λέγεται δὲ ὑπὸ τάς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας ἐν αἷς ὁ Σύλλας ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰταλίας ἐκίνει τὸν στόλον, ἄλλα τε πολλὰ Μιθριδάτῃ διατρίβοντι περὶ τὸ Πέργαμον ἐπισκῆψαι δαιμόνια, καὶ Νίκην στεφανηφόρον καθιεμένην ὑπὸ τῶν Περγαμηνῶν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἔκ τινων ὀργάνων ἄνωθεν ὅσον οὔπω τῆς κεφαλῆς ψαύουσαν συντριβῆναι, καὶ τὸν στέφανον ἐκπεσόντα κατὰ τοῦ θεάτρου φέρεσθαι χαμᾶζε διαθρυπτόμενον, ὥστε φρίκην μὲν τῷ δήμῳ, ἀθυμίαν δὲ πολλὴν Μιθριδάτῃ παρασχεῖν, καίπερ αὐτῷ τότε τῶν πραγμάτων ἐλπίδος πέρα προχωρούντων.
And it is said that about the time when Sulla was moving his armament from Italy, Mithridates, who was staying at Pergamum, was visited with many other portents from Heaven, and that a Victory with a crown in her hand, which the Pergamenians were lowering towards him by machinery of some sort, was broken to pieces just as she was about to touch his head, and the crown went tumbling from her hand to the ground in the midst of the theatre, and was shattered, whereat the people shuddered, and Mithridates was greatly dejected, although at that time his affairs were prospering beyond his hopes.
αὐτὸς μὲν γὰρ Ἀσίαν τε Ῥωμαίων καὶ Βιθυνιαν καὶ Καππαδοκίαν τῶν βασιλέων ἀφῃρημένος ἐν Περγάμῳ καθῆστο, πλούτους καὶ δυναστείας καὶ τυραννίδας διανέμων τοῖς φίλοις, τῶν δὲ παίδων ὁ μὲν ἐν Πόντῳ καὶ Βοσπόρῳ τὴν παλαιὰν ἄχρι τῶν ὑπὲρ τὴν Μαιῶτιν ἀοικήτων ἀρχὴν κατεῖχεν οὐδενὸς παρενοχλοῦντος, Ἀριαράθης δὲ Θρᾴκην καὶ Μακεδονίαν ἐπῄει στρατῷ μεγάλῳ προσαγόμενος,
For he himself had wrested Asia from the Romans, and Bithynia and Cappadocia from their kings, and was now set down in Pergamum, dispensing riches, principalities, and sovereignties to his friends; and of his sons, one was in Pontus and Bosporus, holding without any opposition the ancient realm as far as the deserts beyond Lake Maeotis, while Ariarathes was overrunning Thrace and Macedonia with a large army, and trying to win them over;
ἄλλους δὲ οἱ στρατηγοὶ τόπους ἐχειροῦντο δυνάμεις ἔχοντες, ὧν ὁ μέγιστος Ἀρχέλαος ταῖς μὲν ναυσὶν ὁμοῦ τι συμπάσης ἐπικρατῶν τῆς θαλάττης τάς τε Κυκλάδας νήσους ἐδουλοῦτο καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσαι Μαλέας ἐντὸς ἵδρυνται, καὶ τὴν Εὔβοιαν αὐτὴν εἶχεν, ἐκ δὲ Ἀθηνῶν ὁρμώμενος τὰ μέχρι Θετταλίας ἔθνη τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀφίστη, μικρὰ προσκρούσας περὶ Χαιρώνειαν.
his generals, too, with forces under them, were subduing other regions, and the greatest of them, Archelaüs, who with his fleet controlled the entire sea, was subjugating the Cyclades, and all the other islands which lie to the east of Cape Malea, and was in possession of Euboea itself, while from his head-quarters at Athens he was bringing into revolt from Rome the peoples of Greece as far as Thessaly, although he met with slight reverses at Chaeroneia.
ἐνταῦθα γὰρ αὐτῷ Βρέττιος Σούρρας ἀπήντησε, πρεσβευτὴς μὲν ὢν Σεντίου, τοῦ στρατηγοῦ τῆς Μακεδονίας, ἀνὴρ δὲ τόλμῃ καὶ φρονήσει διαφέρων, οὗτος Ἀρχελάῳ δίκην ῥεύματος φερομένῳ διὰ τῆς Βοιωτίας ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἀντιστάς, καὶ τρισὶ μάχαις διαγωνισάμενος περὶ Χαιρώνειαν, ἐξέωσε καὶ συνέστειλε πάλιν ἐπὶ τὴν θάλατταν.
For here he was confronted by Bruttius Sura, who was a lieutenant of Sentius the praetor of Macedonia, and a man of superior courage and prudence. This man, as Archelaüs came rushing like a torrent through Boeotia, opposed him most fiercely, and after thrice giving him battle at Chaeroneia, repulsed him, and drove him back to the sea.
Λευκίου δὲ Λευκόλλου κελεύσαντος αὐτὸν ὑποχωρεῖν ἐπιόντι Σύλλᾳ καὶ τὸν ἐψηφισμένον ἐκείνῳ ἐᾶν πόλεμον, εὐθὺς ἐκλιπὼν τὴν Βοιωτίαν ὀπίσω πρὸς Σέντιον ἀπήλαυνε, καίπερ αὐτῷ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐλπίδος πέρα προχωρούντων καὶ τῆς Ἑλλάδος οἰκείως ἐχούσης πρὸς μεταβολὴν διὰ τὴν ἐκείνου καλοκἀγαθίαν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ Βρεττίῳ μὲν ταῦτα λαμπρότατα τῶν πεπραγμένων.
But when Lucius Lucullus ordered him to give place to Sulla, who was coming, and to leave the conduct of the war to him, as the senate had voted, he at once abandoned Boeotia and marched back to Sentius, although his efforts were proving successful beyond hope, and although the nobility of his bearing was making Greece well-disposed towards a change of allegiance. However, these were the most brilliant achievements of Bruttius.
Σύλλας δὲ τὰς μὲν ἄλλας πόλεις εὐθὺς εἶχεν ἐπιπρεσβευομένας καὶ καλούσας, ταῖς δὲ Ἀθήναις διὰ τὸν τύραννον Ἀριστίωνα βασιλεύεσθαι ἠναγκασμέναις ἄθρους ἐπέστη καὶ τὸν Πειραιᾶ περιλαβὼν ἐπολιόρκει, μηχανήν τε πᾶσαν ἐφιστὰς καὶ μάχας παντοδαπὰς ποιούμενος.
As for Sulla, be at once received deputations and invitations from the other cities, but Athens was compelled by the tyrant Aristion to side with Mithridates. Against this city, therefore, Sulla led up all his forces, and investing the Piraeus, laid siege to it, bringing to bear upon it every sort of siege-engine, and making all sorts of assaults upon it.
καίτοι χρόνον οὐ πολὺν ἀνασχομένῳ παρῆν ἀκινδύνως ἑλεῖν τὴν ἄνω πόλιν, ὑπὸ λιμοῦ συνηγμένην ἤδη τῇ χρείᾳ τῶν ἀναγκαίων εἰς τὸν ἔσχατον καιρόν ἀλλʼ ἐπειγόμενος εἰς Ῥώμην καὶ δεδιὼς τὸν ἐκεῖ νεωτερισμόν, πολλοῖς μὲν κινδύνοις, πολλαῖς δὲ μάχαις, μεγάλαις δὲ δαπάναις κατέσπευδε τὸν πόλεμον, ᾧ γε δίχα τῆς ἄλλης παρασκευῆς ἡ περὶ τὰ μηχανήματα πραγματεία ζεύγεσι μυρίοις ὀρικοῖς ἐχορηγεῖτο, καθʼ ἡμέραν ἐνεργοῖς οὖσι πρὸς τήν ὑπηρεσίαν.
And yet if he had been patient a little while, he might have captured the upper city without hazard, since it lacked the necessities of life and was already reduced by famine to the last extremity. But since he was eager to get back to Rome, and feared the spirit of revolution there, he ran many risks, fought many battles, and made great outlays that he might hasten on the war, in which, not to speak of his other munitions, the operation of the siege-engines called for ten thousand pairs of mules, which were employed daily for this service.
ἐπιλειπούσης δὲ τῆς ὕλης διὰ τὸ κόπτεσθαι πολλὰ τῶν ἔργων περικλώμενα τοῖς αὑτῶν βρίθεσι καὶ πυρπολεῖσθαι βαλλόμενα συνεχῶς ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων, ἐπεχείρησε τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἄλσεσι, καὶ τήν τε Ἀκαδήμειαν ἔκειρε δενδροφορωτάτην προαστείων οὖσαν καὶ τὸ Λύκειον. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ χρημάτων ἔδει πολλῶν πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον, ἐκίνει τὰ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἄσυλα, τοῦτο μὲν ἐξ Ἐπιδαύρου, τοῦτο δὲ ἐξ Ὀλυμπίας, τὰ κάλλιστα καὶ πολυτελέστατα τῶν ἀναθημάτων μεταπεμπόμενος.
And when timber began to fail, owing to the destruction of many of the works, which broke down of their own weight, and to the burning of those which were continually smitten by the enemy’s fire-bolts, he laid hands upon the sacred groves, and ravaged the Academy, which was the most wooded of the city’s suburbs, as well as the Lyceum. And since he needed much money also for the war, he diverted to his uses the sacred treasures of Hellas, partly from Epidaurus, and partly from Olympia, sending for the most beautiful and most precious of the offerings there.
ἔγραψε δὲ καὶ τοῖς Ἀμφικτύοσιν εἰς Δελφοὺς ὅτι τὰ χρήματα τοῦ θεοῦ βέλτιον εἴη κομισθῆναι πρὸς αὐτόν ἢ γὰρ φυλάξειν ἀσφαλέστερον ἢ καὶ ἀποχρησάμενος ἀποδώσειν οὐκ ἐλάττω· καὶ τῶν φίλων ἀπέστειλε Κάφιν τὸν Φωκέα κελεύσας σταθμῷ παραλαβεῖν ἕκαστον. ὁ δὲ Κάφις ἧκε μὲν εἰς Δελφούς, ὤκνει δὲ τῶν ἱερῶν θιγεῖν, καὶ πολλὰ τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων παρόντων ἀπεδάκρυσε τήν ἀνάγκην.
He wrote also to the Amphictyons at Delphi that it was better to have the treasures of the god sent to him; for he would either keep them more safely, or, if he spent them, would restore as much. And he sent Caphis, the Phocian, one of his friends, with the letter, bidding him receive each article by weight. Caphis came to Delphi, but was loth to touch the sacred objects, and shed many tears, in the presence of the Amphictyons, over the necessity of it.
ἐνίων δὲ φασκόντων ἀκοῦσαι φθεγγομένης τῆς ἐν τοῖς ἀνακτόροις κιθάρας, εἴτε πιστεύσας εἴτε τὸν Σύλλαν βουλόμενος ἐμβαλεῖν εἰς δεισιδαιμονίαν, ἐπέστειλε πρὸς αὐτόν, ὁ δὲ σκώπτων ἀντέγραψε θαυμάζειν τὸν Κάφιν, εἰ μὴ συνίησιν ὅτι χαίροντος, οὐ χαλεπαίνοντος, εἴη τὸ ᾅδειν· ὥστε θαρροῦντα λαμβάνειν ἐκέλευσεν, ὡς ἡδομένου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ διδόντος.
And when some of them declared they heard the sound of the god’s lyre in the inner sanctuary, Caphis, either because he believed them, or because he wished to strike Sulla with superstitious fear, sent word to him about it. But Sulla wrote back jocosely, expressing his amazement that Caphis did not understand that singing was done in joy, not anger; his orders were therefore to take boldly, assured that the god was willing and glad to give.
τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄλλα διέλαθε τούς γε πολλοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐκπεμπόμενα, τὸν δὲ ἀργυροῦν πίθον, ὃς ἦν ὑπόλοιπος ἔτι τῶν βασιλικῶν, διὰ βάρος καὶ μέγεθος οὐ δυναμένων ἀναλαβεῖν τῶν ὑποζυγίων, ἀναγκαζόμενοι κατακόπτειν οἱ Ἀμφικτύονες εἰς μνήμην ἐβάλοντο τοῦτο μὲν Τίτον Φλαμινῖνον καὶ Μάνιον Ἀκύλιον, τοῦτο δὲ Αἰμίλιον Παῦλον, ὧν ὁ μὲν Ἀντίοχον ἐξελάσας τῆς Ἑλλάδος, οἱ δὲ τούς Μακεδόνων βασιλεῖς καταπολεμήσαντες οὐ μόνον ἀπέσχοντο τῶν ἱερῶν τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ δῶρα καὶ τιμὴν αὐτοῖς καὶ σεμνότητα πολλὴν προσέθεσαν.
Accordingly, the rest of the treasures were sent away without the knowledge of the most, certainly, of the Greeks; but the silver jar, the only one of the royal gifts which still remained, was too large and heavy for any beast of burden to carry, and the Amphictyons were compelled to cut it into pieces. As they did so, they called to mind now Titus Flamininus and Manius Acilius, and now Aemilius Paulus, of whom one had driven Antiochus out of Greece, and the others had subdued in war the kings of Macedonia; these had not only spared the sanctuaries of the Greeks, but had even made additional gifts to them, and greatly increased their honour and dignity.
ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἀνδρῶν τε σωφρόνων καὶ μεμαθηκότων σιωπῇ τοῖς ἄρχουσι παρέχειν τὰς χεῖρας ἡγούμενοι κατὰ νόμον, αὐτοί τε ταῖς ψυχαῖς βασιλικοὶ καὶ ταῖς δαπάναις εὐτελεῖς ὄντες, μετρίοις ἐχρῶντο καὶ τεταγμένοις ἀναλώμασι, τὸ κολακεύειν τούς στρατιώτας αἴσχιον ἡγούμενοι τοῦ δεδιέναι τούς πολεμίους·
But these were lawful commanders of men who were self-restrained and had learned to serve their leaders without a murmur, and they were themselves kingly in spirit and simple in their personal expenses, and indulged in moderate and specified public expenditures, deeming it more disgraceful to flatter their soldiers than to fear their enemies;
οἱ δὲ τότε στρατηγοὶ βίᾳ τὸ πρωτεῖον, οὐκ ἀρετῇ, κτώμενοι, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπʼ ἀλλήλους δεόμενοι τῶν ὅπλων ἢ τούς πολεμίους, ἠναγκάζοντο δημαγωγεῖν ἐν τῷ στρατηγεῖν, εἶθʼ ὧν εἰς τὰς ἡδυπαθείας τοῖς στρατευομένοις ἀνήλισκον ὠνούμενοι τούς πόνους αὑτῶν, ἔλαθον ὤνιον ὅλην τήν πατρίδα ποιήσαντες ἑαυτούς τε δούλους τῶν κακίστων ἐπὶ τῷ τῶν βελτιόνων ἄρχειν. ταῦτα ἐξήλαυνε Μάριον, εἶτʼ αὖθις ἐπὶ Σύλλαν κατῆγε, ταῦτα Ὀκταουΐου τούς περὶ Κίνναν, ταῦτα Φλάκκου τούς περὶ Φιμβρίαν αὐτόχειρας ἐποίησεν.
the generals of this later time, however, who won their primacy by force, not merit, and who needed their armies for service against one another, rather than against the public enemy, were compelled to merge the general in the demagogue, and then, by purchasing the services of their soldiers with lavish sums to be spent on luxurious living, they unwittingly made their whole country a thing for sale, and themselves slaves of the basest men for the sake of ruling over the better. This was what drove out Marius, and then brought him back again against Sulla; this made Cinna the assassin of Octavius, and Fimbria of Flaccus.
ὧν οὐχ ἥκιστα Σύλλας ἐνέδωκεν ἀρχάς, ἐπὶ τῷ διαφθείρειν καὶ μετακαλεῖν τούς ὑπʼ ἄλλοις ταττομένους καταχορηγῶν εἰς τούς ὑφʼ αὑτῷ καὶ δαπανώμενος, ὥστε ἅμα τούς ἄλλους μὲν εἰς προδοσίαν, τούς δὲ ὑφʼ αὑτῷ εἰς ἀσωτίαν διαφθείρων χρημάτων δεῖσθαι πολλῶν, καὶ μάλιστα πρὸς τὴν πολιορκίαν ἐκείνην.
And it was Sulla who, more than any one else, paved the way for these horrors, by making lavish expenditures upon the soldiers under his own command that he might corrupt and win over those whom others commanded, so that in making traitors of the rest, and profligates of his own soldiers, he had need of much money, and especially for this siege.
δεινὸς γάρ τις ἄρα καὶ ἀπαραίτητος εἶχεν αὐτὸν ἔρως ἑλεῖν τὰς Ἀθήνας, εἴτε ζήλῳ τινὶ πρὸς τὴν πάλαι σκιαμαχοῦντα τῆς πόλεως δόξαν, εἴτε θυμῷ τὰ σκώμματα φέροντα καὶ τὰς βωμολοχίας, αἷς αὐτόν τε καὶ τὴν Μετέλλαν ἀπὸ τῶν τειχῶν ἑκάστοτε γεφυρίζων καὶ κατορχούμενος ἐξηρέθιζεν ὁ τύραννος Ἀριστίων, ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ἀσελγείας ὁμοῦ καὶ ὠμότητος ἔχων συγκειμένην τὴν ψυχήν,
For he was possessed by some dreadful and inexorable passion for the capture of Athens, either because he was fighting with a sort of ardour against the shadow of the city’s former glory, or because he was provoked to anger by the scurrilous abuse which had been showered from the walls upon himself and Metella by the tyrant Aristion, who always danced in mockery as he scoffed. This man’s spirit was compounded of licentiousness and cruelty;
καὶ τὰ χείριστα τῶν Μιθριδατικῶν συνερρυηκότα νοσημάτων καὶ παθῶν εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀνειληφώς, καὶ τῇ πόλει μυρίους μὲν πολέμους, πολλὰς δὲ τυραννίδας καὶ στάσεις διαπεφευγυίᾳ πρότερον ὥσπερ νόσημα θανατηφόρον εἰς τοὺς ἐσχάτους καιροὺς ἐπιτιθέμενος· ὅς, χιλίων δραχμῶν ὠνίου τοῦ μεδίμνου τῶν πυρῶν ὄντος ἐν ἄστει τότε, τῶν ἀνθρώπων σιτουμένων τὸ περὶ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν φυόμενον παρθένιον,
he had made himself a sink for the worst of the diseases and passions of Mithridates; and in these her last days he had fixed himself, like a fatal malady, upon a city which had previously passed safely through countless wars, and many usurpations and seditions. This man, although at the time a bushel of wheat sold in the city for a thousand drachmas, and although men made food for themselves of the fever-few which grew on the acropolis,
ὑποδήματα δὲ καὶ ληκύθους ἑφθὰς ἐσθιόντων, αὐτὸς ἐνδελεχῶς πότοις μεθημερινοῖς καὶ κώμοις χρώμενος καὶ πυρριχίζων καὶ γελωτοποιῶν πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους τὸν μὲν ἱερὸν τῆς θεοῦ λύχνον ἀπεσβηκότα διὰ σπάνιν ἐλαίου περιεῖδε, τῇ δὲ ἱεροφάντιδι πυρῶν ἡμίεκτον προσαιτούσῃ πεπέρεως ἔπεμψε, τοὺς δὲ βουλευτὰς καὶ ἱερεῖς ἱκετεύοντας οἰκτεῖραι τὴν πόλιν καὶ διαλύσασθαι πρὸς Σύλλαν τοξεύμασι βάλλων διεσκέδασεν.
and boiled down shoes and leather oil-flasks to eat, was himself continually indulging in drinking-bouts and revels by daylight, was dancing in armour and making jokes to deride the enemy, while he suffered the sacred lamp of the goddess to go out for lack of oil; and when the chief priestess begged him for a twelfth of a bushel of wheat, he sent her so much pepper; and when the senators and priests came to him in suppliant array, and entreated him to take pity on the city and come to terms with Sulla, he scattered them with a volley of arrows.
ὀψὲ δὲ ἤδη που μόλις ἐξέπεμψεν ὑπὲρ εἰρήνης δύο ἢ τρεῖς τῶν συμποτῶν πρὸς οὓς οὐδὲν ἀξιοῦντας σωτήριον, ἀλλὰ τὸν Θησέα καὶ τὸν Εὔμολπον καὶ τὰ Μηδικὰ σεμνολογουμένους ὁ Σύλλας· ἄπιτε, εἶπεν, ὦ μακάριοι, τοὺς λόγους τούτους ἀναλαβόντες· ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐ φιλομαθήσων εἰς Ἀθήνας ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἐπέμφθην, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀφισταμένους καταστρεψόμενος.
But after a long time, at last, with much ado, he sent out two or three of his fellow-revellers to treat for peace, to whom Sulla, when they made no demands which could save the city, but talked in lofty strains about Theseus and Eumolpus and the Persian wars, said: Be off, my dear Sirs, and take these speeches with you; for I was not sent to Athens by the Romans to learn its history, but to subdue its rebels.
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