The surviving
passages
cover various years between 163 and 78 B.
Roman Translations
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but Lachares with the mercenaries .
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2 .
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established .
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and expelled Charias and the soldiers of Peiraeus.
After overpowering the men who had seized the acropolis with Charias, he sent them away under a truce, but Charias and Peithias and Lysander the son of Calliphon and Ameinias took refuge in the temple [of Athene].
They held an assembly and sentenced them all to death .
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on the motion of Apollodorus.
The soldiers of Peiraeus also captured Peiraeus with the [men] from the city .
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3 . . . besieged [them] in Peiraeus. Cassander the king of the Macedonians fell ill and died on the [21st] day of the intercalary month of Artemisius. He was succeeded by Philippus, the eldest of his sons, who was king for [4] months . . . the historian Diyllus the son of Phanodemus [ended] . . . year, Philippus [the king of] the Macedonians . . . died . . .
4 . . . and the golden [statue] of Athene, and from [this loot] he provided pay for the mercenaries.
121[st Olympiad]
[Victors in the Olympic games:]
[Pythagoras] of Magnesia-on-Maeander, in the stadion race
Pythagoras won twice at the Olympic games, and [twice] at the Pythian games. He also won five times at the Isthmian games and (? ) seven times at the Nemean games.
Apollonius of Alexandria, in the double race
Pas. . . of Boeotia, in the long race
Timarchus of Mantineia, in the pentathlon
Amphiares of Laconia, in the wrestling
Calippus of Rhodes, in the boxing
Nicon of Boeotia, in the pancration
Nicon won twice at the Olympic games and twice at the Pythian games, and four times each at the Isthmian and Nemean games.
(? ) Sosiades of Tralles, in the boys' wrestling
Antipater of Ephesus, in the boys' stadion race
Myrceus of (? ) Caleitus in [Arcadia], in the boys' boxing
[Pythagoras] of Magnesia-on-Maeander, in the race in full armour, for the second time
Archidamus of Elis, in the race for chariots drawn by four horses
Pandion of Thessaly, in the horse-race
Tlasimachus of Ambracia, in the race for chariots drawn by a pair of horses
Tlasimachus again, in the race for chariots drawn by four foals
5 The men of Thurii . . . the country . . . Agathocles . . .
6 . . .
Craterus of Thessaly, [in] the race for chariots drawn by four horses
. . . of Crannon, in the horse-race
. . . of Thessaly, in the race for chariots drawn by a pair of horses
[Belistiche] of Macedonia, in the race for chariots drawn by four foals
[Belistiche] was the concubine of Ptolemy [Philadelphus].
7 In the [first] year the Romans fought . . .
523: ? Zenon of Rhodes ( P. Köln 247 )
The Greek text of the legible part of this papyrus fragment, along with a historical commentary, was published by G. A. Lehmann (ZPE, 1988). Because of the emphasis on the Rhodians, it is likely that the fragment comes from a local history written by Zenon in the first half of the second century B. C. The surviving portion describes events of 306/5 B. C. ; Lehmann points out that the remarks in column III, about the importance to the Rhodians of trade with Egypt, are echoed in Diodorus' account of this year ( 20. 81'4 ).
[I] . . . Alcetas, son of Orontes, brother of Perdiccas . . . Eumenes . . . Silver Shields { Argyraspides } . . . Antigonus, the son of Philippus, 20 was the first to proclaim himself king, in the belief that he would easily remove all the others in positions of power, and that he would prevail 25 over the entire world { oikoumene } and just like Alexander take over the affairs . . .
[II] . . . 5 complete days they proclaimed him king before they wrote to the people, without . . . against the Rhodians and the others, 10 but responding to what was written by each of them. Therefore, he { Ptolemy } troubled Antigonus, but he was (? ) useful to the people. 15 For Ptolemy after he received (? ) what was written in the documents, took for himself the dignity of a king . . . His friends considered him worthy of the royal 30 title, among them the Rhodians, because they expected that the aggrandisement of Antigonus would be oppressive to them, 35 but they they believed that Ptolemy would stay within his realm { hegemonia } and in no way would . . . in so far as it related to them. For indeed a king in Asia 40 less suitable . . .
[III] . . . and since they { the Rhodians } rather harboured affection for the one who ruled 25 over Egypt and its existing territory; for in respect of both the increase in income and the volume of business or the corn 30 . . . a change of mind . . .
723: Eupolemus
Eupolemus lived in the second century B. C. and wrote a history "On the Kings in Judaea", of which a few fragments have survived in quotations by later Christian writers, although it appears that they found the quotations in the writings of Alexander Polyhistor, rather than directly reading the history.
[1] [EUSEB:PE. 9. 25. 4] And concerning Moses the same author [Alexander Polyhistor] again brings forward many things, which are worth hearing. But Eupolemus says that the first wise man was Moses, and that he was the first to teach the Jews letters, and from the Jews the Phoenicians received them, and from the Phoenicians the Greeks, and that Moses was the first to give written laws to the Jews. [CLEM. AL:STROM. 1. 23] And Eupolemus, in his book On the Kings in Judaea, says that "Moses was the first wise man, and the first that imparted grammar to the Jews, that the Phoenicians received it from the Jews, and the Greeks from the Phoenicians. "
[2] [CLEM. AL:STROM. 1. 21] Accordingly it is easy to perceive that Solomon, who lived in the time of Menelaus (who was during the Trojan war), was earlier by many years than the wise men among the Greeks. And how many years Moses preceded him we showed, in what we said above. And Alexander, surnamed Polyhistor, in his work on the Jews, has transcribed some letters of Solomon to Vaphres king of Egypt, and to the king of the Phoenicians at Tyre, and theirs to Solomon; in which it is shown that Vaphres sent eighty thousand Egyptian men to him for the building of the temple, and the other as many, along with a Tyrian artificer, the son of a Jewish mother, of the tribe of Dan, as is there written, of the name of Hyperon. [EUSEB:PE. 9. 30. 1-8] But Eupolemus says, in some (? ) comment on the prophecy of Elias, that Moses prophesied forty years; then Jesus the son of Nave thirty years, and he lived a hundred and ten years, and pitched the holy tabernacle in Silo. And afterwards Samuel rose up as a prophet: and then by God's will Saul was chosen king by Samuel, and died after a reign of twenty-one years. Then his son David reigned, who subdued the Syrians which live beside the river Euphrates, and Commagene, and the Assyrians in Galadene, and the Phoenicians; he also made expeditions against the Edomites, and Ammonites, and Moabites, and Ituraeans, and Nabathaeans, and Nabdaeans. And again he made an expedition against Suron king of Tyre and Phoenicia; and compelled these nations to pay tribute to the Jews; and contracted a friendly alliance with Vaphres king of Egypt. And when David wished to build a temple for God, he entreated God to point out to him a place for the altar; whereupon there appeared to him an angel standing above the place, where the altar is built in Jerusalem, who commanded him not to build the temple, because he was defiled with men's blood and had passed many years in war. And the angel's name was Dianathan; and he bade him commit the building of the temple to his son, but himself to prepare the things pertaining to the building, gold, silver, brass, stones, cypress wood and cedar. And on bearing this David built ships in (? ) Aïlana, a city of Arabia, and sent miners to the island Urphe which lies in the Red Sea, and contains gold mines. And thence the miners transported the gold into Judaea. When David had reigned forty years he gave over the government to Solomon his son, who was twelve years old, in the presence of Eli the High Priest and the twelve princes of the tribes, and delivered to him the gold and silver and brass and stone and cypress wood and cedar. Then David died, and Solomon was king, and wrote to Vaphres king of Egypt the letter which is transcribed below.
[3] [EUSEB:PE. 9. 34. 20] And Eupolemus says that Solomon made also a thousand golden shields, each of which weighed five hundred staters of gold. He lived fifty-two years, of which he reigned forty in peace.
[4] [CLEM. AL:STROM. 1. 21] Besides, Eupolemus, in (? ) the same work, says that all the years from Adam to the fifth year of king Demetrius, and the twelfth year of Ptolemy king of Egypt [? 158 B. C. ], when added, amount to five thousand one hundred and forty-nine; and from the time that Moses brought out the Jews from Egypt to the above-mentioned date, there are, in all, two thousand five hundred and eighty years. And from this time till the consulship in Rome of Gaius Dometianus and Casianus [? Gnaeus Domitius and Asinius, 40 B. C. ], a hundred and twenty years are computed.
[5] [EUSEB:PE. 9. 39. 1-5] Besides this, as [Alexander] Polyhistor has made mention of the prophecy of Jeremiah, it would be a most unreasonable thing for us to pass it over in silence. Let this then also be set down:
Then Jonachim: in his time prophesied Jeremiah the prophet. He was sent by God, and found the Jews sacrificing to a golden image, the name of which was Baal. And he foreshowed to them the calamity which was to come. Jonachim then attempted to burn him alive: but he said that with that fuel they should cook food for the Babylonians, and as prisoners of war should dig the canals of the Tigris and Euphrates. When Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians, had heard of the predictions of Jeremiah, he summoned Astibares, the king of the Medes, to join him in an expedition. And having taken with him Babylonians and Medes, and collected a hundred and eighty thousand infantry and a hundred and twenty thousand cavalry, and ten thousand chariots, he first subdued Samaria, and Galilee, and Scythopolis, and the Jews who lived in the region of Gilead; and afterwards took Jerusalem, and made Jonachim, the king of the Jews, a prisoner. And the gold that was in the temple, and the silver and brass, they chose out and sent to Babylon, except the Ark and the tables that were in it: but this Jeremiah retained.
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Granius Licinianus
Granius Licinianus is believed to have lived in the second century A. D. A few pages of his History of Rome survive, in a palimpsest, but the rapidity of his style, together with frequent gaps in the Latin text, makes translation hazardous. This translation is based on the edition by N. Criniti, which can be found online in PHI Latin texts.
See key to translations for an explanation of the format. The numbers in green are the sentence numbers in Criniti's edition. The numbers in red are the page numbers from the older edition by M. Flemisch.
The surviving passages cover various years between 163 and 78 B. C.
Contents:
Book 26 - the traditions of the Roman army
Book 28 - events of 163-162 B. C.
Book 33 - events of 105 B. C.
Book 35 - events of 87-85 B. C.
Book 36 - events of 81-78 B. C.
BOOK 26 L
[1] Rutilius relates that the consuls and generals, who had crushed the enemy by their courage in fierce battle, had even devoted themselves to the gods, promising [to charge into the middle of the enemy, and to give up] their lives for their country.
Similar to them . . .
. . . struck down, whom their general had summoned to a general council. 10 Most historians have overlooked or have not named the [troop] of cavalry who were attached to the cohorts.
[2] I have already spoken in previous books about the ranks and names and numbers [of the legions], and about the soldiers' weapons. But I will not pass over the cavalry, whom Tarquinius had doubled in number, so that the former cavalrymen brought two horses each into battle. It is said that this practice came into Italy with the cult of Castor, who is shown holding [two horses]. But at Therapne the statues of Castor and Pollux have no "trace-horses". 15 I think it is sufficient to mention that ancient shrine, although I realise that some Spartan artists represented Castor and Pollux as "horseless", and others as "with beautiful horses". [3] [The cavalry] were called flexuntes, from the kind of pendant which was called "regal", as well as "equine" . . . . . .
{The word flexuntes is mentioned elsewhere (Plin:HN_33'35) as an ancient name for cavalry}
BOOK 28 L
[4] # Antiochus, who was staying at Athens, became king after the death of his brother. He afterwards considered waging war against the Romans, but he is said to have been deterred by the death of Perseus. # Antiochus had a few good traits, mixed in with many bad ones. 5 He had an unpredictable nature, and was extremely frivolous. He used to join in revels at banquets, and [5] danced naked to the music; he bathed in public, and went to the baths anointed with myrrh or drenched with perfumes.
He led a procession on an Asturian pony, and at Hierapolis he pretended to marry Diana. While the others prepared a banquet, he removed the vessels from the temple, and after dining off the tables he took away the vessels as a dowry, except for one ring, which was the only thing he left of all the offerings to the goddess.
# When Gracchus, [6] whom I mentioned previously, was consul for the second time, Antiochus died of terror one night. While his body was being carried back to Antioch, the animals suddenly took fright, and his body was tossed into the river and disappeared. This was the penalty he paid for his flagrant sacrilege.
10 # Antiochus dedicated two colossal statues, twelve cubits high, one to Olympian Jupiter and the other to Capitoline Jupiter. At Athens he built the Olympion with marble walls, and he surrounded it with numerous columns. The famous temple of Olympian Jupiter at Athens had long remained unfinished . . . .
[7] Other prodigies were reported . . . . says that a noble woman called Aemilia, who was placed on a pyre as her family wailed, was miraculously brought back to life by the sound of the trumpets.
There is a story about the Corfidius brothers. The elder brother left the younger brother as his heir, and after his will had the been read the elder brother came back to life. He said that he had been sent away by his brother; 20 his brother asked that 10,000 denarii be paid for his funeral, he showed where his gold was hidden and he committed his daughter to the care of the elder brother. The gold was found in the place he indicated, and then it was announced that the younger brother had suddenly died.
I have decided not to include many prodigies in this history, [8] and to avoid filling up the pages with information of this kind, although its usefulness is generally agreed. I wished to find out about these brothers just enough to be able to preserve the story and pass it on to posterity.
# The same Ti. Gracchus, who had driven out . . . among the Astures, then proceeded against the Spaniards. 25 # After reading the books of the augurs, [9] he wrote that he had been instructed by his colleagues that he ought to have taken the auspices [outside] the pomerium, when was going to hold the elections in the Campus Martius, because the pomerium is the limit for city auspices. But he had placed his tent at the villa of Scipio, and when he entered the pomerium . . . .
I must make mention of P. Lentulus, who was consul with Cn. Domitius. 30 Lentulus was an outstanding man, and did great service to the republic. # When he was praetor urbanus, the senate authorised him to buy up the Campanian territory, which had been completely occupied by private individuals, in order that it should become public land. The owners of the land agreed to let Lentulus set the price, and being a just man he did not deceive them. Such was his moderation that he both served the interests of the republic and restricted private ownership, and he used public money to buy 50,000 iugera of land. 35 He brought the Campanian territory, which had been divided amongst private individuals, into public ownership, [10] and let it out at a fair price. Put in charge of an investigation, he recovered much other land, and left of plan of the territory on a bronze tablet in the temple of Liberty, which Sulla later despoiled. The same Lentulus gave just 25 sestertii as the dowry for his daughter.
The senate granted the kingdom of Antiochus Epiphanes to his son Antiochus, who was still a young boy and was soon commonly known as Eupator. # The senate refused the request of Demetrius, the son of Seleucus who had been sent over by his father as a hostage, to be made king, although Demetrius declared that he had come to Rome as a young boy and was now sufficiently old, at 24 years of age; Rome was his home, and the senate was his parent. 40 The senate sympathised with him . . . .
BOOK 33 L
[11] # The ex-consul M. Aurelius Scaurus was thrown from his horse and captured [by the Cimbri]. When they summoned him to a council, he neither did nor said anything which was unworthy of a Roman, who had held such great honours. Because of this he was killed, although he could have escaped; 5 he refused their request to act as their leader, out of shame that he should survive after the loss of his army.
# The consul Mallius was alarmed by this victory of the Cimbri, and sent a letter begging Caepio to join forces with him and confront the Gauls with a large combined army; but Caepio refused. Caepio crossed the Rhone and boasted to his soldiers that he would bring help to the frightened consul; but he did not even want to discuss with him [12] how to conduct the war, and he disdained to listen to the envoys whom the senate sent, asking the generals to co-operate and jointly to protect the state. The Cimbri sent envoys to arrange a peace and to ask for land and for corn to sow, but he dismissed them so brusquely that they attacked the next day. His camp was situated not far away from Mallius' camp, 10 but he could not be persuaded, though he was so close, to join together their armies.
# The greater part of the army was destroyed . . . . . . [the battle was fought] on the day before the nones of October. Rutilius Rufus says that at least 70,000 regular troops and light-armed troops perished on this one day . . . .
# A Roman matron, acting as if disturbed in the mind, sat [13] on the throne of Jupiter. Therefore the Capitolium was again ritually cleansed. 20 A statue of Mars was said to have fallen on its head in the territory of the Sabines. And some time before the games were planned, when the trumpet-players sounded their instruments by the altar, black snakes suddenly appeared and continued to swarm in front of the altar and bite many of the bystanders, until the trumpets fell silent. Then the snakes suddenly vanished.
Several matrons came forward, after being warned by the same dream and on the same night, with a message about the sacred offerings; and several sacrifices were performed on this account. The noblest of the boys sang a hymn to the gods, which had been specially composed by a poet.
# [Cn. Mallius was sent into exile on the same charge as Caepio, by a decree of the people which was proposed by Saturninus. ]
25 # [Cn. Pompeius was born in this year. ] [14] The consul Rutilius, the colleague of Mallius, remained in sole charge of the government. # [Cicero also was born in this year. ] Therefore, since the whole state was in trepidation and fear of an attack by the Cimbri, Rutilius made the young men take an oath, that none of them would travel anywhere outside Italy. Messengers were sent along all the coasts and ports of Italy, with instructions that no-one under the age of 25 years should be allowed to board a boat . . . .
BOOK 35 L
[15] # [The senate] did not wish to do anything contrary [to the omens], and therefore decided - something which it had never previously done on behalf of the priests - that the contents of the [Sibylline] books should be read out in public. It was agreed that it was signified in the verses that, if Cinna and six of the tribunes were banished from the country, there would be peace, quiet and security.
Marius also had received an omen during his earlier adventures. # When the barbarian fled from his room and left it open, [16] Marius went outside and saw an ass, which was being offered food but was going off in search of water. 5 # Marius thought that this was a sign that he should do the same, and so he asked to be taken down to the sea, by which way he narrowly escaped.
# When Marius had collected about a thousand supporters, he sailed to Telamon to join Cinna. Brutus and the other exiles flocked to him from Spain. The men who had seen him at the height of his victories now saw him [17] unkempt and poorly dressed, and he addressed all of them as a suppliant, who had been oppressed by his enemies. In this way he quickly enlisted a legion of volunteers. # He gave soldiers to Cinna, with Sertorius and Papirius as his officers, 10 and he gave part of the cavalry to Milonius, with orders to advance on Rome, which was expected to be undefended. This brought success to Cinna.
[18] # Pompeius accepted the order of the senate, to come to the aid of the state, with dubious loyalty; he kept introducing delays, until Marius slipped into the port. # After staying there until night-time, Marius was allowed to take control of Ostia by Valerius, who was in charge of the cavalry garrison. 15 Pompeius no longer put off war with Sertorius, and openly fought against him. Envoys were sent to both sides, but achieved nothing, because Cinna believed that he had the upper hand.
# Marius with his supporters gained control of the Janiculum, [19] after killing many of his opponents, who were captured and slaughtered on Marius' orders. Octavius received six cohorts from Pompeius, and crossed the Tiber. Milonius was killed, and the other soldiers whom Sertorius sent to help Milonius were driven back. 20 [. . . ] thousand of Octavius' men were killed, including a senator, Aebutius, and seven thousand of their enemies. The Janiculum could have been captured the same day, but Pompeius would not allow Octavius to advance any further, and forced him to recall Crassus. He did not want the fighting to stop before the elections, so that he himself could obtain a formidable office. The two Catuli and Antonius went as envoys of the senate to beg Metellus, whose camp was situated nearby, [20] to come to the aid of his fatherland.
During the fighting between Pompeius and Sertorius, a common soldier from Pompeius' army, while he was stripping the body of an enemy, recognised that it was his brother. 25 He built a pyre for his brother and in the middle of the funeral rites, after uttering many curses, he slew himself with his sword. This incident struck everyone as a great condemnation of the civil war and changed their attitudes. Nobody was able to refrain from tears.
# The inhabitants of Nola advanced against the town of Abella, and burnt it down. Marius routed Servilius at Ariminum; he killed a few of his men, and accepted the surrender of the rest, whose loyalty he had undermined.
# The senate was asked by the envoys of Metellus to decide about the allegiance of the Samnites, who said that they would not agree to peace except on condition that they and all the deserters should receive the citizenship, [21] and have their property returned. The senate refused, wishing to preserve the ancient dignity of the Roman people. 30 When Cinna heard about this, with the help of Flavius Fimbria he enlisted the Samnites on the terms which they requested, and joined their forces to his.
# Meanwhile Pompeius continued to confuse everything . . . . He saw that the senate was opposed to all the exiles and in particular to Cinna's cause, but even so he persuaded it to give a safe reception to the envoys who were sent by Cinna. He secretly discussed plans with Cinna, but did not share the information with Octavius. Everyone who surrendered was granted citizenship; they promised to supply many thousands of soldiers, but sent scarcely sixteen cohorts. 35 And the army was smitten by such a great pestilence, [22] that seventeen thousand of Octavius's supporters died.
While Pompeius was lying ill in bed, a storm began; Pompeius himself was struck by lightening, and the top of his tent was destroyed. He showed no sign of life, and the army was left without a general for several days. Then, because Pompeius did not recover quickly, C. Cassius was sent to the camp, in order to take over command of the army, until he was restored to health. 40 When he appeared, Pompeius was suddenly aroused and . . . to the envoys who were . . . whether he was content . . . . It was clear to Cassius that Pompeius was near to dying.
On the third day after that, Pompeius died from a remarkable wasting disease. The people of the city disrupted his funeral, [23] knocked his body off its bier, and kept on dragging him through the dirt. Everyone agreed that this contemptible man had been justly punished by heaven for his treachery and greed. But the senators and tribunes restrained the crowd, and protected the body with their clothes. 45 Historians relate that the body was taken on a common bier to be buried.
# Octavius brought Pompeius' soldiers into his own camp. Metellus led his army against Cinna, but his soldiers suddenly seized all the standards and with a loud cry greeted the army of Cinna, who greeted them back. Alarmed by this turn of events, Metellus led his army away, and was amongst the first to say that an envoy should be sent to Cinna to discuss peace. On his return Crassus pressed for a battle, and advised Metellus that he . . . . should seek out Cinna with no further delay 50 . . . . [24] engaging in battle with Fimbria, he was miserably defeated but not killed, when Metellus . . . .
. . . .
3 . . . besieged [them] in Peiraeus. Cassander the king of the Macedonians fell ill and died on the [21st] day of the intercalary month of Artemisius. He was succeeded by Philippus, the eldest of his sons, who was king for [4] months . . . the historian Diyllus the son of Phanodemus [ended] . . . year, Philippus [the king of] the Macedonians . . . died . . .
4 . . . and the golden [statue] of Athene, and from [this loot] he provided pay for the mercenaries.
121[st Olympiad]
[Victors in the Olympic games:]
[Pythagoras] of Magnesia-on-Maeander, in the stadion race
Pythagoras won twice at the Olympic games, and [twice] at the Pythian games. He also won five times at the Isthmian games and (? ) seven times at the Nemean games.
Apollonius of Alexandria, in the double race
Pas. . . of Boeotia, in the long race
Timarchus of Mantineia, in the pentathlon
Amphiares of Laconia, in the wrestling
Calippus of Rhodes, in the boxing
Nicon of Boeotia, in the pancration
Nicon won twice at the Olympic games and twice at the Pythian games, and four times each at the Isthmian and Nemean games.
(? ) Sosiades of Tralles, in the boys' wrestling
Antipater of Ephesus, in the boys' stadion race
Myrceus of (? ) Caleitus in [Arcadia], in the boys' boxing
[Pythagoras] of Magnesia-on-Maeander, in the race in full armour, for the second time
Archidamus of Elis, in the race for chariots drawn by four horses
Pandion of Thessaly, in the horse-race
Tlasimachus of Ambracia, in the race for chariots drawn by a pair of horses
Tlasimachus again, in the race for chariots drawn by four foals
5 The men of Thurii . . . the country . . . Agathocles . . .
6 . . .
Craterus of Thessaly, [in] the race for chariots drawn by four horses
. . . of Crannon, in the horse-race
. . . of Thessaly, in the race for chariots drawn by a pair of horses
[Belistiche] of Macedonia, in the race for chariots drawn by four foals
[Belistiche] was the concubine of Ptolemy [Philadelphus].
7 In the [first] year the Romans fought . . .
523: ? Zenon of Rhodes ( P. Köln 247 )
The Greek text of the legible part of this papyrus fragment, along with a historical commentary, was published by G. A. Lehmann (ZPE, 1988). Because of the emphasis on the Rhodians, it is likely that the fragment comes from a local history written by Zenon in the first half of the second century B. C. The surviving portion describes events of 306/5 B. C. ; Lehmann points out that the remarks in column III, about the importance to the Rhodians of trade with Egypt, are echoed in Diodorus' account of this year ( 20. 81'4 ).
[I] . . . Alcetas, son of Orontes, brother of Perdiccas . . . Eumenes . . . Silver Shields { Argyraspides } . . . Antigonus, the son of Philippus, 20 was the first to proclaim himself king, in the belief that he would easily remove all the others in positions of power, and that he would prevail 25 over the entire world { oikoumene } and just like Alexander take over the affairs . . .
[II] . . . 5 complete days they proclaimed him king before they wrote to the people, without . . . against the Rhodians and the others, 10 but responding to what was written by each of them. Therefore, he { Ptolemy } troubled Antigonus, but he was (? ) useful to the people. 15 For Ptolemy after he received (? ) what was written in the documents, took for himself the dignity of a king . . . His friends considered him worthy of the royal 30 title, among them the Rhodians, because they expected that the aggrandisement of Antigonus would be oppressive to them, 35 but they they believed that Ptolemy would stay within his realm { hegemonia } and in no way would . . . in so far as it related to them. For indeed a king in Asia 40 less suitable . . .
[III] . . . and since they { the Rhodians } rather harboured affection for the one who ruled 25 over Egypt and its existing territory; for in respect of both the increase in income and the volume of business or the corn 30 . . . a change of mind . . .
723: Eupolemus
Eupolemus lived in the second century B. C. and wrote a history "On the Kings in Judaea", of which a few fragments have survived in quotations by later Christian writers, although it appears that they found the quotations in the writings of Alexander Polyhistor, rather than directly reading the history.
[1] [EUSEB:PE. 9. 25. 4] And concerning Moses the same author [Alexander Polyhistor] again brings forward many things, which are worth hearing. But Eupolemus says that the first wise man was Moses, and that he was the first to teach the Jews letters, and from the Jews the Phoenicians received them, and from the Phoenicians the Greeks, and that Moses was the first to give written laws to the Jews. [CLEM. AL:STROM. 1. 23] And Eupolemus, in his book On the Kings in Judaea, says that "Moses was the first wise man, and the first that imparted grammar to the Jews, that the Phoenicians received it from the Jews, and the Greeks from the Phoenicians. "
[2] [CLEM. AL:STROM. 1. 21] Accordingly it is easy to perceive that Solomon, who lived in the time of Menelaus (who was during the Trojan war), was earlier by many years than the wise men among the Greeks. And how many years Moses preceded him we showed, in what we said above. And Alexander, surnamed Polyhistor, in his work on the Jews, has transcribed some letters of Solomon to Vaphres king of Egypt, and to the king of the Phoenicians at Tyre, and theirs to Solomon; in which it is shown that Vaphres sent eighty thousand Egyptian men to him for the building of the temple, and the other as many, along with a Tyrian artificer, the son of a Jewish mother, of the tribe of Dan, as is there written, of the name of Hyperon. [EUSEB:PE. 9. 30. 1-8] But Eupolemus says, in some (? ) comment on the prophecy of Elias, that Moses prophesied forty years; then Jesus the son of Nave thirty years, and he lived a hundred and ten years, and pitched the holy tabernacle in Silo. And afterwards Samuel rose up as a prophet: and then by God's will Saul was chosen king by Samuel, and died after a reign of twenty-one years. Then his son David reigned, who subdued the Syrians which live beside the river Euphrates, and Commagene, and the Assyrians in Galadene, and the Phoenicians; he also made expeditions against the Edomites, and Ammonites, and Moabites, and Ituraeans, and Nabathaeans, and Nabdaeans. And again he made an expedition against Suron king of Tyre and Phoenicia; and compelled these nations to pay tribute to the Jews; and contracted a friendly alliance with Vaphres king of Egypt. And when David wished to build a temple for God, he entreated God to point out to him a place for the altar; whereupon there appeared to him an angel standing above the place, where the altar is built in Jerusalem, who commanded him not to build the temple, because he was defiled with men's blood and had passed many years in war. And the angel's name was Dianathan; and he bade him commit the building of the temple to his son, but himself to prepare the things pertaining to the building, gold, silver, brass, stones, cypress wood and cedar. And on bearing this David built ships in (? ) Aïlana, a city of Arabia, and sent miners to the island Urphe which lies in the Red Sea, and contains gold mines. And thence the miners transported the gold into Judaea. When David had reigned forty years he gave over the government to Solomon his son, who was twelve years old, in the presence of Eli the High Priest and the twelve princes of the tribes, and delivered to him the gold and silver and brass and stone and cypress wood and cedar. Then David died, and Solomon was king, and wrote to Vaphres king of Egypt the letter which is transcribed below.
[3] [EUSEB:PE. 9. 34. 20] And Eupolemus says that Solomon made also a thousand golden shields, each of which weighed five hundred staters of gold. He lived fifty-two years, of which he reigned forty in peace.
[4] [CLEM. AL:STROM. 1. 21] Besides, Eupolemus, in (? ) the same work, says that all the years from Adam to the fifth year of king Demetrius, and the twelfth year of Ptolemy king of Egypt [? 158 B. C. ], when added, amount to five thousand one hundred and forty-nine; and from the time that Moses brought out the Jews from Egypt to the above-mentioned date, there are, in all, two thousand five hundred and eighty years. And from this time till the consulship in Rome of Gaius Dometianus and Casianus [? Gnaeus Domitius and Asinius, 40 B. C. ], a hundred and twenty years are computed.
[5] [EUSEB:PE. 9. 39. 1-5] Besides this, as [Alexander] Polyhistor has made mention of the prophecy of Jeremiah, it would be a most unreasonable thing for us to pass it over in silence. Let this then also be set down:
Then Jonachim: in his time prophesied Jeremiah the prophet. He was sent by God, and found the Jews sacrificing to a golden image, the name of which was Baal. And he foreshowed to them the calamity which was to come. Jonachim then attempted to burn him alive: but he said that with that fuel they should cook food for the Babylonians, and as prisoners of war should dig the canals of the Tigris and Euphrates. When Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians, had heard of the predictions of Jeremiah, he summoned Astibares, the king of the Medes, to join him in an expedition. And having taken with him Babylonians and Medes, and collected a hundred and eighty thousand infantry and a hundred and twenty thousand cavalry, and ten thousand chariots, he first subdued Samaria, and Galilee, and Scythopolis, and the Jews who lived in the region of Gilead; and afterwards took Jerusalem, and made Jonachim, the king of the Jews, a prisoner. And the gold that was in the temple, and the silver and brass, they chose out and sent to Babylon, except the Ark and the tables that were in it: but this Jeremiah retained.
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Granius Licinianus
Granius Licinianus is believed to have lived in the second century A. D. A few pages of his History of Rome survive, in a palimpsest, but the rapidity of his style, together with frequent gaps in the Latin text, makes translation hazardous. This translation is based on the edition by N. Criniti, which can be found online in PHI Latin texts.
See key to translations for an explanation of the format. The numbers in green are the sentence numbers in Criniti's edition. The numbers in red are the page numbers from the older edition by M. Flemisch.
The surviving passages cover various years between 163 and 78 B. C.
Contents:
Book 26 - the traditions of the Roman army
Book 28 - events of 163-162 B. C.
Book 33 - events of 105 B. C.
Book 35 - events of 87-85 B. C.
Book 36 - events of 81-78 B. C.
BOOK 26 L
[1] Rutilius relates that the consuls and generals, who had crushed the enemy by their courage in fierce battle, had even devoted themselves to the gods, promising [to charge into the middle of the enemy, and to give up] their lives for their country.
Similar to them . . .
. . . struck down, whom their general had summoned to a general council. 10 Most historians have overlooked or have not named the [troop] of cavalry who were attached to the cohorts.
[2] I have already spoken in previous books about the ranks and names and numbers [of the legions], and about the soldiers' weapons. But I will not pass over the cavalry, whom Tarquinius had doubled in number, so that the former cavalrymen brought two horses each into battle. It is said that this practice came into Italy with the cult of Castor, who is shown holding [two horses]. But at Therapne the statues of Castor and Pollux have no "trace-horses". 15 I think it is sufficient to mention that ancient shrine, although I realise that some Spartan artists represented Castor and Pollux as "horseless", and others as "with beautiful horses". [3] [The cavalry] were called flexuntes, from the kind of pendant which was called "regal", as well as "equine" . . . . . .
{The word flexuntes is mentioned elsewhere (Plin:HN_33'35) as an ancient name for cavalry}
BOOK 28 L
[4] # Antiochus, who was staying at Athens, became king after the death of his brother. He afterwards considered waging war against the Romans, but he is said to have been deterred by the death of Perseus. # Antiochus had a few good traits, mixed in with many bad ones. 5 He had an unpredictable nature, and was extremely frivolous. He used to join in revels at banquets, and [5] danced naked to the music; he bathed in public, and went to the baths anointed with myrrh or drenched with perfumes.
He led a procession on an Asturian pony, and at Hierapolis he pretended to marry Diana. While the others prepared a banquet, he removed the vessels from the temple, and after dining off the tables he took away the vessels as a dowry, except for one ring, which was the only thing he left of all the offerings to the goddess.
# When Gracchus, [6] whom I mentioned previously, was consul for the second time, Antiochus died of terror one night. While his body was being carried back to Antioch, the animals suddenly took fright, and his body was tossed into the river and disappeared. This was the penalty he paid for his flagrant sacrilege.
10 # Antiochus dedicated two colossal statues, twelve cubits high, one to Olympian Jupiter and the other to Capitoline Jupiter. At Athens he built the Olympion with marble walls, and he surrounded it with numerous columns. The famous temple of Olympian Jupiter at Athens had long remained unfinished . . . .
[7] Other prodigies were reported . . . . says that a noble woman called Aemilia, who was placed on a pyre as her family wailed, was miraculously brought back to life by the sound of the trumpets.
There is a story about the Corfidius brothers. The elder brother left the younger brother as his heir, and after his will had the been read the elder brother came back to life. He said that he had been sent away by his brother; 20 his brother asked that 10,000 denarii be paid for his funeral, he showed where his gold was hidden and he committed his daughter to the care of the elder brother. The gold was found in the place he indicated, and then it was announced that the younger brother had suddenly died.
I have decided not to include many prodigies in this history, [8] and to avoid filling up the pages with information of this kind, although its usefulness is generally agreed. I wished to find out about these brothers just enough to be able to preserve the story and pass it on to posterity.
# The same Ti. Gracchus, who had driven out . . . among the Astures, then proceeded against the Spaniards. 25 # After reading the books of the augurs, [9] he wrote that he had been instructed by his colleagues that he ought to have taken the auspices [outside] the pomerium, when was going to hold the elections in the Campus Martius, because the pomerium is the limit for city auspices. But he had placed his tent at the villa of Scipio, and when he entered the pomerium . . . .
I must make mention of P. Lentulus, who was consul with Cn. Domitius. 30 Lentulus was an outstanding man, and did great service to the republic. # When he was praetor urbanus, the senate authorised him to buy up the Campanian territory, which had been completely occupied by private individuals, in order that it should become public land. The owners of the land agreed to let Lentulus set the price, and being a just man he did not deceive them. Such was his moderation that he both served the interests of the republic and restricted private ownership, and he used public money to buy 50,000 iugera of land. 35 He brought the Campanian territory, which had been divided amongst private individuals, into public ownership, [10] and let it out at a fair price. Put in charge of an investigation, he recovered much other land, and left of plan of the territory on a bronze tablet in the temple of Liberty, which Sulla later despoiled. The same Lentulus gave just 25 sestertii as the dowry for his daughter.
The senate granted the kingdom of Antiochus Epiphanes to his son Antiochus, who was still a young boy and was soon commonly known as Eupator. # The senate refused the request of Demetrius, the son of Seleucus who had been sent over by his father as a hostage, to be made king, although Demetrius declared that he had come to Rome as a young boy and was now sufficiently old, at 24 years of age; Rome was his home, and the senate was his parent. 40 The senate sympathised with him . . . .
BOOK 33 L
[11] # The ex-consul M. Aurelius Scaurus was thrown from his horse and captured [by the Cimbri]. When they summoned him to a council, he neither did nor said anything which was unworthy of a Roman, who had held such great honours. Because of this he was killed, although he could have escaped; 5 he refused their request to act as their leader, out of shame that he should survive after the loss of his army.
# The consul Mallius was alarmed by this victory of the Cimbri, and sent a letter begging Caepio to join forces with him and confront the Gauls with a large combined army; but Caepio refused. Caepio crossed the Rhone and boasted to his soldiers that he would bring help to the frightened consul; but he did not even want to discuss with him [12] how to conduct the war, and he disdained to listen to the envoys whom the senate sent, asking the generals to co-operate and jointly to protect the state. The Cimbri sent envoys to arrange a peace and to ask for land and for corn to sow, but he dismissed them so brusquely that they attacked the next day. His camp was situated not far away from Mallius' camp, 10 but he could not be persuaded, though he was so close, to join together their armies.
# The greater part of the army was destroyed . . . . . . [the battle was fought] on the day before the nones of October. Rutilius Rufus says that at least 70,000 regular troops and light-armed troops perished on this one day . . . .
# A Roman matron, acting as if disturbed in the mind, sat [13] on the throne of Jupiter. Therefore the Capitolium was again ritually cleansed. 20 A statue of Mars was said to have fallen on its head in the territory of the Sabines. And some time before the games were planned, when the trumpet-players sounded their instruments by the altar, black snakes suddenly appeared and continued to swarm in front of the altar and bite many of the bystanders, until the trumpets fell silent. Then the snakes suddenly vanished.
Several matrons came forward, after being warned by the same dream and on the same night, with a message about the sacred offerings; and several sacrifices were performed on this account. The noblest of the boys sang a hymn to the gods, which had been specially composed by a poet.
# [Cn. Mallius was sent into exile on the same charge as Caepio, by a decree of the people which was proposed by Saturninus. ]
25 # [Cn. Pompeius was born in this year. ] [14] The consul Rutilius, the colleague of Mallius, remained in sole charge of the government. # [Cicero also was born in this year. ] Therefore, since the whole state was in trepidation and fear of an attack by the Cimbri, Rutilius made the young men take an oath, that none of them would travel anywhere outside Italy. Messengers were sent along all the coasts and ports of Italy, with instructions that no-one under the age of 25 years should be allowed to board a boat . . . .
BOOK 35 L
[15] # [The senate] did not wish to do anything contrary [to the omens], and therefore decided - something which it had never previously done on behalf of the priests - that the contents of the [Sibylline] books should be read out in public. It was agreed that it was signified in the verses that, if Cinna and six of the tribunes were banished from the country, there would be peace, quiet and security.
Marius also had received an omen during his earlier adventures. # When the barbarian fled from his room and left it open, [16] Marius went outside and saw an ass, which was being offered food but was going off in search of water. 5 # Marius thought that this was a sign that he should do the same, and so he asked to be taken down to the sea, by which way he narrowly escaped.
# When Marius had collected about a thousand supporters, he sailed to Telamon to join Cinna. Brutus and the other exiles flocked to him from Spain. The men who had seen him at the height of his victories now saw him [17] unkempt and poorly dressed, and he addressed all of them as a suppliant, who had been oppressed by his enemies. In this way he quickly enlisted a legion of volunteers. # He gave soldiers to Cinna, with Sertorius and Papirius as his officers, 10 and he gave part of the cavalry to Milonius, with orders to advance on Rome, which was expected to be undefended. This brought success to Cinna.
[18] # Pompeius accepted the order of the senate, to come to the aid of the state, with dubious loyalty; he kept introducing delays, until Marius slipped into the port. # After staying there until night-time, Marius was allowed to take control of Ostia by Valerius, who was in charge of the cavalry garrison. 15 Pompeius no longer put off war with Sertorius, and openly fought against him. Envoys were sent to both sides, but achieved nothing, because Cinna believed that he had the upper hand.
# Marius with his supporters gained control of the Janiculum, [19] after killing many of his opponents, who were captured and slaughtered on Marius' orders. Octavius received six cohorts from Pompeius, and crossed the Tiber. Milonius was killed, and the other soldiers whom Sertorius sent to help Milonius were driven back. 20 [. . . ] thousand of Octavius' men were killed, including a senator, Aebutius, and seven thousand of their enemies. The Janiculum could have been captured the same day, but Pompeius would not allow Octavius to advance any further, and forced him to recall Crassus. He did not want the fighting to stop before the elections, so that he himself could obtain a formidable office. The two Catuli and Antonius went as envoys of the senate to beg Metellus, whose camp was situated nearby, [20] to come to the aid of his fatherland.
During the fighting between Pompeius and Sertorius, a common soldier from Pompeius' army, while he was stripping the body of an enemy, recognised that it was his brother. 25 He built a pyre for his brother and in the middle of the funeral rites, after uttering many curses, he slew himself with his sword. This incident struck everyone as a great condemnation of the civil war and changed their attitudes. Nobody was able to refrain from tears.
# The inhabitants of Nola advanced against the town of Abella, and burnt it down. Marius routed Servilius at Ariminum; he killed a few of his men, and accepted the surrender of the rest, whose loyalty he had undermined.
# The senate was asked by the envoys of Metellus to decide about the allegiance of the Samnites, who said that they would not agree to peace except on condition that they and all the deserters should receive the citizenship, [21] and have their property returned. The senate refused, wishing to preserve the ancient dignity of the Roman people. 30 When Cinna heard about this, with the help of Flavius Fimbria he enlisted the Samnites on the terms which they requested, and joined their forces to his.
# Meanwhile Pompeius continued to confuse everything . . . . He saw that the senate was opposed to all the exiles and in particular to Cinna's cause, but even so he persuaded it to give a safe reception to the envoys who were sent by Cinna. He secretly discussed plans with Cinna, but did not share the information with Octavius. Everyone who surrendered was granted citizenship; they promised to supply many thousands of soldiers, but sent scarcely sixteen cohorts. 35 And the army was smitten by such a great pestilence, [22] that seventeen thousand of Octavius's supporters died.
While Pompeius was lying ill in bed, a storm began; Pompeius himself was struck by lightening, and the top of his tent was destroyed. He showed no sign of life, and the army was left without a general for several days. Then, because Pompeius did not recover quickly, C. Cassius was sent to the camp, in order to take over command of the army, until he was restored to health. 40 When he appeared, Pompeius was suddenly aroused and . . . to the envoys who were . . . whether he was content . . . . It was clear to Cassius that Pompeius was near to dying.
On the third day after that, Pompeius died from a remarkable wasting disease. The people of the city disrupted his funeral, [23] knocked his body off its bier, and kept on dragging him through the dirt. Everyone agreed that this contemptible man had been justly punished by heaven for his treachery and greed. But the senators and tribunes restrained the crowd, and protected the body with their clothes. 45 Historians relate that the body was taken on a common bier to be buried.
# Octavius brought Pompeius' soldiers into his own camp. Metellus led his army against Cinna, but his soldiers suddenly seized all the standards and with a loud cry greeted the army of Cinna, who greeted them back. Alarmed by this turn of events, Metellus led his army away, and was amongst the first to say that an envoy should be sent to Cinna to discuss peace. On his return Crassus pressed for a battle, and advised Metellus that he . . . . should seek out Cinna with no further delay 50 . . . . [24] engaging in battle with Fimbria, he was miserably defeated but not killed, when Metellus . . . .
. . . .
