1. Hesiod, Works And Days, 104, 103 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
| 103. Dreadful distress by scattering it afar. |
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2. Homer, Iliad, 2.682 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
| 2.682. /And with them were ranged thirty hollow ships.Now all those again that inhabited Pelasgian Argos, and dwelt in Alos and Alope and Trachis, and that held Phthia and Hellas, the land of fair women, and were called Myrmidons and Hellenes and Achaeans— |
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3. Aeschylus, Persians, 242, 241 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 241. τίς δὲ ποιμάνωρ ἔπεστι κἀπιδεσπόζει στρατῷ; Χορός | 241. And who is set over them as shepherd and is master of their host? Chorus |
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4. Aeschylus, Suppliant Women, 699, 604 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 604. δήμου κρατοῦσα χεὶρ ὅπῃ πληθύνεται. Δαναός | |
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5. Euripides, Andromache, 699-702, 1103 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 1103. σὺν προξένοισι μάντεσίν τε Πυθικοῖς. | |
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6. Euripides, Cyclops, 119 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 119. τίνος κλύοντες; ἢ δεδήμευται κράτος; | 119. Obedient unto whom? or is the power in the people’s hands? Silenu |
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7. Euripides, Electra, 108-135, 380-382, 385, 107 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 107. ἀλλ' — εἰσορῶ γὰρ τήνδε προσπόλον τινά | |
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8. Euripides, Fragments, 1013-1015, 1012 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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9. Euripides, Hecuba, 108-126, 1260, 127-135, 107 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 107. ἐν γὰρ ̓Αχαιῶν πλήρει ξυνόδῳ | |
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10. Euripides, Children of Heracles, 1031, 410-424, 567-573, 849-850, 1030 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 1030. Bury my body after death in its destined grave in front of the shrine of the virgin goddess Pallas. at Pallene. And I will be thy friend and guardian of thy city for ever, where I lie buried in a foreign soil, but a bitter foe to these children’s descendants |
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11. Euripides, Hippolytus, 1013-1015, 1286-1295, 986-989, 1012 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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12. Euripides, Ion, 1166-1168, 1215-1228, 13, 335, 369, 414, 551, 595-606, 621-632, 1039 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 1039. Go thou within the house of our public hosts; |
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13. Euripides, Iphigenia At Aulis, 1260 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 1260. and the numbers of bronze-clad warriors from Hellas, who can neither make their way to Ilium ’s towers nor raze the far-famed citadel of Troy , unless I offer you according to the word of Calchas the seer. The following passage from 1. 1264-75 is regarded by Dindorf as spurious. Hennig thinks 1. 1269 and ll. 1271-75 are genuine. Some mad desire possesses the army of Hella |
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14. Euripides, Iphigenia Among The Taurians, 678 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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15. Euripides, Medea, 1079, 1078 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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16. Euripides, Orestes, 907-913, 1496 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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17. Euripides, Phoenician Women, 345-356, 396, 403, 468-472, 491-493, 499-567, 344 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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18. Euripides, Suppliant Women, 239-245, 349-351, 393-394, 414-416, 442-455, 671, 713-718, 726-730, 238 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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19. Euripides, Trojan Women, 1169 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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20. Herodotus, Histories, 5.92 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 5.92. These were the words of the Lacedaemonians, but their words were ill-received by the greater part of their allies. The rest then keeping silence, Socles, a Corinthian, said, ,“In truth heaven will be beneath the earth and the earth aloft above the heaven, and men will dwell in the sea and fishes where men dwelt before, now that you, Lacedaemonians, are destroying the rule of equals and making ready to bring back tyranny into the cities, tyranny, a thing more unrighteous and bloodthirsty than anything else on this earth. ,If indeed it seems to you to be a good thing that the cities be ruled by tyrants, set up a tyrant among yourselves first and then seek to set up such for the rest. As it is, however, you, who have never made trial of tyrants and take the greatest precautions that none will arise at Sparta, deal wrongfully with your allies. If you had such experience of that thing as we have, you would be more prudent advisers concerning it than you are now.” ,The Corinthian state was ordered in such manner as I will show.There was an oligarchy, and this group of men, called the Bacchiadae, held sway in the city, marrying and giving in marriage among themselves. Now Amphion, one of these men, had a crippled daughter, whose name was Labda. Since none of the Bacchiadae would marry her, she was wedded to Eetion son of Echecrates, of the township of Petra, a Lapith by lineage and of the posterity of Caeneus. ,When no sons were born to him by this wife or any other, he set out to Delphi to enquire concerning the matter of acquiring offspring. As soon as he entered, the Pythian priestess spoke these verses to him: quote type="oracle" l met="dact" Eetion,worthy of honor, no man honors you. /l l Labda is with child, and her child will be a millstone /l lWhich will fall upon the rulers and will bring justice to Corinth. /l /quote ,This oracle which was given to Eetion was in some way made known to the Bacchiadae. The earlier oracle sent to Corinth had not been understood by them, despite the fact that its meaning was the same as the meaning of the oracle of Eetion, and it read as follows: quote type="oracle" l met="dact"An eagle in the rocks has conceived, and will bring forth a lion, /l lStrong and fierce. The knees of many will it loose. /l lThis consider well, Corinthians, /l lYou who dwell by lovely Pirene and the overhanging heights of Corinth. /l /quote ,This earlier prophecy had been unintelligible to the Bacchiadae, but as soon as they heard the one which was given to Eetion, they understood it at once, recognizing its similarity with the oracle of Eetion. Now understanding both oracles, they kept quiet but resolved to do away with the offspring of Eetion. Then, as soon as his wife had given birth, they sent ten men of their clan to the township where Eetion dwelt to kill the child. ,These men came to Petra and passing into Eetion's courtyard, asked for the child. Labda, knowing nothing of the purpose of their coming and thinking that they wished to see the baby out of affection for its father, brought it and placed it into the hands of one of them. Now they had planned on their way that the first of them who received the child should dash it to the ground. ,When, however, Labda brought and handed over the child, by divine chance it smiled at the man who took it. This he saw, and compassion prevented him from killing it. Filled with pity, he handed it to a second, and this man again to a third.In fact it passed from hand to hand to each of the ten, for none would make an end of it. ,They then gave the child back to its mother, and after going out, they stood before the door reproaching and upbraiding one another, but chiefly him who had first received it since he had not acted in accordance with their agreement. Finally they resolved to go in again and all have a hand in the killing. ,Fate, however, had decreed that Eetion's offspring should be the source of ills for Corinth, for Labda, standing close to this door, heard all this. Fearing that they would change their minds and that they would take and actually kill the child, she took it away and hid it where she thought it would be hardest to find, in a chest, for she knew that if they returned and set about searching they would seek in every place—which in fact they did. ,They came and searched, but when they did not find it, they resolved to go off and say to those who had sent them that they had carried out their orders. They then went away and said this. ,Eetion's son, however, grew up, and because of his escape from that danger, he was called Cypselus, after the chest. When he had reached manhood and was seeking a divination, an oracle of double meaning was given him at Delphi. Putting faith in this, he made an attempt on Corinth and won it. ,The oracle was as follows: quote type="oracle" l met="dact"That man is fortunate who steps into my house, /l l Cypselus, son of Eetion, the king of noble Corinth, /l lHe himself and his children, but not the sons of his sons. /l /quote Such was the oracle. Cypselus, however, when he had gained the tyranny, conducted himself in this way: many of the Corinthians he drove into exile, many he deprived of their wealth, and by far the most he had killed. ,After a reign of thirty years, he died in the height of prosperity, and was succeeded by his son Periander. Now Periander was to begin with milder than his father, but after he had held converse by messenger with Thrasybulus the tyrant of Miletus, he became much more bloodthirsty than Cypselus. ,He had sent a herald to Thrasybulus and inquired in what way he would best and most safely govern his city. Thrasybulus led the man who had come from Periander outside the town, and entered into a sown field. As he walked through the corn, continually asking why the messenger had come to him from Corinth, he kept cutting off all the tallest ears of wheat which he could see, and throwing them away, until he had destroyed the best and richest part of the crop. ,Then, after passing through the place and speaking no word of counsel, he sent the herald away. When the herald returned to Corinth, Periander desired to hear what counsel he brought, but the man said that Thrasybulus had given him none. The herald added that it was a strange man to whom he had been sent, a madman and a destroyer of his own possessions, telling Periander what he had seen Thrasybulus do. ,Periander, however, understood what had been done, and perceived that Thrasybulus had counselled him to slay those of his townsmen who were outstanding in influence or ability; with that he began to deal with his citizens in an evil manner. Whatever act of slaughter or banishment Cypselus had left undone, that Periander brought to accomplishment. In a single day he stripped all the women of Corinth naked, because of his own wife Melissa. ,Periander had sent messengers to the Oracle of the Dead on the river Acheron in Thesprotia to enquire concerning a deposit that a friend had left, but Melissa, in an apparition, said that she would tell him nothing, nor reveal where the deposit lay, for she was cold and naked. The garments, she said, with which Periander had buried with her had never been burnt, and were of no use to her. Then, as evidence for her husband that she spoke the truth, she added that Periander had put his loaves into a cold oven. ,When this message was brought back to Periander (for he had had intercourse with the dead body of Melissa and knew her token for true), immediately after the message he made a proclamation that all the Corinthian women should come out into the temple of Hera. They then came out as to a festival, wearing their most beautiful garments, and Periander set his guards there and stripped them all alike, ladies and serving-women, and heaped all the clothes in a pit, where, as he prayed to Melissa, he burnt them. ,When he had done this and sent a second message, the ghost of Melissa told him where the deposit of the friend had been laid. “This, then, Lacedaimonians, is the nature of tyranny, and such are its deeds. ,We Corinthians marvelled greatly when we saw that you were sending for Hippias, and now we marvel yet more at your words to us. We entreat you earnestly in the name of the gods of Hellas not to establish tyranny in the cities, but if you do not cease from so doing and unrighteously attempt to bring Hippias back, be assured that you are proceeding without the Corinthians' consent.” |
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21. Plato, Republic, 568a, 568b, 473d (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 473d. in our states or those whom we now call our kings and rulers take to the pursuit of philosophy seriously and adequately, and there is a conjunction of these two things, political power and philosophic intelligence, while the motley horde of the natures who at present pursue either apart from the other are compulsorily excluded, there can be no cessation of troubles, dear Glaucon, for our states, nor, I fancy, for the human race either. Nor, until this happens, will this constitution which we have been expounding in theory |
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22. Sophocles, Ajax, 712 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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23. Sophocles, Antigone, 160, 173-174, 450, 843, 940, 988, 159 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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24. Sophocles, Oedipus The King, 593, 410 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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25. Sophocles, Women of Trachis, 1085, 1087, 127, 136, 155-156, 194, 274-275, 291, 374, 423-424, 430, 1045 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 1045. which our King suffers. What a man is here, and what misfortunes lash at him! Heracles: |
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26. Thucydides, The History of The Peloponnesian War, 1.13.1, 2.65.10, 3.62.3, 8.89.3 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 1.13.1. But as the power of Hellas grew, and the acquisition of wealth became more an object, the revenues of the states increasing, tyrannies were by their means established almost everywhere,— the old form of government being hereditary monarchy with definite prerogatives,— and Hellas began to fit out fleets and apply herself more closely to the sea. 2.65.10. With his successors it was different. More on a level with one another, and each grasping at supremacy, they ended by committing even the conduct of state affairs to the whims of the multitude. 3.62.3. And yet consider the forms of our respective governments when we so acted. Our city at that juncture had neither an oligarchical constitution in which all the nobles enjoyed equal rights nor a democracy, but that which is most opposed to law and good government and nearest a tyranny—the rule of a close cabal. 8.89.3. But this was merely their political cry; most of them being driven by private ambition into the line of conduct so surely fatal to oligarchies that arise out of democracies. For all at once pretend to be not only equals but each the chief and master of his fellows; while under a democracy a disappointed candidate accepts his defeat more easily, because he has not the humiliation of being beaten by his equals. |
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27. Aeschines, Letters, 3.169-3.175 (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
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28. Aeschines, Or., 3.169-3.175 (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
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29. Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, 2.2 (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
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30. Cicero, Brutus, 24 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 24. praeclare, inquam, Brute, dicis eoque magis ista dicendi laude delector quod cetera, quae sunt quon- dam habita in civitate pulcherrima pulcherrime FOG , nemo est tam humilis qui se non aut posse adipisci aut adeptum putet; eloquentem neminem video factum esse victoria. Sed quo facilius sermo explicetur, sedentes, si videtur, agamus. Cum idem placuisset illis, tum in pratulo propter Platonis statuam con- sedimus. | |
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31. Cicero, Brutus, 24 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 24. praeclare, inquam, Brute, dicis eoque magis ista dicendi laude delector quod cetera, quae sunt quon- dam habita in civitate pulcherrima pulcherrime FOG , nemo est tam humilis qui se non aut posse adipisci aut adeptum putet; eloquentem neminem video factum esse victoria. Sed quo facilius sermo explicetur, sedentes, si videtur, agamus. Cum idem placuisset illis, tum in pratulo propter Platonis statuam con- sedimus. | |
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32. Cicero, On Duties, 3.82 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 3.82. Est ergo ulla res tanti aut commodum ullum tam expetendum, ut viri boni et splendorem et nomen amittas? Quid est, quod afferre tantum utilitas ista, quae dicitur, possit, quantum auferre, si boni viri nomen eripuerit, fidem iustitiamque detraxerit? Quid enim interest, utrum ex homine se convertat quis in beluam an hominis figura immanitatem gerat beluae? Quid? qui omnia recta et honesta neglegunt, dum modo potentiam consequantur, nonne idem faciunt, quod is, qui etiam socerum habere voluit eum, cuius ipse audacia potens esset? Utile ei videbatur plurimum posse alterius invidia; id quam iniustum in patriam et quam turpe esset, non videbat. Ipse autem socer in ore semper Graecos versus de Phoenissis habebat, quos dicam, ut potero, incondite fortasse, sed tamen, ut res possit intellegi: Nam sí violandum est Iús, regdi grátia Violándum est; aliis rébus pietatém colas. Capitalis Eteocles vel potius Euripides, qui id unum, quod omnum sceleratissimum fuerit, exceperit! | 3.82. Is there, then, any object of such value or any advantage so worth the winning that, to gain it, one should sacrifice the name of a "good man" and the lustre of his reputation? What is there that your soâcalled expediency can bring to you that will compensate for what it can take away, if it steals from you the name of a "good man" and causes you to lose your sense of honour and justice? For what difference does it make whether a man is actually transformed into a beast or whether, keeping the outward appearance of a man, he has the savage nature of a beast within? Again, when people disregard everything that is morally right and true, if only they may secure power thereby, are they not pursuing the same course as he who wished to have as a father-inâlaw the man by whose effrontery he might gain power for himself? He thought it advantageous to secure supreme power while the odium of it fell upon another; and he failed to see how unjust to his country this was, and how wrong morally. But the father-inâlaw himself used to have continually upon his lips the Greek verses from the Phoenissae, which I will reproduce as well as I can â awkwardly, it may be, but still so that the meaning can be understood: "If wrong may e'er be right, for a throne's sake Were wrong most right:â be God in all else feared!" Our tyrant deserved his death for having made an exception of the one thing that was the blackest crime of all. |
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33. Cicero, De Oratore, 110 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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34. Cicero, Letters, 1.6, 1.9 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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35. Cicero, Letters, 1.6, 1.9 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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36. Cicero, Letters, 1.6, 1.9 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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37. Cicero, Letters To His Friends, 7.23 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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38. Cicero, Epistulae Ad Quintum Fratrem, 1.6, 1.9 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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39. Cicero, Letters To Quintus, 3.1.14 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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40. Cicero, Orator, 110 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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41. Augustus, Res Gestae Divi Augusti, 20, 2 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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42. Horace, Ars Poetica, 54-55, 53 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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43. Horace, Odes, 1.6 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 1.6. I thought it therefore an absurd thing to see the truth falsified in affairs of such great consequence, and to take no notice of it; but to suffer those Greeks and Romans that were not in the wars to be ignorant of these things, and to read either flatteries or fictions, while the Parthians, and the Babylonians, and the remotest Arabians, and those of our nation beyond Euphrates, with the Adiabeni, by my means, knew accurately both whence the war begun, what miseries it brought upon us, and after what manner it ended. 1.6. And as the siege was delayed by this means, the year of rest came on, upon which the Jews rest every seventh year as they do on every seventh day. On this year, therefore, Ptolemy was freed from being besieged, and slew the brethren of John, with their mother, and fled to Zeno, who was also called Cotylas, who was the tyrant of Philadelphia. 1.6. Whereupon the king avenged this insolent attempt of the mother upon her son, and blotted Herod, whom he had by her, out of his testament, who had been before named therein as successor to Antipater. |
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44. Horace, Letters, 2.1.245-2.1.250 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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45. Horace, Epodes, 7.17-7.20 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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46. Horace, Sermones, 1.5.39-1.5.42, 1.5.93, 1.6.54-1.6.55, 1.9.22-1.9.23, 1.10.43-1.10.45, 1.10.81-1.10.84 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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47. Propertius, Elegies, 2.34, 3.9.50 (1st cent. BCE
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48. Dio Chrysostom, Orations, 17.6, 32.41-32.43, 32.94 (1st cent. CE
| 17.6. We know, for instance, that inflamed parts of the body do not yield at once to the first fomentation, but that if the treatment is continued, the swelling is softened and relief is given. So in a like manner we must be well content if we are able to assuage the inflammation in the souls of the many by the unceasing use of the word of reason. So I maintain in regard to covetousness too, that all men do know it is neither expedient nor honourable, but the cause of the greatest evils; and that in spite of all this, not one man refrains from it or is willing to have equality of possessions with his neighbour. 32.41. What, then, do you suppose those people say when they have returned to their homes at the ends of the earth? Do they not say: "We have seen a city that in most respects is admirable and a spectacle that surpasses all human spectacles, with regard both to beauty and sanctuaries and multitude of inhabitants and abundance of all that man requires," going on to describe to their fellow citizens as accurately as possible all the things that I myself named a short while ago â all about the Nile, the land, and the sea, and in particular the epiphany of the god; "and yet," they will add, "it is a city that is mad over music and horse-races and in these matters behaves in a manner entirely unworthy of itself. For the Alexandrians are moderate enough when they offer sacrifice or stroll by themselves or engage in their other pursuits; but when they enter the theatre or the stadium, just as if drugs that would madden them lay buried there, they lose all consciousness of their former state and are not ashamed to say or do anything that occurs to them. 32.42. And what is most distressing of all is that, despite their interest in the show, they do not really see, and, though they wish to hear, they do not hear, being evidently out of their senses and deranged â not only men, but even women and children. And when the dreadful exhibition is over and they are dismissed, although the more violent aspect of their disorder has been extinguished, still at street-corners and in alley-ways the malady continues throughout the entire city for several days; just as when a mighty conflagration has died down, you can see for a long time, not only the smoke, but also some portions of the buildings still aflame. 32.43. Moreover, some Persian or Bactrian is likely to say: "We ourselves know how to ride horses and are held to be just about the best in horsemanship" â for they cultivate that art for the defence of their empire and independence â "but for all that we have never behaved that way or anything like it"; whereas you, who have never handled a horse or mounted one yourselves, are unable to restrain yourselves, but are like lame men squabbling over a foot-race. That may explain why, cowards and slackers though you are, you have won so many cavalry battles in the past! 32.94. Just as in the case of comedies and revues when the poets bring upon the scene a drunken Carion or a Davus, they do not arouse much laughter, yet the sight of a Heracles in that condition does seem comical, a Heracles who staggers and, as usually portrayed, is clad in womanish saffron; in much the same way also, if a populace of such size as yours warbles all through life or, it may be, plays charioteer without the horses, it becomes a disgrace and a laughing stock. Indeed this is precisely what Euripides says befell Heracles in his madness: Then striding to a car he thought was there, He stepped within its rails and dealt a blow, As if he held the goad within his hand. |
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49. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 16.137-16.139, 16.149, 19.84-19.98, 19.336, 19.343 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 16.137. There was accordingly a great festival and most sumptuous preparations made presently, in order to its dedication; for he had appointed a contention in music, and games to be performed naked. He had also gotten ready a great number of those that fight single combats, and of beasts for the like purpose; horse races also, and the most chargeable of such sports and shows as used to be exhibited at Rome, and in other places. 16.138. He consecrated this combat to Caesar, and ordered it to be celebrated every fifth year. He also sent all sorts of ornaments for it out of his own furniture, that it might want nothing to make it decent; 16.139. nay, Julia, Caesar’s wife, sent a great part of her most valuable furniture [from Rome], insomuch that he had no want of any thing. The sum of them all was estimated at five hundred talents. 16.149. And as to the olympic games, which were in a very low condition, by reason of the failure of their revenues, he recovered their reputation, and appointed revenues for their maintece, and made that solemn meeting more venerable, as to the sacrifices and other ornaments; and by reason of this vast liberality, he was generally declared in their inscriptions to be one of the perpetual managers of those games. 19.84. 13. When Cherea had spoken thus, he zealously set about the work, and inspired courage into the rest to go on with it, and they were all eager to fall to it without further delay. So he was at the palace in the morning, with his equestrian sword girt on him; 19.85. for it was the custom that the tribunes should ask for the watchword with their swords on, and this was the day on which Cherea was, by custom, to receive the watchword; 19.86. and the multitude were already come to the palace, to be soon enough for seeing the shows, and that in great crowds, and one tumultuously crushing another, while Caius was delighted with this eagerness of the multitude; for which reason there was no order observed in the seating men, nor was any peculiar place appointed for the senators, or for the equestrian order; but they sat at random, men and women together, and free-men were mixed with the slaves. 19.87. So Caius came out in a solemn manner, and offered sacrifice to Augustus Caesar, in whose honor indeed these shows were celebrated. Now it happened, upon the fall of a certain priest, that the garment of Asprenas, a senator, was filled with blood, which made Caius laugh, although this was an evident omen to Asprenas, for he was slain at the same time with Caius. 19.88. It is also related that Caius was that day, contrary to his usual custom, so very affable and good-natured in his conversation, that every one of those that were present were astonished at it. 19.89. After the sacrifice was over, Caius betook himself to see the shows, and sat down for that purpose, as did also the principal of his friends sit near him. 19.91. When the multitude were set down, and Cherea, with the other tribunes, were set down also, and the right corner of the theater was allotted to Caesar, one Vatinius, a senator, commander of the praetorian band, asked of Cluvius, one that sat by him, and was of consular dignity also, whether he had heard any thing of the news, or not? but took care that nobody should hear what he said; 19.92. and when Cluvius replied, that he had heard no news, “Know then,” said Vatinius, “that the game of the slaughter of tyrants is to be played this day.” But Cluvius replied “O brave comrade hold thy peace, lest some other of the Achaians hear thy tale.” 19.93. And as there was abundance of autumnal fruit thrown among the spectators, and a great number of birds, that were of great value to such as possessed them, on account of their rareness, Caius was pleased with the birds fighting for the fruits, and with the violence wherewith the spectators seized upon them: 19.94. and here he perceived two prodigies that happened there; for an actor was introduced, by whom a leader of robbers was crucified, and the pantomime brought in a play called Cinyras, wherein he himself was to be slain, as well as his daughter Myrrha, and wherein a great deal of fictitious blood was shed, both about him that was crucified, and also about Cinyras. 19.95. It was also confessed that this was the same day wherein Pausanias, a friend of Philip, the son of Amyntas, who was king of Macedonia, slew him, as he was entering into the theater. 19.96. And now Caius was in doubt whether he should tarry to the end of the shows, because it was the last day, or whether he should not go first to the bath, and to dinner, and then return and sit down as before. Hereupon Minucianus, who sat over Caius, and was afraid that the opportunity should fail them, got up, because he saw Cherea was already gone out, and made haste out, to confirm him in his resolution; 19.97. but Caius took hold of his garment, in an obliging way, and said to him, “O brave man! whither art thou going?” Whereupon, out of reverence to Caesar, as it seemed, he sat down again; but his fear prevailed over him, and in a little time he got up again 19.98. and then Caius did no way oppose his going out, as thinking that he went out to perform some necessities of nature. And Asprenas, who was one of the confederates, persuaded Caius to go out to the bath, and to dinner, and then to come in again, as desirous that what had been resolved on might be brought to a conclusion immediately. 19.336. He also spent a great deal upon their dedication, and exhibited shows upon them, and brought thither musicians of all sorts, and such as made the most delightful music of the greatest variety. He also showed his magnificence upon the theater, in his great number of gladiators; 19.343. 2. Now when Agrippa had reigned three years over all Judea, he came to the city Caesarea, which was formerly called Strato’s Tower; and there he exhibited shows in honor of Caesar, upon his being informed that there was a certain festival celebrated to make vows for his safety. At which festival a great multitude was gotten together of the principal persons, and such as were of dignity through his province. |
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50. Juvenal, Satires, 2.4-2.5 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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51. Lucan, Pharsalia, 1.95 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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52. Pliny The Elder, Natural History, 35.9 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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53. Quintilian, Institutes of Oratory, 10.1.98 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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54. Seneca The Younger, Letters, 64.9-64.10 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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55. Seneca The Younger, Thyestes, 177-219, 222-223, 225-235, 237, 239-240, 242-248, 252-256, 259, 264-278, 283-286, 288-289, 295, 302-303, 313-314, 327-332, 334-335, 338, 340-403, 682-729, 176 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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56. Suetonius, Augustus, 28.3, 89.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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57. Suetonius, Caligula, 33 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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58. Suetonius, Nero, 21.3 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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59. Suetonius, Tiberius, 70.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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60. Tacitus, Annals, 6.29.4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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61. Tacitus, Dialogus De Oratoribus, 12.6 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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62. Cassius Dio, Roman History, 42.20, 51.19.7, 58.24.3-58.24.4, 59.6 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 42.20. 1. They granted him, then, permission to do whatever he wished to those who had favoured Pompey's cause, not that he had not already received this right from himself, but in order that he might seem to be acting with some show of legal authority. They appointed him arbiter of war and peace with all mankind â using the conspirators in Africa as a pretext â without the obligation even of making any communication on the subject to the people or the senate.,2. This, of course, also lay in his power before, inasmuch as he had so large an armed force; at any rate the wars he had fought he had undertaken on his own authority in nearly every case. Nevertheless, because they wished still to appear to be free and independent citizens, they voted him these rights and everything else which it was in his power to have even against their will.,3. Thus he received the privilege of being consul for five consecutive years and of being chosen dictator, not for six months, but for an entire year, and he assumed the tribunician authority practically for life; for he secured the right of sitting with the tribunes upon the same benches and of being reckoned with them for other purposes â a privilege which was permitted to no one.,4. All the elections except those of the plebs now passed into his hands, and for this reason they were delayed till after his arrival and were held toward the close of the year. In the case of the governorships in subject territory the citizens pretended to allot themselves those which fell to the consuls, but voted that Caesar should give the others to the praetors without the casting of lots; for they had gone back to consuls and praetors again contrary to their decree.,5. And they also granted another privilege, which was customary, to be sure, but in the corruption of the times might cause hatred and resentment: they decreed that Caesar should hold a triumph for the war against Juba and the Romans who fought with him, just as if had been the victor, although, as a matter of fact, he had not then so much as heard that there was to be such a war. 51.19.7. also that he should judge appealed cases, and that in all the courts his vote was to be cast as Athena's vote. The priests and priestesses also in their prayers in behalf of the people and the senate were to pray for him likewise, and at all banquets, not only public but private as well, everybody was to pour a libation to him. 58.24.3. Among the various persons who perished either at the hands of the executioners or by their own act was Pomponius Labeo. This man, who had once governed Moesia for eight years after his praetorship, was indicted, together with his wife, for taking bribes, and voluntarily perished along with her. Mamercus Aemilius Scaurus, on the other hand, who had never governed a province or accepted bribes, was convicted because of a tragedy he had composed, and fell a victim to a worse fate than that which he had described. 58.24.4. "Atreus" was the name of his drama, and in the manner of Euripides it advised one of the subjects of that monarch to endure the folly of the reigning prince. Tiberius, upon hearing of it, declared that this had been written with reference to him, claiming that he himself was "Atreus" because of his bloodthirstiness; and remarking, "I will make him Ajax," he compelled him to commit suicide. 59.6. 1. In the year that Tiberius died and Gaius succeeded to the rule, he at first showed great deference to the senators on an occasion when knights and also some of the populace were present at their meeting. He promised to share his power with them and to do whatever would please them, called himself their son and ward.,2. He was then twenty-five years of age, lacking five months and four days. After this he freed those who were in prison, among them Quintus Pomponius, who for seven whole years after his consulship had been kept in jail and maltreated. He did away with the complaints for maiestas, which he saw were the commonest cause of the prisoners' present plight,,3. and he heaped up and burned (or so he pretended) the papers pertaining to their cases that Tiberius had left, declaring: "I have done this in order that, no matter how strongly I may some day desire to harbour malice against any one for my mother's and my brothers' sake, I shall nevertheless be unable to punish him.",4. For this he was commended, as it was expected that he would be truthful above all else; for by reason of his youth it was not thought possible that he could be guilty of duplicity in thought or speech. And he increased their hopes still further by ordering that the celebration of the Saturnalia should extend over five days, as well as by accepting from each of those who received the dole of grain only an as instead of the denarius that they were wont to give the emperor for the manufacture of images.,5. It was voted that he should become consul at once by the removal of Proculus and Nigrinus, who were then holding the office, and that thereafter he should be consul every year. He did not accept these proposals, however, but instead waited until the actual incumbents had completed the six-months' term for which they had been appointed, and then became consul himself, taking Claudius, his uncle, as colleague.,6. The latter, who had previously belonged to the knights and after the death of Tiberius had been sent as an envoy to Gaius in behalf of that order, now for the first time, though he was forty- six years of age, became consul and a senator â both at the same time.,7. In all this, now, the conduct of Gaius appeared satisfactory, and in harmony with this was the speech which he delivered in the senate on entering upon his consulship. In it he denounced Tiberius for each and every one of the crimes of which he was commonly accused and made many promises regarding his own conduct, with the result that the senate, fearing that he might change his mind, issued a decree that this speech should be read every year. |
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63. Marcus Aurelius Emperor of Rome, Meditations, 11.6 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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64. Philostratus The Athenian, Lives of The Sophists, 1.25.534, 1.25.541-1.25.542, 2.1.549, 2.1.559, 2.1.562 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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65. Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Hadrian, 26.4 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
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66. Epigraphy, Didyma, 233
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67. Epigraphy, Seg, 28.46
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68. Papyri, P.Oxy., 5203
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