Chapter VI: Part 6

(I will now, however, resume the thread of my discourse and go back to my starting‐point, like those who, when a race is being started, run ahead out of the line. Well, I was saying, a moment ago, that Plato declares that a man’s real self is his mind and soul, whereas his body and his estate are but his possessions. This is the distinction made in that marvellous work, the Laws. And so if one were to go back to the beginning and say “That man is best equipped for life who makes everything that relates to happiness depend on his mind and intelligence and not on those outside himself who, by doing or faring well or ill force him out of the straight path,” he is not changing or perverting the sense of the words, but expounds and interprets them correctly. And if for Plato’s word “genius”(325) he substitutes the word “God” he has a perfect right to do so. For if Plato gives the control of our whole life to the presiding “genius” within us which is by nature unaffected by sensation and akin to God, but must endure and suffer much because of its association with the body, and therefore gives the impression to the crowd that it also is subject to sensation and death; and if he says that this is true of every man who wishes to be happy, what must we suppose is his opinion about pure intelligence unmixed with earthly substance, which is indeed synonymous with God? To this I say every man, whether he be a private citizen or a king, ought to entrust the reins of his life, and by a king I mean one who is really worthy of the name, and not counterfeit or falsely so called, but one who is aware of God and discerns his nature because of his affinity with him, and being truly wise bows to the divine authority and yields the supremacy to God. For it is senseless and arrogant indeed for those who cultivate virtue not to submit to God once and for all, as far as possible. For we must believe that this above all else is what God approves. Again, no man must neglect the traditional form of worship or lightly regard this method of paying honour to the higher power, but rather consider that to be virtuous is to be scrupulously devout. For Piety is the child of Justice, and that justice is a characteristic of the more divine type of soul is obvious to all who discuss such matters.)

Ταῦτά τοι καὶ ἐπαινοῦμεν τὸν Ἕκτορα σπένδειν μὲν οὐκ ἐθέλοντα διὰ τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν χειρῶν λύθρον· [71] ἠξιοῦμεν δὲ μηδὲ ἐς ἄστυ ἰίναι μηδὲ ἀπολείπειν τὴν μάχην μέλλοντά γε οὐ στρατηγοῦ καὶ βασιλέως ἐπιτελεῖν ἔργον, διακόνου δὲ καὶ ὑπηρέτου, Ἰδαίου τινὸς ἢ Ταλθυβίου τάξιν ἀναληψόμενον. ἀλλ᾽ ἔοικε γάρ, ὅπερ ἔφαμεν ἐξ ἀρχῆς, πρόφασις εὐπρεπὴς(326) εἶναι φυγῆς τοῦτο. καὶ γὰρ ὁπότε τῷ Τελαμωνίῳ ξυνίστατο πεισθεὶς τῷ φήμῃ τοῦ μάντεως, ἀσπασίως διελύθη καὶ ἔδωκε δῶρα, τὸν θάνατον ἐκφυγὼν ἄσμενος·(327) [B] καθόλου δὲ εἰπεῖν, φεύγουσιν ἕπεται θρασέως, αἴτιος δέ ἐστιν οὐδαμοῦ νίκης καὶ τροπῆς, πλὴν ὅτε

(For this reason, then, while I applaud Hector for refusing to make a libation because of the blood‐stains on his hands, he had, as I said, no right to go back to the city or forsake the battle, seeing that the task he was about to perform was not that of a general or of a king, but of a messenger and underling, and that he was ready to take on himself the office of an Idaeus or Talthybius. However, as I said at first, this seems to have been simply a specious excuse for flight. And indeed when he obeyed the bidding of the seer and fought a duel with the son of Telamon,(328) he was very ready to make terms and to give presents, and rejoiced to have escaped death. In short, as a rule, he is brave when in pursuit of the retreating foe, but in no case has he the credit of a victory or of turning the tide of battle, except when)

πρῶτος ἐσήλατο τεῖχος Ἀχαιῶν

(“He was the first to leap within the wall of the Achaeans”(329))

ξὺν τῷ Σαρπηδόνι. πότερον οὖν ὡς οὐκ ἔχοντες τηλικοῦτον ἔργον βασιλέως εὐλαβησόμεθα τὸν ἀγῶνα, μή ποτε ἄρα μικρὰ μεγάλοις καὶ φαῦλα σπουδῆς ἀξίοις μείζονος παρατιθέναι δόζωμεν, [C] ἢ τολμήσομεν καὶ πρὸς τηλικοῦτον ἔργον ἁμιλλᾶσθαι; οὐκοῦν ἐκεῖνο μὲν ἦν τὸ τεῖχος ὑπὲρ τῆς ᾐόνος, ἐν οὐδὲ ὅλῳ τῷ πρὸ μεσημβρίας χρόνῳ συντελεσθέν, ὁποίους ἡμῖν τοὺς χάρακας ἔννομον κατασκευάζεσθαι· τὸ δὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἄλπεων τεῖχος παλαιόν τε ἦν φρούριον, καὶ αὐτῷ χρῆται μετὰ τὴν φυγὴν ὁ τύραννος, ὥσπερ ἔρυμά τι νεουργὲς ἀποφήνας καὶ ἀξιόλογον φρουρὰν ἀπολιπὼν ἐρρωμένων ἀνδρῶν. [D] οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ὡς πορρωτάτω πορεύεται, ἔμενε δὲ ἐν τῇ πλησίον πόλει. ἔστι δὲ Ἰταλῶν ἐμπόριον πρὸς θαλάττῃ μάλα εὔδαιμον καὶ πλούτῳ βρύον, φέρουσι γὰρ ἐντεῦθεν φορτία Μυσοὶ καὶ Παίονες καὶ τῶν Ἰταλῶν ὁπόσοι τὴν μεσόγαιαν κατοικοῦσιν, Ἑνετοὶ δὲ οἶμαι τὸ πρόσθεν ὠνομάζοντο. νῦν δὲ ἤδη Ῥωμαίων τὰς πόλεις ἐχόντων τὸ μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὄνομα σώζουσι βραχείᾳ προσθήκῃ γράμματος ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς ἐπωνυμίας· ἔστι δὲ αὐτοῦ σύμβολον χαρακτὴρ εἷς, [72] ὀνομάζουσι δὲ αὐτὸν οὔ, καὶ χρῶνται ἀντὶ τοῦ βῆτα πολλάκις προσπνεύσεως οἶμαι τινὸς ἕνεκα καὶ ἰδιότητος τῆς γλώττης. τὸ μὲν δὴ ξύμπαν ἔθνος ὦδε ἐπονομάζεται· τῇ πόλει δὲ ἀετός, ὥς φασιν, οἰκιζομένῃ δεξιὸς ἐκ Διὸς ἱπτάμενος τὴν αὑτοῦ φήμην χαρίζεται. οἰκεῖται δὲ ὑπὸ τοῖς ποσὶ τῶν Ἄλπεων· ὄρη δέ ἐστι ταῦτα παμμεγέθη(330) καὶ ἀπορρῶγες ἐν αὐτοῖς πέτραι, μόλις ἁμάξῃ μιᾷ καὶ ὀρικῷ ζεύγει τὴν ὑπέρβασιν βιαζομένοις ξυγχωροῦντα, [B] ἀρχόμενα μὲν ἀπὸ θαλάττης, ἣν δὴ τὸν Ἰόνιον εἶναί φαμεν, ἀποτειχίζοντα δὲ τὴν νῦν Ἰταλίαν ἀπό τε Ἰλλυριῶν καὶ Γαλατῶν καὶ ἐς τὸ Τυρρηνὸν πέλαγος ἀναπαυόμενα. Ῥωμαῖοι γὰρ ἐπειδὴ τῆς χώρας ἁπάσης ἐκράτουν· ἔστι δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ τό τε τῶν Ἑνετῶν ἔθνος καὶ Λίγυές τινες καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Γαλατῶν οὐ φαύλη μοῖρα· τὰ μὲν ἀρχαῖα σφῶν ὀνόματα σώζειν οὐ διεκώλυσαν, τῷ κοινῷ δὲ τῶν Ἰταλῶν ξυγχωρεῖν κατηνάγκασαν. καὶ νῦν ὁπόσα μέν εἴσω τῶν Ἄλπεων κατοικεῖται, [C] ἔστε ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰόνιον καὶ τὸν Τυρρηνὸν καθήκοντα, ταύτῃ κοσμεῖται τῇ προσωνυμίᾳ· τὰ δὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἄλπεων τῶν πρὸς ἑσπέραν Γαλάται νέμονται, καὶ Ῥαιτοὶ δὲ τὰ ὑπὸ τῆν ἄρκτον, ἵνα Ῥήνου τέ εἰσιν αἱ πηγαὶ καὶ αἱ τοῦ Ἴστρου πλησίον παρὰ τοῖς γείτοσι βαρβάροις· τὰ δὲ ἐκ τῆς ἕω ταῦτα δὴ τὰς Ἄλπεις ὀχυροῦν ἔφαμεν, ἵναπερ ὁ τύραννος τὴν φρουρὰν κατεσκευάσατο. οὕτω δὴ τῆς Ἰταλίας ἁπανταχόθεν ὄρεσὶ [D] τε συνεχομένης λίαν δυσβάτοις καὶ θαλάσσῃ τεναγώδει, ἅτε ἐσρεόντων ποταμῶν μυρίων, οἳ ποιοῦσιν ἕλος προσεοικὸς τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις ἕλεσι, τὸ ξύμπαν τῆς ἐκείνῃ θαλάττης πέρας βασιλεὺς ὑπὸ σοφίας ἔλαβε καὶ ἐβιάσατο τὴν ἄνοδον.

(together with Sarpedon. Shall I therefore shrink from competition as though I could not cite on behalf of the Emperor any such exploit, and must therefore avoid seeming to compare the trivial with the important and things of little account with what deserves more serious consideration, or shall I venture to enter the lists even against an achievement so famous? Now that wall was to protect the beach, and was a palisade such as we are wont to construct, and was completed in less than a morning. But the wall that was on the Alps was an ancient fort, and the usurper used it after his flight, converting it into a defence as strong as though it had been newly built, and he left there an ample garrison of seasoned troops. But he did not himself march all the way there, but remained in the neighbouring city.(331) This is a trading centre of the Italians on the coast, very prosperous and teeming with wealth, since the Mysians and Paeonians and all the Italian inhabitants of the interior procure their merchandise thence. These last used, I think, to be called Heneti in the past, but now that the Romans are in possession of these cities they preserve the original name, but make the trifling addition of one letter at the beginning of the word. Its sign is a single character(332) and they call it “oo,” and they often use it instead of “b,” to serve, I suppose, as a sort of breathing, and to represent some peculiarity of their pronunciation. The nation as a whole is called by this name, but at the time of the founding of the city an eagle from Zeus flew past on the right, and so bestowed on the place the omen derived from the bird.(333) It is situated at the foot of the Alps, which are very high mountains with precipices in them, and they hardly allow room for those who are trying to force their way over the passes to use even a single waggon and a pair of mules. They begin at the sea which we call Ionian, and form a barrier between what is now Italy and the Illyrians and Galatians, and extend as far as the Etruscan sea. For when the Romans conquered the whole of this country, which includes the tribe of the Heneti and some of the Ligurians and a considerable number of Galatians besides, they did not hinder them from retaining their ancient names, but compelled them to acknowledge the dominion of the Italian republic. And, in our day, all the territory that lies within the Alps and is bounded by the Ionian and the Etruscan seas has the honour of being called Italy. On the other side of the Alps, on the west, dwell the Galatians, and the Rhaetians to the north where the Rhine and the Danube have their sources hard by in the neighbouring country of the barbarians. And on the east, as I said, the Alps fortify the district where the usurper stationed his garrison. In this way, then, Italy is contained on all sides, partly by mountains that are very hard to cross, partly by a shallow sea into which countless streams empty and form a morass like the marshlands of Egypt. But the Emperor by his skill gained control of the whole of that boundary of the sea, and forced his way inland.)

Καὶ ἵνα μὴ διατρίβειν δοκῶ αὖθίς τε ὑπὲρ τῶν δυσχωριῶν διαλεγόμενος, καὶ ὡς οὔτε στρατόπεδον ἦν οὐδὲ χάρακα πλησίον καταβαλέσθαι, οὔτε ἐπάγειν μηχανὰς καὶ ἑλεπόλεις, ἀνύδρου δεινῶς ὄντος καὶ οὐδὲ μικρὰς λιβάδας ἔχοντος [73] τοῦ πέριξ χωρίου, ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν εἶμι τὴν αἵρεσιν. καὶ εἰ βούλεσθε τὸ κεφάλαιον ἀθρόως ἑλεῖν τοῦ λόγου, ὑπομνήσθητε τῆς τοῦ Μακεδόνος ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἰνδοὺς πορείας, οἳ τὴν πέτραν ἐκείνην κατῴκουν, ἐφ᾽ ἣν οὐδὲ τῶν ὀρνίθων ἦν τοῖς κουφοτάτοις ἀναπτῆναι, ὅπως ἑάλω, καὶ οὐδὲν πλέον ἀκούειν ἐπιθυμήσετε· πλὴν τοσοῦτον μόνον, ὅτι Ἀλέξανδρος μὲν ἀπέβαλε πολλοὺς Μακεδόνας ἐξελὼν τὴν πέτραν, ὁ δὲ ἡμέτερος ἄρχων καὶ στρατηγὸς οὐδὲ χιλίαρχον ἀποβαλὼν ἢ λοχαγόν τινα, [B] ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ὁπλίτην τῶν ἐκ καταλόγου, καθαρὰν καὶ ἄδακρυν περιεποιήσατο τὴν νίκην. Ἕκτωρ δὲ οἶμαι καὶ Σαρπηδὼν πολλοὺς ἐκ τοῦ τειχίσματος κατέβαλον,(334) ἐντυχόντες δὲ ἀριστεύοντι Πατρόκλῳ ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν νεῶν κτείνεται, ὁ δὲ ἔφευγεν αἰσχρῶς οὐδὲ ἀνελόμενος τὸ σῶμα τοῦ φίλου. οὕτως οὐδενὶ ξὺν νῷ, ῥώμῃ δὲ μᾶλλον σωμάτων θρασυνόμενοι τὴν ἐς τὸ τεῖχος πάροδον ἐτόλμων. βασιλεὺς δὲ οὗ μὲν ἀλκῆς ἔργον ἐστι καὶ θυμοῦ χρῆται τοῖς ὅπλοις καὶ κρατεῖ ξὺν εὐβουλίᾳ,(335) [C] οὗ δὲ μόνον ἐδέησε γνώμης, ταύτῃ κυβερνᾷ καὶ κατεργάζεται πράγματα τοσαῦτα, ὁπόσα οὐδ᾽ ἄν ὁ σίδηρος ἐξελεῖν ἰσχύσειεν.(336)

(I will now relate how the city was actually taken, lest you should think I am wasting time by describing once more the difficulties of the ground, and how it was impossible to plant a camp or even a palisade near the city or to bring up siege‐engines or devices for storming it, because the country all about was terribly short of water, and there were not even small pools. And if you wish to grasp the main point of my narrative in a few words, remember the Macedonian’s(337) expedition against those Indians who lived on the famous rock(338) up to which not even the lightest birds could wing their flight, and how he took it by storm, and you will be content to hear no more from me. However I will add this merely, that Alexander in storming the rock lost many of his Macedonians, whereas our ruler and general lost not a single chiliarch or a captain, nay not even a legionary from the muster‐roll, but achieved an unsullied and “tearless”(339) victory. Now Hector and Sarpedon, no doubt, hurled down many men from the wall, but when they encountered Patroclus in all his glory Sarpedon was slain near the ships, while Hector, to his shame, fled without even recovering the body of his friend. Thus without intelligence and emboldened by mere physical strength they ventured to attack the wall. But the Emperor, when strength and daring are required, employs force of arms and good counsel together, and so wins the day, but where good judgment alone is necessary it is by this that he steers his course, and thus achieves triumphs such as not even iron could ever avail to erase.(340))

Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ καθ᾽ αὑτὸν ὁ λόγος φερόμενος ἥκει πάλαι ποθῶν τὴν ξύνεσιν ἐπαινεῖν καὶ τὴν εὐβουλίαν, ἀποδοτέον. καὶ ὑπὲρ τούτων ὀλίγα πάλαι(341) διεληλύθαμεν· ὁπόσα δὲ ἡμῖν ἐφαίνετο [D] πρὸς τὰ τῶν ἡρώων ἐκείνων ἔχειν ξυγγένειαν, μεγάλα μικροῖς εἰκάζοντες, δι᾽ ὁμοιότητα διήλθομεν.(342) δῆλον δὲ ἀποβλέψαντι πρὸς τὸ τῆς παρασκευῆς μέγεθος καὶ τῆς δυνάμενως τὴν περιουσίαν. τότε γὰρ ἥ τε Ἑλλὰς ἐκεκίνητο ξύμπασα καὶ Θρᾳκῶν μοῖρα καὶ Παιόνων τό τε τοῦ Πριάμου ξύμπαν ὑπήκοον,

(But since my speech has of its own accord reached this point in its course and has long been eager to praise the Emperor’s wisdom and wise counsel, I allow it to do so. And in fact I spoke briefly on this subject some time ago, and all the cases where there seemed to me to be any affinity between the heroes of Homer and the Emperor, I described because of that resemblance, comparing great things with small. And indeed if one considers the size of their armaments, the superiority of his forces also becomes evident. For in those days all Greece was set in motion,(343) and part of Thrace and Paeonia, and all the subject allies of Priam,)

Ὅσσον Λέσβος ἔσω Μάκαρος ἕδος ἐντὸς ἐέργει
Καὶ Φρυγίη καθύπερθε καὶ Ἑλλήσποντος ἀπείρων.

(“All that Lesbos, the seat of Makar, contains within, and Phrygia
on the north and the boundless Hellespont.”(344))

[74] τὰ δὲ νῦν ἔθνη συνιόντα βασιλεῖ καὶ συμπολεμοῦντα τὸν πόλεμον καὶ τοὺς ἀντιταξαμένους καταριθμεῖν μὴ λῆρος ᾖ καὶ φλυαρία περιττὴ καὶ λίαν ἀρχαῖον.(345) ὅσῳ δὲ μείζους αἱ συνιοῦσαι δυνάμεις, τοσούτῳ τὰ ἔργα προφέρειν εἰκός· ὥστε ἀνάγκη καὶ ταῦτα ἐκείνων ὑπεραίρειν. πλήθει γε μὴν ποῦ ποτε ἄξιον συμβαλεῖν; οἱ μὲν γὰρ περὶ μιᾶς ἐμάχοντο πόλεως ξυνεχῶς, καὶ οὔτε Τρῶες(346) ἀπελάσαι τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς ἐπικρατοῦντες ἠδύναντο, οὔτε ἐκεῖνοι νικῶντες ἐξελεῖν καὶ ἀνατρέψαι τῶν Πριαμιδῶν τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἴσχυον, δεκαέτης δὲ αὐτοῖς ἀναλώθη χρόνος. [B] βασιλεῖ δὲ πολλοὶ μέν εἰσιν ἀγῶνες· καὶ γὰρ(347) ἀνεγράφη Γερμανοῖς τοῖς ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ῥήνου πολεμῶν, τά τε ἐπὶ τῷ Τίγρητι ζεύγματα καὶ τῆς Παρθυαίων δυνάμεως καὶ τοῦ φρονήματος ἔλεγχος οὐ φαῦλος, ὅτε οὐχ ὑπέμενον ἀμῦναι τῇ χώρᾳ πορθουμένῃ, ἀλλὰ περιεῖδον ἅπασαν τμηθεῖσαν τὴν εἴσω Τίγρητος καὶ Λύκου, [C] τῶν γε μὴν πρὸς τὸν τύραννον πραχθέντων ὅ τε ἐπὶ Σικελίαν ἔκπλους καὶ ἐς Καρχηδόνα, Ἠριδανοῦ τε αἱ προκαταλήψεις τῶν ἐκβολῶν ἁπάσας αὐτοῦ τὰς ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ δυνάμεις ἀφελόμεναι, καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον καὶ τρίτον πάλαισμα περὶ ταῖς Κοττίαις Ἄλπεσιν, ὃ δὴ βασιλεῖ μὲν παρέσχεν ἀσφαλῆ καὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος ἀδεᾶ τὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς νίκης ἡδονήν, τὸν δὲ ἡττηθέντα δίκην ἐπιθεῖναι δικαίαν αὑτῷ καὶ τῶν ἐξειργασμένων [D] πάνυ ἀξίαν κατηνάγκασε.

(But to try to count up the nations who lately marched with the Emperor and fought on his side in the war, would be idle talk, superfluous verbiage, and absurd simplicity. And it is natural that, in proportion as the armies are larger, their achievements are more important. So it follows of necessity that, in this respect as well, the Emperor’s army surpassed Homer’s heroes. In mere numbers, at any rate, at what point, I ask, could one justly compare them? For the Greeks fought all along for a single city and the Trojans when they prevailed were not able to drive away the Greeks, nor were the Greeks strong enough, when they won a victory, to destroy and overthrow the power and the royal sway of the house of Priam, and yet the time they spent over it was ten years long. But the Emperor’s wars and undertakings have been numerous. He has been described as waging war against the Germans across the Rhine, and then there was his bridge of boats over the Tigris, and his exposure of the power and arrogance of the Parthians(348) was no trivial thing, on that occasion when they did not venture to defend their country while he was laying it waste, but had to look on while the whole of it was devastated between the Tigris and the Lycus. Then, when the war against the usurper was concluded, there followed the expeditions to Sicily and Carthage, and that stratagem of occupying beforehand the mouth of the Po, which deprived the usurper of all his forces in Italy, and finally that third and last fall(349) at the Cottian Alps, which secured for the Emperor the pleasure of a victory that was sure, and carried with it no fears for the future, while it compelled the defeated man to inflict on himself a just penalty wholly worthy of his misdeeds.)

Τοσαῦτα ὑπὲρ τῶν βασιλέως ἔργων ἐν βραχεῖ διεληλύθαμεν, οὔτε κολακείᾳ προστιθέντες καὶ αὔξειν ἐπιχειροῦντες τυχὸν οὐδενὸς διαφέροντα τῶν ἄλλων, οὔτε πόρρωθεν ἕλκοντες καὶ βιαζόμενοι τῶν ἔργων τὰς ὁμοιότητας, καθάπερ οἱ τοὺς μύθους ἐξηγούμενοι τῶν ποιητῶν καὶ ἀναλύοντες ἐς λόγους πιθανοὺς καὶ ἐνδεχομένους τὰ πλάσματα ἐκ μικρᾶς πάνυ τῆς ὑπονοίας ὁρμώμενοι [75] καὶ ἀμυδρὰς λίαν παραλαβόντες τὰς ἀρχὰς πειρῶνται ξυμπείθειν, ὡς δὴ ταῦτα γε αὐτὰ ἐκείνων ἐθελόντων λέγειν. ἐνταῦθα δὲ εἴ τις ἐξέλοι τῶν Ὁμήρου μόνον τὰ τῶν ἡρώων ὀνόματα, ἐνθείη δὲ τὸ βασιλέως καὶ ἐναρμόσειεν, οὐ μᾶλλον εἰς ἐκείνους ἢ τοῦτον πεποιῆσθαι δόξει τὰ(350) τῆς Ἰλιάδος ἔπη.

(I have given this brief account of the Emperor’s achievements, not adding anything in flattery and trying to exaggerate things that are perhaps of no special importance, nor dragging in what is far‐fetched and unduly pressing points of resemblance with those achievements, like those who interpret the myths of the poets and analyse them into plausible versions which allow them to introduce fictions of their own, though they start out from very slight analogies, and having recourse to a very shadowy basis, try to convince us that this is the very thing that the poets intended to say. But in this case if anyone should take out of Homer’s poems merely the names of the heroes, and insert and fit in the Emperor’s, the epic of the Iliad would be seen to have been composed quite as much in his honour as in theirs.)

Ἀλλ᾽ ὅπως μὴ τὰ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἔργων μόνον ἀκούοντες τὰ τῶν κατορθωμάτων τῶν(351) ἐς τὸν πόλεμον ἔλαττον [B] ἔχειν ὑπολαμβάνητε βασιλέα περὶ τὰ σεμνότερα καὶ ὧν ἄξιον μείζονα ποιεῖσθαι λόγον, δημηγοριῶν φημι καὶ ξυμβουλιῶν, καὶ ὁπόσα γνώμη μετὰ νοῦ καὶ φρονήσεως κατευθύνει, ἀθρεῖτε ἐν Ὀδυσσεῖ καὶ Νέστορι τοῖς ἐπαινουμένοις κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν, καὶ ἤν τι μεῖον ἐν βασιλεῖ καταμανθάνητε, τοῖς ἐπαινέταις τοῦτο λογίζεσθε, πλέον δὲ ἔχοντα δικαίως ἂν(352) αὐτὸν μᾶλλον ἀποδεχοίμεθα. οὐκοῦν ὁ μέν, ὁπηνίκα χαλεπαίνειν καὶ στασιάζειν ἤρχοντο περὶ τῆς αἰχμαλώτου κόρης, λέγειν ἐπιχειρῶν οὕτω δή τι πείθει τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τὸν τῆς Θέτιδος, [C] ὥστε ὁ μὲν ἀκόσμος διέλυσε τὸν ξύλλογον, ὁ δὲ οὐδὲ περιμείνας ἀφοσιώσασθαι τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν, ἔτι δὲ αὐτὰ δρῶν καὶ ἀφορῶν ἐς τὴν θεωρίδα, στέλλει τοὺς κήρυκας ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀχιλλέως σκηνὴν, ὥσπερ οἶμαι δεδιὼς μὴ τῆς ὀργῆς ἐπιλαθόμενος καὶ ἀπαλλαγεὶς τοῦ πάθους μεταγνοίη καὶ ἀποφύγοι τὴν ἁμαρτάδα· ὁ δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ἰθάκης ῥήτωρ πολύτροπος πείθειν ἐπιχειρῶν πρὸς διαλλαγὰς Ἀχιλλέα καὶ δῶρα πολλὰ διδούς, [D] μυρία δὲ ἐπαγγελλόμενος, οὕτω τὸν νεανίσκον παρώξυνεν, ὥστε πρότερον οὐ(353) βουλευσάμενον τὸν ἀπόπλουν νῦν(354) παρασκευάζεσθαι. ἔστι δὲ αὐτῶν τὰ θαυμαστὰ τῆς συνέσεως δείγματα αἵ τε ἐπὶ τὸν πόλεμον παρακλήσεις καὶ ἡ τειχοποιία τοῦ Νέστορος, πρεσβυτικὸν λίαν καὶ ἄτολμον ἐπινόημα. οὔκουν οὐδὲ ὄφελος ἦν πολὺ τοῖς Ἀχαιοῖς τοῦ μηχανήματος· [76] ἀλλὰ ἡττῶντον τῶν Τρώων τὸ τεῖχος ἐπιτελέσαντες, καὶ μάλα εἰκότως. τότε μὲν γὰρ αὐτοὶ τῶν νεῶν ᾤοντο προβεβλῆσθαι καθάπερ ἔρυμα γενναῖον· ἐπεὶ δὲ ᾔσθοντο σφῶν(355) προκείμενον καὶ ἀποικοδομούμενον(356) τεῖχος τάφρῳ βαθείᾳ καὶ πασσάλοις ὀξέσι διηλούμενον,(357) κατερρᾳθύμουν καὶ ὑφίεντο τῆς ἀλκῆς τῷ τειχίσματι πεποιθότες. ἀλλ᾽ οὐ γὰρ εἴ τις ἐκείνοις μέμφοιτο καὶ ἐπιδεικνύοι διαμαρτάνοντας, οὗτός ἐστι βασιλέως ἀξιόχρεως ἐπαινέτης· ὅστις δὲ οἶμαι τῶν ἔργων ἀξίως μνησθείη, [B] οὐ μάτην οὐδὲ αὐτομάτως οὐδὲ ἀλόγῳ φορᾷ γενομένων, προβουλευθέντων δὲ ὀρθῶς καὶ διοικηθέντων, οὗτος ἀρκούντως ἐπαινεῖ τὴν βασιλέως ἀγχίνοιαν.

(But that you may not think, if you hear only about his achievements and successes in war, that the Emperor is less well endowed for pursuits that are loftier and rightly considered of more importance, I mean public speaking and deliberations and all those affairs in which judgment combined with intelligence and prudence take the helm, consider the case of Odysseus and Nestor, who are so highly praised in the poem; and if you find that the Emperor is inferior to them in any respect, put that down to his panegyrists, but we should rather in fairness concede that he is far superior. Nestor, for instance, when they began to disagree and quarrel about the captive damsel,(358) tried to address them, and he did persuade the king and the son of Thetis, but only to this extent that Achilles broke up the assembly in disorder, while Agamemnon did not even wait to complete his expiation to the god, but while he was still performing the rite and the sacred ship was in view, he sent heralds to the tent of Achilles, just as though, it seems to me, he were afraid that he would forget his anger, and, once free from that passion, would repent and avoid his error. Again, the far‐travelled orator from Ithaca, when he tried to persuade Achilles to make peace, and offered him many gifts and promised him countless others, so provoked the young warrior that, though he had not before planned to sail home, he now began to make preparations.(359) Then there are those wonderful proofs of their intelligence, their exhortations to battle and Nestor’s building of the wall, a cowardly notion and worthy indeed of an old man. Nor in truth did the Achaeans benefit much from that device. For it was after they had finished the wall that they were worsted by the Trojans, and naturally enough. For before that, they thought that they were themselves protecting the ships, like a noble bulwark. But when they realised that a wall lay in front of them, built with a deep moat and set at intervals with sharp stakes, they grew careless and slackened their valour, because they trusted to the fortification. Yet it is not anyone who blames them and shows that they were in the wrong who is therefore a fit and proper person to praise the Emperor. But he who, in a worthy manner, recounts the Emperor’s deeds, which were done not idly or automatically, or from an irrational impulse, but were skilfully planned beforehand and carried through, he alone praises adequately the Emperor’s keen intelligence.)

Τὸ δὲ ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστῃ συνόδῳ τὰς δημηγορίας ἐκλέγειν τὰς(360) ἐς τὰ στρατόπεδα καὶ δήμους καὶ βουλευτήρια μακροτέρας δεῖται τῆς ξυγγραφῆς. ἑνὸς δὲ ἴσως ἐπακούειν οὐ χαλεπόν. καί μοι πάλιν ἐννοήσατε τὸν Λαέρτου, ὁπότε ὡρμημένους ἐκπλεῖν τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐπέχει τῆς ὁρμῆς [C] καὶ ἐς τὸν πόλεμον μετατίθησι τὴν προθυμίαν, καὶ(361) βασιλέως τὸν ἐν Ἰλλυριοῖς ξύλλογον, ἵνα δὴ πρεσβύτης ἀνὴρ ὑπὸ μειρακίων παιδικὰ φρονεῖν ἀναπειθόμενος ὁμολογιῶν ἐπελανθάνετο καὶ πίστεων, καὶ τῷ μὲν σωτῆρι καὶ εὐεργέτῃ δυσμενὴς ἦν, σπονδὰς δὲ ἐποιεῖτο πρὸς ὃν ἦν ἄσπονδος καὶ ἀκήρυκτος βασιλεῖ πόλεμος, στρατόν τε ἤγειρε καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς [D] ὁρίοις ἀπήντα τῆς χώρας, κωλῦσαι τοῦ πρόσω χωρεῖν ἐπιθυμῶν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐς ταὐτὸν ἦλθον ἀμφοτέρω τὼ στρατεύματε καὶ ἐχρῆν ἐπὶ τῶν ὁπλιτῶν ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, βῆμά τε ὑψηλὸν ᾔρετο καὶ αὐτὸ περιέσχεν ὁπλιτῶν δῆμος καὶ ἀκοντιστῶν καὶ τοξοτῶν ἱππεῖς τε ἐνσκευασάμενοι τοὺς ἵππους καὶ τὰ σημεῖα τῶν τάξεων· ἀνῄει τε ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸ βασιλεὺς μετὰ τοῦ τέως ξυνάρχοντος οὔτε αἰχμὴν φέρων οὔτε ἀσπίδα [77] καὶ κράνος, ἀλλὰ ἐσθῆτα τὴν συνήθη. καὶ οὐδὲ αὐτῷ τις τῶν δορυφόρων εἵπετο, μόνος δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος εἱστήκει πεποιθὼς τῷ λόγῳ σεμνῶς ἡρμοσμένῳ. ἐργάτης γάρ ἐστι καὶ τούτων ἀγαθός, οὐκ ἀποσμιλεύων οὐδὲ ἀπονυχίζων τὰ ῥήματα οὐδὲ ἀποτορνεύων τὰς περιόδους καθάπερ οἱ κομψοὶ ῥήτορες, σεμνὸς δὲ ἅμα καὶ καθαρὸς καὶ τοῖς ὀνόμασι ξὺν καιρῷ χρώμενος, ὥστε ἐνδύεσθαι ταῖς ψυχαῖς [B] οὐ τῶν παιδείας καὶ ξυνέσεως μεταποιουμένων μόνον, ἀλλ᾽ ἤδη καὶ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν ξυνιέναι πολλοὺς καὶ ἐπαïειν τῶν ῥημάτων. οὐκοῦν ᾕρει μυριάδας ὁπλιτῶν συχνὰς καὶ χιλιάδας ἱππέων εἴκοσι καὶ ἔθνη μαχιμώτατα(362) καὶ χώραν πάμφορον, οὐ βίᾳ ἕλκων οὐδὲ αἰχμαλώτους ἄγων, ἑκόντας δὲ αὐτῷ πειθομένους καὶ τὸ ἐπιταττόμενον ποιεῖν ἐθέλοντας. ταύτην ἐγὼ τὴν νίκην κρίνω τῆς Λακωνικῆς ἐκείνης(363) μακρῷ σεμνοτέραν· ἡ μέν γε ἦν ἄδακρυς μόνοις(364) τοῖς κρατοῦσιν, [C] ἡ δὲ οὐδὲ τοῖς κρατηθεῖσιν ἤνεγκε δάκρυα, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπὸ τοῦ βήματος κατῆλθεν ὁ τῆς βασιλείας ὑποκριτὴς δικασάμενος καὶ ὥσπερ ὄφλημα βασιλεῖ πατρῷον ἀποδοὺς τὴν ἁλουργίδα· τἆλλα δὲ αὐτῷ δίδωσι βασιλεὺς ἄφθονα μᾶλλον ἢ Κῦρόν φασι παρασχεῖν τῷ πάππῳ, ζῆν τε ἐποίησε καὶ διαιτᾶσθαι καθάπερ Ὅμηρος ἀξιοῖ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τοὺς ἀφηλικεστέρους,

(But to report to you those speeches which he made at every public gathering to the armies and the common people and the councils, demands too long a narrative, though it is perhaps not too much to ask you to hear about one of these. Pray then think once more of the son of Laertes when the Greeks were rushing to set sail and he checked the rush and diverted their zeal back to the war,(365) and then of the Emperor’s assembly in Illyria, when that old man,(366) persuaded by mere youths to think childish thoughts, forgot his treaties and obligations and proved to be the enemy of his preserver and benefactor, and came to terms with one against whom the Emperor was waging a war that allowed no truce nor herald of a truce,(367) and who was not only getting an army together, but came to meet the Emperor on the border of the country, because he was anxious to hinder him from advancing further. And when those two armies met, and it was necessary to hold an assembly in the presence of the hoplites, a high platform was set up and it was surrounded by a crowd of hoplites, javelin‐men and archers and cavalry equipped with their horses and the standards of the divisions. Then the Emperor, accompanied by him who for the moment was his colleague, mounted the platform, carrying no sword or shield or helmet, but wearing his usual dress. And not even one of his bodyguard followed him, but there he stood alone on the platform, trusting to that speech which was so impressively appropriate. For of speeches too he is a good craftsman, though he does not plane down and polish his phrases nor elaborate his periods like the ingenious rhetoricians, but is at once dignified and simple, and uses the right words on every occasion, so that they sink into the souls not only of those who claim to be cultured and intelligent, but many unlearned persons too understand and give hearing to his words. And so he won over many tens of thousands of hoplites and twenty thousand cavalry and most warlike nations, and at the same time a country that is extremely fertile, not seizing it by force, or carrying off captives, but by winning over men who obeyed him of their own free will and were eager to carry out his orders. This victory I judge to be far more splendid than that for which Sparta is famous.(368) For that was “tearless” for the victors only, but the Emperor’s did not cause even the defeated to shed tears, but he who was masquerading as Emperor came down from the platform when he had pleaded his cause, and handed over to the Emperor the imperial purple(369) as though it were an ancestral debt. And all else the Emperor gave him in abundance, more than they say Cyrus gave to his grandfather, and arranged that he should live and be maintained in the manner that Homer recommends for men who are past their prime:—)

Τοιούτῳ γὰρ ἔοικεν, ἐπεὶ λούσαιτο φάγοι τε,
Εὐδέμεναι μαλακῶς· [D] ἣ γὰρ δίκη ἐστὶ γερόντων.

(“For it is fitting that such a one, when he has bathed and fed,
should sleep soft, for that is the manner of the aged.”(370))

τὸ μὲν οὖν ἐμὸν ἡδέως ἂν τοὺς ῥηθέντας λόγους διεξῆλθον, καὶ οὐκ ἄν με ὄκνος καταλάβοι οὕτω καλῶν ἁπτόμενον λόγων· αἰδὼς δὲ οἶμαι κατείργει καὶ οὐκ ἐπιτρέπει μετατιθέναι καὶ ἐξερμηνεύειν ἐς ὑμᾶς τοὺς λόγους. ἀδικοίην γὰρ ἂν διαφθείρων καὶ ἐλεγχόμενος αἰσχυνοίμην, εἴ τις ἄρα τὸ βασιλέως ἀναγνοὺς ξύγγραμμα ἢ τότε ἀκούσας ἀπομνημονεύοι καὶ ἀπαιτοίη οὐ τὰ νοήματα μόνον, [78] ὅσαις δὲ ἀρεταῖς ἐκεῖνα κοσμεῖται κατὰ τὴν πάτριον φωνὴν ξυγκείμενα. τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἦν Ὁμήρῳ τὸ δέος πολλαῖς μὲν ὕστερον γενεαῖς τοὺς λόγους διηγουμένῳ, λιπόντων δὲ ἐκείνων οὐδὲν ὑπόμνημα τῶν ἐς τοὺς ξυλλόγους ῥηθέντων, καὶ σαφῶς οἶμαι πιστεύοντι, ὅτι ἄμεινον(371) τἀκείνων αὐτὸς ἐξαγγελεῖ καὶ διηγήσεται. τὸ δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον μιμεῖσθαι καταγέλαστον καὶ οὐκ ἄξιον ἐλευθέρας ψυχῆς καὶ γενναίας. [B] τὰ μὲν δὴ θαυμαστὰ τῶν ἔργων καὶ ὁπόσων ὁ πολὺς ὅμιλος θεατῆς τε ἐγένετο καὶ διασώζει τὴν μνήμην ξὺν εὐφημίᾳ, ἅτε ἐς τὸ(372) τέλος ἀφορῶν καὶ τῶν εὖ ἢ κακῶς ἀποβάντων κριτὴς καθεστὼς καὶ ἐπαινέτης οὐ μάλα ἀστεῖος, ἀκηκόατε πολλάκις τῶν μακαρίων σοφιστῶν καὶ τοῦ ποιητικοῦ γένους πρὸς αὐτῶν τῶν μουσῶν ἐπιπνεομένου, ὥστε ὑμᾶς τούτων ἕνεκα καὶ διωχλήκαμεν, μακροτέρους τοὺς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ποιούμενοι λόγους· [C] καὶ γάρ ἐστε λίαν αὐτῶν ἤδη διακορεῖς καὶ ὑμῶν ἐστι τὰ ὦτα πλήρη, καὶ οὐ μή ποτε ἐπιλίπωσιν οἱ τούτων ποιηταί, πολέμους ὑμνοῦντες καὶ νίκας ἀνακηρύττοντες λαμπρᾷ τῇ φωνῇ κατὰ τοὺς Ὀλυμπίασι κήρυκας· παρέσχεσθε γὰρ ὑμεῖς τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων ἀφθονίαν, ἀσμένως ἐπακούοντες. καὶ οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν. εἰσὶ γὰρ αἱ τούτων ὑπολήψεις ἀγαθῶν πέρι καὶ φαύλων ταῖς ὑμετέραις ξυγγενεῖς, [D] καὶ ἀπαγγέλλουσι πρὸς ὑμᾶς τὰ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν διανοήματα, ἃ(373) ὥσπερ ἐσθῆτι ποικίλῃ(374) τοῖς ὀνόμασι σκιαγραφήσαντες καὶ διαπλάσαντες ἡδίστοις ῥυθμοῖς καὶ σχήμασιν ὡς δή τι καινὸν εὑρόντες εἰς ὑμᾶς φέρουσιν· ὑμεῖς δὲ ἄσμενοι παραδέχεσθε, καὶ ἐκείνους τε οἴεσθε ὀρθῶς ἐπαινεῖν, τούτοις τε ἀποδίδοσθαι τὸ προσῆκόν φατε. τὸ δὲ ἐστι μὲν ἴσως ἀληθές, τυχὸν δὲ καὶ ἄλλως ἔχει, ἀγνοούμενον πρὸς ὑμῶν ὅπῃ ποτὲ ἂν ὀρθῶς γίγνοιτο.

(Now for my part I should have been glad to repeat to you the words that the Emperor used, and no fear would overtake me when handling words so noble. But modesty restrains me and does not permit me to change or interpret his words to you. For it would be wrong of me to tamper with them, and I should blush to have my ignorance exposed, if someone who had read the Emperor’s composition or heard it at the time should remember it by heart, and demand from me not only the ideas in it but all the excellences with which they are adorned, though they are composed in the language of our ancestors.(375) Now this at any rate Homer had not to fear when, many generations later, he reported his speeches, since his speakers left no record of what they said in their assemblies, and I think he was clearly confident that he was able to relate and report what they said in a better style. But to make an inferior copy is absurd and unworthy of a generous and noble soul. Now as to the marvellous portion of his achievements and those of which the great multitude was spectator and hence preserves their memory and commends them, since it looks to the result and is there to judge whether they turn out well or ill, and eulogises them in language that is certainly not elegant,—as to all this I say you have often heard from the ingenious sophists, and from the race of poets inspired by the Muses themselves, so that, as far as these are concerned, I must have wearied you by speaking about them at too great length. For you are already surfeited with them, your ears are filled with them, and there will always be a supply of composers of such discourses to sing of battles and proclaim victories with a loud clear voice, after the manner of the heralds at the Olympic games. For you yourselves, since you delight to listen to them, have produced an abundance of these men. And no wonder. For their conceptions of what is good and bad are akin to your own, and they do but report to you your own opinions and depict them in fine phrases, like a dress of many colours, and cast them into the mould of agreeable rhythms and forms, and bring them forth for you as though they had invented something new. And you welcome them eagerly, and think that this is the correct way to eulogise, and you say that these deeds have received their due. And this is perhaps true but it may well be otherwise, since you do not really know what the correct way should be.)

[79] Ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν Ἀθηναῖον ἐνενόησα Σωκράτη· ἴστε δὲ ὑμεῖς ἀκοῇ τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τὸ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ κλέος τῆς σοφίας παρὰ τῆς Πυθίας ἐκβοηθέν· οὐ ταῦτα ἐπαινοῦντα(376) οὐδὲ εὐδαίμονας καὶ μακαρίους ὁμολογοῦντα τοὺς πολλὴν κεκτημένους χώραν, πλεῖστα δ᾽ ἔθνη καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς πολλοὺς μὲν Ἑλλήνων, πλείους δὲ ἔτι καὶ μείζους βαρβάρων καὶ τὸν Ἄθω διορύττειν δυναμένους καὶ σχεδίᾳ τὰς ἠπείρους, ἐπειδὰν ἐθέλωσι διαβαίνειν, συνάπτοντας καὶ ἔθνη καταστρεφομένους [B] καὶ αἱροῦντας νήσους καὶ σαγηνεύοντας καὶ λιβανωτοῦ χίλια τάλαντα καταθύοτας. οὔτε οὖν Ξέρξην ἐκεῖνος ἐπῄνει ποτὲ οὔτε ἄλλον τινὰ Περσῶν ἢ Λυδῶν ἢ Μακεδόνων βασιλέα, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ Ἑλλήνων στρατηγόν, πλὴν σφόδρα ὀλίγων, ὁπόσους ἠπίστατο χαίροντας ἀρετῇ καὶ ἀσπαζομένους ἀνδρείαν μετὰ σωφροσύνης καὶ φρόνησιν μετὰ δικαιοσύνης στέργοντας. ὅσους δὲ ἀγχίνους ἢ δεινοὺς ἢ στρατηγικοὺς ἢ κομψοὺς καὶ τῷ πλήθει πιθανοὺς ἑώρα, σμίκρ᾽ ἄττα μόρια κατανειμαμένους ἀρετῆς, [C] οὐδὲ τούτους ἐς ἅπαν ἐπῄνει. ἕπεται δὲ αὐτοῦ τῇ κρίσει σοφῶν ἀνδρῶν δῆμος ἀρετὴν θεραπεύοντες, τὰ κλεινὰ δὲ οἶμαι ταῦτα καὶ θαυμαστὰ οἱ μὲν ὀλίγου τινός, οἱ δὲ οὐδενὸς ἄξια λέγοντες.

(For I have observed that Socrates the Athenian—you know the man by hearsay and that his reputation for wisdom was proclaimed aloud by the Pythian oracle(377)—I say I have observed that he did not praise that sort of thing, nor would he admit(378) that they are happy and fortunate who are masters of a great territory and many nations, with many Greeks too among them, and still more numerous and powerful barbarians, such men as are able to cut a canal through Athos and join continents(379) by a bridge of boats whenever they please, and who subdue nations and reduce islands by sweeping the inhabitants into a net,(380) and make offerings of a thousand talents’ worth of frankincense.(381) Therefore he never praised Xerxes or any other king of Persia or Lydia or Macedonia, and not even a Greek general, save only a very few, whomsoever he knew to delight in virtue and to cherish courage with temperance and to love wisdom with justice. But those whom he saw to be cunning, or merely clever, or generals and nothing more, or ingenious, or able, though each one could lay claim to only one small fraction of virtue, to impose on the masses, these too he would not praise without reserve. And his judgment is followed by a host of wise men who reverence virtue, but as for all those wonders and marvels that I have described, some say of them that they are worth little, others that they are worth nothing.)

Εἰ μὲν οὖν καὶ ὑμῖν ταύτῃ πῃ ξυνδοκεῖ, δέος οὐ φαῦλόν με ἔχει περὶ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν λόγων καὶ ἐμαυτοῦ, μή ποτε ἄρα τοὺς μὲν παιδιὰν(382) ἀποφήνητε, σοφιστὴν δὲ ἐμὲ γελοῖον καὶ ἀμαθῆ, μεταποιούμενον τέχνης, [D] ἧς σφόδρα ἀπείρως ἔχειν ὁμολογῶ, ὥς γ᾽ ἐμοὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὁμολογητέον ἐστὶ τοὺς ἀληθεῖς ἐπαίνους διεξιόντι καὶ ὧν ἀκούειν ἄξιον ὑμῖν οἴεσθε, εἰ καὶ ἀγροικότεροι καὶ ἐλάττους μακρῷ τῶν ῥηθέντων τοῖς πολλοῖς φαίνοιντο. εἰ δέ, ὅπερ ἔμπροσθεν ἔφην, ἀποδέχεσθε τοὺς ἐκείνων ποιητάς, ἐμοὶ μὲν ἀνεῖται τὸ δέος εὖ μάλα. οὐ γὰρ πάντα ὑμῖν ἄτοπος φανοῦμαι, ἀλλὰ πολλῶν μὲν οἶμαι φαυλότερος, κατ᾽ ἐμαυτὸν δὲ ἐξεταζόμενος οὐ παντάπασιν [80] ἀπόβλητος οὐδὲ ἀτόποις ἐπιχειρῶν. ὑμῖν δὲ ἴσως οὐ ῥᾴδιον σοφοῖς καὶ θείοις ἀπιστεῖν ἀνδράσιν, οἳ δὴ λέγουσι πολλὰ μὲν ἕκαστος ἰδίᾳ, τὸ κεφάλαιον δέ ἐστι τῶν λόγων ἀρετῆς ἔπαινος. ταύτην δὲ τῇ ψυχῇ φασιν ἐμφύεσθαι καὶ αὐτὴν ἀποφαίνειν εὐδαίμονα καὶ βασιλικὴν καὶ ναὶ μὰ Δία πολιτικὴν καὶ στρατηγικὴν καὶ μεγαλόφρονα καὶ πλουσίαν γε ἀληθῶς οὐ τὸ Κολοφώνιον ἔχουσαν χρυσίον.

(Now if you also are of their opinion, I feel no inconsiderable alarm for what I said earlier, and for myself, lest possibly you should declare that my words are mere childishness, and that I am an absurd and ignorant sophist and make pretensions to an art in which I confess that I have no skill, as indeed I must confess to you when I recite eulogies that are really deserved, and such as you think it worth while to listen to, even though they should seem to most of you somewhat uncouth and far inferior to what has been already uttered. But if, as I said before, you accept the authors of those other eulogies, then my fear is altogether allayed. For then I shall not seem wholly out of place, but though, as I admit, inferior to many others, yet judged by my own standard, not wholly unprofitable nor attempting what is out of place. And indeed it is probably not easy for you to disbelieve wise and inspired men who have much to say, each in his own manner, though the sum and substance of all their speeches is the praise of virtue. And virtue they say is implanted in the soul and makes it happy and kingly, yes, by Zeus, and statesmanlike and gifted with true generalship, and generous and truly wealthy, not because it possesses the Colophonian(383) treasures of gold,)

[B] Οὐδ᾽ ὅσα λάϊνος οὐδὸς ἀφήτορος ἐντὸς ἐέργε

(“Nor all that the stone threshold of the Far‐Darter contained
within,”(384))

τὸ πρὶν ἐπ᾽ εἰρήνης, ὅτε ἦν ὀρθὰ τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων πράγματα, οὐδὲ ἐσθῆτα πολυτελῆ καὶ ψήφους Ἰνδικὰς καὶ γῆς πλέθρων μυριάδας πάνυ πολλάς, ἀλλ᾽ ὃ πάντων ἅμα τούτων καὶ κρεῖττον καὶ θεοφιλέστερον, ὃ καὶ ἐν ναυαγίαις ἔνεστι διασώσασθαι καὶ ἐν ἀγορᾷ καὶ ἐν δήμῳ καὶ ἐν οἰκίᾳ καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἐρημίας, [C] ἐν λῃσταῖς μέσοις καὶ ἀπὸ τυράννων βιαίων.

“in the old days, in times of peace,”(385) when the fortunes of Greece had not yet fallen; nay nor costly clothing and precious stones from India and many tens of thousands of acres of land, but that which is superior to all these things together and more pleasing to the gods; which can keep us safe even in shipwreck, in the market‐place, in the crowd, in the house, in the desert, in the midst of robbers, and from the violence of tyrants.

Ὅλως γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἐκείνου κρεῖττον, ὃ βιασάμενον καθέξει καὶ ἀφαιρήσεται τὸν ἔχοντα ἅπαξ. ἔστι γὰρ ἀτεχνῶς ψυχῇ τὸ κτῆμα τοῦτο τοιοῦτον, ὁποῖον οἶμαι τὸ φῶς ἡλίῳ. καὶ γὰρ δὴ τοῦδε νεὼς μὲν καὶ ἀναθήματα πολλοὶ πολλάκις ὑφελόμενοι καὶ διαφθείραντες ᾤχοντο, δόντες μὲν ἄλλοι τὴν δίκην, ἄλλοι δὲ ὠλιγωρηθέντες ὡς οὐκ ἄξιοι κολάσεως εἰς ἐπανόρθωσιν φερούσης· τὸ φῶς δὲ οὐδεὶς αὐτὸν ἀφαιρεῖται, οὐδὲ ἐν ταῖς συνόδοις [D] ἡ σελήνη τὸν κύκλον ὑποτρέχουσα, οὐδὲ εἰς αὑτὴν δεχομένη τὴν ἀκτῖνα καὶ ἡμῖν πολλάκις, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ λεγόμενον, ἐκ μεσημβρίας νύκτα δεικνῦσα. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ αὐτὸς αὑτὸν ἀφαιρεῖται φωτὸς τὴν σελήνην ἐξ ἐναντίας ἱσταμένην περιλάμπρων καὶ μεταδιδοὺς αὐτῇ τῆς αὑτοῦ φύσεως οὐδὲ τὸν μέγαν καὶ θαυμαστὸν τουτονὶ κόσμον ἐμπλήσας αὐγῆς καὶ ἡμέρας. οὔκουν οὐδὲ ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς ἀρετῆς μεταδιδοὺς ἄλλῳ τῷ μεταδοθέντι μεῖον ἔχων ἐφάνη ποτέ· [81] οὕτω θεῖόν ἐστι κτῆμα καὶ πάγκαλον, καὶ οὐ ψευδὴς ὁ λόγος τοῦ Ἀθηναίου ξένου, ὅστις ποτὲ ἄρα ἦν ἐκεῖνος ὁ θεῖος ἀνήρ· πᾶς γὰρ ὅ τε ὑπὸ γῆς καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς χρυσὸς ἀρετῆς οὐκ ἀντάξιος. θαρροῦντες οὖν ἤδη πλούσιον καλῶμεν τὸν ταύτην ἔχοντα, οἶμαι δὲ ἐγὼ καὶ εὐγενῆ καὶ βασιλέα μόνον τῶν ἁπάντων, εἴ τῳ ξυνδοκεῖ. κρείττων μὲν εὐγένεια φαυλότητος γένους, [B] κρείττων δὲ ἀρετὴ διαθέσεως οὐ πάντη σπουδαίας. καὶ μή τις οἰέσθω τὸν λόγον δύσεριν καὶ βίαιον εἰς τὴν συνήθειαν ἀφορῶν τῶν ὀνομάτων· φασὶ γὰρ οἱ πολλοὶ τοὺς ἐκ πάλαι πλουσίων εὐγενεῖς. καίτοι πῶς οὐκ ἄτοπον μάγειρον μὲν ἢ σκυτέα καὶ ναὶ μὰ Δία κεραμέα τινὰ χρήματα ἐκ τῆς τέχνης ἢ καὶ ἄλλοθέν ποθεν ἀθροίσαντα μὴ δοκεῖν εὐγενῆ μηδὲ ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν ἐπονομάζεσθαι τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα, εἰ δὲ ὁ τούτου παῖς διαδεξάμενος τὸν κλῆρον εἰς τοὺς ἐκγόνους διαπορθμεύσειε, [C] τούτους δὲ ἤδη μέγα φρονεῖν καὶ τοῖς Πελοπίδαις ἢ τοῖς Ἡρακλείδαις ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐγενείας ἁμιλλᾶσθαι; ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ὅστις προγόνων ἀγαθῶν ἔφυ, αὐτὸς δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἐναντίαν τοῦ βίου ῥοπὴν κατηνέχθη, δικαίως ἂν μεταποιοῖτο τῆς πρὸς ἐκείνους ξυγγενείας, εἰ(386) μηδὲ ἐς τοὺς Πελοπίδας ἐξῆν ἐγγράφεσθαι τοὺς μὴ φέροντας ἐπὶ τὸν ὤμον τοῦ γένους τὰ γνωρίσματα. λόγχη δὲ λέγεται περὶ τὴν Βοιωτίαν τοῖς Σπαρτοῖς ἐντυπωθῆναι παρὰ τῆς τεκούσης καὶ θρεψαμένης αὐτοὺς βώλου, [D] καὶ τὸ ἐντεῦθεν ἐπὶ πολὺ διασωθῆναι τοῦτο τῷ γένει σύμβολον. ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ψυχῶν οὐδὲν οἰόμεθα δεῖν ἐγκεχαράχθαι τοιοῦτον, ὃ τοὺς πατέρας ἡμῖν ἀκριβῶς κατερεῖ καὶ ἀπελέγξει τὸν τόκον γνήσιον; ὑπάρχειν δὲ φασι καὶ Κελτοῖς ποταμὸν ἀδέκαστον κριτὴν τῶν ἐκγόνων·(387) καὶ οὐ πείθουσιν αὐτὸν οὔτε αἱ μητέρες ὀδυρόμεναι συγκαλύπτειν αὐταῖς [82] καὶ ἀποκρύπτειν τὴν ἁμαρτάδα οὔτε οἱ πατέρες ὑπὲρ τῶν γαμετῶν καὶ τῶν ἐκγόνων(388) ἐπὶ τῇ κρίσει δειμαίνοντες, ἀτρεκὴς δὲ ἐστι καὶ ἀψευδὴς κριτής. ἡμᾶς δὲ δεκάζει μέν πλοῦτος, δεκάζει δὲ ἰσχὺς καὶ ὥρα σώματος καὶ δυναστεία προγόνων ἔξωθεν ἐπισκιάζουσα, καὶ οὐκ ἐπιτρέπει διορᾶν οὐδὲ ἀποβλέπειν ἐς τὴν ψυχὴν, ᾗπερ δὴ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων διαφέροντες εἰκότως ἂν κατ᾽ αὐτὸ τὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐγενείας ποιοίμεθα κρίσιν. καί μοι δοκοῦσιν εὐστοχίᾳ φύσεως [B] οἱ πάλαι θαυμαστῇ χρώμενοι, καὶ οὐκ ἐπίκτητον ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς ἔχοντες τὸ φρονεῖν, οὔτι πλαστῶς, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτοφυῶς φιλοσοφοῦντες, τοῦτο κατανοῆσαι, καὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα τοῦ Διὸς ἀνειπεῖν ἔκγονον(389) καὶ τὼ τῆς Λήδας ιἱέε, Μίνω τε οἶμαι τὸν νομοθέτην καὶ Ῥαδάμανθυν τὸν Κνώσιον τῆς αὐτῆς ἀξιῶσαι φήμης· καὶ ἄλλους δὲ ἄλλων ἐκγόνους ἀνεκήρυττον πολλοὺς διαφέροντας τῶν φύσει πατέρων. ἔβλεπον γὰρ ἐς τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτὴν καὶ τὰς πράξεις, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐς πλοῦτον βαθὺν καὶ χρόνῳ πολιόν, οὐδὲ δυναστείαν ἐκ πάππων τινῶν καὶ ἐπιπάππων ἐς αὐτοὺς ἥκουσαν· [C] καίτοι γε ὑπῆρχέ τισιν οὐ παντάπασιν ἀδόξων γενέσθαι πατέρων· ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν ἧς ἐτίμων τε καὶ ἐθεράπευον ἀρετῆς αὐτῶν ἐνομίζοντο τῶν θεῶν παῖδες. δῆλον δὲ ἐνθένδε· ἄλλων γὰρ οὐδὲ εἰδότες τοὺς φύσει γονέας ἐς τὸ δαιμόνιον ἀνῆπτον τὴν φήμην, τῇ περὶ αὐτοὺς ἀρετῇ χαριζόμενοι. καὶ οὐ πειστέον τοῖς λέγουσιν, ὡς ἄρα ἐκεῖνοι ὑπ᾽ ἀμαθίας ἐξαπατώμενοι ταῦτα τῶν θεῶν κατεψεύδοντο. εἰ γὰρ δὴ [D] καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων εἰκὸς ἦν ἐξαπατηθῆναι θεῶν ἢ δαιμόνων, σχήματα περιτιθέντας ἀνθρώπινα καὶ μορφὰς τοιαύτας, ἀφανῆ μὲν αἰσθήσει καὶ ἀνέφικτον κεκτημένων αὐτῶν φύσιν, νῷ δὲ ἀκριβεῖ διὰ ξυγγένειαν μόλις προσπίπτουσαν· οὔτι γε καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐμφανῶν θεῶν τοῦτο παθεῖν εὔλογον ἐκείνους, Ἡλίου μὲν ἐπιφημίζοντας Αἰήτην υἱέα, Ἑωσφόρου δὲ ἕτερον, καὶ ἄλλους ἄλλων. ὅπερ δὲ ἔφην, [83] χρὴ περὶ αὐτῶν πειθομένους ἡμᾶς ταύτην ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐγενείας ἐξέτασιν· καὶ ὅτῳ μὲν ἂν ὦσιν ἀγαθοὶ πατέρες καὶ αὐτὸς ἐκείνοις ἐμφερής, τοῦτον ὀνομάζειν θαρρούντως εὐγενῆ· ὅτῳ δὲ τὰ μὲν τῶν πατέρων ὑπῆρξεν ἀρετῆς ἐνδεᾶ, αὐτὸς δὲ μετεποιήθη τούτου τοῦ κτήματος, τούτου δὲ νομιστέον πατέρα τὸν Δία καὶ φυτουργόν, καὶ οὐδὲν μεῖον αὐτῷ δοτέον ἐκείνων, οἳ γεγονότες πατέρων ἀγαθῶν τοὺς σφῶν τοκέας ἐζήλωσαν· [B] ὅστις δὲ ἐξ ἀγαθῶν γέγονε μοχθηρός, τοῦτον τοῖς νόθοις ἐγγράφειν ἄξιον· τοὺς δὲ ἐκ μοχθηρῶν φῦντας καὶ προσομοίους τοῖς αὑτῶν τοκεῦσιν οὔποτε εὐγενεῖς φατέον, οὐδὲ εἰ πλουτοῖεν ταλάντοις μυρίοις, οὐδὲ εἰ ἀπαριθμοῖντο προγόνους δυνάστας ἢ ναὶ μὰ Δία τυράννους εἴκοσιν, οὐδὲ εἰ νίκας Ὀλυμπιακὰς ἢ Πυθικὰς ἢ τῶν πολεμικῶν ἀγώνων, [C] αἳ δὴ τῷ παντὶ ἐκείνων εἰσὶ λαμπρότεραι, ἀνελομένους ἔχοιεν δείκνυσθαι πλείους ἢ Καῖσαρ ὁ πρῶτος, ὀρύγματά τε(390) τὰ Ἀσσύρια καὶ τὰ Βαβυλωνίων τείχη πυραμίδας τε ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς τὰς Αἰγυπτίων, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα πλούτου καὶ χρημάτων καὶ τρυφῆς γέγονε σημεῖα καὶ διανοίας ὑπὸ φιλοτιμίας ἀναφλεγομένης καὶ ἀπορουμένης(391) ἐς ὅ,τι τῷ πλούτῳ χρήσεται, εἶτα ἐς τοῦτο τὰς τῶν χρημάτων εὐπορίας καταβαλλομένης. εὖ γὰρ δὴ ἴστε, ὡς οὔτε πλοῦτος ἀρχαῖος ἢ νεωστί ποθεν ἐπιρρέων Βασιλέα ποιεῖ οὔτε [D] ἁλουργὲς ἱμάτιον οὔτε τιάρα καὶ σκῆπτρον καὶ διάδημα καὶ θρόνος ἀρχαῖος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ὁπλῖται πολλοῖ καὶ ἱππεῖς μυρίοι, οὐδὲ εἰ πάντες ἄνθρωποι βασιλέα σφῶν τοῦτον ὁμολογοῖεν συνελθόντες, ὅτι μηδὲ ἀρετὴν οὗτοι χαρίζονται, ἀλλὰ δυναστείαν μὲν οὐ μάλα εὐτυχῆ τῷ λαβόντι, πολὺ δὲ πλέον τοῖς παρασχομένοις. δεξάμενος γὰρ ὁ τοιοῦτος αἴρεται μετέωρος ἐπίπαν, οὐδὲν διαφέρων τοῦ περὶ τὸν Φαέθοντα μύθου καὶ πάθους. καὶ οὐδὲν ἑτέρων δεῖ παραδειγμάτων πρὸς πίστιν τῷ λόγῳ, [84] τοῦ βίου παντὸς ἀναπεπλησμένου τοιούτων παθημάτων καὶ ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς λόγων. ὑμῖν δὲ εἰ θαυμαστὸν δοκεῖ τὸ μὴ δικαίως μεταποιεῖσθαι τῆς καλῆς ταύτης καὶ θεοφιλοῦς ἐπωνυμίας τοὺς πολλῆς μὲν γῆς καὶ ἐθνῶν ἀπείρων ἄρχοντας, γνώμῃ δὲ αὐτεξουσίῳ δίχα νοῦ καὶ φρονήσεως καὶ τῶν ταύτῃ ξυνεπομένων ἀρετῶν τὰ προστυχόντα κρίνοντας· ἴστε οὐδὲ ἐλευθέρους ὄντας, [B] οὐ μόνον εἰ τὰ παρόντα οὐδενός σφισιν ἐμποδὼν ὄντος ἔχοιεν καὶ ἐμφοροῖντο τῆς ἐξουσίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰ τῶν ἐπιστρατευόντων κρατοῖεν καὶ ἐπιόντες ἀνυπόστατοί τινες καὶ(392) ἄμαχοι φαίνοιντο. εἰ δὲ ἀπιστεῖ τις ὑμῶν τῷ λόγῳ τῷδε, μάλα ἐμφανῶν μαρτύρων οὐκ ἀπορήσομεν, Ἑλλήνων ὁμοῦ καὶ βαρβάρων, οἳ μάχας πολλὰς καὶ ἰσχυρὰς λίαν μαχεσάμενοι καὶ νενικηκότες ἔθνη μὲν ἐκτῶντο καὶ [C] αὑτοῖς φόρους ἀπάγειν κατηνάνκαζον, ἐδούλευον δὲ αἴσχιον ἐκείνων ἡδονῇ καὶ τρυφῇ καὶ ἀκολασίᾳ καὶ ὕβρει καὶ ἀδικίᾳ. τούτους δὲ οὐδὲ ἰσχυροὺς ἂν φαίη νοῦν ἔχων ἀνήρ, εἰ καὶ ἐπιφαίνοιτο καὶ ἐπιλάμποι μέγεθος τοῖς ἔργοις. μόνος γάρ ἐστι τοιοῦτος ὁ μετὰ ἀρετῆς ἀνδρεῖος καὶ μεγαλόφρων· ὅστις δὲ ἥττων μὲν ἡδονῶν, ἀκράτωρ δὲ ὀργῆς καὶ ἐπιθυμιῶν παντοιῶν, καὶ ὑπὸ σμικρῶν ἀπαγορεύειν ἀναγκαζόμενος, οὗτος δὲ [D] οὐδὲ ἰσχυρὸς οὐδὲ ἀνδρεῖος ἀνθρωπίνην ἰσχύν· ἐπιτρεπτέον δὲ ἴσως αὐτῷ κατὰ τοὺς ταύρους ἢ τοὺς λέοντας ἢ τὰς παρδάλεις τῇ ῥώμῃ γάνυσθαι, εἰ μὴ καὶ ταύτην ἀποβαλὼν καθάπερ οἱ κηφῆνες ἀλλοτρίοις ἐφέστηκε πόνοις, αὐτὸς ὢν μαλθακὸς αἰχμητὴς καὶ δειλὸς καὶ ἀκόλαστος. τοιοῦτος δὲ ὢν οὐ μόνον ἀληθοῦς ἐνδεὴς πλούτου καθέστηκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ πολυτιμήτου καὶ σεμνοῦ καὶ ἀγαπητοῦ, ἐξ οὗ παντοδαπαὶ κρεμάμεναι ψυχαὶ πράγματα ἔχουσι μυρία καὶ πόνους, [85] τοῦ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν κέρδους ἕνεκα πλεῖν τε ὑπομένουσαι καὶ καπηλεύειν καὶ λῃστεύειν καὶ ἀναρπάζειν τὰς τυραννίδας. ζῶσι γὰρ ἀεὶ μὲν κτώμενοι, ἀεὶ δὲ ἐνδεεῖς, οὔτι τῶν ἀναγαίων φημὶ σιτίων καὶ ποτῶν καὶ ἐσθημάτων· ὥρισται γὰρ ὁ τοιοῦτος πλοῦτος εὖ μάλα παρὰ τῆς φύσεως, καὺ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦυ στέρεσθαι οὔτε τοὺς ὄρνιθας οὔτε τοὺς ἰχθῦς(393) οὔτε τὰ θηρία, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ἀνθρώπων τοὺς σώφρονας· [B] ὅσους δὲ ἐνοχλεῖ χρημάτων ἀπιθυμία καὶ ἔρως δυστυχής, τούτους δὲ ἀνάγκη πεινῆν διὰ βίου καὶ ἀθλιώτερον ἀπαλλάττειν μακρῷ τῶν τῆς ἐφημέρου τροφῆς ἐνδεομένων. τούτοις μὲν γὰρ ἀποπλήσασι τὴν γαστέρα πολλὴ γέγονεν εἰρήνη καὶ ἀνοκωχὴ τῆς ἀλγηδόνος, ἐκείνοις δὲ οὔτε ἡμέρα πέφηνεν ἀκερδὴς ἡδεῖα, οὔτε εὐφρόνη τὸν λυσιμελῆ καὶ λυσιμέριμνον ὕπνον ἐπάγουσα παῦλαν ἐνεποίησε τῆς ἐμμανοῦς λύττης, [C] στροβεῖ δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ στρέφει τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκλογιζομένων καὶ ἀπαριθμουμένων τὰ χρήματα· καὶ οὐκ ἐξαιρεῖται τοὺς ἄνδρας τῆς ἐπιθυμίας καὶ τῆς ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ ταλαιπωρίας(394) οὐδὲ ὁ Ταντάλου καὶ Μίδου πλοῦτος περιγενόμενος οὐδὲ ἡ μεγίστη καὶ χαλεπωτάτη δαιμόνων τυραννὶς προσγενομένη. ἢ γὰρ οὐκ ἀκηκόατε Δαρεῖον τὸν Περσῶν μονάρχην,(395) οὐ παντάπασι μοχθηρὸν ἄνθρωπον, δυσέρωτα δὲ αἰσχρῶς εἰς χρήματα καὶ νεκρῶν θήκας ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας διορύττειν(396) καὶ πολυτελεῖς [D] ἐπιτάττειν φόρουσ; ὅθεν αὐτῷ τὸ κλεινὸν ὄνομα γέγονε κατὰ πάντας ἀνθρώπους·(397) ἐκάλουν γὰρ αὐτὸν Περσῶν οἱ γνώριμοι ὅτιπερ Ἀθηναῖοι τὸν Σάραμβον.