Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata
Plutarch
Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).
Semiramis [*](Herodotus, i. 187, says that Nitocris built the tomb above the gates of Babylon. Stobaeus, x. 53, copies Plutarch word for word.) caused a great tomb to be prepared for herself, and on it this inscription: Whatsoever king finds himself in need of money may break into this monument and take as much as he wishes. Darius accordingly broke into it, but found no money; he did, however, come upon another inscription reading as follows: If you were not a wicked man with an insatiate greed for money, you would not be disturbing the places where the dead are laid.
Ariamenes, the brother of Xerxes son of Darius, was on his way down from the Bactrian country to contest Xerxes’ right to the kingdom. Xerxes accordingly sent him gifts, bidding those who offered them to say, With these gifts Xerxes your brother now honours you; and if he be proclaimed king, you
shall be the highest at his court. When Xerxes was designated as the king, Ariamenes at once paid homage to him, and placed the crown upon his brother’s head, and Xerxes gave him a rank second only to himself. [*](Plutarch tells the story with more details in Moralia, 488 D-F. The tradition which Plutarch follows is quite different from that of Herodotus, vii. 1-4.)Angered at the Babylonians, who had revolted, [*](The usual tradition is that Babylong revolted from Darius; Herodotus, iii. 150.) he overpowered them, and then ordained that henceforth they should not bear arms, but should play the i lyre and flute, keep public prostitutes, engage in I petty trade, and wear long flowing garments.[*](Cyrus is said to have employed this device against the Lydians; Herodotus, i. 156; Polyaenus, Strategemata, vii. 6. 4; Justin, Hist. Philip, i. 7. For two other instances cf. the scholia on Sophocles, Oedipus Col. 329, and Dionysius Hal. Antiq. Rom. vii. 9. )
He said he would not eat figs from Attica which had been imported for sale, but would eat them when he had obtained possession of the land that bore them. [*](Cf.Athenaeus, p. 652 B.)
When he caught Greek spies in his camp, he did them no injury, but, after bidding them observe his army freely, let them go. [*](The story is told in Herodotus, vii. 146-147.)
Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, called Longhand, because of his having one hand longer than the other [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Artaxerxes, chap. i. (1011 E).) used to say that it is more kingly to give to one who has than to take away.
He was the first to issue an order that any of his companions in the hunt who could and would might throw their spears without waiting for him to throw first.[*](Xenophon (Cyropaedia, i. 4. 14) attributes this innovation to the elder Cyrus; but Cf. Ctesias, Persica, frag. 40.)
He was the first to ordain this form of punishment for those of the ruling class who offended:
Instead of having their bodies scourged and the hair plucked from their heads, they took off their outer garments and these were scourged, and put off their head-dress and this was plucked.[*](Cf. Moralia, 35 E and 565 A, and Wyttenbach’s note on the latter passage.)Satibarzanes, his chamberlain, made a dishonourable request of him, and it came to his knowledge that the man was doing this for thirty thousand pounds; whereupon he directed his treasurer to bring him thirty thousand pounds, and, as he gave the money to his chamberlain, he said, Take this, Satibarzanes; for if I make you this gift I shall not be poorer, but if I do that deed I shall be more dishonourable !