Lucian of Samosata, Alexander, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 27

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[27] For example, the oracle given to Severianus in regard to his invasion of Armenia was one of the autophones. Alexander encouraged him to the invasion by saying:

Under your charging spear shall fall Armenians and Parthi;

Then you shall fare to Rome and the glorious waters of Tiber

Wearing upon your brow the chaplet studded with sunbeams.¹

Then when that silly Celt, being convinced, made the invasion and ended by getting himself and his army cut to bits by Osroes, Alexander expunged this oracle from his records and inserted another in its place:

Better for you that your forces against Armenia march not,

Lest some man, like a woman bedight, despatch from his bowstring

Grim death, cutting you off from life and enjoyment of sunlight.²

Alexander. Lucian of Samosata. Austin Morris Harmon (Translator). United States. Perseus 5.0.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Alexander the False Prophet (English) (Lucian, Vol. 4. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Ἀλέξανδρος ἢ Ψευδόμαντις Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 4. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 (printing).) — 27 focus

[27] ὁ γοῦν Σευηριανῷ δοθεὶς ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰς Ἀρμενίαν εἰσόδου τῶν αὐτοφώνων καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν. προτρέπων γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν εἰσβολὴν οὕτως ἔφη·

Πάρθους Ἀρμενίους τε θοῷ ὑπὸ δουρὶ δαμάσσας

νοστήσεις Ῥώμην καὶ Θύβριδος ἀγλαὸν ὕδωρ

στέμμα φέρων κροτάφοισι μεμιγμένον ἀκτίνεσσιν.

εἶτʼ ἐπειδὴ πεισθεὶς ὁ ἠλίθιος ἐκεῖνος Κελτὸς εἰσέβαλε καὶ ἀπήλλαξεν αὐτῇ στρατιᾷ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ὀσρόου¹ κατακοπείς, τοῦτον μὲν τὸν χρησμὸν ἐξαιρεῖ ἐκ τῶν ὑπομνημάτων, ἐντίθησιν δʼ ἄλλον ἀντʼ αὐτοῦ·

μὴ σύ γʼ ἐπʼ Ἀρμενίους ἐλάαν στρατόν, οὐ γὰρ ἄμεινον,

μή σοι θηλυχίτων τις ἀνὴρ τόξου ἄπο λυγρὸν

πότμον ἐπιπροϊεὶς παύσῃ βιότοιο φάους τε.

Translations (1)

Alexander the Oracle-monger Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 2. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 27 focus

[27] It was an autophone which was given to Severian regarding the invasion of Armenia. He encouraged him with these lines:

Armenia, Parthia, cowed by thy fierce spear,

To Rome, and Tiber’s shining waves, thou com’st,

Thy brow with leaves and radiant gold encircled.

Then when the foolish Gaul took his advice and invaded, to the total destruction of himself and his army by Othryades, the adviser expunged that oracle from his archives and substituted the following:

Vex not th’ Armenian land; it shall not thrive;

One in soft raiment clad shall from his bow

Launch death, and cut thee off from life and light.

Notes on the current edition

Alexander

The corona radiata, worn by Augustus, Nero, and the emperors after Caracalla. This passage seems to point to its use (in addition to the laurel wreath?) as one of the triumphal insignia.

The Parthians had been interfering with the succession to the throne in Armenia. Severianus, Roman governor of Cappadocia, entered Armenia with a small force in 161, and was disastrously defeated at Elegeia by Chosroes. Accordin to Dio Cassius (71, 2) the entire force was surrounded an wiped out. See also Lucian, de Hist. Conscrib, 21, 24, 25.

Lucian of Samosata Alexander 27

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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