Humanitext Reader

Plutarch · Comparison of Dion and Brutus §5.1-5.4

Posthumous Reputations and the Statue of Brutus

Passage 5 of 5 · Greek

Summary

In contrast to Dion's death, Brutus's enemies continued to respect him, and an anecdote is told of how Caesar (Octavian) preserved his statue in Mediolanum, praising the local Gauls for their loyalty.

§5.1καὶ Δίωνος μὲν τιμωρὸς οὐδεὶς ἐφάνη πεσόντος· ἀλλὰ Βροῦτον καὶ τῶν πολεμίων Ἀντώνιος μὲν ἔθαψεν ἐνδόξως, Καῖσαρ δὲ καὶ τὰς τιμὰς ἐτήρησεν. §5.2ἕστηκε δὲ χαλκοῦς ἀνδριὰς ἐν Μεδιολάνῳ τῆς ἐντὸς Ἄλπεων Γαλατίας, τοῦτον ὕστερον ἰδὼν ὁ Καῖσαρ εἰκονικὸν ὄντα καὶ χαριέντως εἰργασμένον παρῆλθεν εἶτʼ ἐπιστὰς μετὰ μικρὸν ἀκροωμένων πολλῶν τοὺς ἄρχοντας ἐκάλει, φάσκων ἔκσπονδον αὐτῶν τὴν πόλιν εἰληφέναι πολέμιον ἔχουσαν παρʼ αὑτῇ. §5.3τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἠρνοῦντο, καὶ τίνα λέγοι διαποροῦντες εἰς ἀλλήλους ἀπέβλεψαν.
And when Dion fell, no avenger appeared for him; but as for Brutus, even among his enemies, Antony buried him honorably, and Caesar preserved his honors. And there stands a bronze statue of him in Mediolanum of Cisalpine Gaul. Caesar, seeing this later and noting that it was a lifelike portrait and beautifully crafted, passed by; then, stopping after a little while in the hearing of many, he summoned the magistrates, claiming that he had caught their city violating the treaty by harboring an enemy within itself. At first, then, as was natural, they denied it, and looking at one another, they were at a loss as to whom he meant.
ὡς δʼ ἐπιστρέψας ὁ Καῖσαρ πρὸς τὸν ἀνδριάντα καὶ συναγαγὼν τὸ πρόσωπον, ἀλλʼ οὐχ οὗτος, ἔφη, πολέμιος ὢν ἡμέτερος ἐνταῦθα ἕστηκεν; ἔτι μᾶλλον καταπλαγέντες ἐσιώπησαν. §5.4ὁ δὲ μειδιάσας ἐπῄνεσέ τε τοὺς Γαλάτας ὡς τοῖς φίλοις καὶ παρὰ τὰς τύχας βεβαίους ὄντας, καὶ τὸν ἀνδριάντα κατὰ χώραν μένειν ἐκέλευσε.
But when Caesar, turning back toward the statue and knitting his brows, said, "But does not this man, who is our enemy, stand here?" they were struck with even greater consternation and remained silent. He, however, with a smile, praised the Gauls for being steadfast to their friends even in times of adversity, and ordered the statue to remain in its place.

Notes

  1. §5.1Δίωνος — An objective genitive depending on the noun τιμωρός (avenger). The accompanying genitive participle πεσόντος (having fallen) functions circumstantially to indicate time: "when Dion fell."
  2. §5.2ἔκσπονδον — Functions as a predicate adjective with the accusative noun τὴν πόλιν, meaning "that he had caught their city in a state of violating the treaty (εἰληφέναι)." The participle ἔχουσαν explains the reason for this state.
  3. §5.3ὡς δʼ — Introduces a temporal clause with the conjunction ὡς (when). The main verb within this clause is ἔφη (said), which introduces the direct speech, while the participles ἐπιστρέψας and συναγαγὼν describe Caesar's actions. The entire temporal clause modifies the main clause's verb ἐσιώπησαν (they remained silent).
  4. §5.4παρὰ τὰς τύχας — The preposition παρά combined with the accusative plural (here meaning turns of fortune, specifically adversity) means "even in the face of bad fortune" or "despite adversity."

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Comparison of Dion and Brutus §5.1-5.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg062.humanitext-grc2:5.1-5.4

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.