Αἰμίλιον δὲ Παῦλον, ὡς ἐξώρμησεν ἐπὶ στρατείαν, πλοῦ μὲν εὐτυχίᾳ καὶ ῥᾳστώνῃ χρήσασθαι πορείας κατὰ δαίμονα τίθημι, σὺν τάχει καὶ μετʼ ἀσφαλείας εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον κομισθέντα·
Now, that Aemilius Paulus, after setting out upon his campaign, had a fortunate voyage and an easy passage and came speedily and safely to the Roman camp, I attribute to the favour of Heaven;
τοῦ δὲ πολέμου καὶ τῆς στρατηγίας αὑτοῦ τὸ μὲν τόλμης ὀξύτητι, τὸ δὲ βουλεύμασι χρηστοῖς, τὸ δὲ φίλων ἐκθύμοις ὑπηρεσίαις, τὸ δὲ τῷ παρὰ τὰ δεινὰ θαρρεῖν καὶ χρῆσθαι λογισμοῖς ἀραρόσιν ὁρῶν διαπεπραγμένον, οὐκ ἔχω τῇ λεγομένῃ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς εὐτυχίᾳ λαμπρὸν ἀποδοῦναι καὶ διάσημον ἔργον οἷον ἑτέρων στρατηγῶν.
but when I see that the war under his command was brought to an end partly by his fierce courage, partly by his excellent plans, partly by the eager assistance of his friends, and partly by his resolute adoption of fitting conclusions in times of danger, I cannot assign his remarkable and brilliant success to his celebrated good fortune, as I can in the case of other generals.
εἰ μή τις ἄρα τὴν Περσέως φιλαργυρίαν Αἰμιλίῳ τύχην ἀγαθὴν περὶ τὰ πράγματα γενέσθαι φησίν, ἣ λαμπρὰ καὶ μεγάλα πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἀρθέντα ταῖς ἐλπίσι τὰ Μακεδόνων ἀνέτρεψε καὶ κατέβαλε, πρὸς ἀργύριον ἀποδειλιάσαντος.
Unless, indeed, it be said that the avaricious conduct of Perseus was good fortune for Aemilius, since it utterly subverted the great and brilliant prospects of the Macedonians for the war (wherein their hopes ran high), because Perseus played the coward with his money.
ἧκον μὲν γὰρ αὐτῷ δεηθέντι Βαστέρναι, μύριοι μὲν ἱππεῖς, μύριοι δὲ παραβάται, μισθοφόροι πάντες, ἄνδρες οὐ γεωργεῖν εἰδότες, οὐ πλεῖν, οὐκ ἀπὸ ποιμνίων ζῆν νέμοντες, ἀλλʼ ἓν ἔργον καὶ μίαν τέχνην μελετῶντες ἀεὶ μάχεσθαι καὶ κρατεῖν τῶν ἀντιταττομένων.
For there came to him from the Bisternae, at his request, ten thousand horsemen with ten thousand men to run at their sides, all professional soldiers, men who knew not how to plough or to sail the seas, who did not follow the life of herdsmen, but who were ever practising one business and one art, that of fighting and conquering their antagonists.
ὡς δὲ περὶ τὴν Μαιδικὴν καταστρατοπεδεύσαντες ἐπεμίγνυντο τοῖς παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἄνδρες ὑψηλοὶ μὲν τὰ σώματα, θαυμαστοὶ δὲ τὰς μελέτας, μεγάλαυχοι δὲ καὶ λαμπροὶ ταῖς κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων ἀπειλαῖς, θάρσος παρέστησαν τοῖς Μακεδόσι καὶ δόξαν ὡς τῶν Ῥωμαίων οὐχ ὑπομενούντων, ἀλλʼ ἐκπλαγησομένων τὴν ὄψιν αὐτὴν καὶ τὴν κίνησιν ἔκφυλον οὖσαν καὶ δυσπρόσοπτον.
And when these had encamped in Maedica and mingled with the soldiers of the king,—men of lofty stature, admirable in their discipline, great boasters, and loud in their threats against their enemies,—they inspired the Macedonians with courage and a belief that the Romans could not withstand them, but would be utterly terrified by their looks and movements, which were strange and repulsive.
οὕτω διαθεὶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὁ Περσεύς καὶ τοιούτων ἐμπλήσας ἐλπίδων, αἰτούμενος καθʼ ἕκαστον ἡγεμόνα χιλίους, πρὸς τὸ γιγνόμενον τοῦ χρυσίου πλῆθος ἰλιγγιάσας καὶ παραφρονήσας ὑπὸ μικρολογίας ἀπείπατο καὶ προήκατο τὴν συμμαχίαν, ὥσπερ οἰκονομῶν, οὐ πολεμῶν Ῥωμαίοις, καὶ λογισμὸν ἀποδώσων ἀκριβῆ τῆς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον δαπάνης οἷς ἐπολέμει·
But after Perseus had disposed the feelings of his men in this way and filled them with so great hopes, upon being asked to pay each captain of the mercenaries a thousand pieces, he was bewildered and crazed at the amount of gold required, and out of parsimony renounced and abandoned the alliance, as if he were a steward, rather than a foe, of the Romans, and was to give an exact account of his expenditures for the war to those against whom he waged it;
καίτοι διδασκάλους εἶχεν ἐκείνους, οἷς ἄνευ τῆς ἄλλης παρασκευῆς στρατιωτῶν δέκα μυριάδες ἦσαν ἠθροισμέναι καὶ παρεστῶσαι ταῖς χρείαις.
and yet he had his foes to give him lessons, for, apart from their other preparations, they had a hundred thousand men assembled and ready for their needs.
ὁ δὲ πρὸς δύναμιν ἀνταίρων τηλικαύτην καὶ πόλεμον οὗ τοσοῦτον ἦν τὸ παρατρεφόμενον, διεμέτρει καὶ παρεσημαίνετο τὸ χρυσίον, ἅψασθαι δεδιὼς ὥσπερ ἀλλοτρίων.
But he, though contending against so large a force, and in a war where such large reserves were maintained, measured out his gold and sealed it up in bags, as afraid to touch it as if it had belonged to others.
καὶ ταῦτʼ ἔπραττεν οὐ Λυδῶν τις οὐδὲ Φοινίκων γεγονώς, ἀλλὰ τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Φιλίππου κατὰ συγγένειαν ἀρετῆς μεταποιούμενος, οἳ τῷ τὰ πράγματα τῶν χρημάτων ὠνητά, μὴ τὰ χρήματα τῶν πραγμάτων ἡγεῖσθαι πάντων ἐκράτησαν.
And this he did although he was no Lydian or Phoenician born, but laid claim to a share in the virtues of Alexander and Philip, whose descendant he was,—men who mastered the world through their belief that empire was to be bought with money, not money with empire.
ἐρρέθη γοῦν ὅτι τὰς πόλεις αἱρεῖ τῶν Ἑλλήνων οὐ Φίλιππος, ἀλλὰ τὸ Φιλίππου χρυσίον.
At all events, it was a common saying that the cities of Greece were taken, not by Philip, but by Philip’s money.
Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ τῆς ἐπʼ Ἰνδοὺς στρατείας ἁπτόμενος, καὶ βαρὺν ὁρῶν καὶ δύσογκον ἤδη τὸν Περσικὸν ἐφελκομένους πλοῦτον τοὺς Μακεδόνας, πρώτας ὑπέπρησε τὰς βασιλικὰς ἁμάξας, εἶτα τοὺς ἄλλους ἔπεισε ταὐτὸ ποιήσαντας ἐλαφροὺς ἀναζεῦξαι πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ὥσπερ λελυμένους.
And Alexander, when he was starting on his expedition to India, and saw that his Macedonians were dragging along after them their Persian wealth, which was already burdensome and heavy, set fire to the royal baggage-waggons first, and then persuaded his followers to do the same with theirs, and to set out for the war in light marching order, like men released from bondage.
Περσεύς δὲ τὸν χρυσὸν αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ καὶ τέκνων καὶ βασιλείας καταχεάμενος οὐκ ἠθέλησε διʼ ὀλίγων σωθῆναι χρημάτων, ἀλλὰ μετὰ πολλῶν κομισθεὶς ὁ πλούσιος αἰχμάλωτος ἐπιδείξασθαι Ῥωμαίοις ὅσα φεισάμενος ἐτήρησεν αὐτοῖς.
But Perseus would not consent to pour out his gold upon himself, his children, and his kingdom, and thus purchase salvation with a small part of his treasures, but chose to be carried with many treasures as the wealthy captive, and to show the Romans how much he had saved and watched for them.
οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἀπέπεμψε τοὺς Γαλάτας ψευσάμενος, ἀλλὰ καὶ Γένθιον ἐπάρας τὸν Ἰλλυριὸν ἐπὶ τριακοσίοις ταλάντοις συνεφάψασθαι τοῦ πολέμου τὰ μὲν χρήματα τοῖς παρʼ αὐτοῦ πεμφθεῖσι προὔθηκεν ἠριθμημένα καὶ κατασημήνασθαι παρέσχεν·
For he not only sent away the Gauls after playing them false, but also, after inducing Genthius the Illyrian, on payment of three hundred talents, to assist him in the war, he showed to the king’s messengers the money all counted out, and suffered them to put their seals upon the bags;
ὡς δὲ πεισθεὶς ἔχειν ἃ ᾔτησεν ὁ Γένθιος ἔργον ἀσεβὲς καὶ δεινὸν ἔδρασε (πρέσβεις γὰρ ἐλθόντας Ῥωμαίων πρὸς αὐτὸν συνέλαβε καὶ κατέδησεν), ἡγούμενος ὁ Περσεὺς οὐδὲν ἔτι δεῖσθαι τῶν χρημάτων τὴν ἐκπολέμωσιν, ἄλυτα τοῦ Γενθίου προδεδωκότος ἔχθρας ἐνέχυρα καὶ διὰ τηλικαύτης ἀδικίας ἐμβεβληκότος ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον,
then, when Genthius, convinced that he had the price he had asked, committed a dreadful and impious deed, arresting and imprisoning a Roman embassy that had been sent to him, Perseus, thinking that the money was no longer needed to make Genthius an enemy of Rome, since before getting it he had given a lasting earnest of his hatred and had involved himself in the war by the great wrong which he had done,
ἀπεστέρησε τὸν κακοδαίμονα τῶν τριακοσίων ταλάντων, καὶ περιεῖδεν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ μετὰ τέκνων καὶ γυναικὸς ὡς ἀπὸ νεοττιᾶς ἀρθέντα τῆς βασιλείας ὑπὸ Λευκίου Ἀνικίου στρατηγοῦ πεμφθέντος ἐπʼ αὐτὸν μετὰ δυνάμεως.
deprived the poor wretch of the three hundred talents, and suffered him in a little while to be taken from his kingdom with his wife and children, as birds from their nest, by Lucius Anicius, a general sent against him with an army.
ἐπὶ τοιοῦτον ἀντίπαλον ἐλθὼν ὁ Αἰμίλιος αὐτοῦ μὲν κατεφρόνει, τὴν δʼ ὑπʼ αὐτῷ παρασκευὴν καὶ δύναμιν ἐθαύμαζεν. ἦσαν γὰρ ἱππεῖς μὲν τετρακισχίλιοι, πεζοὶ δʼ εἰς φάλαγγα τετρακισμυρίων οὐ πολλοῖς ἀποδέοντες.
Aemilius, coming against such an adversary, scorned him indeed, but admired his preparations and his army. For Perseus had four thousand horsemen, and not much fewer than forty thousand heavy-armed footmen.
ἱδρυμένος δὲ πρὸ τῆς θαλάττης παρὰ τὴν Ὀλυμπικὴν ὑπώρειαν ἐπὶ χωρίων οὐδαμόθεν προσαγωγὴν ἐχόντων καὶ πάντοθεν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ διαπεφραγμένων ἐρύμασι καὶ προτειχίσμασι ξυλίνοις πολλὴν ἄδειαν ἦγεν, ἀποτρύσειν χρόνῳ καὶ χρημάτων δαπάνῃ τὸν Αἰμίλιον ἡγούμενος.
And planting himself with the sea behind him, along the foot-hills of Mount Olympus, on ground which nowhere afforded an approach, and which had been fortified on all sides by him with bulwarks and outworks of wood, he lay in great security, thinking that by delay and expense he would wear out Aemilius.
ὁ δὲ τῇ γνώμῃ μὲν ἦν ἐνεργός ἐπὶ πᾶν βούλευμα καὶ πᾶσαν τρεπόμενος πεῖραν, ὑπʼ ἀδείας δὲ τῆς πρόσθεν τὸν στρατὸν ὁρῶν δυσανασχετοῦντα καὶ λόγῳ πολλὰ διαστρατηγοῦντα τῶν ἀπράκτων, ἐπετίμησεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ παρήγγειλε μηδὲν πολυπραγμονεῖν μηδὲ φροντίζειν, ἀλλʼ ἢ τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὴν πανοπλίαν ἕκαστον ὅπως ἐνεργὸν παρέξει καὶ χρήσεται Ῥωμαϊκῶς τῇ μαχαίρᾳ, τὸν καιρὸν παραδόντος τοῦ στρατηγοῦ.
But Aemilius was a man who clung to his purpose, and tested every plan and method of attack; seeing, however, that his army, by reason of their former license, was impatient of delay, and inclined to dictate to their general many impracticable things, he rebuked them, and instructed them to take no thought or concern for anything, except how each man might keep himself and his armour in readiness for action, and ply his sword in Roman fashion, when their general gave them the opportunity.
τὰς δὲ νυκτερινὰς ἐκέλευσε φυλακὰς ἄνευ λόγχης φυλάττειν, ὡς μᾶλλον προσέξοντας καὶ διαμαχουμένους πρὸς τὸν ὕπνον, ἂν ἀμύνασθαι τοὺς πολεμίους μὴ δύνωνται προσιόντας.
Furthermore, he ordered the night watchmen to keep watch without their spears, with the idea that they would be more on the alert and would struggle more successfully against sleep, if they were unable to defend themselves against their enemies when they approached.
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