ἐπεὶ δὲ πάλιν ἐπανελθὼν πρὸς τὴν Μουνυχίαν καὶ στρατοπεδεύσας ἐξέκοψε τὴν φρουρὰν καὶ κατέσκαψε τὸ φρούριον, οὕτως ἤδη τῶν Ἀθηναίων δεχομένων καὶ καλούντων παρελθὼν εἰς τὸ ἄστυ καὶ συναγαγὼν τὸν δῆμον ἀπέδωκε τὴν πάτριον πολιτείαν· καὶ προσυπέσχετο παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῖς ἀφίξεσθαι σίτου πεντεκαίδεκα μυριάδας μεδίμνων καὶ ξύλων ναυπηγησίμων πλῆθος εἰς ἑκατὸν τριήρεις.
Coming back again to Munychia and encamping before it, he drove out the garrison and demolished the fortress, and this accomplished, at last, on the urgent invitation of the Athenians, he made his entry into the upper city, where he assembled the people and gave them back their ancient form of government. He also promised that they should receive from his father a hundred and fifty thousand bushels of grain, and enough ship timber to build a hundred triremes.
Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ ἀπολαβόντες τὴν δημοκρατίαν ἔτει πεντεκαιδεκάτῳ, τὸν δὲ μέσον χρόνον ἀπὸ τῶν Λαμιακῶν καὶ τῆς περὶ Κραννῶνα μάχης λόγῳ μὲν ὀλιγαρχικῆς, ἔργῳ δὲ μοναρχικῆς καταστάσεως γενομένης διὰ τὴν τοῦ Φαληρέως δύναμιν, οὕτω λαμπρὸν ἐν ταῖς εὐεργεσίαις καὶ μέγαν φανέντα τὸν Δημήτριον ἐπαχθῆ καὶ βαρὺν ἐποίησαν τῶν τιμῶν ταῖς ἀμετρίαις ἃς ἐψηφίσαντο.
It was fourteen years since the Athenians had lost their democratic form of government, and during the period which followed the Lamian war and the battle at Crannon their government had been administered, nominally as an oligarchy, but really as a monarchy, owing to the great influence of the Phalerean. And now that Demetrius had shown himself great and splendid in his benefactions, the Athenians rendered him odious and obnoxious by the extravagance of the honours which they voted him.
πρῶτοι μὲν γὰρ ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων τὸν Δημήτριον καὶ Ἀντίγονον βασιλεῖς ἀνηγόρευσαν, ἄλλως ἀφοσιουμένους τοὔνομα, καὶ τοῦτο δὴ μόνον τῶν βασιλικῶν ἔτι τοῖς ἀπὸ Φιλίππου καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου περιεῖναι δοκοῦν ἄθικτον ἑτέροις καὶ ἀκοινώνητον· μόνοι δὲ σωτῆρας ἀνέγραψαν θεούς, καὶ τὸν ἐπώνυμον καὶ πάτριον ἄρχοντα καταπαύσαντες ἱερέα σωτήρων ἐχειροτόνουν καθʼ ἕκαστον ἐνιαυτόν· καὶ τοῦτον ἐπὶ τῶν ψηφισμάτων καὶ τῶν συμβολαίων προέγραφον.
For instance, they were the first people in the world to give Demetrius and Antigonus the title of King, although both had up to that time shrunk from using the word, and although this was the only royal prerogative still left to the descendants of Philip and Alexander which it was thought that others could not assume or share; moreover, the Athenians were the only people to give them the appellation of Saviour-gods, and they put a stop to the ancient custom of designating the year with the name of the annual archon, and elected every year a priest of the Saviour-gods, whose name they prefixed to their public edicts and private contracts.
ἐνυφαίνεσθαι δὲ τῷ πέπλῳ μετὰ τῶν θεῶν αὐτοὺς ἐψηφίσαντο· καὶ τὸν τόπον ὅπου πρῶτον ἀπέβη τοῦ ἅρματος, καθιερώσαντες καὶ βωμὸν ἐπιθέντες Δημητρίου Καταιβάτου προσηγόρευσαν· ταῖς δὲ φυλαῖς δύο προσέθεσαν, Δημητριάδα καὶ Ἀντιγονίδα, καὶ τὴν βουλὴν τῶν πεντακοσίων πρότερον ἑξακοσίων ἐποίησαν, ἅτε δὴ φυλῆς ἑκάστης πεντήκοντα βουλευτὰς παρεχομένης.
They also decreed that the figures of Demetrius and Antigonus should be woven into the sacred robe, along with those of the gods; and the spot where Demetrius first alighted from his chariot they consecrated and covered with an altar, which they styled the altar of Demetrius Alighter; they also created two new tribes, Demetrias and Antigonis; and they increased the number of the senators, which had been five hundred, to six hundred, since each of the tribes must furnish fifty senators.
τὸ δὲ ὑπερφυέστατον ἐνθύμημα τοῦ Στρατοκλέους (οὗτος γὰρ ἦν ὁ τῶν σοφῶν τούτων καὶ περιττῶν καινουργὸς ἀρεσκευμάτων), ἔγραψεν ὅπως οἱ πεμπόμενοι κατὰ ψήφισμα δημοσίᾳ πρὸς Ἀντίγονον ἢ Δημήτριον ἀντὶ πρεσβευτῶν θεωροὶ λέγοιντο, καθάπερ οἱ Πυθοῖ καὶ Ὀλυμπίαζε τὰς πατρίους θυσίας ὑπὲρ τῶν πόλεων ἀνάγοντες ἐν ταῖς Ἑλληνικαῖς ἑορταῖς.
But the most monstrous thing that came into the head of Stratocles (he it was who invented these elegant and clever bits of obsequiousness) was his motion that envoys sent by public decree and at public expense to Antigonus or Demetrius should be called sacred deputies, instead of ambassadors, like those who conducted to Delphi and Olympia the ancient sacrifices in behalf of the cities at the great Hellenic festivals.
ἦν δὲ καὶ τἆλλα παράτολμος ὁ Στρατοκλῆς, καὶ βεβιωκὼς ἀσελγῶς καὶ τὴν τοῦ παλαιοῦ Κλέωνος ἀπομιμεῖσθαι δοκῶν βωμολοχίαν καὶ βδελυρίαν τῇ πρὸς τὸν δῆμον εὐχερείᾳ. ἔσχε δὲ τὴν ἑταίραν Φυλάκιον ἀνειληφώς· καί ποτε αὐτῷ πρὸς δεῖπνον ἐξ ἀγορᾶς πριαμένης ἐγκεφάλους καὶ τραχήλους, παπαί, εἶπε, τοιαῦτά γε ὠψώνηκας οἷς σφαιρίζομεν οἱ πολιτευόμενοι.
In all other ways also Stratocles was an audacious fellow; he lived an abandoned life, and was thought to imitate the scurrility and buffoonery of the ancient Cleon in his familiarities with the people. He had taken up with a mistress named Phylacion; and one day when she had bought in the market-place for his supper some brains and neck-bones, Aha! he cried, thou hast bought just such delicacies for me as we statesmen used to play ball with.
τῆς δὲ περὶ Ἀμοργὸν ἥττης τῶν νεῶν συμβάσης τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, φθάσας τοὺς ἀπαγγέλλοντας εἰσήλασεν ἐστεφανωμένος διὰ τοῦ Κεραμεικοῦ, καὶ προσαγγείλας ὅτι νενικήκασιν, εὐαγγέλια θύειν ἔγραψε καὶ κρεωδαισίαν τινὰ κατὰ φυλὴν ἐποίησεν. ὀλίγῳ δʼ ὕστερον τῶν τὰ ναυάγια κομιζόντων ἀπὸ τῆς μάχης παραγενομένων καὶ τοῦ δήμου πρὸς ὀργὴν καλοῦντος αὐτόν, ἰταμῶς ὑποστὰς τὸν θόρυβον, εἶτα, ἔφη, τί πεπόνθατε δεινόν, εἰ δύο ἡμέρας ἡδέως γεγόνατε; τοιαύτη μὲν ἡ τοῦ Στρατοκλέους θρασύτης.
Again, when the Athenians suffered their naval defeat near Amorgus, before the tidings of the disaster could reach the city he put a garland on his head and drove through the Cerameicus, and after announcing that the Athenians were victorious, moved a sacrifice of glad tidings and made a generous distribution of meat to the people by tribes. Then, a little later, when the wrecks were brought home from the battle and the people in their wrath called him out, he faced the tumult recklessly and said: What harm have I done you, pray, if for two days ye have been happy? Such was the effrontery of Stratocles.
ἦν δὲ ἄρα καὶ πυρὸς ἕτερα θερμότερα κατὰ τὸν Ἀριστοφάνη. γράφει γάρ τις ἄλλος ὑπερβαλλόμενος ἀνελευθερίᾳ τὸν Στρατοκλέα, δέχεσθαι Δημήτριον, ὁσάκις ἂν ἀφίκηται, τοῖς Δήμητρος καὶ Διονύσου ξενισμοῖς, τῷ δʼ ὑπερβαλλομένῳ λαμπρότητι καὶ πολυτελείᾳ τὴν ὑποδοχὴν ἀργύριον εἰς ἀνάθημα δημοσίᾳ δίδοσθαι.
But there are things hotter even than fire, as Aristophanes puts it. For some one else, outdoing Stratocles in servility, proposed that whenever Demetrius visited the city he should be received with the hospitable honours paid to Demeter and Dionysus, and that to the citizen who surpassed all others in the splendour and costliness of his reception, a sum of money should be granted from the public treasury for a dedicatory offering.
τέλος δὲ τῶν τε μηνῶν τὸν Μουνυχιῶνα Δημητριῶνα καὶ τῶν ἡμερῶν τὴν ἕνην καὶ νέαν Δημητριάδα προσηγόρευσαν, καὶ τῶν ἑορτῶν τὰ Διονύσια μετωνόμασαν Δημήτρια. ἐπεσήμηνε δὲ τοῖς πλείστοις τὸ θεῖον. ὁ μὲν γὰρ πέπλος, ᾧπερ ἐψηφίσαντο μετὰ τοῦ Διὸς καὶ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς προσενυφῆναι Δημήτριον καὶ Ἀντίγονον, πεμπόμενος διὰ τοῦ Κεραμεικοῦ μέσος ἐρράγη θυέλλης ἐμπεσούσης·
And finally, they changed the name of the month Mounychion to Demetrion, and that of the last day of a month, the Old and New, to Demetrias, and to the festival called Dionysia they gave the new name of Demetria. Most of these innovations were marked with the divine displeasure. The sacred robe, for instance, in which they had decreed that the figures of Demetrius and Antigonus should be woven along with those of Zeus and Athena, as it was being carried in procession through the midst of the Cerameicus, was rent by a hurricane which smote it;
περὶ δὲ τοὺς βωμοὺς τοὺς ἐκείνων ἐξήνθησεν ἡ γῆ κύκλῳ πολὺ κώνειον, ἄλλως μηδὲ τῆς χώρας πολλαχοῦ φυόμενον· τῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ τὰ τῶν Διονυσίων ἐγίνετο, τὴν πομπὴν κατέλυσαν ἰσχυρῶν πάγων γενομένων παρʼ ὥραν. καὶ πάχνης βαθείας ἐπιπεσούσης οὐ μόνον ἀμπέλους καὶ συκᾶς ἁπάσας ἀπέκαυσε τὸ ψῦχος, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ σίτου τὸν πλεῖστον κατέφθειρεν ἐν χλόῃ.
again, all around the altars of those Saviour-gods the soil teemed with hemlock, a plant which did not grow in many other parts of the country at all; and on the day for the celebration of the Dionysia, the sacred procession had to be omitted on account of severe cold weather that came out of season. And a heavy frost followed, which not only blasted all the vines and fig-trees with its cold, but also destroyed most of the grain in the blade.
διὸ καὶ Φιλιππίδης ἐχθρὸς ὢν τοῦ Στρατοκλέους ἐν κωμῳδίᾳ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐποίησε ταῦτα· δι’ ὃν ἀπέκαυσεν ἡ πάχνη τὰς ἀμπέλους, / δι’ ὃν ἀσεβοῦνθʼ ὁ πέπλος ἐρράγη μέσος, / τὰς τῶν θεῶν τιμὰς ποιοῦντʼ ἀνθρωπίνας. / ταῦτα καταλύει δῆμον, οὐ κωμῳδία. /
Therefore Philippides, who was an enemy of Stratocles, assailed him in a comedy with these verses:— Through him it was that hoar-frost blasted all the vines, / Through his impiety the robe was rent in twain, / Because he gave the gods’ own honours unto men. / Such work undoes a people, not its comedy. /
ἦν δὲ ὁ Φιλιππίδης Λυσιμάχου φίλος, καὶ πολλὰ δι’ αὐτὸν ὁ δῆμος εὖ ἔπαθεν ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως. ἐδόκει δὲ καὶ πρὸς πρᾶξιν αὐτῷ καὶ πρὸς στρατείαν εὐσύμβολος ἀπαντήσας εἶναι καὶ ὀφθείς. ἄλλως δὲ καὶ διὰ τὸ ἦθος εὐδοκίμει, μηθὲν ἐνοχλῶν μηδʼ αὐλικῆς περιεργίας ἀναπιμπλάμενος. φιλοφρονουμένου δέ ποτε τοῦ Λυσιμάχου πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ εἰπόντος, ὦ Φιλιππίδη, τίνος σοι τῶν ἐμῶν μεταδῶ; μόνον, ἔφη, βασιλεῦ, μὴ τῶν ἀπορρήτων. τοῦτον μὲν οὖν ἐπίτηδες ἐκείνῳ παρεθήκαμεν, τῷ ἀπὸ τοῦ βήματος τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς θυμέλης.
Philippides was a friend of Lysimachus, and for his sake the king bestowed many favours on the Athenian people. Moreover, when he was about to undertake anything or make an expedition, he thought it a good omen to meet or catch sight of Philippides. And in general the character of Philippides gave him a good repute, since he was no busybody, and had none of the officious ways of a courtier. On one occasion Lysimachus wished to do him a kindness, and said: Philippides, what have I that I can share with thee? O King, said Philippides, anything but one of thy state secrets. Such a man, then, I purposely compare with Stratocles, the man of the stage with the man of the bema.
ὃ δὲ μάλιστα τῶν τιμῶν ὑπερφυὲς ἦν καὶ ἀλλόκοτον, ἔγραψε Δρομοκλείδης ὁ Σφήττιος ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν ἀσπίδων ἀναθέσεως εἰς Δελφοὺς παρὰ Δημητρίου λαβεῖν χρησμόν. αὐτὴν δὲ παραγράψω τὴν λέξιν ἐκ τοῦ ψηφίσματος οὕτως ἔχουσαν· ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ.
But there was one honour proposed for Demetrius which was more strange and monstrous than any other. Dromocleides the Sphettian moved, when the dedication of certain shields at Delphi was in question, that the Athenians should get an oracle from Demetrius. And I will transcribe his very words from the decree; they run thus:
δεδόχθαι τῷ δήμῳ χειροτονῆσαι τὸν δῆμον ἕνα ἄνδρα ἐξ Ἀθηναίων, ὅστις ἀφικόμενος πρὸς τὸν Σωτῆρα καὶ καλλιερησάμενος ἐπερωτήσει τὸν Σωτῆρα πῶς ἂν εὐσεβέστατα καὶ κάλλιστα καὶ τὴν ταχίστην ὁ δῆμος τὴν ἀποκατάστασιν ποιήσαιτο τῶν ἀναθημάτων· ὅ τι δʼ ἂν χρήσῃ, ταῦτα πράττειν τὸν δῆμον. οὕτω καταμωκώμενοι τοῦ ἀνθρώπου προσδιέφθειραν αὐτόν, οὐδὲ ἄλλως ὑγιαίνοντα τὴν διάνοιαν.
May it be for the best. Decreed by the people that the people elect one man from the Athenians, who shall go to the Saviour-god, and, after a sacrifice with good omens, shall enquire of the Saviour-god in what most speedy, decorous, and reverent manner the people may accomplish the restoration to their places of the dedicatory offerings; and that whatever answer he shall give, the people shall act according thereunto. With such mockery of adulation they finally perverted the man’s mind, which even before was not wholly sound.
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