1. HASDRUBAL, the general of the Carthaginians, was a vain ostentatious person, very far from possessing real strategic ability. There are numerous proofs of his want of judgment. In the first place he appeared in full armour in his interview with Gulussa, king of the Numidians, with a purple dyed robe over his armour fastened by a brooch, and attended by ten bodyguards armed with swords; and in the next place, having advanced in front of these armed attendants to a distance of about twenty feet, he stood behind the trench and palisade and beckoned the king to come to him, whereas it ought to have been quite the other way. However, Gulussa, after the Numidian fashion, being not inclined to stand on ceremony, advanced towards him unattended, and when he got near him asked him “Whom he was afraid of that he had come in full armour?” And on his answering, “The Romans,” Gulussa remarked: “Then you should not have trusted yourself to the city, when there was no necessity for your doing so. However, what do you want, and what do you ask me to do?” To which Hasdrubal replied: “I want you to go as our ambassador to the Roman commander, and to undertake for us that we will obey every injunction; only I beg of you both to abstain from harming this wretched city.” Then said Gulussa: “Your demand appears to me to be quite childish! Why, my good sir, what you failed to get by your embassies from the Romans, who were then quietly encamped at Utica, and before a blow had been struck,—how can you expect to have granted you now, when you have been completely invested by sea and land, and have almost given up every hope of safety?” To which Hasdrubal replied that “Gulussa was ill informed; for they still had good hopes of their outside allies,”—for he had not yet heard about the Mauretani, and thought that the forces in the country were still unconquered, —“nor were they in despair as to their own ultimate safety. And above all, they trusted in the support of the gods, and in what they might expect from them; for they believed that they would not disregard the flagrant violation of treaty from which they were suffering, but would give them many opportunities of securing their safety. Therefore he called on the Roman commander in the name of the gods and of Fortune to spare the city; with the distinct understanding that, if its inhabitants failed to obtain this grace, they would be cut to pieces to the last man sooner than evacuate it.” After some more conversation of the same sort, these men separated for the present, having made an appointment to meet again on the third day from that time.
1. ὅτι ἡ λη# βίβλος περιέχει τὴν συντέλειαν τῆς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀτυχίας. καίπερ γὰρ τῆς Ἑλλάδος καὶ καθόλου καὶ κατὰ μέρος πλεονάκις ἐπταικυίας, ὅμως οὐδʼ ὁποίοις ἄν τις τῶν πρότερον ἐλαττωμάτων οἰκειότερον ἐφαρμόσαι τὸ τῆς ἀτυχίας ὄνομα καὶ τὴν ἔννοιαν ταύτην ὡς τοῖς καθʼ ἡμᾶς γεγονόσιν. οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἀφʼ ὧν ἔπαθον ἐλεήσαι τις ἂν τοὺς Ἕλληνας, ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον ἐφʼ οἷς ἔπραξαν ἠτυχηκέναι νομίσειε, πυθόμενος περὶ ἑκάστων τὰς ἀληθείας. δοκοῦντος γοῦν μεγίστου πάθους γεγονέναι τοῦ περὶ τοὺς Καρχηδονίους οὐκ ἔλαττον ἄν τις ἡγήσαιτο, κατὰ δέ τι μεῖζον τὸ περὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα τότε συμβάν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ τόπον ἔσχατον ἀπολογίας γε πρὸς τοὺς ἐπιγινομένους περὶ σφῶν ἀπέλειπον, οὗτοι δʼ οὐδʼ ἀφορμὴν εὔλογον ἔδοσαν τοῖς βουλομένοις σφίσι βοηθεῖν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡμαρτημένων. καὶ Καρχηδόνιοι μὲν ἅμα ταῖς περιπετείαις ἄρδην ἀφανισθέντες ἀνεπαίσθητοι τῶν σφετέρων εἰς τὸ μέλλον ἐγένοντο συμπτωμάτων, οἱ δʼ Ἕλληνες ἐφορῶντες τὰς αὑτῶν ἀτυχίας παισὶ παίδων παραδόσιμον ἐποίησαν τὴν ἀκληρίαν. ὥστε καθʼ ὅσον τοὺς ζῶντας μετὰ τιμωρίας ἐλεεινοτέρους νομίζομεν τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς δεινοῖς ἐκλειπόντων τὸν βίον, κατὰ τοσοῦτο καὶ τὰς τότε περιπετείας τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐλεεινοτέρας νομιστέον τῶν συμβάντων Καρχηδονίοις, ἐὰν μή τις ἀφροντιστῶν τοῦ καθήκοντος καὶ τοῦ καλοῦ, πρὸς αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ συμφέρον ἀποβλέπων ποιῆται τὴν ἀπόφασιν. ὅτι δʼ ἔστι τὸ νῦν εἰρημένον ὑφʼ ἡμῶν ἀληθές, εἴποι τις ἂν ὑπομνησθεὶς καὶ παραθεὶς τὰς δοκούσας μεγίστας συμφορὰς γεγονέναι κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα πρὸς τὰ νῦν ὑφʼ ἡμῶν λεγόμενα.
2. On Gulussa communicating to him what had been said, Scipio remarked with a laugh: “Oh, then, it was because you intended to make this demand that you displayed that abominable cruelty to our prisoners! And you trust in the gods, do you, after violating even the laws of men?” The king went on to remind Scipio that above all things it was necessary to finish the business speedily; for, apart from unforeseen contingencies, the consular elections were now close at hand, and it was only right to have regard to that, lest, if the winter found them just where they were, another Consul would come to supersede him, and without any trouble get all the credit of his labours. These words induced Scipio to give directions to offer Hasdrubal safety for himself, his wife and children, and ten families of his friends and relations, and permission to take ten talents of his private property and to bring out with him whichever of his slaves he chose. With these concessions therefore Gulussa went to his meeting with Hasdrubal on the third day, who again came forward with great pomp and at a dignified step, clothed in his purple robe and full suit of armour, so as to cast the tyrants of tragedy far into the shade. He was naturally fat, but at that time he had grown extremely corpulent, and had become more than usually red from exposure to the sun, so that he seemed to be living like fat oxen at a fair; and not at all like a man to be in command at a time of such terrible miseries as cannot easily be described in words. When he met the king, and heard the offer of the Consul, he slapped his thigh again and again, and appealing to the gods and Fortune declared that “The day would never come on which Hasdrubal would behold the sun and his native city in flames; for to the nobly-minded one’s country and its burning houses were a glorious funeral pile.” These expressions force us to feel some admiration for the man and the nobility of his language; but when we come to view his administration of affairs, we cannot fail to be struck by his want of spirit and courage; for at a time when his fellow-citizens were absolutely perishing with famine, he gave banquets and had second courses put on of a costly kind, and by his own excellent physical condition made their misery more conspicuous. For the number of the dying surpassed belief, as well as the number who deserted every day from hunger. However, by fiercely rebuking some, and by executing as well as abusing others, he cowed the common people: and by this means retained, in a country reduced to the lowest depths of misfortune, an authority which a tyrant would scarcely enjoy in a prosperous city. Therefore I think I was justified in saying that two leaders more like each other than those who at that time directed the affairs of Greece and Carthage it would not be easy to find. And this will be rendered manifest when we come to a formal comparison of them....
2. μέγιστον ἡ τύχη δοκεῖ φόβον ἐπιστῆσαι τοῖς Ἕλλησι κατὰ τὴν Ξέρξου διάβασιν εἰς τὴν Εὐρώπην· τότε γὰρ ἐκινδύνευσαν μὲν πάντες, ἔπταισαν δὲ τελέως ὀλίγιστοι, μάλιστα δὲ τούτων Ἀθηναῖοι· προϊδόμενοι γὰρ ἐμφρόνως τὸ μέλλον ἐξέλιπον τὴν πατρίδα μετὰ τέκνων καὶ γυναικῶν. βλάβην μὲν οὖν ὁ καιρὸς αὐτοῖς ἐπήνεγκε· κύριοι γὰρ γενηθέντες οἱ βάρβαροι πικρῶς διέφθειραν τὰς Ἀθήνας· οὐ μὴν ὄνειδος οὐδʼ αἰσχύνην, τὸ δʼ ἐναντίον εὔκλειαν παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὴν μεγίστην ἀπηνέγκαντο διότι πάντʼ ἐν ἐλάττονι θέμενοι τῆς αὐτῆς τύχης εἵλαντο κοινωνεῖν τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἕλλησι. τοιγαροῦν καλῇ χρησάμενοι προαιρέσει, παρὰ πόδας οὐ μόνον ἀνεκτήσαντο τὴν πατρίδα καὶ τὴν ἑαυτῶν χώραν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῆς τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων ἡγεμονίας μετʼ ὀλίγον ἠμφισβήτουν πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πάλιν ὑπὸ Σπαρτιατῶν καταπολεμηθέντες εἰς τοῦτʼ ἀνάγκης ἦλθον ὥστε καθελεῖν τὰ τείχη τῆς αὑτῶν πατρίδος. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο Λακεδαιμονίων, οὐκ Ἀθηναίων ἄν τις εἶναι φήσειε τοὔγκλημα, διότι βαρύτερον ἐχρήσαντο τῇ δοθείσῃ σφίσι παρὰ τῆς τύχης ἐξουσίᾳ. Σπαρτιᾶται δʼ ἡττηθέντες ὑπὸ Θηβαίων πάλιν ἀπέβαλον τὴν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἡγεμονίαν καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα τῆς τῶν ἐκτὸς ἀρχῆς ἀποστάντες συνεκλείσθησαν εἰς τοὺς τῆς Λακωνικῆς ὅρους. καὶ τί δὴ τοῦτʼ αἰσχρόν, εἰ περὶ τῶν καλλίστων ἀμφισβητοῦντες ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἔπταισαν ὥστε πάλιν ἐπὶ τὴν πάτριον ἀναχωρῆσαι δυναστείαν; διὸ τὰ γεγονότα ταῦτα συμπτώματα μὲν εἶναι φατέον, ἀτυχήματα δʼ οὐδαμῶς ῥητέον. Μαντινεῖς ἠναγκάσθησαν ἐκλιπεῖν τὴν πατρίδα διοικισθέντες ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ διασπασθέντες οἰκῆσαι κατὰ κώμας· ἀλλὰ πάντες ἐπὶ τούτοις οὐ τὴν τῶν Μαντινέων ἀβουλίαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν Λακεδαιμονίων ὠνείδιζον. Θηβαῖοι μετά τινα χρόνον ἄρδην ἐπεῖδον τὴν αὑτῶν πατρίδα γενομένην ἀνάστατον, ὅτε προθέμενος Ἀλέξανδρος εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν διαβαίνειν ὑπέλαβε διὰ τῆς εἰς Θηβαίους τιμωρίας τῷ φόβῳ φρουρήσειν τοὺς Ἕλληνας κατὰ τοὺς ἰδίους περισπασμούς· ἀλλὰ τότε πάντες ἠλέουν μὲν τοὺς Θηβαίους ὡς ἄδικα καὶ δεινὰ πεπονθότας, διεδικαίου δὲ τὴν πρᾶξιν ταύτην οὐδεὶς Ἀλεξάνδρου.
3. My thirty-eighth book embraces the consummation of the misfortunes of Greece. For though Greece as a whole, as well as separate parts of it, has on several occasions sustained grave disasters, yet to none of her previous defeats could the word “misfortune” be more properly applied, than to those which have befallen her in our time. For it is not only that the sufferings of Greece excite compassion: stronger still is the conviction, which a knowledge of the truth of the several occurrences must bring, that in all she undertook she was supremely unfortunate. At any rate, though the disaster of Carthage is looked upon as of the severest kind, yet one cannot but regard that of Greece as not less, and in some respects even more so. For the Carthaginians at any rate left something for posterity to say on their behalf; but the mistakes of the Greeks were so glaring that they made it impossible for those who wished to support them to do so. Besides, the destruction of the Carthaginians was immediate and total, so that they had no feeling afterwards of their disasters: but the Greeks, with their misfortunes ever before their eyes, handed down to their children’s children the loss of all that once was theirs. And in proportion as we regard those who live in pain as more pitiable than those who lose their lives at the moment of their misfortunes, in that proportion must the disasters of the Greeks be regarded as more pitiable than those of the Carthaginians,—unless a man thinks nothing of dignity and honour, and gives his opinion from a regard only to material advantage. To prove the truth of what I say, one has only to remember and compare the misfortunes in Greece reputed to be the heaviest with what I have just now mentioned.
3. τοιγαροῦν βραχεῖ χρόνῳ τυχόντες ἐπικουρίας τινὸς αὖθις ᾤκουν τὴν πατρίδα μετʼ ἀσφαλείας. ὁ γὰρ παρὰ τῶν ἐκτὸς ἔλεος οὐ μικρὸν ἐπίχειρόν ἐστι τοῖς ἀδίκως ἀκληροῦσιν, εἴ γε πολλάκις ἰδεῖν ἔστιν ἅμα ταῖς τῶν πολλῶν ὁρμαῖς καὶ τὴν τύχην μεταβαλλομένην καὶ τοὺς κρατοῦντας αὐτοὺς μεταμελομένους καὶ διορθουμένους τὰς τῶν παραλόγως ἠτυχηκότων περιπετείας. πάλιν ἐπείθοντο κατά τινας καιροὺς Χαλκιδεῖς καὶ Κορίνθιοι καί τινες ἕτεραι πόλεις διὰ τὴν τῶν τόπων εὐφυΐαν τοῖς ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ βασιλεῦσι καὶ φρουρὰς εἶχον· ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν δουλεύοντας πάντες ἐσπούδαζον κατὰ δύναμιν ἐλευθεροῦν, τοὺς δὲ καταδουλωσαμένους ἐμίσουν καὶ πολεμίους ἡγοῦντο διὰ τέλους. καθόλου δὲ κατὰ πόλεις ἔπταιον καὶ κατὰ πόλιν ἐσφάλλοντο τὸν πρὸ τοῦ χρόνον ὡς ἐπίπαν, οἱ μὲν ὑπὲρ ἡγεμονίας καὶ πραγμάτων ἀμφισβητοῦντες, οἱ δʼ ὑπὸ μονάρχων καὶ βασιλέων παρασπονδούμενοι· διὸ καὶ σπανίους ἂν εὕροις οἷς ὄνειδος ἠκολούθει τῶν ἀκληρούντων ἢ καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀτυχίας ὄνομα διέμενεν· ἀκληρεῖν μὲν γὰρ ἅπαντας ἡγητέον καὶ κοινῇ καὶ κατʼ ἰδίαν τοὺς παραλόγοις συμφοραῖς περιπίπτοντας, ἀτυχεῖν δὲ μόνους τούτους οἷς διὰ τὴν ἰδίαν ἀβουλίαν ὄνειδος αἱ πράξεις ἐπιφέρουσι. κατὰ δὲ τοὺς ὑποκειμένους καιροὺς ἠτύχησαν ἅμα Πελοποννήσιοι, Βοιωτοί, Φωκεῖς, … εῖς, Λοκροί, τινὲς τῶν τὸν Ἰόνιον κατοικούντων κόλπον, μετὰ δὲ τούτους ἔτι Μακεδόνες· … μὴ μόνον κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος … τῶν πρότερον, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ … ἐπίπαν οὐκ ἠκλήρησαν, ἀλλʼ ἠτύχησαν ἀτυχίαν αἰσχρὰν ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα καὶ ἐπονείδιστον· ἅμα μὲν γὰρ ἀπιστίαν, ἅμα δʼ ἀνανδρίαν ἔδειξαν, καὶ πράξεις αὐτοῖς ἐπήνεγκαν διὰ τὴν ἀτ. … ἅμα. τοιγαροῦν στερηθέντες πάντων τῶν καλῶν οἱ μὲν ὑπὸ στέ …, ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ δ … ντες εἰς τὰς πόλεις τότε παρεδέξαντο ῥάβδους καὶ πελέκεις ἐθελο …· ἐν μεγάλῳ γὰρ φόβῳ διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῶν ἰδίων ἁμαρτημάτων ἦσαν, εἰ χρ ὴ λέγειν ἰδίων· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἠγνοηκέναι μὲν φαίην ἂν τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ παραπεπαικέναι τοῦ καθήκοντος, ἡμαρτηκέναι δὲ τοὺς αἰτίους γεγονότας τῆς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἀγνοίας.
4. Now, the greatest alarm that fortune ever brought upon the Greeks was when Xerxes invaded Europe: for at that time all were exposed to danger though an extremely small number actually suffered disaster. The greatest sufferers were the Athenians: for, with a prudent foresight of what was coming, they abandoned their country with their wives and children. That crisis then caused them damage; for the Barbarians took Athens and laid it waste with savage violence: but it brought them no shame or disgrace. On the contrary, they gained the highest glory in the eyes of all the world for having regarded everything as of less importance, in comparison with taking their share in the same fortune as the other Greeks. Accordingly, in consequence of their exalted conduct, they not only immediately recovered their own city and territory, but soon afterwards disputed the supremacy in Greece with the Lacedaemonians. Subsequently, indeed, they were beaten by the Spartans in war, and forced to submit to the destruction of their own city walls: but even this one might assert to be a reproach to the Lacedaemonians, for having used the power put into their hands with excessive severity, rather than to the Athenians. Then the Spartans once more, being beaten by the Thebans, lost the supremacy in Greece, and after that defeat were deprived of their outside rule and reduced to the frontiers of Laconia. But what disgrace was there in having retired, while disputing for the most honourable objects, to the limits of their ancestral dominion? Therefore, these events we may speak of as failures, but not as misfortunes in any sense. The Mantineans again were forced to leave their city, being divided out and scattered into separate villages by the Lacedaemonians; but for this all the world blamed the folly, not of the Mantineans, but of the Lacedaemonians. The Thebans, indeed, besides the loss of their army, saw their country depopulated at the time when Alexander, having resolved on the invasion of Asia, conceived that by making an example of Thebes he should establish a terror that would act as a check upon the Greeks, while his attention was distracted upon other affairs: but at that time all the world pitied the Thebans as having been treated with injustice and harshness, and no one was found to justify this proceeding of Alexander.
4. ὑπὲρ ὧν οὐ δεήσει θαυμάζειν ἐὰν παρεκβαίνοντες τὸ τῆς ἱστορικῆς διηγήσεως ἦθος ἐπιδεικτικωτέραν καὶ φιλοτιμοτέραν φαινώμεθα ποιούμενοι περὶ αὐτῶν τὴν ἀπαγγελίαν. καίτοι τινὲς ἴσως ἐπιτιμήσουσιν ἡμῖν ὡς φιλαπεχθῶς ποιουμένοις τὴν γραφήν, οἷς καθῆκον ἦν μάλιστα πάντων περιστέλλειν τὰς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἁμαρτίας. ἐγὼ δʼ οὔτε φίλον οὐδέποτʼ ἂν ὑπολαμβάνω γνήσιον νομισθῆναι παρὰ τοῖς ὀρθῶς φρονοῦσι τὸν δεδιότα καὶ φοβούμενον τοὺς μετὰ παρρησίας λόγους, καὶ μὴν οὐδὲ πολίτην ἀγαθὸν τὸν ἐγκαταλείποντα τὴν ἀλήθειαν διὰ τὴν ἐσομένην ὑπʼ ἐνίων προσκοπὴν παρʼ αὐτὸν τὸν καιρόν· συγγραφέα δὲ κοινῶν πράξεων οὐδʼ ὅλως ἀποδεκτέον τὸν ἄλλο τι περὶ πλείονος ποιούμενον τῆς ἀληθείας. ὅσῳ γὰρ εἰς πλείους διατείνει καὶ ἐπὶ πλείω χρόνον ἡ διὰ τῶν ὑπομνημάτων παράδοσις τῶν πρὸς καιρὸν λεγομένων, τοσούτῳ χρὴ μᾶλλον καὶ τὸν γράφοντα περὶ πλείστου ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ τοὺς ἀκούοντας ἀποδέχεσθαι τὴν τοιαύτην αἵρεσιν. κατὰ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς τῶν περιστάσεων καιροὺς καθήκει βοηθεῖν τοὺς Ἕλληνας ὄντας τοῖς Ἕλλησι κατὰ πάντα τρόπον, τὰ μὲν ἀμύνοντας, τὰ δὲ περιστέλλοντας, τὰ δὲ παραιτουμένους τὴν τῶν κρατούντων ὀργήν· ὅπερ ἡμεῖς ἐπʼ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων ἐποιήσαμεν ἀληθινῶς· τὴν δʼ ὑπὲρ τῶν γεγονότων τοῖς ἐπιγινομένοις διὰ τῶν ὑπομνημάτων παράδοσιν ἀμιγῆ παντὸς ψεύδους ἀπολείπεσθαι χάριν τοῦ μὴ ταῖς ἀκοαῖς τέρπεσθαι κατὰ τὸ παρὸν τοὺς ἀναγινώσκοντας, ἀλλὰ ταῖς ψυχαῖς διορθοῦσθαι πρὸς τὸ μὴ πλεονάκις ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς διασφάλλεσθαι. καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἡμῖν εἰρήσθω.
5. Accordingly after a short time they obtained assistance, and once more inhabited their country in security. For the compassion of foreigners is no small benefit to those who are unjustly dispossessed; since we often see that, with the change of feeling among the many, Fortune also changes; and even the conquerors themselves repent, and make good the disasters of those who have fallen under undeserved misfortunes. Once more, at certain periods the Chalcidians and Corinthians and some other cities, owing to the advantages of their situation, were attacked by the kings of Macedonia, and had garrisons imposed on them: but when they were thus enslaved all the world were eager to do their best to liberate them, and loathed their enslavers and regarded them continually as their enemies. But above all, up to this time it was generally single states that were depopulated, and in single states that reverses were met with, in some cases while disputing for supremacy and empire, and in others from the treacherous attacks of despots and kings: so that, so far from their losses bringing them any reproach, they escaped even the name of misfortune. For we must look on all those who meet with incalculable disasters whether private or public as the victims of losses, and those only to be “unfortunate,” to whom events through their own folly bring dishonour. Instances of this last are the Peloponnesians, Boeotians, Phocians,... and Locrians, some of the dwellers on the Ionian gulf, and next to these the Macedonians,... who all as a rule did not merely suffer loss, but were “unfortunate,” with a misfortune of the gravest kind and for which they were themselves open to reproach: for they displayed at once want of good faith and want of courage, brought upon themselves a series of disgraces, lost all that could bring them honour,... and voluntarily admitted into their towns the Roman fasces and axes. They were in the utmost panic, in fact, owing to the extravagance of their own wrongful acts, if one ought to call them their own; for I should rather say that the peoples as such were entirely ignorant, and were beguiled from the path of right: but that the men who acted wrongly were the authors of this delusion.
5. οὐ γὰρ ἀγνοῶ διότι τινὲς ἐπιλήψονται τῆς πραγματείας, φάσκοντες ἀτελῆ καὶ διερριμμένην ἡμᾶς πεποιῆσθαι τὴν ἐξήγησιν τῶν πραγμάτων, εἴγʼ ἐπιβαλλόμενοι λόγου χάριν διεξιέναι τὴν Καρχηδόνος πολιορκίαν, κἄπειτα μεταξὺ ταύτην ἀπολιπόντες καὶ μεσολαβήσαντες σφᾶς αὐτοὺς μεταβαίνομεν ἐπὶ τὰς Ἑλληνικὰς κἀντεῦθεν ἐπὶ τὰς Μακεδονικὰς ἢ Συριακὰς ἤ τινας ἑτέρας πράξεις· ζητεῖν δὲ τοὺς φιλομαθοῦντας τὸ συνεχὲς καὶ τὸ τέλος ἱμείρειν ἀκοῦσαι τῆς προθέσεως· καὶ γὰρ τὴν ψυχαγωγίαν καὶ τὴν ὠφέλειαν οὕτω μᾶλλον συνεκτρέχειν τοῖς προσέχουσιν. ἐμοὶ δʼ οὐχ οὕτως δοκεῖ, τὸ δʼ ἐναντίον. μάρτυρα δὲ τούτων ἐπικαλεσαίμην ἂν αὐτὴν τὴν φύσιν, ἥτις κατʼ οὐδʼ ὁποίαν τῶν αἰσθήσεων εὐδοκεῖ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐπιμένειν κατὰ τὸ συνεχές, ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ μεταβολῆς ἐστιν οἰκεία, τοῖς δʼ αὐτοῖς ἐγκυρεῖν ἐκ διαστήματος βούλεται καὶ διαφορᾶς. εἴη δʼ ἂν τὸ λεγόμενον ἐναργὲς πρῶτον μὲν ἐκ τῆς ἀκοῆς, ἥτις οὔτε κατὰ τὰς μελῳδίας οὔτε κατὰ τὰς λεκτικὰς ὑποκρίσεις εὐδοκεῖ συνεχῶς ταῖς αὐταῖς ἐπιμένειν στάσεσιν, ὁ δὲ μεταβολικὸς τρόπος καὶ καθόλου πᾶν τὸ διερριμμένον καὶ μεγίστας ἔχον ἀλλαγὰς καὶ πυκνοτάτας αὐτὴν κινεῖ. παραπλησίως καὶ τὴν γεῦσιν εὕροι τις ἂν οὐδὲ τοῖς πολυτελεστάτοις βρώμασιν ἐπιμένειν δυναμένην, ἀλλὰ σικχαίνουσαν καὶ χαίρουσαν ταῖς μεταβολαῖς καὶ προσηνεστέρως ἀποδεχομένην πολλάκις καὶ τὰ λιτὰ τῶν ἐδεσμάτων ἢ τὰ πολυτελῆ διὰ τὸν ξενισμόν. τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ καὶ περὶ τὴν ὅρασιν ἴδοι τις ἂν γινόμενον· ἥκιστα γὰρ δύναται πρὸς ἓν μένειν ἀτενίζουσα, κινεῖ δʼ αὐτὴν ἡ ποικιλία καὶ μεταβολὴ τῶν ὁρωμένων. μάλιστα δὲ περὶ τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦτό τις ἂν ἴδοι συμβαῖνον· αἱ γὰρ μεταλήψεις τῶν ἀτενισμῶν καὶ τῶν ἐπιστάσεων οἷον ἀναπαύσεις εἰσὶ τοῖς φιλοπόνοις τῶν ἀνδρῶν.
6. In regard to these men, it should not be a matter of surprise if we leave for a while the ordinary method and spirit of our narrative to give a clearer and more elaborate exposition of their character. I am aware that some may be found, regarding it as their first duty to cast a veil over the errors of the Greeks, to accuse us of writing in a spirit of malevolence. But for myself, I conceive that with right-minded persons a man will never be regarded as a true friend who shrinks from and is afraid of plain speech, nor indeed as a good citizen who abandons the truth because of the offence he will give to certain persons at the time. But a writer of public history above all deserves no indulgence whatever, who regards anything of superior importance to truth. For in proportion as written history reaches larger numbers, and survives for longer time, than words spoken to suit an occasion, both the writer ought to be still more particular about truth, and his readers ought to admit his authority only so far as he adheres to this principle. At the actual hour of danger it is only right that Greeks should help Greeks in every possible way, by protecting them, veiling their errors or deprecating the wrath of the sovereign people,—and this I genuinely did for my part at the actual time: but it is also right, in regard to the record of events to be transmitted to posterity, to leave them unmixed with any falsehood: so that readers should not be merely gratified for the moment by a pleasant tale, but should receive in their souls a lesson which will prevent a repetition of similar errors in the future. Enough, however, on this subject....
6. διὸ καὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων συγγραφέων οἱ λογιώτατοι δοκοῦσί μοι προσαναπεπαῦσθαι τῷ τρόπῳ τούτῳ, τινὲς μὲν μυθικαῖς καὶ διηγηματικαῖς κεχρημένοι παρεκβάσεσι, τινὲς δὲ καὶ πραγματικαῖς, ὥστε μὴ μόνον ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα τόποις ποιεῖσθαι τὰς μεταβάσεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐκτὸς περιλαμβάνειν. λέγω δʼ οἷον ἐπειδὰν τὰ κατὰ τὴν Θετταλίαν ἐξηγούμενοι καὶ τὰς Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Φεραίου πράξεις μεταξὺ τὰς κατὰ Πελοπόννησον Λακεδαιμονίων ἐπιβολὰς διηγῶνται, καὶ πάλιν τὰς παρὰ Θηβαίων, ἔτι δὲ τὰς κατὰ Μακεδονίαν ἢ τὴν Ἰλλυρίδα, κἄπειτα διατρίψαντες λέγωσι τὴν Ἰφικράτους εἰς Αἴγυπτον στρατείαν καὶ τὰ Κλεάρχῳ πραχθέντα παρανομήματα κατὰ τὸν Πόντον. ἐξ ὧν κεχρημένους μὲν ἅπαντας εὕροι τις ἂν τῷ τοιούτῳ χειρισμῷ, κεχρημένους γε μὴν ἀτάκτως, ἡμᾶς δὲ τεταγμένως. ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ μνησθέντες πῶς Βάρδυλλις ὁ τῶν Ἰλλυριῶν βασιλεὺς καὶ Κερσοβλέπτης ὁ τῶν Θρᾳκῶν κατεκτήσαντο τὰς δυναστείας, οὐκέτι προστιθέασι τὸ συνεχές, οὐδʼ ἀνατρέχουσιν ἐπὶ τἀκόλουθον ἐκ διαστήματος, ἀλλὰ καθάπερ ἐν ποιήματι χρησάμενοι πάλιν ἐπανάγουσιν ἐπὶ τὰς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑποθέσεις. ἡμεῖς δὲ πάντας διῃρημένοι τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους τόπους τῆς οἰκουμένης καὶ τὰς ἐν τούτοις πράξεις καὶ μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔφοδον ἀεὶ ποιούμενοι κατὰ τὴν τάξιν τῆς διαλήψεως, ἔτι δὲ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἔτος ὡρισμένως ἐξηγούμενοι τὰς καταλλήλους πράξεις ἐνεστηκυίας, ἀπολείπομεν πρόδηλον τοῖς φιλομαθοῦσι τὴν ἐπαναγωγὴν ἐπὶ τὸν συνεχῆ λόγον καὶ τὰς μεσολαβηθείσας ἀεὶ τῶν πράξεων, ὥστε μηδὲν ἀτελὲς μηδʼ ἐλλιπὲς γίνεσθαι τοῖς φιληκόοις τῶν προειρημένων. καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον.
7. When the commissioners with L. Aurelius Orestes arrived in Rome from the Peloponnese, they reported what had taken place, and declared that they had a narrow escape of actually losing their lives. They made the most of the occurrence and put the worst interpretation upon it; for they represented the violence which had been offered them as not the result of a sudden outbreak, but of a deliberate intention on the part of the Achaeans to inflict a signal insult upon them. The Senate was therefore more angry than it had ever been, and at once appointed Sextus Julius Caesar and other envoys with instructions to rebuke and upbraid the Achaeans for what had occurred, yet in terms of moderation, but to exhort them “not to listen to evil councillors, not to allow themselves to be betrayed into hostility with Rome, but even yet to make amends for their acts of folly by inflicting punishment on the authors of the crime.” This was a clear proof that the Senate gave its instructions to Aurelius and his colleagues, not with the view of dismembering the league, but with the object of restraining the obstinacy and hostility of the Achaeans by terrifying and overawing them. Some people accordingly imagined that the Romans were acting hypocritically, because the Carthaginian war was still unfinished; but this was not the case. The fact is, that they had long regarded the Achaean league with favour, believing it to be the most trustworthy of all the Greek governments; and though now they were resolved to give it an alarm, because it had become too lofty in its pretensions, yet they were by no means minded to go to war or to have a serious quarrel with the Achaeans....
7. ὅτι Ἀσδρούβας ὁ στρατηγὸς Καρχηδονίων κενόδοξος ἦν ἀλαζὼν καὶ πολὺ κεχωρισμένος τῆς πραγματικῆς καὶ στρατηγικῆς δυνάμεως. πολλὰ δὲ σημεῖα τῆς ἀκρισίας αὐτοῦ. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ παρῆν ἐν πανοπλίᾳ, πορφυρίδα θαλαττίαν ἐπιπεπορπημένος, ἡνίκα Γολόσσῃ συνεγίνετο τῷ τῶν Νομάδων βασιλεῖ, μετὰ μαχαιροφόρων δέκα. ἔπειτα προβὰς ἀπὸ τῶν δέχʼ ὅσον εἴκοσι πόδας ἀπέστη, προβεβλημένος τάφρον καὶ χάρακα, καὶ κατένευε τῷ βασιλεῖ προσιέναι πρὸς αὑτόν, καθῆκον γίνεσθαι τοὐναντίον. οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ὁ Γολόσσης ἀφελῶς ἔχων Νομαδικῷ τινι τρόπῳ μόνος προσῄει πρὸς αὐτόν· καὶ προσεγγίσας ἤρετο τίνα φοβούμενος τὴν πανοπλίαν ἔχων ἧκε. τοῦ δʼ εἰπόντος ὅτι Ῥωμαίους, "οὐκ ἂν ἄρʼ" ἔφησεν ὁ Γολόσσης "ἔδωκας σαυτὸν εἰς τὴν πόλιν, μηδεμίαν ἔχων ἀνάγκην. πλὴν τί βούλει καὶ τί παρακαλεῖς;" φησίν. ὁ δʼ Ἀσδρούβας " ἐγώ" φησὶ "πρεσβευτήν σε παρακαλῶ γενέσθαι πρὸς τὸν στρατηγὸν καὶ πᾶν ἀναδέχεσθαι διότι ποιήσομεν τὸ προσταττόμενον· μόνον ἀπόσχεσθε τῆς ταλαιπώρου πόλεως ταύτης. " καὶ [ὁ] Γολόσσης "παιδικὴν δοκεῖς μοι" φησὶν "ἀξίωσιν ἀξιοῦν, ὦ βέλτιστε· ὑπὲρ ὧν γὰρ ἐξ ἀκεραίου πρεσβεύοντες, ἔτι καθημένων ἐν Ἰτύκῃ Ῥωμαίων, οὐκ ἐδύνασθε πείθειν, τίνι λόγῳ νῦν ἀξιοῖς ταῦτά σοι συγχωρεῖσθαι, περιτετειχισμένος καὶ κατὰ γῆν καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν καὶ σχεδὸν ἁπάσας ἀπεγνωκὼς τὰς τῆς σωτηρίας ἐλπίδας; " ὁ δʼ Ἀσδρούβας ἀγνοεῖν αὐτὸν ἔφη· καὶ γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἔξωθεν συμμάχοις ἀκμὴν καλὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχειν· οὐ γάρ πω τὰ περὶ τοὺς Μαυρουσίους ἠκηκόει καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν ὑπαίθρων δυνάμεων [ὅτι σώζονται]· καὶ μὴν οὐκ ἀπελπίζειν τὰ καθʼ αὑτούς· μάλιστα δὲ πεποιθέναι τῇ τῶν θεῶν συμμαχίᾳ καὶ ταῖς ἐν ἐκείνοις ἐλπίσιν· οὐ γὰρ περιόψεσθαι σφᾶς προφανῶς παρασπονδουμένους, ἀλλὰ πολλὰς δώσειν ἀφορμὰς πρὸς σωτηρίαν. διὸ παρακαλεῖν ἠξίου τὸν στρατηγὸν καὶ τῶν θεῶν ἕνεκεν καὶ τῆς τύχης φείσασθαι τῆς πόλεως, εἰδότα σαφῶς διότι μὴ δυνάμενοι τυχεῖν τούτου κατασφαγήσονται πρότερον ἢ παραχωρήσουσι ταύτης. τότε μὲν οὖν ταῦτα καὶ παραπλήσια διαλεχθέντες ἐχωρίσθησαν, ταξάμενοι μετὰ τρίτην ἡμέραν πάλιν συμπορεύεσθαι·
8. As Sextus Julius Caesar and his colleagues were on their way from Rome to the Peloponnese, they were met by Thearidas and the other envoys, sent by the Achaeans to make their excuse and give the Senate an explanation of the intemperate acts committed in regard to Aurelius Orestes. But Sextus Julius persuaded them to turn back to Achaia, on the ground that he and his colleagues were coming with full instructions to communicate with the Achaeans on all these points. When Sextus arrived in the Peloponnese, and in a conference with the Achaeans in Aegium spoke with great kindness, he made no mention of the injurious treatment of the legates, and scarcely demanded any defence at all, but took a more lenient view of what had happened than even the Achaeans themselves; and dwelt chiefly on the subject of exhorting them not to carry their error any further, in regard either to the Romans or the Lacedaemonians. Thereupon the more sober-minded party received the speech with satisfaction, and were strongly moved to obey the suggestions, because they were conscious of the gravity of what they had been doing, and had before their eyes what happened to opponents of Rome; but the majority, though they had not a word to say against the justice of the injunctions of Sextus Julius, and were quite silent, yet remained deeply tainted with disaffection. And Diaeus and Critolaus, and all who shared their sentiments,—and they consisted of all the greatest rascals in every city, men at war with the gods, and pests of the community, carefully selected,—took, as the proverb has it, with the left hand what the Romans gave with the right, and went utterly and entirely wrong in their calculations. For they supposed that the Romans, owing to the troubles in Libya and Iberia, feared a war with the Achaeans and would submit to anything and say anything. Thinking, therefore, that the hour was their own, they answered the Roman envoys politely that “They would, nevertheless, send Thearidas and his colleagues to the Senate; while they would themselves accompany the legates to Tegea, and there in consultation with the Lacedaemonians would provide for some settlement of the war that would meet the views of both parties.” With this answer they subsequently induced the unhappy nation to follow the senseless course to which they had long before made up their mind. And this result was only what might have been expected from the inexperience and corruption of the prevailing party.
8. τοῦ δὲ Γολόσσου μεταδόντος τῷ στρατηγῷ περὶ τῶν εἰρημένων, γελάσας ὁ Πόπλιος "ταῦτα μέλλων ἀξιοῦν" ἔφη "τοιαύτην καὶ τηλικαύτην ἀσέβειαν εἰς τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους ἡμῶν ἐναπεδείξω καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τοῖς θεοῖς τὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχεις, παραβεβηκὼς καὶ τοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων νόμους; " τοῦ δὲ βασιλέως βουλομένου τι προσυπομιμνήσκειν τὸν Σκιπίωνα, καὶ μάλιστα διότι δεῖ συντέλειαν ἐπιτίθεσθαι τοῖς πράγμασι· χωρὶς γὰρ τῶν ἀδήλων καὶ τὴν κατάστασιν τῶν ὑπάτων ἤδη συνεγγίζειν, ἧς δεῖν ἔφη στοχάζεσθαι, μὴ τοῦ χειμῶνος προκαταλαβόντος ἐπελθὼν ἕτερος ἀκονιτὶ λάβῃ τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν τῶν ἐκείνου πόνων· καὶ δὴ τούτων λεγομένων ἐπιστήσας ὁ στρατηγὸς ἐκέλευσεν ἀναγγέλλειν διότι δίδωσι τὴν ἀσφάλειαν αὐτῷ καὶ γυναικὶ καὶ τέκνοις καὶ δέκα τῶν συγγενῶν καὶ φίλων οἰκίαις, σὺν δὲ τούτοις δέκα τάλαντα λαβεῖν ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων ὑπαρχόντων καὶ τῶν οἰκετῶν ἐξαγαγεῖν ἑκατὸν οὓς ἂν αἱρῆται. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὁ Γολόσσης ἔχων τὰ φιλάνθρωπα συνῄει πρὸς τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν τῇ τρίτῃ τῶν ἡμερῶν· ὁ δὲ πάλιν ἐξεπορεύετο μετὰ μεγάλης ἀξίας ἐν τῇ πορφυρίδι καὶ τῇ πανοπλίᾳ βάδην, ὥστε τοὺς ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις τυράννους πολύ τι προσοφείλειν. ἦν μὲν οὖν καὶ φύσει σάρκινος, τότε δὲ καὶ κοιλίαν εἰλήφει καὶ τῷ χρώματι παρὰ φύσιν ἐπικεκαυμένος ἦν, ὥστε δοκεῖν ἐν πανηγύρει που διαιτᾶσθαι παραπλησίως τοῖς σιτευτοῖς βουσίν, ἀλλὰ μὴ τηλικούτων καὶ τοιούτων κακῶν προστατεῖν, ὧν οὐδʼ ἂν ἐφίκοιτο τῷ λόγῳ διεξιὼν οὐδείς. οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ συνῆλθε τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ διήκουσε τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ προτεινομένων, πολλάκις τὸν μηρὸν πατάξας, τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ τὴν τύχην ἐπικαλεσάμενος, οὐδέποτε ταύτην ἔσεσθαι τὴν ἡμέραν ἔφασκεν ἐν ᾗ συμβήσεται τὸν ἥλιον Ἀσδρούβαν βλέπειν ἅμα καὶ τὴν πατρίδα πυρπολουμένην· καλὸν γὰρ ἐντάφιον εἶναι τοῖς εὖ φρονοῦσι τὴν πατρίδα καὶ τὸ ταύτης πῦρ. ὥσθʼ ὅτε μὲν εἰς τὰς ἀποφάσεις αὐτοῦ τις βλέψειε, θαυμάζειν τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τὸ μεγαλόψυχον τῶν λόγων, ὅτε δʼ εἰς τὸν χειρισμὸν τῶν πραγμάτων, τὴν ἀγεννίαν καταπλήττεσθαι καὶ τὴν ἀνανδρίαν· ὃς πρῶτον μέν, τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν διαφθειρομένων ὁλοσχερῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ λιμοῦ, πότους αὐτὸς συνῆγε καὶ δευτέρας τραπέζας παρετίθετο πολυτελεῖς καὶ διὰ τῆς ἰδίας εὐεξίας παρεδειγμάτιζε τὴν ἐκείνων ἀτυχίαν· ἄπιστον μὲν γὰρ ἦν τὸ τῶν ἀποθνησκόντων πλῆθος, ἄπιστον δὲ τὸ τῶν αὐτομολούντων καθʼ ἡμέραν διὰ τὸν λιμόν· ἔπειτα τοὺς μὲν διαχλευάζων, οἷς δʼ ἐνυβρίζων καὶ φονεύων κατεπλήττετο τοὺς πολλοὺς καὶ τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ συνεῖχε τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ᾗ μόλις ἂν χρήσαιτο τύραννος ἐν εὐτυχούσῃ πόλει, καὶ ἐν δεδυστυχηκυίᾳ πατρίδι. διὸ καὶ λίαν δοκῶ καλῶς ἡμῖν εἰρῆσθαι διότι προστάτας πραγμάτων ὁμοιοτέρους τῶν παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι τότε καὶ παρὰ τοῖς Καρχηδονίοις ὑπαρξάντων οὐκ ἂν εὕροι τις ῥᾳδίως. τοῦτο δʼ ἔσται δῆλον, ὅταν ἐκ παραθέσεως τὸν ὑπὲρ ἐκείνων ποιησώμεθα λόγον.
9. But the finishing stroke to this ruinous policy was given in the following manner. When Sextus and his colleagues arrived at Tegea, and invited the attendance of the Lacedaemonians, in order to arrange terms between them and the Achaeans, both as to the satisfaction to be given for previous complaints and for putting a stop to the war, until the Romans should send commissioners to review the whole question, Critolaus and his party, having held a conference, decided that all the rest should avoid the meeting, and that Critolaus should go alone to Tegea. When Sextus and his fellow-commissioners therefore had almost given them up, Critolaus arrived; and when the meeting with the Lacedaemonians took place, he would settle nothing,—alleging that he had no authority to make any arrangement without the consent of the people at large; but that he would bring the matter before the Achaeans at their next congress, which must be held six months from that time. Sextus and his fellow-commissioners, therefore, convinced of the ill disposition of Critolaus, and much annoyed at his conduct, dismissed the Lacedaemonians to their own country, and themselves returned to Italy with strong views as to the folly and infatuation of Critolaus. After their departure Critolaus spent the winter in visiting the cities and holding assemblies in them, on the pretext that he wished to inform them what he had said to the Lacedaemonians at Tegea, but in reality to denounce the Romans and to put an evil interpretation on everything they said; by which means he inspired the common people in the various cities with feelings of hostility and hatred for them. At the same time he sent round orders to the magistrates not to exact money from debtors, nor to receive prisoners arrested for debt, and to cause loans on pledge to be held over until the war was decided. By this kind of appeal to the interests of the vulgar everything he said was received with confidence; and the common people were ready to obey any order he gave, being incapable of taking thought for the future, but caught by the bait of immediate indulgence and relief.
9. ὅτι παραγενομένων ἐκ Πελοποννήσου τῶν περὶ τὸν Αὐρήλιον πρεσβευτῶν καὶ διασαφούντων τὰ συμβεβηκότα περὶ αὐτούς, ὅτι παρʼ ὀλίγον τοῖς ὅλοις ἐκινδύνευσαν, καὶ λεγόντων μετʼ αὐξήσεως καὶ καινολογίας· οὐ γὰρ ὡς κατὰ περιπέτειαν ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἥκοντος τοῦ δεινοῦ διεσάφουν, ἀλλʼ ὡς κατὰ πρόθεσιν ὡρμηκότων τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἐπὶ τὸ παραδειγματίζειν αὐτούς· ἡ σύγκλητος ἠγανάκτησεν μὲν ἐπὶ τοῖς γεγονόσιν ὡς οὐδέποτε καὶ παραχρῆμα πρεσβευτὰς κατεστήσατο τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἰούλιον, καὶ τούτους ἔπεμπε δοῦσα τοιαύτας ἐντολάς, διότι δεῖ μετρίως ἐπιτιμήσαντας καὶ μεμψαμένους ἐπὶ τοῖς γεγονόσι τὸ πλεῖον παρακαλεῖν καὶ διδάσκειν τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς μήτε τοῖς ἐπὶ τὰ χείριστα παρακαλοῦσι προσέχειν μήτʼ αὐτοὺς λαθεῖν εἰς τὴν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἀλλοτριότητα διεμπεσόντας, ἀλλʼ ἔτι καὶ νῦν ποιήσασθαί τινα διόρθωσιν τῶν ἠγνοημένων, ἀπερεισαμένους τὴν ἄγνοιαν ἐπὶ τοὺς αἰτίους τῆς ἁμαρτίας. ἐξ ὧν καὶ λίαν δῆλον ἐγένετο διότι καὶ τοῖς περὶ τὸν Αὐρήλιον ἔδωκε τὰς ἐντολὰς οὐ διασπάσαι βουλομένη τὸ ἔθνος, ἀλλὰ πτοῆσαι καὶ καταπλήξασθαι [βουλομένη] τὴν αὐθάδειαν καὶ τὴν ἀπέχθειαν τῶν Ἀχαιῶν. τινὲς μὲν οὖν ὑπελάμβανον καθʼ ὑπόκρισιν τοὺς Ῥωμαίους διὰ τὸ μένειν ἀτελῆ τὰ κατὰ Καρχηδόνα· τὸ δʼ ἀληθὲς οὐχ οὕτως εἶχεν, ἀλλʼ ἀποδεδεγμένοι τὸ ἔθνος ἐκ πολλοῦ χρόνου καὶ νομίζοντες ἔχειν αὐτὸ πιστὸν μάλιστα τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν, ἀνασοβῆσαι μὲν ἔκριναν διὰ τὸ φρονηματίζεσθαι πέρα τοῦ δέοντος, πόλεμον δʼ ἀναλαβεῖν ἢ διαφορὰν ὁλοσχερῆ πρὸς τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς οὐδαμῶς ἐβούλοντο. — ὅτι οἱ περὶ τὸν Σέξτον προάγοντες ἐκ τῆς Ῥώμης εἰς τὴν Πελοπόννησον ἀπήντησαν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Θεαρίδαν, οἵπερ ἦσαν πρεσβευταὶ πεμφθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν παραιτησόμενοι καὶ διδάξοντες τὴν σύγκλητον ὑπὲρ τῶν εἰς τοὺς περὶ τὸν Αὐρήλιον γενομένων ἀλογημάτων.
10. When Quintus Caecilius Metellus heard in Macedonia of the commotion and disturbance going on in the Peloponnese, he despatched thither his legates Gneaus Papirius and the younger Popilius Laenas, along with Aulus Gabinius and Gaius Fannius; who, happening to arrive when the congress was assembled at Corinth, were introduced to the assembly, and delivered a long and conciliatory speech, much in the spirit of that of Sextus Julius, exerting themselves with great zeal to prevent the Achaeans from proceeding to an open breach with Rome, either on the pretext of their grievance against the Lacedaemonians, or from any feeling of anger against the Romans themselves. But the assembled people would not hear them; insulting words were loudly uttered against the envoys, and in the midst of a storm of yells and tumult they were driven from the assembly. The fact was that such a crowd of workmen and artisans had been got together as had never been collected before; for all the cities were in a state of drivelling folly, and above all the Corinthians en masse; and there were only a very few who heartily approved of the words of the envoys. Critolaus, conceiving that he had attained his purpose, in the midst of an audience as excited and mad as himself began attacking the magistrates, abusing all who were opposed to him, and openly defying the Roman envoys, saying that he was desirous of being a friend of the Romans, but had no taste for them as his masters. And, finally, he tried to incite the people by saying that, if they quitted themselves like men, they would have no lack of allies; but, if they betrayed womanish fears, they would not want for masters. By many other such words to the same effect, conceived in the spirit of a charlatan and huckster, he roused and excited the populace. He attempted also to make it plan that he was not acting at random in these proceedings, but that some of the kings and republics were engaged in the same policy as himself.
10. οἷς καὶ συμμίξαντες οἱ προειρημένοι παρεκάλεσαν αὐτοὺς ἀνακάμπτειν εἰς τὴν Ἀχαΐαν, ὅτι περὶ πάντων τούτων ἔχουσιν ἐντολὰς αὐτοὶ διαλέγεσθαι τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς. παραγενομένων δὲ τῶν περὶ τὸν Σέξτον εἰς τὴν Πελοπόννησον καὶ διαλεγομένων τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς ἐν τῇ τῶν Αἰγιέων πόλει καὶ προφερομένων πολλοὺς καὶ φιλανθρώπους λόγους, καὶ τὸ περὶ τοὺς πρεσβευτὰς ἔγκλημα παραπεμπόντων καὶ σχεδὸν οὐδὲν προσδεόμενον δικαιολογίας, ἀλλὰ βέλτιον ἐκδεχομένων τὸ γεγονὸς αὐτῶν τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, καθόλου δὲ παρακαλούντων μὴ πορρωτέρω προβῆναι τῆς ἁμαρτίας μήτε τῆς εἰς αὑτοὺς μήτε τῆς εἰς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους, τὸ μὲν σωφρονοῦν μέρος ἀσμένως ἀπεδέχετο τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ λίαν ἐνετρέπετο, συνειδὸς αὑτῷ τὰ πεπραγμένα καὶ πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν λαμβάνον τὰ συμβαίνοντα τοῖς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἀντιταττομένοις, τὸ δὲ πλῆθος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀντιλέγειν μὲν οὐδὲν εἶχε τοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ τὸν Σέξτον λεγομένοις δικαίοις, ἀλλʼ ἦγε τὴν ἡσυχίαν, ἔμενε δὲ νοσοῦν καὶ διεφθαρμένον. οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Δίαιον καὶ Κριτόλαον καὶ πάντες οἱ μετέχοντες αὐτοῖς τῆς αὐτῆς γνώμης· οὗτοι δʼ ἦσαν ὥσπερ ἐπίτηδες ἐξ ἑκάστης πόλεως κατʼ ἐκλογὴν οἱ χείριστοι καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς ἐχθροὶ καὶ λυμαινόμενοι τὸ ἔθνος· καθάπερ ἡ παροιμία φησίν, οὐ μόνον τὰ διδόμενα τῇ δεξιᾷ παρὰ Ῥωμαίων ἐδέχοντο τῇ λαιᾷ χειρί, καθόλου δὲ καὶ συλλήβδην παρέπαιον τοῖς λογισμοῖς. ὑπέλαβον γὰρ τοὺς Ῥωμαίους διά τε τὰς ἐν τῇ Λιβύῃ καὶ τὰς κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν πράξεις δεδιότας τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν πόλεμον πᾶν ὑπομένειν καὶ πᾶσαν προΐεσθαι φωνήν. διὸ νομίσαντες ἴδιον τὸ παρὸν ἀπεκρίθησαν φιλανθρώπως τοῖς πρεσβευταῖς τοὺς μὲν περὶ τὸν Θεαρίδαν ὅμως ἀποστέλλειν εἰς τὴν σύγκλητον, αὐτοὶ δὲ παρακολουθήσαντες εἰς τὴν Τεγέαν καὶ κοινολογηθέντες τοῖς Λακεδαιμονίοις, ἵνα γένηταί τις ὡμολογημένη λύσις περὶ τοῦ πολέμου. ταῦτα δʼ ἀποκριθέντες ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς ἦγον ἐπὶ τὴν πάλαι προκειμένην αὐτοῖς ἄγνοιαν τὸ ταλαίπωρον ἔθνος. καὶ τοῦτʼ εἰκότως συνέβαινε γίνεσθαι διʼ ἀπειρίαν καὶ κακίαν τῶν κρατούντων.
11.
11. τὸ δὲ τέλος τῆς ἀπωλείας ἠνύσθη τοιῷδέ τινι τρόπῳ.
And when some of the Gerusia wished to check him, and restrain him from the use of such expressions, he ordered the soldiers surrounding him to retire, and stood up fronting his opponents, and bade any one of them come up to him, come near him, or venture to touch his chlamys. And, finally, he said that “He had restrained himself now for a long time; but would endure it no longer, and must speak his mind. The people to fear were not Lacedaemonians or Romans, but the traitors among themselves who co-operated with their foes: for there were some who cared more for Romans and Lacedaemonians than for their own country.”
παραγενομένων γὰρ εἰς τὴν Τεγέαν τῶν περὶ τὸν Σέξτον καὶ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ἐπισπασαμένων χάριν τοῦ σύμφωνον αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι πρὸς τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς τήν τε περὶ τῶν προγεγονότων ἐγκλημάτων δικαιοδοσίαν καὶ τὴν κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον ἐποχήν, ἕως ἂν πέμψωσι Ῥωμαῖοι τοὺς περὶ τῶν ὅλων ἐπισκεψομένους,
He added, as a confirmation of his words, that Evagoras of Aegium and Stratius of Tritaea betrayed to Gnaeus Papirius and his fellow-commissioners all the secret proceedings in the meetings of the magistrates.
συνεδρεύσαντες οἱ περὶ τὸν Κριτόλαον ἔκριναν τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους διακλῖναι τὴν ἀπάντησιν, τὸν δὲ Κριτόλαον προάγειν εἰς τὴν Τεγέαν.ὁ μὲν οὖν προειρημένος ἤδη σχεδὸν ἀπηλπικότων τῶν περὶ τὸν Σέξτον ἦλθε,
And when Stratius acknowledged that he had had interviews with those men, and should do so again, as they were friends and allies, but asserted that he had told them nothing of what was said in the meetings of the magistrates, some few believed him, but the majority accepted the accusation as true. And so Critolaus, having inflamed the people by his accusations against these men, induced the Achaeans once more to decree a war which was nominally against the Lacedaemonians, but in effect was against the Romans;
γενομένης δὲ συγκαταστάσεως πρὸς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους εἰς οὐδὲν συγκατέβαινεν, φήσας οὐκ ἔχειν ἐξουσίαν οὐδὲν οἰκονομεῖν ἄνευ τῆς τῶν πολλῶν γνώμης· ἐπανοίσειν δὲ τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς εἰς τὴν ἑξῆς ἔφη σύνοδον, ἣν ἔδει γενέσθαι μετὰ μῆνας ἕξ.
and he got another decree added, which was a violation of the constitution, namely, that whomsoever they should elect as Strategi should have absolute power in carrying on the war. He thus got for himself something like a despotism. Having carried these measures, he began intriguing to bring on an outbreak and cause an attack upon the Roman envoys. He had no pretext for doing this; but adopted a course which, of all possible courses, offends most flagrantly against the laws of gods and man.
διὸ σαφῶς ἐπιγνόντες οἱ περὶ τὸν Σέξτον ἐθελοκακοῦντα τὸν Κριτόλαον καὶ δυσχεραίνοντες ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀπαντωμένοις τοὺς μὲν Λακεδαιμονίους ἀπέλυσαν εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν, αὐτοὶ δʼ ἐπανῆγον εἰς τὴν Ἰταλίαν, κατεγνωκότες ἄγνοιαν καὶ μανίαν τοῦ Κριτολάου.
The envoys, however, separated; Gnaeus Papirius went to Athens and thence to Sparta to watch the turn of events; Aulus Gabinius went to Naupactus; and the other two remained at Athens, waiting for the arrival of Caecilius Metellus. This was the state of things in the Peloponnese... I AM fully aware that some will be found to criticise my work, on the ground that my narrative of events is incomplete and disconnected;
ὁ δὲ Κριτόλαος χωρισθέντων τούτων ἐπιπορευόμενος κατὰ τὸν χειμῶνα τὰς πόλεις ἐκκλησίας συνῆγε, προφάσει μὲν χρώμενος ὅτι βούλεται τὰ ῥηθέντα πρὸς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τῇ Τεγέᾳ διασαφεῖν αὐτοῖς,
beginning, for instance, the story of the siege of Carthage, and then leaving it half told, and interrupting the stream of my history, I pass over to Greek affairs, and from them to Macedonian or Syrian, or some other history;
τῇ δʼ ἀληθείᾳ κατηγορίαν ποιούμενος Ῥωμαίων καὶ πᾶν τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπʼ ἐκείνων ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἐκδεχόμενος,ἐξ ὧν δυσμένειαν καὶ μῖσος ἐνειργάζετο τοῖς ὄχλοις.
whereas students require continuity, and desire to hear the end of a subject; for the combination of pleasure and profit is thus more completely secured. But I do not think this: I hold exactly the reverse. And as a witness to the correctness of my opinion I might appeal to nature herself, who is never satisfied with the same things continuously in any of the senses, but is ever inclined to change;
ἅμα δὲ τούτοις παρήγγειλε τοῖς ἄρχουσι μὴ πράττειν τοὺς ὀφειλέτας μηδὲ παραδέχεσθαι τοὺς ἀπαγομένους εἰς φυλακὴν πρὸς τὰ χρέα, τοὺς δʼ ἐράνους ἐπιμόνους ποιεῖν, ἕως ἂν λάβῃ τὰ τοῦ πολέμου κρίσιν.
and, even if she is satisfied with the same things, wishes to have them at intervals and in diversity of circumstance. This may be illustrated first by the sense of hearing, which is never gratified either in music or recitations by a continuance of the same strains or subjects;
λοιπὸν ἐκ τῆς τοιαύτης δημαγωγίας πᾶν τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ πιστὸν ἐγίνετο, καὶ πρὸς πᾶν τὸ παραγγελλόμενον ἕτοιμον ἦν τὸ πλῆθος, περὶ μὲν τοῦ μέλλοντος ἀδυνατοῦν προνοεῖσθαι. τῇ δὲ παρʼ αὐτὰ χάριτι καὶ ῥᾳστώνῃ δελεαζόμενον.
it is the varied style, and, in a word, whatever is broken up into intervals and has the most marked and frequent changes, that gives it pleasurable excitement. Similarly one may notice that the palate can never remain gratified by the same meats, however costly, but grows to feel a loathing for them, and delights in changes of diet, and often prefers plain to rich food merely for the sake of variety. The same may be noticed as to the sight: it is quite incapable of remaining fixed on the same object, but it is a variety and change of objects that excites it.
ὁ δὲ Κόιντος ὁ Καικίλιος ἐν τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ τάδε πυνθανόμενος καὶ τὴν ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ γενομένην ἀκρισίαν καὶ ταραχὴν ἐξέπεμψε πρεσβευτὰς Γνάιον Παπείριον καὶ τὸν νεώτερον Ποπίλιον Λαινᾶτον, σὺν δὲ τούτοις Αὖλον Γαβίνιον καὶ Γάιον Φάννιον·
And this is more than all the case with the mind; for changes in the objects of attention and study act as rests to laborious men. Accordingly the most learned of the ancient historians have, as it seems to me, taken intervals of rest in this way: some by digressions on myths and tales, and others by digressions on historical facts,—not confining themselves to Greek history, but introducing disquisitions on points of foreign history as well.
οἳ καὶ συνηγμένων τῶν Ἀχαιῶν εἰς Κόρινθον, κατὰ τύχην ἐλθόντες εἰς τοῦτον τὸν καιρὸν καὶ παραχθέντες εἰς τὰ πλήθη διετίθεντο πολλοὺς οὗτοι καὶ φιλανθρώπους λόγους παραπλησίους τοῖς περὶ τὸν Σέξτον,
As, for instance, when, in the course of a history of Thessaly and the campaigns of Alexander of Pherae, they introduce an account of the attempts of the Lacedaemonians in the Peloponnese;
πᾶσαν ἐνδεικνύμενοι φιλοτιμίαν χάριν τοῦ μὴ προβῆναι τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς εἰς ὁλοσχερεστέραν ἀπέχθειαν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους μήτʼ ἐκ τῆς πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους προφάσεως μήτε διὰ τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐκείνους ἀλλοτριότητος.
or those made by the Athenians; or actions which took place in Macedonia or Illyria: and then break off into an account of the expedition of Iphicrates into Egypt, and the iniquitous deeds of Clearchus in the Pontus.
ὧν οἱ μὲν πολλοὶ διακούοντες οὐδαμῶς ἀνείχοντο, χλευάζοντες δὲ τοὺς πρέσβεις μετὰ θορύβου καὶ κραυγῆς ἐξέβαλον.
This will show you that these historians all employ this method; but, whereas they employ it without any system, I do so on a regular system.
καὶ γὰρ συνηθροίσθη πλῆθος ἐργαστηριακῶν καὶ βαναύσων ἀνθρώπων ὅσον οὐδέποτε· πᾶσαι μὲν γὰρ ἐκορύζων αἱ πόλεις, πανδημεὶ δὲ καὶ μάλιστά πως ἡ τῶν Κορινθίων.
For these men, after mentioning, for instance, that Bardylis, king of the Illyrians, and Cersobleptes, king of the Thracians, established their dynasties, neither go on continuously with the stories nor return to them after an interval to take them up where they left off, but, treating them like an episode in a poem, they go back to their original subject.
ὀλίγοις δέ τισι καὶ λίαν ἤρεσκε τὰ λεγόμενα διὰ τῶν πρεσβευτῶν.
But I made a careful division of all the most important countries in the world and the course of their several histories; pursued exactly the same plan in regard to the order of taking the several divisions;
ὁ δὲ Κριτόλαος, ὥσπερ κατʼ εὐχὴν ὑποθέσεως ἐπειλημμένος καὶ θεάτρου συνενθουσιῶντος καὶ παρεστηκότος ταῖς διανοίαις, κατανίστατο μὲν τῶν ἀρχόντων, διέσυρε δὲ τοὺς ἀντιπολιτευομένους, ἐνεπαρρησιάζετο δὲ τοῖς τῶν Ῥωμαίων πρεσβευταῖς,
and, moreover, arranged the history of each year in the respective countries, carefully keeping to the limits of the time: and the result is that I have made the transition backwards and forwards between my continuous narrative and the continually recurring interruptions easy and obvious to students, so that an attentive reader need never miss anything....
φάσκων βούλεσθαι μὲν Ῥωμαίων φίλος ὑπάρχειν, δεσπότας δʼ οὐκ ἂν εὐδοκῆσαι κτησάμενος. καθόλου δὲ παρῄνει,
Having got within the walls, while the Carthaginians still held out on the citadel, Scipio found that the arm of the sea which intervened was not at all deep;
λέγων ὡς, ἐὰν μὲν ἄνδρες ὦσιν, οὐκ ἀπορήσουσι συμμάχων, ἐὰν δʼ ἀνδρόγυνοι, κυρίων.καὶ πολλὰ δή τινα πρὸς ταύτην τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ἐμπορεύων καὶ μεθοδευόμενος ἐκίνει καὶ παρώξυνε τοὺς ὄχλους.
and upon Polybius advising him to set it with iron spikes or drive sharp wooden stakes into it, to prevent the enemy crossing it and attacking the mole, he said that, having taken the walls and got inside the city, it would be ridiculous to take measures to avoid fighting the enemy.... The pompous Hasdrubal threw himself on his knees before the Roman commander, quite forgetful of his proud language....
ἐποίει δʼ ἐμφάσεις καὶ περὶ τοῦ μὴ τυχόντως χρῆσθαι ταῖς ἐπιβολαῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν βασιλέων τινὰς καὶ τῶν πολιτευμάτων ἔνια κοινωνεῖν αὐτῷ τῆς
When the Carthaginian commander thus threw himself as a suppliant at Scipio’s knees, the proconsul with a glance at those present said: “See what Fortune is, gentlemen! What an example she makes of irrational men! This is the Hasdrubal who but the other day disdained the large favours which I offered him, and said that the most glorious funeral pyre was one’s country and its burning ruins.
προθέσεως. τῶν δὲ τῆς γερουσίας βουλομένων ἐπιλαμβάνεσθαι καὶ κωλύειν αὐτὸν τῶν τοιούτων λόγων, περισπασάμενος τοὺς στρατιώτας κατανίστατο, κελεύων προσελθεῖν, ἐγγίσαι, τολμῆσαί τινα μόνον ἅψασθαι τῆς χλαμύδος.
Now he comes with suppliant wreaths, beseeching us for bare life and resting all his hopes on us.
καθόλου δʼ ἔφη πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον παρακατεσχηκὼς αὑτὸν οὐκέτι δύνασθαι καρτερεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἐρεῖν τὸ φαινόμενον.
Who would not learn from such a spectacle that a mere man should never say or do anything presumptuous?” Then some of the deserters came to the edge of the roof and begged the front ranks of the assailants to hold their hands for a little;
δεῖν γὰρ οὐ Λακεδαιμονίους οὐδὲ Ῥωμαίους ἀγωνιᾶν οὕτως ὡς τοὺς ἐξ αὐτῶν συνεργοῦντας τοῖς ἐχθροῖς· εἶναι γάρ τινας τοὺς πλεῖον Ῥωμαίοις εὐνοοῦντας καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις ἢ τοῖς σφετέροις πράγμασιν.
and, on Scipio ordering a halt, they began abusing Hasdrubal, some for his perjury, declaring that he had sworn again and again on the altars that he would never abandon them, and others for his cowardice and utter baseness: and they did this in the most unsparing language, and with the bitterest terms of abuse.
καὶ τούτων πίστιν ἔφερεν· ἔφη γὰρ Εὐαγόραν τὸν Αἰγιέα καὶ τὸν Τριταιέα Στρατίον πάντα τὰ λεγόμενα διʼ ἀπορρήτων ἐν ταῖς συναρχίαις διασαφεῖν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Γνάιον.
And just at this moment Hasdrubal’s wife, seeing him seated in front of the enemy with Scipio, advanced in front of the deserters, dressed in noble and dignified attire herself, but holding in her hands, on either side, her two boys dressed only in short tunics and shielded under her own robes. First she addressed Hasdrubal by his name, and when he said nothing but remained with his head bowed to the ground, she began by calling on the name of the gods, and next thanked Scipio warmly because, as far as he could secure it, both she and her children were saved.
τοῦ δὲ Στρατίου συμμεμιχέναι μὲν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὁμολογοῦντος καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα συμμίξειν φάσκοντος φίλοις οὖσι καὶ συμμάχοις, ἀνηγγελκέναι δʼ ὁρκιζομένου μηδὲν τῶν ἐν ταῖς συναρχίαις εἰρημένων, ὀλίγοι μέν τινες ἐπίστευον, οἱ δὲ πλείους προσεδέχοντο τὰς διαβολάς.
And then, pausing for a short time, she asked Hasdrubal how he had had the heart to secure this favour from the Roman general for himself alone,... and, leaving his fellow-citizens who trusted in him in the most miserable plight, had gone over secretly to the enemy?
ὁ δὲ Κριτόλαος παροξύνας τοὺς ὄχλους διὰ τῆς τούτων κατηγορίας ἔπεισε τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς πάλιν ψηφίσασθαι λόγῳ μὲν τὸν πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους πόλεμον, ἔργῳ δὲ τὸν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους·