ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ θαυμασθείς καὶ λαμπρὸς παρὰ τῶν ἐκεῖ πράξεων ἀνακομισθεὶς εἰς Πελοπόννησον εὗρε τὸν μὲν Φίλιππον ὑπὸ τοῦ Τίτου καταπεπολεμημένον, τὸν δὲ Νάβιν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν καὶ τῶν Ῥωμαίων πολεμούμενον. ἐφʼ ὃν εὐθὺς αἱρεθεὶς ἄρχων καὶ ναυμαχίᾳ παραβαλόμενος τὸ τοῦ Ἐπαμεινώνδου παθεῖν ἔδοξε, ποχὺ τῆς περὶ αὐτὸν ἀρετῆς καὶ δόξης ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ κάκιον ἀγωνισάμενος.
Having thus won admiration, and having come back to Peloponnesus with a brilliant reputation from his exploits in Crete, he found that Philip had been defeated and subdued by Titus Flamininus, and that the Achaeans and the Romans were waging war upon Nabis. He was at once chosen general against Nabis, and by hazarding the issue on a naval battle would seem to have fared as Epaminondas once did, since he fought on the sea in a manner which fell far short of his great reputation.
πλὴν Ἐπαμεινώνδαν μὲν ἔνιοι λέγουσιν ὀκνοῦντα γεῦσαι τῶν κατὰ θάλασσαν ὠφελειῶν τοὺς πολίτας, ὅπως αὐτῷ μὴ λάθωσιν ἀντὶ μονίμων ὁπλιτῶν, κατὰ Πλάτωνα, ναῦται γενόμενοι καὶ διαφθαρέντες, ἄπρακτον ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίας καὶ τῶν νήσων ἀπελθεῖν ἑκουσίως·
Epaminondas, however, as some say, was reluctant to give his fellow-citizens a taste of the advantages accruing from naval superiority, in order that they might not surprise him by becoming, instead of steadfast hoplites, to use Plato’s words, degenerate mariners; and therefore he purposely came back from Asia and the islands without achieving anything
Φιλοποίμην δὲ τὴν ἐν τοῖς πεζοῖς ἐπιστήμην καὶ διὰ θαλάττης ἀρκέσειν αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸ καλῶς ἀγωνίσασθαι πεπεισμένος, ἔγνω τὴν ἄσκησιν ἡλίκον μέρος ἐστὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς καὶ πόσην ἐπὶ πάντα τοῖς ἐθισθεῖσι δύναμιν προστίθησιν. οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἐν τῇ ναυμαχίᾳ διὰ τὴν ἀπειρίαν ἔλαττον ἔσχεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ναῦν τινα, παλαιὰν μέν, ἔνδοξον δέ, διʼ ἐτῶν τεσσαράκοντα κατασπάσας ἐπλήρωσεν, ὥστε μὴ στεγούσης κινδυνεῦσαι τοὺς πλέοντας.
Philopoemen, on the other hand, was persuaded that his skill in handling land forces would suffice to give him success in fighting also on the sea, and therefore learned to his cost how large a part of superior excellence consists in practice, and how much additional power it gives to men who have accustomed themselves to all methods of fighting. For not only was he worsted in the sea-fight, owing to his lack of experience, but he actually launched an old but famous ship after forty years of disuse, and manned her, the result being that her seams took in water and her crew came into peril of their lives.
πρὸς ταῦτα γινώσκων καταφρονοῦντας αὐτοῦ τοὺς πολεμίους ὡς παντάπασι πεφευγότος ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης, καὶ πολιορκοῦντας ὑπερηφάνως τὸ Γύθιον, εὐθὺς ἐπέπλευσεν αὐτοῖς οὐ προσδοκῶσιν, ἀλλʼ ἐκλελυμένοις διὰ τὴν νίκην. καὶ νυκτὸς ἐκβιβάσας τοὺς στρατιώτας καὶ προσαγαγών, πῦρ ἐνῆκε ταῖς σκηναῖς καὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον κατέκαυσε καὶ πολλοὺς διέφθειρεν.
Understanding that in consequence of this disaster his enemies despised him, thinking that he had altogether given up activity on the sea, and that they were insolently besieging Gythium, he promptly sailed against them when they did not expect it and were careless because of their victory. He landed his soldiers by night and led them to the attack, set fire to the enemy’s tents, burned down his camp, and slew many of his men.
ὀλίγαις δʼ ὕστερον ἡμέραις καθʼ ὁδὸν ἐν δυσχωρίαις τισὶν ἄφνω τοῦ Νάβιδος ἐπιφανέντος αὐτῷ καὶ φοβήσαντος τοὺς Ἀχαιούς ἀνέλπιστον ἡγουμένους τὴν σωτηρίαν ἐκ τόπων χαλεπῶν καὶ γεγονότων ὑποχειρίων τοῖς πολεμίοις, ὀλίγον χρόνον ἐπιστὰς καὶ περιλαβὼν ὄψει τὴν τοῦ χωρίου φύσιν ἐπέδειξε τὴν τακτικὴν τῶν ἄκρων τῆς πολεμικῆς τέχνην οὖσαν οὕτω μικρὰ κινήσας τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φάλαγγα καὶ πρὸς τὰ παρόντα μεθαρμόσας ἀθορύβως καὶ ῥᾳδίως διεκρούσατο τὴν ἀπορίαν, καὶ προσβαλὼν τοῖς πολεμίοις τροπὴν ἰσχυρὰν ἐποίησεν.
A few days afterward, as he was marching through a rough country, Nabis came suddenly upon him and threw the Achaeans into a fright; they despaired of saving themselves from a position which was difficult and already commanded by the enemy. But Philopoemen waited a little while, surveyed the nature of the ground, and then demonstrated that skill in drawing up an army is the crowning feature in the art of war. For by changing his order of battle a little and adapting it to the present exigency, with no confusion and no trouble he evaded the difficulty, and charging upon the enemy put them to utter rout.
ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν ἑώρα φεύγοντας, ἀλλὰ τῆς χώρας ἄλλον ἄλλῃ διασπειρόμενον ὑλώδης δὲ καὶ περίβουνος ἦν πᾶσα καὶ δύσιππος ὑπὸ ῥείθρων καὶ φαράγγων, τὴν μὲν δίωξιν ἐπέσχε καὶ κατεστρατοπέδευσεν ἔτι φωτὸς ὄντος· τεκμαιρόμενος δὲ τοὺς πολεμίους ἐκ τῆς φυγῆς καθʼ ἕνα καὶ δύο πρὸς τὴν πόλιν ὑπάξειν σκοταίους, ἐλλοχίζει τοῖς περὶ τὸ ἄστυ ῥείθροις καὶ λόφοις πολλοὺς ἔχοντας ἐγχειρίδια τῶν Ἀχαιῶν.
Then, observing that they were not fleeing towards the city, but scattering themselves hither and thither through the region (which was woody, entirely surrounded by hills, and impracticable for cavalry owing to water-courses and ravines), he checked his pursuit and encamped while it was still light. But judging that the enemy after their flight would steal back to the city by ones and twos under cover of the night, he placed large numbers of his Achaeans armed with swords in ambush among the water-courses and hills about the city.
ἐνταῦθα πλείστους ἀποθανεῖν συνέβη τῶν τοῦ Νάβιδος· ἅτε γὰρ οὐκ ἀθρόαν ποιούμενοι τὴν ἀναχώρησιν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἑκάστοις αἱ φυγαὶ συνετύγχανον, ὥσπερ ὄρνιθες ἡλίσκοντο περὶ τὴν πόλιν εἰς τὰς τῶν πολεμίων χεῖρας καταίροντες.
Here very many of the followers of Nabis met their death; for since they did not make their return in a body, but as the chances of flight disposed them severally, they fell into the hands of their enemies and were caught like birds about the city.
ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀγαπώμενος καὶ τιμώμενος ἐκπρεπῶς ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις φιλότιμον ὄντα τὸν Τίτον ἡσυχῇ παρελύπει. καὶ γὰρ ὡς Ῥωμαίων ὕπατος ἀνδρὸς Ἀρκάδος ἠξίου θαυμάζεσθαι μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, καὶ ταῖς εὐεργεσίαις ὑπερβάλλειν οὐ παρὰ μικρὸν ἡγεῖτο, διʼ ἑνὸς κηρύγματος ἐλευθερώσας τὴν Ἑλλάδα, ὅση Φιλίππῳ καὶ Μακεδόσιν ἐδούλευσεν.
In consequence of this exploit Philopoemen was beloved by the Greeks and conspicuously honoured by them in their theatres, thus giving secret umbrage to Titus Flamininus, who was an ambitious man. For as Roman consul he thought himself more worthy of the Achaeans’ admiration than a man of Arcadia, and he considered that his benefactions far exceeded those of Philopoemen, since by a single proclamation he had set free all those parts of Greece which had been subject to Philip and the Macedonians.
ἐκ δὲ τούτου καταλύεται μὲν ὁ Τίτος τῷ Νάβιδι τὸν πόλεμον, ἀποθνῄσκει δὲ ὁ Νάβις ὑπὸ Αἰτωλῶν δολοφονηθείς, τεταραγμένης δὲ τῆς Σπάρτης ὁ Φιλοποίμην ἁρπάσας τὸν καιρὸν ἐπιπίπτει μετὰ δυνάμεως, καὶ τῶν μὲν ἀκόντων, τοὺς δὲ συμπείσας προσηγάγετο καὶ μετεκόμισεν εἰς τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς τὴν πόλιν.
After this Flamininus made peace with Nabis, and Nabis was treacherously put to death by the Aetolians. Sparta was therefore in a state of confusion, and Philopoemen, seizing his opportunity, fell upon the city with an armed force, and partly by compulsion, partly by persuasion, brought it over to his purposes and made it a member of the Achaean league.
οὗ γενομένου θαυμαστῶς μὲν εὐδοκίμησε παρὰ τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς, προσκτησάμενος αὐτοῖς ἀξίωμα πόλεως τηλικαύτης καὶ δύναμιν οὐ γὰρ ἦν μικρὸν Ἀχαΐας μέρος γενέσθαι τὴν Σπάρτην, ἀνέλαβε δὲ καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων τοὺς ἀρίστους, φύλακα τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἐκεῖνον ἐλπίσαντας ἕξειν.
This achievement brought him an amazing repute among the Achaeans, since through his efforts they had acquired a city of so great dignity and power (and indeed it was no slight matter that Sparta had become a member of the Achaean league); moreover, Philopoemen carried with him the principal men among the Spartans, who hoped to have in him a guardian of their liberties.
διὸ καὶ τὴν Νάβιδος οἰκίαν καὶ οὐσίαν ἐξαργυρισθεῖσαν καὶ γενομένην εἴκοσι καὶ ἑκατὸν ταλάντων ἐψηφίσαντο δωρεὰν αὐτῷ δοῦναι, πρεσβείαν ὑπὲρ τούτων πέμψαντες. ἔνθα δὴ καὶ διεφάνη καθαρῶς ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἀνὴρ οὐ δοκῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὢν ἄριστος, πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἐβούλετο τῶν Σπαρτιατῶν ἀνδρὶ τοιούτῳ διαλέγεσθαι περὶ δωροδοκίας, ἀλλὰ δεδοικότες καὶ ἀναδυόμενοι προεβάλοντο τὸν ξένον αὐτοῦ Τιμόλαον.
Therefore, after they had confiscated the house and property of Nabis and obtained thereby a hundred and twenty talents, they Voted to make a present of the money to Philopoemen, and to send an embassy to Megalopolis on the matter. Here, indeed, it became perfectly clear that Philopoemen not only seemed to be, but actually was, a most excellent man. For, to begin with, no Spartan was willing to confer with a man of his character about the acceptance of a gift, but they were all so reluctant and afraid to do it that they entrusted the business to a guest-friend of his, Timolaüs.
ἔπειτα δὲ αὐτὸς ὁ Τιμόλαος, ὡς ἦλθεν εἰς Μεγάλην πόλιν, ἑστιαθεὶς παρὰ τῷ Φιλοποίμενι καὶ τὴν σεμνότητα τῆς ὁμιλίας αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀφέλειαν τῆς διαίτης καὶ τὸ ἦθος ἐγγύθεν οὐδαμῇ προσιτὸν οὐδὲ εὐάλωτον ὑπὸ χρημάτων κατανοήσας, ἀπεσιώπησε περὶ τῆς δωρεᾶς, ἑτέραν δέ τινα πρόφασιν τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁδοῦ ποιησάμενος ᾤχετο ἀπιών. καὶ πάλιν ἐκ δευτέρου πεμφθείς ταὐτὸν ἔπαθε.
And in the second place, Timolaüs himself, when he came to Megalopolis, having been entertained at the house of Philopoemen, and having learned thoroughly how dignified he was in his converse with others, how simple his ways of living, and how his character was nowhere to be approached and much less easy to be overcome by bribes, held his peace about the gift of money, and after giving some other excuse for his visit to him, went back home. And when he was sent a second time on the same errand, he did as before.
τρίτῃ δὲ ὁδῷ μόλις ἐντυχὼν ἐδήλωσε τὴν προθυμίαν τῆς πόλεως, ὁ δὲ Φιλοποίμην ἡδέως ἀκούσας ἧκεν αὐτὸς εἰς Λακεδαίμονα, καὶ συνεβούλευσεν αὐτοῖς μὴ τοὺς φίλους καὶ ἀγαθοὺς δεκάζειν, ὧν προῖκα τῆς ἀρετῆς ἔξεστιν ἀπολαύειν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς πονηροὺς καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐν τῷ συνεδρίῳ καταστασιάζοντας ὠνεῖσθαι καὶ διαφθείρειν, ἵνα τῷ λαβεῖν ἐπιστομισθέντες ἧττον ἐνοχλοῖεν αὐτοῖς βέλτιον γὰρ εἶναι τῶν ἐχθρῶν παραιρεῖσθαι τὴν παρρησίαν ἢ τῶν φίλων, οὕτως μὲν ἦν πρὸς χρήματα λαμπρός.
On his third visit, however, he at last got so far as to acquaint Philopoemen with the earnest desire of his city. Then Philopoemen, who was pleased by what he heard, went in person to Sparta, and counselled the people there not to try to bribe good men who were their friends, and by whose virtues they could profit without payment of money, but rather to buy up and corrupt the bad men who were ruining the city by their factious conduct in the assembly, to the end that such might have their mouths stopped in consequence of their venality, and so he less annoying to their fellow-citizens; for it was better, he said, to take away freedom of speech from their enemies rather than from their friends. Such was his splendid spirit in matters of money.
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