Ἡ μη΄ τὰ περὶ Ῥώμου καὶ Ῥωμύλου διηγεῖται, παραλλάσσουσα πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους ἔν τισι. φησὶ δὲ ὡς Ἀμύλιος ἐπιβουλεύσας Νεμέτορα τὸν ἀδελφὸν κτείνει, καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ θυγατέρα Ἰλίαν, ἵνα μὴ τέκοι μηδ᾿ ἀνδρωθείη, τῆς Ἑστίας ἱέρειαν ἀπέφηνε. ταύτῃ μιχθεὶς Ἄρης, ἀπολυόμενος τῆς ὁμιλίας ὅσης τε ἦν ἐδήλωσε, καὶ ὅτι δύο κόρους τέξεται ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ χρὴ θαρρεῖν. ἀλλὰ τεκοῦσαν αὐτὴν μὲν Ἀμύλιος εἰς δεσμωτήριον ἔτρυχε βαλών, τινὶ δὲ ποιμένι τῶν αὐτῷ πιστῶν τὰ τεχθέντα διαφθεῖραι δίδωσιν. ὁ δὲ λαβὼν τὸ μὲν μίασμα χερσὶν ἰδίαις πρᾶξαι οὐ προσίετο, εἰς σκάφην δὲ μεθῆκε κατὰ τοῦ Θύβρεως φέρεσθαι. αὕτη δὲ μετὰ πολλὴν φορὰν περὶ προύχουσαν ἠόνα κατίσχεται ῥίζαις ἐρινεοῦ, ὃς μέγας ἐκεῖσε ἐπεφύκει. καὶ ἡ σκάφη ἐκεῖθεν τὰ παιδία πρὸς τὴν ἠόνα ἐκβάλλει ἐπὶ μαλακῆς καὶ ψαμμώδους γῆς.
48. Romulus and Remus
The forty-eighth tells the story of Remus and Romulus, differing from the others in some points. It says that Amulius, plotting against his brother Numitor, kills him, and made Numitor's daughter Ilia a priestess of Hestia, so that she should not bear children, or that none should grow to manhood [?]. Ares, having had intercourse with her, as he left her revealed what manner of being he was [?], and that she would bear two boys by him and should take courage. But after she had given birth, Amulius threw her into prison and kept her there to waste away, and gave the infants to one of his trusted shepherds to destroy. The man, on receiving them, could not bring himself to do the foul deed with his own hands, and instead put them into a trough to be carried down the Tiber. After long drifting, the trough was held fast by the roots of a wild fig tree at a jutting bank, where the tree had grown large. And from there the trough cast the infants onto the bank, on soft, sandy ground.
λύκος δὲ νεοτόκος ἐπιτυγχάνει τοῖς παιδίοις, καὶ ἀμφιβᾶσα κλαυθμυριζομένοις καὶ χεῖρας ὀρέγουσι παρεῖχε τὰς θηλάς· τὰ δ᾿ ἐτρέφετο βαρυνομένην ἀναπαύοντα ἐκ τῆς συντυχίας τὴν λύκον. Φαιστύλος δέ τις ποιμαίνων τοῦτο ἰδὼν καὶ θεῖον νομίσας, ἀναλαμβάνεται καὶ ὡς ἑαυτοῦ τρέφει τὰ παιδία. χρόνῳ δ᾿ ὕστερον περιτυγχάνει τῷ ἐκθεμένῳ ποιμένι, καὶ ἅπαντα παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ μαθὼν τὰ περὶ τῶν παίδων, ἀπαγγέλλει τούτοις ἡβήσασιν ἤδη, ὡς εἶεν βασιλείου τε γένους καὶ Ἄρεως γοναί, καὶ ὅσα ἡ μήτηρ καὶ ὁ μητροπάτωρ πάθοι. οἱ δέ (ἤστην γὰρ καλοί τε ὄψει καὶ ῥώμην ἄμαχοι καὶ τόλμῃ γενναῖοι) αὐτίκα ἐγχειρίδια ἀναλαβόμενοι καὶ κρύψαντες ἐπὶ τὴν Ἄλβαν ἐχώρουν, καὶ ἐπιτυχόντες Ἀμυλίῳ διὰ τὸ ἀπροσδόκητον τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς ἀφυλάκτῳ ἐπάγουσι τὴν τιμωρίαν, ξίφεσιν ἀνελόντες, καὶ τὴν μητέρα λύουσι τῶν δεσμῶν, τό τε πλῆθος δεξιοῦνται, καὶ βασιλεύουσιν Ἄλβας καὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτήν.
A she-wolf that had lately given birth comes upon the infants, and, standing over them as they wailed and held out their hands, offered them her teats; and they were nourished, relieving the wolf, who was heavy with milk, by this chance meeting [?]. A certain Faustulus, a shepherd, seeing this and thinking it divine, takes them up and raises the children as his own. Some time later he happens to meet the shepherd who had exposed them, and, learning everything from him about the children, reports to them, now grown, that they were of royal race and the offspring of Ares, and all that their mother and her father had suffered. They (for they were handsome to look at, unmatched in strength and noble in daring) at once took up daggers, hid them, and went to Alba, and, coming upon Amulius off his guard, because the plot was so unexpected, bring punishment upon him, killing him with swords; and they free their mother from her bonds, and win over the people, and rule Alba and the country around it.
πολλοῦ δὲ αὐτοῖς προσερρυηκότος πλήθους μεταστάντες Ἄλβας κτίζουσι πόλιν, Ῥώμην ἐπονομάσαντες, ἣ νῦν ὡς εἰπεῖν τὸ ἀνθρώπων ἔχει κράτος. δείκνυται δὲ μαρτύρια τῶν τότε παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἐρινεὸς ἱερά, τοῦ βουλευτηρίου κιγκλίσι χαλκαῖς περιειργομένη, καὶ καλύβη τις ἐν τῷ τοῦ Διὸς ἱερῷ γνώρισμα τῆς Φαιστύλου διαίτης, ἣν ἐκ φορυτῶν καὶ νέων φρυγάνων συνιστῶντες διασῴζουσιν.
When a large number of people had flocked to them, they left Alba and found a city, calling it Rome, which now, one may say, holds the rule over mankind. As evidence of the events of that time there is shown among the Romans, in the forum, a sacred wild fig tree, fenced about by bronze railings in front of the council-house [?], and in the temple of Zeus a hut, a token of the way of life of Faustulus, which they preserve by building it up from brushwood and fresh twigs.
Ἡ μθ΄, ὡς ἐν Ἀνάφῃ τῇ νήσῳ (αὕτη δ᾿ ἐστὶν ὑπὲρ νήσου Θήρας, οὐχ ἐκὰς τῆς Λακεδαιμονίων) ἱερὸν Ἀπόλλωνος Αἰγλήτου ἵδρυται, ἐν ᾧ σὺν τωθασμῷ οἱ ἐπιχώριοι θύουσι δι᾿ αἰτίαν τοιαύτην. ὅτε Ἰάσων ἐκ Κόλχων Μήδειαν ἁρπάσας οἴκαδ᾿ ἔπλει, χειμὼν αὐτοῖς ἄφατος περιέσχε καὶ ἀμηχανία πᾶσα· εὐχομένων δὲ καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀργοῖ δεομένων Ἀπόλλων, τόξον αὐτῶν ὑπερανασχών, τὰ δεινὰ διέλυσεν ἅπαντα, καὶ σέλατος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ διαίσσοντος νῆσον ἀνέσχεν ἡ γῆ ἐκ τοῦ βυθοῦ, εἰς ἣν ὁρμισάμενοι, ὡς πρῶτον ὀφθεῖσαν ὑφ᾿ ἡλίου τότε, Ἀνάφην ἀπὸ τῆς συντυχίας ἐκάλεσαν, καὶ ἱερὸν Ἀπόλλωνος Αἰγλήτου ἱδρύσαντο, καὶ εὐφραίνοντο τῆς ἀνελπίστου τῶν κακῶν ἀπαλλαγῆς καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις εὐωχίαις. Μήδεια δὲ σὺν ταῖς ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὴν γυναιξίν, αἳ δῶρον ἦσαν γάμων τῶν Ἰάσονος, παίζουσαι μετὰ μέθην ἔσκωπτον τοὺς ἥρωας ἐν τῇ παννυχίδι· οἱ δὲ ἀντετώθαζον τὰς γυναῖκας. ἐκ τούτου τοιγαροῦν καὶ Ἀνάφης ὁ λαὸς (ᾠκίσθη γὰρ ἡ νῆσος) ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος Ἀπόλλωνι Αἰγλήτῳ κερτομοῦντες ἀλλήλους ἑορτὴν κατὰ μίμησιν ἐκείνων ἄγουσιν.
49. Anaphe
The forty-ninth: how in the island of Anaphe (it lies beyond the island of Thera, not far from the Lacedaemonians' territory) a sanctuary of Apollo Aegletes is founded, in which the people of the place sacrifice with mockery, for the following reason. When Jason, having carried off Medea from Colchis, was sailing home, a terrible storm and utter helplessness beset them; and as they prayed, and many of those in the Argo besought Apollo, he, holding his bow above them, dissolved all the dangers, and, as a flash shot from the sky, the earth raised an island up from the deep; they put in at it, and, since it was then first seen by the sun, named it Anaphe from the event, and founded a sanctuary of Apollo Aegletes, and rejoiced at the unhoped-for release from their troubles and in the other feasting. And Medea, with the women around her, who were a gift at Jason's marriage, playing after drink, mocked the heroes in the night-long festival; and they bantered back at the women. From this, then, the people of Anaphe (for the island was settled) every year, for Apollo Aegletes, taunt one another and keep a festival in imitation of those events.
Ἡ ν΄, ὡς Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν τύραννον Θήβη ἀναιρεῖ ἡ αὐτοῦ γυνή. αὕτη δ᾿ ἦν Ἰάσονος μὲν θυγάτηρ, τοῦ ποτὲ Θεσσαλίας τυραννήσαντος, ἀδελφοὺς δ᾿ εἶχε τρεῖς, Τισίφονον καὶ Λυκόφρονα καὶ Πυθόλαον· ὁμομήτριοι δ᾿ ἦσαν, πατὴρ δ᾿ αὐτῶν Εὐάλκης ἦν. τούτους Ἀλέξανδρος οὗτος ὁ Φερῶν δι᾿ ὑποψίας ἔχων ἐμελέτα ἀνελεῖν· εἰδὼς δ᾿ ὡς οὐκ ἀνάσχοιτο Θήβη περιιδεῖν τοὺς ὁμομητρίους ἀναιρουμένους ἀδελφούς, καὶ αὐτὴν ἐπενόει συνανελεῖν. καὶ νήφων μὲν ἔκρυπτε τὸ βούλευμα, μεθύων δὲ (ἦν γὰρ ἥττων οἴνου) παρεγύμνου τε καὶ ἀπεκάλυπτε. Θήβη δὲ τὸ βούλευμα μαθοῦσα, τοῖς μὲν ἀδελφοῖς ἐγχειρίδια δοῦσα παρασκευάζεσθαι πρὸς τὴν σφαγὴν παρεκάλει, οἴνῳ δὲ πολλῷ Ἀλέξανδρον βαπτίσασα καὶ κατευνάσασα ἐκπέμπει τοὺς τοῦ θαλάμου φύλακας, προφάσει ὡς λουτροῖς χρησομένη, καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ ἔργον ἐκάλει.
50. Thebe
The fiftieth: how Thebe, his wife, kills Alexander the tyrant. She was the daughter of Jason, who was at one time tyrant of Thessaly, and had three brothers, Tisiphonus, Lycophron and Pytholaus; they were of the same mother, and their father was Eualces. This Alexander of Pherae, who held them in suspicion, was planning to kill them; and, knowing that Thebe would not bear to look on while her brothers by the same mother were put to death, he thought of killing her too. When sober he kept his plan secret, but when drunk (for he was a slave to wine) he exposed and revealed it. Thebe, learning of the plan, gave daggers to her brothers and urged them to prepare for the slaughter; and, having drenched Alexander with much wine and put him to sleep, she sends away the guards of the bedchamber, on the pretext that she was going to bathe, and called her brothers to the deed.
οἱ δὲ ἀπεδειλίων, καὶ μάλιστα αὐτῶν ὁ νεώτατος. ἡ δὲ ἄλλα τε διαπειλησαμένη, καὶ ὡς τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον αὐτίκα ἀνεγερεῖ καὶ καταγορεύσει αὐτῶν τὸν φόνον, θαρρεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐβιάσατο· καὶ κτείνουσι κοιμώμενον τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον. Θήβη δὲ τοὺς ἡγεμόνας τῶν φυλάκων εἰσκαλεσαμένη, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀπειλαῖς τὰ δ᾿ ἐπαγγελίαις ὑπελθοῦσα, πείθει συγκατασκευάζειν αὐτῇ τὴν τυραννίδα. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐπέτρεπον· καὶ αὐτὴ τὴν μὲν ἰσχὺν δέχεται, τοὔνομα δὲ καὶ τὴν δόξαν τῆς τυραννίδος Τισιφόνῳ τῷ πρεσβυτάτῳ τῶν ἀδελφῶν δίδωσι.
They shrank back, above all the youngest. She, among other threats, and saying that she would at once wake Alexander and denounce their murder, forced them to take courage; and they kill Alexander in his sleep. Thebe, calling together the commanders of the guards, and working on them partly with threats, partly with promises, persuades them to help her establish the tyranny. They agreed; and she herself takes the power, while the name and the reputation of the tyranny she gives to Tisiphonus, the eldest of her brothers.
Ταῦτα μὲν τῶν Κόνωνος ν΄ διηγήσεων. Ἀττικὸς δὲ τὴν φράσιν ἐστί, ταῖς τε συνθήκαις καὶ ταῖς λέξεσι χαρίεις τε καὶ ἐπαφρόδιτος, ἔχων τι καὶ τοῦ συνεστραμμένου καὶ ἀναχεχωρηκότος τοῖς πολλοῖς.
Photius on Conon's style
These are the fifty narrations of Conon. He is Attic in diction, graceful and charming in the arrangement of his words and in his vocabulary, having something of the compact and of what is remote from the many.
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