A Name Implying all Injustice and Crime

Polybius, Histories 2.59

“Even if he had committed no other crime against the Achaeans, I still judge Aristomakhos to be worthy of the greatest punishment because of his way of life and his treason against his country. Indeed, although he was trying to increase his fame and get his audience to respond more to his suffering, one author claims that “not only was he a tyrant, but he was descended from tyrants too.”

It would be hard for someone to make an accusation greater or harsher than this. For the title itself conveys the force of the greatest sacrilege and implies all the injustice and lawlessness afflicting the human race.”

ἐγὼ δ᾿ Ἀριστόμαχον, εἰ καὶ μηδὲν εἰς τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς ἕτερον ἥμαρτε, κατά γε τὴν τοῦ βίου προαίρεσιν καὶ τὴν εἰς πατρίδα παρανομίαν τῆς μεγίστης ἄξιον κρίνω τιμωρίας. καίπερ ὁ συγγραφεύς, βουλόμενος αὔξειν αὐτοῦ τὴν δόξαν καὶ παραστήσασθαι τοὺς ἀκούοντας εἰς τὸ μᾶλλον αὐτῷ συναγανακτεῖν ἐφ᾿ οἷς ἔπαθεν, οὐ μόνον αὐτόν φησι γεγονέναι τύραννον, ἀλλὰ κἀκ τυράννων πεφυκέναι. ταύτης δὲ μείζω κατηγορίαν ἢ πικροτέραν οὐδ᾿ ἂν εἰπεῖν ῥᾳδίως δύναιτ᾿ οὐδείς.

Lucian, The Tyrant, Or The Downward Journey 23

“I want to charge a certain tyrant for the terrible crimes I know that he did in his life.”

Πάντως βούλομαι κατηγορῆσαι τυράννου τινὸς ἃ συνεπίσταμαι πονηρὰ δράσαντι αὐτῷ παρὰ τὸν βίον

Demosthenes, On the Treaty with Alexander 14

“They believe that no one will perceive the creation of a tyranny in the place of a democracy along with the dissolution of our constitution.”

οὐδένα δ᾿ οἴονται αἰσθήσεσθαι, τυραννίδων ἀντὶ δημοκρατιῶν καθισταμένων καὶ τῶν πολιτειῶν καταλυομένων.