μετὰ δὲ τὴν μάχην δῶρα κάλλιστα μὲν ἐξέπεμψε καὶ μέγιστα τῷ Ἀρταγέρσου παιδὶ τοῦ πεσόντος ὑπὸ Κύρου, καλῶς δὲ καὶ Κτησίαν καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐτίμησε. τὸν δὲ Καύνιον ἐκεῖνον ἐξ ἐξανευρών, ὃς ἐπέδωκε τὸ ἀσκίον, ἐξ ἀδόξου καὶ πένητος ἔντιμον καὶ πλούσιον ἐποίησεν· ἦν δέ τις ἐπιμέλεια καὶ περὶ τὰς τῶν ἐξαμαρτόντων δικαιώσεις.
After the battle, the king sent the largest and most beautiful gifts to the son of that Artagerses who fell at the hands of Cyrus; he also gave generous rewards to Ctesias and others, and when he had found out the Caunian who had given him the skin of water, he raised him from obscurity and poverty to honour and wealth. There was much watchful care also in his punishment of those who had gone wrong.
Ἀρβάκην μὲν γάρ τινα Μῆδον ἐν τῇ μάχῃ πρὸς Κῦρον φυγόντα καὶ πάλιν ἐκείνου πεσόντος μεταστάντα, δειλίαν καὶ μαλακίαν καταγνούς, οὐ προδοσίαν οὐδὲ κακόνοιαν, ἐκέλευσε γυμνὴν ἀναλαβόντα πόρνην περιβάδην ἐπὶ τοῦ τραχήλου διʼ ἡμέρας ὅλης ἐν ἀγορᾷ περιφέρειν· ἑτέρου δὲ πρὸς τῷ μεταστῆναι ψευσαμένου καταβαλεῖν δύο τῶν πολεμίων, προσέταξε διαπεῖραι τρισὶ βελόναις τὴν γλῶτταν.
For example, in the case of Arbaces, a Mede, who had run away to Cyrus during the battle, and, when Cyrus fell, had changed back again, the king pronounced him guilty, not of treachery, nor even of malice, but of cowardice and weakness, and ordered him to take a naked harlot astride his neck and carry her about in the market-place for a whole day. And in the case of another man, who, besides going over to the enemy, had lyingly boasted that he had slain two of them, the king ordered that his tongue should be pierced with three needles.
οἰόμενος δὲ καὶ βουλόμενος δοκεῖν καὶ λέγειν πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὡς αὐτὸς ἀπεκτόνοι Κῦρον, Μιθριδάτῃ τε τῷ βαλόντι πρώτῳ Κῦρον ἐξέπεμψε δῶρα καὶ λέγειν ἐκέλευσε τοὺς διδόντας ὡς τούτοις σε τιμᾷ ὁ βασιλεύς ὅτι τὸν ἐφίππειον Κύρου πῖλον εὑρὼν ἀνήνεγκας· τοῦ δὲ Καρός, ὑφʼ οὗ τὴν ἰγνύαν πληγεὶς ὁ Κῦρος ἔπεσε, καὶ αὐτοῦ δωρεὰν αἰτοῦντος, ἐκέλευσεν εἰπεῖν τοὺς διδόντας ὅτι σοὶ ταῦτα δίδωσιν βασιλεύς εὐαγγελίων δευτερεῖα πρῶτος γὰρ Ἀρτασύρας, μετʼ ἐκεῖνον δὲ σύ τὴν Κύρου τελευτὴν ἀπήγγειλας.
Moreover, believing, and wishing all men to think, and say, that he had killed Cyrus with his own hand, he sent gifts to Mithridates, the one who first hit Cyrus, and ordered the bearers of the gifts to say: This is thy reward from the king because thou didst find and bring to him the trappings of the horse of Cyrus. Again, when the Carian, from whom Cyrus received the blow in the ham which brought him down, asked that he also should receive a gift, the king ordered its bearers to say: The king gives thee these things as a second prize for good tidings; for Artasyras came first, and after him thou didst come, with tidings of the death of Cyrus.
ὁ μὲν οὖν Μιθριδάτης ἀπῆλθε σιωπῇ λυπούμενος τὸν δὲ ἄθλιον Κᾶρα κοινόν τι πάθος ἐξ ἀβελτερίας κατέσχε. διαφθαρεὶς γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν παρόντων, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἀγαθῶν, καὶ ἀναπεισθεὶς εὐθὺς ἀντιποιεῖσθαι τῶν ὑπὲρ αὐτόν, οὐκ ἠξίου τὰ δοθέντα μισθὸν εὐαγγελίων ἔχειν, ἀλλʼ ἠγανάκτει μαρτυρόμενος καὶ βοῶν ὅτι Κῦρον οὐδεὶς ἕτερος, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς ἀπεκτόνοι, καὶ τὴν δόξαν ἀδίκως ἀποστεροῖτο, ταῦτα δὲ ἀκούσας ὁ βασιλεύς σφόδρα παρωξύνθη καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐκέλευσεν ἀποτεμεῖν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.
Now, Mithridates went away without a word, although he was vexed; but the wretched Carian, in his folly, gave way to a common feeling. That is, he was corrupted, it would seem, by the good things which he had, and led by them to aspire at once to things beyond his reach, so that he would not deign to take the gifts as a reward for good tidings, but was indignant, calling men to witness and crying in loud tones that it was he himself, and no one else, who had killed Cyrus, and that he was unjustly robbed of his glory. When the king heard of this, he was vehemently angry and gave orders that the man should be beheaded.
παροῦσα δʼ ἡ μήτηρ, μὴ σύ γε, εἶπεν, οὕτω τὸν Κᾶρα τοῦτον, ὦ βασιλεῦ, τὸν ὄλεθρον ἀπαλλάξῃς, ἀλλὰ παρʼ ἐμοῦ τὸν ἄξιον ἀπολήψεται μισθὸν ὧν τολμᾷ λέγειν ἐπιτρέψαντος δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐκέλευσε τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν τιμωριῶν ἡ Παρύσατις λαβόντας τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐφʼ ἡμέρας δέκα στρεβλοῦν, εἶτα τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐξορύξαντας εἰς τὰ ὦτα θερμὸν ἐντήκειν χαλκὸν ἕως ἀποθάνῃ.
Whereupon the king’s mother, who was present, said to him: O King, do not let this accursed Carian off so easily, but leave him to me, and he shall receive the fitting reward for his daring words. So the king consigned the man to Parysatis, who ordered the executioners to take him and rack him on the wheel for ten days, then to gouge out his eyes, and finally to drop molten brass into his ears until he died.
κακῶς δὲ ἀπώλετο καὶ Μιθριδάτης μετʼ ὀλίγον χρόνον ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς ἀβελτερίας. κληθεὶς γὰρ ἐπὶ δεῖπνον ἔνθα καὶ βασιλέως καὶ τῆς μητρὸς εὐνοῦχοι παρῆσαν, ἧκεν ἐσθῆτι καὶ χρυσῷ κεκοσμημένος οἷς ἔλαβε παρὰ βασιλέως.
Mithridates also came to a miserable end a little while after, owing to the same folly. For being invited to a banquet at which eunuchs of the king and of the queen-mother were present, he came decked out with raiment and gold which he had received from the king.
ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς τὸ πίνειν ἀφίκοντο, λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ μέγιστον δυνάμενος τῶν Παρυσάτιδος εὐνούχων ὡς καλὴν μὲν ἐσθῆτά σοι ταύτην, ὦ Μιθριδάτα, ὁ βασιλεὺς δέδωκε, καλὰ δὲ στρεπτὰ καὶ ψέλια· πολλοῦ δὲ ἄξιος ὁ ἀκινάκης. ἦ μακάριόν σε καὶ περίβλεπτον ἅπασι πεποίηκεν. ἤδη δὲ μεθύων ὁ Μιθριδάτης, τί δὲ ταῦτα ἔστιν, εἶπεν, ὦ Σπαραμίζη; μειζόνων γὰρ ἐγὼ καὶ καλλιόνων βασιλεῖ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην ἄξιον ἐμαυτὸν παρέσχον.
And when the company were at their cups, the chief eunuch of Parysatis said to him: Mithridates, how beautiful this raiment is which the king gave thee, and how beautiful the collars and bracelets! Costly, too, is thy scimitar. Verily the king has made thee happy in the admiring eyes of all men. Then Mithridates, now flushed with wine, replied: Sparamizes, what do these things amount to? Surely my services to the king on that day were worthy of greater and more beautiful gifts.
καὶ ὁ Σπαραμίζης ἐπιμειδιάσας, φθόνος μὲν οὐδεὶς, ὦ Μιθριδάτα, εἶπεν ἐπεὶ δέ φασιν Ἕλληνες οἶνον καὶ ἀλήθειαν εἶναι, τί λαμπρὸν, ὦ τᾶν, ἢ μέγα, πῖλον εὑρεῖν ἵππου περιρρυέντα καὶ τοῦτον ἀνενεγκεῖν ; ταῦτα δὲ οὐκ ἀγνοῶν τὸ ἀληθὲς ἔλεγεν, ἀλλὰ βουλόμενος ἐκκαλύψαι πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ὑπεκίνει τὴν κουφότητα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου λάλου καὶ ἀκρατοῦς γεγονότος διὰ τὸν οἶνον.
Here Sparamizes smiled at him and said: There’s no grudging them to thee, Mithridates; but since, according to the Greek maxim, there is truth in wine, what great or brilliant exploit was it, my good fellow, to find a horse’s trappings that had slipped off and bring them to the king? In saying this, Sparamizes was not ignorant of the truth, but he wished to unveil Mithridates to the company, and therefore slyly stirred up his vanity when wine had made him talkative and robbed him of self-control.
εἶπεν οὖν μὴ κατασχών ὑμεῖς μὲν, ὅ τι βούλεσθε, πίλους λέγετε καὶ φλυάρους· ἐγὼ δὲ ὑμῖν λέγω διαρρήδην ὑπὸ ταύτης ἀνῃρῆσθαι Κῦρον τῆς χειρός, οὐ γὰρ ὡς Ἀρταγέρσης ἠκόντισα κενὸν καὶ μάταιον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ μὲν ὀφθαλμοῦ μικρὸν ἥμαρτον, τὸν δὲ κροτάφου τυχὼν καὶ διελάσας κατέβαλον τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τέθνηκεν ὑπʼ ἐκείνου τοῦ τραύματος·
Accordingly, Mithridates threw away constraint and said: Ye may talk as ye please about horse-trappings and such nonsense; but I declare to you explicitly that Cyrus was slain by this hand of mine; for I did not, like Artagerses, make a futile and an idle cast of spear, but I narrowly missed his eye, struck him in the temple, pierced it, and brought the man down; and it was of that wound that he died.
οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι τὸ τέλος ἤδη τοῦ Μιθριδάτου καὶ τὴν κακοδαιμονίαν ὁρῶντες εἰς τὴν γῆν ἔκυψαν ὁ δʼ ἑστιῶν αὐτούς, ὦ τᾶν, ἔφη, Μιθριδάτα, πίνωμεν ἐν τῷ παρόντι καὶ ἐσθίωμεν τὸν βασιλέως δαίμονα προσκυνοῦντες, λόγους δὲ μείζους ἢ καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐάσωμεν.
The rest of the company, then, who already saw the end of Mithridates and his hapless fate, bowed their faces towards the ground; and their host said: My good Mithridates, let us eat and drink now, revering the good genius of the king, and let us waive discourse that is too weighty for us.
ἐκ τούτου τῇ μὲν Παρυσάτιδι φράζει τὸν λόγον ὁ εὐνοῦχος, ἐκείνη δὲ βασιλεῖ βασιλεὺς δὲ ἠγανάκτησεν ὥσπερ ἐξελεγχόμενος καὶ τὸ κάλλιστον καὶ ἥδιστον ἀπολλύων τῆς νίκης, ἐβούλετο γὰρ βαρβάρους ἅπαντας πεπεῖσθαι καὶ Ἕλληνας ὡς ἐν ταῖς ἐξελάσεσι καὶ συμπλοκαῖς δοὺς καὶ λαβὼν πληγήν ἐτρώθη μὲν αὐτός, ἔκτεινε δὲ ἐκεῖνον, ἐκέλευσεν οὖν τὸν Μιθριδάτην ἀποθανεῖν σκαφευθέντα.
Afterwards the eunuch told the matter to Parysatis, and she to the king; and the king was incensed, as being openly convicted of falsehood, and likely to forfeit the fairest and most pleasing feature of his victory. For he wished that all Barbarians and all Greeks should be fully persuaded that when he and his brother had charged and grappled with each other, he had given and received a blow, being only wounded himself, but killing his brother. He therefore gave orders that Mithridates should be put to death by the torture of the boats.
τὸ δὲ σκαφευθῆναι τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· σκάφας δύο πεποιημένας ἐφαρμόζειν ἀλλήλαις λαβόντες, εἰς τὴν ἑτέραν κατακλίνουσι τὸν κολαζόμενον ὕπτιον· εἶτα τὴν ἑτέραν ἐπάγοντες καὶ συναρμόζοντες, ὥστε τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἔξω καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἀπολαμβάνεσθαι, τὸ δὲ ἄλλο σῶμα πᾶν ἀποκεκρύφθαι, διδόασιν ἐσθίειν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, κἂν μὴ θέλῃ, προσβιάζονται κεντοῦντες τὰ ὄμματα· φαγόντι δὲ πιεῖν μέλι καὶ γάλα συγκεκραμένον ἐγχέουσιν εἰς τὸ στόμα καὶ κατὰ τοῦ προσώπου καταχέουσιν.
Now, this torture of the boats is as follows. Two boats are taken, which are so made as to fit over one another closely; in one of these the victim is laid, flat upon his back; then the other is laid over the first and carefully adjusted, so that the victim’s head, hands, and feet are left projecting, while the rest of his body is completely covered up. Then they give him food to eat, and if he refuse it, they force him to take it by pricking his eyes. After he has eaten, they give him a mixture of milk and honey to drink, pouring it into his mouth, and also deluge his face with it.
εἶτα πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ἀεὶ στρέφουσιν ἐναντία τὰ ὄμματα, καὶ μυιῶν προσκαθημένων πλῆθος πᾶν ἀποκρύπτεται τὸ πρόσωπον, ἐντὸς δὲ ποιοῦντος ὅσα ποιεῖν ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν ἐσθίοντας ἀνθρώπους καὶ πίνοντας, εὐλαὶ καὶ σκώληκες ὑπὸ φθορᾶς καὶ σηπεδόνος ἐκ τοῦ περιττώματος ἀναζέουσιν, ὑφʼ ὧν ἀναλίσκεται τὸ σῶμα διαδυομένων εἰς τὰ ἐντός.
Then they keep his eyes always turned towards the sun, and a swarm of flies settles down upon his face and hides it completely. And since inside the boats he does what must needs be done when men eat and drink, worms and maggots seethe up from the corruption and rottenness of the excrement, devouring his body, and eating their way into his vitals.
ὅταν γὰρ ἤδη φανερὸς ᾖ τεθνηκὼς ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀφαιρεθείσης τῆς ἐπάνω σκάφης ὁρῶσι τὴν μὲν σάρκα κατεδηδεσμένην, περὶ δὲ τὰ σπλάγχνα τοιούτων θηρίων ἑσμοὺς ἐσθιόντων καὶ προσπεφυκότων. οὕτως ὁ Μιθριδάτης ἑπτακαίδεκα ἡμέρας φθειρόμενος μόλις ἀπέθανε.
For when at last the man is clearly dead and the upper boat has been removed, his flesh is seen to have been consumed away, while about his entrails swarms of such animals as I have mentioned are clinging fast and eating. In this way Mithridates was slowly consumed for seventeen days, and at last died.
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