Kitap 33
28
As Brachylles was the main supporter of the king they determined to get rid of him while the arms of Rome were in their neighbourhood. The hour chosen was when he was returning from a State banquet in a state of intoxication, escorted by an effeminate crew who had been carousing in the banquet hall. He was set upon by six armed men, three of whom were Italians and three Aetolians, and killed on the spot. His companions fled screaming for help, and the whole city was thrown into uproar, men running in all directions with lanterns and torches. The assassins had meanwhile escaped through the nearest gate. At daybreak the next morning the population gathered in the theatre in such numbers as to give the appearance of a formal assembly convened by edict or by the public crier. Openly all men were saying that he had been murdered by his retinue and the dissolute wretches who accompanied him, but in their hearts they fixed upon Zeuxippus as the instigator of the crime. For the time being, however, it was decided that those who had been with him should be arrested and examined under torture. While search was being made for them Zeuxippus, determined to clear himself of any suspicion of complicity, came calm and undismayed into the gathering and said that people were mistaken who supposed that such an atrocious murder could have been committed by such effeminate creatures. He adduced many strong arguments to support this view, and some who heard him were convinced that if he were an accomplice he would never have appeared before the people or made any allusion to the murder when no one had challenged him to do so. Others were quite certain that by thus unblushingly meeting the charge he was endeavouring to divert suspicion from himself. After a short time those who were really innocent were put to the torture, and though they themselves knew nothing about it they treated the universal opinion as though it amounted to proof and named Zeuxippus and Pisistratus without alleging any evidence as to their actually knowing what had happened. Zeuxippus, however, with a person called Stratonidas escaped by night to Tanagra, fearing his own conscience more than the statements of men who were unconscious of the true state of the case. Pisistratus paid no regard to the informers and remained in Thebes.
