Plutarch · a new plain-English translation from the original language
Now while many fine qualities belonged to these men, it is among the very finest that Dion achieved the greatest things from the smallest resources. For he did not have a rival to share the credit, as Brutus had Cassius — a man not equally trustworthy for virtue and reputation, but one who contributed no fewer resources to the war in daring, skill, and action, so that some even ascribe to him the beginning of the
whole enterprise, saying that he was the one who set the resolve against Caesar in motion for the still-hesitating Brutus. Dion, by contrast, appears to have acquired for himself, on his own, not only arms and ships and a military force, but also the friends and helpers for his undertaking. Nor, further, did Dion, like Brutus, gain wealth and power out of the very course of events and the war itself; rather
Dion advanced his own wealth in support of the war beforehand, spending in advance the resources of his exile for the sake of his fellow citizens' freedom. Moreover, Brutus and Cassius, since it was not safe for them to remain quiet once expelled from Rome, but they had been condemned to death and were being pursued, took refuge in war out of necessity, and having committed their persons to arms, ran their risk more on their own behalf
than on behalf of their fellow citizens. Dion, on the other hand, living in exile more fearlessly and more pleasantly than the tyrant who had banished him, willingly took on so great a danger for the sake of saving Sicily. And indeed it is not the same thing for the Syracusans to be freed of Dionysius as for the Romans to be freed of Caesar. For the former did not even deny that he was a tyrant, and had filled Sicily with countless evils, whereas Caesar's rule, while it was being established, did cause
no small trouble to those who opposed it, yet to those who accepted it and were mastered by it, it appeared to be only a name and a semblance, while in actual deed nothing harsh or tyrannical came of it; rather, to affairs that stood in need of monarchy it seemed that a most gentle physician had been given by heaven itself. For this reason the Roman people at once longed for Caesar, so that they became harsh and implacable toward his killers, whereas for Dion, the removal of Dionysius
from Syracuse, and his failure to tear down the tomb of the former tyrant, became the very things that made him most blamed by the citizens. Now, in the actual conduct of the wars themselves, Dion proved a blameless general — handling matters most excellently as far as his own planning went, and whatever setbacks occurred through others he took in hand and turned to the better. Brutus, on the other hand, in the final struggle for
everything, seems neither to have stood his ground wisely nor, having failed, to have found a way to set things right, but he yielded and let go of his hopes, daring less against fortune than even Pompey had dared — and this though much hope still remained there in arms, while by his ships he held firm mastery of the whole sea. But the gravest charge they bring against Brutus is this: that though he was saved by Caesar's favor, and though he saved as many of his fellow captives as he wished,
being counted a friend and honored above many, he became the very slayer of the man who saved him. This one could not say against Dion; quite the opposite — being related to Dionysius and his friend, he set his affairs right and helped preserve them; but once cast out of his homeland, wronged in the matter of his wife, and stripped of his property, he entered openly upon a war that was just and rightful. Or
does this reverse the case first? For that which stands as the greatest praise for these men, hatred of tyrants and detestation of wickedness, this is pure and unmixed in Brutus; for he held no personal quarrel with Caesar, yet staked his own life in advance for the freedom of all. Dion, however, would not have gone to war had he not himself suffered ill, and this is made plain by Plato's letters, from which it is clear that
having been cast out of the tyranny, not having voluntarily withdrawn, he brought down Dionysius. Further, the common advantage made Brutus a friend even to Pompey, though he was his enemy, and an enemy to Caesar, since he used one and the same standard, justice, as the measure of both enmity and friendship; whereas Dion, out of favor, set many things right for Dionysius while he was steadfast toward him, and when he was distrusted, made war on him out of anger. For this reason not even all his friends trusted him,
believing that, having removed Dionysius, he would not fail to secure the rule for himself, having led the citizens along under the gentler name of a milder tyranny than before; but concerning Brutus, even his enemies would say that alone among those who joined in the deed against Caesar, he set before himself, from beginning to end, one single aim: to restore to the Romans their ancestral form of government. Yet apart from all this, the struggle against Dionysius was surely not comparable to that against
Caesar. For as regards Dionysius, there was no one who would not have despised a man who spent the greater part of his time among his intimates in drinking, dice, and women; but to conceive in one's mind the overthrow of Caesar, and not to fear his formidable power and fortune — a man whose very name would not let the kings of the Parthians and the Indians sleep — this was the work of a soul of surpassing greatness, and one that could yield
nothing of its resolve to fear. For this reason, when Dion merely appeared in Sicily, no small number of tens of thousands rallied against Dionysius; but Caesar's reputation, even after he had fallen, upheld his friends, and his very name raised the one who bore it — from a helpless boy — at once to be first among the Romans, since he wrapped himself in it as an antidote against the enmity and power of Antony. But if someone should say that
Dion needed many hard struggles before he expelled the tyrant, whereas Brutus struck down Caesar while he was defenseless and without weapons, then that very fact was itself a feat of the utmost skill and generalship — to catch a man wrapped in so great a power unguarded and unarmed. For he did not fall upon him and destroy him suddenly, alone or with a few companions, but having composed the plan over a long time and having attacked with many, none of whom betrayed him — either
he judged the best men from the start, or by his choosing them he made those he trusted good. Dion, on the other hand, whether by judging badly he entrusted himself to wicked men, or by his associating with them turned good men into wicked ones, neither outcome was fitting for a prudent man to suffer. Plato too rebukes him for choosing such friends, by whom he was destroyed. And for Dion no avenger appeared after his fall; but Brutus, even among his enemies, Antony
buried with honor, and Caesar preserved his honors as well. There stands a bronze statue of him in Mediolanum, in the Gaul this side of the Alps; Caesar, seeing this statue afterward — a good likeness and gracefully wrought — passed it by; then, having stopped a little later, with many listening, he called for the magistrates, declaring that he had found their city to be in breach of treaty, since it harbored an enemy of his among them. At first, as was natural,
they denied it, and being at a loss as to whom he meant, they looked at one another. But when Caesar turned toward the statue and, drawing his face together, said, "But does not this man, an enemy of ours, stand here?" — they were struck with even greater consternation and fell silent. He, however, smiling, praised the Gauls for being steadfast to their friends even against fortune, and ordered the statue
to remain in its place.