ἐν δὲ τῇΣμύρνῃ τότε τῶν χρημάτων, ἃ πολλὰ συνειλόχει Κάσσιος, ἠξίου μεταλαβεῖν τὰ γὰρ ὄντα κατανηλωκέναι ναυπηγούμενος στόλον τοσοῦτον ᾧ πᾶσαν ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῖς ἕξουσι τὴν ἐντὸς θάλασσαν.
At the time when they were in Smyrna, Brutus asked Cassius to give him a part of the large treasure which he had collected, since he had expended what he had himself in building a fleet large enough to give them control of all the Mediterranean.
οὐκ εἴων μὲν οὖν τὸν Κάσσιον οἱ φίλοι διδόναι, λέγοντες ὡς οὐ δίκαιον, ἃ σὺ φειδόμενος διαφυλάττεις Καὶ φθόνῳ συνάγεις, ἐκεῖνον λαβόντα δημαγωγεῖν Καὶ χαρίζεσθαι τοῖς στρατιώταις· οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ τρίτον μέρος ἁπάντων.
The friends of Cassius, then, tried to dissuade him from giving anything to Brutus, arguing that it was not right that what he was keeping by his frugality and getting together at the price of men’s hatred should be taken by Brutus for the winning of popular favour and the gratification of his soldiers. However, Cassius gave him a third of the whole amount.
καὶ πάλιν διαστάντες ἐπὶ τὰς προσηκούσας ἑκατέρῳ πράξεις, Κάσσιος μὲν ἑλὼν Ῥόδον οὐκ ἐπιεικῶς ἐχρῆτο τοῖς πράγμασι, Καὶ ταῦτα περὶ τὴν εἴσοδον τοῖς προσαγορεύουσιν αὐτὸν βασιλέα Καὶ κύριον ἀποκρινάμενος· οὔτε βασιλεὺς οὔτε κύριος, τοῦ δὲ κυρίου Καὶ βασιλέως φονεὺς Καὶ κολαστής. Βροῦτος δὲ Λυκίους ᾔτει χρήματα Καὶ στρατόν.
Then they parted again for their respective undertakings. Cassius took Rhodes, but managed matters there with undue rigour, and that too though he had replied to those who hailed him, when he entered the city, as their lord and king, Neither lord nor king, but, chastiser and slayer of your lord and king. Brutus, on his part, demanded money and soldiers from the Lycians.
ἐπεὶ δὲ Ναυκράτης ὁ δημαγωγὸς ἀνέπεισε τὰς πόλεις ἀφίστασθαι Καὶ λόφους τινὰς ὡς εἴρξοντες παρόδου τὸν Βροῦτον κατελάβοντο, πρῶτον μὲν ἀριστοποιουμένοις αὐτοῖς ἐπέπεμψεν ἱππεῖς, ὑφʼ ὧν ἑξακόσιοι διεφθάρησαν,
But Naucrates, the popular leader, persuaded the cities to revolt, and the inhabitants occupied certain commanding hills in order to prevent the passage of Brutus. Brutus, therefore, in the first place, sent horsemen against them while they were at breakfast, and these slew six hundred of them;
ἔπειτα τὰ χωρία καὶ πολίχνας λαμβάνων ἀπέλυεν ἄνευ λύτρων ἅπαντας ὡς προσαξόμενος εὐνοίᾳ τὸ ἔθνος.
next, he took their strongholds and villages, but dismissed all his captives without ransom, in order that he might win the people over by kindness.
οἱ δʼ ἦσαν αὐθάδεις, ἃμὲν ἐβλάπτοντο πρὸς ὀργὴν τιθέμενοι, τῆς δʼ ἐπιεικείας καὶ φιλανθρωπίας καταφρονοῦντες, ἄχρι οὗ συνελάσας εἰς Ξάνθον αὐτῶν τοὺς μαχιμωτάτους ἐπολιόρκει.
They were obstinate, however, feeding their anger upon their injuries, and despising his clemency and kindness, until he drove the most warlike of them into Xanthus and laid siege to the city.
τοῦ δὲ ποταμοῦ παρὰ τὴν πόλιν παραρρέοντος ὑπονηχόμενοι διεδίδρασκον. ἡλίσκοντο δὲ δικτύων διὰ πόρου καθιεμένων εἰς βυθόν, ὧν τὰ ἄκρα κώδωσι προσηρτημένοις διεσήμαινεν εὐθὺς τὸν ἐνσχεθέντα.
They tried to escape by swimming under the surface of the river which flowed past the city. But they were caught in nets which were let down deep across the channel; the tops of these had bells attached to them which indicated at once when any one was entangled.
μηχαναῖς δέ τισι τῶν Ξανθίων νύκτωρ ἐπιδραμόντων Καὶ πῦρ ἐμβαλόντων, ὡς ἀπεκλείσθησαν αἰσθομένων τῶν Ῥωμαίων πρὸς τὸ τεῖχος Καὶ πνεῦμα λαμπρὸν ἀνερρίπιζεν ἐπὶ τὰς ἐπάλξεις τὴν φλόγα τῶν ἐγγὺς οἰκιῶν ἀντιλαμβανομένην, δείσας ὁ Βροῦτος ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ἐκέλευσε κατασβεννύναι Καὶ βοηθεῖν.
Then the Xanthians made a sally by night and set fire to some of the siege- engines, but they were perceived by the Romans and driven back to their walls; and when a brisk wind fanned the flames back towards the battlements and some of the adjoining houses took fire, Brutus, fearing for the safety of the city, ordered his men to assist in putting out the fire.
τοὺς δὲ Λυκίους δεινή τις ἐξαίφνης πρὸς ἀπόνοιαν ὁρμὴ καὶ λόγου κρείσσων κατέσχεν, ἣν ἄν τις ἔρωτι θανάτου μάλιστα προσεικάσειεν·
But the Lycians were suddenly possessed by a dreadful and indescribable impulse to madness, which can be likened best to a passion for death.
οἵ γε μετὰ παίδων καὶ γυναικῶν ἐλεύθεροί τε καὶ δοῦλοι καὶ πᾶσα ἡλικία τοὺς μὲν πολεμίους πρὸς τὴν φλόγα βοηθοῦντας ἀπὸ τῶν τειχῶν ἔβαλλον, αὐτοὶ δὲ κάλαμον καὶ ξύλα καὶ πᾶν ὑπέκκαυμα προσφέροντες ἦγον ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν τὸ πῦρ, ὀρέγοντες αὐτῷ πᾶσαν ὕλην καὶ πάντα τρόπον ἐξερεθίζοντες καὶ συνεκτρέφοντες.
At any rate, all ages of them, freemen and slaves with their wives and children, shot missiles from the walls at the enemy who were helping them to combat the flames, and with their own hands brought up reeds and wood and all manner of combustibles, and so spread the fire over the city, feeding it with all sorts of material and increasing its strength and fury in every way.
ὡς δʼἡ φλὸξ ῥυεῖσα καὶ διαζώσασα πανταχόθεν τὴν πόλιν διέλαμψε πολλή, περιπαθῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς γινομένοις ὁ Βροῦτος ἔξωθεν παρίππευε προθυμούμενος βοηθεῖν, καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ὀρέγων τοῖς Ξανθίοις ἐδεῖτο φείδεσθαι καὶ σῴζειν τὴν πόλιν, οὐδενὸς αὐτῷ προσέχοντος, ἀλλὰ πάντα τρόπον ἑαυτοὺς ἀπολλύντων, οὐ μόνον ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ γυναικῶν,
When the flames had darted forth and encircled the city on all sides, and blazed out mightily, Brutus, distressed at what was going on, rode round outside the city in his eagerness to help, and with outstretched hands begged the Xanthians to spare and save their city. No one heeded him, however, but all sought in every way to destroy themselves, men and women alike;
ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ παιδία τὰ μικρὰ μετὰ κραυγῆς καὶ ἀλαλαγμοῦ τὰ μὲν εἰς τὸ πῦρ ἥλλετο, τὰ δʼ ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ τῶν τειχῶν ἐξετραχήλιζεν αὑτά, τὰ δὲ τοῖς ξίφεσι τῶν πατέρων ὑπέβαλλε τὰς σφαγὰς γυμνοῦντα καὶ κελεύοντα παίειν.
nay, even the little children with shouts and shrieks either leaped into the fire, or threw themselves headlong from the walls, or cast themselves beneath their fathers’ swords, baring their throats and begging to be smitten.
ὤφθη δὲ τῆς πόλεως διαφθαρείσης γυνή κρεμαμένη μὲν ἐξ ἀγχόνης, παιδίον δὲ νεκρὸν ἐξηρτημένη τοῦ τραχήλου, λαμπάδι δὲ καιομένῃ τὴν οἰκίαν ὑφάπτουσα.
After the city had been thus destroyed, a woman was seen dangling in a noose; she had a dead child fastened to her neck, and with a blazing torch was trying to set fire to her dwelling.
καὶ τοῦ θεάματος τραγικοῦ φανέντος ἰδεῖν μὲν οὐχ ὑπέμεινεν ὁ Βροῦτος, ἐδάκρυσε δὲ ἀκούσας· καὶ γέρας ἐκήρυξε τῶν στρατιωτῶν ὅστις ἂν δυνηθῇ Λύκιον ἄνδρα περισῶσαι. φασὶ δὲ μόνους ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα γενέσθαι τοὺς μὴ διαφυγόντας τὸ σωθῆναι.
So tragic was the spectacle that Brutus could not bear to see it, and burst into tears on hearing of it; he also proclaimed a prize for any soldier who should succeed in saving the life of a Lycian. But there were only a hundred and fifty, we are told, who did not escape such preservation.
Ξάνθιοι μὲν οὖν διὰ πολλῶν χρόνων ὥσπερ εἱμαρμένην περίοδον διαφθορᾶς ἀποδιδόντες τὴν τῶν προγόνων ἀνενεώσαντο τῇ τόλμῃ τύχην καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι τὴν πόλιν ὁμοίως ἐπὶ τῶν Περσικῶν κατακαύσαντες ἑαυτοὺς διέφθειραν.
So then the Xanthians, after long lapse of time, as though fulfilling a period set by fate for their destruction, had the boldness to renew the calamity of their ancestors; for these too, in the time of the Persian wars, had likewise burned down their city and destroyed themselves.
Βροῦτος δὲ τὴν Παταρέων πόλιν ὁρῶν ἀπισχυριζομένην πρὸς αὐτόν, ὤκνει μὲν ἐπιχειρεῖν καὶ διηπορεῖτο, τὴν αὐτὴν δεδιὼς ἀπόνοιαν, ἔχων δὲ γυναῖκας αὐτῶν αἰχμαλώτους ἀφῆκεν ἄνευ λύτρων.
When Brutus saw that the city of Patara was holding out strongly against him, he hesitated to attack it, and was in perplexity, fearing that it would be afflicted with the same madness; but as he held some of its women prisoners of war, he released them without ransom.
αἱ δʼἀνδρῶν τε καὶ πατέρων ἐπιφανῶν οὖσαι διηγούμεναι τὸν Βροῦτον, ὡς ἀνὴρ εἴη σωφρονέστατος καὶ δικαιότατος, ἔπεισαν εἶξαι καὶ παραδοῦναι τὴν πόλιν.
They were the wives and daughters of prominent men, and by rehearsing the praises of Brutus, calling him a man of the greatest moderation and justice, they persuaded them to yield and surrender their city.
ἐκ δὲ τούτου καὶ πάντες οἱ λοιποὶ προσεχώρησαν ἐπιτρέψαντες ἑαυτοὺς ἐκείνῳ, τυχόντες δὲ χρηστοῦ καὶ παρʼ ἐλπίδας εὐγνώμονος,
Consequently all the rest of the Lycians came and entrusted themselves to him, and found that his goodness and kindness exceeded their hopes.
ὅς γε, Κασσίου Ῥοδίους ὑπὸ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ἀναγκάσαντος ἰδίᾳ μὲν ὃν ἐκέκτηντο χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον εἰσενεγκεῖν ἅπαντας (ἐξ οὗσυνήχθη περὶ ὀκτακισχίλια τάλαντα), δημοσίᾳ δὲ τὴν πόλιν ἄλλοις πεντακοσίοις ζημιώσαντος, αὐτὸς ἑκατὸν καὶ πεντήκοντα τάλαντα Λυκίους πραξάμενος, ἄλλο δὲ οὐδὲν ἀδικήσας, ἀνέζευξεν ἐπʼ Ἰωνίας.
For whereas Cassius, about the same time, compelled the Rhodians individually to pay in to him all the gold and silver they possessed (thus accumulating about eight hundred talents), and fined the city as a whole five hundred talents more, Brutus exacted only a hundred and fifty talents from the Lycians, and, without doing them any other injury, set out with his army for Ionia.
πολλὰ μὲν οὖν ἄξια μνήμης ἔργα καὶ τιμαῖς ἀπεδείξατο καὶ κολάσεσι τῶν ἀξίων ᾧ δʼ αὐτός τε ἥσθη μάλιστα καὶ Ῥωμαίων οἱ κράτιστοι, τοῦτο διηγήσομαι.
Many were his memorable achievements in meting out rewards or punishments to those who deserved them, but I shall here describe only that in which both he himself and the chief men of Rome took especial pleasure.
Πομπηΐου Μάγνου προσβαλόντος Αἰγύπτῳ κατὰ Πηλούσιον, ὁπηνίκα τὴν μεγάλην ἀρχὴν ἀποβαλὼν ὑπὸ Καίσαρος ἔφυγεν, οἱ τοῦ βασιλέως ἔτι παιδὸς ὄντος ἐπιτροπεύοντες ἐν βουλῇ μετὰ τῶν φίλων ἦσαν, οὐ κατὰ ταὐτὰ ταῖς γνώμαις φερόμενοι. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἐδόκει δέχεσθαι, τοῖς δʼ ἀπωθεῖν Αἰγύπτου τὸν ἄνδρα.
When Pompey the Great, after he had been stripped of his great power by Caesar, put in as a fugitive at Pelusium in Egypt, the guardians of the boy king were holding a council with their friends, at which opinions differed. Some thought they should receive Pompey, others that they should repulse him from Egypt.
Θεόδοτος δέ τις Χῖος, ἐπὶ μισθῷ ῥητορικῶν λόγων διδάσκαλος τῷ βασιλεῖ συνών, ἠξιωμένος δὲ τότε τοῦ συνεδρίου διʼ ἐρημίαν ἀνδρῶν βελτιόνων, ἀμφοτέρους διαμαρτάνοντας ἀπέφαινε, καὶ τοὺς ἀναλαβεῖν καὶ τοὺς ἀφεῖναι κελεύοντας τὸν Πομπήϊον·
But a certain Theodotus, of Chios, who was attached to the king as a paid teacher of rhetoric, and was at this time deemed worthy of a place in the council for lack of better men, declared that both were wrong, both those who would admit and those who would reject Pompey;
ἓν γὰρ εἶναι συμφέρον ἐκ τῶν παρόντων, δεξαμένους ἀποκτεῖναι.
for there was but one advantageous course in view of the circumstances, and that was to receive him and put him to death.
καὶ προσεπεῖπε τοῦ λόγου παυόμενος, ὅτι νεκρὸς οὐ δάκνει. προσθεμένου δὲ τῇ γνώμῃ τοῦ συνεδρίου παράδειγμα τῶν ἀπίστων καὶ ἀπροσδοκήτων ἔκειτο Πομπήϊος Μᾶγνος, τῆς Θεοδότου ῥητορείας καὶ δεινότητος ἔργον, ὡς αὐτός ὁ σοφιστὴς ἔλεγε μεγαλαυχούμενος.
And he added, as he closed his speech, A dead man does not bite. The council adopted his opinion, and Pompey the Great lay dead, an example of the unexpected and incredible in human life, and it was the work of Theodotus and his clever rhetoric, as that sophist himself was wont to say with boasting.
ὀλίγῳ δʼ ὕστερον ἐπελθόντος Καίσαρος, οἱ μὲν δίκας τιννύοντες ἀπώλλυντο κακοὶ κακῶς, Θεόδοτος δὲ παρὰ τῆς τύχης χρόνον εἰς ἄδοξον καὶ ἄπορον καὶ πλάνητα βίον ἐπιδανεισάμενος τότε Βροῦτον ἐπιόντα τὴν Ἀσίαν οὐκ ἔλαθεν, ἀλλʼ ἀναχθεὶς καὶ κολασθεὶς ὄνομα τοῦ θανάτου πλέον ἔσχεν ἢ τοῦ βίου.
A little while afterwards, however, when Caesar came, the other wretches paid the penalty for their crime and perished wretchedly; as for Theodotus, after borrowing from Fortune enough time for a wandering, destitute, and inglorious life, he did not escape the notice of Brutus, who at this time traversed Asia, but was brought to him and punished, and won more fame for his death than for his life.
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