Sulla

He wrote also to the Amphictyons at Delphi that it was better to have the treasures of the god sent to him; for he would either keep them more safely, or, if he spent them, would restore as much. And he sent Caphis, the Phocian, one of his friends, with the letter, bidding him receive each article by weight. Caphis came to Delphi, but was loth to touch the sacred objects, and shed many tears, in the presence of the Amphictyons, over the necessity of it.

And when some of them declared they heard the sound of the god’s lyre in the inner sanctuary, Caphis, either because he believed them, or because he wished to strike Sulla with superstitious fear, sent word to him about it. But Sulla wrote back jocosely, expressing his amazement that Caphis did not understand that singing was done in joy, not anger; his orders were therefore to take boldly, assured that the god was willing and glad to give.

Accordingly, the rest of the treasures were sent away without the knowledge of the most, certainly, of the Greeks; but the silver jar, the only one of the royal gifts[*](The gifts of Croesus, king of Lydia (Herodotus, i. 51).) which still remained, was too large and heavy for any beast of burden to carry, and the Amphictyons were compelled to cut it into pieces. As they did so, they called to mind now Titus Flamininus and Manius Acilius, and now Aemilius Paulus, of whom one had driven Antiochus out of Greece,[*](Manius Acilius Glabrio, consul in 191 B.C., defeated Antiochus the Great at Thermopylae, and forced him to return to Asia.) and the others had subdued in war the kings of Macedonia;[*](Flamininus defeated Philip V. of Macedon at Cynoscephalae in 197 B.C., and Aemilius Paulus crushed Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, at Pydna, in 168 B.C. See Plutarch’s Flamininus, xv.; Aemilius Paulus, xvi.-xxii. ) these had not only spared the sanctuaries of the Greeks, but had even made additional gifts to them, and greatly increased their honour and dignity.

But these were lawful commanders of men who were self-restrained and had learned to serve their leaders without a murmur, and they were themselves kingly in spirit and simple in their personal expenses, and indulged in moderate and specified public expenditures, deeming it more disgraceful to flatter their soldiers than to fear their enemies;