[1] So when it was decided that he should fly to Egypt, he set sail from Cyprus on a Seleucian trireme with his wife (of the rest, some sailed along with him in ships of war like his own, and others in merchant vessels), and crossed the sea in safety; but on learning that Ptolemy was posted at Pelusium with an army, making war upon his sister, he put in there, and sent on a messenger to announce his arrival to the king and to ask his aid.
[2] Now, Ptolemy was quite young; but Potheinus, who managed all his affairs, assembled a council of the most influential men (and those were most influential whom he wished to be so), and bade each one give his opinion. It was certainly a dreadful thing that the fate of Pompey the Great was to be decided by Potheinus the eunuch, and Theodotus of Chios, who was a hired teacher of rhetoric, and Achillas the Egyptian; for these were the chief counsellors of the king among the chamberlains and tutors also gathered there.
[3] And it was such a tribunal’s verdict which Pompey, tossing at anchor some distance off the shore, was waiting for, a man who would not deign to be under obligations to Caesar for his life.
The opinions of the other counsellors were so far divergent that some advised to drive Pompey away, and others to invite him in and receive him.
The opinions of the other counsellors were so far divergent that some advised to drive Pompey away, and others to invite him in and receive him.
[4] But Theodotus, making a display of his powerful speech and rhetorical art, set forth that neither course was safe for them, but that if they received Pompey, they would have Caesar for an enemy and Pompey for a master; while if they rejected him, Pompey would blame them for casting him off, and Caesar for making him continue his pursuit; the best course, therefore, was to send for the man and put him to death, for by so doing they would gratify Caesar and have nothing to fear from Pompey. To this he smilingly added, we are told,
A dead man does not bite.
Pompey. Plutarch. Bernadotte Perrin (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1917.
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