§12.15.1καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ ταῖς κατʼ Ἀγαθοκλέους ἔγωγε λοιδορίαις, εἰ καὶ πάντων γέγονεν ἀσεβέστατος, εὐδοκῶ.
For indeed, I do not approve of the abuses against Agathocles either, even if he was the most impious of all.
λέγω δʼ ἐν τούτοις, §12.15.2ἐν οἷς ἐπὶ καταστροφῇ τῆς ὅλης ἱστορίας φησὶ γεγονέναι τὸν Ἀγαθοκλέα κατὰ τὴν πρώτην ἡλικίαν κοινὸν πόρνον, ἕτοιμον τοῖς ἀκρατεστάτοις, κολοιόν, τριόρχην, πάντων τῶν βουλομένων τοῖς ὄπισθεν ἔμπροσθεν γεγονότα.
And I say this in those passages in which, at the conclusion of his entire history, he says that Agathocles in his early youth had been a common prostitute, ready for the most intemperate, a jackdaw, a buzzard, having become for all who wished the front in place of the rear.
§12.15.3πρὸς δὲ τούτοις, ὅτʼ ἀπέθανε, τὴν γυναῖκά φησι κατακλαιομένην αὐτὸν οὕτως θρηνεῖν· "τί δʼ οὐκ ἐγὼ σέ;
In addition to these things, he says that when he died, his wife, weeping over him, lamented thus: "Why did I not you?
τί δʼ οὐκ ἐμὲ σύ; §12.15.4"ἐν γὰρ τούτοις πάλιν οὐ μόνον ἄν τις ἐπιφθέγξαιτο τὰ καὶ περὶ Δημοχάρους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν θαυμάσειε τῆς πικρίας.
Why did you not me?" For in these passages again, one might not only utter the same things as about Demochares, but also wonder at the excess of his bitterness.
§12.15.5ὅτι γὰρ ἐκ φύσεως ἀνάγκη μεγάλα προτερήματα γεγονέναι περὶ τὸν Ἀγαθοκλέα, τοῦτο δῆλόν ἐστιν ἐξ αὐτῶν ὧν ὁ Τίμαιος ἀποφαίνεται.
For that there must have been by nature great talents in Agathocles is clear from the very things that Timaeus declares.
§12.15.6εἰ γὰρ εἰς τὰς Συρακούσας παρεγενήθη φεύγων τὸν τροχόν, τὸν καπνόν, τὸν πηλόν, περὶ ἔτη τὴν ἡλικίαν ὀκτωκαίδεκα γεγονώς, §12.15.7καὶ μετά τινα χρόνον ὁρμηθεὶς ἀπὸ τοιαύτης ὑποθέσεως κύριος μὲν ἐγενήθη πάσης Σικελίας, μεγίστους δὲ κινδύνους περιέστησε Καρχηδονίοις, τέλος ἐγγηράσας τῇ δυναστείᾳ κατέστρεψε τὸν βίον βασιλεὺς προσαγορευόμενος, §12.15.8ἆρʼ οὐκ ἀνάγκη μέγα τι γεγονέναι χρῆμα καὶ θαυμάσιον τὸν Ἀγαθοκλέα καὶ πολλὰς ἐσχηκέναι ῥοπὰς καὶ δυνάμεις πρὸς τὸν πραγματικὸν τρόπον;
For if he arrived in Syracuse fleeing the wheel, the smoke, and the clay, when he was about eighteen years of age, and after some time, starting from such an origin, became master of all Sicily, and brought the greatest dangers upon the Carthaginians, and finally, having grown old in his sovereignty, ended his life being addressed as king, is it not necessary that Agathocles was something great and wonderful, and possessed many resources and powers for practical affairs?
§12.15.9ὑπὲρ ὧν δεῖ τὸν συγγραφέα μὴ μόνον τὰ πρὸς διαβολὴν κυροῦντα καὶ κατηγορίαν ἐξηγεῖσθαι τοῖς ἐπιγινομένοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἔπαινον ἥκοντα περὶ τὸν ἄνδρα· τοῦτο γὰρ ἴδιόν ἐστι τῆς ἱστορίας.
Concerning which things, the historian must not only explain to posterity the things that confirm slander and accusation, but also those that tend to the praise of the man; for this is proper to history.
§12.15.10ὁ δʼ ἐπεσκοτημένος ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας πικρίας τὰ μὲν ἐλαττώματα δυσμενικῶς καὶ μετʼ αὐξήσεως ἡμῖν ἐξήγγελκε, τὰ δὲ κατορθώματα συλλήβδην παραλέλοιπεν, §12.15.11ἀγνοῶν ὅτι τὸ ψεῦδος οὐχ ἧττόν ἐστι περὶ τοὺς τὰ γεγονότα γράφοντας ἐν ταῖς ἱστορίαις.
But he, having been darkened by his own bitterness, has reported to us his defects hostilely and with exaggeration, but has completely omitted his achievements, not knowing that falsehood is no less present in those who write of events in histories [by omission].
§12.15.12ἡμεῖς δὲ τὸ μὲν ἐπιμετρεῖν τῆς ἀπεχθείας αὐτοῦ χάριν ἀφήκαμεν, τὰ δʼ οἰκεῖα τῆς προθέσεως αὑτῶν οὐ παρελείψαμεν. —
But we have refrained from adding measure to our hostility for his sake, yet we have not omitted the things proper to our own purpose.