§9.1τὸ μὲν οὖν εὐτυχεῖν καὶ τοὺς φύσει μικροὺς συνεπικουφίζει τοῖς φρονήμασιν, ὥστε φαίνεσθαί τι μέγεθος περὶ αὑτοὺς καὶ ὄγκον ἐκ πραγμάτων ὑπερεχόντων ἀποβλεπομένους· ὁ δὲ ἀληθῶς μεγαλόφρων καὶ βέβαιος ἐν τοῖς σφάλμασι μᾶλλον καὶ ταῖς δυσημερίαις ἀναφέρων γίνεται κατάδηλος, ὥσπερ Εὐμενής.
Good fortune, then, lifts up the minds even of those who are by nature petty, so that they appear to have a certain greatness and dignity about them as they are looked up to from their superior circumstances; but the man who is truly high-minded and steadfast is made manifest rather in his reverses and adversities as he recovers himself, just as Eumenes was.
§9.2πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἐν Ὀρκυνίοις τῆς Καππαδοκίας ἡττηθεὶς ὑπὸ Ἀντιγόνου διὰ προδοσίας καὶ διωκόμενος οὺ παρῆκε τὸν προδότην ἐκ τῆς φυγῆς διαπεσεῖν πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους, ἀλλὰ συλλαβὼν ἐκρέμασε.
For first, when he was defeated by Antigonus at Orcynia in Cappadocia through treachery, and was pursued, he did not allow the traitor to escape from his flight to the enemy, but captured and hanged him.
φεύγων δὲ τὴν ἐναντίαν ὁδὸν τοῖς διώκουσι μετέβαλε λαθὼν, καὶ παραλλάξας, ὡς ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον οὗ τὴν μάχην συνέβη γενέσθαι, κατεστρατοπέδευσε, καὶ συναγαγὼν τοὺς νεκροὺς καὶ τῶν ἐν κύκλῳ κωμῶν τὰ θυρώματα κατασχίσας ἔκαυσεν ἰδίᾳ μὲν ἡγεμόνας, ἰδίᾳ δὲ τοὺς πολλούς, καὶ πολυάνδρια χώσας ἀπῆλθεν, ὥστε καὶ τὸν Ἀντίγονον ὕστερον ἐπελθόντα θαυμάζειν τὸ θάρσος αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν εὐστάθειαν.
Then, fleeing by a route opposite to that of his pursuers, he secretly changed his course and passed them by; and when he arrived at the place where the battle had happened, he encamped there, gathered the dead, and, splitting up the doors of the surrounding villages, burned them—the officers on one pyre, the common soldiers on another—and after raising a mound over them, departed; so that even Antigonus, when he later came upon the place, marveled at his courage and composure.
§9.3ἔπειτα ταῖς ἀποσκευαῖς τοῦ Ἀντιγόνου περιπεσών, καὶ λαβεῖν ῥᾳδίως δυνάμενος πολλὰ μὲν ἐλεύθερα σώματα, πολλὴν δὲ θεραπείαν καὶ πλοῦτον ἐκ πολέμων τοσούτων καὶ λεηλασιῶν ἠθροισμένον, ἔδεισε μὴ καταπλησθέντες ὠφελείας καὶ λαφύρων οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ βαρεῖς γένωνται πρὸς τὴν φυγὴν, καὶ μαλακώτεροι τὰς πλάνας ὑπομένειν καὶ τὸν χρόνον, ἐν ὦ μάλιστα τοῦ πολέμου τὰς ἐλπίδας εἶχεν, ὡς ἀποστρέψων τὸν Ἀντίγονον.
Next, when he fell in with the baggage of Antigonus, and could easily have taken many free persons, a large retinue, and wealth gathered from so many wars and plunderings, he feared lest those with him, if laden with gain and booty, should become too heavy for flight, and too soft to endure their wanderings and the time in which he especially placed his hopes for the war, expecting to wear Antigonus out.
§9.4ἐπεὶ δὲ ἄντικρυς χαλεπὸν ἦν ἀποτρέπειν Μακεδόνας χρημάτων ἐν ἐφικτῷ παρόντων, ἐκέλευσε θεραπεύσαντας αὑτοὺς καὶ τοῖς ἵπποις χιλὸν ἐμβαλόντας οὕτω βαδίζειν ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους, αὐτὸς δὲ πέμπει κρύφα πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀποσκευῆς τῶν πολεμίων Μένανδρον, ὡς κηδόμενος αὐτοῦ φίλου γεγονότος καὶ συνήθους, φυλάξασθαι παραινῶν καὶ ἀναχωρῆσαι τὴν ταχίστην ἐκ τῶν ἐπιδρόμων καὶ ταπεινῶν πρὸς τὴν ἐγγὺς ὑπώρειαν ἄφιππον οὖσαν καὶ κυκλώσεις οὐκ ἔχουσαν.
But since it was absolutely difficult to turn the Macedonians away from riches within their reach, he ordered them to refresh themselves and feed their horses, and then to march against the enemy; while he himself sent secretly to Menander, who was in charge of the enemy's baggage, pretending to care for him as an old friend and acquaintance, and advising him to be on his guard and withdraw as quickly as possible from the low and exposed ground to the nearby foothills, which were inaccessible to cavalry and could not be surrounded.
§9.5τοῦ δὲ Μενάνδρου ταχὺ συμφρονήσαντος τὸν κίνδυνον καὶ ἀνασκευασαμένου, κατασκόπους ἔπεμπεν ὁ Εὐμενὴς φανερῶς, καὶ παρήγγειλε τοῖς στρατιώταις ὁπλίζεσθαι καὶ τοὺς ἵππους ἐγχαλινοῦν ὡς προσάξων τοῖς πολεμίοις.
And when Menander had quickly perceived the danger and packed up his baggage, Eumenes openly sent scouts, and ordered his soldiers to arm themselves and bridle their horses as if he were going to lead them against the enemy.
τῶν δὲ κατασκόπων ἀπαγγειλάντων ὅτι παντάπασιν ὁ Μένανδρος ἄληπτος εἴη καταπεφευγὼς εἰς τόπους χαλεπούς, ἄχθεσθαι προσποιούμενος ὁ Εὐμενὴς ἀπῆγε τὴν στρατιάν.
But when the scouts reported that Menander had escaped to difficult ground and was altogether out of reach, Eumenes, pretending to be vexed, led his army away.
§9.6λέγεται δέ, τοῦ Μενάνδρου ταῦτα μαρτυρήσαντος πρὸς τὸν Ἀντίγονον, καὶ τῶν Μακεδόνων ἐπαινούντων τὸν Εὐμενῆ καὶ φιλανθρωπότερον διατεθέντων, ὅτι καὶ παῖδας αὐτῶν ἀνδραποδίσασθαι καὶ γυναῖκας αἰσχῦναι παρόν ἐφείσατο καὶ παρῆκεν,
ἄλλʼ ἐκεῖνός γε,
φάναι τὸν Ἀντίγονον,
οὐχ ὑμῶν, ὦ μακάριοι, κηδόμενος παρῆκεν, ἀλλʼ αὑτῷ φεύγοντι δεδιὼς περιθεῖναι πέδας τοσαύτας.
And when Menander had testified to this before Antigonus, and the Macedonians were praising Eumenes and becoming more kindly disposed towards him, because when it had been in his power to enslave their children and outrage their wives, he had spared them and let them go, it is said that Antigonus said: 'Nay, my fine fellows, he did not let them go out of any care for you, but because he was afraid that in his own flight he would put such heavy fetters on himself.'