§6.4.2#2νυνὶ δὲ Γερμανοῖς προσπολεμοῦσιν ἀπὸ τούτων ὁρμώμενοι τῶν τόπων ὡς οἰκειοτάτων, καί τισιν ἤδη θριάμβοις κεκοσμήκασιν ἀπʼ αὐτῶν τὴν πατρίδα.
And now, setting out from these places as most appropriate bases, they make war against the Germans, and they have already adorned their fatherland with some triumphs derived from them.
τῆς δὲ Λιβύης ὅση μὴ Καρχηδονίων βασιλεῦσιν ἐπετέτραπτο ὑπηκόοις οὖσιν, ἀφιστάμενοι δὲ κατελύοντο· νυνὶ δʼ εἰς Ἰούβαν περιέστηκεν ἥ τε Μαυρουσία καὶ πολλὰ μέρη τῆς ἄλλης Λιβύης διὰ τὴν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους εὔνοιάν τε καὶ φιλίαν.
As for Libya, as much of it as did not belong to the Carthaginians was entrusted to kings who were subject to them, but as they revolted they were destroyed; now, however, both Maurusia and many parts of the rest of Libya have devolved upon Juba on account of his goodwill and friendship toward the Romans.
τὰ δʼ ὅμοια καὶ περὶ τὴν Ἀσίαν συνέβη, κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν διὰ τῶν βασιλέων διῳκεῖτο ὑπηκόων ὄντων, ὕστερον δʼ ἐκλιπόντων ἐκείνων, καθάπερ τῶν Ἀτταλικῶν βασιλέων καὶ Σύρων καὶ Παφλαγόνων καὶ Καππαδόκων καὶ Αἰγυπτίων, ἀφισταμένων καὶ ἔπειτα καταλυομένων, καθάπερ ἐπὶ Μιθριδάτου συνέβη ἀφισταμένων καὶ ἔπειτα καταλυομένων, καθάπερ ἐπὶ Μιθριδάτου συνέβη τοῦ Εὐπάτορος καὶ τῆς Αἰγυπτίας Κλεοπάτρας, ἅπαντα τὰ ἐντὸς Φάσιδος καὶ Εὐφράτου πλὴν Ἀράβων τινῶν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίοις ἐστὶ καὶ τοῖς ὑπʼ ἐκείνων ἀποδειχθεῖσι δυνάσταις.
The same sort of thing happened also in Asia; at first it was governed through the kings who were subject to them, but later, when those kings failed, as in the cases of the Attalic kings, the Syrians, the Paphlagonians, the Cappadocians, and the Egyptians, because they revolted and then were destroyed, as happened in the time of Mithridates Eupator and Cleopatra of Egypt, because they revolted and then were destroyed, as happened in the time of Mithridates Eupator and Cleopatra of Egypt, all the regions this side of the Phasis and the Euphrates, except for some Arabs, are under the power of the Romans and of the dynasts appointed by them.
Ἀρμένιοι δὲ καὶ οἱ ὑπερκείμενοι τῆς Κολχίδος Ἀλβανοί τε καὶ Ἴβηρες παρουσίας δέονται μόνον τῶν ἡγησομένων, καλῶς δὲ κρατοῦνται· νεωτερίζουσι δὲ διὰ τὰς τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἀπασχολίας, καθάπερ καὶ οἱ πέραν τοῦ Ἴστρου τὸν Εὔξεινον περιοικοῦντες πλὴν τοῦ Βοσπόρου καὶ τῶν νομάδων· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὑπήκοον τὸ δʼ ἄχρηστον εἰς πᾶν τὸ ἀκοινώνητον, φυλακῆς δὲ μόνον δεόμενον· καὶ τἆλλα δὲ τὰ πολλὰ σκηνιτῶν καὶ νομάδων ἐστὶ πόρρω σφόδρα ὄντων.
The Armenians, and the Albanians and Iberians who lie above Colchis, require only the presence of those who will lead them, and they are well ruled; but they attempt revolution during the preoccupations of the Romans, just as do the people who dwell around the Euxine beyond the Ister, except for the Bosporus and the nomads; for the former are subject, while the latter are useless for any social intercourse because they are unsociable, and require only a guard; and most of the rest of the country belongs to tent-dwellers and nomads who are very far away.
Παρθυαῖοι δὲ ὅμοροί τε ὄντες καὶ μέγιστον δυνάμενοι τοσοῦτον ὅμως ἐνέδοσαν πρὸς τὴν Ῥωμαίων καὶ τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἡγεμόνων ὑπεροχὴν ὥστʼ οὐ μόνον τὰ τρόπαια ἔπεμψαν εἰς Ῥώμην ἃ κατὰ Ῥωμαίων ἀνέστησάν ποτε, ἀλλὰ καὶ παῖδας ἐπίστευσε Φραάτης τῷ Σεβαστῷ Καίσαρι καὶ παίδων παῖδας ἐξομηρευσάμενος θεραπευτικῶς τὴν φιλίαν· οἱ δὲ νῦν μετίασιν ἐνθένδε πολλάκις τὸν βασιλεύσοντα, καὶ σχεδόν τι πλησίον εἰσὶ τοῦ ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίοις ποιῆσαι τὴν σύμπασαν ἐξουσίαν.
The Parthians, although they are neighbors and possess the greatest power, have nevertheless yielded so much to the superiority of the Romans and of the rulers of our time, that they not only sent back to Rome the trophies which they had once erected against the Romans, but Phraates also entrusted his children and his children's children to Augustus Caesar, seeking his friendship in a subservient manner by giving them as hostages; and those of today often send for a king from here, and are almost on the point of placing their entire authority in the hands of the Romans.
καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν Ἰταλίαν διαστᾶσαν πολλάκις, ἀφʼ οὗ γε ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίοις ἐστί, καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν Ῥώμην ἡ τῆς πολιτείας ἀρετὴ καὶ τῶν ἡγεμόνων ἐκώλυσεν ἐπὶ πλέον προελθεῖν πλημμελείας καὶ διαφθορᾶς.
And as for Italy itself, though it has often been divided since indeed it has been under the Romans, and Rome itself, the virtue of their constitution and of their rulers has prevented them from proceeding further in error and corruption.
χαλεπὸν δὲ ἄλλως οικεῖν τὴν τηλικαύτην ἡγεμονίαν ἢ ἑνὶ ἐπιτρέψαντας ὡς πατρί.
Indeed, it is difficult to govern so great an empire otherwise than by entrusting it to one person as to a father.
οὐδέποτε γοῦν εὐπορῆσαι τοσαύτης εἰρήνης καὶ ἀφθονίας ἀγαθῶν ὑπῆρξε Ῥωμαίοις καὶ τοῖς συμμάχοις αὐτῶν, ὅσην Καῖσάρ τε ὁ Σεβαστὸς παρέσχεν ἀφʼ οὗ παρέλαβε τὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐτοτελῆ, καὶ νῦν ὁ διαδεξάμενος υἱὸς ἐκεῖνον παρέχει Τιβέριος, κανόνα τῆς διοικήσεως καὶ τῶν προσταγμάτων ποιούμενος ἐκεῖνον, καὶ αὐτὸν οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ Γερμανικός τε καὶ Δροῦσος ὑπουργοῦντες τῷ πατρί.
At any rate, never was it possible for the Romans and their allies to enjoy such peace and abundance of blessings as Augustus Caesar afforded from the time he took over the absolute power, and as Tiberius, his son who succeeded him, now affords, making him the pattern of his administration and decrees, and as his own children, Germanicus and Drusus, afford, assisting their father.