Plutarch, Comparison of Philopoemen and Titus, ed. Bernadotte Perrin, 3

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[1] καὶ μὴν Τίτῳ μὲν ἄρχοντι συνέβη καὶ πρεσβεύοντι πάντα πρᾶξαι τὰ καλά, Φιλοποίμην δὲ οὐ χείρονα παρέσχεν οὐδὲ ἀπρακτότερον ἑαυτὸν ἰδιώτην ἢ στρατηγὸν τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς. ἰδιώτης μὲν γὰρ ὢν Νάβιν ἐξέβαλεν ἐκ Μεσσήνης καὶ Μεσσηνίους ἠλευθέρωσεν, ἰδιώτης δὲ Διοφάνην τὸν στρατηγὸν καὶ Τίτον ἐπερχομένους ἀπέκλεισε τῆς Σπάρτης καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους δι.ʼσωσεν.

[2] οὕτως ἡγεμονικὴν φύσιν ἔχων οὐ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν νόμων ἄρχειν ἠπίστατο πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον, οὐ δεόμενος παρὰ τῶν ἀρχομένων λαβεῖν τὸ ἄρχειν, ἀλλὰ χρώμενος αὐτοῖς, ὅπου καιρὸς εἴη, τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν φρονοῦντα μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ᾑρημένον ἡγούμενοις στρατηγόν.

[3]
γενναῖα μὲν οὖν Τίτου τὰ πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐπιεικῆ καὶ φιλάνθρωπα, γενναιότερα δὲ Φιλοποίμενος τὰ πρὸς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ὀχυρὰ καὶ φιλελεύθερα ῥᾷον γὰρ χαρίζεσθαι τοῖς δεομένοις ἢ λυπεῖν ἀντιτείνοντα τοὺς δυνατωτέρους. ἐπεὶ. δὲ οὕτως ἐξεταζομένων δυσθεώρητος ἡ διαφορά, σκόπει, μὴ τῷ μὲν Ἕλληνι τὸν ἐμπειρίας πολεμικῆς καὶ στρατηγίας στέφανον, τῷ δὲ Ῥωμαίῳ τὸν δικαιοσύνης καὶ χρηστότητος ἀποδιδόντες οὐ φαύλως διαιτᾶν δόξομεν.

Comparison of Philopoemen and Titus. Plutarch. ed. Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA. 1921.

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Φιλοποίμενος καὶ Τίτου σύγκρισις (Greek) (Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives, Vol. X. Perrin, Bernadotte, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1921.)

Translations (1)

Comparison of Philopoemen and Titus Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives, Vol. X. Perrin, Bernadotte, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1921.) — 3 focus

[1] And further, Titus was either a commander or an ambassador when he did all his noble deeds, whereas Philopoemen showed himself no less active and effective for the Achaeans when he was a private citizen than when he was their general. For it was as a private citizen that he expelled Nabis from Messene and set the Messenians free, and as a private citizen that he shut the gates of Sparta against the coming of Diophanes the general and Titus, and so saved the Lacedaemonians.

[2] Having this natural gift of leadership, he not only knew how to use it in accordance with the laws, but also how to dominate the laws for the common good; he did not think it necessary to be appointed commander by the people, but took them under his command when occasion required it, considering that he who took wise counsel in their behalf, rather than he who had been elected by them, was their real general.

[3]
Nobly generous, then, was the clemency and humanity which Titus showed to the Greeks, but more nobly generous was the firmness and love of freedom with which Philopoemen opposed the Romans; for it is easier to confer favours on suppliants than it is to vex with opposition those who are more powerful. But since, after this examination, the difference between the two men is hard to define, I leave it to my reader to say whether, if we award to the Greek the crown for military experience and generalship, and to the Roman that for justice and goodness of heart, we shall not make a fair decision.

Plutarch Comparison of Philopoemen and Titus 3

ed. Bernadotte Perrin

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