Various History

[...garment] then to drink the poison. Apollodorus said to him that it would be a fine thing if he did not lack funeral robes, and if he should die in them. For if he were laid out original: ὑποκάθαι (hypokathai); likely referring to the preparation of the body for burial. in a divine arrangement, the corpse would not be at all unseemly. Apollodorus said these things to Socrates, but he would not tolerate it. Instead, he said to him, and to Crito, and to Simmias, and to Phaedo: "How can Apollodorus think so poorly of us? He seems to believe that after the 'Athenian cup of friendship' original: ἀθηναίων φιλοτησίαν (athēnaiōn philotēsian). This is a grimly ironic euphemism for the hemlock, as a "philotesia" was a cup drunk to seal a bond of friendship. and the drinking of the poison, he will still see Socrates in this way. If he thinks that the body which will shortly be cast at his feet is me, and that I am the one to be buried, it is clear he does not know me."

Concerning the tiniest four-horse chariots, and an elegy.

These, then, are the much-admired works of Myrmecides of Miletus and Callicrates of Lacedaemon Sparta: their tiny masterpieces. They created four-horse chariots so small that they could be covered by the wing of a fly. And upon a single sesame seed, they inscribed a two-line elegiac poem in letters of gold. In my opinion, a serious person would praise neither of these. For what else are they but a waste of time?

Concerning luxurious women.

Most women used to "melt away" in their luxury. On their heads they would place high crowns, and on their feet they wore sandals. Long earrings hung from their ears. As for their tunics, they did not sew them together from the shoulders down to the hands, but instead fastened and held them together with brooches original: πόρναις (pornais); likely a transcription error for πόρπαις (porpais), meaning pins or brooches. of gold and silver. And these were the women of very ancient times. As for the luxury of the Athenian women, let Aeschrophanes A comic poet known for satirizing social habits. speak of that.

Concerning the luxury of the Sybarites, Colophonians, and Corinthians.

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Popular tradition, which has spread to everyone, says that for the Sybarites Residents of Sybaris, a Greek colony in Italy famous for its wealth and decadence. and for the city of Sybaris itself, the cause of their destruction was their great luxury. But I will speak of things that are not known to the many. They say that the Colophonians From a city in Ionia (modern Turkey). were also ruined because of their extreme luxury. For indeed, they grew soft in their extravagance, and through the profligacy of their tables and their excessive consumption, they became insolent. Likewise, the rule of the Bacchiadae A ruling family in Corinth. in Corinth, though it had advanced to great power, was nonetheless dissolved because of their luxury that went beyond all measure.

Concerning Dionysius plundering the things of the gods.

Dionysius Dionysius I, the tyrant of Syracuse. plundered the wealth from all the temples in Syracuse...