γενεάς· τά γε μὴν τῆς ἡμετέρας ξυγγενείας ἤρξατο μὲν ἀπὸ Κλαυδίου, μικρὰ
δὲ ἐν μέσῳ διαλιπούσης τῆς ἡγεμονίας τὼ πάππω τὼ σὼ διαδέχεσθον. καὶ ὁ μὲν
τῆς μητρὸς πατὴρ τὴν Ῥώμην διῴκει καὶ τὴν Ἰταλίαν, [D] καὶ τὴν Λιβύην τε
ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ, καὶ Σαρδὼ καὶ Σικελίαν, οὔτι φαυλοτέραν τῆς Ἀργείας καὶ
Μυκηναίας δυναστείαν, ὅ γε μὴν τοῦ πατρὸς γεννήτωρ Γαλατίας ἔθνη τὰ
μαχιμώτατα καὶ τοῦς Ἑσπερίους Ἴβηρας καὶ τὰς ἐντὸς Ὠκεανοῦ νήσους, αἳ
τοσούτῳ μείζους τῶν ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ τῇ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς ὁρωμένων εἰσίν, ὅσῳ καὶ τῆς
εἴσω θαλάττης ἡ τῶν Ἡρακλείων στηλῶν ὑπερχεομένη. ταύτας δὲ ὅλας τὰς χώρας
καθαρὰς ἀπέφηναν πολεμίων, κοινῇ μὲν ἐπιστρατεύοντες, [52] εἴ ποτε τούτου
δεήσειεν, ἐπιφοιτῶντες δὲ ἔστιν ὅτε καὶ κατ᾽ ἰδίαν ἕκαστος τῶν ὁμόρων
βαρβάρων ὕβριν τε καὶ ἀδικίαν ἐξέκοπτον. ἐκεῖνοι μὲν δὴ τούτοις
ἐκοσμοῦντο. ὁ πατὴρ δὲ τὴν μὲν προσήκουσαν αὐτῷ μοῖραν μάλα εὐσεβῶς καὶ
ὁσίως ἐκτήσατο, περιμείνας τὴν εἱμαρμένην τελευτὴν τοῦ γεγεννηκότος, τὰ
λοιπὰ δὲ ἀπὸ βασιλείας εἰς τυραννίδας ὑπενεχθέντα δουλείας ἔπαυσε χαλεπῆς,
[B] καὶ ἦρξε συμπάντων τρεῖς ὑμᾶς τοὺς αὑτοῦ παῖδας προσελόμενος
ξυνάρχοντας. ἆρ᾽ οὖν ἄξιον μέγεθος δυνάμεως παραβαλεῖν καὶ τὸν ἐν τῇ
δυναστείᾳ χρόνον καὶ πλῆθος βασιλευσάντων;(228) ἢ τοῦτο μέν ἐστιν ἀληθῶς
ἀρχαῖον, μετιτέον δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν πλοῦτον καὶ θαυμαστέον σου τὴν χλαμύδα ξὺν τῇ
πόρπῃ, ἃ δὴ καὶ Ὁμήρῳ διατριβὴν παρέσχεν ἡδεῖαν; λόγου τε ἀξιωτέον πολλοῦ
τὰς Τρωὸς ἵππουσ, αἳ τρισχίλιαι οὖσαι
(Here then you have the genealogy of the house of Pelops, which endured
for barely three generations. But the story of our family began with
Claudius; then its supremacy ceased for a short time, till your two
grandfathers succeeded the throne. And your mother’s father(229) governed
Rome and Italy and Libya besides, and Sardinia and Sicily, an empire not
inferior certainly to Argos and Mycenae. Your father’s father(230) ruled
the most warlike of all the tribes of Galatia,(231) the Western
Iberians(232) and the islands that lie in the Ocean,(233) which are as
much larger than those that are to be seen in our seas as the sea that
rolls beyond the pillars of Heracles is larger than the inner sea.(234)
These countries your grandfathers entirely cleared of our foes, now
joining forces for a campaign, when occasion demanded, now making separate
expeditions on their own account, and so they annihilated the insolent and
lawless barbarians on their frontiers. These, then, are the distinctions
that they won. Your father inherited his proper share of the Empire with
all piety and due observance, waiting till his father reached his
appointed end. Then he freed from intolerable slavery the remainder, which
had sunk from empire to tyranny, and so governed the whole, appointing you
and your brothers, his three sons, as his colleagues. Now can I fairly
compare your house with the Pelopids in the extent of their power, the
length of their dynasty, or the number of those who sat on the throne? Or
is that really foolish, and must I instead go on to describe your wealth,
and admire your cloak and the brooch that fastens it, the sort of thing on
which even Homer loved to linger? Or must I describe at length the mares
of Tros that numbered three thousand, and)
ἕλος κάτα βουκολέοντο, [C]
(“pastured in the marsh‐meadow”)(235)
καὶ τὰ φώρια τὰ ἐντεῦθεν; ἢ τοὺς Θρᾳκίους ἵππους εὐλαβησόμεθα λευκοτέρους
μὲν τῆς χιόνος, θεῖν δὲ ὠκυτέρους τῶν χειμερίων πνευμάτων, καὶ τὰ ἐν
αὐτοῖς ἅρματα; καὶ ἔχομέν σε ἐν τούτοις ἐπαινεῖν, οἰκίαν τε οἶμαι τὴν
Ἀλκίνου καὶ τὰ τοῦ Μενέλεω δώματα καταπληξάμενα καὶ τὸν τοῦ πολύφρονος
Ὀδυσσέως παῖδα καὶ τοιαῦτα ληρεῖν ἀναπείσαντα τοῖς σοῖς παραβαλεῖν
ἀξιώσομεν, [D] μὴ ποτε ἄρα ἔλασσον ἔχειν ἐν τούτοις δοκῇς, καὶ οὐκ
ἀπωσόμεθα τὴν φλυαρίαν; ἀλλ᾽ ὅρα μή τις ἡμᾶς μικρολογίας καὶ ἀμαθίας τῶν
ἀληθῶς καλῶν γραψάμενος ἕλῃ. οὐκοῦν ἀφέντας χρὴ τοῖς Ὁμηρίδαις τὰ τοιαῦτα
πολυπραγμονεῖν ἐπὶ τὰ τούτων ἐγγυτέρω πρὸς ἀρετήν, καὶ ὧν μείζονα ποιεῖ
προμήθειαν, σώματος ῥώμης καὶ τῆς ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις ἐμπειρίας,
θαρροῦντας(236) ἰέναι.
(and the theft that followed?(237) Or shall I pay my respects to your
Thracian horses, whiter than snow and faster than the storm winds, and
your Thracian chariots? For in your case also we can extol all these, and
as for the palace of Alcinous and those halls that dazzled even the son of
prudent Odysseus and moved him to such foolish expressions of wonder,(238)
shall I think it worth while to compare them with yours, for fear that men
should one day think that you were worse off than he in these respects, or
shall I not rather reject such trifling? Nay, I must be on my guard lest
someone accuse and convict me of using frivolous speech and ignoring what
is really admirable. So I had better leave it to the Homerids to spend
their energies on such themes, and proceed boldly to what is more closely
allied to virtue, and things to which you yourself pay more attention, I
mean bodily strength and experience in the use of arms.)
Τίνι δήποτε οὖν τῶν ὑπὸ τῆς Ὁμηρικῆς ὑμνουμένων σειρῆνος εἴξομεν; [53]
ἔστι μὲν γὰρ τοξότης παρ᾽ αὐτῷ Πάνδαρος, ἀνὴρ ἄπιστος καὶ χρημάτων ἥττων,
ἀλλα καὶ ἀσθενὴς τὴν χεῖρα καὶ ὁπλίτης φαῦλος, Τεῦκρος τε ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ καὶ
Μηριόνης, ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς πελειάδος τῷ τόξῳ χρώμενος, ὁ δὲ ἠρίστευε μὲν ἐν
τῇ μάχῃ ἐδεῖτο δὲ ὥσπερ ἐρύματος καὶ τειχίου. ταῦτά τοι καὶ προβάλλεται
τὴν ἀσπίδα, οὔτι τὴν οἰκείαν, τἀδελφοῦ δέ, καὶ στοχάζεται καθ᾽ ἡσυχίαν τῶν
πολεμίων, γελοῖος ἀναφανεὶς στρατιώτης, [B] ὅς γε ἐδεῖτο μείζονος φύλακος
καὶ οὐκ ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις ἐποιεῖτο τῆς σωτηρίας τὰς ἐλπίδας. σὲ δῆτα
ἐθεασάμην, ὦ φίλε βασιλεῦ, ἄρκτους καὶ παρδάλεις καὶ λέοντας συχνοὺς
καταβάλλοντα τοῖς ἀφιεμένοις βέλεσι, χρώμενον δὲ πρὸς θήραν καὶ παιδιὰν
τόξῳ, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς παρατάξεως ἀσπίς ἐστί σοι καὶ θώραξ καὶ κράνος· καὶ οὐκ
ἂν καταδείσαιμι τὸν ἀχιλλέα τοῖς Ἡφαιστείοις λαμπρυνόμενον καὶ
ἀποπειρώμενον αὑτοῦ καὶ τῶν ὅπλον,
(And now which one of those heroes to whom Homer devotes his enchanting
strains shall I admit to be superior to you? There is the archer Pandaros
in Homer, but he is treacherous and yields to bribes(239); moreover his
arm was weak and he was an inferior hoplite: then there are besides,
Teucer and Meriones. The latter employs his bow against a pigeon(240)
while Teucer, though he distinguished himself in battle, always needed a
sort of bulwark or wall. Accordingly he keeps a shield in front of
him,(241) and that not his own but his brother’s, and aims at the enemy at
his ease, cutting an absurd figure as a soldier, seeing that he needed a
protector taller than himself and that it was not in his weapons that he
placed his hopes of safety. But I have seen you many a time, my beloved
Emperor, bringing down bears and panthers and lions with the weapons
hurled by your hand, and using your bow both for hunting and for pastime,
and on the field of battle you have your own shield and cuirass and
helmet. And I should not be afraid to match you with Achilles when he was
exulting in the armour that Hephaistos made, and testing himself and that
armour to see)
[C] Εἴ οἱ ἐφαρμόσσειε καὶ ἐντρέχοι ἀγλαὰ γυῖα·
(“Whether it fitted him and whether his glorious limbs ran free
therein;”(242))
ἀνακηρύττει γὰρ εἰς ἅπαντας τὴν σὴν ἐμπειρίαν τὰ κατορθώματα.
(for your successes proclaim to all men your proficiency.)
Τήν γε μὴν ἱππικὴν καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς δρόμοις κουφότητα ἆρά σοι παραβαλεῖν
ἄξιον τῶν πρόσθεν τοὺς ἀραμένους ὄνομα καὶ δόξαν μείζονα; ἢ τὸ μὲν οὐδὲ
ηὕρητό πω; ἅρμασι γὰρ ἐχρῶντο καὶ οὔπω πώλοις ἄζυξι· τάχει δὲ ὅστις
διήνεγκε, τούτῳ πρὸς σὲ γέγονεν ἀμφήριστος κρίσις· [D] τάξιν δὲ κοσμῆσαι
καὶ φάλαγγα διατάξαι καλῶς δοκεῖ Μενεσθεὺς κράτιστος, καὶ τούτῳ διὰ τὴν
ἡλικίαν ὁ Πύλιος οὐχ ὑφίεται τῆς ἐμπειρίας. ἀλλὰ τῶν μὲν οἱ πολέμιοι
πολλάκις τὰς τάξεις συνετάραξαν, καὶ οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ τείχους ἴσχυον ἀντέχειν
παραταττόμενοι· σοὶ δὲ μυρίαις μάχαις ξυμμίξαντι καὶ πολεμίοις πολλοῖς μὲν
βαρβάροις, οὐκ ἐλάττοσι δὲ τούτων τοῖς οἴκοθεν ἀφεστῶσι καὶ συνεπιθεμένοις
τῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν σφετερίσασθαι προελομένῳ ἀρραγὴς ἔμεινεν ἡ φάλανξ καὶ
ἀδιάλυτος, [54] οὐδ᾽ ἐπὶ σμικρὸν ἐνδοῦσα. καὶ ὅτι μὴ λῆρος ταῦτα μηδὲ
προσποίησις λόγων τῆς ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων ἀληθείας κρείττων, ἐθέλω τοῖς παροῦσι
διεξελθεῖν. γελοῖον γὰρ οἶμαι πρὸς σὲ περὶ τῶν σῶν ἔργων διηγεῖσθαι· καὶ
ταὐτὸν ἂν πάθοιμι φαύλῳ καὶ ἀκόμψῳ θεατῇ τῶν Φειδίου δημιουργημάτων πρὸς
αὐτὸν Φειδίαν ἐπιχειροῦντι διεξιέναι περὶ τῆς ἐν ἀκροπόλει παρθένου καὶ
τοῦ παρὰ τοῖς Πισαίοις Διός. εἰ δὲ ἐς τοὺς ἄλλους ἐκφέροιμι τὰ σεμνότατα
τῶν ἔργων, [B] ἴσως ἂν ἀποφύγοιμι τὴν ἁμαρτάδα, καὶ οὐκ ἔσομαι ταῖς
διαβολαῖς ἔνοχος· ὥστε ἤδη θαρροῦντα χρὴ λέγειν.
(As for your horsemanship and your agility in running, would it be fair to
compare with you any of those heroes of old who won a name and great
reputation? Is it not a fact that horsemanship had not yet been invented?
For as yet they used only chariots and not riding‐horses. And as for their
fastest runner, it is an open question how he compares with you. But in
drawing up troops and forming a phalanx skilfully Menestheus(243) seems to
have excelled, and on account of his greater age the Pylian(244) is his
equal in proficiency. But the enemy often threw their line into disorder,
and not even at the wall(245) could they hold their ground when they
encountered the foe. You, however, engaged in countless battles, not only
with hostile barbarians in great numbers, but with just as many of your
own subjects, who had revolted and were fighting on the side of one who
was ambitious of grasping the imperial power; yet your phalanx remained
unbroken and never wavered or yielded an inch. That this is not an idle
boast and that I do not make a pretension in words that goes beyond the
actual facts, I will demonstrate to my hearers. For I think it would be
absurd to relate to you your own achievements. I should be like a stupid
and tasteless person who, on seeing the works of Pheidias should attempt
to discuss with Pheidias himself the Maiden Goddess on the Acropolis, or
the statue of Zeus at Pisa. But if I publish to the rest of the world your
most distinguished achievements, I shall perhaps avoid that blunder and
not lay myself open to criticism. So I will hesitate no more but proceed
with my discourse.)
Καί μοι μή τις δυσχεράνῃ πειρωμένῳ πράξεων ἅπτεσθαι μειζόνων, εἰ καὶ τὸ
τοῦ λόγου συνεκθέοι μῆκος, καὶ ταῦτα θέλοντος ἐπέχειν καὶ βιαζομένου, ὅπως
μὴ τῷ μεγέθει τῶν ἔργων ἡ τῶν λόγων ἀσθένεια περιχεομένη διαλυμήνηται·
καθάπερ δὴ τὸν χρυσόν φασι τοῦ Θεσπιᾶσιν [C] Ἔρωτος τοῖς πτεροῖς
ἐπιβληθέντα τὴν ἀκρίβειαν ἀφελεῖν τῆς τέχνης. δεῖται γὰρ ἀληθῶς τῆς
Ὁμηρικῆς σάλπιγγος τὰ κατορθώματα, καὶ πολὺ πλέον ἢ τὰ τοῦ Μακεδόνος ἔργα.
δῆλον δὲ ἔσται χρωμένοις ἡμῖν τῷ τρόπῳ τῶν λόγων, ὅνπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς
προυθέμεθα. ἐφαίνετο δὲ τῶν βασιλέως ἔργων πρὸς τὰ τῶν ἡρώων πολλὴ
ξυγγένεια, καὶ αὐτὸν ἔφαμεν ἁπάντων προφέρειν ἐν ᾧ μάλιστα τῶν ἄλλων
ἕκαστος διήνεγκε, καὶ ὅπως ἐστὶ τοῦ μὲν δὴ βασιλέως αὐτοῦ βασιλικώτερος,
[D] εἴ που μεμνήμεθα τῶν ἐν προοιμίῳ ῥηθέντων, ἐπεδείκνυμεν, ἔσται δὲ καὶ
μάλα αὖθις καταφανές. νῦν δὲ, εἰ βούλεσθε, τὰ περί τὰς μάχας καὶ τοὺς
πολέμους ἀθρήσωμεν. τίνας οὖν Ὅμηρος διαφερόντως ὕμνησεν Ἑλλήνων ὁμοῦ καὶ
βαρβάρων; αὐτὰ ὑμῖν ἀναγνώσομαι τῶν ἐπῶν τὰ καιριώτατα.
(I hope no one will object if, when I attempt to deal with exploits that
are so important, my speech should become proportionately long, and that
though I desire to limit and restrain it lest my feeble words overwhelm
and mar the greatness of your deeds; like the gold which when it was laid
over the wings of the Eros at Thespiae(246) took something, so they say,
from the delicacy of its workmanship. For your triumphs really call for
the trumpet of Homer himself, far more than did the achievements of the
Macedonian.(247) This will be evident as I go on to use the same method of
argument which I adopted when I began. It then became evident that there
is a strong affinity between the Emperor’s exploits and those of the
heroes, and I claimed that while one hero excelled the others in one
accomplishment only, the Emperor excels them all in all those
accomplishments. That he is more kingly than the king himself(248) I
proved, if you remember, in what I said in my introduction, and again and
again it will be evident. But now let us, if you please, consider his
battles and campaigns. What Greeks and barbarians did Homer praise above
their fellows? I will read you those of his verses that are most to the
point.)
[55] Τίς τ᾽ ἂρ τῶν ὄχ᾽ ἄριστος ἔην, σύ μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα,
Ἀνδρῶν ἠδ᾽ ἵππων, οἳ ἃμ᾽ Ἀτρείδαισιν ἕποντο.
Ἀνδρῶν μὲν μέγ᾽ ἄριστος ἔην Τελαμώνιος Αἴας,
Ὄφρ᾽ Ἀχιλεὺς μήνιεν· ὁ γὰρ πολὺ φέρτατος ἦεν.
(“Tell me, Muse, who was foremost of those warriors and horses
that followed the sons of Atreus. Of warriors far the best was
Ajax, son of Telamon, so long as the wrath of Achilles endured.
For he was far the foremost.”(249))
καὶ αὖθις ὑπὲρ τοῦ Τελαμωνίου φησίν·
(And again he says of the son of Telamon:)
Αἴας, ὃς περὶ μὲν εἶδος, περὶ δ᾽ ἔργ᾽ ἐτέτυκτο,
[B] Τῶν ἄλλων Δαναῶν μετ᾽ ἀμύμονα Πηλείωνα.
(“Ajax who in beauty and in the deeds he wrought was of a mould
above all the other Danaans, except only the blameless son of
Peleus.”(250))
Ἑλλήνων μὲν δὴ τούτους ἀρίστους ἀφῖχθαί φησι, τῶν δὲ ἀμφὶ τοὺς Τρῶας
Ἕκτορα καὶ Σαρπηδόνα. βούλεσθε οὖν αὐτῶν τὰ λαμπρότατα ἐπιλεξάμενοι
περιαθρῶμεν τὸ μέγεθος; καὶ γάρ πως ἐς ταὐτόν τισι τῶν βασιλέως(251)
ξυμφέρεται ἥ τε ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ τοῦ Πηλέως μάχη καὶ ὁ περὶ τὸ τεῖχος τῶν
Ἀχαιῶν πόλεμος· [C] Αἴας τε ὑπεραγωνιζόμενος τῶν νεῶν καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς τῶν
ἰκρίων ἴσως ἂν τυγχάνοι τινὸς ἀξίας εἰκόνος. ἐθέλω δὲ ὑμῖν διγγεῖσθαι τὴν
ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ μάχην, ἣν ἠγωνίσατο βασιλεὺς ἔναγχος. ἴστε δὲ ὅθεν ὁ πόλεμος
ἐξερράγη, καὶ ὅτι ξὺν δίκῃ καὶ οὐ τοῦ πλείονος ἐπιθυμίᾳ διεπολεμήθη.
κωλύει δὲ οὐδὲν ὑπομνησθῆναι δι᾽ ὀλίγων.
(These two, he says, were the bravest of the Greeks who came to the war,
and of the Trojan army Hector and Sarpedon. Do you wish, then, that I
should choose out their most brilliant feats and consider what they
amounted to? And, in fact, the fighting of Achilles at the river resembles
in some respects certain of the Emperor’s achievements, and so does the
battle of the Achaeans about the wall. Or Ajax again, when, in his
struggle to defend the ships, he goes up on to their decks, might be
allowed some just resemblance to him. But now I wish to describe to you
the battle by the river which the Emperor fought not long ago. You know
the causes of the outbreak of the war, and that he carried it through, not
from desire of gain, but with justice on his side. There is no reason why
I should not briefly remind you of the facts.)
Ἀνὴρ ἄπιστος καὶ θρασὺς τῆς οὐ προσηκούσης [D] ὀρεχθεὶς ἡγεμονίας κτείνει
τὸν ἀδελφὸν βασιλέως καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς κοινωνόν, καὶ ᾔρετο λαμπραῖς ταῖς
ἐλπίσιν, ὡς τὸν Ποσειδῶνα μιμησόμενος καὶ ἀποφανῶν οὐ μῦθον τὸν Ὁμήρου
λόγον, παντὸς δὲ ἀληθῆ μᾶλλον, ὃς ἔφη περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ·
(A rash and traitorous man(252) tried to grasp at power to which he had no
right, and assassinated the Emperor’s brother and partner in empire. Then
he began to be uplifted and dazzled by his hopes, as though he was about
to imitate Poseidon and to prove that Homer’s story was not mere fiction
but absolutely true, where he says about the god)
Τρὶς μὲν ὀρέξατ᾽ ἰών, τὸ δὲ τέτρατον ἵκετο τέκμωρ,
Αἰγάς,
(“Three strides did he make, and with the fourth came to his goal,
even to Aegae,”(253))
καὶ ὡς ἐντεῦθεν τὴν πανοπλίαν ἀναλαβῶν καὶ ὑποζεύξας τοὺς ἵππους διὰ τοῦ
πελάγους ἐφέρετο.
(and how he took thence all his armour and harnessed his horses and drove
through the waves:)
[56] Γηθοσύνῃ δὲ θάλασσα διίστατο· τοὶ δ᾽ ἐπέτοντο
Ῥίμφα μάλ᾽, οὐδ᾽ ὑπένερθε διαίνετο χάλκεος ἄξων,
(“And with gladness the sea parted before him, and the horses
fared very swiftly, and the bronze axle was not wetted beneath,”)
ἅτε οὐδενὸς ἐμποδὼν ὄντος, πάντων δὲ ἐξισταμένων καὶ ὑποχωρούντων ἐν
χαρμονῇ. οὔκουν οὐδὲν αὑτῷ πολέμιον οὐδὲ ἀντίπαλον ᾤετο καταλιπέσθαι, οὐδὲ
αὑτὸν κατείργειν οὐδὲ ἓν τὸ μὴ ἐπὶ τοῦ Τίγρητος στῆναι ταῖς ἐκβολαῖς.
εἵπετο δὲ αὐτῷ πολὺς μὲν ὁπλίτης,(254) ἱππεῖς δὲ οὐχ ἥττους, [B] ἀλλ᾽
οἳπερ ἄλκιμοι, Κελτοὶ καὶ Ἴβηρες Γερμανῶν τε οἱ πρόσοικοι Ῥήνῳ καὶ τῇ
θαλάττῃ τῇ πρὸς ἑσπέραν, ἣν εἴτε Ὠκεανὸν χρὴ καλεῖν εἴτε Ἀτλαντικὴν
θάλατταν εἴτε ἄλλῃ τινὶ χρῆσθαι προσωνυμίᾳ προσῆκον, οὐκ ἰσχυρίζομαι· πλὴν
ὅτι δὴ αὐτῇ προσοικεῖ δύσμαχα καὶ ῥώμῃ διαφέροντα τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν γένη
βαρβάρων, οὐκ ἀκοῇ μόνον, ἥπερ δὴ τυγχάνει πίστις οὐκ ἀσφαλής, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτῇ
πείρᾳ τοῦτο ἐκμαθὼν οἶδα. [C] τούτων δὴ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐξαναστήσας οὐκ ἔλαττον
πλῆθος τῆς οἴκοθεν αὐτῷ ξυνεπισπομένης(255) στρατιᾶς, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ μὲν ὡς
οἰκεῖον εἵπετο πολὺ καὶ αὐτῷ ξύμφυλον, τὸ δὲ ἡμέτερον· οὕτω γὰρ καλεῖν
ἄξιον· ὁπόσον Ῥωμαίων βίᾳ καὶ οὐ γνώμῃ ξυνηκολούθησεν, ἐοικὸς ἐπικούροις
καὶ μισθοφόροις, ἐν Καρὸς εἵπετο τάξει καὶ σχήματι, δύσνουν μέν, ὡς εἰκός,
βαρβάρῳ καὶ ξένῳ, μέθῃ [D] καὶ κραιπάλῃ τὴν δυναστείαν περιφρονήσαντι καὶ
ἀνελομένῳ, ἄρχοντι δέ, ὥσπερ ἦν ἄξιον τὸν ἐκ τοιούτων προοιμίων καὶ
προνομίων ἀρξάμενον. ἡγεῖτο δὲ αὐτὸς οὔτι κατὰ τὸν Τυφῶνα, ὃν ἡ ποιητικὴ
τερατεία φησὶ τῷ Διὶ χαλεπαίνουσαν τὴν Γῆν ὠδῖναι, οὐδὲ ὡς γιγάντων ὁ
κράτιστος, ἀλλ᾽ οἵαν ὁ σοφὸς ἐν μύθοις Πρόδικος τὴν Κακίαν δημιουργεῖ πρὸς
τὴν Ἀρετὴν(256) διαμιλλωμένην καὶ ἐθέλουσαν τὸν τοῦ Διὸς ἀναπείθειν παῖδα,
ὅτι ἄρα αὐτῷ μάλιστα πάντων τιμητέα εἴη. προάγων [57] δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν μάχην
προυφέρετο τὰ τοῦ Καπανέως, βαρβαρίζων(257) καὶ ἀνοηταίνων, οὔτι μὴν κατ᾽
ἐκεῖνον τῇ ῥώμῃ τῆς ψυχῆς πίσυνος οὐδὲ ἀλκῇ τοῦ σώματος, τῷ πλήθει δὲ τῶν
ξυνεπομένων βαρβάρων, οἷς δὴ καὶ λείαν ἅπαντα προθήσειν ἠπείλει, ταξίαρχον
ταξιάρχῳ καὶ λοχαγὸν λοχαγῷ καὶ στρατιώτην στρατιώτῃ τῶν ἐξ ἐναντίας
αὐταῖς ἀποσκευαῖς καὶ κτήμασιν, οὐδὲ τὸ σῶμα ἁφιεὶς ἐλεύθερον. αὔξει δὲ
αὐτοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν ἡ βασιλέως(258) δεινότης, [B] καὶ ἐκ τῶν δυσχωριῶν εἰς
τὰ πεδία κατάγει γανύμενον καὶ οὐ ξυνιέντα, δρασμὸν δὲ ἀτεχνῶς καὶ οὐ
στρατηγίαν τὸ πρᾶγμα κρίνοντα. ταῦτά τοι καὶ ἁλίσκεται, καθάπερ ὄρνιθες
καὶ ἰχθύες δικτύοις. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐς τὴν εὐρυχωρίαν καὶ τὰ πεδία τῶν Παιόνων
ἦλθε καὶ ἐδόκει λῷον ἐνταῦθα διαγωνίζεσται, τότε δὴ βασιλεὺς τούς τε
ἱππέας ἐπὶ κέρως τάττει χωρὶς ἑκατέρου.
(for nothing stood in his way, but all things stood aside and made a path
for him in their joy. Even so the usurper thought that he had left behind
him nothing hostile or opposed to him, and that there was nothing at all
to hinder him from taking up a position at the mouth of the Tigris. And
there followed him a large force of heavy infantry and as many cavalry,
yes, and good fighters they were, Celts, Iberians and Germans from the
banks of the Rhine and from the coasts of the western sea. Whether I ought
to call that sea the Ocean or the Atlantic, or whether it is proper to use
some other name for it, I am not sure. I only know that its coasts are
peopled by tribes of barbarians who are not easy to subdue and are far
more energetic than any other race, and I know it not merely from hearsay,
on which it is never safe to rely, but I have learned it from personal
experience. From these tribes, then, he mustered an army as large as that
which marched with him from home, or rather many followed him because they
were his own people, allied to him by the ties of race, but our
subjects—for so we must call them—I mean all his Roman troops followed
from compulsion and not from choice, like mercenary allies, and their
position and _rôle_ was like that of the proverbial Carian,(259) since
they were naturally ill‐disposed to a barbarian and a stranger who had
conceived the idea of ruling and embarked on the enterprise at the time of
a drunken debauch, and was the sort of leader that one might expect from
such a preface and prelude as that. He led them in person, not indeed like
Typho, who, as the poet tells us,(260) in his wonder tale, was brought
forth by the earth in her anger against Zeus, nor was he like the
strongest of the Giants, but he was like that Vice incarnate which the
wise Prodicus created in his fable,(261) making her compete with Virtue
and attempt to win over the son of Zeus,(262) contending that he would do
well to prize her above all else. And as he led them to battle he outdid
the behaviour of Capaneus,(263) like the barbarian that he was, in his
insensate folly, though he did not, like Capaneus, trust to the energy of
his soul or his physical strength, but to the numbers of his barbarian
followers; and he boasted that he would lay everything at their feet to
plunder, that every general and captain and common soldier of his should
despoil an enemy of corresponding rank of his baggage and belongings, and
that he would enslave the owners as well. He was confirmed in this
attitude by the Emperor’s clever strategy, and led his army out from the
narrow passes to the plains in high spirits and little knowing the truth,
since he decided that the Emperor’s march was merely flight and not a
manoeuvre. Thus he was taken unawares, like a bird or fish in the net. For
when he reached the open country and the plains of Paeonia, and it seemed
advantageous to fight it out there, then and not before the Emperor drew
up his cavalry separately on both wings.)
Τούτων δὲ οἱ μέν εἰσιν αἰχμοφόροι, θώραξιν ἐλατοῖς καὶ κράνεσιν ἐκ σιδήρου
πεποιημένοις σκεπόμενοι· [C] κνημῖδές τε τοῖς σφυροῖς εὖ μάλα
περιηρμοσμέναι καὶ περιγονατίδες καὶ περὶ τοὶς μηροῖς ἕτερα τοιαῦτα ἐκ
σιδήρου καλύμματα· αὐτοὶ δὲ ἀτεχνῶς ὥσπερ ἀνδριάντες ἐπὶ τῶν ἵππων
φερόμενοι, οὐδὲν ἀσπίδος δεόμενοι. τούτοις εἵπετο τῶν ἄλλων ἱππέων πλῆθος
ἀσπίδας φέροντες, οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἵππων τοξεύοντες. πεζῶν [D] δὲ ὁ μὲν
ὁπλίτης ἦν ἐν τῷ μώσῳ συνάπτων ἐφ᾽ ἑκάτερα τοῖς ἱππεῦσιν· ἐξόπισθεν δὲ οἱ
σφενδονῆται καὶ τοξόται καὶ ὁπόσον ἐκ χειρὸς βάλλει γυμνὸν ἀσπίδος καὶ
θώρακος. οὕτω κοσμηθείσης τῆς φάλαγγος, μικρὰ τοῦ λαιοῦ κέρως προελθόντος
ἅπαν τὸ πολέμιον συνετετάρακτο καὶ οὐκ ἐφύλαττε τὴν τάξιν.(264) ἐγκειμένων
δὲ τῶν ἱππέων καὶ οὐκ ἀνιέντων φεύγει μὲν αἰσχρῶς ὁ τὴν βασιλείαν αἴσχιον
ἁρπάσας, λείπει δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸν ἵππαρχον καὶ χιλιάρχους καὶ ταξιάρχους πάνυ
πολλοὺς καὶ ἐρρωμένως ἀγωνιζομένους, ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ τὴν ποιητὴν τοῦ
τερατώδους καὶ ἐξαγίστου δράματος, [58] ὃς πρῶτος ἐπὶ νοὺν ἐβάλετο
μεταποιῆσαι τὴν βασιλείαν καὶ ἀφελέσθαι τοῦ γέρως ἡμᾶς.
(Of these troops some carry lances and are protected by cuirasses and
helmets of wrought iron mail. They wear greaves that fit the legs closely,
and knee‐caps, and on their thighs the same sort of iron covering. They
ride their horses exactly like statues, and need no shield. In the rear of
these was posted a large body of the rest of the cavalry, who carried
shields, while others fought on horseback with bows and arrows. Of the
infantry the hoplites occupied the centre and supported the cavalry on
either wing. In their rear were the slingers and archers and all troops
that shoot their missiles from the hand and have neither shield nor
cuirass. This, then, was the disposition of our phalanx. The left wing
slightly outflanked the enemy, whose whole force was thereby thrown into
confusion, and their line broke. When our cavalry made a charge and
maintained it stubbornly, he who had so shamefully usurped the imperial
power disgraced himself by flight, and left there his cavalry commander
and his numerous chiliarchs and taxiarchs, who continued to fight bravely,
and in command of all these the real author(265) of that monstrous and
unholy drama, who had been the first to suggest to him that he should
pretend to the imperial power and rob us of our royal privilege.)
Καὶ τέως μὲν(266) ἔχαιρε τῆς πρώτης πείρας οὐκ ἀποσφαλεὶς οὐδὲ ἁμαρτήσας,
τέτε δὲ ἐφεστώσας ξὺν δίκῃ ποινὰς ἀπαιτεῖται τῶν ἔργων καὶ ἄπιστον
τιμωρίαν εἰσπράττεται. πάντων γὰρ ὁπόσοι τοῦ πολέμου τῷ τυράννῳ
συνεφήψαντο ἐμφανὴς μὲν ὁ θάνατος, δήλη δ᾽ ἡ φυγὴ καὶ ἄλλων μεταμέλεια·
ἰκέτευον γὰρ πολλόι, [B] καὶ ἔτυχον ἅπαντες συγγνώμης, βασιλέως τὸν τῆς
Φέτιδος ὑπερβαλλομένου μεγαλοφροσύνῃ. ὁ μὲν γάρ, ἐπειδὴ Πάτροκλος ἔπεσεν,
οὐδὲ πιπράκειν ἁλόντας ἔτι τοὺς πολεμίους ἠξίου, ἀλλ᾽ ἱκετεύοντας περὶ
τοῖς γόνασιν ἔκτεινεν· ὁ δὲ ἐκήρυττεν ἄδειαν τοῖς ἐξαρνουμένοις τὴν
ξυνωμοσίαν, οὐ θανάτου μόνον ἢ φυγῆς ἤ τινος ἄλλης τιμωρίας ἀφαιρῶν τὸν
φόβον, ὥσπερ δὲ ἔκ τινος ταλαιπωρίας καὶ ἄλης δυστυχοῦς τῆς ξὺν [C] τῷ
τυράννῳ βιοτῆς κατάγειν σφᾶς ἐπ᾽ ἀκεραίοις τοῖς πρόσθεν ἠξίου. τοῦτο μὲν
δὴ καὶ αὖθις τεύξεται λόγου.
(For a time indeed he enjoyed success, and at his first attempt met with
no repulse or failure, but on that day he provoked the punishment that
justice had in store for his misdeeds, and had to pay a penalty that is
hardly credible. For all the others who abetted the usurper in that war
met death openly or their flight was evident to all, as was the repentance
of others. For many came as suppliants, and all obtained forgiveness,
since the Emperor surpassed the son of Thetis in generosity. For Achilles,
after Patroclus fell, refused any longer even to sell those whom he took
captive, but slew them as they clasped his knees and begged for mercy. But
the Emperor proclaimed an amnesty for those who should renounce the
conspiracy, and so not only freed them from the fear of death or exile or
some other punishment, but, as though their association with the usurper
had been due to some misadventure or unhappy error, he deigned to
reinstate them and completely cancel the past. I shall have occasion to
refer to this again.)