συστάντος δὲ τοῦ πρὸς Ἀντίοχον τὸν μέγαν πολέμου τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις, καὶ τῶν ἡγεμονικωτάτων ἀνδρῶν τετραμμένων πρὸς ἐκεῖνον, ἄλλος ἀπὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας ἀνέστη πόλεμος, ἐν Ἰβηρίᾳ, κινημάτων μεγάλων γενομένων.
After the Romans had gone to war with Antiochus the Great, and while their most experienced commanders were employed against him, another war arose in the West, and there were great commotions in Spain.
ἐπὶ τοῦτον ὁ Αἰμίλιος ἐξεπέμφθη στρατηγός, οὐχ ἓξ ἔχων πελέκεις, ὅσους ἔχουσιν οἱ στρατηγοῦντες, ἀλλὰ προσλαβὼν ἑτέρους τοσούτους, ὥστε τῆς ἀρχῆς ὑπατικὸν γενέσθαι τὸ ἀξίωμα,
For this war Aemilius was sent out as praetor, not with the six lictors which praetors usually have, but adding other six to that number, so that his office had a consular dignity.
μάχῃ μὲν οὖν δὶς ἐκ παρατάξεως ἐνίκησε τοὺς βαρβάρους, περὶ τρισμυρίους ἀνελών, καὶ δοκεῖ τὸ κατόρθωμα τῆς στρατηγίας περιφανῶς γενέσθαι, χωρίων εὐφυΐᾳ καὶ ποταμοῦ τινος διαβάσει ῥᾳστώνην παρασχόντος αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸ νίκημα τοῖς στρατιώταις· πόλεις δὲ πεντήκοντα καὶ διακοσίας ἐχειρώσατο δεξαμένας αὐτὸν ἑκουσίως,
Well, then, he defeated the Barbarians in two pitched battles, and slew about thirty thousand of them; and it would seem that his success was conspicuously due to his generalship, since by choosing favourable ground and by crossing a certain river he made victory easy for his soldiers; moreover, he made himself master of two hundred and fifty cities, which yielded to him of their own accord.
εἰρήνῃ δὲ καὶ πίστει συνηρμοσμένην ἀπολιπὼν τὴν ἐπαρχίαν εἰς Ῥώμην ἐπανῆλθεν, οὐδὲ δραχμῇ μιᾷ γεγονὼς εὐπορώτερος ἀπὸ τῆς στρατείας.
He left the province in peace and bound by pledges of fidelity, and came back to Rome, nor was he richer by a single drachma from his expedition.
ἦν δὲ καὶ περὶ τἆλλα χρηματιστὴς ἀργότερος, εὐδάπανος δὲ καὶ ἀφειδὴς ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων, οὐ πολλὰ δʼ ἦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ φερνῆς ὀφειλομένης τῇ γυναικὶ μετὰ τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ γλίσχρως ἐξήρκεσεν.
And, indeed, in all other ways he was a rather indifferent money-maker, and spent generously and without stint of his substance. But this was not large; indeed, after his death it barely sufficed to meet the dowry due to his wife.
ἔγημε δὲ Παπιρίαν, ἀνδρὸς ὑπατικοῦ Μάσωνος θυγατέρα, καὶ χρόνον συνοικήσας πολὺν ἀφῆκε τὸν γάμον, καίπερ ἐξ αὐτῆς καλλιτεκνότατος γενόμενος· αὕτη γὰρ ἦν ἡ τὸν κλεινότατον αὐτῷ Σκηπίωνα τεκοῦσα καὶ Μάξιμον Φάβιον.
He married Papiria, a daughter of Maso, who was a man of consular dignity, and after he had lived with her a long time he divorced her, although she had made him father of most glorious sons; for she it was who bore him that most illustrious Scipio, and Fabius Maximus.
αἰτία δὲ γεγραμμένη τῆς διαστάσεως οὐκ ἦλθεν εἰς ἡμᾶς, ἀλλʼ ἔοικεν ἀληθής τις εἶναι λόγος περὶ γάμου λύσεως γενόμενος, ὡς ἀνὴρ Ῥωμαῖος ἀπεπέμπετο γυναῖκα, τῶν δὲ φίλων νουθετούντων αὐτόν, οὐχὶ σώφρων; οὐκ εὔμορφος; οὐχὶ παιδοποιός; προτείνας τὸ ὑπόδημα (κάλτιον αὐτὸ Ῥωμαῖοι καλοῦσιν) εἶπεν·
No documentary grounds for the divorce have come down to us, but there would seem to be some truth in a story told about divorce, which runs as follows. A Roman once divorced his wife, and when his friends admonished him, saying:
οὐκ εὐπρεπὴς οὗτος; οὐ νεουργής; ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἂν εἰδείη τις ὑμῶν καθʼ ὅ τι θλίβεται μέρος οὑμὸς πούς.
Is she not discreet? is she not beautiful? is she not fruitful? he held out his shoe (the Romans call it calceus), saying: Is this not handsome? is it not new? but no one of you can tell me where it pinches my foot?
τῷ γὰρ ὄντι μεγάλαι μὲν ἁμαρτίαι καὶ ἀναπεπταμέναι γυναῖκας ἀνδρῶν ἄλλας ἀπήλλαξαν, τὰ δʼ ἔκ τινος ἀηδίας καὶ δυσαρμοστίας ἠθῶν μικρὰ καὶ πυκνὰ προσκρούσματα, λανθάνοντα τοὺς ἄλλους, ἀπεργάζεται τὰς ἀνηκέστους ἐν ταῖς συμβιώσεσιν ἀλλοτριότητας.
For, as a matter of fact, it is great and notorious faults that separate many wives from their husbands; but the slight and frequent frictions arising from some unpleasantness or incongruity of characters, unnoticed as they may be by everybody else, also produce incurable alienations in those whose lives are linked together.
ὁ δὲ οὖν Αἰμίλιος ἀπαλλαγεὶς τῆς Παπιρίας ἑτέραν ἠγάγετο· καὶ δύο παῖδας ἄρρενας τεκούσης τούτους μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας εἶχε, τοὺς δὲ προτέρους εἰσεποίησεν οἴκοις τοῖς μεγίστοις καὶ γένεσι τοῖς ἐπιφανεστάτοις, τὸν μὲν πρεσβύτερον τῷ Μαξίμου Φαβίου τοῦ πεντάκις ὑπατεύσαντος, τὸν δὲ νεώτερον Ἀφρικανοῦ Σκηπίωνος υἱὸς ἀνεψιὸν ὄντα θέμενος Σκηπίωνα προσηγόρευσε.
So then Aemilius, having divorced Papiria, took another wife; and when she had borne him two sons he kept these at home, but the sons of his former wife he introduced into the greatest houses and the most illustrious families, the elder into that of Fabius Maximus, who was five times consul, while the younger was adopted by the son of Scipio Africanus, his cousin-german, who gave him the name of Scipio.
τῶν δὲ θυγατέρων τῶν Αἰμιλίου τὴν μὲν ὁ Κάτωνος υἱὸς ἔγημε, τὴν δὲ Αἴλιος Τουβέρων, ἀνὴρ ἄριστος καὶ μεγαλοπρεπέστατα Ῥωμαίων πενίᾳ χρησάμενος. ἦσαν γὰρ ἑκκαίδεκα συγγενεῖς, Αἴλιοι πάντες·
Of the daughters of Aemilius, one became the wife of the son of Cato, and the other of Aelius Tubero, a man of the greatest excellence, and one who, more than any other Roman, combined the greatest dignity with poverty. For there were sixteen members of the family, all Aelii;
οἰκίδιον δὲ πάνυ μικρὸν ἦν αὐτοῖς, καὶ χωρίδιον ἓν ἤρκει πᾶσι, μίαν ἑστίαν νέμουσι μετὰ παίδων πολλῶν καὶ γυναικῶν,
and they had a very little house, and one little farm sufficed for all, where they maintained one home together with many wives and children.
ἐν αἷς καὶ ἡ Αἰμιλίου τοῦδε θυγάτηρ ἦν δὶς ὑπατεύσαντος καὶ δὶς θριαμβεύσαντος, οὐκ αἰσχυνομένη τὴν πενίαν τοῦ ἀνδρός, ἀλλὰ θαυμάζουσα τὴν ἀρετὴν διʼ ἣν πένης ἦν.
Among these wives lived also the daughter of that Aemilius who had twice been consul and twice had celebrated a triumph, and she was not ashamed of her husband’s poverty, but admired the virtue that kept him poor.
οἱ δὲ νῦν ἀδελφοὶ καὶ συγγενεῖς, ἂν μὴ κλίμασι καὶ ποταμοῖς καὶ διατειχίσμασιν ὁρίσωσι τὰ κοινά καὶ πολλὴν εὐρυχωρίαν ἒν μέσῳ λάβωσιν ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων, οὐ παύονται διαφερόμενοι.
Brethren and kinsmen of the present day, however, unless zones and rivers and walls divide their inheritances and wide tracts of land separate them from one another, are continually quarrelling.
ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἡ ἱστορία λογίζεσθαι καὶ παρεπισκοπεῖν δίδωσι τοῖς σῴζεσθαι βουλομένοις.
These, then, are considerations and examples which history presents to those who are willing to profit by them.
ὁ δὲ Αἰμίλιος ὕπατος ἀποδειχθεὶς ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ τοὺς παραλπίους Λίγυας, οὓς ἔνιοι καί Λιγυστίνους ὀνομάζουσι, μάχιμον καί θυμοειδὲς ἔθνος, ἐμπείρως δὲ πολεμεῖν διδασκόμενον ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων διὰ τὴν γειτνίασιν.
Aemilius, then, having been appointed consul, made an expedition against the Ligurians along the Alps, whom some call also Ligustines, a warlike and spirited folk, and one whose proximity to the Romans was teaching it skill in war.
τὰ γὰρ ἔσχατα τῆς Ἰταλίας καί καταλήγοντα πρὸς τάς Ἄλπεις αὐτῶν τε τῶν Ἄλπεων τὰ κλυζόμενα τῷ Τυρρηνικῷ πελάγει καί πρὸς τὴν Λιβύην ἀνταίροντα νέμονται, μεμιγμένοι Γαλάταις καί τοῖς παραλίοις Ἰβήρων.
For they occupy the extremities of Italy that are bounded by the Alps, and those parts of the Alps themselves that are washed by the Tuscan sea and face Africa, and they are mingled with Gauls and the Iberians of the coast.
τότε δὲ καί τῆς θαλάττης ἁψάμενοι σκάφεσι πειρατικοῖς ἀφῃροῦντο καί περιέκοπτον τάς ἐμπορίας, ἄχρι στηλῶν Ἡρακλείων ἀναπλέοντες.
At that time they had also laid hold of the sea with piratical craft, and were robbing and destroying merchandise, sailing out as far as the pillars of Hercules.
ἐπιόντος οὖν τοῦ Αἰμιλίου τετρακισμύριοι γενόμενοι τὸ πλῆθος ὑπέστησαν ὁ δὲ τοὺς σύμπαντας ὀκτακισχιλίους ἔχων πενταπλασίοις οὖσιν αὐτοῖς συνέβαλε, καί τρεψάμενος καί κατακλείσας εἰς τὰ τείχη διέδωκε λόγον φιλάνθρωπον καί συμβατικόν·
Accordingly, when Aemilius came against them, they withstood him with a force of forty thousand men; but he, with eight thousand men all told, engaged their fivefold numbers, and after routing them and shutting them up in their walled towns, gave them humane and conciliatory terms;
οὐ γὰρ ἦν βουλομένοις τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις παντάπασιν ἐκκόψαι τὸ Λιγύων ἔθνος, ὥσπερ ἕρκος ἢ πρόβολον ἐμποδὼν κείμενον τοῖς Γαλατικοῖς κινήμασιν ἐπαιωρουμένοις ἀεὶ περὶ τὴν Ἰταλίαν.
for it was not the wish of the Romans to extirpate altogether the Ligurian nation, since it lay like a barrier or bulwark against the movements of the Gauls, who were always threatening to descend upon Italy.
πιστεύσαντες οὖν τῷ Αἰμιλίῳ τάς τε ναῦς καί τάς πόλεις ἐνεχείρισαν. ὁ δὲ τάς μὲν πόλεις οὐδὲν ἀδικήσας ἢ μόνον τὰ τείχη περιελών ἀπέδωκε, τάς δὲ ναῦς ἁπάσας ἀφείλετο, καί πλοῖον οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς τρισκάλμου μεῖζον ἀπέλιπε·
Accordingly, putting faith in Aemilius, they delivered their ships and cities into his hands. Their cities he restored to them, either doing them no harm at all, or simply razing their walls; but he took away all their ships, and left them no boat that carried more than three oars;
τοὺς δὲ ἡλωκότας ὑπʼ αὐτῶν κατὰ γῆν ἢ κατὰ θάλατταν ἀνεσώσατο πολλοὺς καί ξένους καὶ Ῥωμαίους εὑρεθέντας. ἐκείνη μὲν οὖν ἡ ὑπατεία τάς εἰρημένας πράξεις ἐπιφανεῖς ἔσχεν.
he also restored to safety those whom they had taken captive by land or sea, and these were found to be many, both Romans and foreigners. Such, then, were the conspicuous achievements of this first consulship.
ὕστερον δὲ πολλάκις ποιήσας φανερὸν αὑτὸν αὖθις ὑπατεῦσαι βουλόμενον καί ποτε καί παραγγείλας, ὡς ἀπέτυχε καί παρώφθη, τὸ λοιπὸν ἡσυχίαν εἶχε, τῶν ἱερῶν ἐπιμελούμενος καί τοὺς παῖδας ἀσκῶν τὴν μὲν ἐπιχώριον παιδείαν καί πάτριον ὥσπερ αὐτὸς ἤσκητο, τὴν δὲ Ἑλληνικὴν φιλοτιμότερον.
Afterwards he often made it clear that he was desirous of a second consulship, and once actually announced his candidacy, but when he was passed by and not elected, he made no further efforts to obtain the office, giving his attention to his duties as augur, and training his sons, not only in the native and ancestral discipline in which he himself had been trained, but also, and with greater ardour, in that of the Greeks.
οὐ γὰρ μόνον γραμματικοὶ καί σοφισταὶ καί ῥήτορες, ἀλλὰ καί πλάσται καί ζωγράφοι καί πώλων καί σκυλάκων ἐπιστάται καί διδάσκαλοι θήρας Ἕλληνες ἦσαν περὶ τοὺς νεανίσκους.
For not only the grammarians and philosophers and rhetoricians, but also the modellers and painters, the overseers of horses and dogs, and the teachers of the art of hunting, by whom the young men were surrounded, were Greeks.
ὁ δὲ πατήρ, εἰ μή τι δημόσιον ἐμποδὼν εἴη, παρῆν ἀεὶ μελετῶσι καί γυμναζομένοις, φιλοτεκνότατος Ῥωμαίων γενόμενος.
And the father, unless some public business prevented, would always be present at their studies and exercises, for he was now become the fondest parent in Rome.
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