§17.118.1φασὶ γὰρ Ἀντίπατρον ἐπὶ τῆς Εὐρώπης στρατηγὸν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ καταλειφθέντα διενεχθῆναι πρὸς Ὀλυμπιάδα τὴν μητέρα τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον καταφρονεῖν αὐτῆς διὰ τὸ μὴ προσδέχεσθαι τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον τὰς κατʼ αὐτοῦ διαβολάς, ὕστερον δʼ αἰεὶ τῆς ἔχθρας αὐξομένης, τοῦ βασιλέως διὰ τὸ πρὸς τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβὲς πάντα βουλομένου τῇ μητρὶ χαρίζεσθαι, πολλὰς ἐμφάσεις διδόναι τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀλλοτριότητος·
For they say that Antipater, who had been left as general in Europe, fell out with Olympias, the king's mother. At first he disregarded her because Alexander did not accept the slanders against him, but later, as the hostility grew constantly and the king, owing to his piety toward the divine, wished to gratify his mother in all things, Antipater gave many indications of his alienation from him.
πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τῆς Παρμενίωνος καὶ Φιλώτου σφαγῆς φρίκην ἐμποιούσης τοῖς φίλοις διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου υἱοῦ τεταγμένου περὶ τὸν κύαθον δοῦναι πιεῖν θανάσιμον φάρμακον τῷ βασιλεῖ.
Furthermore, as the execution of Parmenion and Philotas struck terror into the king's friends, Antipater, through his own son who was appointed as the cup-bearer, gave a lethal drug to the king to drink.
§17.118.2μετὰ δὲ τὴν τελευτὴν πλεῖστον ἰσχύσαντος τῶν κατὰ τὴν Εὐρώπην καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Κασάνδρου τοῦ υἱοῦ διαδεξαμένου τὴν βασιλείαν πολλοὺς συγγραφεῖς μὴ τολμᾶν γράψαι περὶ τῆς φαρμακείας.
And they say that after the king's death, since Antipater became the most powerful of those in Europe, and afterward his son Cassander succeeded to the kingdom, many historians did not dare to write about the poisoning.
φανερὸν δὲ γεγονέναι Κάσανδρον διʼ αὐτῶν τῶν πράξεων ἀλλοτριώτατα διακείμενον τοῖς Ἀλεξάνδρου πράγμασι· τήν τε γὰρ Ὀλυμπιάδα φονεύσαντα ἄταφον ῥῖψαι καὶ τὰς ὑπʼ ἐκείνου κατασκαφείσας Θήβας ἀνοικίσαι μετὰ πολλῆς σπουδῆς.
But it became clear through his very deeds that Cassander was most hostilely disposed toward Alexander's memory; for he murdered Olympias and cast her out unburied, and rebuilt with great zeal the city of Thebes, which had been razed to the ground by Alexander.
§17.118.3μετὰ δὲ τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως τελευτὴν Σισύγγαμβρις ἡ Δαρείου μήτηρ, πολλὰ καταθρηνήσασα τήν τε Ἀλεξάνδρου τελευτὴν καὶ τὴν ἑαυτῆς ἐρημίαν, ἐπὶ τῆς ἐσχάτης τοῦ βίου γραμμῆς πρὸς τροφὴν ἐγκαρτερήσασα πεμπταία κατέστρεψε τὸν βίον, ἐπιλύπως μέν, οὐκ ἀκλεῶς δὲ προεμένη τὸ ζῆν.
After the death of the king, Sisygambis, the mother of Darius, having greatly lamented both the death of Alexander and her own bereavement, when she reached the final line of her life, ended her life on the fifth day by abstaining from food, surrendering her life in grief, indeed, but not without glory.
§17.118.4ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου τελευτὴν παρόντες κατὰ τὴν ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς βίβλου πρόθεσιν τὰς τῶν διαδεξαμένων πράξεις ἐν ταῖς ἑπομέναις βίβλοις πειρασόμεθα διεξιέναι.
Now that we have arrived at the death of Alexander, in accordance with the plan set forth at the beginning of the book, we shall attempt to relate the deeds of the successors in the subsequent books.