Plutarch, Aemilius Paulus, Bernadotte Perrin (Translator), 25

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[1] It is said also that a report of the battle fought by the Italian Greeks at the river Sagra¹ reached Peloponnesus on the same day, and so did that of the battle with the Medes at Mycale come on the same day to Plataea.²

[2] And when the Romans conquered the Tarquins, who had taken the field against them with the Latins, two tall and beautiful men were seen at Rome a little while after, who brought direct tidings from the army. These were conjectured to be the Dioscuri.

[3] The first man who met them in front of the spring in the forum, where they were cooling their horses, which were reeking with sweat, was amazed at their report of the victory.³

[4] Then, we are told, they touched his beard with their hands, quietly smiling the while, and the hair of it was changed at once from black to red, a circumstance which gave credence to their story, and fixed upon the man the surname of Ahenobarbus, that is to say, Bronze-beard.

[5] And all this is made credible by that which has happened in our time. When, namely, Antonius was in revolt from Domitian,⁴ and a great war was expected from Germany, and Rome was in commotion, suddenly and spontaneously the people of their own accord spread abroad a report of a victory, and a story coursed through Rome that Antonius himself had been slain, and that of his defeated army not a portion was left alive. Belief in the story became so strong and distinct that many of the magistrates actually offered sacrifices.

[6] When, however, the author of the story was sought, none could be found, but it eluded all pursuit from one man to another, and finally disappeared in the limitless throng, as in a yawning sea, and was seen to have no sure source. This rumour, then, quickly melted away in the city; but when Domitian was setting out with an army for the war and was already on the march, messages and letters announcing the victory came to meet him.⁵

[7] And the success itself was gained on the day when the rumour of it came to Rome, although the distance between the places was more than twenty thousand furlongs. These facts are known to every one of our time.

Aemilius Paulus. Plutarch. Bernadotte Perrin (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1918.

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Current edition Perseus

Aemilius Paulus (English) (Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives, Vol. VI. Perrin, Bernadotte, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1918.)

Editions (1)

Αἰμίλιος Παῦλλος Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives, Vol. VI. Perrin, Bernadotte, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1918.) — 25 focus

[1] λέγεται δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐπὶ Σάγρᾳ ποταμῷ μάχης Ἰταλιωτῶν αὐθημερὸν ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ λόγον γενέσθαι, καὶ Πλαταιᾶσι τῆς ἐν Μυκάλῃ πρὸς Μήδους.

[2] ἣν δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι Ταρκυνίους μετὰ Λατίνων ἐπιστρατεύσαντας ἐνίκησαν, αὐτάγγελοι φράζοντες ὤφθησαν ἀπὸ τοῦ στρατοῦ μικρὸν ὕστερον ἄνδρες δύο καλοὶ καὶ μεγάλοι, τούτους εἴκασαν εἶναι Διοσκούρους.

[3] ὁ δʼ ἐντυχὼν πρῶτος αὐτοῖς κατʼ ἀγορὰν πρὸ τῆς κρήνης, ἀναψύχουσι τοὺς ἵππους ἱδρῶτι πολλῷ περιρρεομένους, ἐθαύμαζε τὸν περὶ τῆς νίκης λόγον.

[4] εἶθʼ οἱ μὲν ἐπιψαῦσαι λέγονται τῆς ὑπήνης αὐτοῦ τοῖν χεροῖν ἀτρέμα μειδιῶντες· ἡ δὲ εὐθὺς ἐκ μελαίνης τριχὸς εἰς πυρρὰν μεταβαλοῦσα τῷ μὲν λόγῳ πίστιν, τῷ δʼ ἀνδρὶ παρασχεῖν ἐπίκλησιν τὸν Ἀηνόβαρβον, ὅπερ ἐστὶ χαλκοπώγωνα.

[5] πᾶσι δὲ τούτοις τὸ καθʼ ἡμᾶς γενόμενον πίστιν παρέσχεν. ὅτε γὰρ Ἀντώνιος ἀπέστη Δομετιανοῦ καὶ πολὺς πόλεμος ἀπὸ Γερμανίας προσεδοκᾶτο, τῆς Ῥώμης ταραττομένης ἄφνω καὶ αὐτομάτως ὁ δῆμος ἐξ αὑτοῦ φήμην ἀνέδωκε νίκης, καὶ τὴν Ῥώμην ἐπέδραμε λόγος αὐτόν τε τὸν Ἀντώνιον ἀνῃρῆσθαι καὶ τοῦ σὺν αὐτῷ στρατεύματος ἡττημένου μηδὲν μέρος λελεῖφθαι. τοσαύτην δὲ λαμπρότητα καὶ ῥύμην ἡ πίστις ἔσχεν ὥστε καὶ θῦσαι τῶν ἐν τέλει πολλούς.

[6] ζητουμένου δὲ τοῦ πρώτου φράσαντος, ὡς οὐδεὶς ἦν, ἀλλʼ ο λόγος εἰς ἄλλον ἐξ ἄλλου διωκόμενος ἀνέφευγε, καὶ τέλος καταδὺς ὥσπερ εἰς πέλαγος ἀχανὲς τὸν ἄπειρον ὄχλον ἐφάνη μηδεμίαν ἀρχὴν ἔχων βέβαιον, αὕτη μὲν ἡ φήμη ταχὺ τῆς πόλεως ἐξερρύη, πορευομένῳ δὲ τῷ Δομετιανῷ μετὰ δυνάμεως ἐπὶ τὸν πόλεμον ἤδη καθʼ ὁδὸν ἀγγελία καὶ γράμματα φράζοντα τὴν νίκην ἀπήντησεν.

[7] ἡ δʼ αὐτοῦ¹ τοῦ κατορθώματος ἡμέρα καὶ τῆς φήμης ἐγίνετο, ἐπὶ πλέον ἢ δισμυρίους σταδίους τῶν τόπων διεστώτων. ταῦτα μὲν οὐδεὶς ἀγνοεῖ τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς.

Notes on the current edition

Aemilius Paulus

1. A battle between the Locrians and Crotoniats, at some time in the sixth century B.C.

2. It was when the Greeks at Mycale were about to attack the Persians that a rumour came to them of the victory of the Greeks at Plataea over Mardonius ( Herodotus, ix. 100 ).

3. See the Coriolanus, iii. 4.

4. In 91 A.D.

5. Antonius did not get the help he expected from German auxiliaries, and was defeated by Appius Norbanus.

Plutarch Aemilius Paulus 25

Bernadotte Perrin (Translator)

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