄνδρα πρεσβευτήν, Ἀλβῖνον ὄνομα, ξύλοις καὶ λίθοις διαχρησαμένων, παρῆλθε καὶ οὐκ ἐπεξῆλθεν ἀδίκημα τοσοῦτον, ἀλλὰ καὶ σεμνυνόμενος διεδίδου λόγον ὡς προθυμοτέροις διὰ τοῦτο χρήσοιτο πρὸς τόν πόλεμον αὐτοῖς ἰωμένοις τὸ ἁμάρτημα διʼ ἀνδραγαθίας. τῶν δʼ ἐγκαλούντων οὐδὲν ἐφρόντιζεν, ἀλλὰ ἤδη καταλῦσαι Μάριον διανοούμενος καὶ τοῦ πρὸς τοὺς συμμάχους πολέμου τέλος ἔχειν δοκοῦντος ἀποδειχθῆναι στρατηγὸς ἐπὶ Μιθριδάτην, ἐθεράπευε τὴν ὑφʼ ἑαυτῷ στρατιάν.
6.10. When he returned to the city, he was appointed consul with Quintus Pompeius, in the fiftieth year of his age, and made a most illustrious marriage with Caecilia, the daughter of Metellus, the Pontifex Maximus. On the theme of this marriage many verses were sung in ridicule of him by the common people, and many of the leading men were indignant at it, deeming him, as Livy says, unworthy of the woman although they had judged him worthy of the consulship. And this was not the only woman whom he married, but first, when he was still a stripling, he took Ilia to wife, and she bore him a daughter; then Aelia, after her; and thirdly, Cloelia, whom he divorced for barrenness, honourably, and with words of praise, to which he added gifts. But since he married Metella only a few days afterwards, he was thought to have accused Cloelia unfairly.
6.10. καὶ παρελθὼν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ὕπατος μὲν ἀποδείκνυται μετὰ Κοΐντου Πομπηΐου, πεντήκοντα ἔτη γεγονώς, γαμεῖ δὲ γάμον ἐνδοξότατον Καικιλίαν τὴν Μετέλλου θυγατέρα τοῦ ἀρχιερέως. ἐφʼ ᾧ πολλὰ μὲν εἰς αὑτὸν ᾖδον οἱ δημοτικοί, πολλοὶ δὲ τῶν πρώτων ἐν ἐνεμέσων, οὐκ ἄξιον ἡγούμενοι τῆς γυναικὸς ὃν ἄξιον ὑπατείας ἔκριναν, ὥς φησιν ὁ Τίτος, οὐ μόνην δὲ ταύτην ἔγημεν, ἀλλὰ πρώτην μὲν ἔτι μειράκιον ὢν Ἰλίαν ἔσχε τὴν καὶ θυγάτριον αὐτῷ τεκοῦσαν, εἶτα μετʼ ἐκείνην Αἰλίαν τρίτην δὲ Κλοιλίαν, ἣν ἀπεπέμψατο μὲν ὡς στεῖραν ἐντίμως καὶ μετʼ εὐφημίας καὶ δῶρα προσθείς, ὀλίγαις δὲ ὕστερον ἡμέραις ἀγαγόμενος τὴν Μετέλλαν ἔδοξε διὰ τοῦτο τὴν Κλοιλίαν οὐ καλῶς αἰτιάσασθαι.
6.12. To Metella, however, he always showed great deference in all things, so that the Roman people, when it longed for the restoration of the exiled partisans of Marius, and Sulla refused it, in its need called upon Metella for aid. It was thought also that when he took the city of Athens, he treated its people more harshly because they had scurrilously abused Metella from the walls. But this was later.
6.12. τὴν μέντοι Μετέλλαν ἐν πᾶσι θεραπεύων διετέλεσεν, ὥστε καὶ τόν Ῥωμαίων δῆμον, ὅτε τοὺς περὶ Μάριον φυγάδας ἐπεθύμει καταγαγεῖν, ἀρνουμένου τοῦ Σύλλᾳ, δεόμενον ἐπιβοήσασθαι τὴν Μετέλλαν. ἐδόκει δὲ καὶ τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις ἑλὼν τὸ ἄστυ προσενεχθῆναι τραχύτερον, ὅτι τὴν Μετέλλαν ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχους γεφυρίζοντες ἐλοιδόρησαν. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὕστερον.
7.1. At the time of which I speak, deeming the consulship a slight matter in comparison with things to come, his thoughts soared to the Mithridatic war. But here he found a rival in Marius, who was possessed by ambition and a mad desire for fame, those never ageing passions. He was now unwieldy in body, and in the recent campaigns had given up service on account of his age, and yet set his heart upon foreign wars beyond the seas.
7.1. τότε δὲ τὴν ὑπατείαν πρὸς τὰ μέλλοντα μικρὸν ἡγούμενος, ἐπτόητο τῇ γνώμῃ πρὸς τὸν Μιθριδατικὸν πόλεμον. ἀντανίστατο δὲ αὐτῷ Μάριος ὑπὸ δοξομανίας καὶ φιλοτιμίας, ἀγηράτων παθῶν, ἀνὴρ τῷ τε σώματι βαρὺς καὶ ταῖς ἔναγχος ἀπειρηκὼς στρατείαις διὰ γῆρας ἐκδήμων καὶ διαποντίων πολέμων ἐφιέμενος.
7.2. And when Sulla had set out for his camp on unfinished business, he himself kept at home and contrived that most fatal sedition, which wrought Rome more harm than all her wars together had done, as indeed the heavenly powers foreshowed to them. For fire broke forth of its own accord from the staves which supported the ensigns, and was with difficulty extinguished; and three ravens brought their young forth into the street and devoured them, and then carried the remains back again into their nest;
7.2. καὶ τοῦ Σύλλα πρὸς τὰς ἐπιλιπεῖς πράξεις ὁρμήσαντος εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον, αὐτὸς οἰκουρῶν ἐτεκταίνετο τὴν ὀλεθριωτάτην ἐκείνην καὶ ὅσα σύμπαντες οἱ πόλεμοι τὴν Ῥώμην οὐκ ἔβλαψαν ἀπεργασαμένην στάσιν, ὡς καὶ τὸ δαιμόνιον αὐτοῖς προεσήμηνε. πῦρ μὲν γὰρ αὐτόματον ἐκ τῶν τὰ σημεῖα δοράτων ὑποφερόντων ἀνέλαμψε καὶ κατεσβέσθη μόλις, κόρακες δὲ τρεῖς τοὺς νεοσσοὺς εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν προαγαγόντες κατέφαγον, τὰ δὲ λείψανα πάλιν εἰς τὴν νεοσσιὰν ἀνήνεγκαν.
7.3. and after mice had gnawed consecrated gold in a temple, the keepers caught one of them, a female, in a trap, and in the very trap she brought forth five young ones, and ate up three of them. But most important of all, out of a cloudless and clear air there rang out the voice of a trumpet, prolonging a shrill and dismal note, so that all were amazed and terrified at its loudness. The Tuscan wise men declared that the prodigy foretokened a change of conditions and the advent of a new age.
7.3. καὶ μυῶν δὲ ἐν ἱερῷ χρυσὸν ἀνακείμενον διαφαγόντων μίαν οἱ ζάκοροι πάγῃ θήλειαν λαμβάνουσιν, ἡ δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ πάγῃ τεκοῦσα πέντε κατανάλωσε τὰ τρία. τὸ δὲ πάντων μέγιστον, ἐξ ἀνεφέλου καὶ διαίθρου τοῦ περιέχοντος ἤχησε φωνὴ σάλπιγγος ὀξὺν ἀποτείνουσα καὶ θρηνώδη φθόγγον, ὥστε πάντας ἔκφρονας γενέσθαι καὶ καταπτῆξαι διὰ τὸ μέγεθος. Τυρρηνῶν δὲ οἱ λόγιοι μεταβολὴν ἑτέρου γένους ἀπεφαίνοντο καὶ μετακόσμησιν ἀποσημαίνειν τὸ τέρας.
7.4. For according to them there are eight ages in all, differing from one another in the lives and customs of men, and to each of these God has appointed a definite number of times and seasons, which is completed by the circuit of a great year. And whenever this circuit has run out, and another begins, some wonderful sign is sent from earth or heaven, so that it is at once clear to those who have studied such subjects and are versed in them, that men of other habits and modes of life have come into the world, who are either more or less of concern to the gods than their predecessors were.
7.4. εἶναι μὲν γὰρ ὀκτὼ τὰ σύμπαντα γένη, διαφέροντα τοῖς βίοις καὶ τοῖς ἤθεσιν ἀλλήλων, ἑκάστῳ δὲ ἀφωρίσθαι χρόνων ἀριθμὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ συμπεραινόμενον ἐνιαυτοῦ μεγάλου περιόδῳ. καὶ ὅταν αὕτη σχῇ τέλος, ἑτέρας ἐνισταμένης κινεῖσθαί τι σημεῖον ἐκ γῆς ἢ οὐρανοῦ θαυμάσιον, ὡς δῆλον εἶναι τοῖς πεφροντικόσι τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ μεμαθηκόσιν εὐθὺς ὅτι καὶ τρόποις ἄλλοις καὶ βίοις ἄνθρωποι χρώμενοι γεγόνασι, καὶ θεοῖς ἧττον ἢ μᾶλλον τῶν προτέρων μέλοντες.
7.5. All things, they say, undergo great changes, as one age succeeds another, and especially the art of divination; at one period it rises in esteem and is successful in its predictions, because manifest and genuine signs are sent forth from the Deity; and again, in another age, it is in small repute, being off-hand, for the most part, and seeking to grasp the future by means of faint and blind senses. Such, at any rate, was the tale told by the wisest of the Tuscans, who were thought to know much more about it than the rest.
7.5. τά τε γὰρ ἄλλα φασὶν ἐν τῇ τῶν γενῶν ἀμείψει λαμβάνειν μεγάλας καινοτομίας, καὶ τὴν μαντικὴν ποτὲ μὲν αὔξεσθαι τῇ τιμῇ καὶ κατατυγχάνειν ταῖς προαγορεύσεσι, καθαρὰ καὶ φανερὰ σημεῖα τοῦ δαιμονίου προπέμποντος, αὖθις δʼ ἐν ἑτέρῳ γένει ταπεινὰ πράττειν, αὐτοσχέδιον οὖσαν τὰ πολλὰ καὶ διʼ ἀμυδρῶν καὶ σκοτεινῶν ὀργάνων τοῦ μέλλοντος ἁπτομένην. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οἱ λογιώτατοι Τυρρηνῶν καὶ πλέον τι τῶν ἄλλων εἰδέναι δοκοῦντες ἐμυθολόγουν.
7.6. Moreover, while the senate was busied with the soothsayers about these prodigies, and holding its session in the temple of Bellona, a sparrow came flying in, before the eyes of all, with a grasshopper in its mouth, a part of which it threw down and left there, and then went away with the other part. From this the diviners apprehended a quarrelsome dissension between the landed proprietors and the populace of the city and forum; for the latter is vociferous like a grasshopper, while the former haunt the fields (like the sparrow).
7.6. τῆς δὲ συγκλήτου τοῖς μάντεσι περὶ τούτων σχολαζούσης καὶ καθημένης ἐν τῷ ναῷ τῆς Ἐνυοῦς, στρουθὸς εἰσέπτη πάντων ὁρώντων τέττιγα φέρων τῷ στόματι, καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐκβαλὼν μέρος αὐτοῦ κατέλιπε, τὸ δὲ ἔχων ἀπῆλθεν. ὑφεωρῶντο δὴ στάσιν οἱ τερατοσκόποι καὶ διαφορὰν τῶν κτηματικῶν πρὸς τὸν ἀστικὸν ὄχλον καὶ ἀγοραῖον φωνάεντα γὰρ τοῦτον εἶναι καθάπερ τέττιγα, τοὺς δὲ χωρίτας ἀρουραίους.
8.1. Marius now made alliance with Sulpicius who was a tribune of the people, a man second to none in prime villainies, so that the question was not whom else he surpassed in wickedness, but in what he surpassed his own wickedness. For the combination of cruelty, effrontery, and rapacity in him was regardless of shame and of all evil, since he sold the Roman citizenship to freedmen and aliens at public sale, and counted out the price on a money-table which stood in the forum.
8.1. Μάριος δὴ προσλαμβάνει δημαρχοῦντα Σουλπίκιον, ἄνθρωπον οὐδενὸς δεύτερον ἐν ταῖς ἄκραις κακίαις, ὥστε μὴ ζητεῖν τίνος ἐστὶν ἑτέρου μοχθηρότερος, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τί μοχθηρότατος ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ γὰρ ὠμότης καὶ τόλμα καὶ πλεονεξία περὶ αὐτὸν ἦν ἀπερίσκεπτος αἰσχροῦ καὶ παντὸς κακοῦ, ὅς γε τὴν Ῥωμαίων πολιτείαν ἐξελευθερικοῖς καὶ μετοίκοις πωλῶν ἀναφανδὸν ἠρίθμει τιμὴν διὰ τραπέζης ἐν ἀγορᾷ κειμένης.
8.2. Moreover, he maintained three thousand swordsmen, and had about him a body of young men of the equestrian order who were ready for everything, and whom he called his anti-senate. Further, though he got a law passed that no senator should incur a debt of more than two thousand drachmas, he himself left behind him after death a debt of three millions. This man was now let loose upon the people by Marius, and after confounding all things by force and the sword, he proposed certain vicious laws, and particularly one offering to Marius the command in the Mithridatic war.
8.2. ἔτρεφε δὲ τρισχιλίους μαχαιροφόρους, καὶ πλῆθος ἱππικῶν νεανίσκων πρὸς ἅπαν ἑτοίμων περὶ αὑτὸν εἶχεν, οὓς ἀντισύγκλητον ὠνόμαζε. νόμον δὲ κυρώσας μηδένα συγκλητικὸν ὑπὲρ δισχιλίας δραχμὰς ὀφείλειν, αὐτὸς ἀπέλιπε μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν ὀφλήματος μυριάδας τριακοσίας. οὗτος εἰς τὸν δῆμον ἀφεθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Μαρίου, καὶ συνταράξας πάντα τὰ πράγματα βίᾳ καὶ σιδήρῳ, νόμους ἔγραφεν ἄλλους τε μοχθηροὺς καὶ τὸν διδόντα Μαρίῳ τοῦ Μιθριδατικοῦ πολέμου τὴν ἡγεμονίαν.
8.3. To prevent voting on these, the consuls decreed suspension of public business, whereupon Sulpicius led a mob against them, as they were holding an assembly near the temple of Castor and Pollux, and, amongst many others, slew also the young son of Pompeius the consul in the forum; but Pompeius himself made his escape unnoticed. Sulla, however, after having been pursued into the house of Marius, was forced to come forth and rescind the decree for suspension of public business;
8.3. ἀπραξίας δὲ διὰ ταῦτα τῶν ὑπάτων ψηφισαμένων, ἐπαγαγὼν αὐτοῖς ἐκκλησιάζουσι περὶ τὸν νεὼν τῶν Διοσκούρων ὄχλον ἄλλους τε πολλοὺς καὶ τὸ Πομπηΐου τοῦ ὑπάτου μειράκιον ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἀνεῖλεν· αὐτὸς δὲ Πομπήϊος λαθὼν ἐξέφυγε. Σύλλας δὲ εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ Μαρίου συνδιωχθεὶς ἠναγκάσθη προελθὼν τὰς ἀπραξίας λῦσαι·
8.4. and it was because he did this that Sulpicius, although he deposed Pompeius, did not take the consulship away from Sulla, but merely transferred the expedition against Mithridates to the command of Marius. He also sent military tribunes at once to Nola, who were to take over the army there and conduct it to Marius.
8.4. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὸν Πομπήϊον ἐπάρχοντα παύσας ὁ Σουλπίκιος οὐκ ἀφείλετο τοῦ Σύλλα τὴν ὑπατείαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐπὶ Μιθριδάτην στρατείαν μόνον εἰς Μάριον μετήνεγκε· καὶ πέμπει χιλιάρχους εὐθὺς εἰς Νῶλαν παραληψομένους τὸ στράτευμα καὶ πρὸς τὸν Μάριον ἄξοντας.
9.1. But Sulla succeeded in making his escape and reaching the camp first, and his soldiers, when they learned what had happened, stoned the tribunes to death; in return for which, Marius and his partisans in the city went to slaying the friends of Sulla and plundering their property. Then there were removals and flights, some passing continually from camp to city, and others from city to camp.
9.1. φθάσαντος δὲ τοῦ Σύλλα διαφυγεῖν εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον, καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν, ὡς ἐπύθοντο ταῦτα, καταλευσάντων τοὺς χιλιάρχους, οἱ περὶ τὸν Μάριον αὖθις ἐν τῇ πόλει τοὺς Σύλλα φίλους ἀνῄρουν καὶ χρήματα διήρπαζον αὐτῶν, ἦσαν δὲ μεταστάσεις καὶ φυγαί, τῶν μὲν εἰς πόλιν ἀπὸ στρατοπέδου, τῶν δʼ ἐκεῖσε διαφοιτώντων ἐκ τῆς πόλεως.
9.2. The senate was not its own master, but was governed by the dictates of Marius and Sulpicius, and when it learned that Sulla was marching against the city, it sent two of the praetors, Brutus and Servilius, to forbid his advance. These men addressed Sulla with too much boldness, whereupon his soldiers would have gladly torn them to pieces, but contented themselves with breaking their fasces, stripping them of their senatorial togas, insulting them in many ways, and then sending them back to the city. Here a terrible dejection was produced by the mere sight of them, stripped of their praetorial insignia, and by their announcement that the sedition could no longer be checked, but must run its course.
9.2. ἡ δὲ σύγκλητος ἦν μὲν οὐχ αὑτῆς, ἀλλὰ τοῖς Μαρίου καὶ Σουλπικίου διῳκεῖτο προστάγμασι, πυθομένη δὲ τὸν Σύλλαν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐλαύνειν ἔπεμψε δύο τῶν στρατηγῶν, Βροῦτον καὶ Σερουΐλιον, ἀπαγορεύσοντας αὐτῷ βαδίζειν. τούτους θρασύτερον Σύλλᾳ διαλεχθέντας ὥρμησαν μὲν ἀνελεῖν οἱ στρατιῶται, τὰς δὲ ῥάβδους κατέκλασαν καὶ τὰς περιπορφύρους ἀφείλοντο καὶ πολλὰ περιυβρισμένους ἀπέπεμψαν, αὐτόθεν τε δεινὴν κατήφειαν, ὁρωμένους τῶν στρατηγικῶν παρασήμων ἐρήμους, καὶ τὴν στάσιν οὐκέτι καθεκτήν, ἀλλʼ ἀνήκεστον ἀπαγγέλλοντας.
9.3. Marius and his partisans, then, busied themselves with preparations; while Sulla, at the head of six full legions, moved with his colleague from Nola, his army, as he saw, being eager to march at once against the city, although he himself wavered in his own mind, and feared the danger. But after he had offered a sacrifice, Postumius the soothsayer learned what the omens were, and stretching out both hands to Sulla, begged that he might be bound and kept a prisoner until the battle, assuring him that he was willing to undergo the extremest penalty if all things did not speedily come to a good issue for him.
9.3. οἱ μὲν οὖν περὶ τὸν Μάριον ἐν παρασκευαῖς ἦσαν· ὁ δὲ Σύλλας ἄγων ἓξ τάγματα τέλεια μετὰ τοῦ συνάρχοντος ἀπὸ Νώλης ἐκίνει, τὸν μὲν στρατὸν ὁρῶν πρόθυμον ὄντα χωρεῖν εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν, ἐνδοιάζων δὲ τῇ γνώμῃ παρʼ ἑαυτῷ καὶ δεδοικὼς τὸν κίνδυνον. ὁ δὲ μάντις Ποστούμιος θύσαντος αὐτοῦ καταμαθὼν τὰ σημεῖα, καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἀμφοτέρας τῷ Σύλλᾳ προτείνας, ἠξίου δεθῆναι καὶ φυλάττεσθαι μέχρι τῆς μάχης, ὡς, εἰ μὴ πάντα ταχὺ καὶ καλῶς αὐτῷ συντελεσθείη, τὴν ἐσχάτην δίκην ὑποσχεῖν βουλόμενος.
9.4. It is said, also, that to Sulla himself there appeared in his dreams a goddess whom the Romans learned to worship from the Cappadocians, whether she is Luna, or Minerva, or Bellona. This goddess, as Sulla fancied, stood by his side and put into his hand a thunder-bolt, and naming his enemies one by one, bade him smite them with it; and they were all smitten, and fell, and vanished away. Encouraged by the vision, he told it to his colleague, and at break of day led on towards Rome.
9.4. λέγεται δὲ καὶ κατὰ τοὺς ὕπνους αὑτῷ Σύλλᾳ φανῆναι θεὸν ἣν τιμῶσι Ῥωμαῖοι παρὰ Καππαδοκῶν μαθόντες, εἴτε δὴ Σελήνην οὖσαν εἴτε Ἀθηνᾶν εἴτε Ἐνυώ. ταύτην ὁ Σύλλας ἔδοξεν ἐπιστᾶσαν ἐγχειρίσαι κεραυνὸν αὑτῷ, καὶ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἕκαστον ὀνομάζουσαν τῶν ἐκείνου βάλλειν κελεῦσαι, τοὺς δὲ πίπτειν βαλλομένους καὶ ἀφανίζεσθαι. θαρσήσας δὲ τῇ ὄψει καὶ φράσας τῷ συνάρχοντι μεθʼ ἡμέραν ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥώμην ἡγεῖτο.
9.5. When he had reached Pictae, he was met by a deputation from the city, which begged him not to advance to an immediate attack, since the senate had voted that he should have all his rights; he therefore agreed to encamp there, and ordered his officers to measure out the ground, as was usual, for the camp, so that the deputation returned to the city believing that he would do so. But no sooner were they gone than he sent forward Lucius Basillus and Caius Mummius, who seized for him the city-gate and the walls on the Esquiline hill; then he himself followed hard after them with all speed.
9.5. καὶ περὶ Πικτὰς αὐτῷ πρεσβείας ἐντυχούσης καὶ δεομένης μὴ βαδίζειν εὐθὺς ἐξ ἐφόδου, πάντα γὰρ ἔσεσθαι τὰ δίκαια τῆς βουλῆς ψηφισαμένης, ὡμολόγησε μὲν αὐτοῦ καταστρατοπεδεύσειν καὶ διαμετρεῖν ἐκέλευε χώρας, ὥσπερ εἰώθει, τῷ στρατοπέδῳ τοὺς ἡγεμόνας, ὥστε τοὺς πρέσβεις ἀπελθεῖν πιστεύσαντας· ἐκείνων δὲ ἀπελθόντων εὐθὺς ἐκπέμψας Λεύκιον Βάσιλλον καὶ Γάϊον Μόμμιον καταλαμβάνει τὴν πύλην διʼ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ τείχη τὰ περὶ τὸν λόφον τὸν Αἰσκυλῖνον· εἶτʼ αὐτὸς ἁπάσῃ σπουδῇ συνῆπτε.