§5.41.1Περσίδος.
of Persia.
οἳ καταφρονήσαντες μὲν αὐτοῦ διὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν, ἐλπίσαντες δὲ τὸν Ἀχαιὸν ἔσεσθαι κοινωνὸν σφίσι τῆς ἐπιβολῆς, μάλιστα δὲ φοβούμενοι τὴν ὠμότητα καὶ κακοπραγμοσύνην τὴν Ἑρμείου τοῦ τότε προεστῶτος τῶν ὅλων πραγμάτων, ἀφίστασθαι καὶ διαστρέφειν ἐνεχείρησαν τὰς ἄνω σατραπείας.
These, despising him because of his youth, and hoping that Achaeus would associate himself with them in their attempt, but above all fearing the cruelty and maliciousness of Hermeias, who was then at the head of the whole administration, undertook to revolt and alienate the upper satrapies.
ὁ δʼ Ἑρμείας ἦν μὲν ἀπὸ Καρίας, §5.41.2ἐπέστη δʼ ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα, Σελεύκου τἀδελφοῦ ταύτην αὐτῷ τὴν πίστιν ἐγχειρίσαντος, καθʼ οὓς καιροὺς ἐποιεῖτο τὴν ἐπὶ τὸν ἄτταλον στρατείαν. §5.41.3τυχὼν δὲ ταύτης τῆς ἐξουσίας πᾶσι μὲν ἐφθόνει τοῖς ἐν ὑπεροχαῖς οὖσι τῶν περὶ τὴν αὐλήν, φύσει δʼ ὠμὸς ὢν τῶν μὲν τὰς ἀγνοίας ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἐκδεχόμενος ἐκόλαζε, τοῖς δὲ χειροποιήτους καὶ ψευδεῖς ἐπιφέρων αἰτίας ἀπαραίτητος ἦν καὶ πικρὸς δικαστής. §5.41.4μάλιστα δʼ ἔσπευδε καὶ περὶ παντὸς ἐποιεῖτο βουλόμενος ἐπανελέσθαι τὸν ἀποκομίσαντα τὰς δυνάμεις τὰς Σελεύκῳ συνεξελθούσας Ἐπιγένην, διὰ τὸ θεωρεῖν τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ λέγειν καὶ πράττειν δυνάμενον καὶ μεγάλης ἀποδοχῆς ἀξιούμενον παρὰ ταῖς δυνάμεσιν. §5.41.5ὢν δὲ ταύτης τῆς προθέσεως ἐπεῖχε, βουλόμενος ἀεί τινος ὁρμῆς ἐπιλαβέσθαι καὶ προφάσεως κατὰ τοῦ προειρημένου. §5.41.6ἁθροισθέντος δὲ τοῦ συνεδρίου περὶ τῆς τοῦ Μόλωνος ἀποστάσεως, καὶ κελεύσαντος τοῦ βασιλέως λέγειν ἕκαστον τὸ φαινόμενον περὶ τοῦ πῶς δεῖ χρῆσθαι τοῖς κατὰ τοὺς ἀποστάτας πράγμασι, §5.41.7καὶ πρώτου συμβουλεύοντος Ἐπιγένους διότι δεῖ μὴ μέλλειν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ χειρὸς ἔχεσθαι τῶν προκειμένων, καὶ πρῶτον καὶ μάλιστα τὸν βασιλέα συνάπτειν τοῖς τόποις καὶ παρʼ αὐτοὺς εἶναι τοὺς καιρούς· §5.41.8οὕτως γὰρ ἢ τὸ παράπαν οὐδὲ τολμήσειν ἀλλοτριοπραγεῖν τοὺς περὶ τὸν Μόλωνα, τοῦ βασιλέως παρόντος καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐν ὄψει γενομένου μετὰ συμμέτρου δυνάμεως, §5.41.9ἢ κἂν ὅλως τολμήσωσι καὶ μείνωσιν ἐπὶ τῆς προθέσεως, ταχέως αὐτοὺς συναρπασθέντας ὑπὸ τῶν ὄχλων ὑποχειρίους παραδοθήσεσθαι τῷ
Now Hermeias was from Caria, and had been placed in charge of affairs when Seleucus his brother entrusted this post of confidence to him, at the time when he was making his expedition against Attalus. Having obtained this power, he envied all those of high standing at court, and being by nature cruel, he would punish the errors of some by interpreting them in the worst sense, while against others he would bring fabricated and false accusations, being an inexorable and bitter judge. He was especially eager and made it of the utmost importance, wishing to destroy Epigenes, who had brought back the forces that had gone out with Seleucus, because he saw that this man was capable both in speech and action, and was held in great favor by the forces. Being of this purpose, he waited, wishing always to seize some handle or pretext against the aforementioned man. When the council was assembled concerning the revolt of Molo, and the king ordered each to express his opinion as to how they should deal with the affairs of the rebels, Epigenes, advising first, said that they must not delay but grapple with the matters in hand immediately, and that above all the king himself should hasten to those regions and be present at the critical moment; for in this way, either Molo and his followers would not dare to take any rebellious steps at all, when the king was present and showed himself to the multitude with a sufficient force, or, if they should indeed dare to do so and persist in their purpose, they would soon be seized by the populace and delivered up into the hands of the...