§11ἀλλʼ ἵνα μὴ δοκῶμεν ὥσπερ εἰς τόπον ἀμαυρὸν τὸν παλαιὸν χρόνον ἐκ τῶν λαμπρῶν καὶ ἐναργῶν τεκμηρίων φεύγειν καὶ ὑποχωρεῖν, φέρε τοὺς βασιλεῖς ἐάσαντες ἐπὶ τὰς γνωριμωτάτας πράξεις καὶ τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους πολέμους τὸν λόγον μεταγάγωμεν, ἐν οἷς πολλὴν τόλμαν καὶ ἀνδρείαν εἶναι
"αἰδῶ τε συνεργὸν ἀρετᾶς δοριμάχου,"
ὥς φησι Τιμόθεος, τίς οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσειεν;
But that we may not seem to escape and retreat from bright and clear proofs into the ancient times as if into a dark place, come, let us leave aside the kings and transfer our discourse to the most well-known deeds and the most illustrious wars, in which who would not admit that there is great daring and courage, and "reverence, the helper of war-striving virtue," as Timotheus says?
ἡ δʼ εὔροια τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ τὸ ῥόθιον τῆς εἰς τοσαύτην δύναμιν καὶ αὔξησιν ὁρμῆς, οὐ χερσὶν ἀνθρώπων οὐδὲ ὁρμαῖς προχωροῦσαν ἡγεμονίαν, θείᾳ δὲ πομπῇ καὶ πνεύματι Τύχης ἐπιταχυνομένην, ἐπιδείκνυται τοῖς ὀρθῶς λογιζομένοις.
But the smooth flow of affairs and the rushing tide of the impulse toward such great power and growth demonstrate to those who reason correctly a hegemony that does not advance by the hands or impulses of men, but is accelerated by a divine escort and the breath of Fortune.
τρόπαια τροπαίοις ἐπανίσταται καὶ θριάμβοι θριάμβοις ἀπαντῶσι, καὶ τὸ πρῶτον αἷμα τῶν ὅπλων ἔτι θερμὸν ἀποκλύζεται τῷ δευτέρῳ καταλαμβανόμενον.
Trophy rises upon trophy, and triumphs meet triumphs, and the first blood of weapons, still warm, is washed away, being overtaken by the second.
τὰς δὲ νίκας ἀριθμοῦσιν οὐ νεκρῶν πλήθει καὶ λαφύρων, ἀλλὰ βασιλείαις αἰχμαλώτοις καὶ δεδουλωμένοις ἔθνεσι καὶ νήσοις καὶ ἠπείροις προσοριζομέναις τῷ μεγέθει τῆς ἡγεμονίας.
And they reckon victories not by the multitude of the dead and spoils, but by captive kingdoms, enslaved nations, and islands and continents added to the greatness of their empire.
μιᾷ μάχῃ Φίλιππος ἀπέβαλε Μακεδονίαν, μιᾷ πληγῇ παρεχώρησεν Ἀντίοχος Ἀσίας, ἅπαξ Καρχηδόνιοι σφα λέντες ἀπώλεσαν Λιβύην.
By a single battle Philip lost Macedonia; by a single blow Antiochus yielded Asia; once the Carthaginians, having stumbled, lost Libya.
εἷς ἀνὴρ μιᾶς ὁρμῇ στρατιᾶς Ἀρμενίαν προσεκτήσατο, Πόντον, Εὔξεινον, Συρίαν, Ἀραβίαν, Ἀλβανούς, Ἴβηρας, τὰ μέχρι Καυκάσου καὶ Ὑρκανῶν· καὶ τρὶς αὐτὸν ὁ περιρρέων τὴν οἰκουμένην Ὠκεανὸς εἶδε νικῶντα.
One man, by the impulse of a single army, acquired Armenia, Pontus, the Euxine, Syria, Arabia, the Albanians, the Iberians, and the regions up to Caucasus and the Hyrcanians; and thrice did the Ocean that flows around the inhabited world see him victorious.
Νομάδας μὲν ἐν Λιβύῃ μέχρι τῶν μεσημβρινῶν ἀνέκοψεν ἠιόνων, Ἰβηρίαν δὲ Σερτωρίῳ συννοσήσασαν ἄχρι τῆς Ἀτλαντικῆς κατεστρέψατο θαλάττης· τοὺς δʼ Ἀλβανῶν βασιλεῖς διωκομένους περὶ τὸ Κάσπιον πέλαγος ἔστησε.
He checked the Nomads in Libya as far as the southern shores, and subdued Iberia, which was diseased along with Sertorius, as far as the Atlantic sea; and he stopped the kings of the Albanians who were pursued around the Caspian sea.
ταῦτα πάντα κατώρθωσε δημοσίᾳ τύχῃ χρώμενος, εἶθʼ ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἀνετράπη μοίρας.
All these things he achieved by using the public fortune, and then he was overthrown by his own private fate.
ὁ δὲ Ῥωμαίων μέγας δαίμων οὐκ ἐφήμερος πνεύσας οὐδὲ καιρὸν ἀκμάσας βραχὺν ὡς ὁ Μακεδόνων, οὐδὲ χερσαῖος μόνον ὡς ὁ Λακώνων οὐδʼ ἐνάλιος ὡς ὁ Ἀθηναίων, οὐδʼ ὀψὲ κινηθεὶς ὡς ὁ Περσῶν, οὐδὲ ταχὺ παυσάμενος ὡς ὁ Καρχηδονίων ἀλλʼ ἄνωθεν ἐκ πρώτων γενέσεων τῇ πόλει συνηβήσας καὶ συναυξηθεὶς καὶ συμπολιτευσάμενος, καὶ παραμείνας βέβαιος ἐν γῇ καὶ θαλάττῃ καὶ πολέμοις καὶ εἰρήνῃ καὶ πρὸς βαρβάρους καὶ πρὸς Ἕλληνας.
But the great guardian spirit of the Romans, not having blown as a fleeting wind, nor having flourished for a short season like that of the Macedonians, nor being of the land only like that of the Spartans, nor of the sea like that of the Athenians, nor having moved late like that of the Persians, nor having quickly ceased like that of the Carthaginians, but from the beginning, from the very first births, having grown to youth with the city, and increased with it, and shared its citizenship, and having remained steadfast on land and sea, in war and peace, both against barbarians and against Greeks.
οὗτος Ἀννίβαν τὸν Καρχηδόνιον, φθόνῳ καὶ ταῖς πολιτικαῖς δυσμενείαις μηδενὸς οἴκοθεν ἐπιρρέοντος, ὥσπερ χείμαρρον ἐξέχεε καὶ κατανήλωσε περὶ τὴν Ἰταλίαν.
This spirit, while nothing from home flowed to help because of envy and political enmities, poured out and consumed the Carthaginian Hannibal like a mountain torrent around Italy.
οὗτος τὸ Κίμβρων καὶ τὸ Τευτόνων στράτευμα μεγάλοις διαστήμασι τόπων καὶ χρόνων ἐχώρισε καὶ διέσπασεν, ἵνʼ ἀρκέσῃ Μάριος ἑκατέροις ἀνὰ μέρος μαχόμενος, καὶ μὴ συμπεσοῦσαι τριάκοντα μυριάδες ἀνδρῶν ἀηττήτων καὶ ἀμάχων ὅπλων ὁμοῦ κατακλύσωσι τὴν Ἰταλίαν.
This spirit separated and tore apart the army of the Cimbri and Teutones by great intervals of space and time, so that Marius might suffice by fighting each in turn, and that three hundred thousand men of undefeated and invincible arms, falling together, might not overwhelm Italy at once.
διὰ τοῦτον Ἀντίοχος μὲν ἠσχολεῖτο πολεμουμένου Φιλίππου, Φίλιππος δὲ κινδυνεύοντος Ἀντιόχου προηττημένος ἔπιπτε· Μιθριδάτην δέ, τοῦ Μαρσικοῦ πολέμου τὴν Ῥώμην ἐπιφλέγοντος, οἱ Σαρματικοὶ καὶ Βασταρνικοὶ πόλεμοι κατεῖχον· Τιγράνην δὲ Μιθριδάτου λαμπροῦ μὲν ὄντος ὑπόνοια καὶ φθόνος ἐχώριζεν, ἡττωμένῳ δʼ ἀνέμειξεν ἑαυτὸν συναπολέσθαι,
Because of this spirit, Antiochus was occupied while Philip was being fought, and Philip, having been defeated beforehand, fell while Antiochus was in danger; and while the Marsic war was setting Rome on fire, the Sarmatian and Bastarnian wars held Mithridates in check; and suspicion and envy separated Tigranes from Mithridates while the latter was illustrious, but when he was being defeated, Tigranes joined himself to him to perish together.