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Polybius · The Histories §18.54.1-18.54.12

The Condemnation and Execution of Scopas and Dicaearchus

Passage 944 of 1311 · Greek

Summary

Scopas is condemned by the council and poisoned, and his impious accomplice Dicaearchus is also executed under severe torture, meeting a fitting end to his insolent life.

§18.54.1ἅμα δὲ τῷ παρελθεῖν εἰς τὸ συνέδριον βραχέα μὲν ὁ βασιλεὺς κατηγόρησε, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον Πολυκράτης, ἄρτι παραγεγονὼς ἀπὸ Κύπρου, τελευταῖος δʼ Ἀριστομένης. §18.54.2ἦν δὲ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα παραπλήσιος ἡ κατηγορία πάντων τοῖς ἄρτι ῥηθεῖσι, προσετέθη δὲ τοῖς προειρημένοις ἡ μετὰ τῶν φίλων συνεδρεία καὶ τὸ μὴ πειθαρχῆσαι καλούμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως. §18.54.3ἐφʼ οἷς οὐ μόνον οἱ τοῦ συνεδρίου κατεγίνωσκον αὐτοῦ πάντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν τῶν πρεσβευτῶν οἱ συμπαρόντες. §18.54.4ὁ δʼ Ἀριστομένης, ὅτε κατηγορεῖν ἔμελλε, πολλοὺς μὲν καὶ ἑτέρους παρέλαβε τῶν ἐπιφανῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἑλλάδος, καὶ τοὺς παρὰ τῶν Αἰτωλῶν δὲ πρεσβεύοντας ἐπὶ τὰς διαλύσεις, ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ Δωρίμαχος ὁ Νικοστράτου. §18.54.5ῥηθέντων δὲ τούτων μεταλαβὼν ὁ Σκόπας ἐπειρᾶτο μὲν φέρειν τινὰς ἀπολογισμούς, οὐδενὸς δὲ προσέχοντος αὐτῷ διὰ τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων ἀλογίαν, εὐθέως οὗτος μὲν εἰς φυλακὴν ἀπήγετο μετὰ τῶν φίλων· §18.54.6ὁ δʼ Ἀριστομένης ἐπιγενομένης τῆς νυκτὸς τὸν μὲν Σκόπαν καὶ τοὺς συγγενεῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ φίλους πάντας διέφθειρε φαρμάκῳ, §18.54.7Δικαιάρχῳ δὲ καὶ στρέβλας καὶ μάστιγας προσαγαγὼν οὕτως αὐτὸν ἐπανείλετο, λαβὼν παρʼ αὐτοῦ δίκην καθήκουσαν καὶ κοινὴν ὑπὲρ πάντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων. §18.54.8ὁ γὰρ Δικαίαρχος οὗτος ἦν, ὃν Φίλιππος, ὅτε προέθετο παρασπονδεῖν τὰς Κυκλάδας νήσους καὶ τὰς ἐφʼ Ἑλλησπόντου πόλεις, ἀπέδειξε τοῦ στόλου παντὸς ἡγεμόνα καὶ τῆς ὅλης πράξεως προστάτην. §18.54.9ὃς ἐπὶ πρόδηλον ἀσέβειαν ἐκπεμπόμενος οὐχ οἷον ἄτοπόν τι πράττειν ἐνόμιζεν, ἀλλὰ τῇ τῆς ἀπονοίας ὑπερβολῇ καὶ τοὺς θεοὺς ὑπέλαβε καταπλήξεσθαι καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους· §18.54.10οὗ γὰρ ὁρμίσειε τὰς ναῦς, δύο κατεσκεύαζε βωμούς, τὸν μὲν Ἀσεβείας, τὸν δὲ Παρανομίας, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἔθυε καὶ τούτους προσεκύνει καθάπερ ἂν εἰ δαίμονας. §18.54.11διὸ καὶ δοκεῖ μοι τυχεῖν τῆς ἁρμοζούσης δίκης καὶ παρὰ θεῶν καὶ παρʼ ἀνθρώπων· παρὰ φύσιν γὰρ ἐνστησάμενος τὸν αὑτοῦ βίον εἰκότως παρὰ φύσιν καὶ τῆς εἱμαρμένης ἔτυχε. §18.54.12τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν Αἰτωλῶν τοὺς βουλομένους εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀπαλλάττεσθαι πάντας
As soon as he entered the council, the king made a brief accusation, after him Polycrates, who had just arrived from Cyprus, and last of all Aristomenes.\n In other respects, the accusation of all of them was very similar to what was just mentioned, but to what was said before they added his assembly with his friends and his refusal to obey when summoned by the king.\n On these charges, not only did all the members of the council condemn him, but also those of the foreign ambassadors who were present.\n Now Aristomenes, when he was about to make his accusation, brought in many other illustrious men from Greece, and also the ambassadors from the Aetolians sent to negotiate the peace, among whom was Dorimachus, the son of Nicostratus.\n After these speeches had been made, Scopas, taking his turn, attempted to offer some defense, but since no one paid attention to him because of the absurdity of his actions, he was immediately led away to prison along with his friends.\n But when night came on, Aristomenes put Scopas and all his relatives and friends to death by poison,\n while as for Dicaearchus, after subjecting him to the rack and the scourge, he thus put him to death, exacting from him a fitting and common retribution on behalf of all the Greeks.\n For this Dicaearchus was the man whom Philip, when he resolved to break his treaty with the Cyclades islands and the cities on the Hellespont, appointed commander of the whole fleet and director of the entire enterprise.\n Sent out for manifest impiety, he not only did not think he was doing anything monstrous, but in the excess of his madness he even supposed he would strike terror into both gods and men;\n for wherever he anchored his ships, he erected two altars, one to Impiety and the other to Lawlessness, and on these he offered sacrifice and worshipped them as if they were deities.\n Therefore he seems to me to have met with his fitting punishment both from gods and from men; for having established his own life contrary to nature, he naturally met with a death contrary to nature as well.\n As for the rest of the Aetolians, all who wished to depart for their own country...

Notes

  1. 18.54.2καλούμενον — Passive participle in masculine accusative singular, modifying the omitted subject of the substantivized infinitive `τὸ μὴ πειθαρχῆσαι` (referring to Scopas in the accusative).
  2. 18.54.7δίκην — Part of the idiomatic expression `δίκην λαμβάνειν` (to exact punishment/retribution). It contrasts with `δίκην διδόναι` (to pay the penalty / be punished) and expresses the active execution of punishment.
  3. 18.54.10οὗ γὰρ ὁρμίσειε — The optative mood in the relative clause introduced by `οὗ` expresses a general repetition in past time ('wherever he anchored').
  4. 18.54.11τῆς εἱμαρμένης ἔτυχε — The verb `τυγχάνω` takes the genitive case (here `τῆς εἱμαρμένης`, literally 'destined fate', by extension 'death'), meaning 'to meet with' or 'to attain one's end.'

Cite this passage

Polybius, The Histories §18.54.1-18.54.12. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:18.54.1-18.54.12

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