Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata

Being asked whether he would rather have been Achilles or Homer, he said, How about you yourself ? Would you rather be the victor at the Olympic games or the announcer of the victor ? [*](The remark is attributed to Alexander by Dio Chrysostom, Oration, ii. (22 M., 79 R.).)

When Xerxes was descending upon Greece with his mighty armament, Themistocles was afraid of Epicydes the popular leader, unscrupulous and cowardly, lest possibly he might, by being elected general, bring about the ruin of the State; and so he bribed Epicydes to withdraw from his attempt to gain the command. [*](The story is told more fully in Plutarch’s Life of Themistocles, chap. vi. (114 D).)

When Adeimantus lacked the courage to risk a naval battle, and said to Themistocles, who was exhorting and urging on the Greeks, Themistocles, in the games they always scourge the runners who start before the signal is given, Themistocles replied, Yes, Adeimantus, but they do not crown those who are left behind in the race. [*](Adeimantus is the speaker here, as in Herodotus, viii. 59; but in Plutarch’s Life of Themistocles, chap. xi. (117 D), the remark is attributed not to the Corinthian Adeimantus, but to Eurybiades the Spartan, who was in command of the fleet.)

When Eurybiades lifted his cane as though to strike him, he said, Strike but listen. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Themistocles, chap. xi. (117 E); Aelian, Varia Historia, xiii. 40; Diogenes Laertius, vi. 21.)

Unable to persuade Eurybiades to engage the enemy’s ships in the narrows, he sent a secret message to the barbarian telling him not to be afraid of the Greeks, who were running away. And when the barbarian, by taking this advice, was vanquished in the battle because he fought where the Greeks had the advantage, Themistocles again sent a message to him, bidding him flee to the Hellespont by the speediest route, since the Greeks were minded to destroy the bridge. In this his purpose was, while saving the Greeks, to give the king the impression that he was saving him. [*](The details may be found in Plutarch’s Life of Themistocles, chaps. xiii.-xvi. (118 B-120 C). The story comes from Herodotus, viii. 75 and 110. Cf. also Polyaenus, Strategemata, i. 30. 3 and 4.)

When the man from Seriphus said to him that it was not because of himself but because of his country that he was famous, Themistocles remarked, What you say is true enough; but if I were from Seriphus, I should not have become famous, nor would you if you were from Athens. [*](In almost the same words in Plutarch’s Life of Themistocles, chap. xviii. (121 B), but the story goes back to Herodotus, viii. 125, where Timodemus is the speaker, and Themistocles names the island of Belbina. The man from Seriphus is found first in Plato, Republic, 329 E and persists thereafter, as in Plutarch and in Cicero, De senectute, 3 (8), and in Origen, Against Celsus, i. 29 (347 E).)