TIMOTHEUS ¹

[1] Timotheus was popularly thought to be a lucky general, and some who were jealous of him painted pictures of cities entering into a trap of their own accord while he was asleep. ² Whereupon Timotheus said, If I capture such cities as those while I am asleep, what do you think I shall do when I am awake ?

[2] When one ³ of the foolhardy generals was exhibiting to the Athenians a wound he had received, Timotheus said, But I was ashamed when, at the time I was commanding, you in Samos, ⁴ a missile from a catapult fell near me.

[3] When the prominent speakers brought forward Chares, and insisted that the general of the Athenians ought to be a man like him, Timotheus said, Not the general, but the man who carries the general’s bedding!⁵

Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1931.

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Current edition Perseus

Sayings of Kings and Commanders (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).)

Editions (2)

Ἀποφθέγματα βασιλέων καὶ στρατηγῶν Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).) — 46 focus

Τιμοθέου

[1] Τιμόθεος εὐτυχὴς ἐνομίζετο στρατηγὸς εἶναι καὶ φθονοῦντες αὐτῷ τινες ἐζῳγράφουν τὰς πόλεις 187c εἰς κύρτον αὐτομάτως ἐκείνου καθεύδοντος ἐνδυομένας· ἔλεγεν οὖν ὁ Τιμόθεος, εἰ τηλικαύτας πόλεις λαμβάνω καθεύδων, τί με οἴεσθε ποιήσειν ἐγρηγορότα;

[2] τῶν δὲ τολμηρῶν στρατηγῶν τινος τραῦμα τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις δεικνύντος, ἐγὼ δέ, εἶπεν, ᾐσχύνθην ὅτι μου στρατηγοῦντος ὑμῶν ἐν Σάμῳ καταπελτικὸν βέλος ἐγγὺς ἔπεσε.

[3] τῶν δὲ ῥητόρων τὸν Χάρητα προαγόντων καὶ τοιοῦτον ἀξιούντων εἶναι τὸν Ἀθηναίων στρατηγόν, οὐ τὸν στρατηγόν, εἶπεν ὁ Τιμόθεος, ἀλλὰ τὸν τῷ στρατηγῷ τὰ στρώματα κομίζοντα.

Ἀποφθέγματα βασιλέων καὶ στρατηγῶν Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol II. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 46 focus

Τιμοθέου

[1] Τιμόθεος εὐτυχὴς ἐνομίζετο στρατηγὸς εἶναι· 10 καὶ φθονοῦντες αὐτῷ τινες ἐζωγράφουν τὰς πόλεις εἰς 187c κύρτον αὐτομάτως ἐκείνου καθεύδοντος ἐνδυομένας· ἔλεγεν οὖν ὁ Τιμόθεος εἰ τηλικαύτας πόλεις λαμβάνω καθεύδων, τί με οἴεσθε ποιήσειν ἐγρηγορότα;

[2] τῶν δὲ τολμηρῶν στρατηγῶν τινος τραῦμα 15 τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις δεικνύντος, ἐγὼ δέ εἶπεν ᾐσχύνθην ὅτι μου στρατηγοῦντος ὑμῶν ἐν Σάμῳ καταπελτικὸν βέλος ἐγγὺς ἔπεσε.

[3] τῶν δὲ ῥητόρων τὸν Χάρητα προαγόντων καὶ τοιοῦτον ἀξιούντων εἶναι τὸν Ἀθηναίων στρατηγόν, 20 οὐ τὸν στρατηγόν εἶπεν ὁ Τιμόθεος ἀλλὰ τὸν τῷ στρατηγῷ τὰ στρώματα κομίζοντα.

Translations (1)

The apophthegms or remarkable sayings of kings and great commanders. Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. I. Goodwin, William W., editor; Hinton, Edward, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 46 focus

[46] TIMOTHEUS. Timotheus was reputed a successful general, and some that envied him painted cities falling under his net of their own accord, while he was asleep. Said Timotheus, If I take such cities when I am asleep, what do you think I shall do when I am awake? A confident commander showed the Athenians a wound he had received. But I, said he, when I was your general in Samos, was ashamed that a dart from an engine fell near me. The orators set up Chares as one they thought fit to be general of the Athenians. Not to be general, said Timotheus, but to carry the general’s baggage.

Notes on the current edition

Sayings of Kings and Commanders

1. Athenian general, colleague of Iphicrates; numerous stories about him are recorded in Polyaenus, Strat. iii. 10.

2. Of the many repetitions of this story it may suffice to refer to Plutarch’s Life of Sulla, chap. vi. (454 B); Moralia, 856 B; Aelian, Varia Historia, xiii. 43.

3. Chares, according to Plutarch in his Life of Pelopidas, chap. ii. (278 D).

4. In 366 B.C.

5. Cf. Moralia, 788 D.

Plutarch Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata 46

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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