The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 1 (of 3)Athenaeus, of Naucratis
General
The Deipnosophists; or, Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus, Vol. 1 (of 3)
Athenaeus, of Naucratis
Civilization, Greco-Roman; Dinners and dining -- Greece; Greece -- Social life and customs; Homosexuality -- Greece
51. "Having stopped a little after saying this, and having given time
for the multitude to converse together about the news thus unexpectedly
announced to them, he wiped his face, and went on, 'What then do I
advise?--Not to bear this state of anarchy any longer, which the Roman
senate makes continue, while it is deciding what constitution you are to
enjoy for the future. And do not let us be indifferent to our temples
being closed, to our gymnasia being left in the dirt, to our theatre
being always empty, and our courts of justice mute, and the Pnyx,
consecrated by the oracles of the gods, being taken from the people. Let
us not, O Athenians, be indifferent to the sacred voice of Bacchus being
reduced to silence, to the holy temple of Castor and Pollux being
closed, and to the schools of the philosophers being silenced as they
are.' And when this slave had said all this and a good deal more, the
multitude conversing with one another and running together to the
theatre elected Athenio general over the entire army. And then, the
Peripatetic coming into the orchestra, walking like Pythocles, thanked
the Athenians, and said, 'Now you yourselves are your own generals, and
I am the commander-in-chief: and if you exert all your strength to
co-operate with me I shall be able to do as much as all of you put
together.' And he, having said this, appointed others to be his
colleagues in the command, proposing whatever names he thought
desirable.
52. "And a few days afterwards, the philosopher having thus appointed
himself tyrant, and having proved how much weight is to be attached to
the doctrine of the Pythagoreans about plots against others, and what
was the practical effect of the philosophy which the admirable
Pythagoras laid down, as Theopompus has related in the eighth book of
his Philippics, and Hermippus, the Callimachean, has corroborated the
account, he immediately removed all the citizens who were right-thinking
and of a good disposition (contrary to the sentiments of, and rules laid
down by, Aristotle and Theophrastus; showing how true is the proverb
which says, Do not put a sword into the hand of a child); and he placed
sentinels at the gates, so that many of the Athenians, fearing what he
might be going to do, let themselves down over the walls by night, and
so fled away. And Athenio sending some horsemen to pursue them slew some
of them, and brought back some in chains, having a number of body-guards
about his person of the kind called phractici. And often he convened
assemblies, pretending great attachment to the side of the Romans; and
bringing accusations against many as having kept up communications with
the exiles, and aiming at a revolution, he put them to death. And he
placed thirty guards at each gate, and would not allow any one to go
either in or out. And he seized on the property of many of the people,
and collected such a quantity of money as to fill several wells; and he
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