Plutarch, Parallela minora, Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator), 10

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[10] When the Persians were plundering Greece, Pausanias, the Spartan general, accepted five hundred talents of gold from Xerxes and intended to betray Sparta. But when he was detected, Agesilaüs,¹ his father, helped to pursue him to the temple of Athena of the Brazen House; the father walled up the doors of the shrine with bricks and killed his son by starvation.² His mother also cast his body forth unburied.³ So Chrysermus in the second book of his Histories.

The Romans in their war with the inhabitants of Latium elected Publius Decius general. A certain poor, but noble, youth named Cassius Brutus wished to open the gates at night for a stated sum of money. He was detected and fled to the temple of Minerva Auxiliaria. Cassius Signifer, his father, shut him in, killed him by starvation, and cast him forth unburied. So Cleitonymus in his Italian History.

Parallela minora. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1936.

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Current edition Perseus

Greek and Roman Parallel Stories (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. 4. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).)

Editions (2)

Συναγωγὴ ἱστοριῶν παραλλήλων Ἑλληνικῶν καὶ Ῥωμαϊκῶν Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. 4. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 10 focus

308b

Περσῶν τὴν Ἑλλάδα λεηλατούντων Παυσανίας ὁ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων στρατηγὸς πεντακόσια χρυσοῦ τάλαντα παρὰ Ξέρξου λαβὼν ἔμελλε προδιδόναι τὴν Σπάρτην. φωραθέντος δὲ τούτου, Ἀγησίλαος ὁ πατὴρ μέχρι τοῦ ναοῦ τῆς Χαλκιοίκου συνεδίωξεν Ἀθηνᾶς, καὶ τὰς θύρας τοῦ τεμένους πλίνθῳ φράξας λιμῷ ἀπέκτεινεν· ἡ δὲ μήτηρ καὶ ἄταφον ἔρριψεν· ὡς Χρύσερμος ἐν δευτέρῳ Ἱστορικῶν.

Ῥωμαῖοι πρὸς Λατίνους πολεμοῦντες ἐχειροτόνησαν στρατηγὸν Πόπλιον Δέκιον· νεανίσκος δέ τις 308c τῶν ἐπισήμων πένης τοὔνομα Κάσσιος Βροῦτος ἐπὶ ῥητῷ μισθῷ νυκτὸς τὰς πύλας ἀνοῖξαι ἐβουλήθη. φωραθεὶς δὲ εἰς ναὸν ἔφυγεν Ἀθηνᾶς Αὐξιλιαρίας. Κάσσιος δὲ Σίγνιφερ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ κατέκλεισε καὶ λιμῷ διέφθειρε καὶ ἄταφον ἔρριψεν· ὡς Κλειτώνυμος ἐν Ἰταλικῶν.

Συναγωγὴ ἱστοριῶν παραλλήλων Ἑλληνικῶν καὶ Ῥωμαϊκῶν Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol 2. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 10 focus

[10] Περσῶν τὴν Ἑλλάδα λεηλατούντων, Παυσανίας ὁ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων στρατηγὸς πεντακόσια χρυσοῦ τάλαντα παρὰ Ξέρξου λαβὼν ἔμελλε προδιδόναι 10 τὴν Σπάρτην. φωραθέντος δὲ τούτου, Ἀγησίλαος ὁ πατὴρ μέχρι τοῦ ναοῦ τῆς Χαλκιοίκου συνεδίωξεν Ἀθηνᾶς, καὶ τὰς θύρας τοῦ τεμένους πλίνθῳ ¹ φράξας λιμῷ ἀπέκτεινεν· ἡ δὲ μήτηρ καὶ ἄταφον ἔρριψεν· ὡς Χρύσερμος ² ἐν δευτέρῳ Ἱστορικῶν. ³ 15 Ῥωμαῖοι πρὸς Λατίνους πολεμοῦντες ἐχειροτόνησαν στρατηγὸν Πόπλιον Δέκιον νεανίσκος δέ τις 308c τῶν ἐπισήμων πένης τοὔνομα Κάσσιος Βροῦτος ἐπὶ ῥητῷ μισθῷ νυκτὸς τὰς πύλας ἀνοῖξαι ἐβουλήθη. φωραθεὶς δὲ εἰς ναὸν ἔφυγεν Ἀθηνᾶς Αὐξιληρίας. ⁴ 20 Κάσσιος δὲ Σιγνίφερ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ κατέκλεισε καὶ λιμῷ διέφθειρε καὶ ἄταφον ἔρριψεν· ὡς Κλειτώνυμος ⁵ ἐν Ἰταλικῶν.

Translations (1)

Parallels, or a comparison between the Greek and Roman Histories. Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. 5. Goodwin, William W., editor; Oswald, John, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 10 focus

[10] In the time of the devastation of Greece by the Persians, Pausanias, the Lacedaemonian commander, took a bribe of 500 talents of Xerxes, to betray Sparta. The treason being discovered, his father Agesilaus pressed him so hard, that he was fain to take sanctuary in the temple of Minerva, called Chalcioecos, where he caused the doors to be bricked up, and his son to be immured till he died of hunger; and his mother after this would not suffer the body to be buried.— Chrysermus, in his Second Book of Histories.

The Romans, being in war with the Latins, made choice of P. Decius for their general. Now there was a certain patrician, a young man and poor (Cassius Brutus by name), who proposed for a certain reward to open the gates to the enemy; but being detected, he fled to the temple of Minerva Auxiliaria. But his father Cassius, an ensign-bearer, shut him up there till he died of famine, and his dead body was not allowed burial.— Clitonymus, in his Italian History.

Notes on the current edition

Greek and Roman Parallel Stories

1. A mistake for Cleombrotus.

2. Cf. Thucydides, i. 134: what Ps.-Plut. tells us here of Pausanias’s father is related of his mother Theano in Diodorus, xi. 45. 6; Polyaenus, Strategemata, viii. 51; Cornelius Nepos, Life of Pausanias, 5.

3. Stobaeus, Florilegium, xxxix. 31 (iii. p. 728 Hense).

Plutarch Parallela minora 10

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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