§22.1ἐδήλωσε δὲ καὶ Μέτελλος ἐκπεπληγμένος τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ μέγαν ἡγούμενος, ἐπεκήρυξε γὰρ, εἴ τις αὐτὸν ἀνέλοι Ῥωμαῖος, ἑκατὸν ἀργυρίου τάλαντα δώσειν καὶ πλέθρα δισμύρια γῆς· εἰ δὲ φυγάς, κάθοδον εἰς Ῥώμην, ὡς ἀπογνώσει φανερᾶς ἀμύνης ὠνούμενος τὸν ἄνδρα διὰ προδοσίας.
Metellus also showed that he was astonished at the man and considered him great, for he offered a reward that if any Roman should kill him, he would give him a hundred talents of silver and twenty thousand plethra of land; and if he were an exile, restoration to Rome, as if, in despair of open defense, he were buying the man through treachery.
§22.2ἔτι δὲ νικήσας ποτὲ μάχῃ τὸν Σερτώριον οὕτως ἐπήρθη καὶ τὴν εὐτυχίαν ἠγάπησεν ὥστε αὐτοκράτωρ ἀναγορευθῆναι, θυσίαις δʼ αὐτὸν αἱ πόλεις ἐπιφοιτῶντα καὶ βωμοῖς ἐδέχοντο.
Furthermore, having once defeated Sertorius in battle, he was so elated and so delighted with his good fortune that he allowed himself to be proclaimed Imperator, and the cities received him, when he visited them, with sacrifices and altars.
λέγεται δὲ καὶ στεφάνων ἀναδέσεις προσίεσθαι καὶ δείπνων σοβαρωτέρων ὑποδοχάς, ἐν οἷς ἐσθῆτα θριαμβικὴν ἔχων ἔπινε, καὶ Νῖκαι πεποιημέναι διʼ ὀργάνων ἐπιδρόμων χρύσεα τρόπαια καὶ στεφάνους διαφέρουσαι κατήγοντο, καὶ χοροὶ παίδων καὶ γυναικῶν ἐπινικίους ὕμνους ᾖδον εἰς αὐτόν.
And he is said also to have accepted the binding on of crowns and the hosting of rather magnificent banquets, at which he would drink wearing a triumphal robe, and figures of Victory, moved by machinery running overhead, were let down, carrying golden trophies and wreaths, and choirs of boys and women sang triumphal hymns in his honor.
§22.3ἐφʼ οἷς εἰκότως ἦν καταγέλαστος, εἰ δραπέτην Σύλλα καὶ λείψανον τῆς Κάρβωνος φυγῆς ἀποκαλῶν τὸν Σερτώριον οὕτω κεχαύνωται καὶ περιχαρὴς γέγονεν, ὑποχωρήσαντος αὐτοῦ περιγενόμενος.
For these things he was justly ridiculous, if, while calling Sertorius a runaway of Sulla and a remnant of Carbo's flight, he was so puffed up and overjoyed merely because he had got the better of him when he had retreated.
μεγαλοφροσύνης δὲ τοῦ Σερτωρίου πρῶτον μὲν τὸ τοὺς φεύγοντας ἀπὸ Ῥώμης βουλευτὰς καὶ παρʼ αὐτῷ διατρίβοντας σύγκλητον ἀναγορεῦσαι, §22.4ταμίας τε καὶ στρατηγοὺς ἐξ ἐκείνων ἀποδεικνύναι, καὶ πάντα τοῖς πατρίοις νόμοις τὰ τοιαῦτα κοσμεῖν ἔπειτα τὸ χρώμενον ὅπλοις καὶ χρήμασι καὶ πόλεσι ταῖς Ἰβήρων μηδʼ ἄχρι λόγου τῆς ἄκρας ἐξουσίας ὑφίεσθαι πρὸς αὐτούς, Ῥωμαίους δὲ καθιστάναι στρατηγοὺς καὶ ἄρχοντας αὐτῶν, ὡς Ῥωμαίοις ἀνακτώμενον τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, οὐκ ἐκείνους αὔξοντα κατὰ Ῥωμαίων.
But as for the greatness of soul of Sertorius, first indeed, he called the senators who had fled from Rome and were staying with him a "Senate," and appointed quaestors and praetors from their number, and regulated all such matters according to ancestral laws; secondly, that though he used the arms, money, and cities of the Iberians, he did not yield to them even in word any part of the supreme authority, but appointed Romans to be their generals and commanders, as one who was recovering liberty for the Romans, and not increasing the power of those others against the Romans.
§22.5καὶ γὰρ ἦν ἀνὴρ φιλόπατρις καὶ πολὺν ἔχων ἵμερον τοῦ κατελθεῖν ἀλλὰ δυσπραγῶν μὲν ἠνδραγάθει καὶ ταπεινὸν οὐδὲν ἔπραττε πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους, ἐν δὲ ταῖς νίκαις διεπέμπετο πρὸς Μέτελλον καὶ πρὸς Πομπήϊον ἕτοιμος ὢν τὰ ὅπλα καταθέσθαι καὶ βιοῦν ἰδιώτης καθόδου τυχών μᾶλλον γὰρ ἐθέλειν ἀσημότατος ἐν Ῥώμῃ πολίτης ἢ φεύγων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πάντων ὁμοῦ τῶν ἄλλων αὐτοκράτωρ ἀναγορεύεσθαι.
For indeed he was a man who loved his country and had a great longing to return; yet in adversity he played the man and did nothing submissive toward the enemy, while in his victories he would send messages to Metellus and to Pompey, being ready to lay down his arms and live as a private citizen if he should obtain restoration; for he said he would rather be the most obscure citizen in Rome than, in exile from his own country, be proclaimed supreme ruler of all other men together.
§22.6λέγεται δὲ οὐχ ἥκιστα τῆς πατρίδος ἐπιθυμεῖν διὰ τὴν μητέρα, τραφεὶς ὀρφανὸς ὑπʼ αὐτῇ καὶ τὸ σύμπαν ἀνακείμενος ἐκείνῃ, καλούντων δὲ τῶν περὶ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν φίλων αὐτὸν ἐφʼ ἡγεμονίᾳ, πυθόμενος τὴν τελευτὴν τῆς μητρὸς ὀλίγον ἐδέησεν ὑπὸ λύπης προέσθαι τὸν βίον.
And he is said to have desired his country not least because of his mother, having been brought up by her as an orphan and being entirely devoted to her; and when his friends in Iberia were calling him to command, on hearing of the death of his mother, he came within a little of ending his life through grief.
ἑπτὰ γὰρ ἡμέρας οὔτε σύνθημα δοὺς οὔτε ὀφθείς τινι τῶν φίλων ἔκειτο, καὶ μόλις οἱ συστράτηγοι καὶ ὁμότιμοι τὴν σκηνὴν περιστάντες ἠνάγκασαν αὐτὸν προελθόντα τοῖς στρατιώταις ἐντυχεῖν καὶ τῶν πραγμάτων εὖ φερομένων ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι.
For during seven days he lay without giving a watchword or being seen by any of his friends, and with difficulty his fellow-generals and those of equal rank, standing around his tent, forced him to come out, meet the soldiers, and take charge of their affairs, which were going well.
§22.7διὸ καὶ πολλοῖς ἔδοξεν ἥμερος ἀνὴρ φύσει γεγονὼς καὶ πρὸς ἡσυχίαν ἔχων ἐπιεικῶς διʼ αἰτίας παρὰ γνώμην ταῖς στρατηγικαῖς ἀρχαῖς χρῆσθαι, καὶ μὴ τυγχάνων ἀδείας, ἀλλὰ συνελαυνόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν εἰς τὰ ὅπλα φρουρὰν ἀναγκαίαν τοῦ σώματος περιβάλλεσθαι τὸν πόλεμον.
Therefore he also seemed to many to be by nature a gentle man and reasonably disposed toward peace, and to exercise military command against his will because of some charges, and because he could not find safety, but was driven to arms by his enemies, to have wrapped the war about him as a necessary protection for his person.