Βιβλιοθήκη ἱστορική 17.101

17.101.1

ἀναβοήσαντος δὲ τοῦ πλήθους διά τε τὸ παράδοξον καὶ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς ἀνδραγαθίας ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς προσέταξεν ἀφεῖναι καὶ τὴν θέαν διαλύσας ἀπηλλάγη, δυσφορῶν ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ Μακεδόνος ἥττῃ.

The multitude having loudly applauded the victor for the supreme courage whereby, contrary to all expectation, he had won the day, the king ordered him to let his antagonist go, and then, dismissing the assembly, withdrew to his tent deeply mortified by the discomfiture of the Macedonian. Then Dioxippos, letting the fallen man go, quitted the field with a famous victory and wearing fillets with which his countrymen had adorned his brows in gratitude for the honour which he had conferred on all Greeks in common. Fortune, however, did not allow the victor any long time to enjoy his triumph, for the king became more and more alienated from him, and all Alexander's friends and all the Macedonians about the court were so envious of his worth and fame, that they laid a plot against him, and persuaded the chief steward of the royal household to hide away one of the golden wine-cups under his pillow. So at their next banquet when the wine was served, they charged Dioxippos with theft on the pretence that the cup had been found in his possession, thus subjecting him to shame and disgrace. From this he saw clearly that the Macedonians with one consent had set themselves against him, and he then rose from the banquet, and soon afterwards, when within his own chamber, wrote a letter to Alexander regarding the machinations which had been formed against him. This letter he entrusted to his own servants to deliver into the king's own hands. He then put an end to his life, and thus, by having inconsiderately accepted a challenge, terminated his career by an act of still greater folly. Many of those accordingly who blamed him for a want of sense, sarcastically remarked it was a misfortune to have great strength of body and but a modicum of brain. The king on perusal of the letter took the man's end much to heart, and in after times often regretted the loss of a man of his noble qualities. As he made no use of him in his lifetime, but felt the want of him when he was gone, and when regret was unavailing, he came to know the nobility of the man's nature from its contrast to the baseness of his calumniators.

17.101.2

ὁ δὲ Διώξιππος ἀφεὶς τὸν πεπτωκότα καὶ περιβόητον νίκην ἀπενεγκάμενος ἀπῄει ταινιούμενος ὑπὸ τῶν ὁμοφύλων, ὡς κοινὴν πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησι παρεσχημένος εὐδοξίαν. οὐ μὴν ἡ τύχη γε εἴασεν ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον καυχήσασθαι τὸν ἄνδρα τῇ νίκῃ.

17.101.3

ὅ τε γὰρ βασιλεὺς ἀλλοτριώτερον αἰεὶ διετέθη πρὸς αὐτόν, οἵ τε φίλοι τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ πάντες οἱ περὶ τὴν αὐλὴν Μακεδόνες, φθονοῦντες αὐτοῦ τῇ ἀρετῇ, ἔπεισαν μὲν τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς διακονίας τεταγμένον ὑποβαλεῖν ὑπὸ τὸ προσκεφάλαιον χρυσοῦν ποτήριον, αὐτοὶ δὲ κατὰ τὸν ἑξῆς πότον καταιτιασάμενοι κλοπὴν καὶ ποτήριον εὑρηκέναι προσποιηθέντες εἰς αἰσχύνην καὶ ἀδοξίαν ἤγαγον τὸν Διώξιππον.

17.101.4

ὁ δὲ θεωρῶν τὴν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν συνδρομὴν τῶν Μακεδόνων τότε μὲν ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ πότου, μετʼ ὀλίγον δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἰδίαν κατάλυσιν παραγενόμενος καὶ γράψας πρὸς τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ἐπιστολὴν περὶ τῶν καθʼ αὑτοῦ μεμηχανημένων ταύτην μὲν ἐνετείλατο τοῖς ἰδίοις δοῦναι τῷ βασιλεῖ, αὑτὸν δʼ ἐκ τοῦ ζῆν μετέστησεν, ἀβούλως μὲν εἰς τὴν μονομαχίαν συγκαταβάς, πολὺ δʼ ἀφρονεστέραν τὴν τοῦ βίου καταστροφὴν ποιησάμενος.

17.101.5

διὸ καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν καταμεμφομένων αὐτοῦ τὴν ἄνοιαν ἐπιπλήττοντες ἔφασαν χαλεπὸν εἶναι δύναμιν μὲν σώματος ἔχειν μεγάλην, νοῦν δὲ μικρόν.

17.101.6

ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἀναγνοὺς τὴν ἐπιστολὴν χαλεπῶς μὲν ἤνεγκεν ἐπὶ τῇ τἀνδρὸς τελευτῇ καὶ πολλάκις ἐπεζήτησε τὴν ἀρετὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ παρόντι μὲν οὐ χρησάμενος, ἀπόντα δὲ ἐπιποθήσας ὅτε οὐδὲν ὄφελος ἔγνω τὴν καλοκἀγαθίαν τἀνδρὸς ἐκ τῆς τῶν διαβαλόντων κακίας.