as a result of her boldness, she gave them no respectful reply, but, woman-like, in addition to her innate recklessness, she was puffed up with vanity because of the power that she possessed; and she accordingly cast some of the ambassadors into prison and killed others for
expressing
themselves freely.
Roman Translations
2 On Mount Caper, P.
Ventidius Bassus, with a few men, engaged the Parthians who had invaded Syria with Labenius in command, escaped, killed Labienus, and, pursuing the Persians, cast them into utter destruction.
In this engagement, he killed Pacorus, the king's son, on the same day on which Crassus had been defeated, lest the death of a Roman commander ever be left unavenged.
3 Ventidius first celebrated a triumph over the Persians.
M.
Antonius, having invaded Media, which now is called Madaena, waged war against the Parthians and defeated them in initial battles.
Afterward, after two legions had been lost, when he was being overwhelmed with famine, pestilence, and tempests, he barely withdrew the army through Armenia, with the Persians in pursuit, shocked with so much terror as a result of how times had changed that he contemplated being run through by one of his own gladiators, lest he come alive in the enemies' power.
[19] L Under Octavianus Caesar Augustus, Armenia conspired with Parthia. 2 Claudius Caesar, grandson of Augustus, when he been dispatched to Oriens with an army, when he had settled everything for the benefit of the majesty of the Roman name, and the Armenians, who, with the Parthians, were then the stronger at the time, had surrendered themselves to him, Claudius Caesar appointed to the aforementioned peoples judges on the basis of Pompeius's settlement. 3 A certain Donnes, whom Arsaces had put in command of the Parthians, through an orchestrated treachery, offered a book in which treasures were contained, inscribed. While the Roman imperator was reading very intently, having attacked with a knife, he wounded Claudius. The assassin was indeed killed by soldiers. Claudius, after he had returned to Syria, died from the wound. 4 The Persians, for satisfaction of such an outrage, having been granted an audience, then first gave hostages to Octavianus Caesar Augustus and returned the standards taken under Crassus. When the peoples of Oriens had been pacified, Augustus Caesar also first received a legation of Indians.
[20] L Nero, the vilest imperator the Roman state has endured, lost Armenia. Then two Roman legions, having been sent under the yoke by the Persians, defiled with the utmost infamy the military oaths of the Roman army. 2 Trajan, who, after Augustus, set in motion the muscle of the Roman state, regained Armenia from the Parthians, and, after the crown had been offered, abolished the kingdom of Armenia Major. He gave a king to the Albani; received Hiberians, Bosphorians, and Colchians into the protection of Roman sway; occupied localities of the Osrhoenians and Arabs; obtained the Carduenians and Marcomedians; received and maintained Anthemusia -- Persia's finest region -- , Seleucia, Ctesiphon, and Babylon; and, after Alexander, even reached the ends of India. He established a fleet in the Red Sea. He made provinces Armenia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, which, situated between the Tigris and Euphrates, is made equal to Egypt in fecundity by the flooding rivers. 3 It is certain that Hadrian envied Trajan's glory. His successor in imperium, after the armies had been recalled, he surrendered Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria on his own initiative and willed that the Euphrates be a median between Romans and Persians.
[21] L Two Antonines, Marcus and Verus, that is, father-in-law and son-in-law, simultaneously Augusti, first held the imperium of the world with an equivalent power. But of them, Antoninus the Younger, having set out on a Parthian campaign, felicitously accomplished many and momentous things against the Persians. He took Seleucia, a city in Assyria, together with 40,000 of the enemy, and with immense glory he celebrated a triumph over the Persians. 2 Severus, by birth African, was a most active imperator. He quickly conquered the Parthians, annihilated the Aziabeni, gained control the Arabs of the interior, and made a province in Arabia. Titles were obtained by this man for these victories: for he was given the titles "Aziabenicus," "Parthicus," and "Arabicus. " 3 Antoninus, with the cognomen Caracalla, son of imperator Severus, preparing an expedition against the Persians, died a fitting death at Osrhoene, near Edessa, and was buried in the same spot.
[22] L Aurelius Alexander, born as if by some destiny for the destruction of the Persian race, took the helm of the Roman imperium while still a youth. He gloriously conquered Xerxes, noblest king of the Persians. He had Ulpian, the jurisconsult, as Master of the Secretariat. At Rome, he celebrated with remarkable pomp a triumph over the Persians. 2 Under Gordian, a princeps active through the assurance of youth, the rebelling Parthians were beaten in great battles. Returning from Persia a victor, he was killed by the treachery of Philippus, who was his praetorian prefect. Twenty miles from Circensium the troops built for him a tumulus, which now exists, and they escorted his remains to Rome with the greatest deference of respect.
[23] L It is disgusting to report the fate of the unfortunate princeps Valerian. After the army had made Valerian imperator, and the senate Gallienus, Valerian, having contended against the Persians in Mesopotamia, was defeated by Sapor, King of the Persians, and, having been captured, wasted away in shameful servitude. 2 Under Gallienus, when Mesopotamia had been invaded, the Persians would have begun to claim Syria for themselves, except that -- it is shameful to relate -- Odenathus, a Palmyrene decurion, by means of a conscripted force of Syrian peasants, had resisted sharply and, after the Persians had several times been scattered, not only defended our border but also -- what is astonishing to say -- had, avenger of Roman imperium, penetrated to Ctesiphon.
[24] L Zenobia, Odenathus' wife, added to the glory of imperator Aurelian. For, after her husbandís death, she was holding the imperium of Oriens by means of a feminine sway. Aurelian defeated her, relying on many thousands of armored horsemen and archers, at Immae, not far from Antioch, and led her captive before his chariot in a triumph at Rome. 2 Imperator Carus' victory over the Persians seemed too mighty to the Celestial Divinity. For it must be believed to have led to the jealousy of heavenly indignation. For, after he had entered Persia, he devastated it as if no one opposed him and took Coche and Ctesiphon, the noblest cities of the Persians. While, victor over the entire race, he was occupying an encampment beyond the Tigris, he died, having been struck by a bolt of lightning.
[25] L Under princeps Diocletian, there was observed a procession of victory over the Persians. Maximianus Caesar, who had been repulsed in an initial engagement, when he had battled fiercely with a few men against a countless multitude, withdrew and was received with such great disdain by Diocletian that, garbed in purple, he ran several miles before his chariot. 2 And when he had with difficulty gained that, after his army had been revived from the frontier troops of Dacia, he might seek a resolution on the battlefield, in Armenia Major, he himself, with two horsemen, reconnoitered against the enemy and, having fallen suddenly with twenty-five thousand soldiers upon the enemy encampments, after he had attacked countless formations of Persians, he utterly annihilated them. 3 The King of the Persians, Narses, fled; his wife and daughters were captured and kept with the utmost concern for their chastity. In admiration for this, the Persians admitted that the Romans were superior not only in arms but also in behavior. They returned Mesopotamia, along with the Transtigritanian regions. The peace made endured to the benefit of the state to our own memory.
[26] L In the final portion of his life, Constantine, master of affairs, prepared an expedition against Persia. For, more glorious since the races throughout the world had been pacified and the recent victory over the Goths, he was descending on Persia with all his formations. 2 During his approach, the court at Babylonia was so frightened that a supplicant delegation of Persians hastened to him and promised that they would obey his commands, but, in return for the constant raids which they had attempted throughout Oriens under Constantius Caesar, did not gain a pardon.
[27] L Constantius fought against the Persians with uneven and more troublesome result. In addition to minor encounters of sentries on the border, an engagement to a harsher Mars was fought nine times, seven times through his commanders, he himself present twice. 2 To be sure, at the battles of Sisara, Singara, and Singara again with Constantius present, and of Sicgara and also Constantina, and, when Amida was captured, the state received a serious wound while he was princeps. Moreover, Nisibis was thrice besieged by the Persians, but, while involved in the siege, the enemy incurred its own, greater loss. 3 Moreover, at Narasara, where Narses was killed, we departed winners. Indeed, in a night battle at Eleia, near Singara, where Constantius was present, the outcome of all the campaigns would have been offset if the imperator himself, in adverse locations and at night, had not been able, by addressing them, to recall the soldiers, who had been aroused to fury, from the inopportune timing of the battle. Nevertheless, unconquered in strength -- an unforeseen reserve against a shortage of water -- , when evening was now falling, after they had attacked the encampment of the Persians and, when the wall had been breached, occupied it, and, after the king had fled, when, recovering from battle, with torches held before them, they gazed with eagerness on the water that had been obtained, they were buried by a cloud of arrows, since they themselves thoughtlessly supplied flaming torches to direct the hits more accurately through the night toward themselves.
[28] L To princeps Julian, of proven good fortune against external enemies, due measure against Persia was lacking. For he, with immense provision, in as much as he was sovereign of the entire world, set hostile standards against the Parthians, and sailed through the Euphrates a fleet furnished with supplies. Relentless in his advance, he either took control of many of the Persians' cities and bases which had surrendered or took them by force. 2 When he had made camp opposite Ctesiphon on the banks of the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates and was holding daily competitions in order to reduce the enemy's attentiveness, in the middle of the night he rapidly transferred to the opposite bank soldiers who had been loaded on ships. These, distinguishing themselves through hardships which would have been difficult to surmount even in daylight and with no opposition, threw the Persians into confusion by means of unexpected fright and, when the units of the entire race had been turned about, the victorious soldiery would have entered the open gates of Ctesiphon, if the opportunity for plunder had not been greater than the concern for victory. 3 Having obtained such great glory, when he was warned by his staff concerning his return, he gave his own plan more credence and, after the ships had been burnt, when, having been led on a route toward Madenea by a deserter who had delivered himself for the purpose of deceiving him, he pursued shortcuts, again traversing a route along the right bank of the Tigris, with his soldiers' flank exposed, when he wandered too incautiously through the formations and when his own men's sight had been snatched away as a result dust that had been stirred up, he was wounded, pierced through the abdomen near the groin with a lance by a cavalryman of the enemy who had encountered him. Amidst an effusion of much blood, after he, though injured, had restored the ranks of his men, having said many things to his friends, he breathed out his lingering soul.
[29] L Jovian received an army superior in battles but confused by the sudden death of the departed imperator. When supplies were deficient and a very long road loomed ahead on the return, the Persians, by swift assaults now from the front, now from the rear, and also attacking the flanks of the middle, delayed the march of the formation. After several days had been consumed, so great was the reverence of the Roman name that a discussion about peace was held first by the Persians, and the army, weakened by famine, was allowed to be withdrawn, after -- what had never happened before -- conditions inimical to the Roman state had been imposed, with the result that Nisibis and part of Mesopotamia was surrendered, things in which, unskilled in imperium, Jovian, more desirous of rule than of glory, acquiesced.
[30] L How much, in turn, must your deeds, Invincible princeps, be broadcast with a lofty voice. I, though unequal to the task of speaking and rather burdened by age, shall ready myself for these matters. May the felicity now vouchsafed by God's command and granted by the friendly Divinity in which you trust and by which you are trusted endure, so that for you the palm of a peace of Babylonia, too, may accrue to this momentous one concerning the Goths.
Copyright (C) 2001, Thomas Banchich. | 29. 02. 16 | Any comments?
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Extracts from Greek and Latin writers in translation
Contents:
Galen, three extracts
Agatharchides, "On the Erythraean Sea"
Augustus, on the funeral games of Julius Caesar
Dio Cassius, additional fragments
Stephanus of Byzantium, on cities called Alexandria
P. Haun. 6, brief notes on the Ptolemaic Dynasty
Zenobius, "Proverbs"
Cassiodorus, "Chronica"
Teles the Cynic, "Diatribes"
Phlegon, "Mirabilia", chapter 3
1. GALEN
Galen of Pergamum was a Greek medical writer who lived in the 2nd century A. D. He wrote a huge number of books, most of which have never been translated into English. The three passages translated here refer respectively to the method used by Archimedes to burn warships, the death of Cleopatra, and the collection of books for the library at Alexandria. The numbers in red are the volume and page numbers in Kühn's edition of the complete works of Galen, which contains 22 volumes.
[1. 657] { De Temperamentis } For in Mysia, which is in Asia, a building was once burnt down in the following manner. There was a pile of pigeon droppings, already rotting and growing warm and emitting steam; and it was fairly hot to hold. Near to this, and immediately touching it, was a window made of wood that had recently been wiped with a lot of resin. So in the middle of summer a fierce sun struck them, and set fire to the resin and the wood. Immediately from there the fire easily caught onto some doors that were nearby and some windows that had recently been wiped with resin; and the flames reached as far as the roof. Once the fire had taken hold of the roof, it soon spread throughout the whole building. I imagine that it was in a similar way that Archimedes, as they say, burnt the triremes of the enemy by means of (? ) firesticks.
[14. 235] { De Theriaca - translated by P. J. Jones } Of the asps, the one called ptyas { "spitter" } extends its throat, estimates the length of the interval and then, like a rational being, the creature spits venom from its body with perfect aim. They say that it was by means of one of these creatures (for there are three kinds of asps, the one mentioned above, the one called chersaea, and the one known as chelidonia) that queen Cleopatra, wishing to foil her guards, died swiftly and without arousing suspicion. For Augustus, after conquering Antonius, wished to take her alive and wished very much to keep her alive, as is reasonable, so that he might exhibit to the Romans in his triumph so famous a woman. But she, they say, perceived this and, choosing to leave the human race still a queen rather than to appear before the Romans as a private citizen, engineered her own death by this beast. And they say that she called her two most trustworthy maids to her - they were the ones who attended to her toilette and cared for her body; their names were Naeira and Carmione. 236 The one arranged her hair becomingly and the other dexterously trimmed the tips of her nails. Then Cleopatra ordered the creature brought in hidden among grapes and figs, so that, as I have said, she might elude the guards. She tried this method beforehand on these women to determine whether it could cause death quickly, and after they perished swiftly, she turned it upon herself, and they say that, on this account, Augustus was greatly amazed, in part because of the affection these women had to die with their queen, and in part because she did not wish to live in slavery, but preferred to die nobly. Indeed, they say that her right hand was found resting on her head, holding her crown, as was appropriate, so that she might appear to those who saw her to be a queen even in death. Just so, the tragic poet tells us, Polyxena, although she was dying, nevertheless had the foresight to fall with grace. Those who wish to explain to us the woman’s skill in deception and creature’s speed in killing say that 237 she wounded her own arm with a deep bite and poured into the wound venom brought to her in a container. Not long after receiving this aid, she foiled the guards and died contentedly.
But let this tale be told not only for pleasure, because you are interested in every topic, but also so that we understand how quickly these creatures can kill, for they are truly swift in taking a life. Often in great Alexandria I have seen the speed with which death results from their bite. For when someone is sentenced to punishment under the law and must be executed quickly and humanely, they put a snake on his chest and make him walk around a little, thus swiftly removing the man from their midst.
[17a. 605] { Commentary on Hippocrates' Epidemics } What I am about to say has been said previously by Zeuxis in the first volume of his commentary on the present book [the third book of Hippocrates' Epidemics]; and perhaps it would have been better for me, as I usually do in such cases, to refer those who want to know the [full] story to that book. But since Zeuxis' commentary is no longer respected, and has become difficult to find, therefore they asked me 606 to tell the story, beginning with Mnemon.
Some say that Mnemon took the third book of the Epidemics out of the great library at Alexandria, as if he intended to read it, and then put it back after inserting these characters in it, in the same ink and similar handwriting. Others say that he brought the book [to Alexandria] from Pamphylia. Ptolemy the king of Egypt was so eager to collect books, that he ordered the books of everyone who sailed there to be brought to him. The books were then copied into new manuscripts. He gave the new copy to the owners, whose books had been brought to him after they sailed there, but he put the original copy in the library with the inscription "a [book] from the ships". They say that a copy of the third book of the Epidemics has been found with the inscription, "a [book] from the ships, as emended by Mnemon of Sidē". Some claim that the inscription does not say "as emended", but simply gives the name of Mnemon; because when books were taken from all the others who sailed there, 607 the servants of the king wrote down their names in the copies that were deposited in the storehouses (the servants did not place the books in the library immediately, but first they stored them away in piles in some other buildings).
This Ptolemy is said to have given sufficient proof of his eagerness to collect old books, by his behaviour towards the Athenians. After giving them fifteen talents of silver as a surety, he received from them the manuscripts of Sophocles and Euripides and Aeschylus, on the understanding that he would simply make new copies from the manuscripts, and then promptly return them intact. But after he had produced magnificent new copies on the finest writing material, he kept the books that the Athenians had sent to him, and sent back to them the copies that he had made. He urged them to keep the fifteen talents, and at the same time to receive new copies instead of the old books that they had sent to him. The Athenians would have had no other option, even if he had kept the old books without sending new copies to them, because when they accepted the money, they had agreed that if he kept the books, then they would keep the money; and so they accepted the new copies and kept the money.
608 But Mnemon - whether he brought the book himself, or took it out of the library and interpolated the characters - seems to have done this as a subterfuge . . .
2. AGATHARCHIDES
Agatharchides, who lived in Egypt in the second century B. C. , wrote several books of history, all of which have been lost. However, considerable portions of his "On the Erythraean Sea" have been preserved by the Byzantine scholar Photius. The three short passages shown here describe the attempts of the Egyptian king Ptolemy II to expand his influence in the south around the coasts of the Red Sea. The men and animals captured during these expeditions were paraded in Alexandria in about 271 B. C. (Athenaeus, 5. 200-201).
All the surviving fragments of "On the Erythraean Sea", including a detailed and interesting account of the inhabitants of Ethiopia, have been translated by S. M. Burstein (Hakluyt Society, 1989).
[1] [Agatharchides] says that Ptolemy, the successor of the son of Lagus, was the first to organise the hunting of elephants as well as other similar activities. Animals which had been separated by Nature he brought together to live in one place.
[20] For the war against the Ethiopians Ptolemy recruited 500 cavalrymen from Greece. To those who were to fight in the front ranks and to be in the vanguard - they were a hundred in number - he assigned the following form of equipment. For he distributed to them and their horses quilted robes, which the natives of that county call kasai, that conceal the whole body except for the eyes.
[57] Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, urged these hunters [ the "elephant fighters" - Diod_3. 26-27 ] to refrain from slaughtering the beasts in order that he might have them alive. Although he promised them many wondrous things, he not only did not persuade them but he heard that their reply was that they would not exchange his whole kingdom for their present way of life.
3. AUGUSTUS
Two of the surviving fragments from the Memoirs of Augustus [Commentarii de vita sua] refer to the appearance of a comet at the funeral games for his adoptive father Julius Caesar, which were held in 44 B. C. Augustus clearly attached great importance to the appearance of the comet, as proof of the divine status of his adoptive father, and the episode is also described in the Metamorphoses of Ovid, right at the end of the poem [ 15'746-851 ], as the prelude to the glorious reign of Augustus.
One of the passages about the comet (Fr_6) was quoted by Pliny the Elder [ HN_2'23(93) ] and the other passage (Fr_7), which was quoted by a commentator on Vergilius known as "Servius Auctus", is translated here. The translation is based on the Latin text in "Imp. Augusti Operum Fragmenta", edited by H. Malcovati (1948).
[7] When Augustus Caesar was holding the funeral games for his father, a star appeared in the middle of the day, and Augustus declared that it was [the star] of his father. Baebius Macer said that a large star rose up in about the eighth hour of the day, and it was crowned with rays, like (? ) ribbons. Some people thought that the star was an omen foretelling the [future] glory of the young Caesar but Caesar himself interpreted it as the soul of his father, and he placed a statue of him on the Capitol, with a golden crown on his head and this inscription on the base: Καίσαρι ἡμιθέῳ ["to Caesar the demi-god"]. Vulcatius the haruspex said in an assembly that it was a comet, which portended the end of the ninth saeculum and the start of the tenth saeculum. But because he had revealed this secret against the will of the gods, he would die immediately; and he collapsed in the midst of the assembly, before he had completed his speech. This is mentioned by Augustus in the second book of his Memoirs about his life.
[16] Augustus in the Memoirs of his Life relates that Antonius ordered his legions to watch over Cleopatra and to obey her nod and her command.
4. DIO CASSIUS
A translation of Dio's Roman History is available on the Lacus Curtius website. A few additional fragments are shown here. Modern scholars have allocated them to book 12 of the history.
[45] # After Claudius had made terms with the Corsicans, and the Romans had then waged war upon them and subdued them, they first sent Claudius to them, offering to surrender him, on the ground that the fault in breaking the compact lay with him and not with themselves; and when the Corsicans refused to receive him, they drove him into exile.
[46] # The Romans, after exacting more money from the Carthaginians, renewed the truce. At first, however, upon the arrival of the embassy which the latter had sent because they realized their foes' state of preparedness and also because they themselves were still occupied at that time with the war against the neighbouring tribes, they had given them no mild answer. Afterwards Hanno, a man of youthful years who used striking frankness of speech, was sent. He spoke his mind unreservedly on a number of matters, and finally exclaimed: "If you do not wish to be at peace, restore to us both Sardinia and Sicily; for with these we purchased not a temporary truce, but eternal friendship. " Thus shamed, they not only became milder . . .
2 . . . and the others, lest they might in turn suffer the same injuries; so that they were very glad to delay, the one side choosing to preserve the prosperity inherited from the past, and the other to hold on at least to what it had. So far as their threats went, they were no longer keeping the peace, but when it came to deeds they still continued to deliberate about it, so that it became clear to all that whichever of the two nations first found it to its advantage to make a move would likewise be the one to begin the war. Indeed, most men abide by their compacts just so long as suits their own convenience; but in the interest of some greater advantage to themselves, they deem it safe even to break a truce.
[48] # On one occasion they sent envoys to investigate [the movements of Hamilcar, in the consulship of Marcus Pomponius and] Gaius Papirius, in spite of the fact that they had no interests in Spain as yet. Hamilcar showed them all due honour and offered them plausible explanations, declaring, among other things, that he was obliged to fight against the Spaniards in order that the money which was still owing to the Romans might be paid; for it was impossible to obtain it from any other source. The envoys were consequently embarrassed to know how to censure him.
[49] # The island of Issa surrendered itself voluntarily to the Romans. This was the first time the islanders were to make their acquaintance, but they regarded them as more friendly than those whom they had now come to dread. They reasoned that more reliance was to be placed on the unknown than on the known; for while the one, because of actual experience had with it, inspired resentment, the other, because of their anticipations, inspired good hope.
2 When the Issaeans had attached themselves to the Romans, the latter, desiring to show them some prompt and ready favour in return, so as to get the reputation of aiding such as joined their cause, and also to punish the Ardiaeans, who were annoying those who sailed from Brundisium, sent envoys to Agron, to ask for clemency for the Issaeans and at the same time to censure the king for wronging them without cause. Now these men found Agron no longer alive; he had died, leaving behind a child named Pinnes. Teuta, the wife of Agron and stepmother of Pinnes, was ruling the Ardiaeans, . . .
as a result of her boldness, she gave them no respectful reply, but, woman-like, in addition to her innate recklessness, she was puffed up with vanity because of the power that she possessed; and she accordingly cast some of the ambassadors into prison and killed others for expressing themselves freely. 4 Such was her action at that time, and she actually took pride in it as if she had displayed some strength by her facile cruelty. In a very short time, however, she demonstrated the weakness of the female sex, which quickly flies into a passion through lack of judgment, and quickly becomes terrified through cowardice. 5 For just as soon as she learned that the Romans had voted for war against her she became panic-stricken, and promised to restore their men whom she held, while she tried to defend herself in the matter of the death of the others, declaring that they had been slain by some robbers. When the Romans for this reason stopped their campaign and demanded the surrender of the murderers, she once more showed her contempt, because the danger was not yet at her doors, and declaring she would not give up anybody, despatched an army against Issa. 6 # But when she learned that the consuls were at hand, she grew terrified again, abated her high spirit, and became ready to heed them in everything whatsoever. She had not yet, however, been brought fully to her senses, for when the consuls had crossed over to Corcyra, she felt imbued with new courage, revolted and despatched an army against Epidamnus and Apollonia. But after the Romans had rescued the cities and had captured ships of hers laden with treasure, she was again on the point of yielding obedience. 7 Meanwhile they mounted to a high place above the sea, and were defeated near the Atyrian hill ; and she now waited, hoping for their withdrawal, in view of the fact that it was already winter. But on perceiving that Albinus remained where he was and that Demetrius, as a result of her caprice, as well as from fear of the Romans, had transferred his allegiance, besides persuading some others to desert, she became utterly terrified and gave up her power.
[50] # The Romans were alarmed over an oracle of the Sibyl which told them that they must beware of the Gauls when a thunderbolt should fall upon the Capitol near the temple of Apollo.
2 # The Gauls became dejected on seeing that the Romans had already seized the most favourable positions. For all men, if they obtain the object of their first aim, proceed more readily toward their subsequent goals, and likewise if they fail of it, lose interest in everything else. Those of the Gallic race, however, rather more than the rest of mankind, seize very eagerly upon what they desire, and cling most tenaciously to their successes, but if they meet with the slightest obstacle, have no hope at all left for the future. In their folly they are ready to expect whatsoever they wish, and in their ardour are ready to carry out whatsoever they undertake. 3 They are men of ungoverned passion and uncontrolled impulse, and for that reason they have in these qualities no element of endurance, since it is impossible for reckless audacity to prevail for any time ; and if once they suffer a setback, they are unable, especially if any fear also be present, to recover themselves, and are plunged into a state of panic corresponding to their previous fearless daring. In brief time they rush abruptly to the very opposite extremes, since they can furnish no sound motive based on reason for either course.
4 # Aemilius on conquering the Insubres celebrated a triumph, and in it conveyed the foremost captives clad in armour up to the Capitol, making jests at their expense because he had heard that they had sworn not to remove their breastplates until they had mounted to the Capitol.
[51] # If any of the details, even the smallest, that were customary in festivals had been omitted, the ceremonies were always performed a second or a third time, and even oftener still, so far as was possible in one day, until everything seemed to have been done faultlessly.
[53] # Demetrius, encouraged by his position as guardian of Pinnes and by the fact that he had married the latter's mother Triteuta after Teuta's death, was not only proving oppressive to the natives, but was also ravaging the territory of the neighbouring tribes. So as soon as they [the consuls] heard of this, they summoned him before them, since it appeared that it was by abusing the friendship of the Romans that he was able to wrong those peoples. When he paid no heed, but actually proceeded to assail their allies, they made a campaign against him in Issa.
5. STEPHANUS OF BYZANTIUM
Stephanus wrote a gazeteer of place names in the 6th century A. D. For an analysis of his list of cities called Alexandria, see W. W. Tarn, "Alexander the Great", vol. 2, pp. 241-242 { Google Books }; and P. M. Fraser, "Cities of Alexander the Great", Chapter 1 { Google Books }.
[70] Alexandria { Alexandreia } - eighteen cities.
The Egyptian, or Libyan, as most writers say, named from Alexander son of Philippus. Jason, who wrote 'The Life of Greece', says in book 4: "The site of the city was revealed to him in a dream, as follows:-
Now there is an island in the stormy sea
Close by Egypt, and they call it Pharos { Homer, Od. 4. 354 }
He ordered the architects to mark out the outline of the city; because they did not have any chalk, they marked it out with barley-seed, but some birds suddenly flew down and snatched the barley-seed. Alexander was alarmed by this, but the soothsayers told him to take heart; for the city was destined to give sustenance to everyone. " Arrianus says the same thing. It was called Rhacotis and Pharos and Leontopolis, because the stomach of Olympias was sealed with the image of a lion { this refers to the story in the Alexander Romance }. It was called simply polis, "the city", because of its pre-eminence, and its citizens were called politai; just as Athens was called astu [71] and the Athenians were called astoi or astikoi [as also in Rome is it called urbs]. In Roman times the city was called Sebastē and Julia and Claudia and Domitiana and Alexenteria. The settlement is thirty-four stades in length, and eight stades in width; and the whole perimeter of the city is a hundred and ten stades.
The city of Troy, in which was born the epic poet Hegemon, who wrote about the war of Leuctra between the Thebans and the Lacedaemonians. Demosthenes mentions this city in the fourth book of his 'Bithyniaca'.
A city in Thrace near Macedonia, which Alexander founded before the great Alexandria, when he was seventeen years old.
A city of the Oritae, a tribe of Fish-Eaters { Ichthyophagi }, on the coasting voyage to India.
A city in Opianē, in India.
Another city in India.
Among the Arians, a tribe of Parthians in India.
In Cilicia.
In Cyprus.
By Mount Latmus in Caria, where this is a shrine of Adonis, which has a statue of Aphrodite by Praxiteles.
In Bactria.
Amongst the Arachoti.
In Macarenē, by the river Maxates.
Near the Soriani, an Indian tribe.
Near the Arachoti, on the border with India.
On the Black Gulf { Melas Kolpos }.
In Sogdiana, near Parapamisidae.
A foundation of Alexander on the river Tanais, as Ptolemy explains in his third book.
There is also a place called Alexandria on Mount Ida near Troy, where they say that Paris judged the goddesses, according to Timosthenes.
The ethnic adjective is Alexandreus, from the genitive case of Alexander. The feminine form, just as Sinōpis is from Sinōpeus, is Alexandris . . .
6. P. Haun. 6 - Brief Notes on the History of the Ptolemaic Dynasty
This curious document has been preserved on some scraps of papyrus, written in Egypt in the second century A. D. , and now kept in Copenhagen (Papyri Haunienses).
F. W. Walbank described the contents as follows: "[it contains], it would appear (for the document is hard to decipher) six short résumés of incidents of Ptolemaic history during the period of the Third and Fourth Syrian Wars . . . This short document may be a scrap from a set of notes taken by someone reading a historical work. The divergent views about its contents reflect the dearth of reliable information available from this period of Ptolemaic history" (CAH, 7. 1, p. 17).
Lines 14-22 clearly refer to Ptolemy III Euergetes. Some helpful summaries of the discussions concerning two other men who are mentioned here, Ptolemy Andromachou and Magas, can be found on Chris Bennett's Ptolemaic Dynasty website.
In view of the uncertainty surrounding the meaning of much of the document, the English translation is shown interleaved with the Greek letters that can be read on the papyrus. It can be assumed that most of the lines in the Greek text have some letters missing at the beginning and the end; and some shorter fragments, which cannot be meaningfully translated, have been omitted. The Greek text is taken from A. Bulöw-Jacobsen, "P. Haun. 6 : An Inspection of the Original" (ZPE, 1979), but the translation includes some conjectures made by other scholars.
ιος
[Ptolemaeus]
ικλησιν ἀνδρομαχου
called Andromachou {of Andromachus}
ε
(? ) 5
πτολεμαι(ος) οὑτο
Ptolemaeus This
[5] ἐπικλησιν και
called and
ἀνδρομα (και) δι. . . . . σασευρα
Androma- and
χου αἱρει (και) αἰνον (και) πολλα
chou he captures (? ) both Aenus and many
επ? ει (και) ναυμαχησας ἀπελ
. . . and having fought a sea-battle
αυτον ἀνδρον
. . . (? ) Andros
[10] ων
. . .
καταστασιασθεις ὑπο των
overcome in a sedition by the
ἐν ἐφεσωι κατεσφαγη δα
he was slaughtered in Ephesus
ἐπιβουλην συσταμεν
hatching a plot
υφρατου .
Euphrates
[15] ον και εἰ μη τοτε αἰγυπτιων ἀπος
and if a revolt of the Egyptians had not then
υπτον παλιν ἐπιστηι σελευκο
[? to] Egypt again set Seleucus
φρουραις καταλαβων ἐπανηλθεν εἰς ἀλεξα
after securing with garrisons, he returned to Alexandria
συνεμαχησεν αἰτολοις εἰς τον προς ἀντιγο
he fought as an ally of the Aetolians in the [war] against Antigonus
υἱον μεταποιησο(μενον) (των) (περι) την ἀσιαν πραγμ
his son having laid claim to the affairs of Asia
[20] την γυναικα ἐζη οἱ ὑποκειμενοι π. . ιδ. . ς
his wife [he] was living, the underlying . . .
σος αὐτου ἐν τωι σαραπειωι ἐστηκεν σκευ
[a colossal statue] of him stood in the Sarapeium, [wonderfully] fashioned
αι δε ἰπι ἀρχοντος ἀθηνησιν εὐξεινου
[he died] when Euxeinus was archon at Athens
παμας. . οι. . . αλειτο δε βερενικ
(? ) of Apama . . . but (? ) was called Berenice
φος πτολεμαιος γυναι(κα)
. . . Ptolemy his wife
[25] την ἐν συρια .
the [? woman] in Syria
ἠνμεθη μαχη
. . . battle
ἐθηοι ἀγαθο
. . . good
μαγας
Magas
υτον ὁ πατηρ ζων ἐτι (μετα) το σελευκον ατι
his father, while he was still alive, after the [death] of Seleucus
[30] ωδυν. . . . ἐπεμψεν εἰς ἀσιαν ἐπιθησαμ
sent this man to Asia attacking
ἐπρα. . . . . ἀποθανοντος δε του πατ
. . . after the death of his father
λεν αὐτον . αἰτωλος θεοδοτος ἐν βαλαν
Theodotus the Aetolian [murdered] him in the bath
πτολεμαι. δεισας μη ὑπ' αὐτου κρατυνθ
Ptolemy, fearing that he might be overcome by him,
μετεποιειτο ἀνδραγαθημ
pretended a brave deed
[35] . . .
7. ZENOBIUS, "Proverbs"
Zenobius, who lived in the 2nd century A. D. , is the author of a collection of Greek proverbs. He sometimes included examples from history to illustrate the proverbs. The two extracts here refer to the murder of the mother and brother of Ptolemy IV Philopator, when he became king of Egypt (222/1 B. C. ).
In the first example, Ptolemy seems to anticipating the behaviour of the emperor Nero towards his mother Agrippina ( Tac:Ann_14'3 ). The reference to Antigonus and Semele is puzzling; perhaps this is a very garbled reminiscence of how Antigonus I treated his rival Eumenes ( Plut:Eum_19 ). The context of the second example has been confirmed by the discovery of PHaun_6 ( lines 31-32, translated above ).
[3. 94] "The murderer is kind" ( εὔνους ὁ σφάκτης ) : this proverb is drawn from Orestes, as Homer ( Od_3'309 ) made clear; for after killing his mother, he held a funeral feast. It also applies to king Antigonus, who after killing Semele, very courteously sent her bones to her mother. It applies even more to Ptolemy Philopator: for he confined his mother Berenice in a chamber, and handed her over to Sosibius to guard. When she, not being able to endure the punishment, drank a deadly herb and died from drinking the poison, he was so troubled in his dreams by her death that in the middle of the city he built a memorial to her, which is now called the Tomb ( Sema ); and he placed the remains of her and all his ancestors in there, along with Alexander the Great; and on the sea-shore they constructed a shrine to her, which they called the shrine of Berenice who saves.
[4. 92] "May you bathe like Pelias" ( λούσαιο τὸν Πελίαν ) : this proverb is drawn from what happened to Pelias, who was put in a boiling cauldron by his daughters . . . Many other men have met misfortune while bathing. Theogus fatally scalded Magas, the brother of Philopator, in his bath, by pouring a cauldron of boiling water over him.
8. CASSIODORUS, "Chronica"
Cassiodorus wrote a brief chronicle of Roman history down to 519 A. D. These excerpts from it are sometimes included in the fragments of Livy. The numbers in red are dates AUC .
[515] L # C. Manlius { Mamilius } and Q. Valerius. In the year of these consuls, a tragedy and comedy were first staged at the Ludi Romani by Lucius Livius.
[524] L # M. Aemilius and M. Junius. In the year of these consuls, Hamilcar the father of Hannibal was killed in Spain while preparing for war with the Romans. He was accustomed to say that he was rearing his four sons like {lion} cubs against the Romans.
[534] L # L. Veturius and C. Lutatius. In the year of these consuls, the Via Flaminia was paved and the so-called Circus Flaminius was constructed.
[596] L M. Aemilius and C. Popillius. In the year of these consuls, mines were established in Macedonia.
[601] L # Q. Fulvius and P. Annius.
[19] L Under Octavianus Caesar Augustus, Armenia conspired with Parthia. 2 Claudius Caesar, grandson of Augustus, when he been dispatched to Oriens with an army, when he had settled everything for the benefit of the majesty of the Roman name, and the Armenians, who, with the Parthians, were then the stronger at the time, had surrendered themselves to him, Claudius Caesar appointed to the aforementioned peoples judges on the basis of Pompeius's settlement. 3 A certain Donnes, whom Arsaces had put in command of the Parthians, through an orchestrated treachery, offered a book in which treasures were contained, inscribed. While the Roman imperator was reading very intently, having attacked with a knife, he wounded Claudius. The assassin was indeed killed by soldiers. Claudius, after he had returned to Syria, died from the wound. 4 The Persians, for satisfaction of such an outrage, having been granted an audience, then first gave hostages to Octavianus Caesar Augustus and returned the standards taken under Crassus. When the peoples of Oriens had been pacified, Augustus Caesar also first received a legation of Indians.
[20] L Nero, the vilest imperator the Roman state has endured, lost Armenia. Then two Roman legions, having been sent under the yoke by the Persians, defiled with the utmost infamy the military oaths of the Roman army. 2 Trajan, who, after Augustus, set in motion the muscle of the Roman state, regained Armenia from the Parthians, and, after the crown had been offered, abolished the kingdom of Armenia Major. He gave a king to the Albani; received Hiberians, Bosphorians, and Colchians into the protection of Roman sway; occupied localities of the Osrhoenians and Arabs; obtained the Carduenians and Marcomedians; received and maintained Anthemusia -- Persia's finest region -- , Seleucia, Ctesiphon, and Babylon; and, after Alexander, even reached the ends of India. He established a fleet in the Red Sea. He made provinces Armenia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, which, situated between the Tigris and Euphrates, is made equal to Egypt in fecundity by the flooding rivers. 3 It is certain that Hadrian envied Trajan's glory. His successor in imperium, after the armies had been recalled, he surrendered Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria on his own initiative and willed that the Euphrates be a median between Romans and Persians.
[21] L Two Antonines, Marcus and Verus, that is, father-in-law and son-in-law, simultaneously Augusti, first held the imperium of the world with an equivalent power. But of them, Antoninus the Younger, having set out on a Parthian campaign, felicitously accomplished many and momentous things against the Persians. He took Seleucia, a city in Assyria, together with 40,000 of the enemy, and with immense glory he celebrated a triumph over the Persians. 2 Severus, by birth African, was a most active imperator. He quickly conquered the Parthians, annihilated the Aziabeni, gained control the Arabs of the interior, and made a province in Arabia. Titles were obtained by this man for these victories: for he was given the titles "Aziabenicus," "Parthicus," and "Arabicus. " 3 Antoninus, with the cognomen Caracalla, son of imperator Severus, preparing an expedition against the Persians, died a fitting death at Osrhoene, near Edessa, and was buried in the same spot.
[22] L Aurelius Alexander, born as if by some destiny for the destruction of the Persian race, took the helm of the Roman imperium while still a youth. He gloriously conquered Xerxes, noblest king of the Persians. He had Ulpian, the jurisconsult, as Master of the Secretariat. At Rome, he celebrated with remarkable pomp a triumph over the Persians. 2 Under Gordian, a princeps active through the assurance of youth, the rebelling Parthians were beaten in great battles. Returning from Persia a victor, he was killed by the treachery of Philippus, who was his praetorian prefect. Twenty miles from Circensium the troops built for him a tumulus, which now exists, and they escorted his remains to Rome with the greatest deference of respect.
[23] L It is disgusting to report the fate of the unfortunate princeps Valerian. After the army had made Valerian imperator, and the senate Gallienus, Valerian, having contended against the Persians in Mesopotamia, was defeated by Sapor, King of the Persians, and, having been captured, wasted away in shameful servitude. 2 Under Gallienus, when Mesopotamia had been invaded, the Persians would have begun to claim Syria for themselves, except that -- it is shameful to relate -- Odenathus, a Palmyrene decurion, by means of a conscripted force of Syrian peasants, had resisted sharply and, after the Persians had several times been scattered, not only defended our border but also -- what is astonishing to say -- had, avenger of Roman imperium, penetrated to Ctesiphon.
[24] L Zenobia, Odenathus' wife, added to the glory of imperator Aurelian. For, after her husbandís death, she was holding the imperium of Oriens by means of a feminine sway. Aurelian defeated her, relying on many thousands of armored horsemen and archers, at Immae, not far from Antioch, and led her captive before his chariot in a triumph at Rome. 2 Imperator Carus' victory over the Persians seemed too mighty to the Celestial Divinity. For it must be believed to have led to the jealousy of heavenly indignation. For, after he had entered Persia, he devastated it as if no one opposed him and took Coche and Ctesiphon, the noblest cities of the Persians. While, victor over the entire race, he was occupying an encampment beyond the Tigris, he died, having been struck by a bolt of lightning.
[25] L Under princeps Diocletian, there was observed a procession of victory over the Persians. Maximianus Caesar, who had been repulsed in an initial engagement, when he had battled fiercely with a few men against a countless multitude, withdrew and was received with such great disdain by Diocletian that, garbed in purple, he ran several miles before his chariot. 2 And when he had with difficulty gained that, after his army had been revived from the frontier troops of Dacia, he might seek a resolution on the battlefield, in Armenia Major, he himself, with two horsemen, reconnoitered against the enemy and, having fallen suddenly with twenty-five thousand soldiers upon the enemy encampments, after he had attacked countless formations of Persians, he utterly annihilated them. 3 The King of the Persians, Narses, fled; his wife and daughters were captured and kept with the utmost concern for their chastity. In admiration for this, the Persians admitted that the Romans were superior not only in arms but also in behavior. They returned Mesopotamia, along with the Transtigritanian regions. The peace made endured to the benefit of the state to our own memory.
[26] L In the final portion of his life, Constantine, master of affairs, prepared an expedition against Persia. For, more glorious since the races throughout the world had been pacified and the recent victory over the Goths, he was descending on Persia with all his formations. 2 During his approach, the court at Babylonia was so frightened that a supplicant delegation of Persians hastened to him and promised that they would obey his commands, but, in return for the constant raids which they had attempted throughout Oriens under Constantius Caesar, did not gain a pardon.
[27] L Constantius fought against the Persians with uneven and more troublesome result. In addition to minor encounters of sentries on the border, an engagement to a harsher Mars was fought nine times, seven times through his commanders, he himself present twice. 2 To be sure, at the battles of Sisara, Singara, and Singara again with Constantius present, and of Sicgara and also Constantina, and, when Amida was captured, the state received a serious wound while he was princeps. Moreover, Nisibis was thrice besieged by the Persians, but, while involved in the siege, the enemy incurred its own, greater loss. 3 Moreover, at Narasara, where Narses was killed, we departed winners. Indeed, in a night battle at Eleia, near Singara, where Constantius was present, the outcome of all the campaigns would have been offset if the imperator himself, in adverse locations and at night, had not been able, by addressing them, to recall the soldiers, who had been aroused to fury, from the inopportune timing of the battle. Nevertheless, unconquered in strength -- an unforeseen reserve against a shortage of water -- , when evening was now falling, after they had attacked the encampment of the Persians and, when the wall had been breached, occupied it, and, after the king had fled, when, recovering from battle, with torches held before them, they gazed with eagerness on the water that had been obtained, they were buried by a cloud of arrows, since they themselves thoughtlessly supplied flaming torches to direct the hits more accurately through the night toward themselves.
[28] L To princeps Julian, of proven good fortune against external enemies, due measure against Persia was lacking. For he, with immense provision, in as much as he was sovereign of the entire world, set hostile standards against the Parthians, and sailed through the Euphrates a fleet furnished with supplies. Relentless in his advance, he either took control of many of the Persians' cities and bases which had surrendered or took them by force. 2 When he had made camp opposite Ctesiphon on the banks of the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates and was holding daily competitions in order to reduce the enemy's attentiveness, in the middle of the night he rapidly transferred to the opposite bank soldiers who had been loaded on ships. These, distinguishing themselves through hardships which would have been difficult to surmount even in daylight and with no opposition, threw the Persians into confusion by means of unexpected fright and, when the units of the entire race had been turned about, the victorious soldiery would have entered the open gates of Ctesiphon, if the opportunity for plunder had not been greater than the concern for victory. 3 Having obtained such great glory, when he was warned by his staff concerning his return, he gave his own plan more credence and, after the ships had been burnt, when, having been led on a route toward Madenea by a deserter who had delivered himself for the purpose of deceiving him, he pursued shortcuts, again traversing a route along the right bank of the Tigris, with his soldiers' flank exposed, when he wandered too incautiously through the formations and when his own men's sight had been snatched away as a result dust that had been stirred up, he was wounded, pierced through the abdomen near the groin with a lance by a cavalryman of the enemy who had encountered him. Amidst an effusion of much blood, after he, though injured, had restored the ranks of his men, having said many things to his friends, he breathed out his lingering soul.
[29] L Jovian received an army superior in battles but confused by the sudden death of the departed imperator. When supplies were deficient and a very long road loomed ahead on the return, the Persians, by swift assaults now from the front, now from the rear, and also attacking the flanks of the middle, delayed the march of the formation. After several days had been consumed, so great was the reverence of the Roman name that a discussion about peace was held first by the Persians, and the army, weakened by famine, was allowed to be withdrawn, after -- what had never happened before -- conditions inimical to the Roman state had been imposed, with the result that Nisibis and part of Mesopotamia was surrendered, things in which, unskilled in imperium, Jovian, more desirous of rule than of glory, acquiesced.
[30] L How much, in turn, must your deeds, Invincible princeps, be broadcast with a lofty voice. I, though unequal to the task of speaking and rather burdened by age, shall ready myself for these matters. May the felicity now vouchsafed by God's command and granted by the friendly Divinity in which you trust and by which you are trusted endure, so that for you the palm of a peace of Babylonia, too, may accrue to this momentous one concerning the Goths.
Copyright (C) 2001, Thomas Banchich. | 29. 02. 16 | Any comments?
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Extracts from Greek and Latin writers in translation
Contents:
Galen, three extracts
Agatharchides, "On the Erythraean Sea"
Augustus, on the funeral games of Julius Caesar
Dio Cassius, additional fragments
Stephanus of Byzantium, on cities called Alexandria
P. Haun. 6, brief notes on the Ptolemaic Dynasty
Zenobius, "Proverbs"
Cassiodorus, "Chronica"
Teles the Cynic, "Diatribes"
Phlegon, "Mirabilia", chapter 3
1. GALEN
Galen of Pergamum was a Greek medical writer who lived in the 2nd century A. D. He wrote a huge number of books, most of which have never been translated into English. The three passages translated here refer respectively to the method used by Archimedes to burn warships, the death of Cleopatra, and the collection of books for the library at Alexandria. The numbers in red are the volume and page numbers in Kühn's edition of the complete works of Galen, which contains 22 volumes.
[1. 657] { De Temperamentis } For in Mysia, which is in Asia, a building was once burnt down in the following manner. There was a pile of pigeon droppings, already rotting and growing warm and emitting steam; and it was fairly hot to hold. Near to this, and immediately touching it, was a window made of wood that had recently been wiped with a lot of resin. So in the middle of summer a fierce sun struck them, and set fire to the resin and the wood. Immediately from there the fire easily caught onto some doors that were nearby and some windows that had recently been wiped with resin; and the flames reached as far as the roof. Once the fire had taken hold of the roof, it soon spread throughout the whole building. I imagine that it was in a similar way that Archimedes, as they say, burnt the triremes of the enemy by means of (? ) firesticks.
[14. 235] { De Theriaca - translated by P. J. Jones } Of the asps, the one called ptyas { "spitter" } extends its throat, estimates the length of the interval and then, like a rational being, the creature spits venom from its body with perfect aim. They say that it was by means of one of these creatures (for there are three kinds of asps, the one mentioned above, the one called chersaea, and the one known as chelidonia) that queen Cleopatra, wishing to foil her guards, died swiftly and without arousing suspicion. For Augustus, after conquering Antonius, wished to take her alive and wished very much to keep her alive, as is reasonable, so that he might exhibit to the Romans in his triumph so famous a woman. But she, they say, perceived this and, choosing to leave the human race still a queen rather than to appear before the Romans as a private citizen, engineered her own death by this beast. And they say that she called her two most trustworthy maids to her - they were the ones who attended to her toilette and cared for her body; their names were Naeira and Carmione. 236 The one arranged her hair becomingly and the other dexterously trimmed the tips of her nails. Then Cleopatra ordered the creature brought in hidden among grapes and figs, so that, as I have said, she might elude the guards. She tried this method beforehand on these women to determine whether it could cause death quickly, and after they perished swiftly, she turned it upon herself, and they say that, on this account, Augustus was greatly amazed, in part because of the affection these women had to die with their queen, and in part because she did not wish to live in slavery, but preferred to die nobly. Indeed, they say that her right hand was found resting on her head, holding her crown, as was appropriate, so that she might appear to those who saw her to be a queen even in death. Just so, the tragic poet tells us, Polyxena, although she was dying, nevertheless had the foresight to fall with grace. Those who wish to explain to us the woman’s skill in deception and creature’s speed in killing say that 237 she wounded her own arm with a deep bite and poured into the wound venom brought to her in a container. Not long after receiving this aid, she foiled the guards and died contentedly.
But let this tale be told not only for pleasure, because you are interested in every topic, but also so that we understand how quickly these creatures can kill, for they are truly swift in taking a life. Often in great Alexandria I have seen the speed with which death results from their bite. For when someone is sentenced to punishment under the law and must be executed quickly and humanely, they put a snake on his chest and make him walk around a little, thus swiftly removing the man from their midst.
[17a. 605] { Commentary on Hippocrates' Epidemics } What I am about to say has been said previously by Zeuxis in the first volume of his commentary on the present book [the third book of Hippocrates' Epidemics]; and perhaps it would have been better for me, as I usually do in such cases, to refer those who want to know the [full] story to that book. But since Zeuxis' commentary is no longer respected, and has become difficult to find, therefore they asked me 606 to tell the story, beginning with Mnemon.
Some say that Mnemon took the third book of the Epidemics out of the great library at Alexandria, as if he intended to read it, and then put it back after inserting these characters in it, in the same ink and similar handwriting. Others say that he brought the book [to Alexandria] from Pamphylia. Ptolemy the king of Egypt was so eager to collect books, that he ordered the books of everyone who sailed there to be brought to him. The books were then copied into new manuscripts. He gave the new copy to the owners, whose books had been brought to him after they sailed there, but he put the original copy in the library with the inscription "a [book] from the ships". They say that a copy of the third book of the Epidemics has been found with the inscription, "a [book] from the ships, as emended by Mnemon of Sidē". Some claim that the inscription does not say "as emended", but simply gives the name of Mnemon; because when books were taken from all the others who sailed there, 607 the servants of the king wrote down their names in the copies that were deposited in the storehouses (the servants did not place the books in the library immediately, but first they stored them away in piles in some other buildings).
This Ptolemy is said to have given sufficient proof of his eagerness to collect old books, by his behaviour towards the Athenians. After giving them fifteen talents of silver as a surety, he received from them the manuscripts of Sophocles and Euripides and Aeschylus, on the understanding that he would simply make new copies from the manuscripts, and then promptly return them intact. But after he had produced magnificent new copies on the finest writing material, he kept the books that the Athenians had sent to him, and sent back to them the copies that he had made. He urged them to keep the fifteen talents, and at the same time to receive new copies instead of the old books that they had sent to him. The Athenians would have had no other option, even if he had kept the old books without sending new copies to them, because when they accepted the money, they had agreed that if he kept the books, then they would keep the money; and so they accepted the new copies and kept the money.
608 But Mnemon - whether he brought the book himself, or took it out of the library and interpolated the characters - seems to have done this as a subterfuge . . .
2. AGATHARCHIDES
Agatharchides, who lived in Egypt in the second century B. C. , wrote several books of history, all of which have been lost. However, considerable portions of his "On the Erythraean Sea" have been preserved by the Byzantine scholar Photius. The three short passages shown here describe the attempts of the Egyptian king Ptolemy II to expand his influence in the south around the coasts of the Red Sea. The men and animals captured during these expeditions were paraded in Alexandria in about 271 B. C. (Athenaeus, 5. 200-201).
All the surviving fragments of "On the Erythraean Sea", including a detailed and interesting account of the inhabitants of Ethiopia, have been translated by S. M. Burstein (Hakluyt Society, 1989).
[1] [Agatharchides] says that Ptolemy, the successor of the son of Lagus, was the first to organise the hunting of elephants as well as other similar activities. Animals which had been separated by Nature he brought together to live in one place.
[20] For the war against the Ethiopians Ptolemy recruited 500 cavalrymen from Greece. To those who were to fight in the front ranks and to be in the vanguard - they were a hundred in number - he assigned the following form of equipment. For he distributed to them and their horses quilted robes, which the natives of that county call kasai, that conceal the whole body except for the eyes.
[57] Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, urged these hunters [ the "elephant fighters" - Diod_3. 26-27 ] to refrain from slaughtering the beasts in order that he might have them alive. Although he promised them many wondrous things, he not only did not persuade them but he heard that their reply was that they would not exchange his whole kingdom for their present way of life.
3. AUGUSTUS
Two of the surviving fragments from the Memoirs of Augustus [Commentarii de vita sua] refer to the appearance of a comet at the funeral games for his adoptive father Julius Caesar, which were held in 44 B. C. Augustus clearly attached great importance to the appearance of the comet, as proof of the divine status of his adoptive father, and the episode is also described in the Metamorphoses of Ovid, right at the end of the poem [ 15'746-851 ], as the prelude to the glorious reign of Augustus.
One of the passages about the comet (Fr_6) was quoted by Pliny the Elder [ HN_2'23(93) ] and the other passage (Fr_7), which was quoted by a commentator on Vergilius known as "Servius Auctus", is translated here. The translation is based on the Latin text in "Imp. Augusti Operum Fragmenta", edited by H. Malcovati (1948).
[7] When Augustus Caesar was holding the funeral games for his father, a star appeared in the middle of the day, and Augustus declared that it was [the star] of his father. Baebius Macer said that a large star rose up in about the eighth hour of the day, and it was crowned with rays, like (? ) ribbons. Some people thought that the star was an omen foretelling the [future] glory of the young Caesar but Caesar himself interpreted it as the soul of his father, and he placed a statue of him on the Capitol, with a golden crown on his head and this inscription on the base: Καίσαρι ἡμιθέῳ ["to Caesar the demi-god"]. Vulcatius the haruspex said in an assembly that it was a comet, which portended the end of the ninth saeculum and the start of the tenth saeculum. But because he had revealed this secret against the will of the gods, he would die immediately; and he collapsed in the midst of the assembly, before he had completed his speech. This is mentioned by Augustus in the second book of his Memoirs about his life.
[16] Augustus in the Memoirs of his Life relates that Antonius ordered his legions to watch over Cleopatra and to obey her nod and her command.
4. DIO CASSIUS
A translation of Dio's Roman History is available on the Lacus Curtius website. A few additional fragments are shown here. Modern scholars have allocated them to book 12 of the history.
[45] # After Claudius had made terms with the Corsicans, and the Romans had then waged war upon them and subdued them, they first sent Claudius to them, offering to surrender him, on the ground that the fault in breaking the compact lay with him and not with themselves; and when the Corsicans refused to receive him, they drove him into exile.
[46] # The Romans, after exacting more money from the Carthaginians, renewed the truce. At first, however, upon the arrival of the embassy which the latter had sent because they realized their foes' state of preparedness and also because they themselves were still occupied at that time with the war against the neighbouring tribes, they had given them no mild answer. Afterwards Hanno, a man of youthful years who used striking frankness of speech, was sent. He spoke his mind unreservedly on a number of matters, and finally exclaimed: "If you do not wish to be at peace, restore to us both Sardinia and Sicily; for with these we purchased not a temporary truce, but eternal friendship. " Thus shamed, they not only became milder . . .
2 . . . and the others, lest they might in turn suffer the same injuries; so that they were very glad to delay, the one side choosing to preserve the prosperity inherited from the past, and the other to hold on at least to what it had. So far as their threats went, they were no longer keeping the peace, but when it came to deeds they still continued to deliberate about it, so that it became clear to all that whichever of the two nations first found it to its advantage to make a move would likewise be the one to begin the war. Indeed, most men abide by their compacts just so long as suits their own convenience; but in the interest of some greater advantage to themselves, they deem it safe even to break a truce.
[48] # On one occasion they sent envoys to investigate [the movements of Hamilcar, in the consulship of Marcus Pomponius and] Gaius Papirius, in spite of the fact that they had no interests in Spain as yet. Hamilcar showed them all due honour and offered them plausible explanations, declaring, among other things, that he was obliged to fight against the Spaniards in order that the money which was still owing to the Romans might be paid; for it was impossible to obtain it from any other source. The envoys were consequently embarrassed to know how to censure him.
[49] # The island of Issa surrendered itself voluntarily to the Romans. This was the first time the islanders were to make their acquaintance, but they regarded them as more friendly than those whom they had now come to dread. They reasoned that more reliance was to be placed on the unknown than on the known; for while the one, because of actual experience had with it, inspired resentment, the other, because of their anticipations, inspired good hope.
2 When the Issaeans had attached themselves to the Romans, the latter, desiring to show them some prompt and ready favour in return, so as to get the reputation of aiding such as joined their cause, and also to punish the Ardiaeans, who were annoying those who sailed from Brundisium, sent envoys to Agron, to ask for clemency for the Issaeans and at the same time to censure the king for wronging them without cause. Now these men found Agron no longer alive; he had died, leaving behind a child named Pinnes. Teuta, the wife of Agron and stepmother of Pinnes, was ruling the Ardiaeans, . . .
as a result of her boldness, she gave them no respectful reply, but, woman-like, in addition to her innate recklessness, she was puffed up with vanity because of the power that she possessed; and she accordingly cast some of the ambassadors into prison and killed others for expressing themselves freely. 4 Such was her action at that time, and she actually took pride in it as if she had displayed some strength by her facile cruelty. In a very short time, however, she demonstrated the weakness of the female sex, which quickly flies into a passion through lack of judgment, and quickly becomes terrified through cowardice. 5 For just as soon as she learned that the Romans had voted for war against her she became panic-stricken, and promised to restore their men whom she held, while she tried to defend herself in the matter of the death of the others, declaring that they had been slain by some robbers. When the Romans for this reason stopped their campaign and demanded the surrender of the murderers, she once more showed her contempt, because the danger was not yet at her doors, and declaring she would not give up anybody, despatched an army against Issa. 6 # But when she learned that the consuls were at hand, she grew terrified again, abated her high spirit, and became ready to heed them in everything whatsoever. She had not yet, however, been brought fully to her senses, for when the consuls had crossed over to Corcyra, she felt imbued with new courage, revolted and despatched an army against Epidamnus and Apollonia. But after the Romans had rescued the cities and had captured ships of hers laden with treasure, she was again on the point of yielding obedience. 7 Meanwhile they mounted to a high place above the sea, and were defeated near the Atyrian hill ; and she now waited, hoping for their withdrawal, in view of the fact that it was already winter. But on perceiving that Albinus remained where he was and that Demetrius, as a result of her caprice, as well as from fear of the Romans, had transferred his allegiance, besides persuading some others to desert, she became utterly terrified and gave up her power.
[50] # The Romans were alarmed over an oracle of the Sibyl which told them that they must beware of the Gauls when a thunderbolt should fall upon the Capitol near the temple of Apollo.
2 # The Gauls became dejected on seeing that the Romans had already seized the most favourable positions. For all men, if they obtain the object of their first aim, proceed more readily toward their subsequent goals, and likewise if they fail of it, lose interest in everything else. Those of the Gallic race, however, rather more than the rest of mankind, seize very eagerly upon what they desire, and cling most tenaciously to their successes, but if they meet with the slightest obstacle, have no hope at all left for the future. In their folly they are ready to expect whatsoever they wish, and in their ardour are ready to carry out whatsoever they undertake. 3 They are men of ungoverned passion and uncontrolled impulse, and for that reason they have in these qualities no element of endurance, since it is impossible for reckless audacity to prevail for any time ; and if once they suffer a setback, they are unable, especially if any fear also be present, to recover themselves, and are plunged into a state of panic corresponding to their previous fearless daring. In brief time they rush abruptly to the very opposite extremes, since they can furnish no sound motive based on reason for either course.
4 # Aemilius on conquering the Insubres celebrated a triumph, and in it conveyed the foremost captives clad in armour up to the Capitol, making jests at their expense because he had heard that they had sworn not to remove their breastplates until they had mounted to the Capitol.
[51] # If any of the details, even the smallest, that were customary in festivals had been omitted, the ceremonies were always performed a second or a third time, and even oftener still, so far as was possible in one day, until everything seemed to have been done faultlessly.
[53] # Demetrius, encouraged by his position as guardian of Pinnes and by the fact that he had married the latter's mother Triteuta after Teuta's death, was not only proving oppressive to the natives, but was also ravaging the territory of the neighbouring tribes. So as soon as they [the consuls] heard of this, they summoned him before them, since it appeared that it was by abusing the friendship of the Romans that he was able to wrong those peoples. When he paid no heed, but actually proceeded to assail their allies, they made a campaign against him in Issa.
5. STEPHANUS OF BYZANTIUM
Stephanus wrote a gazeteer of place names in the 6th century A. D. For an analysis of his list of cities called Alexandria, see W. W. Tarn, "Alexander the Great", vol. 2, pp. 241-242 { Google Books }; and P. M. Fraser, "Cities of Alexander the Great", Chapter 1 { Google Books }.
[70] Alexandria { Alexandreia } - eighteen cities.
The Egyptian, or Libyan, as most writers say, named from Alexander son of Philippus. Jason, who wrote 'The Life of Greece', says in book 4: "The site of the city was revealed to him in a dream, as follows:-
Now there is an island in the stormy sea
Close by Egypt, and they call it Pharos { Homer, Od. 4. 354 }
He ordered the architects to mark out the outline of the city; because they did not have any chalk, they marked it out with barley-seed, but some birds suddenly flew down and snatched the barley-seed. Alexander was alarmed by this, but the soothsayers told him to take heart; for the city was destined to give sustenance to everyone. " Arrianus says the same thing. It was called Rhacotis and Pharos and Leontopolis, because the stomach of Olympias was sealed with the image of a lion { this refers to the story in the Alexander Romance }. It was called simply polis, "the city", because of its pre-eminence, and its citizens were called politai; just as Athens was called astu [71] and the Athenians were called astoi or astikoi [as also in Rome is it called urbs]. In Roman times the city was called Sebastē and Julia and Claudia and Domitiana and Alexenteria. The settlement is thirty-four stades in length, and eight stades in width; and the whole perimeter of the city is a hundred and ten stades.
The city of Troy, in which was born the epic poet Hegemon, who wrote about the war of Leuctra between the Thebans and the Lacedaemonians. Demosthenes mentions this city in the fourth book of his 'Bithyniaca'.
A city in Thrace near Macedonia, which Alexander founded before the great Alexandria, when he was seventeen years old.
A city of the Oritae, a tribe of Fish-Eaters { Ichthyophagi }, on the coasting voyage to India.
A city in Opianē, in India.
Another city in India.
Among the Arians, a tribe of Parthians in India.
In Cilicia.
In Cyprus.
By Mount Latmus in Caria, where this is a shrine of Adonis, which has a statue of Aphrodite by Praxiteles.
In Bactria.
Amongst the Arachoti.
In Macarenē, by the river Maxates.
Near the Soriani, an Indian tribe.
Near the Arachoti, on the border with India.
On the Black Gulf { Melas Kolpos }.
In Sogdiana, near Parapamisidae.
A foundation of Alexander on the river Tanais, as Ptolemy explains in his third book.
There is also a place called Alexandria on Mount Ida near Troy, where they say that Paris judged the goddesses, according to Timosthenes.
The ethnic adjective is Alexandreus, from the genitive case of Alexander. The feminine form, just as Sinōpis is from Sinōpeus, is Alexandris . . .
6. P. Haun. 6 - Brief Notes on the History of the Ptolemaic Dynasty
This curious document has been preserved on some scraps of papyrus, written in Egypt in the second century A. D. , and now kept in Copenhagen (Papyri Haunienses).
F. W. Walbank described the contents as follows: "[it contains], it would appear (for the document is hard to decipher) six short résumés of incidents of Ptolemaic history during the period of the Third and Fourth Syrian Wars . . . This short document may be a scrap from a set of notes taken by someone reading a historical work. The divergent views about its contents reflect the dearth of reliable information available from this period of Ptolemaic history" (CAH, 7. 1, p. 17).
Lines 14-22 clearly refer to Ptolemy III Euergetes. Some helpful summaries of the discussions concerning two other men who are mentioned here, Ptolemy Andromachou and Magas, can be found on Chris Bennett's Ptolemaic Dynasty website.
In view of the uncertainty surrounding the meaning of much of the document, the English translation is shown interleaved with the Greek letters that can be read on the papyrus. It can be assumed that most of the lines in the Greek text have some letters missing at the beginning and the end; and some shorter fragments, which cannot be meaningfully translated, have been omitted. The Greek text is taken from A. Bulöw-Jacobsen, "P. Haun. 6 : An Inspection of the Original" (ZPE, 1979), but the translation includes some conjectures made by other scholars.
ιος
[Ptolemaeus]
ικλησιν ἀνδρομαχου
called Andromachou {of Andromachus}
ε
(? ) 5
πτολεμαι(ος) οὑτο
Ptolemaeus This
[5] ἐπικλησιν και
called and
ἀνδρομα (και) δι. . . . . σασευρα
Androma- and
χου αἱρει (και) αἰνον (και) πολλα
chou he captures (? ) both Aenus and many
επ? ει (και) ναυμαχησας ἀπελ
. . . and having fought a sea-battle
αυτον ἀνδρον
. . . (? ) Andros
[10] ων
. . .
καταστασιασθεις ὑπο των
overcome in a sedition by the
ἐν ἐφεσωι κατεσφαγη δα
he was slaughtered in Ephesus
ἐπιβουλην συσταμεν
hatching a plot
υφρατου .
Euphrates
[15] ον και εἰ μη τοτε αἰγυπτιων ἀπος
and if a revolt of the Egyptians had not then
υπτον παλιν ἐπιστηι σελευκο
[? to] Egypt again set Seleucus
φρουραις καταλαβων ἐπανηλθεν εἰς ἀλεξα
after securing with garrisons, he returned to Alexandria
συνεμαχησεν αἰτολοις εἰς τον προς ἀντιγο
he fought as an ally of the Aetolians in the [war] against Antigonus
υἱον μεταποιησο(μενον) (των) (περι) την ἀσιαν πραγμ
his son having laid claim to the affairs of Asia
[20] την γυναικα ἐζη οἱ ὑποκειμενοι π. . ιδ. . ς
his wife [he] was living, the underlying . . .
σος αὐτου ἐν τωι σαραπειωι ἐστηκεν σκευ
[a colossal statue] of him stood in the Sarapeium, [wonderfully] fashioned
αι δε ἰπι ἀρχοντος ἀθηνησιν εὐξεινου
[he died] when Euxeinus was archon at Athens
παμας. . οι. . . αλειτο δε βερενικ
(? ) of Apama . . . but (? ) was called Berenice
φος πτολεμαιος γυναι(κα)
. . . Ptolemy his wife
[25] την ἐν συρια .
the [? woman] in Syria
ἠνμεθη μαχη
. . . battle
ἐθηοι ἀγαθο
. . . good
μαγας
Magas
υτον ὁ πατηρ ζων ἐτι (μετα) το σελευκον ατι
his father, while he was still alive, after the [death] of Seleucus
[30] ωδυν. . . . ἐπεμψεν εἰς ἀσιαν ἐπιθησαμ
sent this man to Asia attacking
ἐπρα. . . . . ἀποθανοντος δε του πατ
. . . after the death of his father
λεν αὐτον . αἰτωλος θεοδοτος ἐν βαλαν
Theodotus the Aetolian [murdered] him in the bath
πτολεμαι. δεισας μη ὑπ' αὐτου κρατυνθ
Ptolemy, fearing that he might be overcome by him,
μετεποιειτο ἀνδραγαθημ
pretended a brave deed
[35] . . .
7. ZENOBIUS, "Proverbs"
Zenobius, who lived in the 2nd century A. D. , is the author of a collection of Greek proverbs. He sometimes included examples from history to illustrate the proverbs. The two extracts here refer to the murder of the mother and brother of Ptolemy IV Philopator, when he became king of Egypt (222/1 B. C. ).
In the first example, Ptolemy seems to anticipating the behaviour of the emperor Nero towards his mother Agrippina ( Tac:Ann_14'3 ). The reference to Antigonus and Semele is puzzling; perhaps this is a very garbled reminiscence of how Antigonus I treated his rival Eumenes ( Plut:Eum_19 ). The context of the second example has been confirmed by the discovery of PHaun_6 ( lines 31-32, translated above ).
[3. 94] "The murderer is kind" ( εὔνους ὁ σφάκτης ) : this proverb is drawn from Orestes, as Homer ( Od_3'309 ) made clear; for after killing his mother, he held a funeral feast. It also applies to king Antigonus, who after killing Semele, very courteously sent her bones to her mother. It applies even more to Ptolemy Philopator: for he confined his mother Berenice in a chamber, and handed her over to Sosibius to guard. When she, not being able to endure the punishment, drank a deadly herb and died from drinking the poison, he was so troubled in his dreams by her death that in the middle of the city he built a memorial to her, which is now called the Tomb ( Sema ); and he placed the remains of her and all his ancestors in there, along with Alexander the Great; and on the sea-shore they constructed a shrine to her, which they called the shrine of Berenice who saves.
[4. 92] "May you bathe like Pelias" ( λούσαιο τὸν Πελίαν ) : this proverb is drawn from what happened to Pelias, who was put in a boiling cauldron by his daughters . . . Many other men have met misfortune while bathing. Theogus fatally scalded Magas, the brother of Philopator, in his bath, by pouring a cauldron of boiling water over him.
8. CASSIODORUS, "Chronica"
Cassiodorus wrote a brief chronicle of Roman history down to 519 A. D. These excerpts from it are sometimes included in the fragments of Livy. The numbers in red are dates AUC .
[515] L # C. Manlius { Mamilius } and Q. Valerius. In the year of these consuls, a tragedy and comedy were first staged at the Ludi Romani by Lucius Livius.
[524] L # M. Aemilius and M. Junius. In the year of these consuls, Hamilcar the father of Hannibal was killed in Spain while preparing for war with the Romans. He was accustomed to say that he was rearing his four sons like {lion} cubs against the Romans.
[534] L # L. Veturius and C. Lutatius. In the year of these consuls, the Via Flaminia was paved and the so-called Circus Flaminius was constructed.
[596] L M. Aemilius and C. Popillius. In the year of these consuls, mines were established in Macedonia.
[601] L # Q. Fulvius and P. Annius.
