Cassius Dio Roman History Book 51

1. And she said such things, hoping to be pitied, but Caesar gave no response to these requests. However, fearing that she might take her own life, he again urged her to have courage, and he neither took away her attendants nor neglected her care."

1. καὶ ἡ μὲν τοιαῦτα ὡς καὶ ἐλεηθησομένη ἔλεγε, Καῖσαρ δὲ πρὸς μὲν ταῦτα οὐδὲν ἀπεκρίνατο, φοβηθεὶς δὲ μὴ ἑαυτὴν διαχρήσηται, θαρσεῖν τε αὐτῇ αὖθις παρεκελεύσατο, καὶ οὔτε τὴν θεραπείαν αὐτῆς ἀφείλετο καὶ ἐν ἐπιμελείᾳ αὐτὴν

2. She acted so that she might enhance the victory celebrations for him. Suspecting this and considering it to be more grievous than countless deaths, she truly desired to die. She begged Caesar in many ways to be allowed to die, and she herself also...

2. ἐποιεῖτο, ὅπως οἱ τὰ ἐπινίκια ἐπιλαμπρύνῃ. τοῦτό τε οὖν ὑποτοπήσασα, καὶ μυρίων θανάτων χαλεπώτερον αὐτὸ νομίσασα εἶναι, ὄντως τε ἀποθανεῖν ἐπεθύμησε, καὶ πολλὰ μὲν τοῦ Καίσαρος, ὅπως τροπον τινὰ ἀπόληται, ἐδεῖτο, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ

3. She was scheming. But when she accomplished nothing, she pretended to change her mind, as if she had great hope both in him and in Livia, and she said she was willing to sail voluntarily, and she began to prepare some ornaments as gifts, hoping somehow to gain trust from these actions that she would not be killed.

3. ἐμηχανᾶτο. ἐπεὶ δ᾽ οὐδὲν ἐπέραινε, μεταγιγνώσκειν τε ἐπλάσατο ὡς καὶ ἐλπίδα πολλὴν μὲν καὶ ἐς ἐκεῖνον πολλὴν δὲ καὶ ἐς τὴν Λιουίαν ἔχουσα, καὶ ἑκουσία τε πλευσεῖσθαι ἔλεγε, καὶ κόσμους τινὰς ἀποθέτους ἐς δῶρα ἡτοιμάζετο, εἴ πως πίστιν [p. 38] ἐκ τούτων μὴ τεθνήξειν λαβοῦσα ἧττόν τε

4. She might be kept under guard and complete her intentions. And this is what happened. For when the others, including Epaphroditus, to whom the task was entrusted, believed that she was truly of such a mindset, they neglected the strictness of her guard, and she prepared herself to die as painlessly as possible. And a certain letter, through which she requested from Caesar that she be buried with Antony, she handed over to him personally.

4. τηρηθείη καὶ ἑαυτὴν ἐξεργάσαιτο. ὃ καὶ ἐγένετο. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οἵ τε ἄλλοι καὶ ὁ Ἐπαφρόδιτος, ᾧπερ ἐπετέτραπτο, πιστεύσαντες ταῦθ᾽ ὡς ἀληθῶς φρονεῖν, τῆς ἀκριβοῦς φυλακῆς ἠμέλησαν, παρεσκευάζετο ὅπως ὡς ἀλυπότατα ἀποθάνῃ. καὶ γραμματεῖόν τι, δι᾽ οὗ ἐδεήθη τοῦ Καίσαρος ἵνα αὐτὴν μετὰ τοῦ Ἀντωνίου ταφῆναι κελεύσῃ, αὐτῷ τῷ

2. Some say that she added [something more], while others say that she used a needle, with which she arranged her hair, smeared with some poison, which had the property that it would not harm the body in any other way, but if it touched even the smallest amount of blood, it would very quickly and painlessly destroy [the person]. Having first smeared the needle, she wore it in her hair as usual, but then, having pricked her arm a little beforehand, she plunged it into the blood.

2. προσέθετο, οἱ δὲ ὅτι βελόνην, ᾗ τὰς τρίχας ἀνεῖρεν, ἰῷ τινι, δύναμιν τοιαύτην ἔχοντι ὥστε ἄλλως μὲν μηδὲν τὸ σῶμα βλάπτειν, ἂν δ᾽ αἵματος καὶ βραχυτάτου ἅψηται, καὶ τάχιστα καὶ ἀλυπότατα αὐτὸ φθείρειν, χρίσασα τέως μὲν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ ἐφόρει ὥσπερ εἰώθει, τότε δὲ προκατανύξασά τι τὸν βραχίονα ἐς τὸ αἷμα ἐνέβαλεν.

3. Thus, in this way, or in a manner very close to it, she perished with her two maidservants: for the eunuch, as soon as she was seized, voluntarily surrendered himself to the reptiles, and, after being bitten by them, he jumped into a coffin that had been prepared for him. When Caesar heard of her death, he was astonished, and he both saw her body and had medicines and Psylli brought to him.

οὕτω μέν, ἢ ὅτι ἐγγύτατα, μετὰ τῶν δύο θεραπαινῶν ἀπώλετο: ὁ γὰρ εὐνοῦχος ἅμα τῷ συλληφθῆναι αὐτὴν τοῖς τε ἑρπετοῖς ἑαυτὸν ἐθελοντὴς [p. 40] παρέδωκε, καὶ δηχθεὶς ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐς σορὸν προπαρεσκευασμένην οἱ ἐσεπεπηδήκει. ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ Καῖσαρ τὴν τελευτὴν αὐτῆς ἐξεπλάγη, καὶ τό τε σῶμα αὐτῆς εἶδε, καὶ φάρμακα αὐτῷ καὶ Ψύλλους,

4. In order to see if they could extract the poison, he brought them (the Psylli). Now, these Psylli are men—no woman becomes a Psyllus—who have the ability to suck out any poison from any reptile immediately, before the person dies, and they themselves are not harmed by being bitten by any of them.

4. εἴ πως ἀνασφήλειε, προσήνεγκεν. οἱ δὲ δὴ Ψύλλοι οὗτοι ἄνδρες μέν εἰσι ῾γυνὴ γὰρ οὐ γίγνεται Ψύλλἀ, δύνανται δὲ πάντα τε ἰὸν παντὸς ἑρπετοῦ παραχρῆμα, πρὶν θνήσκειν τινά, ἐκμυζᾶν, καὶ αὐτοὶ μηδὲν ὑπὸ μηδενὸς αὐτῶν δηχθέντες

5. They are not harmed. They are born from one another, and they test the offspring by either immediately throwing them among snakes, or by placing certain things from their swaddling clothes on them. For neither do they harm the child, and the snakes become numb under its clothing.

5. βλάπτεσθαι. φύονται δὲ ἐξ ἀλλήλων, καὶ δοκιμάζουσι τὰ γεννηθέντα ἤτοι μετ᾽ ὄφεών που εὐθὺς ἐμβληθέντα, ἢ καὶ τῶν σπαργάνων αὐτῶν ἐπιβληθέντων τισίν: οὔτε γὰρ τῷ παιδίῳ τι λυμαίνονται, καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς ἐσθῆτος αὐτοῦ ναρκῶσι.

6. Such was the nature of this matter, and indeed Caesar, unable by any means to bring Cleopatra back to life, both marveled at her and pitied her, while he himself was deeply grieved, feeling as though he had been deprived of all the glory that would have come with his victory.

6. τοῦτο μὲν τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν, ὁ δὲ δὴ Καῖσαρ μηδένα τρόπον ἀναβιώσασθαι τὴν Κλεοπάτραν δυνηθεὶς ἐκείνην μὲν καὶ ἐθαύμασε καὶ ἠλέησεν, αὐτὸς δὲ ἰσχυρῶς ἐλυπήθη ὡς καὶ πάσης τῆς ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ δόξης ἐστερημένος.

1. Antony and Cleopatra, having caused much harm to both the Egyptians and the Romans, thus waged war and thus met their end. They were embalmed in the same manner and buried in the same tomb. They shared both the nature of their souls and the fortune of their fate.

Ἀντώνιος μὲν δὴ καὶ Κλεοπάτρα, πολλῶν μὲν τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις πολλῶν δὲ καὶ τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις κακῶν αἴτιοι γενόμενοι, οὕτω τε ἐπολέμησαν καὶ οὕτως ἐτελεύτησαν, ἔν τε τῷ αὐτῷ τρόπῳ ἐταριχεύθησαν, κἀν τῇ αὐτῇ θήκῃ ἐτάφησαν. ἔσχον δὲ τήν τε φύσιν τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τὴν τύχην τοῦ

2. He was such a person in life. He was in no way inferior in understanding what needed to be done, but he also acted foolishly on many occasions. He distinguished himself in some things by bravery but often failed due to cowardice. He used both his greatness of spirit and his servility in equal measure. He both seized what belonged to others and gave away his own possessions. He pitied many without reason and...

2. βίου τοιάνδε. ὁ μὲν συνεῖναί τε τὸ δέον οὐδενὸς ἥσσων ἐγένετο καὶ πολλὰ ἀφρόνως ἔπραξεν, ἀνδρείᾳ τε ἔν τισι διέπρεψε καὶ ὑπὸ δειλίας συχνὰ ἐσφάλη, τῇ τε μεγαλοψυχίᾳ καὶ τῇ δουλοπρεπείᾳ ἐξ ἴσου ἐχρῆτο, καὶ τά τε ἀλλότρια ἥρπαζε καὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα προΐετο, ἠλέει τε ἀλόγως συχνοὺς καὶ

3. He unjustly punished many. From these actions, he became the strongest out of the weakest and the richest out of the most impoverished, yet he benefited from neither. Instead, he aimed to hold the power of the Romans for himself alone

3. ἐκόλαζεν ἀδίκως πλείονας: κἀκ τούτων ἰσχυρότατός τε ἐξ ἀσθενεστάτου καὶ πλουσιώτατος ἐξ ἀπορωτάτου γενόμενος οὐδετέρου αὐτῶν ἀπώνητο, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ κράτος τὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων μόνος ἕξειν

5. Such were these [Antony and Cleopatra] and thus they passed away. As for their children, Antyllus, though betrothed to Caesar's daughter and having fled to his father's mausoleum, which Cleopatra had built, was immediately put to death. Caesarion, while fleeing to Ethiopia, was captured.

5. οὗτοι μὲν δὴ τοιοῦτοί τε ἐγένοντο καὶ οὕτως ἀπήλλαξαν: τῶν δὲ δὴ παίδων αὐτῶν Ἄντυλλος μέν, καίτοι τήν τε τοῦ Καίσαρος θυγατέρα ἠγγυημένος καὶ ἐς τὸ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ἡρῷον, ὃ ἡ Κλεοπάτρα ἐπεποιήκει, καταφυγών, εὐθὺς ἐσφάγη, Καισαρίων δὲ ἐς Αἰθιοπίαν φεύγων κατελήφθη

7. And to the nieces, whom Octavia had raised and cared for after they were taken from Antony, he (Augustus) allotted money from their paternal estate. He also ordered that all the property that the freedmen of Julius, the son of Antony and Fulvia, had legally left to him upon their deaths be given to him immediately.

7. ταῖς τε ἀδελφιδαῖς, ἃς ἐκ τοῦ Ἀντωνίου ἡ Ὀκταουία ἀνῄρητό τε καὶ ἐτετρόφει, χρήματα ἀπὸ [p. 44] τῶν πατρῴων ἀπένειμε. καὶ τῷ Ἰούλλῳ τῷ τοῦ Ἀντωνίου τῆς τε Φουλουίας υἱεῖ τοὺς ἐξελευθέρους αὐτοῦ πάνθ᾽ ὅσα τελευτῶντάς σφας καταλιπεῖν αὐτῷ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ἔδει παραχρῆμα δοῦναι

1. He ordered it to be done. Among those who had served Antony until then, some he punished, while others he pardoned, either for his own reasons or on behalf of his friends. Since many sons of dynasts and kings were found to be either held as hostages or raised in humiliation under his control, he sent some of them back to their homes, while he arranged marriages or settlements for others, joining them with each other.

1. ἐκέλευσε. τῶν τε ἄλλων τῶν τὰ τοῦ Ἀντωνίου μέχρι τότε πραξάντων τοὺς μὲν ἐκόλασε τοὺς δὲ ἀφῆκεν, ἢ δι᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἢ διὰ τοὺς φίλους. ἐπειδή τε συχνοὶ παρ᾽ αὐτῷ καὶ δυναστῶν καὶ βασιλέων παῖδες οἱ μὲν ἐφ᾽ ὁμηρείᾳ οἱ δὲ καὶ ἐφ᾽ ὕβρει τρεφόμενοι εὑρέθησαν, τοὺς μὲν οἴκαδε αὐτῶν ἀπέστειλε, τοὺς δὲ ἀλλήλοις συνῴκισεν, ἑτέρους