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XXXI.1‑17

This webpage reproduces a portion of
The Library of History

of
Diodorus Siculus

published in Vol. XI
of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1957

The text is in the public domain.

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and I believe it to be free of errors.
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Book XXXII

(Vol. XI) Diodorus Siculus
Library of History

Fragments of Book XXXI (end)

 p357  7.2 At about this time many embassies having arrived, the senate dealt first with that headed by Attalus.​1 For the Romans were suspicious of Eumenes because of the correspondence that had come to light, in which he had contracted an alliance with Perseus against Rome. Since charges had also been levelled at him by a good many of the envoys from Asia, in particular those sent out by King Prusias and by the Gauls, Attalus and his companions  p359 did all in their power to refute the charges, point by point, and not only cleared themselves of these calumnies but returned home laden with honours. The senate, however, did not entirely abate its suspicion of Eumenes, but appointed and sent out Gaius​2 to look into his affairs.

Chaps. 8‑17: see above, after Chap. 7.1.

18 1 As King Ptolemy, now in exile, was approaching Rome on foot, Demetrius​3 the son of Seleucus recognized him, and shocked by his strange plight, gave a truly royal and magnificent example of his own character. For he prepared at once a royal costume and diadem, and in addition a valuable horse with trappings of gold, and with his family went out to meet Ptolemy. Encountering him at a distance of two hundred stades from the city​a and giving him a friendly salute, he urged him to adorn himself with the insignia of kingship, and make an entrance into Rome worthy of his rank, so that he might not be thought a person of no account whatever. Ptolemy appreciated his zeal, but was so far from accepting any part of the offer that he even asked Demetrius to remain behind in one of the towns along the way, and wanted Archias​4 and the others to remain with him.

2 Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, having been driven from the kingdom by his own brother, repaired to  p361 Rome in the miserable garb of a commoner, accompanied by but one eunuch and three slaves. Discovering while still on the way the address of Demetrius​5 the topographer, he sought him out and lodged with him, a man whom he had often entertained when he was resident in Alexandria; now, because rents at Rome were so high, he was living in a small and altogether shabby garret. 3 In the light of this, who, pray, would put his faith in the things that the multitude consider good, or would regard as enviable those whose good fortune is more than average? Indeed, it would be hard to find a change in fortune sharper and greater than this, or a reversal so unexpected. For no cause or occasion worth mentioning, his high and kingly estate was brought down to the lowly fortune of a commoner, and he who commanded all those thousands of free men of a sudden had only three servants left him from the shipwreck of his personal fortune.

18a Polybius and Diodorus, the authors of the Historical Libraries, relate that he​6 not only opposed the god in Judea but also, inflamed by the fires of avarice, tried to despoil the temple of Artemis, which was very rich, in Elymaïs. But thwarted by the guardians of the temple, and by the neighbouring peoples, he was driven mad by certain apparitions and terrors, and finally died of disease; and they state that this happened to him because he attempted to violate the temple of Artemis.

Chap. 19: see below, after Chap. 17c.

 p363  20 1 After Antipater died of torture, they carried off Asclepiades, the prefect of the city, loudly protesting that Timotheüs was the author of this tragedy and that it was he who had provoked the youth to take unjust and impious vengeance upon his brother. As the populace from this point on was little by little becoming aware of the utter knavery of their leaders and was beginning to regard the hapless victims with pity, Timotheüs and his associates, alarmed, put an end to their torture of the rest of the accused and had them done away with in private.7

Chap. 18: see above, after Chap. 7.2.

17c After the assassination of Timotheüs the populace . . . and being disgusted at Alexandria with the king for his shameless treatment of his brother, stripped him of his royal retinue and sent to recall the elder Ptolemy from Cyprus.

19 1 The kings of Cappadocia say that they trace their ancestry back to Cyrus the Persian, and also assert that they are descendants of one of the seven Persians who did away with the Magus.​8 Now as to  p365 their connection with Cyrus, they count as follows. Cambyses the father of Cyrus had a sister, of legitimate birth, Atossa. To her and Pharnaces, king of Cappadocia, was born a son, Gallus; his son was Smerdis, his Artamnes, and his Anaphas,​9 a man of outstanding bravery and daring, who was one of the seven Persians. 2 Such then is the pedigree they trace for their kinship with Cyrus and with Anaphas, to whom, they say, because of his valour the satrapy of Cappadocia was granted, with the understanding that no tribute would be paid to the Persians. After his death a son of the same name ruled. When he died, leaving two sons, Datames and Arimnaeus, Datames succeeded to the throne, a man who both in war and in the other spheres of royal duty won praise, and who, engaging the Persians in battle, fought brilliantly and died in battle. The kingdom passed to his son Ariamnes,​10 whose sons were Ariarathes and Holophernes; Ariamnes ruled for fifty years and died without achieving anything worthy of note. 3 The throne passed to Ariarathes (I), the elder of his sons, who is said to have loved his brother with a surpassing love, and promoted him to the most prominent positions: thus he was sent to aid the Persians in their war against the Egyptians, and returned home laden with honours, which Ochus,​11 the Persian king, bestowed for bravery; he died in his  p367 native land, leaving two sons, Ariarathes and Aryses. 4 Now his brother, the king of Cappadocia, having no legitimate offspring of his own, adopted Ariarathes, the elder son of his brother. At about this time Alexander of Macedon defeated and overthrew the Persians, and then died; Perdiccas, who at this point held the supreme command, dispatched Eumenes​12 to be military governor of Cappadocia. Ariarathes (I) was defeated, and fell in battle,​13 and Cappadocia itself and the neighbouring regions fell to the Macedonians. 5 Ariarathes (II), the son of the late king, regarding the situation as hopeless for the present, retired with a few followers to Armenia. Not long after, Eumenes and Perdiccas having died,​14 and Antigonus and Seleucus being elsewhere engaged, he obtained an army from Ardoates, king of Armenia, slew Amyntas, the Macedonian general, expelled the Macedonians from the land in short order, and recovered his original domain. 6 Of his three sons Ariamnes, the eldest, inherited the kingdom; he arranged a marital alliance with Antiochus (called Theos), whose daughter Stratonicê he married to his eldest son Ariarathes (III). And being a man unusually devoted to his children, he placed the diadem upon his son's head, made him joint ruler, and shared with him on equal terms all the privileges of kingship.15  p369 On his father's death, Ariarathes became sole ruler, and when he departed this life left the kingdom to his son Ariarathes (IV), who was then a mere infant. 7 He in turn married a daughter of Antiochus (surnamed the Great),​16 Antiochis by name, an utterly unscrupulous woman. Failing to have children, she palmed off on her unwitting husband two supposititious sons, Ariarathes and Holophernes. After a certain time, however, she ceased to be barren and unexpectedly bore two daughters and a single son, named Mithridates. Thereupon, after revealing the truth to her husband, she arranged for the elder of the supposititious sons to be sent off to Rome​17 with a suitable stipend, and the younger to Ionia, in order to avoid any dispute with the legitimate son over the kingdom. He, they say, changed his name to Ariarathes​18 (V) after he grew to manhood, received a Greek education, and won commendation as well for other merits. 8 Now because he was such a filial son, his father made a point of taking a parental interest in return, and their regard for one another reached such a point that the father was bent on retiring from the throne altogether in favour of his son, while the son declared that it was impossible for him to accept this kind of favour while his parents yet lived. But when the fatal day came for his father, he inherited the kingdom, and by his  p371 whole way of life, and especially by his devotion to philosophy, showed himself worthy of the highest praise; and thus it was that Cappadocia, so long unknown to the Greeks, offered at this time a place of sojourn to men of culture. This king also renewed with Rome the treaty of alliance and friendship.​19 So much, then, for the descent from Cyrus of the dynasty which to this point ruled over Cappadocia.

9 Seven kings of Cappadocia, whose dynasty lasted one hundred and sixty years, began at about this time, as Diodorus writes.20

21 1 Ariarathes, surnamed Philopator, on succeeding to his ancestral kingdom, first of all gave his father a magnificent burial. Then, when he had duly attended to the interests of his friends, of those in positions of authority, and of the other subordinate officials, he succeeded in winning great favour with the populace.21

22 1 After Ariarathes had restored Mithrobuzanes to his ancestral domain, Artaxias, the king of Armenia, abating not a whit his original rapacity sent envoys to Ariarathes, urging him to make common cause with him, and proposing that they should each put to death the young man who was at his court,  p373 and divide Sophenê​22 between them. Ariarathes, to whom such villainy was completely foreign, rebuked the envoys and wrote to Artaxias, urging him to abstain from such actions. When this result was achieved, Ariarathes in consequence enhanced his own reputation in no slight degree, while Mithrobuzanes, thanks to the admirable good faith and nobility of his sponsor, succeeded to the throne of his fathers.

19a Ptolemaeus, the governor of Commagenê, who even before had shown little respect for the Syrian kings, now asserted his independence, and because they were busy with their own affairs, established himself without interference in control of the country, being chiefly emboldened by its natural advantages for defence. Not satisfied with this gain, he raised an army and invaded Melitenê, which belonged to Cappadocia and was subject to Ariarathes, and he won an initial success by occupying the points of vantage. When Ariarathes, however, marched against him with a strong force, he withdrew into his own province.

23 1 Envoys arrived in Rome both from the younger Ptolemy and from the elder. An audience before the senate having been granted them, the senate, after hearing both sides out, decreed that the envoys of the elder Ptolemy must leave Italy within not more than five days, that their alliance with him was at an end, and that legates should be sent to the  p375 younger Ptolemy to inform him of the senate's goodwill and of their instructions to his brother.23

24 1 Because certain young men paid a talent for a male favourite and three hundred Attic drachmas for a jar of Pontic pickled fish, Marcus Porcius Cato, a man held in high esteem, declared before an assembly of the people that they could very readily discern herein the turn for the worse in men's conduct and in the state, when favourites were sold at a higher price than farm lands, and a jar of pickled fish than teamsters.24

25 1 Aemilius, the conqueror of Perseus, who held the office of censor and excelled his fellow citizens in nearly every virtuous capacity, at this time died. As the report of his death spread abroad and the time his funeral drew near, the entire city was so moved by grief that not only did the labouring men and the rest of the common people assemble with alacrity, but even the magistrates and the senate laid aside the affairs of state. Equally, too, from all the towns round about Rome, wherever they were able to arrive in time, the inhabitants almost to a man came down to Rome, eager both to witness the spectacle and to pay honour to the deceased.

 p377  2 Diodorus, in his account of the funeral of Lucius Aemilius, the conqueror of Perseus, states that it was conducted with the utmost splendour, and adds the following passage: "Those Romans who by reason of noble birth and the fame of their ancestors are pre-eminent are, when they die, portrayed in figures that are not only lifelike as to features but show their whole bodily appearance. For they employ actors​25 who through a man's whole life have carefully observed his carriage and the several peculiarities of his appearance. In like fashion each of the dead man's ancestors takes his place in the funeral procession, with such robes and insignia as enable the spectators to distinguish from the portrayal how far each had advanced in the cursus honorum and had had a part in the dignities of the state."

26 1 This same Aemilius​26 in departing this life left behind him a reputation for character equal to that which he had enjoyed while living. For though he had brought to Rome, from Spain, more gold than any of his contemporaries, had had in his possession the fabulous treasures of Macedonia, and had had unlimited powers in the said cases, he so completely abstained from appropriating any of this money that after his death his sons, whom he had given in adoption, on receiving their inheritance were unable to pay off from the whole of his personal property the dowry of his widow, except by selling some of the  p379 real property as well. 2 Hence it seemed to many that in freedom from avarice he had outdone even those who were the marvel of Greece in this respect, Aristeides and Epaminondas. For they had refused gifts whenever the offer was made in the interest of the donors, but he, with full power to take as much as he wanted, had coveted nothing. Now if this statement seems incredible to some, they should take into account the fact​27 that we cannot properly judge the freedom of the ancients from avarice by the dishonest greed of present-day Romans. For in our lifetime this people has, it appears, acquired a strong tendency to want more and more.

3 Having just now called a good man to mind, I wish to speak briefly of the training of the Scipio​28 who later destroyed Numantia, so that his success in after years may not appear incredible to some through ignorance of his youthful concern with the most noble pursuits.

4 Publius Scipio was by blood, as has already been stated, the son of the Aemilius who triumphed over Perseus, but having been given in adoption to Scipio, the son of the conqueror of Hannibal and the Carthaginians, he had as his adoptive grandfather Scipio, surnamed Africanus, the greatest Roman down to his own day. Sprung from such stock, and succeeding to a family and clan of such importance, he showed  p381 himself worthy of the fame of his ancestors. 5 For having had from childhood up extensive training in Greek studies, he now, on attaining the age of eighteen in this year,​29 devoted himself to philosophy, taking as his tutor Polybius of Megalopolis, the author of the Histories. Living in constant association with him, and proving a zealous adept of every virtue, he far outstripped not only his peers in age but all his elders as well in temperance, in nobility of character, in magnanimity, and generally in all good qualities. 6 Yet earlier, before applying himself to philosophy, he was generally regarded as a sluggard and no adequate successor to and representative of the dignity of his house. Nevertheless, he began, as befitted his years, by winning first a name for temperance. Now the fashion of the time tended strongly to unbridled pleasures and excessive licentiousness among the younger men. 7 Some had abandoned themselves to catamites, others to courtesans, others to all sorts of musical entertainments, and banquetings, and, in general, to the extravagance that these things entail. For having spent considerable time in Greece during the war with Perseus, they soon affected the easygoing Greek attitude to such matters, the more so as they had acquired ample funds, so that their wealth made adequate provision for the costs of indulgence.

27 1 Scipio, however, embarking upon a contrary course of conduct, and taking arms against all his natural appetites, as if they were wild beasts, in less than five years achieved a reputation, universally  p383 acknowledged for discipline and temperance. Even as this reputation was being accorded him by common consent, and was exciting favourable attention in all quarters, he set out to distinguish himself by his magnanimity and his liberal conduct of financial affairs. 2 For the attainment of this virtue he had in the character of his real father, Aemilius, an excellent model to follow, and, in general, his close association with his father had given him certain advantages and left his mark on him. Chance also co-operated to no small extent, providing opportunities for his generosity about money to become quickly well known.

3 Aemilia, for example, the wife of the great Scipio and sister of Aemilius, the conqueror of Perseus, died leaving a large estate, which he stood to inherit. Here he gave the first indication of his purpose, under the following circumstances. Long before the death of his father, his mother, Papiria, had been separated from her husband, but in her establishment her means were inadequate to her high station in life. 4 The mother of Scipio's adoptive father, however, the woman who left him the inheritance, had possessed, apart even from the rest of her fortune, a great array of personal adornments, attendants and the like, as befitted one who had shared in the prestige of the great Scipio's life and fortunes. All these  p385 trappings, worth many talents, he now took and gave to his own mother. And since she employed this donated pomp and splendour in making conspicuous public appearances, the goodness and generosity and of the young man and, in general, his filial piety towards his mother won the acclaim of the whole city, first among the women and then among the men. 5 This would be regarded as a shining example and as a thing to marvel at in any city, but especially so at Rome, where no one readily and of his own free will parts with anything he has. Later, when a large sum of money to complete their dowries remained to be paid to the daughters of the great Scipio, although it is the practice of the Romans to pay off a dowry piecemeal within three years, he paid the money to them all in full and at once. Next, when Aemilius, his real father, died and left his property to him and to Fabius,​30 the sons he had given in adoption, Scipio performed a noble act, which deserves to be put on record. 6 Seeing that his brother was less prosperous than himself he gave him as a supplement his own share of the inheritance, to the value of more than sixty talents, and thus equalized his entire holdings with those of his brother. This being greeted with approval and favourable comment on all sides he did a thing even more remarkable. For when his brother Fabius, wishing to stage a gladiatorial show​31 in honour of their father, was unable to assume the expense because of the great outlays involved, he gave him from his own pocket a half of the total cost. 7 On the death of his mother, so far from  p387 taking for himself anything he had given her, he allowed his sisters to have not only that but the rest of her estate, although they had no legal claim to the inheritance. Increasingly he gained the admiration of the whole city, receiving uncontested praise for his goodness and magnanimity; yet it was not so much the amounts involved that brought this about as the timeliness of his gifts and the tact with which he carried out his proposals. The acquisition of temperance, on the other hand, required no outlay of money; indeed, abstinence from indulgence conferred the boon of bodily health and vigour, which, as it lasted all his life, brought him ample compensation and requital. 8 One virtue remains, courage, which indeed is regarded as essential by all men and in particular by the Romans: this too he pursued with unusual vigour and made perfect, chance having provided him with a great opportunity. For the Macedonian kings had always been especially devoted to the chase, and Scipio outdid everyone.32

27a When it became known that the Romans were ill disposed towards Demetrius, not only the other kings but even some of the satraps subject to him regarded his kingship with scant respect. Of these satraps the most outstanding was a certain Timarchus. A Milesian by birth, and a friend of the previous king, Antiochus,​33 he had, in the course of a series of  p389 missions to Rome, worked serious detriment to the senate. Providing himself with large sums of money, he offered the senators bribes, seeking especially to overwhelm and lure with his gifts any senators who were in a weak financial position. By gaining in this way a large number of adherents and supplying them with proposals contrary to the public policy of Rome, he debauched the senate; in this he was seconded by Heracleides, his brother, a man supremely endowed by nature for such service. Following the same tactics he repaired to Rome on the present occasion, being now satrap of Media, and by launching many accusations against Demetrius persuaded the senate to enact the following decree concerning him: "To Timarchus, because of . . . to be their king."​34 Emboldened by this decree he raised an army of considerable size in Media; he also entered into an alliance against Demetrius with Artaxias, the king of Armenia. Having, moreover, intimidated the neighbouring peoples by an impressive display of force, and brought many of them under his sway, he marched against Zeugma, and eventually gained control of the kingdom.35

28 1 In the one hundred and fifty-fifth Olympiad envoys arrived from Ariarathes, bringing with them a "crown" of ten thousand gold pieces, to inform the senate of the king's friendly attitude towards the  p391 Roman people, as well as of his renunciation, on their account, of an alliance of marriage and friendship with Demetrius. Since this was confirmed by the testimony of Gracchus and his fellow commissioners,​36 the senate, expressing their approval of Ariarathes, accepted the crown and sent him the highest gifts that it was their custom to bestow.37

29 1 At about the same time the envoys of Demetrius were also introduced. They too brought a "crown" of ten thousand gold pieces and had with them, in chains, the men responsible for the murder of Octavius.​38 The senators were for a long time uncertain how to handle the situation. Finally, they accepted the crown but declined to accept custody of the men, Isocrates and Leptines, whose surrender was offered them together with the crown.

30 1 When Demetrius sent an embassy to Rome the senate gave him a devious and enigmatic reply, that he would receive kind treatment at their hands if in the exercise of his authority he gave satisfaction to the senate.39

31 1 After vanquishing Perseus the Romans curbed some of those who had taken part in the war on the Macedonian side, and removed others to Rome. In Epirus Charops,​40 who had gained control of the state  p393 on the strength of his reputation as a friend of the Romans, at the outset was guilty of but few crimes against his people and showed some caution; but proceeding further and further in lawless behaviour, he wrought havoc in Epirus. He incessantly brought false charges against the wealthy, and by murdering some, and driving others into exile and confiscating their property, he exacted money not only from the men but also, through his mother Philota (for she was a person with a gift for cruelty and lawlessness that belied her sex), from the women as well; and he haled many before the popular assembly on charges of disaffection to Rome. And the sentence in all cases was death.

32 1 Orophernes, having driven his brother Ariarathes from the throne,​41 made no effort — far from it — to manage his affairs sensibly, and to elicit popular support by helping and serving his people. Indeed, at the very time when he was raising money by forced contributions and was putting numbers of people to death, he presented Timotheüs with a gift of fifty talents, and King Demetrius with a gift of seventy, quite apart from the payment to Demetrius of six hundred talents with a promise to pay the remaining four hundred at another time. And seeing that the Cappadocians were disaffected, he began to exact contributions on all sides and to confiscate for the privy purse the property of men of the highest distinction. When he head amassed a great sum, he deposited four hundred talents with the city of  p395 Prienê as a hedge against the surprises of fortune, which amount the citizens of Prienê later paid.

32a King Eumenes,​42 grieved at the expulsion of Ariarathes and being eager for reasons of his own to check Demetrius, sent for a certain youth who in beauty of countenance and in age was exceedingly like Antiochus​43 the late king of Syria. This man resided in Smyrna and stoutly affirmed that he was a son of King Antiochus;​44 and because of the resemblance he found many to believe him. On his arrival at Pergamum the king tricked him out with a diadem and the other insignia proper to a king, then sent him to a certain Cilician named Zenophanes. This man, who had quarrelled for some reason with Demetrius, and had been assisted in certain difficult situations by Eumenes, who was then king, was accordingly at odds with the one, and kindly disposed to the other. He received the youth in a town of Cilicia, and spread the word abroad in Syria that the youth would reclaim his father's kingdom in his own good time.​45 Now after the generous behaviour of their former kings the common peoples of Syria were ill pleased with the austerity of Demetrius and his drastic demands. Being therefore ready for a change, they were buoyed up with hopeful expectations that the government would shortly fall into the hands of another and more considerate monarch.

 p397  32b While returning from Rome the envoys​46 of Orophernes formed a plot during the voyage against Ariarathes, but were themselves apprehended and put to death by Ariarathes at Corcyra. Likewise at Corinth when the henchmen of Orophernes laid plans against Ariarathes, he upset their calculations by eluding them, and got safe to Attalus at Pergamum.

33 1 Thanks to his large army the elder Ptolemy soon forced his brother​47 to stand a siege and made him undergo every deprivation, yet did not venture to put him to death, partly because of his own innate goodness and their family ties, partly through fear of the Romans. He granted him assurances of personal safety, and made with him an agreement according to which the younger Ptolemy was to rest content with the possession of Cyrenê, and was to receive each year a fixed amount of grain. Thus the relations of these kings, which had advanced to a state of serious estrangement and desperate frays, found an unexpected and humane solution.

34 1 As the situation worsened Orophernes was anxious to pay his men, for fear they might start a revolution. But being for the present without funds he was driven to plundering the temple of Zeus, which stands beneath the Mountain of Ariadnê, as it  p399 is called, though from remote times it had been held inviolable. This he robbed, and paid off the arrears of their wages.

35 1 King Prusias of Bithynia, having failed in his design on Attalus, destroyed the sanctuary outside the walls, known as the Nicephorium,​48 and despoiled the temple. He also carried off the votive statues, the images of the gods, and the famous statue of Asclepius, reputed to be by the hand of Phyromachus, a piece of extraordinary workman­ship; and he plundered all the shrines. The divine power was quick to requite him in signal fashion. The army was stricken with dysentery, and the greater part of his soldiers perished. A similar fate overtook his naval forces: for when the fleet ran into a sudden storm in the Propontis, many of the vessels were swallowed up by the sea, men and all, while some were driven on the shore and wrecked. Such were the first returns he received for his sacrilege.

36 1 The Rhodians, thanks to their shrewdness and the uses to which they turned their prestige, kept receiving payments of voluntary tribute, so to speak, from the kings. For by honouring whatever men are in power with clever flatteries and public decrees, and doing this, moreover, with assurance and keen foresight, they gain favours and receive donations of many times the value from the kings. From Demetrius, for example, they received a gift of two hundred thousand measures of wheat and a hundred thousand  p401 of barley, and Eumenes still owed them thirty thousand at his death;​49 this king had also promised to do over their theatre in marble. Thus the Rhodians, while maintaining the best government in Greece, induced many princes to vie with one another in conferring benefactions upon them.

37 1 But in general when he was put to the test of combat, like base coin he was found to be of other metal, and by his personal shortcomings he enlarged the war.50

38 1 What happened to the Rhodians was rather like a bear hunt. For indeed these beasts, which in size and strength appear so fearsome, are very easily routed when hunters unleash against them little dogs that, though small, are active and brave. For since bears have tender and fleshy feet, the snapping at their heels from beneath compels them to sit still until one of the hunters gets in a blow that strikes home, their slow and cumbersome movements making it impossible for them to . . . the nimbleness of the dogs. So the Rhodians, though world-renowned for their superiority in naval warfare, when unexpectedly surrounded on all sides by a fleet of midget ships, "mice" and "goats," were plunged into the greatest distress.51

39 1 There was in Celtiberia a small city named  p403 Begeda,​52 which, because of a great increase in population, they voted to enlarge. The Roman senate, viewing with suspicion their growth in strength, sent out a commission to stop them in accordance with the treaty,​53 wherein it was stated, along with much else, that without the consent of the Romans the Celtiberians might not found a city. One of the elders, named Cacyrus, replied that the agreement prevented them from founding a city but did not forbid them to enlarge their old homes; that they were not founding a city that had not previously been there, but were reconstructing the city already in existence, and so were doing nothing in violation of the treaty or of the common practice of all mankind. In all else, he said, they were obedient to the Romans, and were wholeheartedly their allies, whenever occasion required their help, but they would in no wise, he added, desist from building their city. When the assembly with one accord signified its approval of these words, the envoys returned with their answer to the senate. The senate then voided the treaty and began hostilities.

40 1 Whereas a single occasion decides the outcome of wars in Greece, in the Celtiberian wars night generally separated the combatants with vigour and energy still undiminished, and even winter did not bring the war to an end. Hence the term "fiery war," used by some, brings this war to mind before any other.54

 p405  40a Once again a popular uprising, due to the disaffection of the masses, threatened Demetrius with the loss of his throne. One of his mercenary troops, a man named Andriscus, bore a close resemblance to Philip, the son of Perseus, both in appearance and stature, and while at first it was only in jest and derision that his friends called him "son of Perseus," soon the statement won popular credence. Andriscus, boldly taking his cue from this talk, not only declared that he was indeed the son of Perseus, but adducing a fictitious story of his birth and upbringing, even approached Demetrius with a crowd of followers and called upon him to restore him to Macedonia and to the throne of his fathers. Now Demetrius at first regarded him as a crank. But when the populace had gathered, and many speakers declared that Demetrius should either restore Andriscus or, if he could not or would not play the king, should abdicate,​55 Demetrius, fearing the quick temper of the mob, had Andriscus arrested during the night and sent him off straightway to Rome with a full report to the senate of the claims made for the man.

41 1 After this victory the Celtiberians, with a prudent eye to the future, sent envoys to the consul to treat for peace.​56 The consul, however, feeling that it was incumbent upon him to maintain the proud Roman tradition, told them in reply either to place  p407 themselves entirely at the disposal of the Romans or to carry on the war in earnest.

42 1 Diodorus also calls the Iberians Lusitanians. For he says that the praetor Mummius was sent with an army to Iberia and that the Lusitanians, gathering in force and catching him off guard as he came to land, defeated him in battle and wiped out the greater part of his army. When the news of the Iberian victory became known, the Arevaci,​57 considering themselves far superior to the Iberians, made light of the enemy, and the people in their assembly, when they elected to enter the war against the Romans, acted chiefly for this reason.

43 1 Although the Rhodian people had been aroused to enthusiastic and eager preparations for the war, yet when they were unlucky in their ventures they lapsed into strange ways of thinking, like men long ill who lose heart. For when such men find themselves no better after observing the regimen prescribed by their physicians, they have recourse to those who deal in sacrifice and divination, while some countenance the use of spells and all sorts of amulets. So the Rhodians, suddenly failing in all their ventures, had recourse to the aid of men whom they originally held in contempt, and took a course that was bound to make them ridiculous in the eyes of others.58

44 1 It is not the equipment and size of the ships that bring victory, but the deeds and daring of the stout fighters aboard them.

 p409  45 1 The Cretans, putting in at Siphnos, assaulted the city and by intimidation and deceit gained admission within the walls. Having pledged their word to commit no wrong, but acting with customary Cretan faithlessness, they enslaved the city, and after sacking the temples of the gods (set sail) for Crete, laden with their spoil. Swiftly the gods inflicted upon them the penalty for their transgressions, and the divine power signally dealt with their impiety in unexpected fashion. For through fear of the enemy and his large ships they were forced to set sail at night, and, when a gale burst upon them, most of the men were swallowed up by the waves, while some were dashed to death against the rocky shore, and a mere remnant were saved — those who had had no part in the perfidy practised upon the Siphnians.


The Loeb Editor's Notes:

1 This fragment, corresponding to Polybius, 31.1, was misplaced by Dindorf.

2 C. Sulpicius Gallus.º For his conduct on the mission see Polybius, 31.6.

3 The future Demetrius I Soter (162‑150 B.C.), who had been sent to Rome as a hostage by his father Seleucus IV Philopator. He was a first cousin of Ptolemy VI Philometor, who on being forced by his brother Physcon to flee Egypt appealed to Rome.

4 Possibly the same Archias who later, as Egyptian governor of Cyprus, tried to betray the island to Demetrius (Polybius, 33.5).

5 Valerius Maximus, 5.1, identifies Ptolemy's host only as a pictor Alexandrinus. He was perhaps a landscape painter (see critical note) rather than a writer.

6 Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

7 This passage, of which the date (163 or 164/3 B.C.) is fixed by its position in the Exc. de Virt. et Vit. (between chaps. 18 and 21), almost certainly refers to Egypt, and not, as Dindorf apparently assumed, to Cappadocia. Hence it belongs here with chap. 17c. The "youth" and his brother would then be Physcon and Ptolemy Philometor. Antipater is otherwise unknown. An Asclepiades (the same?) was dioecetes and archisomatophylax in October, 163 (Peremans-Van't Dack, Prosopographia Ptolemaica, 1.21), i.e. after the restoration of Philometor, who according to W. Otto, Abh. München, N.F. 11 (1934), left Egypt in 164 and was recalled from Cyprus in mid-summer, 163 B.C. Timotheüs is perhaps Philometor's ambassador to Rome in 170 B.C. (Polybius, 28.1), but cannot be the same as the agent of Orophernes (infra, chap. 32) who was still active in 158 B.C. (Polybius, 32.10.4). — On the title ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως see Bengtson, Die Strategie in d. hellenist. Zeit, 3.128 ff.

8 The false Smerdis, who briefly usurped the throne of Persia in 522 B.C. (Herodotus, 3.61 ff.).

9 Not named as one of the Seven in Herodotus, but an Onophas, apparently corresponding to the Otanes of Herodotus, 3.70, heads the list of the "Seven" in Ctesias, Persica, 14. It may also be noted that the Otanes of Herodotus, 7.62, presumably a kinsman, had a son Anaphes.

10 The proper form of this family name, as found on coins, is Ariaramnes. Holophernes (just below) is a textual corruption of Orophernes.

11 Artaxerxes III Ochus (358‑338 B.C.). He was at war in Egypt in 351 and 343 B.C.

12 Eumenes of Cardia, secretary to Philip II and to Alexander.

13 Diodorus himself says (Book 18.16) that Ariarathes was captured by Perdiccas and impaled. According to Hieronymus of Cardia (Jacoby, FGH, no. 154.4) he was 82 at the time of his death.

14 Perdiccas died in 321, Eumenes in 316 B.C., but Bengtson (Die Strategie in d. hellenist. Zeit, 2.77‑78) puts the defeat of Amyntas much later, c. 260 B.C.

15 Ariarathes III is generally considered the first king of a sovereign Cappadocia. The recognition of its independence was probably a consequence of this alliance with Antiochus II Theos (261‑247/6 B.C.).

16 Antiochus III (223‑187 B.C.), whom he supported at the battle of Magnesia. Ariarathes IV soon after, however, made a treaty of friendship with Rome.

17 Livy, 42.19, records his arrival in Rome in 172 B.C.

18 Ariarathes V Eusebes Philopator (163‑130 B.C.). He was the devoted pupil and friend of Carneades, head of the Academy, and was a patron of the Attic guild of Dionysiac artists: cp. W. S. Ferguson, Hellenistic Athens, 300‑301, 370, and IG, 23.3781 and 1330.

19 Cp. Polybius, 31.3.

20 The last king of this line, Ariarathes VIII, died in 95 B.C. after a brief reign. This would carry the beginnings of the dynasty back to c. 255 B.C.

21 Cp. Polybius, 31.3 and 7, for Ariarathes' conduct on succeeding to the throne and for his filial piety.

22 A region east of the Euphrates, lying between Cappadocia and Armenia. Presumably the two claimants to the throne, Mithrobuzanes and another, had taken refuge, respectively, with Ariarathes and Artaxias. The exact date of the incident is uncertain. Cp. Polybius, 31.16.

23 Cp. Polybius, 31.20.

24 Cp. Polybius, 31.25.5 and 5a, and below, Book 37.3.6. The Diodorus passages are not cited for Cato in Malcovati's Orat. Rom. Frag. Since Polybius apparently records the remark in connection with his eulogy of Scipio, the present passage should, probably, be placed below, after chap. 26.7. If not, it may belong to a speech in support of the sumptuary legislation of 161 B.C., the Lex Fannia.

25 Or possibly "artists," but Zadoks and Jitta, Ancestral Portraiture in Rome (Amsterdam, 1932), 25, interpret the passage as referring to impersonations of the deceased, not statues or wax effigies. See also Polybius, 6.53.

26 This and the following fragment are modelled closely on the more detailed excursus on Aemilius and Scipio in Polybius, 31.22‑30.

27 This observation, not in Polybius, was added by Diodorus and refers to his own day.

28 P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus (185/4‑129 B.C.). Numantia was destroyed in 133 B.C.

29 Diodorus has misunderstood Polybius (31.24.1), who was here referring to an earlier occasion, not to the year of Aemilius' death (the starting-point of the excursus).

30 Q. Fabius Maximus Aemilianus.

31 These ludi funebres included also performances of the Hecyra and Adelphoe of Terence.

32 The excerptor has so abbreviated the conclusion that the mention of hunting can be understood only by reference to Polybius, 31.29.

33 Antiochus IV Epiphanes, not the ill-starred Antiochus V Eupator (163‑162 B.C.).

34 Bevan, The House of Seleucus, 2.194, translates the decree: "As far as Rome was concerned Timarchus was King" (see critical note). — Appian, Syr. 45, says that Antiochus had appointed Timarchus satrap of Babylon, and Heracleides treasurer. Bengtson, Die Strategie in d. hellenist. Zeit, 2.87, follows Bevan in considering Timarchus not only satrap of Media but general commander of the eastern provinces.

35 This is hardly true. Rome gave him recognition but no support, and he was soon defeated by Demetrius and put to death.

36 A commission, headed by Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, had been sent to the East in 162 B.C., after the escape of Demetrius to Syria.

37 The sceptre and the ivory sella curulis; cp. Polybius, 32.1.

38 Cn. Octavius, one of the legati sent to Syria in 163 B.C. The murderer was Leptines, Isocrates being merely a "soap-box" orator who publicly condoned the deed. For the reception of the embassy in Rome see Polybius, 32.2‑3.

39 From Polybius, 32.3.13.

40 For Charops see Book 30.5. The present passage is based on Polybius, 32.5‑6, which includes an account of his visit to Rome and mention of his death (c. 160/59 B.C.). The mother's name is there given as Philotis.

41 Ariarathes arrived in Rome, seeking help, in the summer of 158 B.C. (Polybius, 32.10), but may have gone into exile sooner. The thousand talents mentioned below were promised by Orophernes to Demetrius for his support. See Polybius, 33.6, on the dissension caused later by the 400 talents deposited at Prienê. For Timotheüs see Polybius, 32.10.4.

42 Probably the excerptor's error for Attalus, as Eumenes died in 160 or 159 B.C., and the reference to him later in the passage suggests that he was already dead.

43 Antiochus V Eupator.

44 Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

45 He did in fact succeed Demetrius on the throne in 150 B.C., as Alexander Balas.

46 For the occasion of their embassy to Rome see Polybius, 32.10. Rome's answer (Appian, Syr. 47) was that the brothers Ariarathes and Orophernes should rule jointly.

47 The younger Ptolemy (Physcon), still seeking to add Cyprus to his share of the kingdom, was forced to surrender to Philometor at Lapethus (cp. Polybius, 39.7).

48 See note on Book 28.5. For a fuller account of the war see Polybius, 32.15‑16.

49 Polybius, 31.31, notes with disapproval their acceptance of a gift of 280,000 measures of grain from Eumenes.

50 The reference, as appears from Polybius, 33.4, is to Aristocrates, the Rhodian commander in the war with Crete.

51 The exact occasion is unknown, but may pertain to the war with Crete.

52 Better, Segeda: see critical note. Certain other details on this opening incident of the Celtiberian War may be found in Appian, Hisp. 44, probably based on Polybius.

53 The treaty had been made a generation earlier (179 B.C.) by Ti. Sempronius Gracchus.

54 This passage is harshly compressed from Polybius, 35.1.

55 Possibly "abdicate in favour of Andriscus." This incident, of uncertain date, probably took place at Antioch. The whole career of Andriscus is outlined in Zonaras, 9.28; cp. also below, Book 32.9a, 9b, and 15.

56 Generally referred to the defeat of Q. Fulvius Nobilior, 23 August 153 B.C., and the negotiations with the consul of 152 B.C., M. Claudius Marcellus. But the attitude of Marcellus was more conciliatory, and the consul here is therefore probably Nobilior himself. The order of the fragments is not in this case decisive.

57 A people of Further Celtiberia. For the defeat of L. Mummius (called Memmius in the Greek text) see Appian, Hisp. 56.

58 Based on Polybius, 33.17.


Thayer's Note:

a If Ptolemy was coming from Egypt, his ship most likely landed either at Ostia the port of Rome — but Ostia is less than 200 stades (which is about 37 km) from Rome — or at Brundisium and he'd been traveling the Via Appia: in which case he would have been somewhere in the neighborhood of Lanuvium. Now the steep ramp at Aricia, which would come in a few miles, was a bottleneck notorious for swarms of beggars and ambushes by highwaymen (Lanciani, Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries, p209): Demetrius' thoughtfulness was more than a gesture.


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