Ῥίμφα μάλ᾽, οὐδ᾽ ὑπένερθε διαίνετο χάλκεος ἄξων,
(“And with gladness the sea parted before him, and the horses fared very swiftly, and the bronze axle was not wetted beneath,”)
ἅτε οὐδενὸς ἐμποδὼν ὄντος, πάντων δὲ ἐξισταμένων καὶ ὑποχωρούντων ἐν χαρμονῇ. οὔκουν οὐδὲν αὑτῷ πολέμιον οὐδὲ ἀντίπαλον ᾤετο καταλιπέσθαι, οὐδὲ αὑτὸν κατείργειν οὐδὲ ἓν τὸ μὴ ἐπὶ τοῦ Τίγρητος στῆναι ταῖς ἐκβολαῖς. εἵπετο δὲ αὐτῷ πολὺς μὲν ὁπλίτης,[254] ἱππεῖς δὲ οὐχ ἥττους, [B] ἀλλ᾽ οἳπερ ἄλκιμοι, Κελτοὶ καὶ Ἴβηρες Γερμανῶν τε οἱ πρόσοικοι Ῥήνῳ καὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ τῇ πρὸς ἑσπέραν, ἣν εἴτε Ὠκεανὸν χρὴ καλεῖν εἴτε Ἀτλαντικὴν θάλατταν εἴτε ἄλλῃ τινὶ χρῆσθαι προσωνυμίᾳ προσῆκον, οὐκ ἰσχυρίζομαι· πλὴν ὅτι δὴ αὐτῇ προσοικεῖ δύσμαχα καὶ ῥώμῃ διαφέροντα τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν γένη βαρβάρων, οὐκ ἀκοῇ μόνον, ἥπερ δὴ τυγχάνει πίστις οὐκ ἀσφαλής, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτῇ πείρᾳ τοῦτο ἐκμαθὼν οἶδα. [C] τούτων δὴ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐξαναστήσας οὐκ ἔλαττον [pg 150] πλῆθος τῆς οἴκοθεν αὐτῷ ξυνεπισπομένης[255] στρατιᾶς, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ μὲν ὡς οἰκεῖον εἵπετο πολὺ καὶ αὐτῷ ξύμφυλον, τὸ δὲ ἡμέτερον· οὕτω γὰρ καλεῖν ἄξιον· ὁπόσον Ῥωμαίων βίᾳ καὶ οὐ γνώμῃ ξυνηκολούθησεν, ἐοικὸς ἐπικούροις καὶ μισθοφόροις, ἐν Καρὸς εἵπετο τάξει καὶ σχήματι, δύσνουν μέν, ὡς εἰκός, βαρβάρῳ καὶ ξένῳ, μέθῃ [D] καὶ κραιπάλῃ τὴν δυναστείαν περιφρονήσαντι καὶ ἀνελομένῳ, ἄρχοντι δέ, ὥσπερ ἦν ἄξιον τὸν ἐκ τοιούτων προοιμίων καὶ προνομίων ἀρξάμενον. ἡγεῖτο δὲ αὐτὸς οὔτι κατὰ τὸν Τυφῶνα, ὃν ἡ ποιητικὴ τερατεία φησὶ τῷ Διὶ χαλεπαίνουσαν τὴν Γῆν ὠδῖναι, οὐδὲ ὡς γιγάντων ὁ κράτιστος, ἀλλ᾽ οἵαν ὁ σοφὸς ἐν μύθοις Πρόδικος τὴν Κακίαν δημιουργεῖ πρὸς τὴν Ἀρετὴν[256] διαμιλλωμένην καὶ ἐθέλουσαν τὸν τοῦ Διὸς ἀναπείθειν παῖδα, ὅτι ἄρα αὐτῷ μάλιστα πάντων τιμητέα εἴη. προάγων [57] δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν μάχην προυφέρετο τὰ τοῦ Καπανέως, βαρβαρίζων[257] καὶ ἀνοηταίνων, οὔτι μὴν κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τῇ ῥώμῃ τῆς ψυχῆς πίσυνος οὐδὲ ἀλκῇ τοῦ σώματος, τῷ πλήθει δὲ τῶν ξυνεπομένων βαρβάρων, οἷς δὴ καὶ λείαν ἅπαντα προθήσειν ἠπείλει, ταξίαρχον ταξιάρχῳ καὶ λοχαγὸν λοχαγῷ καὶ στρατιώτην στρατιώτῃ τῶν ἐξ ἐναντίας αὐταῖς ἀποσκευαῖς καὶ κτήμασιν, οὐδὲ τὸ σῶμα ἁφιεὶς ἐλεύθερον. αὔξει δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν ἡ [pg 152] βασιλέως[258] δεινότης, [B] καὶ ἐκ τῶν δυσχωριῶν εἰς τὰ πεδία κατάγει γανύμενον καὶ οὐ ξυνιέντα, δρασμὸν δὲ ἀτεχνῶς καὶ οὐ στρατηγίαν τὸ πρᾶγμα κρίνοντα. ταῦτά τοι καὶ ἁλίσκεται, καθάπερ ὄρνιθες καὶ ἰχθύες δικτύοις. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐς τὴν εὐρυχωρίαν καὶ τὰ πεδία τῶν Παιόνων ἦλθε καὶ ἐδόκει λῷον ἐνταῦθα διαγωνίζεσται, τότε δὴ βασιλεὺς τούς τε ἱππέας ἐπὶ κέρως τάττει χωρὶς ἑκατέρου.
(for nothing stood in his way, but all things stood aside and made a path for him in their joy. Even so the usurper thought that he had left behind him nothing hostile or opposed to him, and that there was nothing at all to hinder him from taking up a position at the mouth of the Tigris. And there followed him a large force of heavy infantry and as many cavalry, yes, and good fighters they were, Celts, Iberians and Germans from the banks of the Rhine and from the coasts of the western sea. Whether I ought to call that sea the Ocean or the Atlantic, or whether it is proper to use some other name for it, I am not sure. I only know that its coasts are peopled by tribes of barbarians who are not easy to subdue and are far more energetic than any other race, and I know it not merely from hearsay, on which it is never safe to rely, but I have learned it from personal experience. From these tribes, then, he mustered an army as large as that which marched with him from home, or rather many followed him because they were his own people, allied to him by the ties of race, but our subjects—for so we must call them—I mean all his Roman troops followed from compulsion and not from choice, like mercenary allies, and their position and rôle was like that of the proverbial Carian,[259] since they were naturally ill-disposed to a barbarian and a stranger who had conceived the idea of ruling and embarked on the enterprise at the time of a drunken debauch, and was the sort of leader that one might expect from such a preface and prelude as that. He led them in person, not indeed like Typho, who, as the poet tells us,[260] in his wonder tale, was brought forth by the earth in her anger against Zeus, nor was he like the strongest of the Giants, but he was like that Vice incarnate which the wise Prodicus created in his fable,[261] making her compete with Virtue and attempt to win over the son of Zeus,[262] contending that he would do well to prize her above all else. And as he led them to battle he outdid the behaviour of Capaneus,[263] like the barbarian that he was, in his insensate folly, though he did not, like Capaneus, trust to the energy of his soul or his physical strength, but to the numbers of his barbarian followers; and he boasted that he would lay everything at their feet to plunder, that every general and captain and common soldier of his should despoil an enemy of corresponding rank of his baggage and belongings, and that he would enslave the owners as well. He was confirmed in this attitude by the Emperor's clever strategy, and led his army out from the narrow passes to the plains in high spirits and little knowing the truth, since he decided that the Emperor's march was merely flight and not a manoeuvre. Thus he was taken unawares, like a bird or fish in the net. For when he reached the open country and the plains of Paeonia, and it seemed advantageous to fight it out there, then and not before the Emperor drew up his cavalry separately on both wings.)
Τούτων δὲ οἱ μέν εἰσιν αἰχμοφόροι, θώραξιν ἐλατοῖς καὶ κράνεσιν ἐκ σιδήρου πεποιημένοις σκεπόμενοι· [C] κνημῖδές τε τοῖς σφυροῖς εὖ μάλα περιηρμοσμέναι καὶ περιγονατίδες καὶ περὶ τοὶς μηροῖς ἕτερα τοιαῦτα ἐκ σιδήρου καλύμματα· αὐτοὶ δὲ ἀτεχνῶς ὥσπερ ἀνδριάντες ἐπὶ τῶν ἵππων φερόμενοι, οὐδὲν ἀσπίδος δεόμενοι. τούτοις εἵπετο τῶν ἄλλων ἱππέων πλῆθος ἀσπίδας φέροντες, οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἵππων τοξεύοντες. πεζῶν [D] δὲ ὁ μὲν ὁπλίτης ἦν ἐν τῷ μώσῳ συνάπτων ἐφ᾽ ἑκάτερα τοῖς ἱππεῦσιν· ἐξόπισθεν δὲ οἱ σφενδονῆται καὶ τοξόται καὶ ὁπόσον ἐκ χειρὸς βάλλει γυμνὸν ἀσπίδος καὶ θώρακος. οὕτω κοσμηθείσης τῆς φάλαγγος, μικρὰ τοῦ λαιοῦ κέρως προελθόντος ἅπαν τὸ πολέμιον συνετετάρακτο καὶ οὐκ ἐφύλαττε τὴν τάξιν.[264] ἐγκειμένων δὲ τῶν ἱππέων καὶ οὐκ ἀνιέντων φεύγει μὲν αἰσχρῶς ὁ τὴν βασιλείαν αἴσχιον ἁρπάσας, λείπει δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸν ἵππαρχον καὶ χιλιάρχους καὶ ταξιάρχους πάνυ πολλοὺς καὶ [pg 154] ἐρρωμένως ἀγωνιζομένους, ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ τὴν ποιητὴν τοῦ τερατώδους καὶ ἐξαγίστου δράματος, [58] ὃς πρῶτος ἐπὶ νοὺν ἐβάλετο μεταποιῆσαι τὴν βασιλείαν καὶ ἀφελέσθαι τοῦ γέρως ἡμᾶς.
(Of these troops some carry lances and are protected by cuirasses and helmets of wrought iron mail. They wear greaves that fit the legs closely, and knee-caps, and on their thighs the same sort of iron covering. They ride their horses exactly like statues, and need no shield. In the rear of these was posted a large body of the rest of the cavalry, who carried shields, while others fought on horseback with bows and arrows. Of the infantry the hoplites occupied the centre and supported the cavalry on either wing. In their rear were the slingers and archers and all troops that shoot their missiles from the hand and have neither shield nor cuirass. This, then, was the disposition of our phalanx. The left wing slightly outflanked the enemy, whose whole force was thereby thrown into confusion, and their line broke. When our cavalry made a charge and maintained it stubbornly, he who had so shamefully usurped the imperial power disgraced himself by flight, and left there his cavalry commander and his numerous chiliarchs and taxiarchs, who continued to fight bravely, and in command of all these the real author[265] of that monstrous and unholy drama, who had been the first to suggest to him that he should pretend to the imperial power and rob us of our royal privilege.)
Καὶ τέως μὲν[266] ἔχαιρε τῆς πρώτης πείρας οὐκ ἀποσφαλεὶς οὐδὲ ἁμαρτήσας, τέτε δὲ ἐφεστώσας ξὺν δίκῃ ποινὰς ἀπαιτεῖται τῶν ἔργων καὶ ἄπιστον τιμωρίαν εἰσπράττεται. πάντων γὰρ ὁπόσοι τοῦ πολέμου τῷ τυράννῳ συνεφήψαντο ἐμφανὴς μὲν ὁ θάνατος, δήλη δ᾽ ἡ φυγὴ καὶ ἄλλων μεταμέλεια· ἰκέτευον γὰρ πολλόι, [B] καὶ ἔτυχον ἅπαντες συγγνώμης, βασιλέως τὸν τῆς Φέτιδος ὑπερβαλλομένου μεγαλοφροσύνῃ. ὁ μὲν γάρ, ἐπειδὴ Πάτροκλος ἔπεσεν, οὐδὲ πιπράκειν ἁλόντας ἔτι τοὺς πολεμίους ἠξίου, ἀλλ᾽ ἱκετεύοντας περὶ τοῖς γόνασιν ἔκτεινεν· ὁ δὲ ἐκήρυττεν ἄδειαν τοῖς ἐξαρνουμένοις τὴν ξυνωμοσίαν, οὐ θανάτου μόνον ἢ φυγῆς ἤ τινος ἄλλης τιμωρίας ἀφαιρῶν τὸν φόβον, ὥσπερ δὲ ἔκ τινος ταλαιπωρίας καὶ ἄλης δυστυχοῦς τῆς ξὺν [C] τῷ τυράννῳ βιοτῆς κατάγειν σφᾶς ἐπ᾽ ἀκεραίοις τοῖς πρόσθεν ἠξίου. τοῦτο μὲν δὴ καὶ αὖθις τεύξεται λόγου.
(For a time indeed he enjoyed success, and at his first attempt met with no repulse or failure, but on that day he provoked the punishment that justice had in store for his misdeeds, and had to pay a penalty that is hardly credible. For all the others who abetted the usurper in that war met death openly or their flight was evident to all, as was the repentance of others. For many came as suppliants, and all obtained forgiveness, since the Emperor surpassed the son of Thetis in generosity. For Achilles, after Patroclus fell, refused any longer even to sell those whom he took captive, but slew them as they clasped his knees and begged for mercy. But the Emperor proclaimed an amnesty for those who should renounce the conspiracy, and so not only freed them from the fear of death or exile or some other punishment, but, as though their association with the usurper had been due to some misadventure or unhappy error, he deigned to reinstate them and completely cancel the past. I shall have occasion to refer to this again.)
Ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἤδη ῥητέον, ὡς οὔτε ἐν τοῖς κειμένοις ἦν οὔτε ἐν τοῖς φεύγουσιν ὁ παιδοτρίβης τοῦ τυράννου. τὸ γὰρ μηδὲ ἐλπίσαι συγγνώμην εὔλογον οὕτω μὲν ἄδικα διανοηθέντα, ἀσεβῆ δὲ ἐργασάμενον, φόνων τε ἀδίκων ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν, πολλῶν μὲν ἰδιωτῶν, [D] πάντων δὲ σχεδὸν [pg 156] ὁπόσοι τοῦ βασιλείου γένους μετεῖχον ἁψάμενον, οὔτι ξὺν δείματι οὐδὲ ἄν τις ἐμφύλιον φόνον διανοηθείν δρῶν, παλαμναίους τινὰς καὶ μιάστορας δεδιὼς καὶ ὑφορώμενος ἐκ τοῦ μιάσματος, ἀλλα ὥσπερ τισὶ καθαρσίοις καινοῖς καὶ ἀτόποις τοὺς πρόσθεν ἀπονιπτόμενος ἄνδρα ἐπ᾽ ἀνδρὶ καὶ γυναῖκας ἐπὶ τοῖς φιλτάτοις ἀποκτιννὺς εἰκότως ἀπέγνω τὴν ἱκετηρίαν. ταῦτα εἰκὸς μὲν αὐτὸν διανοηθῆναι, [59] εἰκὸς δὲ καὶ ἄλλως ἔχειν. οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἴσμεν ὅ, τί ποτε παθὼν ἢ δράσας ᾤχετο ἄιστος, ἄφαντος. ἀλλ᾽ εἴτε αὐτὸν δαίμων τιμωρὸς ξυναρπάσας, καθάπερ Ὅμηρός φησι τὰς τοῦ Πανδάρεω[267] θυγατέρας, ἐπὶ γῆς ἄγει πέρατα ποινὰς ἀπαιτήσων τῶν διανοημάτων, εἴτε αὐτὸν ὁ ποταμὸς ὑποδεξάμενος ἑστιᾶν κελεύει τοὺς ἰχθῦς, οὔτι πω δῆλον. ἄχρι μὲν γὰρ τῆς μάχης αὐτῆς καὶ ὁπηνίκα οἱ λόχοι συνετάττοντο πρὸς φάλαγγα θρασὺς [B] ἦν ἐν μέσοις ἀναστρεφόμενος; ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐπράχθη[268] τὰ τῆς μάχης, ὥσπερ ἦν ἄξιον, ἀφανὴς ᾤχετο οὐκ οἶδα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεῶν ἢ δαιμόνων κρυφθείς, πλὴν ὅτι γε οὐκ ἐπ᾽ ἀμείνοσι ταῖς τύχαις εὔδηλον. οὐ γὰρ δὴ αὖθις ἔμελλε φανεὶς ἐπ᾽ ἐξουσίας ὑβρίζων ἀδεῶς εὐδαιμονήσειν, ὡς ᾤετο, ἀλλα ἐς τὸ παντελὲς ἀφανισθεὶς τιμωρίαν ὑφέξειν αὐτῷ μὲν [pg 158] δυστυχῆ, πολλοῖς δὲ ὠφέλιμον καὶ πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσιν.
(But what I must now state is that the man who had trained and tutored the usurper was neither among the fallen nor the fugitives. It was indeed natural that he should not even hope for pardon, since his schemes had been so wicked, his actions so infamous, and he had been responsible for the slaughter of so many innocent men and women, of whom many were private citizens, and of almost all who were connected with the imperial family. And he had done this not with shrinking nor with the sentiments of one who sheds the blood of his own people, and because of that stain of guilt fears and is on the watch for the avenger and those who will exact a bloody reckoning, but, with a kind of purification that was new and unheard of, he would wash his hands of the blood of his first victims, and then go on to murder man after man, and then, after those whom they held dear, he slew the women as well. So he naturally abandoned the idea of appealing for mercy. But likely as it is that he should think thus, yet it may well be otherwise For the fact is that we do not know what he did or suffered before he vanished out of sight, out of our ken. Whether some avenging deity snatched him away, as Homer says of the daughters of Pandareos,[269] and even now is carrying him to the very verge of the world to punish him for his evil designs, or whether the river[270] has received him and bids him feed the fishes, has not yet been revealed. For till the battle actually began, and while the troops were forming the phalanx, he was full of confidence and went to and fro in the centre of their line. But when the battle was ended as was fitting, he vanished completely, taken from our sight by I know not what god or supernatural agency, only it is quite certain that the fate in store for him was far from enviable. At any rate he was not destined to appear again, and, after insulting us with impunity, live prosperous and secure as he thought he should; but he was doomed to be completely blotted out and to suffer a punishment that for him indeed was fatal but to many was beneficial and gave them a chance of recovery.)