§179μέχρι τίνος ὁ σιδηροῦς πρὸς τοσαύτας ἀντέχω συμφοράς;
"How long shall I, made of iron, endure such great misfortunes?
οἶδ’ ὅτι μαλακίζομαι πρὸς θάνατον, ἐξ ἐπηρείας δαίμονος οὐκ ἐπιτρέποντός μοι τὴν ἀθλίαν ζωὴν συντόμως ἀπορρῆξαι διά τινας ὑπερβολὰς ἀνηκέστων κακῶν, ἃ κατ’ ἐμοῦ θησαυριζόμενος §180χαρίζεται τοῖς δολοφονηθεῖσι. “τοιαῦτα ἀναπολῶν καὶ σφαδᾴζων ἐκαραδόκει τῆς εἱμαρμένης τὸ πέρας· καὶ τοῦ μὲν αἱ συνεχεῖς ὀδύναι τὴν ψυχὴν ἀνεκύκων καὶ ἀνέστρεφον.
I know that I am growing soft toward death, because of the malice of a deity who does not allow me to snap my wretched life quickly, owing to some excesses of incurable evils which, storing them up against me, he grants as a favor to those who have been murdered." Pondering such things and writhing, he was waiting for the end of his destiny; and his continuous pains were churning and turning his soul upside down.
Γάιος δὲ τὴν φύσιν ὠμόθυμος ὢν καὶ ἀκόρεστος ἐν ταῖς τιμωρίαις οὐχ ὥσπερ ἔνιοι μεθίετο τοὺς ἅπαξ κολασθέντας, ἀλλ’ ἀτελεύτητα μηνιῶν ἀεί τινα καινὴν ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς ἐμεγαλούργει συμφοράν· τὸν δὲ Φλάκκον καὶ διαφερόντως ἤχθαιρεν, ὡς καὶ τοὺς ὁμωνύμους ἀλλοτριώσει τῆς κλήσεως ὑποβλέπεσθαι.
But Gaius, being cruel-hearted by nature and insatiable in punishments, did not, like some others, let go of those who had once been punished, but, being endlessly angry, was always magnifying some new misfortune upon them; and he hated Flaccus in an exceptional way, so that he even looked with suspicion upon those with the same name, because of his alienation from that calling.
§181καὶ πολλάκις αὐτὸν μετάνοια εἰσῄει, διότι κατέγνω φυγήν, ἀλλ’ οὐχὶ θάνατον, καὶ τὸν παράκλητον αἰδούμενος ὅμως ᾐτιᾶτο Λέπιδον, ὥστ’ ἐκεῖνος ἀπηγόρευσε φόβῳ τῆς καθ’ αὑτοῦ τιμωρίας· ἐδεδίει γάρ, ὡς εἰκός, μὴ παραίτιος ἄλλῳ γενόμενος κουφοτέρας δίκης βαρυτέραν αὐτὸς ἐνδέξηται.
And often regret entered him because he had condemned him to exile and not to death, and although he respected his intercessor, he nevertheless blamed Lepidus, so that the latter desisted out of fear of punishment against himself; for he feared, as was natural, lest by becoming partly responsible for a lighter penalty for another, he himself might receive a heavier one.
§182μηδενὸς οὖν ἔτι τι τῶν εἰς παραίτησιν λέγειν θαρροῦντος, ἀμειλίκτοις καὶ ἀφέτοις ἐχρῆτο ταῖς ὀργαῖς, αἵ, χρόνῳ δέον ἀμαυροῦσθαι, παρεθήγοντο μᾶλλον καθάπερ αἱ ἐν τοῖς σώμασιν ὑποτροπιάζουσαι νόσοι· τῶν γὰρ προτέρων εἰσὶν ἀργαλεώτεραι.
Since no one therefore dared to say anything for intercession anymore, he indulged in relentless and unrestrained angers, which, though they ought to have faded with time, were rather sharpened like diseases that relapse in bodies; for they are more troublesome than the former ones.
§183φασὶν οὖν, ὅτι νύκτωρ ποτὲ διαγρυπνῶν εἰς ἔννοιαν ἦλθε τῶν ἐν τέλει φυγάδων, ὀνόματι μὲν ὑποπτευομένων ἀτυχεῖν, βίον δ’ ἀπράγμονα καὶ ἡσυχάζοντα καὶ ἐλεύθερον ὄντως περιπεποιημένων.
They say therefore that once, being awake at night, he came into a thought of the high-ranking exiles, who were suspected of being unfortunate in name, but had acquired a life free from business, quiet, and truly free.
§184μετετίθει δὲ καὶ τὴν κλῆσιν ἀποδημίαν προσαγορεύων· "ἀποδημία γάρ τίς ἐστιν" ἔφασκεν "ἡ τῶν τοιούτων ἔλασις ἐχόντων ἄφθονα τὰ ἐπιτήδεια καὶ σὺν ἀπραγμοσύνῃ καὶ εὐσταθείᾳ ζῆν δυναμένων· οὓς ἄτοπον εἶναι τρυφᾶν ἀπολαύοντας εἰρήνης, βίον καρπουμένους φιλόσοφον. “ §185εἶτα προστάττει τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους καὶ ὧν πλεῖστος ὁ λόγος ἀναιρεθῆναι, γραφὴν δοὺς ὀνομάτων, ἧς ἡγεῖτο Φλάκκος.
And he even changed their calling, naming it a travel abroad; for "the banishment of such people," he said, "is a kind of travel abroad, since they have abundant provisions and are able to live with freedom from business and stability; it is absurd for them to live in luxury, enjoying peace, and harvesting a philosophical life." Then he orders the most illustrious and those of whom there was the most talk to be put to death, giving a list of names, of which Flaccus was at the head.
ἐπεὶ δ’ ἧκον εἰς Ἄνδρον οἷς κτείνειν διείρητο, Φλάκκος μὲν ἐτύγχανεν ἀγρόθεν εἰς ἄστυ παραγινόμενος, οἱ δ’ ἐκ τοῦ λιμένος ὑπηντίαζον, καὶ πόρρωθεν ἀντιπροεῖδον ἀλλήλους.
And when those who had been ordered to kill arrived in Andros, Flaccus happened to be coming from the countryside to the town, while they were meeting him from the harbor, and from afar they saw each other.
§186ὅθεν συναισθόμενος ἐφ’ ὃ σπεύδουσι — μαντικώτατον γὰρ ἡ ἑκάστου ψυχή, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἐν κακοπραγίαις — ἐκτραπόμενος τῆς ὁδοῦ διὰ τραχείας ἔθει φεύγων, ἐπιλελησμένος ἴσως, ὅτι νῆσος ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἤπειρός ἐστιν, ἐν ᾗ τί ὄφελος ὠκύτητος, περικλειούσης θαλάττης;
Whence, perceiving what they were hastening for—for the soul of each is most prophetic, and especially of those in misfortunes—turning aside from the road, he ran fleeing through rough ground, having forgotten perhaps that it was an island and not a continent, in which what is the benefit of swiftness when the sea is enclosing?
ἀνάγκη γὰρ δυοῖν θάτερον, ἢ προσωτέρω χωροῦντα κατὰ τοῦ πελάγους ἐνεχθῆναι ἢ συλληφθῆναι πρὸς αὐτὸ τὸ πέρας ἥκοντα.
For one of two things is necessary: either, going further, to be carried down into the deep, or to be captured having come to the very end.
§187βέλτιον ἄρ’ ἐν συγκρίσει κακῶν ἡ κατὰ γῆν τῆς ἐν πελάγει φθορά, ἐπειδήπερ ἀνθρώποις καὶ πᾶσι χερσαίοις οἰκειότατον ἡ φύσις χωρίον ἀπένειμε γῆν, οὐ μόνον ζῶσιν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποθανοῦσιν, ἵν’ ἡ αὐτὴ καὶ τὴν πρώτην ὑποδέχηται γένεσιν καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ βίου τελευταίαν ἀνάλυσιν.
In comparison of evils, therefore, destruction on land is better than that in the deep, since nature assigned land to humans and to all land animals as their most proper place, not only for those living but also for those who have died, so that the same land might both receive the first birth and the final dissolution from life.
§188οἱ δ’ ἀπνευστὶ διώκοντες καταλαμβάνουσι· καὶ οἱ μὲν εὐθὺς ὤρυττον βόθρον, οἱ δὲ πρὸς βίαν εἷλκον ἀφηνιάζοντα καὶ κεκραγότα καὶ διαπαλαίοντα· ὧν χάριν καὶ σύμπαν κατετρώθη τὸ σῶμα καθάπερ τὰ θηρία ταῖς πληγαῖς ἐπιτρέχων.
And those pursuing without breath overtake him; and some immediately dug a pit, while others dragged him by force as he was rearing back, crying out, and struggling; because of which his whole body was wounded all over, as he ran against the blows like wild beasts.
§189ἐμπλεκόμενος γὰρ καὶ τῶν κτεινόντων ἐλλαμβανόμενος, νῦν μὲν ἐπιφέρειν τὰ ξίφη κωλυομένων, ἐγκαρσίους δὲ πληγὰς καταφερόντων, αἴτιος ἐγένετο βαρυτέρων ἑαυτῷ συμφορῶν· διατμηθεὶς δὲ καὶ διακοπεὶς χεῖρας, βάσεις, κεφαλήν, στέρνα, πλευράς, ὡς ἱερείου τρόπον κρεουργηθῆναι, ἔκειτο, τῆς δίκης σφαγὰς ἰσαρίθμους τοῖς φόνοις τῶν ἐκνόμως ἀναιρεθέντων Ἰουδαίων ἑνὶ σώματι βουληθείσης ἐργάσασθαι.
For being entangled and grabbing those who were killing him, while they were prevented from bringing their swords straight down, but were bringing down slashing blows, he became the cause of heavier misfortunes to himself; and having had his hands, feet, head, chest, and ribs cut through and hacked, so as to be butchered in the manner of a sacrificial victim, he lay there, since Justice wished to perform on a single body slaughters equal in number to the murders of the unlawfully slain Jews.
§190καὶ ὁ μὲν τόπος ἅπας αἵματι κατερρεῖτο διὰ πλειόνων φλεβῶν, αἳ κατὰ μέρος διεκόπησαν, κρουνηδὸν ἐκχεομένῳ· συρομένου δ’ εἰς τὸν ὀρωρυγμένον βόθρον τοῦ νεκροῦ τὰ πλεῖστα μέρη διελύετο, τῶν νεύρων κατεσχισμένων, οἷς ἡ κοινωνία συνεδεῖτο πᾶσα τοῦ σώματος.
And the whole place was flowing with blood from many veins, which were cut in parts, pouring out in torrents; and as the corpse was dragged into the dug pit, most of its parts fell apart, because the tendons, by which the whole community of the body was bound together, were torn.
§191τοιαῦτα καὶ Φλάκκος ἔπαθε γενόμενος ἀψευδεστάτη πίστις τοῦ μὴ ἀπεστερῆσθαι τὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος ἐπικουρίας τῆς ἐκ θεοῦ.
Such things Flaccus also suffered, becoming the truest proof that the nation of the Jews is not deprived of help from God.