ἤδη δὲ γεγονὼς ἔτος ἑβδομηκοστόν, ὄγδοον δὲ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν στρατηγῶν, ἤλπιζεν οὐ μόνον ἐκείνην τήν ἀρχὴν ἀπολέμως διάξειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ βίου τὸ λοιπὸν αὐτῷ μεθʼ ἡσυχίας καταβιῶναι τὰ πράγματα παρέξειν. ὡς γὰρ αἱ νόσοι ταῖς τῶν σωμάτων ῥώμαις συναπομαραίνεσθαι δοκοῦσιν, οὕτως ἐν ταῖς Ἑλληνικαῖς πόλεσιν ἐπιλειπούσης τῆς δυνάμεως ἔληγε τὸ φιλόνικον.
But being now seventy years of age, and for the eighth time general of the Achaeans, he hoped not only to pass that year of office without war, but also that affairs would permit him to spend the rest of his life in peace and quiet. For as our diseases seem to lose their virulence as our bodily strength declines, so among the Greek cities the spirit of contention lapsed as their power waned.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ Νέμεσίς τις ὥσπερ ἀθλητὴν εὐδρομοῦντα πρὸς τέρμασι τοῦ βίου κατέβαλε, λέγεται γὰρ ἔν τινι συλλόγῳ τῶν παρόντων ἐπαινούντων ἄνδρα δεινὸν εἶναι δοκοῦντα περὶ στρατηγίαν εἰπεῖν τὸν Φιλοποίμενα, καὶ πῶς ἄξιον ἐκείνου λόγον ἔχειν τοῦ ἀνδρός, ὅστις ἥλω ζῶν ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων;
Nevertheless, some divine displeasure threw him down, like an all but victorious runner, at the very goal of his life. For it is recorded that at some conference, when others present were lavishing praise upon one who was reputed to be a redoubtable general, Philopoemen contemptuously said: Yet why should any account be made of this man, who has been taken alive by his enemies?
μεθʼ ἡμέρας δὲ ὀλίγας Δεινοκράτης Μεσσήνιος, ἄνθρωπος ἰδίᾳ τε τῷ Φιλοποίμενι προσκεκρουκώς καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπαχθὴς διὰ πονηρίαν καὶ ἀκολασίαν, τήν τε Μεσσήνην ἀπέστησε τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, καὶ κώμην τήν καλουμένην Κολωνίδα προσηγγέλθη μέλλων καταλαμβάνειν ὁ δὲ Φιλοποίμην ἔτυχε μὲν ἐν Ἄργει πυρέσσων, πυθόμενος δὲ ταῦτα συνέτεινεν εἰς Μεγάλην πόλιν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ σταδίους πλείονας ἢ τετρακοσίους.
And a few days afterwards Deinocrates the Messenian, a man who had a private quarrel with Philopoemen and was obnoxious to everybody else because of his baseness and unbridled life, induced Messene to revolt from the Achaean league, and was reported about to seize the village called Colonis. Philopoemen at the time lay sick of a fever at Argos, but on learning these facts, he hastened to Megalopolis in a single day, a journey of more than four hundred furlongs.
κἀκεῖθεν εὐθὺς ἐβοήθει τοὺς ἱππεῖς ἀναλαβών, οἵπερ ἦσαν ἐνδοξότατοι μὲν τῶν πολιτῶν, νέοι δὲ κομιδῇ, διʼ εὔνοιαν τοῦ Φιλοποίμενος καὶ ζῆλον ἐθελονταὶ συστρατεύοντες. ἱππασάμενοι δὲ πρὸς τήν Μεσσήνην καὶ περὶ τὸν Εὐάνδρου λόφον ἀπαντῶντι τῷ Δεινοκράτει συμπεσόντες ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἐτρέψαντο,
From there he at once set out for the rescue, taking with him the horsemen. These were the city’s most prominent men, but altogether young, and serving as volunteers under Philopoemen out of good will and admiration for him. They rode off towards Messene and encountered Deinocrates, who came to meet them at Evander’s hill. Him they put to flight;
τῶν δὲ πεντακοσίων, οἳ τήν χώραν τῶν Μεσσηνίων παρεφύλαττον, ἐξαίφνης ἐπιφερομένων καὶ τῶν πρότερον ἡττημένων, ὡς τούτους κατεῖδον, αὖθις ἀνὰ τοὺς λόφους ἀθροιζομένων, δείσας ὁ Φιλοποίμην κυκλωθῆναι καὶ τῶν ἱππέων φειδόμενος ἀνεχώρει διὰ τόπων χαλεπῶν, αὐτὸς οὐραγῶν καὶ πολλάκις ἀντεξελαύνων τοῖς πολεμίοις καὶ ὅλως ἐπισπώμενος ἐφʼ ἑαυτόν, οὐ τολμώντων ἀντεμβαλεῖν ἐκείνων, ἀλλὰ κραυγαῖς καὶ περιδρομαῖς χρωμένων ἄποθεν.
but the five hundred men who were guarding the open country of Messene suddenly attacked them, and when those who had before been worsted saw this, they collected together along the hills. Then Philopoemen, fearing that he would be enveloped, and trying to spare his horsemen, withdrew over difficult ground, bringing up the rear himself and frequently riding out against the enemy, and trying to draw their attacks entirely upon himself. They did not venture, however, to return his attacks, but merely shouted and threatened his flanks.
ἀφιστάμενος οὖν πολλάκις διὰ τοὺς νεανίσκους καὶ καθʼ ἕνα παραπέμπων ἔλαθεν ἐν πολλοῖς ἀπομονωθεὶς πολεμίοις. καὶ συνάψαι μὲν εἰς χεῖρας οὐδεὶς ἐτόλμησεν αὐτῷ, πόρρωθεν δὲ βαλλόμενος καὶ βιαζόμενος πρὸς χωρία πετρώδη καὶ παράκρημνα χαλεπῶς μετεχειρίζετο καὶ κατέξαινε τὸν ἵππον.
Withdrawing from the line frequently, then, to spare his young men, and sending them one by one into safety, before he was aware of it he was left alone among numerous enemies. Even then no one ventured to come to close quarters with him, but he was pelted with missiles from a distance and forced upon rocky and precipitous places, so that he had difficulty in managing his horse and kept tearing him with the spur.
αὐτῷ δὲ τὸ μὲν γῆρας ὑπὸ ἀσκήσεως πολλῆς ἐλαφρὸν ἦν καὶ πρὸς οὐδὲν ἐμπόδιον εἰς τὸ σωθῆναι, τότε δὲ καὶ διὰ τήν ἀρρωστίαν τοῦ σώματος ἐνδεοῦς γεγονότος καὶ διὰ τήν ὁδοιπορίαν κατακόπου, βαρὺν ὄντα καὶ δυσκίνητον ἤδη σφαλεὶς ὁ ἵππος εἰς τήν γῆν κατέβαλε, σκληροῦ δὲ τοῦ πτώματος γενομένου καὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς παθούσης ἔκειτο πολὺν χρόνον ἄναυδος, ὥστε καὶ τοὺς πολεμίους τεθνάναι δόξαντας αὐτόν ἐπιχειρεῖν στρέφειν τὸ σῶμα καὶ σκυλεύειν.
His age, owing to his generous exercise, was not burdensome, and in no way impeded his escape; but at that time his body was enfeebled by sickness and worn out with a long journey, so that he was heavy and stiff, and at length his horse stumbled and threw him to the ground. His fall was a heavy one and his head was hurt, and he lay for a long time speechless, so that his enemies thought him dead and tried to turn his body over and strip it of its armour.
ἐπεὶ δὲ τήν κεφαλὴν ἐπάρας διέβλεψεν, ἀθρόοι περιπεσόντες ἀπέστρεφον αὐτοῦ τὰς χεῖρας ὀπίσω καὶ δήσαντες ἦγον, ὕβρει χρώμενοι πολλῇ καὶ λοιδορίᾳ κατʼ ἀνδρὸς οὐδὲ ὄναρ ἄν ποτε παθεῖν ὑπὸ Δεινοκράτους ταῦτα προσδοκήσαντος.
But when he raised his head and opened his eyes, they threw themselves in a throng upon him, tied his hands behind his back, and led him away, treating with great insolence and contumely a man who could never have even dreamed that he would suffer such a fate at the hands of Deinocrates.
οἱ δʼ ἐν τῇ πόλει τῇ μὲν ἀγγελίᾳ θαυμαστῶς ἐπαρθέντες ἠθροίζοντο περὶ τὰς πύλας· ὡς δὲ εἶδον ἑλκόμενον τὸν Φιλοποίμενα παρʼ ἀξίαν τῆς τε δόξης καὶ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἔργων καὶ τροπαίων, ἠλέησαν οἱ πλεῖστοι καὶ συνήλγησαν, ὥστε καὶ δακρῦσαι καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἐκφλαυρίσαι δύναμιν ὡς ἄπιστον καὶ τὸ μηδὲν οὖσαν.
The people of Messene, wonderfully elated at the news, gathered in throngs at the gates. But when they saw Philopoemen dragged along in a manner unworthy of his fame and of his former exploits and trophies, most of them were struck with pity and felt sympathy for him, so that they actually shed tears and spoke with bitterness of the inconstancy and vanity of human greatness.
οὕτω δὲ κατὰ μικρὸν εἰς πολλοὺς φιλάνθρωπος ἐχώρει λόγος ὡς μνημονευτέον εἴη τῶν πρόσθεν εὐεργεσιῶν, καὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἣν ἀπέδωκεν αὐτοῖς Νάβιν ἐξελάσας τὸν τύραννον. ὀλίγοι δὲ ἦσαν οἳ τῷ Δεινοκράτει χαριζόμενοι στρεβλοῦν τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ κτείνειν ἐκέλευον ὡς βαρὺν πολέμιον καὶ δυσμείλικτον, αὐτῷ τε Δεινοκράτει φοβερώτερον εἰ διαφύγοι καθυβρισμένος ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ γεγονὼς αἰχμάλωτος.
And so, little by little, many were led to say humanely that they ought to remember his former benefactions, and especially how he had restored to them their freedom by expelling the tyrant Nabis. But there were a few who, to gratify Deinocrates, urged that the captive should be tortured and put to death as a stern and implacable enemy, and one more than ever to be feared by Deinocrates himself in case he made his escape after having been taken prisoner and loaded with insults by him.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ κομίσαντες αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν καλούμενον Θησαυρόν, οἴκημα κατάγειον οὔτε πνεῦμα λαμβάνον οὔτε φῶς ἔξωθεν οὔτε θύρας ἔχον, ἀλλὰ μεγάλῳ λίθῳ περιαγομένῳ κατακλειόμενον, ἐνταῦθα κατέθεντο, καὶ τὸν λίθον ἐπιρράξαντες ἄνδρας ἐνόπλους κύκλῳ περιέστησαν.
However, they carried Philopoemen into the Thesaurus, as it was called, a subterranean chamber which admitted neither air nor light from outside and had no door, but was closed by dragging a huge stone in front of it. Here they placed him, and after planting the stone against it, set a guard of armed men round about.
οἱ δʼ ἱππεῖς τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἐκ τῆς φυγῆς ἀναλαβόντες αὑτούς, ὡς οὐδαμοῦ φανερὸς ἦν ὁ Φιλοποίμην, ἀλλʼ ἐδόκει τεθνάναι, πολὺν μὲν χρόνον ἐπέστησαν ἀνακαλούμενοι τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ δίδοντες ἀλλήλοις λόγον ὡς αἰσχρὰν σωτηρίαν καὶ ἄδικον σῴζονται προέμενοι τοῖς πολεμίοις τὸν στρατηγόν ἀφειδήσαντα τοῦ ζῆν διʼ αὑτούς,
Meanwhile the horsemen of the Achaeans recovered themselves after their flight, and when Philopoemen was nowhere to be seen, but was thought to be dead, they stood for a long time calling aloud upon their leader and reproaching one another for having won an unlawful and shameful safety by abandoning to the enemy their general, who had been prodigal of his life for their sakes.
ἔπειτα προϊόντες ἅμα καὶ πολυπραγμονοῦντες ἐπύθοντο τὴν σύλληψιν αὐτοῦ καὶ διήγγελλον εἰς τὰς πόλεις τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, οἱ δὲ συμφορὰν ποιούμενοι μεγάλην ἀπαιτεῖν μὲν ἔγνωσαν τὸν ἄνδρα παρὰ τῶν Μεσσηνίων πρεσβείαν πέμψαντες, αὐτοὶ δὲ παρεσκευάζοντο στρατεύειν.
Then they went forward in a body, and by diligent effort learned of his capture, and sent word of it to the cities of the Achaeans. The Achaeans felt that they had suffered a great calamity, and determined to send an embassy and demand Philopoemen from the Messenians, while they themselves prepared an expedition against the city.
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