ὃν δὲ παραβάλλομεν αὐτῷ, Τίτος Κοΐντιος Φλαμινῖνος, ἰδέαν μὲν ὁποῖος ἦν πάρεστι θεάσασθαι τοῖς βουλομένοις ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν Ῥώμῃ χαλκῆς εἰκόνος, ἣ κεῖται παρὰ τὸν μέγαν Ἀπόλλωνα τὸν ἐκ Καρχηδόνος ἀντικρὺ τοῦ ἱπποδρόμου, γράμμασιν Ἑλληνικοῖς ἐπιγεγραμμένη, τὸ δὲ ἦθος ὀξὺς λέγεται γενέσθαι καὶ πρὸς ὀργὴν καὶ πρὸς χάριν.
IN parallel with Philopoemen we shall put Titus Quintius Flamininus. What his outward appearance was may be seen by those who wish it from the bronze statue of him at Rome. It stands by the side of the great Apollo from Carthage, opposite the Circus, and has upon it an inscription in Greek characters. As to his disposition, he is said to have been quick to show anger as well as to confer favours, though not in like extent.
οὐ μὴν ὁμοίως, ἀλλʼ ἐλαφρὸς μὲν ἐν τῷ κολάζειν καὶ οὐκ ἐπίμονος, πρὸς δὲ τὰς χάριτας τελεσιουργός καὶ τοῖς εὐεργετηθεῖσι διὰ παντὸς ὥσπερ εὐεργέταις εὔνους, καὶ πρόθυμος, ὡς κάλλιστα τῶν κτημάτων, τοὺς ἐν πεπονθότας ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ περιέπειν ἀεὶ καὶ σῴζειν. φιλοτιμότατος δὲ καὶ φιλοδοξότατος ὢν ἐβούλετο τῶν ἀρίστων καὶ μεγίστων πράξεων αὐτουργὸς εἶναι, καὶ τοῖς δεομένοις εὖ παθεῖν μᾶλλον ἢ τοῖς εὖ ποιῆσαι δυναμένοις ἔχαιρε, τοὺς μὲν ὕλην τῆς ἀρετῆς, τοὺς δὲ ὥσπερ ἀντιπάλους πρὸς δόξαν ἡγούμενος.
For he was gentle in his punishments and not persistent, whereas in his favours he was unremitting, always well disposed towards his beneficiaries as though they were his benefactors, and eager to protect at all times and preserve those who had ever met with kindness at his hands, as though they were his choicest possessions. But since he was covetous of honour and fame, he desired that his noblest and greatest achievements should be the result of his own efforts, and he took more pleasure in those who wanted to receive kindness than in those who were able to bestow it, considering that the former were objects upon which he could exercise his virtue, while the latter were his rivals, so to speak, in the struggle for fame.
παιδευθεὶς δὲ παιδείαν τὴν διὰ τῶν ἐθῶν τῶν στρατιωτικῶν, πολλοὺς τότε καὶ μεγάλους τῆς Ῥώμης ἀγωνιζομένης ἀγῶνας καὶ τῶν νέων εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐν τῷ στρατεύεσθαι στρατηγεῖν διδασκομένων, πρῶτον μὲν ἐν τῷ πρὸς Ἀννίβαν πολέμῳ χιλίαρχος ὑπατεύοντι Μαρκέλλῳ συνεστρατεύσατο.
From his earliest years he was trained in the arts of war, since at that time Rome was carrying on many great contests and her young men from the very outset were taught by service as soldiers how to command soldiers. To begin with, then, he served as military tribune in the war against Hannibal under Marcellus the consul.
καὶ Μάρκελλος μὲν ἐνέδρᾳ περιπεσὼν ἐτελεύτησε, Τίτος δὲ τῆς περὶ Τάραντα χώρας καὶ Τάραντος αὐτοῦ τὸ δεύτερον ἡλωκότος ἔπαρχος ἀποδειχθείς εὐδοκίμησεν οὐχ ἧττον ἐπὶ τοῖς δικαίοις ἢ κατὰ τὴν στρατείαν. διὸ καὶ πεμπομένων ἀποίκων εἰς δύο πόλεις, Νάρνειάν τε καὶ Κῶνσαν, ἄρχων ᾑρέθη καὶ οἰκιστής.
Marcellus fell into an ambush and lost his life, but Titus was appointed governor of the country about Tarentum and of Tarentum itself, now captured for the second time. Here he won a good name, no less for his administration of justice than for his conduct in the field. For this reason he was also chosen director-in-chief of the colonists sent out to the two cities of Narnia and Cosa.
τοῦτο δὲ αὑτὸν ἐπῆρε μάλιστα τὰς διὰ μέσου καὶ συνήθεις τοῖς νέοις ἀρχὰς ὑπερβάντα, δημαρχίαν καὶ στρατηγίαν καὶ ἀγορανομίαν, εὐθὺς αὑτὸν ὑπατείας ἀξιοῦν καὶ κατῄει τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν κληρουχιῶν ἔχων προθύμους. τῶν δὲ περὶ Φούλβιον καὶ Μάνιον δημάρχων ἐνισταμένων καὶ δεινὸν εἶναι λεγόντων ἄνδρα νέον εἰς τὴν μεγίστην ἀρχὴν εἰσβιάζεσθαι παρὰ τοὺς νόμους, οἷον ἀτέλεστον ἔτι τῶν πρώτων ἱερῶν καὶ μυστηρίων τῆς πολιτείας,
This success more than anything else so exalted his ambition that he ignored the intervening offices which young men generally sought, the offices of tribune, praetor, and aedile, and thought himself worthy at once of a consulship; so he became a candidate for that office, with the eager support of his colonists. But the tribunes Fulvius and Manius opposed his course, and said that it was a monstrous thing for a young man to force his way into the highest office contrary to the laws, before he had been initiated, as it were, into the first rites and mysteries of government.
ἡ μὲν σύγκλητος ἀπέδωκε τῷ δήμῳ τὴν ψῆφον, ὁ δὲ δῆμος ἀπέδειξεν αὑτὸν ὕπατον μετὰ Σέξτου Αἰλίου, καίπερ οὔπω τριάκοντα ἔτη γεγονότα, Κλήρῳ δὲ λαγχάνει τὸν πρὸς Φίλιππον καὶ Μακεδόνας πόλεμον, εὐτυχίᾳ τινὶ τῶν Ῥωμαίων συλλαχὼν πράγμασι καὶ ἀνθρώποις οὐ πάντα πολέμῳ καὶ βίᾳ χρωμένου δεομένοις ἄρχοντος, ἀλλὰ πειθοῖ καὶ ὁμιλίᾳ μᾶλλον ἁλωσίμοις.
The senate, however, referred the matter to the votes of the people, and the people elected him consul along with Sextus Aelius, although he was not yet thirty years old. The lot assigned him to the war with Philip and the Macedonians, and it was a marvellous piece of good fortune for the Romans that he was thus designated for a field of activity where the people did not require a leader relying entirely upon war and violence, but were rather to be won over by persuasion and friendly intercourse.
Φιλίππῳ γὰρ ἦν στόμωμα μὲν εἰς μάχην ἀποχρῶν ἡ Μακεδόνων ἀρχή, ῥώμη δὲ πολέμου τριβὴν ἔχοντος καὶ χορηγία καὶ καταφυγὴ καὶ ὄργανον ὅλως τῆς φάλαγγος ἡ τῶν Ἑλλήνων δύναμις, ὧν μὴ διαλυθέντων ἀπὸ τοῦ Φιλίππου μιᾶς μάχης οὐκ ἦν ἔργον ὁ πρὸς αὑτὸν πόλεμος.
For the realm of Macedonia afforded Philip a sufficiently strong force for actual battle, but in a war of long duration his phalanx was dependent for its vigour, its support, its places of refuge, and in a word for its entire effectiveness, upon the states of Greece, and unless these were detached from Philip, the war with him would not be a matter of a single battle.
ἡ δʼ Ἑλλὰς οὔπω πολλὰ συνενηνεγμένη Ῥωμαίοις, ἀλλὰ τότε πρῶτον ἐπιμιγνυμένη ταῖς πράξεσιν, εἰ μὴ φύσει τε χρηστὸς ἦν ὁ ἄρχων καὶ λόγῳ μᾶλλον ἢ πολέμῳ χρώμενος, ἐντυγχάνοντί τε προσῆν πιθανότης καὶ πρᾳότης ἐντυγχανομένῳ καὶ τόνος πλεῖστος ὑπὲρ τῶν δικαίων, οὐκ ἂν οὕτως ῥᾳδίως ἀντὶ τῶν συνήθων ἀλλόφυλον ἀρχὴν ἠγάπησε. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ τῶν πράξεων αὐτοῦ δηλοῦται.
Greece, however, had not yet been brought into much contact with the Romans, and now for the first time was drawn into political relations with them. Unless, therefore, the Roman commander had been a man of native goodness who relied upon argument more than upon war, and unless he had been persuasive when he asked an audience and kind when he granted one, ever laying the greatest stress upon what was right and just, Greece would not so easily have been satisfied with a foreign supremacy instead of those to which she had been accustomed. However, this will be made clear in the story of his achievements.
Cite This Text