Eulaeus Convinces Ptolemy to Give Up the Kingdom
The eunuch Eulaeus persuaded Ptolemy to collect his
note
money, give up his kingdom to his enemies,
and retire to Samothrace. This will be to any
one who reflects upon it a convincing proof of
the supreme mischief done by evil companions
of boyhood. That a monarch so entirely out of
reach of personal danger and so far removed
from his enemies, should not make one effort to
save his honour, while in possession too of such
abundant resources, and master over such wide territory and
such numerous subjects, but should at once without a blow
surrender a most splendid and wealthy kingdom,—is not this
the sign of a spirit utterly effeminate and corrupted? And if
this had been Ptolemy's natural character, we must have laid
the blame upon nature and not upon any external influence.
But since by his subsequent achievements his natural character
has vindicated itself, by proving Ptolemy to be sufficiently
resolute and courageous in the hour of danger, we may clearly,
without any improbability, attribute to this eunuch, and his companionship with the king in his boyhood, the ignoble spirit
displayed by him on that occasion, and his idea of going to
Samothrace. . . .
