39

Neighboring peoples crowned the man, calling him victor. But he pushed away the crowns, saying that he had not accomplished these things himself, but that his hands had been given over to a god who showed his wrath. So moderate and full of self-control was he. 104 Exc. De ins.: That in the time of Titus, the emperor of the Romans, there was a certain man of Asian descent, Terentius Maximus by name, who resembled Nero in other respects and also in his voice; for this man also sang to the cithara, and he pretended to be Nero, and that he had long ago escaped the soldiers sent against him, and had been living somewhere in obscurity until now. At any rate, having deceived many from lower Asia with these words, he persuaded them to follow him, and advancing to the Euphrates, he won over many more. Finally, he fled to the Parthians, as if some requital were owed to him by them on account of the restoration of Armenia. However, he accomplished nothing worthy of his design, but was exposed for who he was and quickly perished. 105 Ibid.: That on account of many good things, being missed and admired by all beyond the usual, he ended his life by disease, having presided over the leadership of the Romans for 2 years and 8 months. There arose, therefore, in many no small suspicion that he had died having been plotted against by his brother, who had offered him a sea hare at a certain dinner. And they say that Apollonius foretold to him to guard especially against a plot from his closest kin, and when he asked, "In what manner will I die?" Apollonius said: "The way Odysseus is said to have"; for they say that for him, too, death came from the sea. And they say that Domitian, while he was still breathing, and perhaps might have recovered, cast him into a chest full of snow, so that he might perish more quickly from the cold, and he himself rode off to Rome to take possession of the empire. This Titus, then, already at his last gasp, said, "One thing only have I done wrong;" but what this was, he himself did not make clear; but those present not unreasonably reckoned that it pointed to Domitian, because though he had caught him plotting against him many times, he let him go, and he waited to be destroyed by him himself, and for the rule to pass to an evil and impious man.

t106-108 DOMITIAN.

106 Exc. De virt.: That Domitian the emperor of the Romans, brother of Titus

the younger, resembled in character Nero and Caligula and Tiberius, who had presided over the empire most shamefully and basely, rather than his father and his brother. For having employed moderate beginnings to his reign, he immediately lapsed into greater and more unusual defects of judgment, suffering from immeasurable greed and licentiousness, being unrestrained in his anger and inexorable in punishments, and fond of enmity and fond of money if anyone else ever was. At any rate, he quickly drew upon himself the hatred of all, so as to extinguish the glory of both his brother and his father. For with the slaughters of the distinguished men of the senate each day he polluted the city, and pursuing honors equal to the gods, he did not permit statues of himself to be set up on the Capitoline other than those made of gold and silver. He did not even abstain from the murder of his relatives, but brought his impious right hand against all those of his own blood, respecting neither the gods of kinship, nor justice, but scorning both divine and human things alike. 107 Exc. De ins.: That Domitian, being most hateful to all on account of the murderous and beastly nature of his mind, was killed by members of his own household who conspired against him, when he was 35 years old, having ruled for 15. The man's body, indeed, carried away by the most dishonored men of the city, was given an unmarked and unseemly burial. And that Parthenius and Sigerus, the chamberlains, and Entellus, who administered the affairs of the empire, especially plotted this murder against him

39

πρόσοικα γένη ἐστεφάνουν τὸν ἄνδρα, νικητὴν ἀποκαλοῦντες. Ὁ δὲ διωθεῖτο τοὺς στεφάνους, οὐκ αὐτὸς λέγων εἰργάσθαι ταῦτα, θεῷ δὲ φήναντι ὀργὴν ἐπιδεδωκέναι τὰς ἑαυτοῦ χεῖρας. Οὕτως ἦν μέτριος καὶ σωφροσύνης μεστός. 104 Exc. De ins.: Ὅτι ἐπὶ Τίτου τοῦ Ῥωμαίων βασιλέως, ἀνήρ τις Ἀσιανὸς ὢν ἦν? τὸ γένος, Τερέντιος Μάξιμος ὄνομα, τά τε ἄλλα καὶ τὴν φωνὴν προσεοι κὼς τῷ Νέρωνι· καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ οὗτος ᾖδε πρὸς κιθάραν, Νέρων τε εἶναι ἐπλάττετο, καὶ διαπεφευγέναι πάλαι τοὺς ἐπ' αὐτὸν σταλέντας στρατιώτας, ἐν ἀφανεῖ δέ που πεποιῆσθαι τὰς διατριβὰς ἐς τόδε. Πολλοὺς γοῦν ἔκ τε τῆς κάτω Ἀσίας τούτοις ἀπατήσας τοῖς λόγοις, ἕπεσθαί οἱ ἀνέπεισεν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Εὐφράτην προϊὼν πολλῷ πλείους προσεποιήσατο. Τέλος πρὸς Παρθυαίους, ὡς καὶ ὀφειλομένης αὐτῷ πρὸς ἐκείνων ἀμοιβῆς τινος διὰ τὴν τῆς Ἀρμενίας ἀπόδοσιν, κατέφυγεν. Οὐ μὴν ἄξιόν τι τῆς ἐπινοίας εἰργάσατο, ἀλλὰ φωραθεὶς ὃς ἦν, ταχέως ἀπώλετο. 105 Ibid.: Ὅτι πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν ἕνεκα πέρα τοῦ συνήθους πρὸς πάντων ποθούμενός τε καὶ θαυμαζόμενος νόσῳ τελευτᾷ τὸν βίον προστὰς τῆς ἡγεμονίας Ῥωμαίων βʹ ἔτη πρὸς μησὶν ηʹ. Γέγονε μὲν οὖν πολλοῖς οὐ διὰ μικρᾶς ὑπονοίας ἐπιβουλευθέντα μὲν πρὸς τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τεθνηκέναι, λαγὸν θαλάσσιον ἐν δείπνῳ τινὶ προσενεγκάμενον. Φασὶ δὲ προειπεῖν αὐτῷ τὸν Ἀπολλώνιον, φυλάττεσθαι μάλιστα τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκειοτάτων ἐπιβουλὴν, τοῦ δὲ ἐρομένου, «ἀποθανοῦμαι δὲ τίνα τρόπον»; εἰπεῖν τὸν Ἀπολλώνιον· «ὅν γε Ὀδυσσεὺς λέγεται»· φασὶ γὰρ κἀκείνῳ ἐκ θαλάττης ἀφικέσθαι τὸν θάνατον. Φασὶ δὲ ὅτι ∆ομετιανὸς αὐτὸν ἔτι ἔμπνουν ὄντα, καὶ τυχὸν περιγενόμενον, ἐς λάρνακα πλήρη χιόνος ἐμβαλὼν, ὡς ἂν θᾶττον ἀπὸ ψύχους ἐκλείποι, αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥώμην παραληψόμενος τὴν βασιλείαν ἀφίππευσεν. Ὅδ' οὖν Τίτος ψυχορραγῶν ἤδη ἔφη «ἓν μόνον ἐπλημμέλησα·» τὸ δὲ τί τοῦτο ἦν, αὐτὸς μὲν οὐ διεσάφησεν· οἱ δὲ παρόντες ἐς τὸν ∆ομετιανὸν οὐκ ἔξω τοῦ εἰκότος ἀποτείνειν ἐλογίσαντο, ὅτι αὐτὸν ἐπιβουλεύσαντά οἱ πολλάκις λαβὼν μεθῆκε, καὶ περιέμεινεν αὐτὸς ὑπ' ἐκείνου διαφθαρῆναι, καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰς ἄνδρα κακὸν καὶ ἀνοσιουργὸν περιελθεῖν.

t106-108 ∆ΟΜΕΤΙΑΝΟΣ.

106 Exc. De virt.: Ὅτι ∆ομετιανὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς Ῥωμαίων, ἀδελφὸς Τίτου

νεώτερος, Νέρωνι καὶ Καλιγόλᾳ καὶ Τιβερίῳ, τοῖς αἴσχιστα καὶ φαυλότατα προστᾶσι τῆς ἡγεμονίας, ἤπερ τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ ἀδελφῷ προσεοικὼς τὸν τρόπον. Μετρίοις γὰρ δὴ τῆς ἀρχῆς προοιμίοις χρησάμενος, εὐθὺς εἰς πλείονά τε καὶ ἄτοπα τῆς γνώμης ἐκπίπτει μειονεκτήματα, πλεονεξίαν τε νοσῶν ἄμετρον καὶ ἀσέλγειαν, θυμοῦ τε ἀκρατὴς ὢν καὶ ἀπαραίτητος ἐν ταῖς κολάσεσι, φιλαπεχθήμων τε καὶ φιλάργυρος εἰ καί τις ἕτερος. Ταχέως γοῦν πρὸς ἁπάντων μῖσος ἐφειλκύσατο, ὡς τό τε τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀποσβέσαι κλέος. Σφαγαῖς τε γὰρ τῶν ἐπισήμων τῆς βουλῆς ἑκάστης ἡμέρας ἐμίαινε τὴν πόλιν, τάς τε ἴσας τοῖς κρείττοσι μεταδιώκων τιμὰς, οὐχ ὑπέμεινεν ἑτέρων αὐτῷ γίνεσθαι κατὰ τὸ Καπιτώλιον ἀνδριάντων στάσιν ἢ ἐκ χρυσοῦ τε καὶ ἀργύρου πεποιημένων. Ἀπέσχετο δὲ οὐδὲ τοῦ τῶν συγγενῶν φόνου, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς ἀφ' αἵματος τὴν ἀνοσίαν ἤγαγε δεξιὰν, οὔτε θεοὺς ὁμογνίους, οὔτε δίκην αἰδούμενος, ἀλλ' ὁμοῦ τά τε θεῖα περιφρονῶν καὶ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα. 107 Exc. De ins.: Ὅτι ἅπασιν ὁ ∆ομετιανὸς διὰ τὸ φονικὸν καὶ θηριῶδες τῆς γνώμης ἔχθιστος ὢν, πρὸς τῶν οἰκείων συστάντων ἐπ' αὐτῷ κατακτείνεται, εʹ καὶ λʹ γενονὼς ἔτη, ἄρξας δὲ ιεʹ. Τό γε μὴν σῶμα τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀτιμοτάτων τῆς πόλεως ἀφορηθὲν, ἀσήμῳ τε καὶ ἀπρεπεῖ παρεδόθη ταφῇ. Ἐπιβουλεῦσαι δὲ μάλιστα τούτῳ τὸν φόνον Παρθένιόν τε καὶ Σιγηρὸν τοὺς προκοίτους καὶ Ἔντελλον τὸν τὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς διέποντα