§1.9.1ὁ δὲ Φιλομήτωρ καλούμενος ὄγδοος μέν ἐστιν ἀπόγονος Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Λάγου, τὴν δὲ ἐπίκλησιν ἔσχεν ἐπὶ χλευασμῷ.
The one called Philometor is the eighth descendant of Ptolemy the son of Lagus, but he obtained this surname by way of mockery.
οὐ γάρ τινα τῶν βασιλέων μισηθέντα ἴσμεν ἐς τοσόνδε ὑπὸ μητρός, ὃν πρεσβύτατον ὄντα τῶν παίδων ἡ μήτηρ οὐκ εἴα καλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχήν, πρότερον δὲ ἐς Κύπρον ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς πεμφθῆναι πράξασα·
For we know of no other of the kings who was hated to such a degree by his mother, who, though he was the eldest of her children, would not allow him to be called to the rule, and previously had managed to have him sent to Cyprus by his father.
τῆς δὲ ἐς τὸν παῖδα τῇ Κλεοπάτρᾳ δυσνοίας λέγουσιν ἄλλας τε αἰτίας καὶ ὅτι Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν νεώτερον τῶν παίδων κατήκοον ἔσεσθαι μᾶλλον ἤλπιζε.
For Cleopatra's hostility towards her son, they tell other causes and also that she hoped that Alexander, the younger of her children, would be more obedient.
καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἑλέσθαι βασιλέα Ἀλέξανδρον ἔπειθεν Αἰγυπτίους·
And for this reason she tried to persuade the Egyptians to choose Alexander as king.
§1.9.2ἐναντιουμένου δέ οἱ τοῦ πλήθους, δεύτερα ἐς τὴν Κύπρον ἔστειλεν Ἀλέξανδρον, στρατηγὸν μὲν τῷ λόγῳ, τῷ δὲ ἔργῳ διʼ αὐτοῦ Πτολεμαίῳ θέλουσα εἶναι φοβερωτέρα, τέλος δὲ κατατρώσασα οὓς μάλιστα τῶν εὐνούχων ἐνόμιζεν εὔνους, ἐπήγετο σφᾶς ἐς τὸ πλῆθος ὡς αὐτή τε ἐπιβουλευθεῖσα ὑπὸ Πτολεμαίου καὶ τοὺς εὐνούχους τοιαῦτα ὑπʼ ἐκείνου παθόντας.
But since the multitude opposed her, she sent Alexander for a second time to Cyprus, nominally as general, but in reality wishing to be more formidable to Ptolemy through him; and finally, having wounded those of the eunuchs whom she considered most loyal, she brought them before the multitude, pretending that she herself had been plotted against by Ptolemy, and that the eunuchs had suffered such things at his hands.
οἱ δὲ Ἀλεξανδρεῖς ὥρμησαν μὲν ὡς ἀποκτενοῦντες τὸν Πτολεμαῖον, ὡς δὲ σφᾶς ἔφθασεν ἐπιβὰς νεώς, Ἀλέξανδρον ἥκοντα ἐκ Κύπρου ποιοῦνται βασιλέα.
The Alexandrians rushed as though to kill Ptolemy, but since he forestalled them by embarking on a ship, they made Alexander, who came from Cyprus, their king.
§1.9.3Κλεοπάτραν δὲ περιῆλθεν ἡ δίκη τῆς Πτολεμαίου φυγῆς ἀποθανοῦσαν ὑπὸ Ἀλεξάνδρου, ὃν αὐτὴ βασιλεύειν ἔπραξεν Αἰγυπτίων.
But the justice for the exile of Ptolemy overtook Cleopatra, who died at the hands of Alexander, whom she herself had managed to make king of the Egyptians.
τοῦ δὲ ἔργου φωραθέντος καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου φόβῳ τῶν πολιτῶν φεύγοντος, οὕτω Πτολεμαῖος κατῆλθε καὶ τὸ δεύτερον ἔσχεν Αἴγυπτον· καὶ Θηβαίοις ἐπολέμησεν ἀποστᾶσι, παραστησάμενος δὲ ἔτει τρίτῳ μετὰ τὴν ἀπόστασιν ἐκάκωσεν, ὡς μηδὲ ὑπόμνημα λειφθῆναι Θηβαίοις τῆς ποτε εὐδαιμονίας προελθούσης ἐς τοσοῦτον ὡς ὑπερβαλέσθαι πλούτῳ τοὺς Ἑλλήνων πολυχρημάτους, τό τε ἱερὸν τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς καὶ Ὀρχομενίους.
When the deed was discovered, and Alexander fled through fear of the citizens, Ptolemy thus returned and held Egypt for the second time; and he made war on the rebellious Thebans, and having subdued them in the third year after the revolt, he afflicted them so that not even a memorial was left to the Thebans of their former prosperity, which had advanced to such a degree as to surpass in wealth the richest of the Greeks, both the sanctuary at Delphi and the Orchomenians.
Πτολεμαῖον μὲν οὖν ὀλίγῳ τούτων ὕστερον ἐπέλαβε μοῖρα ἡ καθήκουσα· Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ παθόντες εὖ πολλά τε καὶ οὐκ ἄξια ἐξηγήσεως χαλκοῦν καὶ αὐτὸν καὶ Βερενίκην ἀνέθηκαν, ἣ μόνη γνησία οἱ τῶν παίδων ἦν.
Now, not long after these events, his destined fate overtook Ptolemy; and the Athenians, having received many benefits from him which are not worth describing, set up bronze statues of both him and Berenice, who was the only legitimate one of his children.
§1.9.4μετὰ δὲ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους Φίλιππός τε καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Φιλίππου κεῖνται· τούτοις μείζονα ὑπῆρχέ πως ἢ ἄλλου πάρεργα εἶναι λόγου.
After the Egyptians, Philip and Alexander the son of Philip are placed; for these, their deeds were somehow too great to be a mere digression of another narrative.
τοῖς μὲν οὖν ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου τιμῇ τε ἀληθεῖ καὶ εὐεργέταις οὖσι γεγόνασιν αἱ δωρεαί, Φιλίππῳ δὲ καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ κολακείᾳ μᾶλλον ἐς αὐτοὺς τοῦ πλήθους, ἐπεὶ καὶ Λυσίμαχον οὐκ εὐνοίᾳ τοσοῦτον ὡς ἐς τὰ παρόντα χρήσιμον νομίζοντες ἀνέθηκαν.
Now, for those from Egypt, the gifts were made with true honor and as to benefactors, but for Philip and Alexander, it was rather out of flattery of the multitude towards them, since they set up Lysimachus also, not so much out of goodwill as deeming him useful for the present circumstances.
§1.9.5ὁ δὲ Λυσίμαχος οὗτος γένος τε ἦν Μακεδὼν καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου δορυφόρος, ὃν Ἀλέξανδρός ποτε ὑπʼ ὀργῆς λέοντι ὁμοῦ καθείρξας ἐς οἴκημα κεκρατηκότα εὗρε τοῦ θηρίου· τά τε οὖν ἄλλα ἤδη διετέλει θαυμάζων καὶ Μακεδόνων ὁμοίως τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἦγεν ἐν τιμῇ.
This Lysimachus was by race a Macedonian and a bodyguard of Alexander, whom Alexander once, in a fit of anger, shut up in a room together with a lion, but found him victorious over the beast; therefore, he continued to admire him in other respects and held him in honor equally with the noblest of the Macedonians.
τελευτήσαντος δὲ Ἀλεξάνδρου Θρᾳκῶν ἐβασίλευεν ὁ Λυσίμαχος τῶν προσοίκων Μακεδόσιν, ὅσων ἦρχεν Ἀλέξανδρος καὶ ἔτι πρότερον Φίλιππος· εἶεν δʼ ἂν οὗτοι τοῦ Θρᾳκίου μοῖρα οὐ μεγάλη.
After the death of Alexander, Lysimachus ruled over those of the Thracians neighboring the Macedonians, over whom Alexander and even earlier Philip used to rule; and these would be no large part of the Thracian land.
Θρᾳκῶν δὲ τῶν πάντων οὐδένες πλείους εἰσὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὅτι μὴ Κελτοὶ πρὸς ἄλλο ἔθνος ἓν ἀντεξετάζοντι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐδείς πω πρότερος Θρᾷκας Ῥωμαίων κατεστρέψατο ἀθρόους· Ῥωμαίοις δὲ Θρᾴκη τε πᾶσά ἐστιν ὑποχείριος, καὶ Κελτῶν ὅσον μὲν ἀχρεῖον νομίζουσι διά τε ὑπερβάλλον ψῦχος καὶ γῆς φαυλότητα, ἑκουσίως παρῶπταί σφισι, τὰ δὲ ἀξιόκτητα ἔχουσι καὶ τούτων.
Of all mankind, there are none more numerous than the Thracians, except the Celts, if one compares them with any other single nation, and for this reason no one before the Romans has yet subdued Thracians as a whole; but to the Romans all Thrace is subject, and of the Celts, whatever part they consider useless because of the excessive cold and the poverty of the soil, they have voluntarily overlooked, but they hold the parts of them that are worth acquiring.