12. De hoc Antigonus cum solus constituere non auderet, ad consilium rettulit. hic cum omnes primo perturbati admirarentur non iam de eo sumptum esse supplicium, a quo tot annos adeo essent male habiti, ut saepe ad desperationem forent adducti, quique maximos duces interfecisset, [2] denique in quo uno tantum esset, ut, quoad ille viveret, ipsi securi esse non possent, interfecto nihil habituri negotii essent: postremo, si illi redderet salutem, quaerebant, quibus amicis esset usurus: sese enim cum Eumene apud eum non futuros. [3] hic cognita consilii voluntate tamen usque ad septimum diem deliberandi sibi spatium reliquit. tum autem, cum iam vereretur ne qua seditio exercitus oreretur, vetuit quemquam ad eum admitti et cottidianum victum removeri iussit: nam negabat se ei vim allaturum, cui aliquando fuisset amicus. [4] hic tamen non amplius quam triduum fame fatigatus, cum castra moverentur, insciente Antigono iugulatus est a custodibus.
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.
13. Sic Eumenes annorum quinque et quadraginta, cum ab anno vicesimo, uti supra ostendimus, septem annos Philippo apparuisset, tredecim apud Alexandrum eundem locum obtinuisset, in eis unum equitum alae praefuisset, post autem Alexandri Magni mortem imperator exercitus duxisset summosque duces partim reppulisset, partim interfecisset, captus non Antigoni virtute, sed Macedonum periurio talem habuit exitum vitae. [2] in quo quanta omnium fuerit opinio eorum, qui post Alexandrum Magnum reges sunt appellati, ex hoc facillime potest iudicari, quod, quorum nemo [3] Eumene vivo rex appellatus est, sed praefectus, eidem post huius occasum statim regium ornatum nomenque sumpserunt neque, quod initio praedicarant, se Alexandri liberis regnum servare, praestare voluerunt et hoc uno propugnatore sublato quid sentirent aperuerunt. huius sceleris principes fuerunt Antigonus, Ptolemaeus, Seleucus, Lysimachus, Cassandrus. [4] Antigonus autem Eumenem mortuum propinquis eius sepeliendum tradidit. ii militari honestoque funere, comitante toto exercitu, humaverunt ossaque eius in Cappadociam ad matrem atque uxorem liberosque eius deportanda curarunt.
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. 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.
1. Phocion Atheniensis etsi saepe exercitibus praefuit summosque magistratus cepit, tamen multo eius notior est integritas vitae quam rei militaris labor. itaque huius memoria est nulla, illius autem magna fama, ex quo cognomine Bonus est appellatus. [2] fuit enim perpetuo pauper, cum divitissimus esse posset propter frequentes delatos honores potestatesque summas, quae ei a populo dabantur. [3] hic cum a rege Philippo munera magnae pecuniae repudiaret legatique hortarentur accipere simulque admonerent, si ipse iis facile careret, liberis tamen suis prospiceret, quibus difficile esset in summa paupertate tantam pater [4] nam tueri gloriam, iis ille ‘si mei similes erunt, idem hic’ inquit ‘agellus illos alet, qui me ad hanc dignitatem perduxit; sin dissimiles sunt futuri, nolo meis impensis illorum ali augerique luxuriam.’
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, 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, and 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.”
2. Idem cum prope ad annum octogesimum prospera pervenisset fortuna, extremis temporibus magnum in odium pervenit suorum civium, [2] primo quod cum Demade de urbe tradenda Antipatro consenserat eiusque consilio Demosthenes cum ceteris, qui bene de re publica meriti existimabantur, populi scito in exilium erant expulsi. neque in eo solum offenderat, quod patriae male consuluerat, sed etiam quod amicitiae fidem non praestiterat. [3] namque auctus adiutusque a Demosthene eum, quem tenebat, ascenderat gradum, cum adversus Charetem eum subornaret: ab eodem in iudiciis, cum capitis causam diceret, defensus aliquotiens, liberatus discesserat. hunc non solum in periculis non defendit, sed etiam prodidit. [4] concidit autem maxime uno crimine, quod, cum apud eum summum esset imperium populi iussu et Nicanorem, Cassandri praefectum, insidiari Piraeo Atheniensium a Dercylo moneretur idemque postularet ut provideret, ne commeatibus civitas privaretur, huic audiente populo Phocion negavit esse periculum seque eius rei obsidem fore pollicitus est. [5] neque ita multo post Nicanor Piraeo est potitus. ad quem recuperandum cum populus armatus concurrisset, ille non modo neminem ad arma vocavit, sed ne armatis quidem praeesse voluit. sine quo Athenae omnino esse non possunt.
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, 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.
3. Erant eo tempore Athenis duae factiones, quarum una populi causam agebat, altera optimatium. in hac erat Phocion et Demetrius Phalereus. harum utraque Macedonum patrociniis utebatur: nam populares Polyperchonti favebant, optimates cum Cassandro sentiebant. [2] interim a Polyperchonte Cassandrus Macedonia pulsus est. quo facto populus superior factus statim duces adversariae factionis capitis damnatos patria propulit, in eis Phocionem et Demetrium Phalereum, deque ea re legatos ad Polyperchontem misit, qui ab eo peterent ut sua decreta confirmaret. huc eodem profectus est Phocion. [3] quo ut venit, causam apud Philippum regem verbo, re ipsa quidem apud Polyperchontem iussus est dicere: namque is tum regis rebus praeerat. [4] hic ab Agnone accusatus, quod Piraeum Nicanori prodidisset, ex consilii sententia in custodiam coniectus Athenas deductus est, ut ibi de eo legibus fieret iudicium.
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; 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, but in reality before Polysperchon; for he at that time held the direction of the king’s affairs. Being accused by Agnonides 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.
4. Huc ut perventur est, cum propter aetatem pedibus iam non valeret vehiculoque portaretur, magni concursus sunt facti, cum alii, reminiscentes veteris famae, aetatis misererentur, plurimi vero ira exacuerentur propter proditionis suspicionem Piraei maximeque quod adversus populi commoda in senectute steterat. [2] quare ne perorandi quidem ei data est facultas dicenti causam in iudicio: legitimis quibusdam confectis damnatus traditus est undecimviris, quibus ad supplicium more Atheniensium publice damnati tradi solent. [3] hic cum ad mortem duceretur, obvius ei fuit Euphiletus, quo familiariter fuerat usus. is cum lacrimans dixisset ‘o quam indigna perpeteris, Phocion!’ huic ille ‘at non inopinata’ inquit: ‘hunc enim exitum plerique clari viri habuerunt Athenienses.’ [4] in hoc tantum fuit odium multitudinis, ut nemo ausus sit eum liber sepelire. itaque a servis sepultus est.
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, 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.
1. Timoleon Corinthius. sine dubio magnus omnium iudicio hic vir exstitit. namque huic uni contigit, quod nescio an nulli, ut et patriam, in qua erat natus, oppressam a tyranno liberaret, et a Syracusanis, quibus auxilio erat missus, iam inveteratam servitutem depelleret totamque Siciliam, multos annos bello vexatam a barbarisque oppressam, suo adventu in pristinum restitueret. [2] sed in his rebus non simplici fortuna conflictatus est et, id quod difficilius putatur, multo sapientius tulit secundam quam adversam fortunam. [3] nam cum frater eius Timophanes, dux a Corinthiis delectus, tyrannidem per milites mercennarios occupasset particepsque regni ipse posset esse, tantum afuit a societate sceleris, ut antetulerit civium suorum libertatem fratris saluti et parere legibus quam imperare patriae satius duxerit. [4] hac mente per haruspicem communemque affinem, cui soror ex eisdem parentibus nata nupta erat, fratrem tyrannum interficiundum curavit. ipse non modo manus non attulit, sed ne aspicere quidem fraternum sanguinem voluit. nam dum res conficeretur, procul in praesidio fuit, ne quis satelles posset succurrere. [5] hoc praeclarissimum eius factum non pari modo probatum est ab omnibus: nonnulli enim laesam ab eo pietatem putabant et invidia laudem virtutis obterebant. mater vero post id factum neque domum ad se filium admisit neque aspexit, quin eum fratricidam impiumque detestans compellaret. [6] quibus rebus ille adeo est commotus, ut nonnumquam vitae finem facere voluerit atque ex ingratorum homirnam conspectu morte decedere.
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), 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, 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 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.
2. Interim Dione Syracusis interfecto Dionysius rursus Syracusarum potitus est. cuius adversarii opem a Corinthiis petierunt ducemque, quo in bello uterentur, postularunt. huc Timoleon missus incredibili felicitate Dionysium tota Sicilia depulit. [2] cum interficere posset, noluit, tutoque ut Corinthum perveniret effecit, quod utrorumque Dionysiorum opibus Corinthii saepe adiuti fuerant, cuius benignitatis memoriam volebat exstare, eamque praeclaram victoriam ducebat, in qua plus esset clementiae quam crudelitatis, postremo ut non solum auribus acciperetur, sed etiam oculis cerneretur, quem ex quanto regno ad quam fortunam detulisset. [3] post Dionysii decessum cum Hiceta bellavit, qui adversatus erat Dionysio: quem non odio tyrannidis dissensisse, sed cupiditate indicio fuit, quod ipse expulso Dionysio imperium dimittere noluit. [4] hoc superato Timoleon maximas copias Karthaginiensium apud Crinissum flumen fugavit ac satis habere coegit, si liceret Africam obtinere, qui iam complures annos possessionem Siciliae tenebant. cepit etiam Mamercum, Italicum ducem, hominem bellicosum et potentem, qui tyrannos adiutum in Siciliam venerat.
Delphi Complete Works of Cornelius Nepos Page 47