§1.1Περιπόλτας ὁ μάντις ἐκ Θετταλίας εἰς Βοιωτίαν Ὀφέλταν τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς ὑπʼ αὐτῷ λαοὺς καταγαγὼν γένος εὐδοκιμῆσαν ἐπὶ πολλοὺς χρόνους κατέλιπεν, οὗ τὸ πλεῖστον ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ κατῴκησεν, ἣν πρώτην πόλιν ἔσχον ἐξελάσαντες τοὺς βαρβάρους.
Peripoltas the seer, having brought Opheltas the king and the people under him from Thessaly into Boeotia, left behind a family that enjoyed high repute for many generations, the greater part of which settled in Chaeronea, which was the first city they acquired after driving out the barbarians.
οἱ μὲν οὖν πλεῖστοι τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους φύσει μάχιμοι καὶ ἀνδρώδεις γενόμενοι καταναλώθησαν ἐν ταῖς Μηδικαῖς ἐπιδρομαῖς καὶ τοῖς Γαλατικοῖς ἀγῶσιν ἀφειδήσαντες ἑαυτῶν·
Now, most of those descended from this family, being by nature warlike and courageous, were consumed in the Persian invasions and the Galatian struggles, having spared not themselves.
§1.2λείπεται δὲ παῖς ὀρφανὸς γονέων, ὄνομα Δάμων, παρωνύμιον δὲ Περιπόλτας, πολὺ δή τι καὶ σώματος κάλλει καὶ ψυχῆς φρονήματι τοὺς καθʼ αὑτὸν ὑπεραίρων νέους, ἄλλως δʼ ἀπαίδευτος καὶ σκληρὸς τὸ ἦθος.
But there was left an orphan boy, Damon by name, with the nickname Peripoltas, who far surpassed the youths of his own age both in beauty of body and in high spirit of soul, but was otherwise uneducated and harsh in character.
τούτου Ῥωμαῖος ἡγεμὼν σπείρας τινὸς ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ διαχειμαζούσης ἐρασθεὶς ἄρτι τὴν παιδικὴν ἡλικίαν παρηλλαχότος, ὡς οὐκ ἔπειθε πειρῶν καὶ διδούς, δῆλος ἦν οὐκ ἀφεξόμενος βίας, ἅτε δὴ καὶ τῆς πατρίδος ἡμῶν τότε λυπρὰ πραττούσης καὶ διὰ μικρότητα καὶ πενίαν παρορωμένης.
A Roman commander of a cohort wintering in Chaeronea fell in love with him, just as he had passed the age of boyhood, and when he could not win him over by wooing and offering gifts, it was clear that he would not refrain from violence, especially since our native city was then faring miserably and was disregarded because of its smallness and poverty.
§1.3τοῦτο δὴ δεδιὼς ὁ Δάμων, καὶ τὴν πεῖραν αὐτὴν διʼ ὀργῆς πεποιημένος, ἐπεβούλευε τῷ ἀνδρὶ καὶ συνίστη τῶν ἡλικιωτῶν τινας ἐπʼ αὐτόν, οὐ πολλοὺς ἕνεκα τοῦ λαθεῖν, ἀλλʼ οἱ σύμπαντες ἑκκαίδεκα γενόμενοι χρίονται μὲν αἰθάλῳ τὰ πρόσωπα νυκτός, ἐμπιόντες δὲ ἄκρατον ἅμʼ ἡμέρᾳ προσπίπτουσι τῷ Ῥωμαίῳ κατʼ ἀγορὰν θύοντι, καὶ καταβαλόντες αὐτόν τε καὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν οὐκ ὀλίγους ἐκ τῆς πόλεως μετέστησαν.
Damon, fearing this and being enraged by the very attempt, plotted against the man and banded together some of his peers against him, not many for the sake of secrecy; but having become sixteen in all, they smeared their faces with soot by night, and at daybreak, having drunk unmixed wine, fell upon the Roman as he was sacrificing in the market-place, and having slain him and not a few of those about him, withdrew from the city.
§1.4γενομένης δὲ ταραχῆς ἡ τῶν Χαιρωνέων βουλὴ συνελθοῦσα θάνατον αὐτῶν κατέγνω· καὶ τοῦτο ἦν ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ἀπολόγημα πρὸς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους.
When a tumult arose, the council of the Chaeroneans met and condemned them to death; and this served as a defense for the city to the Romans.
ἑσπέρας δὲ τῶν ἀρχόντων, ὥσπερ ἔθος ἐστί, κοινῇ δειπνούντων οἱ περὶ τὸν Δάμωνα παρεισπεσόντες εἰς τὸ ἀρχεῖον ἀπέσφαξαν αὐτοὺς καὶ πάλιν ᾤχοντο φεύγοντες ἐκ τῆς πόλεως.
But in the evening, while the magistrates were dining together as is the custom, Damon and his followers, having burst into the town-hall, slaughtered them and again fled from the city.
§1.5ἔτυχε δὲ περὶ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας Λεύκιος Λούκουλλος ἐπί τινα πρᾶξιν μετὰ δυνάμεως παρερχόμενος.
It happened about those days that Lucius Lucullus was passing by with a force on some business.
ἐπιστήσας δὲ τὴν πορείαν καὶ τῶν γεγονότων προσφάτων ὄντων ἐξέτασιν ποιησάμενος εὗρε τὴν πόλιν οὐδενὸς αἰτίαν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον συνηδικημένην· καὶ τοὺς στρατιώτας ἀναλαβὼν ἀπήγαγε μεθʼ ἑαυτοῦ.
Halting his march and making an inquiry, since the events were fresh, he found that the city was not at all to blame, but rather had been a fellow-victim of injustice; and taking his soldiers with him, he departed.
§1.6τὸν δὲ Δάμωνα λῃστείαις καὶ καταδρομαῖς πορθοῦντα τὴν χώραν καὶ τῇ πόλει προσκείμενον ὑπηγάγοντο πρεσβείαις καὶ ψηφίσμασι φιλανθρώποις οἱ πολῖται, κατελθόντα δὲ γυμνασίαρχον κατέστησαν· εἶτʼ ἀλειφόμενον ἐν τῷ πυριατηρίῳ διέφθειραν.
But as Damon was ravaging the countryside with robberies and raids and pressing hard upon the city, the citizens induced him to return by means of embassies and conciliatory decrees, and when he came back, they appointed him gymnasiarch; then they dispatched him in the vapor-bath while he was anointing himself.
ἐπὶ πολὺν δὲ χρόνον εἰδώλων τινῶν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ προφαινομένων καὶ στεναγμῶν ἐξακουομένων, ὡς οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν λέγουσι, τὰς θύρας ἀνῳκοδόμησαν τοῦ πυριατηρίου· καὶ μέχρι νῦν οἱ τῷ τόπῳ γειτνιῶντες οἴονταί τινας ὄψεις καὶ φωνὰς ταραχώδεις φέρεσθαι.
Since for a long time certain phantoms appeared in the place and groans were heard, as our fathers tell us, they walled up the doors of the vapor-bath; and even to this day those who live near the place think that some turbulent sights and voices are carried there.
§1.7τοὺς δʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ (διασώζονται γὰρ ἔνιοι, μάλιστα τῆς Φωκίδος περὶ Στεῖριν, αἰολίζοντες) ἀσβολωμένους καλοῦσι διὰ τὸ τὸν Δάμωνα πρὸς τὸν φόνον ἀσβόλῳ χρισάμενον ἐξελθεῖν.
And those descended from his family (for some still survive, mostly in Phocis around Steiris, speaking the Aeolic dialect) are called "the Sooty Ones" because Damon went out to the murder having smeared himself with soot.