CAECILIUS METELLUS ¹

[1] When Caecilius Metellvs was desirous of leading his men against a strongly fortified place, a centurion said that with the loss of only ten men Metellvs could take the place. Metellus asked him if he wished to be one of the ten !

[2] A certain centurion among the younger men inquired what he was going to do. If I thought, said he, that the shirt on my back knew what is in my mind, I would strip it off and put it in the fire.²

[3] He was bitterly opposed to Scipio while Scipio lived, ³ but felt very sad when he died, and commanded his sons to take part in carrying the bier. He said that he felt grateful to the gods, for Rome’s sake, that Scipio had not been born among another people. ⁴

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).) — 83 focus

Καικιλίου Μετέλλου

[1] Καικίλιος Μέτελλος ὀχυρῷ χωρίῳ βουλευόμενος προσαγαγεῖν, εἰπόντος ἑκατοντάρχου πρὸς 202a αὐτὸν ὡς, ἐὰν δέκα μόνους ἀποβάλῃ,¹ λήψεται τὸ χωρίον, ἠρώτησεν αὐτὸν εἰ βούλοιτο εἷς τῶν δέκα γενέσθαι.

[2] τῶν δὲ νεωτέρων τινὸς χιλιάρχου πυνθανομένου τί μέλλει ποιεῖν, εἰ τοῦτο,² ἔφη, συνειδέναι μοι τὸν χιτωνίσκον ἐνόμιζον, ἀποδυσάμενος ἂν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ. τὸ πῦρ ἐπέθηκα.

[3] Σκιπίωνι δὲ ζῶντι πολεμῶν, ἀποθανόντος ἠχθέσθη, καὶ τοὺς μὲν υἱοὺς ἐκέλευσεν ὑποδύντας ἄρασθαι τὸ λέχος, τοῖς δὲ θεοῖς ἔφη χάριν ἔχειν ὑπὲρ τῆς Ῥώμης, ὅτι παρʼ ἄλλοις οὐκ ἐγένετο Σκιπίων.

Ἀποφθέγματα βασιλέων καὶ στρατηγῶν Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol II. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 83 focus

Καικιλίου Μετέλλου

[1] Καικίλιος Μέτελλος ὀχυρῷ χωρίῳ βουλευόμενος 15 προσαγαγεῖν, εἰπόντος ἑκατοντάρχου πρὸς αὐτὸν 202a ὡς, ἐὰν δέκα μόνους ἀποβάλῃ, λήψεται τὸ χωρίον, ἠρώτησεν αὐτὸν εἰ βούλοιτο εἷς τῶν δέκα γενέσθαι

[2] τῶν δὲ νεωτέρων τινὸς χιλιάρχου πυνθανομένου 20 τί μέλλει ποιεῖν, εἰ τοῦτο¹ ἔφη συνειδέναι μοι τὸν χιτωνίσκον ἐνόμιζον, ἀποδυσάμενος ἂν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ πῦρ ἐπέθηκα.

[3] Σκιπίωνι δὲ ζῶντι πολεμῶν, ἀποθανόντος ἠχθέσθη, καὶ τοὺς μὲν υἱοὺς ἐκέλευσεν ὑποδύντας 25 ἄρασθαι τὸ λέχος, τοῖς δὲ θεοῖς ἔφη χάριν ἔχειν ὑπὲρ τῆς Ῥώμης, ὅτι παρʼ ἄλλοις οὐκ ἐγένετο Σκιπίων.

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.) — 83 focus

[83] CAECILIUS METELLUS. Caecilius Metellus designing to reduce a strong fort, a captain told him he would undertake to take it with the loss only of ten men; and he asked him, whether he himself would be one of those ten. A young colonel asked him what design he had in the wheel. If I thought my shirt knew, said he, I would pluck it off and burn it. He was at variance with Scipio in his lifetime, but he lamented at his death, and commanded his sons to assist at the hearse; and said, he gave the Gods thanks in the behalf of Rome, that Scipio was born in no other country.

Notes on the current edition

Sayings of Kings and Commanders

1. Distinguished Roman general, consul 143 B.C.; sometimes confused with Q. Caecilius Metellus Numidicus, whose life Plutarch either wrote or intended to write ( Life of Marius, chap. xxix.).

2. Cf. Moralia, 506 D; Valerius Maximus, vii. 4. 5. Frontinus, Strategemata, i. 1. 12, attributes the remark to Metellus Pius (consul 52 B.C. with Pompey.)

3. Cicero, De amicitia, 21 (77), and De officiis, i. 25 (87).

4. Cf. Pliny, Natural History, vii. 45 (144), and Valerius Maximus, iv. 1. 12.

Plutarch Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata 83

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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