Texte grec :
| [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.
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Traduction française :
| [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.
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