§8Ὁ μὲν οὖν Ζεῦξις οὕτως, ὀργιλώτερον ἴσως.
Zeuxis, then, acted thus, perhaps rather angrily.
Ἀντίοχος δὲ ὁ σωτὴρ ἐπικληθεὶς καὶ οὗτος ὅμοιόν τι παθεῖν λέγεται ἐν τῇ πρὸς Γαλάτας μάχῃ.
And Antiochus, the one surnamed Soter, is said to have experienced something similar in his battle against the Galatians.
εἰ βούλεσθε, διηγήσομαι καὶ τοῦτο, ὁποῖον ἐγένετο.
If you wish, I will relate this too, what kind of event it was.
εἰδὼς γὰρ τούτους ἀλκίμους ὄντας καὶ πλήθει παμπόλλους ὁρῶν καὶ τὴν φάλαγγα καρτερῶς συναραρυῖαν καὶ ἐπὶ μετώπου μὲν προασπίζοντας τοὺς χαλκοθώρακας αὐτῶν, ἐς βάθος δὲ ἐπὶ τεττάρων καὶ εἴκοσι τεταγμένους ὁπλίτας, ἐπὶ κέρως δ’ ἑκατέρωθεν τὴν ἵππον δισμυρίαν οὖσαν, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ μέσου τὰ ἅρματα ἐκπηδήσεσθαι μέλλοντα δρεπανηφόρα ὀγδοήκοντα καὶ συνωρίδας ἐπ' αὐτοῖς δὶς τοσαύτας, ταῦτα ὁρῶν πάνυ πονηρὰς εἶχε τὰς ἐλπίδας, ὡς ἀμάχων ὄντων ἐκείνων αὐτῷ.
For, knowing them to be brave and seeing them to be vast in number, their phalanx firmly knit together, their bronze-breastplated men shielding them in front, and their hoplites drawn up twenty-four deep, with twenty thousand cavalry on either wing, and eighty scythed chariots about to dash forth from the center along with twice as many two-horse chariots, seeing all this, he had very gloomy hopes, as they seemed to him to be invincible.
ἐκεῖνος γὰρ δι’ ὀλίγου τῆς στρατιᾶς ἐκείνης παρασκευασθείσης οὐ μεγαλωστὶ οὐδὲ κατ' ἀξίαν τοῦ πολέμου ἀφίκετο κομιδῇ ὀλίγους ἄγων, καὶ τούτων πελταστικὸν τὸ πολὺ καὶ ψιλικόν· οἱ γυμνῆτες δὲ ὑπὲρ ἥμισυ τῆς στρατιᾶς ἦσαν.
For since his army had been prepared in a short time, he had arrived, not in great state nor in a manner worthy of the war, bringing only very few men, and of these, the majority were peltasts and light-armed troops; indeed, the unarmed soldiers made up more than half of his army.
ὥστε ἐδόκει αὐτῷ ἤδη σπένδεσθαι καί τινα εὐπρεπῆ διάλυσιν εὑρίσκεσθαι τοῦ πολέμου.
So that it seemed best to him to make a treaty at once and find some honorable settlement to the war.
§9Ἀλλὰ Θεοδότας ὁ Ῥόδιος, ἀνὴρ γενναῖος καὶ τακτικῶν ἔμπειρος, οὐκ εἴα παρὼν ἀθυμεῖν.
But Theodotas of Rhodes, a brave man and experienced in tactics, being present, would not allow him to lose heart.
καὶ ἦσαν γὰρ ἑκκαίδεκα ἐλέφαντες τῷ Ἀντιόχῳ.
For Antiochus had sixteen elephants.
τούτους ἐκέλευσεν ὁ Θεοδότας τέως μὲν ἔχειν ὡς οἷόν τε κατακρύψαντα, ὡς μὴ κατάδηλοι εἶεν ὑπερφαινόμενοι τοῦ στρατοῦ, ἐπειδὰν δὲ σημήνῃ ὁ σαλπιγκτὴς καὶ δέῃ συμπλέκεσθαι καὶ εἰς χεῖρας ἰέναι καὶ ἡ ἵππος ἡ τῶν πολεμίων ἐπελαύνηται καὶ τὰ ἅρματα οἱ Γαλάται ἀνοίξαντες τὴν φάλαγγα καὶ διαστήσαντες ἐπαφῶσι, τότε ἀνὰ τέτταρας μὲν τῶν ἐλεφάντων ἀπαντᾶν ἐφ' ἑκάτερα τοῖς ἱππεῦσιν, τοὺς ὀκτὼ δὲ ἀντεπαφεῖναι τοῖς ἁρματηλάταις καὶ συνωριασταῖς.
These Theodotas ordered him to keep concealed as much as possible for the time being, so that they might not be visible standing out above the army, but when the trumpeter should give the signal and it was necessary to engage and come to close quarters, and the enemy's cavalry should charge, and the Galatians, having opened and parted their phalanx, should let loose their chariots, then to send four of the elephants to meet the cavalry on each wing, and to unleash the remaining eight against the chariots and two-horse carts.
εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο γένοιτο,. φοβηθήσονται αὐτῶν, ἔφη, οἱ ἵπποι καὶ ἐς τοὺς Γαλάτας αὖθις ἐμπεσοῦνται φεύγοντες. καὶ οὕτως ἐγένετο.
"For if this should happen," he said, "their horses will be terrified and in their flight will fall back upon the Galatians." And so it happened.
§10οὐ γὰρ πρότερον ἰδόντες ἐλέφαντα οὔτε αὐτοὶ Γαλάται οὔτε οἱ ἵπποι αὐτῶν οὕτω πρὸς τὸ παράδοξον τῆς ὄψεως ἐταράχθησαν, ὥστε πόρρω ἔτι τῶν θηρίων ὄντων ἐπεὶ μόνον τετριγότων ἤκουσαν καὶ τοὺς ὀδόντας εἶδον ἀποστίλβοντας ἐπισημότερον ὡς ἂν ἐκ μέλανος τοῦ παντὸς σώματος καὶ τὰς προνομαίας ὡς ἐς ἁρπαγὴν ὑπεραιωρουμένας, πρὶν ἢ τὸ τόξευμα ἐξικνεῖσθαι, ἐκκλίναντες σὺν οὐδενὶ κόσμῳ ἔφευγον, οἱ μὲν πεζοὶ περιπειρόμενοι ὑπ' ἀλλήλων τοῖς δορατίοις καὶ συμπατούμενοι ὑπὸ τῶν ἱππέων ὡς εἶχον ἐμπεσόντων ἐπ' αὐτούς, τὰ ἅρματα δέ, ἀναστρέψαντα καὶ ταῦτα ἔμπαλιν εἰς τοὺς οἰκείους, οὐκ ἀναιμωτὶ διεφέρετο ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ τὸ τοῦ Ὁμήρου, “δίφροι δ’ ἀνεκυμβαλίαζον.
For since neither the Galatians themselves nor their horses had ever seen an elephant before, they were so thrown into confusion by the unexpected sight, that while the beasts were still far off, as soon as they merely heard them trumpeting and saw their tusks gleaming very conspicuously as if against their otherwise black bodies, and their trunks raised high as if to seize them, even before an arrow could reach them, they turned and fled in utter disorder.
” οἱ ἵπποι δ’ ἐπείπερ ἅπαξ τῆς ἐς τὸ εὐθὺ ὁδοῦ ἀπετρέποντο οὐκ ἀνασχόμενοι τῶν ἐλεφάντων, τοὺς ἐπιβάτας ἀποβαλόντες “κείν' ὄχεα κροτάλιζον” τέμνοντες νὴ Δία καὶ διαιροῦντες τοῖς δρεπάνοις εἴ τινας τῶν φίλων καταλάβοιεν.
The infantry were impaled on each other's spears and trampled by the cavalry, who fell upon them in their headlong rush; and the chariots, having also turned back upon their own men, rushed through them not without bloodshed, but as Homer says, "chariots rattled and overturned." And the horses, since they had once turned from their straight course, unable to endure the elephants, threw off their riders and "rattled empty chariots," and by Zeus, cut and sliced with their scythes whomever of their friends they caught.
πολλοὶ δὲ ὡς ἐν ταράχῳ τοσούτῳ κατελαμβάνοντο.
And many were caught in such great confusion.
εἵποντο δὲ καὶ οἱ ἐλέφαντες συμπατοῦντες καὶ ἀναρριπτοῦντες ταῖς προνομαίαις ἐς ὕψος καὶ συναρπάζοντες καὶ τοῖς ὀδοῦσι περιπείροντες, καὶ τέλος οὗτοι κατὰ κράτος παραδιδόασι τῷ Ἀντιόχῳ τὴν νίκην.
And the elephants also followed, trampling them down, tossing them on high with their trunks, seizing them, and impaling them with their tusks; and in the end, they delivered a decisive victory to Antiochus.
§11Οἱ Γαλάται δὲ οἱ μὲν ἐτεθνήκεσαν, πολλοῦ τοῦ φόνου γενομένου, οἱ δὲ ζῶντες ἐλαμβάνοντο, πλὴν πάνυ ὀλίγοι ὁπόσοι ἔφθασαν εἰς τὰ ὄρη ἀναφυγόντες, οἱ Μακεδόνες δὲ ὅσοι σὺν Ἀντιόχῳ ἦσαν, ἐπαιώνιζον καὶ προσιόντες ἄλλος ἀλλαχόθεν ἀνέδουν τὸν βασιλέα καλλίνικον ἀναβοῶντες.
As for the Galatians, some had died, a great slaughter having taken place, and others were taken alive, except for a very few who had managed to escape to the mountains.
ὁ δὲ καὶ δακρύσας, ὥς φασιν, Αἰσχυνώμεθα, ἔφη, ὦ στρατιῶται, οἷς γε ἡ σωτηρία ἐν ἑκκαίδεκα τούτοις θηρίοις ἐγένετο·
And the Macedonians who were with Antiochus sang the paean, and coming up from all sides, they crowned the king, acclaiming him as "glorious victor." But he, even weeping, as they say, said: "Let us be ashamed, soldiers, we whose salvation was brought about by these sixteen beasts.
ὡς εἰ μὴ τὸ καινὸν τοῦ θεάματος ἐξέπληξε τοὺς πολεμίους, τί ἂν ἡμεῖς ἦμεν πρὸς αὐτούς; ἔπι τε τῷ τροπαίῳ κελεύει ἄλλο μηδέν, ἐλέφαντα δὲ μόνον ἐγκολάψαι.
For if the novelty of the sight had not terrified the enemy, what would we have been against them?" And he ordered that on the trophy nothing else should be carved, but an elephant alone.
§12Ὥρα τοίνυν με σκοπεῖν μὴ καὶ τοὐμὸν ὅμοιον ᾖ
It is time, therefore, for me to consider whether my own case is not similar.