Delphi Complete Works of Cornelius Nepos

by Cornelius Nepos

  IX. He had accomplished about half the distance, when, from the smoke of his camp, a suspicion was hinted to Eumenes that an enemy was approaching. His officers held a meeting; and it was considered what ought to be done. They were all aware that their troops could not be assembled so soon as Antigonus seemed likely to be upon them; and. while they were all consequently in perplexity, and despairing of their safety,201 Eumenes said that “If they would but use activity, and execute his orders (which they had not done before), he would put an end to their difficulties; for, though the enemy might now finish his journey in five days, he would take care that they should be delayed not less than as many days more.202 They must therefore go about, and each collect his troops.”

  To retard the progress of Antigonus he adopted the following stratagem. He sent trustworthy men to the foot of the mountains, which lay over against the enemy’s route, and ordered them, as soon as night came on, to make as large fires and as far dispersed, as they could; to reduce them at the second watch, and to make them very small at the third, and, by imitating the usages of a camp, to raise a suspicion in the enemy that there was actually a camp in those parts, and that intelligence had been given of their approach; and he told them to act in the same way on the following night. The men to whom this commission was given carefully observed their instructions. Antigonus, when darkness came on, saw the fires, and supposed that something had been heard of his coming, and that his enemies had assembled their force on that quarter. He therefore changed his intention, and, thinking that he could not surprise them unawares, altered his route, and took the longer circuit of the well-supplied road, on which he halted for one day, to refresh his weary men and recruit his horses, that he might come to battle with his army in better condition.

  X. On this occasion Eumenes overreached a crafty general by stratagem, and obviated the suddenness of his attack; yet he gained but little by his success; for through the envy of the officers with whom he had to act, and the treachery of the Macedonian veterans, he was delivered up, after he had come off superior in the field, to Antigonus, though they had previously sworn, at three several times, that they would defend him and never forsake him. But such was the eagerness of some to detract from his merit, that they chose rather to break their faith than not betray him. Antigonus, however, though he had been a violent enemy to him, would have spared his life, if he had but been allowed to do so by his friends, because he was certain that he could not be better assisted by any one in those difficulties which, as was apparent to all, were likely to fall upon him. For Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy, now powerful in resources, were assuming a threatening attitude, and he would be obliged to contend with them for supremacy. But those who were about him would not allow of such clemency; for they saw that if Eumenes were admitted to his councils, they themselves would be of small account in comparison with him. As for Antigonus himself, he had been so incensed against him, that he could never have been induced to relent, except by a strong expectation of eminent services from him.

  XI. When he had committed him to custody, therefore, and the commander of the guard inquired how he would have him kept, he replied, “As the most furious lion, or the most savage elephant;” for he had not then determined whether he should spare his life or not. Meanwhile two classes of people crowded to gaze upon Eumenes, those who, from hatred of him, wished to feast their eyes 203 on his degradation and those who, from old friendship, desired to speak with him and console him. Many also came with them who were anxious to look at his person, and to see what sort of man he was whom they had feared so long and so much, and in whose destruction they had placed their hopes of victory. But Eumenes, when he had been some time under confinement, said to Onomarchus, in whose hands the chief command of the guard was, that “he wondered why he was thus kept a third day: for that it was not consistent with prudence on the part of Antigonus to treat 204 one whom he had conquered in such a manner, but that he should order him either to be put to death or released.” As he seemed to Onomarchus to express himself somewhat arrogantly, he replied, “Why, if you were of such a spirit, did you not rather die on the field of battle, than fall into the hands of your enemy?” “Would indeed that that had befallen me,” rejoined Eumenes, “but it did not happen because I never engaged with a stouter than myself; for I have never crossed swords with any one who did not yield to me; and I have not fallen by the prowess of my enemies, but by the perfidy of my friends.’’ Nor was this assertion false; for he was a man not only of a graceful 205 and dignified bearing, but of strength sufficient for enduring fatigue; yet he was not so much distinguished for tallness of person as for handsomeness of shape.

  XII. As Antigonus would not venture alone to determine concerning him, he referred the decision to a council; where, when almost all the officers, in great excitement, expressed their surprise that death had not been already inflicted on a man by whom they had been harassed so many years, so severely that they were often reduced to despair, a man who had cut off leaders of the greatest eminence; and in whom, though but a single individual, there was so much to be dreaded, that as long as he lived they could not think themselves safe, while, if he were put to death, they would have no further anxiety; and in conclusion they asked Antigonus, “if he gave Eumenes his life, what friends he would employ? for that they would not act under him with Eumenes.” After thus learning the sentiments of the council, he nevertheless took time for consideration till the seventh day following; when, being afraid that a mutiny might break out in the army, he gave orders that no one should be admitted to Eumenes, and that his daily food should be withheld; for he said that “he would offer no personal violence to a man who had once been his friend.” Eumenes, however, after suffering from hunger not more than three days, was killed by his guards on the removal of the camp, without Antigonus’s knowledge.

  XIII. Thus Eumenes, at the age of five-and-forty years, after having attended on Philip, as we have shown above, for seven years from the age of twenty, and having held the same office under Alexander for thirteen years, during one of which he had commanded a troop of cavalry; and after having, subsequently to Alexander’s death, conducted armies as commander in-chief, and having sometimes repelled and sometimes cut off the most eminent generals, being made prisoner, not by the ability of Antigonus, but by the perjury of the Macedonians, ended his life in this manner.206 How great awe was entertained of him by all those who were styled kings after the death of Alexander the Great, may be easily judged from the following fact, that no one of them, while Eumenes lived, was called a king, but only a governor; but that, after his death, they at once assumed the regal dress and title; nor did they care to perform what they had originally promised, namely, to guard the throne for Alexander’s children; but, as soon as the only defender of the children was removed, they disclosed what their real views were. In this iniquity the leaders were Antigonus, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Cassander.

  Antigonus gave the dead body of Eumenes to his relations for burial; and they interred him with a military and magnificent funeral, and took care that his bones should he conveyed to Cappadocia to his mother, wife, and children.

  XIX. PHOCION.

  Phocion better known for his virtues than his military achievements, I. In his old age he incurred the displeasure of his countrymen on various accounts, II. Is exiled; his pleading before Philip; is sent back to Athens, III. Is condemned at Athens, and put to death there, IV.

  I. THOUGH Phocion the Athenian was often at the head of armies, and held the most important commands, yet the blamelessness of his life is much better known than his exertions in war. Of the one, accordingly, there is no recollection,207 but of the other the fame is great; and hence he was surnamed The Good. He was always poor, though he might have been extremely rich, by reason of the numerous offices conferred upon him, and the high commissions given him by the people. When he refused the present of a large sum of money from King Philip, and Philip’s ambassadors urged him to receive it, a
nd at the same time reminded him, that if he himself could easily do without it, he should nevertheless have some regard for his children, for whom it would be difficult, in the depth of poverty, to act up to the high character of their father, he gave them this answer: “If my children be like me, this same little farm, which has enabled me to reach my present eminence, will maintain them; but if they prove unlike me, I should not wish their luxury to be supported and increased at my expense.”

  II. After fortune had continued favourable to him almost to his eightieth year, he fell, towards the close of his life, into great unpopularity with his countrymen. In the first place, he had acted in concert with Demades in delivering up the city to Antipater; and, by his suggestions, Demosthenes and others, who were thought to deserve well of their country, had been sent into banishment by a decree of the people. Nor had he given offence only in this respect, that he had ill consulted the interest of his country, but also in not having observed the obligations of friendship; for though he had risen to the eminence which he then held through being supported and aided by Demosthenes, when he furnished him with means of defence against Chares,208 and though he had several times come off with acquittal on trials, when he had to plead for his life, through having been defended by Demosthenes, he not only did not take the part of Demosthenes when he was in peril, but even betrayed him. But his fate was decided chiefly on one charge, that, when the supreme government of the state was in his hands, and he was warned by Dercyllus that Nicanor, the prefect of Cassander, was forming designs upon the Piraeeus, and Dercyllus begged him, at the same time, to take care that the city should not want provisions, Phocion told him in the hearing of the people, that there was no danger, and engaged to be security for the truth of his statement; whereas Nicanor, not long after, became master of the Piraeeus; and when the people assembled under arms to defend that harbour, without which Athens could not at all subsist, Phocion not only did not call any body to arms, but would not even take the command of those who were armed.

  III. There were at that period in Athens two parties, one of which espoused the cause of the people, and the other that of the aristocracy; to the latter Phocion and Demetrius Phalereus were attached. Each of them relied on the support of the Macedonians; for the popular party favoured Polysperchon, and the aristocracy took the side of Cassander. After a time Cassander was driven from Macedonia by Polysperchon; and the people, in consequence, getting the superiority, immediately expelled from their country the leaders of the opposite faction, after they had been capitally convicted;209 and among them Phocion and Demetrius Phalereus; and they then sent a deputation on the subject to Polysperchon, to request him to confirm their decrees. Phocion went to him at the same time, and as soon as he arrived he was summoned to plead his cause, nominally before King Philip,210 but in reality before Polysperchon; for he at that time held the direction of the king’s affairs. Being accused by Agnonides 211 of having betrayed the Piraeeus to Nicanor, and being thrown, by order of the council, into confinement, he was then conveyed to Athens, that a trial might there be held upon him according to law.

  IV. On his arrival, as he was weak in his feet through age, and was brought to the city in a carriage, great crowds of people gathered about him, of whom some, calling to mind his former reputation, expressed commiseration for his declining years but the greater number were violently exasperated against him, from the suspicion that he had betrayed the Piraeeus, but especially because he had opposed the interest of the people in his old age. Hence not even the liberty of making a speech, and of pleading his cause, was granted him, but being forthwith sentenced to death, after some formalities of law had been despatched, he was delivered over to the eleven,212 to whom public criminals, by the custom of the Athenians, are wont to be consigned. As he was being led to execution, Emphyletus, a man with whom he had been very intimate, met him, and having exclaimed, with tears, “O what unworthy treatment you suffer, Phocion!” Phocion rejoined, “But not unexpected, for most of the famous men of Athens have come to this end.” So violent was the hatred of the multitude towards him, that no free person dared to bury him; and he was accordingly interred by slaves.

  XX. TIMOLEON.

  Timoleon delivers Corinth from the tyranny of his brother, and causes him to be put to death, I. He expels Dionysius the younger from Sicily; defeats Hicetas; overcomes the Carthaginians, II. After settling affairs in Sicily, he lays down the government, III. He loses his sight from old age, but still attends to the interests of his country; builds a temple to Fortune, IV. Instances of his patience; his death, V.

  I. TIMOLEON of Corinth was doubtless a great man in the opinion of everybody, since it happened to him alone (for I know not that it happened to any one else),213 to deliver his country, in which he was born, from the oppression of a tyrant, to banish a long established slavery from Syracuse (to the assistance of which he had been sent), and, on his arrival, to restore Sicily, which had been disturbed by war for many years, and harassed by barbarians,214 to its former condition. But in these undertakings he struggled not with one kind of fortune only, and, what is thought the more difficult, he bore good much more discreetly than evil fortune; for when his brother Timophanes, on being chosen general by the Corinthians, had made himself absolute by the aid of his mercenary troops, and Timoleon himself might have shared the sovereignty with him, he was so far from taking part in his guilt, that he preferred the liberty of his countrymen to the life of his brother, and thought it better to obey the laws of his country than to rule over his country. With this feeling, he contrived to have his brother the tyrant put to death by a certain augur, a man connected with them both, as their sister by the same parents 215 was married to him. He himself not only did not put his hand to the work, but would not even look upon his brother’s blood; for, until the deed was done, he kept himself at a distance on the watch, lest any of his brother’s guards should come to his aid. This most noble act of his was not equally approved by all; for some thought that natural affection had been violated by him, and endeavoured, from envy, to lessen the praise of his virtue. His mother, indeed, after this proceeding, would neither admit her son into her house, nor look upon him, but, uttering imprecations against him, called him a fratricide, and destitute of natural feeling. With this treatment he was so much affected, that he was sometimes inclined to put an end to his life, and withdraw himself by death from the sight of his ungrateful fellow-creatures.

  II. In the meantime, after Dion was assassinated at Syracuse, Dionysius again became master of that city, and his enemies solicited assistance from the Corinthians, desiring a general whose services they might employ in war. Timoleon, being in consequence despatched thither, expelled Dionysius, with wonderful success, quite out of Sicily. Though he might have put him to death, he refused to do so, and secured him a safe passage to Corinth, because the Corinthians had often been supported by the aid of both the Dionysii, and he wished the memory of that kindness to be preserved, esteeming that victory noble, in which there was more clemency than cruelty; and, finally, he wished it not only to be heard, but seen, what a personage he had reduced from such a height of power to so low a condition. After the departure of Dionysius, he had to go to war with Hicetas, who had been the opponent of Dionysius; but that he did not disagree with him from hatred of tyranny, but from a desire for it, this was a sufficient proof, that after the expulsion of Dionysius he was unwilling to lay down his command. Timoleon, after defeating Hicetas, put to flight a vast army of the Carthaginians on the river Crimessus, and obliged those who had now for several years maintained their ground in Sicily, to be satisfied if they were allowed to retain Africa. He took prisoner also Mamercus, an Italian general, a man of great valour and influence, who had come into Italy to support the tyrants.

  III. Having achieved these objects, and seeing not only the lands, but also the cities, deserted through the long continuance of the war, he assembled, in the first place, as many Sicilians as he could, and then sent for settlers also
from Corinth, because it was by the Corinthians that Syracuse had been originally founded. He gave back to the old inhabitants their own lands, and divided such estates as had lost their owners in the war, among the new colonists; he repaired the dilapidated walls of the cities, and the neglected temples;216 he restored their laws and liberties to the several communities, and, after a most destructive war, established such tranquillity through the whole island, that he, and not those who had brought colonists thither at first, might have been thought the founder of those cities. The citadel of Syracuse, which Dionysius had built to overawe the city, he demolished to its foundations; other bulwarks of tyranny he removed, and exerted his efforts that as few traces as possible of servitude might be left.

  Though he was possessed of so much influence that he might have ruled the Syracusans even against their will, and though he had so strongly gained the affection of all the Sicilians that he might have assumed supreme power without opposition from any one, he chose rather to be loved than to be feared. He therefore laid down his authority as soon as he could, and lived as a private person at Syracuse during the remainder of his life. Nor did he act in this respect injudiciously; for, what other rulers could scarcely effect by absolute power, he attained by the good will of the people. No honour was withheld from him; nor, when any public business was afterwards transacted at Syracuse, was a decision made upon it before Timoleon’s opinion was ascertained. Not only was no man’s advice ever preferred to his, but no man’s was even compared to it; nor was this occasioned more by the good will of others towards him, than by his own prudence.