Distrust between Philip and the Rhodians
The Prytanies of Rhodes were now distrustful of Philip,
owing to his treacherous policy in Crete,
1 and they began to
Suspect that Heracleides was his agent.
But Heracleides came before them and explained the reasons which had caused him to
The false pretences of Heracleides at Rhodes. |
fly from Philip. . . .
Philip was anxious above everything that the Rhodians
should not discover his purpose in these transactions; whereby
he succeeded in freeing Heracleides from suspicion.
Nature, as it seems to me, has ordained that Truth should
be a most mighty goddess among men, and has
endowed her with extraordinary power.
At
least, I notice that though at times everything combines to
crush her, and every kind of specious argument is on the side
of falsehood, she somehow or another insinuates herself by
her own intrinsic virtue into the souls of men. Sometimes
she displays her power at once; and sometimes, though obscured for a length of time, she at last prevails and overpowers
falsehood. Such was the case with Heracleides when he came
from king Philip to Rhodes.
2 . . .
Damocles, who was sent with Pythio as a spy upon the
Romans, was a person of ability, and possessed of many
endowments fitting him for the conduct of affairs. . . .