Humanitext Reader

Plutarch · Life of Flamininus §12.1-12.8

Restoration of Order in Greece and Dedications at Delphi

Passage 12 of 21 · Greek

Summary

Describes how Titus established freedom and order in various parts of Greece, his dedicatory inscriptions at Delphi, and a comparison with Nero's subsequent proclamation of freedom at Corinth.

§12.1ταῦτα δὴ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ὑπῄει· καὶ τὰ τῶν ἔργων ὁμολογοῦντα τοῖς κηρύγμασιν.
These thoughts, indeed, occurred to the Greeks; and their actual deeds agreed with the proclamations.
ἅμα γὰρ ἐξέπεμπεν ὁ Τίτος Λέντλον μὲν εἰς Ἀσίαν Βαργυλιήτας ἐλευθερώσοντα, Στερτίνιον δὲ εἰς Θρᾴκην τὰς αὐτόθι πόλεις καὶ νήσους ἀπαλλάξοντα τῶν Φιλίππου φρουρῶν.
For at the same time Titus sent out Lentulus to Asia to free the Bargylians, and Stertinius to Thrace to deliver the cities and islands there from Philip's garrisons.
Πόπλιος δὲ Οὐίλλιος ἔπλει διαλεξόμενος Ἀντιόχῳ περὶ τῆς τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτὸν Ἑλλήνων ἐλευθερίας.
And Publius Villius sailed to negotiate with Antiochus concerning the freedom of the Greeks under his rule.
§12.2αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Τίτος εἰς Χαλκίδα παρελθών, εἶτα πλεύσας ἐκεῖθεν ἐπὶ Μαγνησίαν, ἐξῆγε τὰς φρουρὰς καὶ τὰς πολιτείας ἀπεδίδου τοῖς δήμοις.
Titus himself, having gone to Chalcis and then sailed from there to Magnesia, withdrew the garrisons and restored the constitutions to the democracies.
ἀγωνοθέτης δὲ Νεμείων ἀποδειχθεὶς ἐν Ἄργει τήν τε πανήγυριν ἄριστα διέθηκε, καὶ πάλιν ἐκεῖ τοῖς Ἕλλησι τήν ἐλευθερίαν ὑπὸ κήρυκος ἀνεῖπεν.
And being appointed director of the Nemean games in Argos, he arranged the festival excellently, and there again proclaimed freedom to the Greeks through a herald.
§12.3ἐπιφοιτῶν τε ταῖς πόλεσιν εὐνομίαν ἅμα καὶ δίκην πολλὴν ὁμόνοιάν τε καὶ φιλοφροσύνην πρὸς ἀλλήλους παρεῖχε, καταπαύων μὲν τὰς στάσεις, κατάγων δὲ τὰς φυγάς, ἀγαλλόμενος δὲ τῷ πείθειν καὶ διαλλάσσειν τοὺς Ἕλληνας οὐχ ἧττον ἢ τῷ κεκρατηκέναι τῶν Μακεδόνων, ὥστε μικρότατον ἤδη τήν ἐλευθερίαν δοκεῖν ὧν εὐεργετοῦντο.
And visiting the cities, he established good order along with abundant justice, harmony, and mutual friendliness, putting an end to factions and restoring exiles, rejoicing in persuading and reconciling the Greeks no less than in having conquered the Macedonians, so that freedom already seemed the smallest of the benefits they were receiving from him.
§12.4Ξενοκράτην μὲν οὖν τὸν φιλόσοφον, ὅτε Λυκοῦργος αὐτὸν ὁ ῥήτωρ ὑπὸ τῶν τελωνῶν ἀγόμενον πρὸς τὸ μετοίκιον ἀφείλετο καὶ τοῖς ἄγουσιν ἐπέθηκε δίκην τῆς ἀσελγείας, λέγεται τοῖς παισὶν ἀπαντήσαντα τοῦ Λυκούργου, καλήν γε ὑμῶν, ὦ παῖδες, φάναι, τῷ πατρὶ χάριν ἀποδίδωμι· πάντες γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐπαινοῦσιν ἐφʼ οἷς ἔπραξε, Τίτῳ δὲ καὶ Ῥωμαίοις ὧν τοὺς Ἕλληνας εὐεργέτησαν οὐκ εἰς ἐπαίνους μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πίστιν ἐν πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις καὶ δύναμιν ἡ χάρις ἀπήντα δικαίως.
Now, as for Xenocrates the philosopher, when Lycurgus the orator rescued him as he was being led to the tax-office by the tax-collectors and imposed a penalty on those who led him for their insolence, it is said that meeting the children of Lycurgus, he said, "A noble return of gratitude indeed, my children, do I make to your father; for all men praise him for what he did." But for Titus and the Romans, in return for their benefits to the Greeks, gratitude met them justly, resulting not only in praise, but also in trust and power among all men.
§12.5οὐ γὰρ προσδεχόμενοι μόνον τοὺς ἡγεμόνας αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μεταπεμπόμενοι καὶ καλοῦντες ἐνεχείριζον αὑτούς, οὐδὲ δῆμοι καὶ πόλεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ βασιλεῖς ὑφʼ ἑτέρων ἀδικούμενοι βασιλέων κατέφευγον εἰς τὰς ἐκείνων χεῖρας, ὥστε ἐν βραχεῖ χρόνῳ, τάχα που καὶ θεοῦ συνεφαπτομένου, πάντʼ αὐτοῖς ὑπήκοα γενέσθαι, καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ μέγιστον ἐφρόνησεν ἐπὶ τῇ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐλευθερώσει.
For they did not only receive their commanders, but even sent for them and invited them, committing themselves to them; and not only democracies and cities, but also kings wronged by other kings fled to their hands, so that in a short time, perhaps with a god also helping, everything became subject to them, and he himself took the greatest pride in the liberation of Greece.
§12.6ἀνατιθεὶς γὰρ εἰς Δελφοὺς ἀσπίδας ἀργυρᾶς καὶ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θυρεόν ἐπέγραψε· " Ζηνὸς ἰὼ κραιπναῖσι γεγαθότες ἱπποσύναισι κοῦροι, ἰὼ Σπάρτας Τυνδαρίδαι βασιλεῖς, Αἰνεάδας Τίτος ὔμμιν ὑπέρτατον ὤπασε δῶρον. Ἑλλἠνωντεύξας παισὶν ἐλευθερίαν.
For dedicating silver shields and his own buckler at Delphi, he inscribed: "O sons of Zeus, who rejoice in swift horsemanship, O Tyndaridae, kings of Sparta, Titus, descendant of Aeneas, bestows on you a supreme gift, having achieved freedom for the children of the Greeks.
" §12.7ἀνέθηκε δὲ καὶ χρυσοῦν τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι στέφανον ἐπιγράψας. " τόνδε τοι ἀμβροσίοισιν ἐπὶ πλοκάμοισιν ἔοικε κεῖσθαι, Λατοΐδα, χρυσοφαῆ στέφανον, ὃν πόρεν Αἰνεαδᾶν ταγὸς μέγας.
"And he also dedicated a golden crown to Apollo, with the inscription: "It is fitting, son of Leto, that this golden-shining crown should lie upon your immortal locks, which the great leader of the descendants of Aeneas offered.
ἀλλʼ, ἑκάεργε, ἀλκᾶς τῷ θείῳ κῦδος ὄπαζε Τίτῳ.
But, Far-shooter, bestow glory on godly Titus for his valor.
" §12.8τῇ δʼ οὖν Κορινθίων πόλει πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας τὸ αὐτὸ δὶς ἤδη συμβέβηκε· καὶ γὰρ Τίτος ἐν Κορίνθῳ τότε καὶ Νέρων αὖθις καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐν Κορίνθῳ παραπλησίως Ἰσθμίων ἀγομένων τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐλευθέρους καὶ αὐτονόμους ἀφῆκαν, ὁ μὲν διὰ κήρυκος, ὡς εἴρηται, Νέρων δὲ αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἀπὸ βήματος ἐν τῷ πλήθει δημηγορήσας.
"At any rate, the very same thing has already happened twice to the city of the Corinthians in relation to the Greeks; for both Titus in Corinth then, and Nero again in our own time in Corinth, in a similar manner while the Isthmian games were being celebrated, let the Greeks go free and autonomous—the former through a herald, as has been said, and Nero himself having harangued the multitude from the rostra in the marketplace.
ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὕστερον.
But these things happened later.

Notes

  1. p.aris.1624.376Ξενοκράτην μὲν οὖν τὸν φιλόσοφον ... λέγεται τοῖς παισὶν ἀπαντήσαντα τοῦ Λυκούργου, ... φάναι — This sentence uses an accusative and infinitive construction (Ξενοκράτην ... φάναι) dependent on the main verb λέγεται. The structure is complicated by the long temporal clause starting with ὅτε (ὅτε Λυκοῦργος ... ἀφείλετο καὶ ... ἐπέθηκε ...) and the subsequent participle phrase (ἀπαντήσαντα) agreeing with Ξενοκράτην. The core structure is: 'It is said that Xenocrates the philosopher... having met... said...'
  2. 12.4ὧν τοὺς Ἕλληνας εὐεργέτησαν — The relative pronoun ὧν stands for omitted antecedents (such as ἐφʼ οἷς or τούτων ἅ), exhibiting the grammatical phenomenon of attraction to the genitive case. Contextually, it expresses the cause or reason: 'for/in return for those benefits which they bestowed upon the Greeks.'
  3. 12.4ἡ χάρις ἀπήντα — The verb ἀπαντάω ('to meet' or 'to encounter') is used here with the subject ἡ χάρις ('gratitude' or 'favor' in return for benefits), meaning that the return of gratitude justly 'met' or 'accrued to' Titus and the Romans. The dative phrases Τίτῳ δὲ καὶ Ῥωμαίοις are governed by this verb.
  4. 358ὔμμιν — A Doric (or poetic Aeolic) dialect form of the second-person plural dative, equivalent to the Attic ὑμῖν, used in the verse inscription. Similarly, dialectal forms like Αἰνεάδας (nominative singular for Αἰνειάδης) in 12.6 and Αἰνεαδᾶν (genitive plural for Αἰνεαδῶν) in 12.7 appear in these dedicatory epigrams.

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Life of Flamininus §12.1-12.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg028.humanitext-grc2:12.1-12.8

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