Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata

When Timotheus the harp-player had hopes of receiving a goodly sum, but received less, he plainly showed that he felt resentful towards Archelaus; and, once, as he was singing this brief line: Over the earth-born silver you rave. [*](Cf. Bergk, Poet. Lyr. Graec. iii. p. 624, Timotheus, No. 14, or Edmonds, Lyra Graeca (in L.C.L.), iii. p. 330, No. 28. Plutarch repeats the story in Moralia, 334 B.) he directed it towards Archelaus; whereupon Archelaus retorted upon him with this, That, however, is what you crave.

When somebody had thrown water upon him, and he was incited by his friends against the man, he said, But it was not upon me that he threw it, but upon the man he thought me to be.

Theophrastus has recorded that Philip, the father of Alexander, was not only great among kings, but, owing to his fortune and his conduct, proved himself still greater and more moderate [*](Cf. Cicero, De Officiis, i. 26 (90).)

He said that he must congratulate the Athenians on their happy fortune if they could find ten men every year to elect as generals; for he himself in many years had found only one general, Parmenio.

When several happy events were reported to him within a single day, he said, O Fortune, do

After his victory over the Greeks, when some were advising him to hold the Greek cities in subjection by means of garrisons, he said that he preferred to be called a good man for a long time rather than a master for a short time.

When his friends advised him to banish from his court a man who maligned him, he said he would not, so that the man should not go about speaking ill of him among more people. [*](A similar story is told of Pyrrhus in Plutarch’s Life of Pyrrhus, chap. viii. (387 E).)

When Smicythus remarked maliciously of Nicanor that he was always speaking ill of Philip, and Philip’s companions thought that he ought to send for Nicanor and punish him, Philip said, But really Nicanor is not the worst of the Macedonians. We must investigate therefore whether something is not happening for which we are responsible. When he learned therefore that Nicanor was hard pressed by poverty, and had been neglected by him he directed that a present be given to the man. So when again Smicythus said that Nicanor was continually sounding the praises of Philip to everybody in a surprising way, Philip said, You all see that we ourselves are responsible for the good and the ill that is said of us. [*](Cf. Themistius, Oration, vii. 95 B, and Frontinus, Strategemata, iv. 7. 37.)

He said that he felt very grateful to the popular leaders of the Athenians, because by maligning him they made him better both in speech and in character, For I try both by my words and by my deeds to prove that they are liars.

When all the Athenians who had been taken

When the keybone of his shoulder had been broken in battle, [*](Cf. Demosthenes, Oration xviii. (De Corona), 67 (p. 247), and Aulus Gellius, ii. 27.) and the attending physician insistently demanded a fee every day, he said, Take as much as you wish; for you have the key in your charge ! [*](The pun depends on the fact that κλείς means both key and collar-bone. )