[7,8] Ταῦτ´ εἰπὼν καὶ θαυμαστῶν ἅπαντας ἐμπλήσας ἐλπίδων τοὺς δημοτικοὺς δύο τὰ κάκιστα τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις καθίσταται πολιτευμάτων, οἷς ἅπασα χρῆται προοιμίοις τυραννίς, γῆς ἀναδασμὸν καὶ χρεῶν ἄφεσιν· τούτων δὲ τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν αὐτὸς ἀμφοτέρων ὑπισχνεῖται ποιήσεσθαι στρατηγὸς ἀποδειχθεὶς αὐτοκράτωρ, ἕως ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ τὰ κοινὰ γένηται καὶ δημοκρατικὴν καταστήσωνται πολιτείαν. ἀσμένως δὲ τοῦ δημοτικοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ πλήθους τὴν ἁρπαγὴν τῶν ἀλλοτρίων δεξαμένου λαβὼν τὴν αὐτοκράτορα ἀρχὴν αὐτὸς παρ´ ἑαυτοῦ ἕτερον ἐπιφέρει βούλευμα, δι´ οὗ παρακρουσάμενος αὐτοὺς ἁπάντων ἀφείλετο τὴν ἐλευθερίαν. σκηψάμενος γὰρ ὑποπτεύειν ταραχὰς καὶ ἐπαναστάσεις ἐκ τῶν πλουσίων εἰς τοὺς δημοτικοὺς διὰ τὸν ἀναδασμὸν τῆς γῆς καὶ τὰς τῶν δανείων ἀφέσεις, ἵνα μὴ γένοιτο πόλεμος ἐμφύλιος μηδὲ φόνοι πολιτικοί, μίαν εὑρίσκειν ἔφη πρὶν εἰς τὰ δεινὰ ἐλθεῖν φυλακήν, εἰ τὰ ὅπλα προενέγκαντες ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν ἅπαντες τοῖς θεοῖς καθιερώσειαν, ἵνα κατὰ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἐπιόντων πολεμίων ἔχοιεν αὐτοῖς, ὅταν ἀνάγκη τις καταλάβῃ, χρῆσθαι καὶ μὴ καθ´ ἑαυτῶν, κεῖσθαι δ´ αὐτὰ τέως παρὰ τοῖς θεοῖς ἐν καλῷ. ὡς δὲ καὶ τοῦτ´ ἐπείσθησαν, αὐθημερὸν ἁπάντων παρελόμενος Κυμαίων τὰ ὅπλα ταῖς ἑξῆς ἡμέραις ἔρευναν ἐποιεῖτο τῶν οἰκιῶν, ἐν αἷς πολλοὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ἀποκτείνας τῶν πολιτῶν, ὡς οὐχ ἅπαντα τοῖς θεοῖς ἀποδείξαντας τὰ ὅπλα, μετὰ ταῦτα φυλακαῖς τρισὶ κρατύνεται τὴν τυραννίδα· ὧν ἦν μία μὲν ἐκ τῶν ῥυπαρωτάτων {τε καὶ πονηροτάτων} πολιτῶν, μεθ´ ὧν κατέλυσε τὴν ἀριστοκρατικὴν πολιτείαν, ἑτέρα δ´ ἐκ τῶν ἀνοσιωτάτων δούλων, οὓς αὐτὸς ἠλευθέρωσεν ἀποκτείναντας τοὺς αὑτῶν δεσπότας, τρίτη δὲ μισθοφόρος ἐκ τῶν ἀγριωτάτων βαρβάρων· οὗτοι δισχιλίων οὐκ ἐλάττους ἦσαν καὶ τὰ πολέμια μακρῷ τῶν ἄλλων ἀμείνους. ὧν δ´ ἀπέκτεινεν ἀνδρῶν τὰς εἰκόνας ἀνελὼν ἐκ παντὸς ἱεροῦ καὶ βεβήλου τόπου, φέρων εἰς τοὺς αὐτοὺς τόπους τὰς ἰδίας ἀντ´ ἐκείνων ἀνέστησεν· οἰκίας δ´ αὐτῶν καὶ κλήρους καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν ὕπαρξιν ἀναλαβών, ἐξελόμενος χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τυραννίδος ἦν ἄξιον κτῆμα, τὰ λοιπὰ τοῖς συγκατασκευάσασι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐχαρίσατο, πλείστας δὲ καὶ μεγίστας δωρεὰς τοῖς ἀποκτείνασι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν δεσπότας ἐδίδου· οἱ δ´ ἠξίουν ἔτι καὶ γυναιξὶ τῶν δεσποτῶν καὶ θυγατράσι συνοικεῖν.

[7,8] When he had said this and thereby filled all the common people with wonderful hopes, he established two institutions which are the worst of all human institutions and the prologues to every tyranny — a redistribution of the land and an abolition of debts. He promised that he would take upon himself the care of both these matters if he were appointed general with absolute power till the public tranquillity should be secured and they had established a democratic constitution. When the common people and the unprincipled rabble gladly accepted the proposal to pillage the goods of other men, Aristodemus conferred upon himself the supreme command, and proposed another measure by which he deceived them and deprived them all of their liberty. For pretending to suspect that the rich would raise disturbances and insurrections against the common people on account of the redistribution of the land and the abolition of debts, he said the only means he could think of to prevent a civil war and the slaughter of citizens and to guard against these (p169) miseries before they happened, was for all of them to bring the arms out of their houses and to consecrate them to the gods, in order that they might make use of them against foreign enemies who should attack them, whenever the necessity should arise, and not against one another, and that in the mean time they would be suitably placed in the keeping of the gods. When they agreed to this also, he disarmed all the Cumaeans that very day, and during the following days he searched their houses, where he put to death many worthy citizens, alleging that they had not produced all their arms for the gods. After this he strengthened his tyranny by three sorts of guards. The first consisted of the filthiest and the most unprincipled of the citizens, by whose aid he had overthrown the aristocracy; the second, of the most impious knaves, whom he himself had freed for having killed their masters; and the third, a mercenary force, consisting of the most average barbarians, who amounted to no fewer than two thousand and were far better soldiers than any of the rest. He destroyed the statues of those he had put to death in all places both sacred and profane and set up his own in their stead; and seizing their houses and lands and the rest of their fortunes, he reserved for himself the gold and silver and everything else that was worthy of a tyrant, and divided the remainder among those who had aided him in gaining his power. But the most numerous and the largest gifts he made to (p171) the slaves who had killed their masters. Thereupon these insisted also on marrying the wives and daughters of their late masters.