§13.1ταῦτα μὲν οὖν καλὰ τοῦ Φιλοποίμενος· ἡ δʼ εἰς Κρήτην αὖθις ἀποδημία Γορτυνίων δεηθέντων, ὡς χρήσαιντο πολεμούμενοι στρατηγῷ, διαβολὴν ἔσχεν, ὅτι τῆς πατρίδος αὐτοῦ πολεμουμένης ὑπὸ Νάβιδος ἀπῆν φυγομαχῶν ἡ φιλοτιμούμενος ἀκαίρως πρὸς ἑτέρους, καίτοι συντόνως οὕτως ἐπολεμήθησαν Μεγαλοπολῖται κατὰ τὸν χρόνον ἐκεῖνον ὥστε τοῖς μὲν τείχεσιν ἐνοικεῖν, σπείρειν δέ τοὺς στενωπούς, περικεκομμένης τῆς χώρας καὶ τῶν πολεμίων σχεδὸν ἐν ταῖς πύλαις στρατοπεδευόντων.
These, then, were the honorable deeds of Philopoemen; but his departure again to Crete at the request of the Gortynians, who begged that they might use him as general since they were at war, brought him into disfavor, because, while his own homeland was being hard pressed in war by Nabis, he was absent, either avoiding the fight or seeking honor inappropriately among others. And yet, the Megalopolitans were so vigorously besieged at that time that they lived on the walls and sowed their narrow streets, their land having been cut off and the enemy being encamped almost at their gates.
§13.2ὁ δὲ Κρησὶ πολεμῶν τηνικαῦτα καὶ στρατηγῶν διαπόντιος ἐγκλήματα παρεῖχε καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ὡς ἀποδιδράσκων τὸν οἴκοι πόλεμον. ἦσαν δέ τινες οἱ λέγοντες, ἑτέρους τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ᾑρημένων ἄρχοντας, ἰδιώτην ὄντα τὸν Φιλοποίμενα χρῆσαι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σχολὴν ἐφʼ ἡγεμονίᾳ δεηθεῖσι τοῖς Γορτυνίοις.
But he, while fighting and serving as general across the sea for the Cretans at that time, furnished his enemies with charges against him, as though he were running away from the war at home. But there were some who said that, since others had been chosen as leaders of the Achaeans, Philopoemen, being a private citizen, had lent his own leisure for command to the Gortynians who had requested it.
§13.3ἦν γὰρ ἀλλότριος σχολῆς, καθάπερ ἄλλο τι κτῆμα τὴν στρατηγικὴν καὶ πολεμικὴν ἀρετὴν ἔχειν διὰ παντὸς ἐν χρήσει καὶ τριβῇ βουλόμενος, ὡς καὶ τῷ περὶ Πτολεμαίου ποτὲ ῥηθέντι τοῦ βασιλέως ἀπεδήλωσεν.
For he was a stranger to leisure, wishing to keep his generalship and military virtue, like any other possession, constantly in use and practice, as he also made clear by what was once said by him concerning King Ptolemy.
ἐκεῖνον γὰρ ἐγκωμιαζόντων τινῶν ὡς ἐν μὲν ἐξασκοῦντα τὸ στράτευμα καθʼ ἡμέραν, ἐν δὲ γυμνάζοντα καὶ φιλοπόνως διὰ τῶν ὅπλων τὸ σῶμα,
καὶ τίς ἂν,
ἔφη,
βασιλέα θαυμάσειεν ἐν τούτῳ τῆς ἡλικίας μὴ ἐπιδεικνύμενον, ἀλλὰ μελετῶντα; §13.4χαλεπῶς δʼ οὖν οἱ Μεγαλοπολῖται φέροντες ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ προδεδόσθαι νομίζοντες ἐπεχείρησαν ἀποξενοῦν αὐτόν· οἱ δʼ Ἀχαιοὶ διεκώλυσαν Ἀρίσταινον πέμψαντες εἰς Μεγάλην πόλιν στρατηγόν, ὃς καίπερ ὢν διάφορος τῷ Φιλοποίμενι περὶ τὴν πολιτείαν, οὐκ εἴασε τελεσθῆναι τὴν καταδίκην.
For when some were praising him because, on the one hand, he trained his army daily, and on the other, exercised his body with weapons in a hardworking manner, "And who," he said, "would admire a king of this age, not showing off his achievements, but merely practicing?" At any rate, the Megalopolitans, taking this hard and believing themselves to have been betrayed, attempted to banish him; but the Achaeans prevented them by sending Aristaenus as general to Megalopolis, who, although he was at variance with Philopoemen concerning state policy, did not allow the condemnation to be carried out.
§13.5ἐκ δὲ τούτου παρορώμενος ὑπὸ τῶν πολιτῶν ὁ Φιλοποίμην ἀπέστησε πολλὰς τῶν περιοικίδων κωμῶν, λέγειν διδάξας ὡς οὐ συνετέλουν οὐδὲ ἦσαν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐκείνων, καὶ λεγούσαις ταῦτα φανερῶς συνηγωνίσατο καὶ συγκατεστασίασε τὴν πόλιν ἐπὶ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὕστερον.
Being slighted by his fellow citizens as a result of this, Philopoemen caused many of the surrounding villages to revolt, teaching them to say that they did not pay contributions to Megalopolis nor did they belong to them from the beginning; and when they said this, he openly assisted them and joined in stirring up factional strife in the city against the Achaeans; these things, however, happened later.
§13.6ἐν δὲ τῇ Κρήτῃ συνεπολέμει τοῖς Γορτυνίοις, οὐχ ὡς Πελοποννήσιος ἀνὴρ καὶ Ἀρκὰς ἁπλοῦν τινα καὶ γενναῖον πόλεμον, ἀλλὰ τὸ Κρητικὸν ἦθος ἐνδὺς καὶ τοῖς ἐκείνων σοφίσμασι καὶ δόλοις κλωπείαις τε καὶ λοχισμοῖς χρώμενος ἐπʼ αὐτούς ταχὺ παῖδας ἀπέδειξεν ἀνόητα καὶ κενὰ πρὸς ἐμπειρίαν ἀληθινὴν πανουργοῦντας.
In Crete he fought in alliance with the Gortynians, not carrying on a simple and noble war as a Peloponnesian and Arcadian would, but adopting the Cretan character, and using their own sophistries, deceits, thefts, and ambushes against them, he soon showed them to be mere children playing tricks that were foolish and vain in the face of true military experience.