§36.16.1ὅτι Μασανάσσης ὁ ἐν Λιβύῃ τῶν Νομάδων βασιλεὺς ἀνὴρ ἦν τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς βασιλέων ἄριστος καὶ μακαριώτατος, §36.16.2ὃς ἐβασίλευσεν ἔτη πλείω τῶν ἑξήκονθʼ, ὑγιεινότατος ὢν καὶ πολυχρονιώτατος· ἐνενήκοντα γὰρ ἐτῶν ἐγεγόνει.
That Masanasses, the king of the Nomads in Libya, was the best and most fortunate of the kings of our time, who reigned more than sixty years, being of excellent health and very long-lived; for he had reached ninety years of age.
§36.16.3ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ δυναμικώτατος τῶν καθʼ αὑτὸν κατὰ τὴν σωματικὴν ἕξιν, ὅς, ὅτε μὲν στῆναι δέοι, στὰς ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἴχνεσι διʼ ἡμέρας ἔμενε, καθεζόμενος δὲ πάλιν οὐκ ἠγείρετο.
And he was also the most robust of his contemporaries in his bodily constitution; who, whenever it was necessary to stand, remained standing in the very same tracks throughout the day, and again when seated, did not rise.
§36.16.4καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τῶν ἱππικῶν κακοπάθειαν ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα συνεχῶς διακαρτερῶν οὐδὲν ἔπασχεν. σημεῖον δὲ τῆς σωματικῆς αὐτοῦ δυνάμεως·
And constantly enduring hardship on horseback day and night, he suffered no ill effect.
§36.16.5ἔχων ἐνενήκοντʼ ἔτη, καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν μετήλλαξε τὸν βίον, υἱὸν ἀπέλειπε τεττάρων ἐτῶν, ὄνομα Σθέμβανον, ὃν μετὰ ταῦτα Μικίψης υἱοποιήσατο, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις υἱοὺς ἐννέα.
And a proof of his bodily strength: having ninety years at the time when he departed this life, he left a son of four years old, named Sthembanus, whom Micipsa afterwards adopted, and besides this, nine sons.
§36.16.6διὰ δὲ τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους τούτων εὔνοιαν διετήρησε τὸν ὅλον βίον πάσης ἐπιβουλῆς καὶ παντὸς οἰκείου μιάσματος ἄμοιρον αὑτοῦ γενέσθαι τὴν βασιλείαν.
And because of their mutual goodwill, he kept his kingdom throughout his whole life free from any conspiracy and from any domestic pollution.
§36.16.7τὸ δὲ μέγιστον καὶ θειότατον τούτου· τῆς γὰρ Νομαδίας ἁπάσης ἀχρήστου τὸν πρὸ τοῦ χρόνον ὑπαρχούσης καὶ νομιζομένης ἀδυνάτου τῇ φύσει πρὸς ἡμέρους καρποὺς ὑπάρχειν, §36.16.8πρῶτος καὶ μόνος ὑπέδειξε διότι δύναται πάντας ἐκφέρειν τοὺς ἡμέρους καρποὺς οὐδʼ ὁποίας ἧττον, ἑκάστῳ τῶν υἱῶν ἐν διαστάσει μυριοπλέθρους ἀγροὺς κατασκευάσας παμφόρους.
But the greatest and most divine thing about him was this: for whereas all Numidia had been useless in the preceding time, and was considered by its nature incapable of producing cultivated crops, he was the first and only one to show that it is able to bear all cultivated crops no less than any other country, by preparing for each of his sons, at intervals, estates of ten thousand plethra which produced all kinds of crops.
§36.16.9τῇ μὲν οὖν ἐκείνου μεταστάσει ταῦτʼ ἄν τις εὐλόγως ἐπιφθέγξαιτο καὶ δικαίως.
On his departure, then, one might reasonably and justly pronounce these words.
§36.16.10ὁ δὲ Σκιπίων παραγενόμενος εἰς τὴν Κίρταν ἡμέρᾳ τρίτῃ μετὰ τὸν τοῦ βασιλέως θάνατον διῴκησε καλῶς πάντα. — §36.16.11Μασανάσσην δʼ ἱστορεῖ Πολύβιος ἐνενήκοντα μὲν ἐτῶν ἀποθανεῖν, τετράετες καταλιπόντα παιδάριον ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγενημένον· §36.16.12ὀλίγῳ δʼ ἔμπροσθεν τῆς τελευτῆς μάχῃ νικήσαντα μεγάλῃ Καρχηδονίους ὀφθῆναι τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ πρὸ τῆς σκηνῆς ῥυπαρὸν ἄρτον ἐσθίοντα καὶ πρὸς τοὺς θαυμάζοντας εἰπεῖν ὅτι τοῦτο ποιεῖ
And Scipio, arriving in Cirta on the third day after the king's death, arranged everything well. — Polybius records that Masanasses died at ninety years of age, leaving a four-year-old child begotten of him; and that a little before his death, having defeated the Carthaginians in a great battle, he was seen the next day before his tent eating dirty bread, and said to those who were astonished that he did this...