Delphi Complete Works of Quintus Curtius Rufus

by Quintus Curtius Rufus

  [22] If, by the God of Faith! Alexander had left this man to be king in his place, that would be the only one of his commands that I should think ought not [23] to be obeyed. Why then do you not run to plunder the treasures? for surely the people alone are the [24] heirs to these riches of the king.” Having said this, he burst through the midst of the armed men, and those who had made way for him when he left followed him to the booty which had been proclaimed.

  Iamque armatorum circa Meleagrum frequens globus erat in seditionem ac discordiam versa contione, cum quidam plerisque Macedonum ignotus ex intima plebe: ‘Quid opus est,’ inquit, ‘armis civilique bello habentibus regem, [2] quem quaeritis? Arrhidaeus, Philippo genitus, Alexandri paulo ante regis frater, sacrorum caerimoniarumque consors modo, nunc solus heres, praeteritur a vobis. Quo suo merito? quidve fecit, cur [p. 378] etiam gentium communi iure fraudetur? Si Alexandre) similem quaeritis, numquam reperietis: [3] si proximum, hic solus est.’ His auditis contio primo silentium velut iussa habuit, conclamant deinde pariter Arrhidaeum vocandum esse mortemque meritos, [4] qui contionem sine eo habuissent. Tum Pithon plenus lacrimarum orditur dicere, nunc vel maxime miserabilem esse Alexandrum, qui tam bonorum civium militumque fructu et praesentia fraudatus esset. Nomen enim memoriamque regis sui tantum intuentes ad cetera caligare eos. [5] Haud ambigue tum in eum, cui regnum destinabatur, ingessit probra: at, quae obiecerat, magis ipsi odium quam Arrhidaeo contemptum attulerunt. [6] Quippe dum miserentur, etiam favere coeperunt. Igitur non alium regem se quam eum, qui ad hanc spem genitus esset, passuros pertinaci adclamatione declarant vocarique Arrhidaeum iubent. [7] Quem Meleager infestus invisusque Perdiccae strenue perducit in regiam: et milites Philippum consalutatum regem appellant. [8] Ceterum haec vulgi erat vox, principum alia sententia. E quibus Pithon consilium Perdiccae exequi coepit tutoresque destinat filio ex Boxane futuro [p. 379] Perdiccam et Leonnatum, stirpe regia genitos. [9] Adiecit, ut in Europa Craterus et Antipater res administrarent. Tum iusiurandum a singulis exactum futuros in potestate regis geniti Alexandro. [10] Meleager — haud iniuria metu supplicii territus cum suis secesserat — rursus Philippum trahens secum inrupit regiam clamitans suffragari spei de novo rege paulo ante conceptae robur aetatis: experirentur modo stirpem Philippi, et filium ac fratrem regum duorum: sibimet ipsis potissimum crederent. [11] Nullum profundum mare, nullum vastum fretum et procellosum tantos ciet fluctus, quantos multitudo motus habet, utique si nova et brevi duratura libertate luxuriat. [12] Pauci Perdiccae modo electo, plures Philippo, quem spreverant, imperium dabant. Nec velle nec nolle quicquam diu poterant, paenitebatque modo consilii, modo paenitentiae ipsius. Ad ultimum tamen in stirpem regiam inclinavere studiis. [13] Cesserat ex contione Arrhidaeus principum auctoritate conterritus, et abeunte illo conticuerat magis quam elanguerat militaris favor: itaque revocatus vestem fratris, eam ipsam, quae in sella posita fuerat, induitur. [14] Et Meleager thorace sumpto capit arma, novi regis satelles. Sequitur phalanx hastis clipeos quatiens, expletura se sanguine illorum, qui [p. 380] [15] adfectaverant nihil ad ipsos pertinens regnum. In eadem domo familiaque imperii vires remansuras esse gaudebant: hereditarium imperium stirpem regiam vindicaturam: adsuetos esse nomen ipsum colere venerarique, nec quemquam id capere nisi geni tum, ut regnaret. [16] Igitur Perdicca territus conclave, in quo Alexandri corpus iacebat, obserari iubet: DC cum ipso erant spectatae virtutis, Ptolomaeus quoque se adiunxerat ei puerorumque regia cohors. [17] Ceterum haud difficulter a tot milibus armatorum claustra perfracta sunt. Et rex quoque inruperat stipatus satellitum turba, quorum princeps Meleager ibat: [18] itaque Perdicca hos, qui Alexandri corpus tueri vellent, sevocat. Sed, qui inruperant, eminus tela in ipsum iaciebant. Multisque vulneratis tandem seniores demptis galeis, quo facilius nosci possent, precari eos, qui cum Perdicca erant, coepere, ut absisterent bello regique et pluribus cederent. [19] Primus Perdicca arma deposuit, ceterique idem fecere. Meleagro deinde suadente, ne a corpore Alexandri discederent, [20] insidiis locum quaeri rati diversa regiae parte ad Euphraten fugam intendunt. Equitatus, qui ex nobilissimis iuvenum constabat, Perdiccam et Leonnatum frequens sequebatur, placebatque excedere urbe et tendere in campis. [21] Sed Perdicca ne pеdites quidem secuturos ipsum desperabat: itaque, ne [p. 381] abducendo equites abrupisse a cetero exercitu videretur, in urbe subsistit.

  VII. And already there was a large body of armed men around Meleager, and the assembly was on its way to sedition and discord, when a man unknown to most of the Macedonians, one of the lowest of the common people, said: “What need is there of arms and civil war, when you have the king whom you [2] seek? Arrhidaeus, son of Philip, brother of Alexander, who was shortly before king, recently his associate in sacrifices and ceremonies, and now his sole heir, is passed over by you. Why has he deserved this? Or what has he done to be cheated even of the common law of nations? If you seek a king like Alexander, you will never find one; if one next in blood, Arrhidaeus is the only choice.”

  [3] After hearing these words the assembly at first kept silence, as if ordered to do so, then they shouted with one voice that Arrhidaeus ought to be summoned, and that those who had held an assembly without him deserved death.

  [4] Then Pithon, bathed in tears, began to say that now Alexander was more than ever to be pitied, since he had been defrauded of the use and company of such good citizens and soldiers. For having an eye only to the name and the memory of their king, they were [5] blind to all else. Then in plain language he heaped abuse upon the one to whom the throne was being awarded, but his insulting words brought more hatred upon himself than contempt upon Arrhidaeus. For in pitying him the assembly began to favour him.

  [6] Therefore with persistent acclamation they declared that they would tolerate no other king than one who had been born to such a hope, and they ordered [7] Arrhidaeus to be called. Him Meleager, being hostile to Perdiccas, whom he hated, promptly brought into the royal quarters, and the soldiers hailed him as king under the name of Philippus.

  [8] But this was the voice of the common people, the opinion of the chief men was different. Of these Pithon began to follow the plan of Perdiccas, and named Perdiccas and Leonnatus, both born of royal stock, as guardians of the son to be born of Roxane.

  [9] He added that Craterus and Antipater should have direction of affairs in Europe. Then an oath was exacted of each man that they would submit to a [10] king begotten of Alexander. Meleager — naturally terrified for fear of punishment, he had withdrawn with his partisans — again burst into the royal quarters dragging Philippus with him and crying that his vigorous youth favoured the hope which they had just conceived for the new king; let them only try the offspring of Philip, son and brother to two kings; let them trust their own judgement rather than that of others.

  [11] No deep sea, no vast and storm-swept ocean rouses such great billows as the emotions of a multitude, especially if it is exulting in a liberty which is new [12] and destined to be short-lived. A few were for giving the power to Perdiccas, who had recently been chosen, more to Philippus, whom they had scorned. But they could not favour nor oppose anything for long, and now repented of their resolution, and now of the very fact of having repented. At last, however, their [13] favour inclined to the royal stock. Arrhidaeus had left the assembly greatly alarmed by the authority of the leading men, and as he went out the favour of the soldiers was rather silenced than diminished; hence, on being recalled he put on the robe of his brother, the very one which had been placed upon [14] the throne. And Meleager, having put on his cuirass, armed himself as an attendant upon the new king. The phalanx followed his example, clashing their spears against their shields as a sign that they would sate themselves with the blood of those who [15] aspired to a rule to which they had no claim. They rejoiced that the strength of the empire would remain in the same house and family; that the inheritance of empire would defend the royal stock; they were accustomed to honour and venerate the name itself, and no one assumed it unless born to rule. —

  [16] Therefore Perdiccas in terror ordered the room in which the body of Alex
ander was lying to be bolted; he had with him 600 men of tried valour, Ptolemy [17] also had joined him and the royal band of pages. But the barriers were easily broken through by so many thousands of soldiers. And the king also had rushed in, surrounded by a throng of attendants, of whom [18] Meleager took the lead; accordingly, Perdiccas called aside those who wished to protect the body of Alexander. But those who had broken in were throwing javelins at him at long range. And after many had been wounded, at last the older men, taking off their helmets in order to be more easily recognized, began to entreat those who favoured Perdiccas to cease from war and yield to the king and to superior [19] numbers. Perdiccas was the first to lay down his arms, and the rest followed his example. Then, when Meleager tried to persuade them not to leave the body of Alexander, they, thinking that he was looking for an opportunity for treachery, through another door of the palace took flight in the direction of the [20] Euphrates. The cavalry, which was composed of the noblest of the youth, in great numbers followed Perdiccas and Leonnatus, and advised leaving the [21] city and encamping in the plains. But Perdiccas did not give up hope that even the infantry would follow him; and therefore, for fear that by leading away the horsemen he might seem to have separated from the rest of the army, he remained in the city.

  At Meleager regem monere non destitit, ius imperii Perdiccae morte sanciendum esse: ni occupetur inpotens animus, res novaturum. Meminisse eum, quid de rege meruisset, neminem autem ei satis fidum esse, quem metuat. [2] Rex patiebatur magis quam adsentiebatur: itaque Meleager silentium pro imperio habuit misitque regis nomine, qui Perdiccam accerserent. Isdem mandatum, [3] ut occiderent, si venire dubitaret. Perdicca nuntiato satellitum adventu sedecim omnino pueris regiae cohortis comitatus in limine domus suae constitit castigatosque et Meleagri mancipia identidem appellans sic animi vultusque constantia terruit, ut vix mentis compotes fugerint. [4] Perdicca pueros equos iussit conscendere et cum paucis amicorum ad Leonnatum pervenit, iam firmiore praesidio vim propulsaturus, si quis inferret. [5] Postera die indigna res Macedonibus videbatur, Perdiccam ad mortis periculum adductum, et Meleagri temeritatem armis ultum ire decreverant. [6] * * * * Atque ille seditione provisa, cum regem adisset, interrogare eum coepit, an Perdiccam conprehendi ipse iussisset. Ille Meleagri instinctu se iussisse respondit: ceterum non debere tumultuari eos: Perdiccam enim vivere. [7] Igitur contione dimissa Meleager equitum se maxime defectione perterritus inopsque consilii — quippe in ipsum periculum recciderat, quod inimico [p. 382] paulo ante intenderat — triduum fere consumpsit incerta consilia volvendo. [8] Et pristina quidem regiae species manebat: nam et legati gentium regem adibant, et copiarum duces aderant, et vestibulum satellites armatique conpleverant. [9] Sed ingens sua sponte maestitia ultimae desperationis index erat, suspectique invicem non adire propius, non conloqui audebant secretas cogitationes intra se quoque solvente, et ex conparatione regis novi desiderium excitabatur amissi. [10] Ubi ille esset, cuius imperium, cuius auspicium secuti erant, requirebant: destitutos se inter infestas indomitasque gentes expetituras tot suarum cladium poenas, quandoque oblata esset occasio. [11] His cogitationibus animos exedebant, cum adnuntiatur equites, qui sub Perdicca essent, [12] occupatis circa Babylona campis frumentum, quod in urbem vehebatur, retinuisse. Itaque inopia primum, deinde fames esse coepit, et, qui in urbe erant, aut reconciliandam cum Perdicca gratiam aut armis certandum esse censebant. [13] Forte ita acciderat, ut, qui in agris erant, populationem villarum vicorumque veriti confugerent in urbem, oppidani, cum ipsos alimenta deficerent, urbe excederent, utrique generi tutior aliena sedes quam sua videretur. [14] Quorum consternationem Macedones veriti in regiam coeunt, quaeque ipsorum sententia esset, exponunt. Placebat autem legatos ad equites mitti et de finienda discordia armisque ponendis. [15] Igitur a rege legatur Pasias Thessalus et Damyllus Megalopolitanus et Perilaue: qui cum [p. 383] mandata regis edidissent, non aliter posituros arma equites, quam si rex discordiae auctores dedidisset, tulere responsum. [16] His renuntiatis sua sponte arma milites capiunt. Quorum tumultu e regia Philippus excitus: ‘Nihil,’ inquit, ‘seditione est opus: nam inter se certantium praemia, qui quieverint, occupabunt. [17] Simul mementote rem esse cum civibus: quibus spem gratiae cito abrumpere ad bellum civile properantium est. [18] Altera legatione, an mitigari possint, experiamur. Et credo nondum regis corpore sepulto ad praestanda ei iusta omnis esse coituros. [19] Quod ad me attinet, reddere hoc imperium malo quam exercere civium sanguine: et si nulla alia concordiae spes est, oro quaesoque, [20] eligite potiorem.’ Obortis deinde lacrimis diadema detrahit capiti dexteram, qua id tenebat, protendens, [21] ut, si quis se digniorem profiteretur, acciperet. Ingentem spem indolis ante eum diem fratris claritate suppressae tam moderata excitavit oratio. Itaque cuncti instare coeperunt, ut, quae agitasset, exequi vellet. [22] Eosdem rursus legat petituros, ut Meleagrum tertium ducem acciperent. Haud aegre id inpetratum est: nam et abducere Meleagrum Perdicca a rege cupiebat et unum duobus inparem futurum esse censebat. [23] Igitur Meleagro cum phalange obviam egresso Perdicca equitum turmas antecedens occurrit. Utrumque agmen mutua salutatione facta coit in perpetuum, ut arbitrabantur, concordia et pace firmata. [p. 384]

  VIII. But Meleager did not cease to warn the king that his right to rule ought to be confirmed by the death of Perdiccas; that if his ambitious spirit were not checked, he would start a revolution. That he remembered what he had deserved of the king, and besides no one was wholly loyal to one whom he [2] feared. The king rather listened to than accepted this advice; accordingly Meleager took his silence as a command and sent men in the name of the king to summon Perdiccas. They were directed to kill [3] him if he hesitated to come. Perdiccas, when the arrival of the messengers was known, attended only by sixteen youths of the royal cohort, took his place on the threshold of his house, and after upbraiding the messengers and repeatedly calling them slaves of Meleager, he so terrified them by the firmness of his courage and his expression, that they fled almost [4] beside themselves. Perdiccas ordered the youths to mount their horses and came with a few of his friends to Leonnatus, intending now to ward off violence with a stronger force, if anyone should offer it.

  [6] On the following day it seemed to the Macedonians shameful that Perdiccas had been exposed to danger of death, and they decided to go and punish by arms [6] the rash act of Meleager. But he, having foreseen a revolt, when he had come to the king began to ask him whether he himself had ordered Perdiccas to be seized. The king replied that he had ordered it at the instigation of Meleager, but that they ought not to make a disturbance; for Perdiccas was alive.

  [7] Therefore when the assembly had been dismissed, Meleager, terrified especially by the desertion of the cavalry and not knowing what to do — for he had fallen into the very danger which he had shortly before devised for his enemy — spent nearly three [8] days in considering uncertain plans. And in fact the former appearance of the royal quarters continued; for envoys of the nations came to the king, and the leaders of the forces were present with him, and armed men and attendants had filled the vestibule.

  [9] But the great seriousness which involuntarily showed itself was a sign of extreme desperation, and suspecting one another, they did not dare to approach nor to talk with anyone, but turned over secret thoughts each in their own minds, and from comparison with the new king longing was aroused for the one whom they had lost.

  [10] They inquired where he was whose rule and auspices they had followed; they had been deserted amid hostile and unsubdued nations, who would seek to inflict punishment for their many disasters, when-

  [11] ever an opportunity was offered. They were eating their hearts out by such thoughts as these, when it was announced that the cavalry who were under Perdiccas, having taken possession of the plains around Babylon, had held back the grain which was [12] being transported into the city. In consequence, there began to be at first scarcity and then famine, and those who were within the city maintained that they ought to come to terms with Perdiccas or fight [13] with him. By chance it had so happened that those who had been in the f
ields, fearing a devastation of the farmhouses and villages, were fleeing to the city, and that the townspeople, as provisions were failing them, were going out of the city, since to both classes the abode of the others seemed safer than their own.

  [14] The Macedonians, fearing some disturbance from these, went in a body to the royal quarters and expressed their opinions. But it seemed best for envoys to be sent to the cavalry to discuss ending [15] the discord and laying down arms. Therefore the king sent Pasias the Thessalian and Damyllus of Megalopolis and Perilaus. When these had delivered the king’s message, they received the reply that the horsemen would not lay down their arms unless the king should surrender the ringleaders of the discord.

  [16] When this reply was announced, the soldiers of their own accord armed themselves. Philip, called from the royal quarters by their tumult, said: “There is no necessity for an outbreak; for those who rest quiet will seize the prizes of those who engage in [17] mutual strife. At the same time remember that you are dealing with citizens, and that hastily to snatch from them the hope of grace is the part of [18] those eager for civil war. Let us try by a second deputation whether they can be reconciled. And I believe that, since the body of Alexander is not yet buried, all will unite to pay this pious duty which [19] we owe him. So far as I am concerned, I prefer to return this authority of mine rather than to exercise it at the expense of the blood of fellow-citizens; and if there is no other hope of harmony, I beg and entreat you, choose a better man.”

  [20] Then with tears in his eyes he took the diadem from his head, and extended his right hand, in which he was holding it, so that if anyone claimed to be [21] more worthy he might take it. This very moderate speech aroused great hope of his character, which before that day had been obscured by his brother’s fame. Accordingly, all began to urge him to consent [22] to carry out what he had planned. Again he sent the same envoys, to ask that they should receive Meleager as a third leader. This was granted without difficulty; for Perdiccas wished to separate Meleager from the king, and thought that alone he [23] would be no match for the other two. Therefore when Meleager came out to meet him with the phalanx, Perdiccas received him at the head of the squadrons of cavalry. Both armies exchanged salutations and united for ever, as they thought, in firm concord and peace.