Book 7

1.1. While everyone was marching out with the King to the war against the Egyptians, no one gave any order to Chaereas; for he was not the King's slave, but was then the only free man in Babylon. And he rejoiced, hoping that Callirhoe would remain. So the next day he came to the palace, looking for the woman.

1.2. Seeing it shut up and many guards at the doors, he went round the whole city searching, and continually, like a madman, kept asking his friend Polycharmus: "Where is Callirhoe? What has become of her? Surely she too is not on campaign?"

1.3. Not finding Callirhoe, he looked for Dionysius his rival, and came to his house. Then someone came forward as though by chance and said what he had been taught to say. For Dionysius, wishing to make Chaereas despair of the marriage with Callirhoe and no longer wait for the trial, had devised something of this kind.

1.4. Going out to the battle, he had left behind a man to report to Chaereas that the King of the Persians, having need of allies, had sent Dionysius to gather an army against the Egyptian, and, so that he might serve him faithfully and zealously, had given Callirhoe back to him. On hearing this, Chaereas believed it at once; for a man in misfortune is easily deceived.

1.5. So tearing his clothes and rending his hair, beating his breast at the same time, he said: "Faithless Babylon, evil host, deserted in my case as well! O fine judge — he has become the procurer of another man's wife! A wedding in time of war! And I was rehearsing my case and was fully persuaded that I would plead justly; but I have been condemned by default, and Dionysius has won by saying nothing.

1.6. But his victory will profit him nothing; for Callirhoe will not live, parted from Chaereas while he is present, and at the first it was the belief that I was dead that deceived her. Why then do I delay, and not cut my own throat before the palace, pouring out my blood on the doors of the judge? Let Persians and Medes know how the King gave judgment here."

1.7. But Polycharmus, seeing that his friend's calamity was inconsolable and that Chaereas could not be saved, said: "Long ago, dearest friend, I used to console you, and often kept you from dying; but now you seem to me to have resolved well. So far am I from hindering you that I myself am now ready to die with you. But let us consider what manner of death would be better; for the one you intend brings some odium upon the King and shame for the future, but no great revenge for what we have suffered.

1.8. It seems to me that we should use the death we have once resolved on to take vengeance on the tyrant. For it is a fine thing, having grieved him by some deed, to make him repent, leaving to those who come after a noble tale, that two Greeks who had been wronged repaid the Great King with grief and died like men."

1.9. "How, then," said Chaereas, "can we, alone and poor and foreigners, grieve the master of so many great nations, who has such power as we have seen? For there are guards and outguards about his person; and even if we kill someone of his, even if we burn some of his possessions, he will not feel the loss."

1.10. "You would be right to say this," said Polycharmus, "were it not for the war; but as it is, we hear that Egypt has revolted, that Phoenicia has been captured, that Syria is being overrun. War will meet the King even before he crosses the Euphrates.

1.11. So we are not the only two; rather we have as many allies as the Egyptian leads — so many arms, so much money, so many triremes. Let us use another's strength for our own revenge." Not yet was the whole word spoken when Chaereas cried out: "Let us hasten, let us be off! I will take justice on the judge in the war."

2.1. So setting out quickly, they pursued the King, pretending to wish to campaign with him; for by this pretext they hoped to cross the Euphrates without fear. They overtook the army at the river and, joining the rear-guard, followed along.

2.2. When they came to Syria, they deserted to the Egyptian, and the guards, seizing them, examined who they were; for, not having the bearing of envoys, they were rather suspected of being spies. There too they were in danger, had not a certain Greek, found there by chance, understood their speech. They asked to be led to the king, as bringing him a great benefit.

2.3. When they had been brought, Chaereas said: "We are Greeks, Syracusans of noble birth. This man came to Babylon, being my friend, for my sake, and I for the sake of a woman, the daughter of Hermocrates — if you have heard of any Hermocrates, a general who defeated the Athenians at sea." The Egyptian nodded;

2.4. for no nation was ignorant of the misfortune of the Athenians, which they suffered in the Sicilian war. "Artaxerxes has tyrannized over us," and he related everything. "So bringing ourselves, we give ourselves to you as faithful friends, having the two most powerful incitements to courage — a love of death and of revenge. For already I am dead, so far as concerns my misfortunes; what remains, I live only to grieve my enemy. 'May I not die without a struggle and without glory, but having done some great thing for men yet to come to hear of.'"

2.5. Hearing this, the Egyptian was pleased, and taking his right hand said: "You have come in good time, young man, both for yourself and for me." At once, then, he ordered arms and a tent to be given them, and not long after he made Chaereas his table-companion, and then his counsellor; for Chaereas showed prudence and courage, and with these also faithfulness, as one not unprovided with a good nature and education.

2.6. His rivalry with the King roused him the more and made him more distinguished, and his wish to show that he was not contemptible but worthy of honour. So at once he displayed a great deed. To the Egyptian everything else had gone forward easily, and he had become master of Coele-Syria at a single stroke; Phoenicia too was subject to him, except for Tyre.

2.7. But the Tyrians are by nature a most warlike people, and wish to possess glory for courage, lest they seem to disgrace Heracles, the most manifest god among them, to whom alone they have practically dedicated the city. They take confidence also in the strength of their dwelling-place.

2.8. For the city is settled in the sea, and a narrow entrance joining it to the land keeps it from being an island; it is like a ship at anchor, having put its gangway down upon the land.

2.9. So it is easy for them to shut out war on every side: the land army by the sea, since a single gate suffices against it, and the sailing-up of the triremes by walls, the city being strongly built and closed off by harbours like a house.

3.1. So when all the surrounding country had been taken, the Tyrians alone despised the Egyptians, keeping their goodwill and faith to the Persian. Vexed at this, the Egyptian gathered a council. Then for the first time he summoned Chaereas to the deliberation, and spoke thus: "Men, my allies —

3.2. for I would not call my friends slaves — you see the difficulty: that, like a ship that has sailed prosperously for a long way, we are caught by a contrary wind, and most troublesome Tyre holds us back when we are pressing on. The King too is hastening, as we learn. What, then, must we do? For it is not possible either to take Tyre or to pass it by; rather, lying like a wall in the midst, it shuts off all Asia from us. It seems to me that we should leave here as quickly as possible, before the Persian force is added to the Tyrians.

3.3. There is danger in our being caught in enemy country. But Pelusium is a stronghold, where we fear neither Tyrians nor Medes nor all mankind coming against us; for there is impassable sand and a narrow entrance, and the sea is ours, and the Nile loves the Egyptians." When he had said this very cautiously, there was silence among all, and dejection; but Chaereas alone dared to speak: "O King —

3.4. for you are truly a king, not the Persian, the basest of men — you have grieved me by deliberating about flight in the hour of victory; for we are winning, if the gods will, and we shall hold not only Tyre but Babylon too. Many obstacles arise in war, before which one must not utterly shrink back, but set one's hand to the work, always putting forward good hope.

3.5. These Tyrians, who now mock us, I will set before you stripped and in fetters. If you do not believe it, sacrifice me first and depart; for while I live I will not share in flight. But if you wish it at all costs, leave me a few who will willingly remain; and 'we two, Polycharmus and I, will fight; for we have come with a god.'"

3.6. All were ashamed not to assent to Chaereas's opinion; and the King, marvelling at his spirit, granted him to take as many of the picked army as he wished. But he did not choose them at once; rather, mingling himself into the camp, and ordering Polycharmus to do the same, he first searched out whether there were any Greeks in the camp.

3.7. Many of the mercenaries were found, and he chose Lacedaemonians and Corinthians and the other Peloponnesians; he found also about twenty Sicilians. So having made up three hundred in number, he spoke thus: "Men of Greece,

3.8. since the King gave me leave to pick the best of the army, I chose you; for I myself am a Greek, a Syracusan by descent. And you must surpass the rest not only in nobility of birth but also in valour.

3.9. Let no one, then, be dismayed at the deed to which I summon you; for we shall find it possible and easy — difficult in appearance rather than in experience. So few Greeks withstood Xerxes at Thermopylae. The Tyrians are not five million, but a few, and they use contempt with arrogance, not spirit with good counsel.

3.10. Let them learn, then, how much Greeks surpass Phoenicians. As for me, I do not desire command, but am ready to follow whoever of you wishes to lead; for he will find me obedient, since I aim not at my own glory but at the common one." All shouted: "Be our general, with our consent." He said: "I am your general, and you yourselves have given me the command;

3.11. for this reason I will try to do everything so that you may not repent having chosen goodwill and faith toward me. But for the present, with the gods' help, you will become glorious and conspicuous and the richest of the allies, and for the future you will leave behind an immortal name of valour; and all men, as they celebrate the three hundred with Othryadas or those with Leonidas, so will celebrate those with Chaereas." While he was still speaking, all cried out, "Lead on!" and all rushed to their arms.

4.1. Adorning them with the finest panoplies, Chaereas led them to the King's tent. Seeing them, the Egyptian marvelled and supposed he was looking at others, not his usual men, and he promised them great gifts.

4.2. "These," said Chaereas, "we take on trust; but do you keep the rest of the army under arms, and do not advance against Tyre before we have mastered it and, having mounted the walls, call you."

4.3. "May the gods grant it so," he said. So Chaereas led those men, packed close together, against Tyre, so that they seemed far fewer; and truly: "shield pressed on shield, helmet on helmet, man on man." And at first they were not even observed by the enemy; but when they were near, those on the walls, seeing them, signalled to those within, expecting anything rather than that they were enemies.

4.4. For who would have expected that men so few would come against the mightiest of cities, against which not even the whole force of the Egyptians had ever dared to come? When they drew near the walls, they asked who they were and what they wanted.

4.5. Chaereas answered: "We are Greek mercenaries, not receiving our pay from the Egyptian, but even plotted against to our destruction; we have come to you, wishing to take vengeance with you upon the common enemy."

4.6. Someone reported this to those within, and the general, opening the gates, came forward with a few. Chaereas, killing him first, rushed upon the rest, "and he smote them turning this way and that, and an unseemly groaning arose from them." One killed another, like lions falling upon an unguarded herd of cattle; and wailing and lamentation held the whole city, few seeing what was happening, but all in confusion.

4.7. And a disordered crowd poured out through the gate, wishing to see what had befallen. This above all destroyed the Tyrians.

4.8. For those within forced their way out, while those outside, struck and pierced with swords and spears, fled back within; and meeting one another in the narrow space, they gave great opportunity to the killers. Nor was it even possible to shut the gates, the dead being heaped up in them.

4.9. In this indescribable confusion Chaereas alone kept his head; for forcing his way through those who met him and getting inside the gates, he leapt up onto the walls, himself the tenth man, and from above signalled, calling the Egyptians, who came faster than word, and Tyre was taken.

4.10. When Tyre had been taken, all the others held festival, but Chaereas alone neither sacrificed nor crowned himself. "For what profit have I in a victory celebration, if you, Callirhoe, do not see it? I will no longer wear a garland since that wedding night. For whether you are dead, I do wrong; or whether you live, how can I hold festival without you, while you are perhaps lying in such straits?"

4.11. But the King of the Persians, having crossed the Euphrates, hastened to engage the enemy as quickly as possible. For learning that Tyre had been taken, he feared for Sidon and for all Syria, seeing his enemy already a match for him.

4.12. For this reason he resolved no longer to travel with all his retinue, but more lightly equipped, so that nothing might hinder his speed. Taking the purest part of the army, he left behind there, with the queen, the useless ages, and the money and the clothing and the royal treasure.

4.13. But since everything was full of tumult and disturbance, and the war had seized the cities as far as the Euphrates, it seemed safer to deposit those left behind on Aradus.

5.1. This is an island, distant thirty stades from the mainland, having an ancient temple of Aphrodite. So as if in a house, the women passed their time there with complete security.

5.2. When Callirhoe beheld the Aphrodite, standing opposite her she at first was silent and wept, reproaching the goddess with her tears; at last she murmured: "See, here too is Aradus, a little island instead of great Sicily, and no one of mine here.

5.3. It is enough, mistress. How long will you war against me? If indeed I have offended you at all, you have punished me; if even my unlucky beauty seemed to you a thing to envy, it has become to me the cause of ruin. The one thing that was wanting to my misfortunes — I have now tasted war as well.

5.4. Compared with my present plight, even Babylon was kind to me. There Chaereas was near. But now surely he is dead; for when I went away he would not have lived. Yet I have no one from whom I can learn what has become of him.

5.5. All are strangers, all barbarians, envious, hating; and worse than those who hate are those who love. Do you, mistress, show me whether Chaereas lives." While she was still saying this, Rhodogune came up — daughter of Zopyrus, wife of Megabyzus, both her father and her husband among the noblest of the Persians; this was the woman who had first of the Persian ladies met Callirhoe when she entered Babylon.

5.6. The Egyptian, when he heard that the King was near and prepared both by land and by sea, calling Chaereas, said: "I have not had the chance to repay the first of your successes; for you gave me Tyre. But concerning what follows I beg you, let us not lose the blessings already in our hands, in which I will make you a partner.

5.7. For Egypt suffices me, but Syria shall become a possession for you. Come then, let us consider what is to be done; for the war is at its height in both elements. To you I entrust the choice, whether you wish to command the land or the naval force.

5.8. I think the sea is more proper to you; for you Syracusans defeated the Athenians too at sea. Today your contest is against the Persians, who were defeated by the Athenians. You have Egyptian triremes, larger and more numerous than the Sicilian; imitate your kinsman Hermocrates on the sea." Chaereas answered: "Every danger is sweet to me; on your behalf I will take up the war, even against the King who is most hostile to me.

5.9. Give me, along with the triremes, my own three hundred as well." "Take these," he said, "and others, as many as you wish." And at once the word became a deed; for need pressed. The Egyptian, with the land army, went to meet the enemy,

5.10. while Chaereas was appointed admiral. This made the infantry more dispirited, because Chaereas was not campaigning with them; for they already loved him and had good hopes when he was general. It seemed as though an eye had been torn from a great body.

5.11. But the naval force was lifted up by hope and filled with spirit, because they had the bravest and fairest man as their leader. They mourned little or not at all, but the trierarchs and pilots and sailors and soldiers all alike were eager — each to be the first to display his zeal to Chaereas.

5.12. On the same day the battle was joined both by land and by sea. For a long time the land army of the Egyptians held out against the Medes and Persians, then, overborne by numbers, they gave way. And the King, mounted, pursued. The Egyptian was eager to take refuge in Pelusium, and the Persian to overtake him sooner; and perhaps he would even have escaped, had not Dionysius displayed a marvellous deed.

5.13. In the engagement he fought brilliantly, always fighting near the King so that he might see him, and was the first to rout those opposite him. And then, when the flight was long and continuous by day and by night, seeing the King grieved at this, he said: "Do not grieve, master; for I will keep the Egyptian from escaping, if you give me picked horsemen." The King praised him and gave them;

5.14. and he, taking five thousand, covered two stages in one day, and falling upon the Egyptians at night, unexpected, he took many alive and killed still more. The Egyptian, caught alive, cut his own throat, and Dionysius brought his head to the King.

5.15. When the King saw it, he said: "I will enroll you as a benefactor of my house, and even now I give you the most welcome gift, the one you yourself most of all desire — Callirhoe. The war has decided the case. You have the fairest prize of valour." Dionysius did homage and thought himself the equal of a god, persuaded that he was now securely the husband of Callirhoe.

6.1. These things were happening on land; but on the sea Chaereas conquered, so that the enemy fleet was no match for him; for they did not receive the charges of the Egyptian triremes, nor took up a prow-to-prow stand at all, but some were at once overturned, and others, driven ashore, he captured crews and all; and the sea was filled with Median wreckage.

6.2. But neither did the King know of the defeat of his own men at sea, nor Chaereas of that of the Egyptians on land; each thought himself victorious in both. So on that day on which he had fought at sea, Chaereas, sailing in to Aradus, ordered men to sail round the island in a circle and keep guard, intending to render account of it to his master.

6.3. And they gathered the eunuchs and maidservants and all the cheaper sort of persons into the market-place, for it had open space. So great was the multitude that they passed the night not only in the colonnades but also in the open air.

6.4. Those of some rank they brought into a building of the market-place, in which the magistrates were accustomed to transact business. The women sat on the ground around the queen, and they neither kindled a fire nor tasted food; for they had learned that the King had been captured and that the Persian cause was lost, and that the Egyptian was everywhere victorious.

6.5. That night was both the sweetest and the most grievous that held Aradus. For the Egyptians rejoiced at being freed from war and from Persian slavery, while the captured Persians expected chains and whips and outrages and slaughter, and, as the most merciful thing, slavery. Statira, laying her head on Callirhoe's knees, wept; and Callirhoe, as a Greek and an educated woman, not unpractised in misfortunes, did most to console the queen.

6.6. And something of this kind happened. An Egyptian soldier, who had been entrusted with guarding those in the building, learning that the queen was within, did not dare to approach near her — according to the innate reverence of the barbarians for the royal name — but standing by the closed door,

6.7. he said: "Take heart, mistress; for now the admiral does not know that you too have been shut up here with the captives, but when he learns it he will provide for you kindly. For he is not only brave but will also make you his wife; for by nature he is a lover of women." On hearing this, Callirhoe wailed aloud and tore her hair, saying: "Now in truth I am a captive. Kill me rather than announce such things.

6.8. Marriage I will not endure; death I pray for. Let them pierce and burn me, from here I will not rise; this place shall be my tomb. But if, as you say, the general is humane, let him grant me this favour:

6.9. let him kill me here." That man brought his entreaties to her again, but she would not rise; rather, veiling herself, she fell to the ground and lay there. Deliberation lay before the Egyptian as to what he should do; for he did not dare to use force, but again he could not persuade her. Therefore, turning back, he came to Chaereas with a downcast face.

6.10. Seeing him, Chaereas said: "This is another matter. Some men are stealing the fairest of the spoils, but they will not do it and rejoice." When the Egyptian said: "No harm has come to any woman, master; for the woman whom I found set among the broad ranks does not wish to come, but has flung herself on the ground, asking for a sword and wishing to die," Chaereas laughed and said: "O most witless of all men, do you not know how a woman is won over by entreaties, praises, promises, and most of all if she thinks herself loved? But you, perhaps, used force and insult." "No, master;

6.11. but all these things you speak of I did, twice over the more. For I even lied to you that you would have her as your wife,

6.12. and at this above all she was indignant." Chaereas said: "Charming, then, I must be, and lovable, if even before seeing me she turned away from me and hated me! It seems the woman has a spirit not ignoble. Let no one use force on her, but let her live as she has chosen; for it befits me to honour chastity. And she too, perhaps, is mourning a husband."