[1311b]
[1]
with his favorite he asked him
if he was yet with child by him）,and the attack on Philip by Pausanias1 was because he allowed him to be insulted by Attalus and
his friends, and that on Amyntas the Little2 by Derdas
because he mocked at his youth, and the attack of the eunuch on Evagoras of
Cyprus was for revenge, for he
murdered him as being insulted, because Evagoras's son had taken away his wife.
And many risings have also
occurred because of shameful personal indignities committed by certain monarchs.
One instance is the attack of Crataeas on Archelaus3; for he was always
resentful of the association, so that even a smaller excuse became sufficient,
or perhaps it was because he did not give him the hand of one of his daughters
after agreeing to do so, but gave the elder to the king of Elimea when hard
pressed in a war against Sirras and Arrabaeus, and the younger to his son
Amyntas, thinking that thus Amyntas would be least likely to quarrel with his
son by Cleopatra; but at all events Crataeas's estrangement was primarily caused
by resentment because of the love affair. And Hellanocrates of Larisa also joined in the attack for the same reason; for
because while enjoying his favors Archelaus would not restore him to his home
although he had promised to do so, he thought that the motive of the familiarity
that had taken place
[20]
had been
insolence and not passionate desire. And Pytho and Heraclides of Aenus made away with Cotys4 to avenge
their father, and Adamas revolted from Cotys because he had been mutilated by
him when a boy, on the ground of the insult. And also many men when enraged by the indignity of
corporal chastisement have avenged the insult by destroying or attempting to
destroy its author, even when a magistrate or member of a royal dynasty. For
example when the Penthilidae5 at Mitylene went about striking people with their staves Megacles
with his friends set on them and made away with them, and afterwards Smerdis
when he had been beaten and dragged out from his wife's presence killed
Penthilus. Also Decamnichus took a leading part in the attack upon Archelaus,
being the first to stir on the attackers; and the cause of his anger was that he
had handed him over to Euripides the poet to flog, Euripides being angry because
he had made a remark about his breath smelling. And many others also for similar reasons have been made
away with or plotted against. And similarly also from the motive of fear; for
this was one of the causes we mentioned in the case of monarchies, as also in
that of constitutional governments; for instance Artapanes6 killed Xerxes fearing
the charge about Darius, because he had hanged him when Xerxes had ordered him
not to but he had thought that he would forgive him because he would forget, as
he had been at dinner. And other attacks on monarchs have been on account of
contempt,
1 A Macedonian youth of family, who murdered Philip 336 B.C. Attalus was the uncle of Philip's wife Cleopatra.
2 Perhaps the adjective should be transferred to Derdas and expunged as an interpolated note. The persons referred to are uncertain.
3 King of Macedon 413-399 B.C. Euripides went to reside at his court 408 B.C. and died there 406 B.C. at the age of 75.
5 The ruling family in the early oligarchy there, claiming descent from Penthilus, an illegitimate son of Orestes.
6 Captain of Xerxes' body-guard.
Aristotle. Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 21, translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1944.
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