rhymitalkes

Updated: June 18, 2025

Now it appears that Antigonus was not singular when he said that he loved men when they were betraying, but hated them after they had betrayed; as also Caesar said, in the case of Rhymitalkes the Thracian, that he loved the treachery but hated the traitor; but this seems a common reflection about bad men by those who have need of them, just as we need the poison of certain venomous beasts; for they appreciate their value while they are making use of them, and loathe their wickedness when they have done with them.

Plutarch - Plutarch's Lives, Volume I