Book 1
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There is a story that he did not wish the place where he was buried to be known, and to that end contrived the following device. He ordered two young men to go out at night by a certain road which he pointed out to them; they were to kill the man they met and bury him. He afterwards ordered four more to go in pursuit of the two, kill them and bury them; again, he dispatched a larger number in pursuit of the four. Having taken these measures, he himself encountered the first pair and was slain. The Corinthians placed the following inscription upon a cenotaphAnth. Pal. vii. 619.:
7.97
In mother earth here Periander lies, The prince of sea-girt Corinth rich and wise. My own epitaph on him isAnth. Pal. vii. 620.: Grieve not because thou hast not gained thine end, But take with gladness all the gods may send; Be warned by Periander’s fate, who died Of grief that one desire should be denied.
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To him belongs the maxim: Never do anything for money; leave gain to trades pursued for gain. He wrote a didactic poem of 2000 lines. He said that those tyrants who intend to be safe should make loyalty their bodyguard, not arms. When some one asked him why he was tyrant, he replied, Because it is as dangerous to retire voluntarily as to be dispossessed. Here are other sayings of his: Rest is beautiful. Rashness has its perils. Gain is ignoble. Democracy is better than tyranny. Pleasures are transient, honours are immortal.
