§work#1Μενεκράτης
ἡ ὀρυχὴ τοῦ Ἰσθμοῦ καὶ σοί, Μουσώνιε, διὰ χειρός, ὥς φασι, γεγονυῖα τῷ τυράννῳ νοῦν εἶχεν Ἕλληνα.
Menecrates The excavation of the Isthmus, Musonius, which they say was also in your hands, did it have a Greek mind in the tyrant?
Μουσώνιος
ἴσθι, ὦ Μενέκρατες, καὶ βελτίω ἐντεθυμῆσθαι Νέρωνα· τὰς γὰρ περιβολὰς τῆς Πελοποννήσου τὰς ὑπὲρ Μαλέαν ξυνῄρει τοῖς θαλαττουμένοις εἴκοσι σταδίων τοῦ Ἰσθμοῦ ῥήγματι·
Musonius Know, Menecrates, that Nero had planned even better things; for he was shortening the detours of the Peloponnese beyond Malea for those at sea by a breach of twenty stades at the Isthmus.
τοῦτο δʼ ἂν καὶ τὰς ἐμπορίας ὤνησε καὶ τὰς ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ πόλεις καὶ τὰς ἐν τῇ μεσογείᾳ, καὶ γὰρ δὴ κἀκείναις ἀποχρῶν ὁ οἴκοι καρπός, ἢν τὰ ἐπιθαλάττια εὖ πράττῃ.
This would have benefited both trade and the cities on the sea and those inland; for indeed, even for the latter, their domestic produce is sufficient, if the coastal regions do well.
Μενεκράτης
ταῦτα δὴ διέξελθε, Μουσώνιε, βουλομένοις ἡμῖν ἀκροάσασθαι πᾶσιν, εἰ μή τι σπουδάσαι διανοῇ ἕτερον.
Menecrates Relate these things, Musonius, since we all wish to listen, unless you intend to be busy with something else.
Μουσώνιος
δίειμι βουλομένοις, οὐ γὰρ οἶδʼ, ὅ τι χαριζοίμην ἂν μᾶλλον τοῖς γε ἀφιγμένοις ἐς ἀηδὲς οὕτω φροντιστήριον ἐπὶ τῷ σπουδάζειν·
Musonius I will relate them since you wish it; for I do not know what I could do to please you more who have arrived at such an unpleasant school of thought for the sake of studying.
Νέρωνα τοίνυν ἐς Ἀχαίαν ᾠδαὶ ἦγον καὶ τὸ σφόδρα ἑαυτὸν πεπεικέναι μηδʼ ἂν τὰς Μούσας ἀναβάλλεσθαι ἥδιον, ἐβούλετο δὲ καὶ τὰ Ὀλύμπια τὸν γυμνικώτατον τῶν ἀγώνων στεφανοῦσθαι ᾅδων.
Well, Nero was led to Achaea by songs, and by his strong self-conviction that not even the Muses could strike up more pleasantly than he; and he wished to be crowned while singing at the Olympic Games, the most athletic of contests.
τὰ γὰρ Πύθια, τούτων μὲν ἑαυτῷ μετεῖναι μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι, μηδὲ γὰρ ἂν μηδʼ ἐκεῖνον ἐναντίαν αὑτῷ κιθάραν τε καὶ ᾠδὴν θέσθαι.
For as for the Pythian Games, he believed these belonged to him more than to Apollo, since not even Apollo would pit his lyre and song against him.
ὁ δʼ Ἰσθμὸς οὐ τῶν ἄποθεν αὐτῷ βεβουλευμένων, ἀλλʼ ἐντυχὼν τῇ φύσει τοῦ τόπου μεγαλουργίας ἠράσθη τόν τε βασιλέα τῶν ἐπὶ τὴν Τροίαν ποτὲ Ἀχαιῶν ἐνθυμηθείς, ὡς τὴν Εὔβοιαν τῆς Βοιωτίας ἀπέτεμεν Εὐρίπῳ τῷ περὶ τὴν Χαλκίδα, ἔτι γε μὴν καὶ τὸν Δαρεῖον, ὡς ὁ Βόσπορος ἐγεφυρώθη αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τοὺς Σκύθας, τὰ δὲ Ξέρξου καὶ πρὸ τούτων ἴσως ἐνενόησε μέγιστα τῶν μεγαλουργιῶν ὄντα, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις τῷ διʼ ὀλίγου ἀλλήλοις ἐπιμῖξαι πάντας ἡγήσατο τὴν Ἑλλάδα λαμπρῶς ἑστιᾶσθαι τοῖς ἔξωθεν·
But the Isthmus was not among his long-planned designs; rather, encountering the nature of the place, he fell in love with a great deed, remembering the king of the Achaians who once went to Troy, how he cut Euboea off from Boeotia by the Euripus around Chalcis; and also Darius, how the Bosporus was bridged by him against the Scythians; and before these, he perhaps thought of the deeds of Xerxes as the greatest of grand undertakings. In addition to these, he thought that by making everyone mix with one another in a short time, Greece would splendidly feast those from abroad.
αἱ γὰρ τύραννοι φύσεις μεθύουσι μέν, ψαύουσι δέ πη. . . καὶ ἀκοῦσαι τοῦτο φθέγμα.
For tyrant natures are indeed drunk, but they touch in some way... and hear this voice.
προελθὼν δὲ τῆς σκηνῆς ὕμνον μὲν Ἀμφιτρίτης τε καὶ Ποσειδῶνος ᾖσε καὶ ᾆσμα οὐ μέγα Μελικέρτῃ τε καὶ Λευκοθέᾳ, ὀρέξαντος δʼ αὐτῷ χρυσῆν δίκελλαν τοῦ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἐπιτροπεύσαντος ἐπὶ τὴν ὀρυχὴν ᾖξε κροτούμενός τε καὶ ᾀδόμενος καὶ καθικόμενος τῆς γῆς τρίς, οἶμαι, τοῖς τε τὴν ἀρχὴν πεπιστευμένοις παρακελευσάμενος ξυντόνως ἅπτεσθαι τοῦ ἔργου ἀνῄει ἐς τὴν Κόρινθον τὰ Ἡρακλέους δοκῶν ὑπερβεβλῆσθαι πάντα.
Coming forward from his tent, he sang a hymn to Amphitrite and Poseidon, and a short song to Melicertes and Leucothea. When the governor of Greece offered him a golden pickaxe, he rushed to the excavation amid applause and song, and having struck the earth three times, I believe, and having exhorted those entrusted with the command to set to work vigorously, he went up to Corinth, thinking he had surpassed all the deeds of Heracles.
οἱ μὲν δὴ ἐκ τῶν δεσμωτηρίων τὰ πετρώδη τε καὶ δύσεργα ἐξεπόνουν, ἡ στρατιὰ δὲ τὰ γεώδη τε καὶ ἐπίπεδα·
The prisoners indeed worked out the rocky and difficult parts, while the army worked on the earthy and flat areas.
ἑβδόμην δέ που καὶ πέμπτην ἡμέραν προσεζευγμένων ἡμῶν τῷ Ἰσθμῷ κατέβη τις ἐκ Κορίνθου λόγος οὔπω σαφὴς ὡς δὴ τοῦ Νέρωνος μετεγνωκότος τὴν τομήν.
Around the fifth or seventh day of our being bound to the Isthmus, a rumor came down from Corinth, not yet clear, that Nero had changed his mind about the cutting.
ἔφασαν δὲ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους γεωμετροῦντας τῆς ἑκατέρας θαλάττης τὰς φύσεις οὐκ ἰσοπέδοις αὐταῖς ἐντυχεῖν, ἀλλʼ ὑψηλοτέραν ἡγουμένους τὴν ἐκ τοῦ Λεχαίου περὶ τῇ Αἰγίνῃ δεδοικέναι, πελάγους γὰρ τοσούτου νήσῳ ἐπιχυθέντος κἂν ὑποβρύχιον ἀπενεχθῆναι τὴν Αἴγιναν.
They said that Egyptian surveyors, measuring the natures of both seas, did not find them at the same level, but believing the sea from Lechaeum to be higher, they feared for Aegina, for if so great a sea were poured over the island, Aegina might be carried away under water.
Νέρωνα δὲ τῆς μὲν τοῦ Ἰσθμοῦ τομῆς οὐδʼ ἂν Θαλῆς μετέστησεν ὁ σοφώτατός τε καὶ φυσικώτατος, τοῦ γὰρ τεμεῖν αὐτὸν ἤρα μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ δημοσίᾳ ᾅδειν, ἡ δὲ τῶν ἑσπερίων ἐθνῶν κίνησις καὶ ὁ ὕπατος ὁ τῶν ἐκείνῃ νῦν ἁπτόμενος, ὄνομα δὲ αὐτῷ Βίνδιξ, ἀπήγαγεν Ἑλλάδος τε καὶ τοῦ Ἰσθμοῦ Νέρωνα ψυχρῶς γεωμετρήσαντα· τὰς γὰρ θαλάττας ἰσογαίους τε καὶ ἰσοπέδους οἶδα.
But as for the cutting of the Isthmus, not even Thales, the wisest and most natural philosopher, would have turned Nero away from it, for he loved to cut it more than to sing in public; but the movement of the western nations and the consul who is now grasping affairs there, Vindex by name, took Nero away from Greece and the Isthmus, though he had measured coldly—for I know that the seas are equal to the land and equal in level.
φασὶ δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς Ῥώμης ὀλισθάνειν ἤδη καὶ ὑποδιδόναι.
And they say that his affairs in Rome are already slipping and giving way.
τουτὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ χθὲς ἠκούσατε τοῦ προσπλεύσαντος χιλιάρχου.
You yourselves heard this yesterday from the tribune who sailed in.
Μενεκράτης
ἡ φωνὴ δέ, Μουσώνιε, διʼ ἣν μουσομανεῖ καὶ τῶν Ὀλυμπιάδων τε καὶ Πυθιάδων ἐρᾷ, πῶς ἔχει τῷ τυράννῳ;
Menecrates But what about his voice, Musonius, because of which he is mad for the Muses and desires the Olympiads and Pythiads—how is it for the tyrant?
τῶν γὰρ Λήμνῳ προσπλεόντων οἱ μὲν ἐθαύμαζον, οἱ δὲ κατεγέλων.
For of those sailing to Lemnos, some admired it, and others laughed it to scorn.