Chapter VIII: Part 8

(And so it was with Alexander, Philip’s son, and Achilles, son of Thetis, and others who were not worthless or ignoble men. But only to Socrates, I think, and a few others who emulated him, men who were truly fortunate and happy, was it given to put off the last garment that man discards—the love of glory.(460) For resentment of calumny is due to the passion for glory, and for this reason it is implanted most deeply in the noblest souls. For they resent it as their deadliest foe, and those who hurl at them slanderous language they hate more than men who attack them with the sword or plot their destruction; and they regard them as differing from themselves, not merely in their acquired habits, but in their essential nature, seeing that they love praise and honour, and the slanderer not only robs them of these, but also manufactures false accusations against them. They say that even Heracles and certain other heroes were swayed by these emotions. But for my part I do not believe this account of them, and as for the Emperor I have seen him repelling calumny with great self‐ restraint, which in my judgment is no slighter achievement than “to take Troy”(461) or rout a powerful phalanx. And if anyone does not believe me, and thinks it no great achievement nor worth all these praises, let him observe himself when a misfortune of this sort happens to him, and then let him decide; and I am convinced that he will not think that I am talking with exceeding folly.)

Τοιοῦτος δὲ ὢν καὶ γενόμενος βασιλεὺς μετὰ τὸν πόλεμον εἰκότως οὐ μόνον ἐστὶ ποθεινὸς τοῖς φίλοις καὶ ἀγαπητός, [B] πολλοῖς(462) μὲν τιμῆς καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ παρρησίας μεταδιδούς, χρήματα δὲ αὐτοῖς ἄφθονα χαριζόμενος καὶ χρῆσθαι ὅπως τις βούλεται τῷ πλούτῳ ξυγχωρῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς πολεμίοις τοιοῦτος ἐδόκει. τεκμήριον δὲ ὑμῖν ἐμφανὲς καὶ τοῦδε γιγνέσθω· ἄνδρες, τῆς γερουσίας ὅτιπερ ὄφελος, ἀξιώσει καὶ πλούτῳ καὶ ξυνέσει διαφέροντες τῶν ἄλλων, ὥσπερ ἐς λιμένα καταφεύγοντες τὴν τούτου δεξιάν, ἑστίας τε λιπόντες [C] καὶ οἴκους καὶ παῖδας Παιονίαν μὲν ἀντὶ τῆς Ῥώμης, τὴν μετὰ τούτου δὲ ἀντὶ τῶν φιλτάτων συνουσίαν ἠσπάσαντο, ἴλη τε τῶν ἐπιλέκτων ἱππέων ξὺν τοῖς σημείοις καὶ τὸν στρατηγὸν ἄγουσα τούτῳ τοῦ κινδύνου ξυμμετέχειν μᾶλλον ἢ ἐκείνῳ τῆς εὐτυχίας ἠξίου. καὶ ταῦτα ἅπαντα ἐδρᾶτο πρὸ τῆς μάχης ἣν ἐπὶ τοῦ Δράου ταὶς ᾐόσιν ὁ πρόσθεν λόγος παρέστησεν· ἐντεῦθεν γὰρ ἤδη βεβαίως ἐθάρρουν, τέως δ ἐδόκει τὰ τῶν τυράννων ἐπικρατεῖν, [D] πλεονεκτήματός τινος περὶ τοὺς κατασκόπους τοὺς(463) βασιλέως γενομένου, ὁ δὴ ἐκεῖνόν τε ἐποίησεν ὑπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς ἄφρονα καὶ ἐξετάραττε τοὺς οὐ δυναμένους ἐφικνεῖσθαι οὐδὲ διορᾶν τὴν στρατηγίαν. ὁ δὲ ἦν ἀκατάπληκτος καὶ γεννάδας καθάπερ ἀγαθὸς νεὼς κυβερνήτης, ἐξαπίνης νεφῶν ῥαγείσης λαίλαπος, εἶτα ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ τοῦ θεοῦ σείοντος τὸν βυθὸν καὶ τὰς ᾐόνας. ἐνταῦθα γὰρ τοὺς μὲν ἀπείρους δεινὸν καὶ ἄτοπον κατέλαβε δέος, [98] ὁ δὲ ἤδη χαίρει καὶ γάνυται, γαλήνην ἀκριβῆ καὶ νηνεμίαν ἐλπίζων. λέγεται γὰρ δὴ καὶ ὁ Ποσειδῶν συνταράττων τὴν γῆν παύειν τὰ κύματα. καὶ ἡ τύχη δὲ τοὺς ἀνοήτους ἐξαπατᾷ καὶ σφάλλει περὶ τοῖς μείζοσι, μικρὰ πλεονεκτεῖν ἐπιτρέπουσα, τοῖς ἔμφροσι δὲ τὸ βεβαίως θαρσεῖν ὑπὲρ τῶν μειζόνων, ὅταν ἐν τοῖς ἐλάττοσιν αὐτοὺς διαταράττῃ, παρέχει. τοῦτο Λακεδαιμόνιοι παθόντες ἐν Πύλαις οὐκ ἀπηγόρευον οὐδὲ ἔδεισαν [B] τὸν Μῆδον ἐπιφερόμενον, τριακοσίους Σπαρτιατῶν καὶ τὸν βασιλέα περὶ τὰς εἰσβολὰς τῆς Ἑλλάδος προέμενοι· τοῦτο Ῥωμαῖοι πολλάκις παθόντες μείζονα κατώρθουν ὕστερον· ὁ δὴ καὶ βασιλεὺς ἐννοῶν καὶ λογιζόμενος οὐδαμῶς ἐσφάλη τῆς γνώμης.

(Now since this was and is the Emperor’s behaviour after the war, he is naturally loved and “longed for by his friends,”(464) since he has admitted many of them to honour and power and freedom of speech, and has bestowed on them as well vast sums of money, and permits them to use their wealth as they please; but even to his enemies he is the same. The following may serve as a clear proof of this. Those members of the Senate who were of any account and surpassed the rest in reputation and wealth and wisdom, fled to the shelter of his right hand as though to a harbour, and, leaving behind their hearths and homes and children, preferred Paeonia(465) to Rome, and to be with him rather than with their dearest. Again, a division of the choicest of the cavalry together with their standards, and bringing their general(466) with them, chose to share danger with him rather than success with the usurper. And all this took place before the battle on the banks of the Drave, which the earlier part of my speech described to you. For after that they began to feel perfect confidence, though before that it looked as though the usurper’s cause was getting the upper hand, when he gained some slight advantage in the affair of the Emperor’s scouts,(467) which indeed made the usurper beside himself with joy and greatly agitated those who were incapable of grasping or estimating generalship. But the Emperor was unperturbed and heroic, like a good pilot when a tempest has suddenly burst from the clouds, and next moment, the god shakes the depths and the shores. Then a terrible and dreadful panic seizes on those who are inexperienced, but the pilot begins to rejoice, and is glad, because he can now hope for a perfect and windless calm. For it is said that Poseidon, when he makes the earth quake, calms the waves. And just so fortune deceives the foolish and deludes them about more important things by allowing them some small advantage, but in the wise she inspires unshaken confidence about more serious affairs even when she disconcerts them in the case of those that are less serious. This was what happened to the Lacedaemonians at Pylae,(468) but they did not despair nor fear the onset of the Mede because they had lost three hundred Spartans and their king(469) at the entrance into Greece. This often happened to the Romans, but they achieved more important successes later on. Wherefore, since the Emperor knew this and counted on it, he in no way wavered in his purpose.)

Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπείπερ ἅπαξ ἑκὼν ὁ λόγος ἐς τοῦτο ἀφῖκται καὶ τὴν εὔνοιαν τοῦ πλήθους καὶ τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ τῶν φυλάκων, οἵπερ δὴ ξυμφυλάττουσιν αὐτῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ ἀπείργουσι τοὺς πολεμίους, διηγεῖται βούλεσθε [C] ὑμῖν ἐναργὲς εἴπω τεκμήριον χθές που ἢ καὶ πρῴην γενόμενον; ἀνὴρ τῶν ἐπιταχθέντων τοῖς ἐν Γαλατίᾳ στρατοπέδοις· ἴστε ἴσως καὶ τοὔνομα καὶ τὸν τρόπον· ὅμηρον φιλίας καὶ πίστεως ἀπέλιπεν οὐδὲν δεομένῳ βασιλεῖ τὸν παῖδα· εἶτα ἦν ἀπιστότερος τῶν λεόντων, οἷς οὐκ ἔστι, φησί, πρὸς ἄνδρας(470) ὅρκια πιστά, ἁρπάζων τε ἐκ τῶν πόλεων [D] τὰ χρήματα καὶ διανέμων τοῖς ἐπιοῦσι βαρβάροις καὶ ὥσπερ λύτρα καταβαλλόμενος, ἐξὸν τῷ σιδήρῳ παρασκευάζειν καὶ οὐ τοῖς χρήμασι ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἀσφάλειαν· ὁ δὲ ἐκείνους ὑπήγετο διὰ τῶν χρημάτων εἰς εὔνοιαν· καὶ τέλος ἐκ τῆς γυναικωνίτιδος ἀνελόμενος ἁλουργὲς ἱμάτιον γελοῖος ἀληθῶς τύραννος καὶ τραγικὸς ὄντως ἀνεφάνη. ἐνταῦθα οἱ στρατιῶται χαλεπῶς μὲν εἶχον πρὸς τὴν ἀπιστίαν, θῆλυν δὲ οὐχ ὑπομένοντες ὁρᾶν ἐνδεδυκότα [99] στολὴν τὸν δείλαιον ἐπιθέμενοι σπαράττουσιν, οὐδὲ τὸν τῆς σελήνης κύκλον ἄρξαι σφῶν ἀνασχόμενοι. τοῦτο μὲν δὴ παρὰ τῆς τῶν φυλάκων εὐνοίας ὑπῆρξε βασιλεί τὸ γέρας, ἀρχῆς ἀμεμφοῦς καὶ δικαίας ἀμοιβὴ θαυμαστή. ὅστις δὲ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ γέγονε ποθεῖτε ἀκούειν· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ τοῦτο ὑμᾶς λέληθεν, ὅτι μήτε ἐς τὸν ἐκείνου παῖδα χαλεπὸς μήτε ἐς τοὺς φίλους ὕποπτος καὶ δεινὸς εἵλετο γενέσθαι, [B] ἀλλα ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα πρᾴως εἶχε καὶ εὐμενὴς πᾶσιν ἦν καίτοι πολλῶν συκοφαντεῖν ἐθελόντων καὶ διηρμένων ἐπὶ τοὺς οὐκ αἰτίους τὰ κέντρα. πολλῶν δὲ τυχὸν ἀληθῶς ἐνόχων ὄντων ταῖς περὶ αὐτῶν ὑποψίαις, ὁμοίως ἅπασιν ἦν πρᾷος τοῖς οὐκ ἐξελεγχθεῖσιν(471) οὐδὲ ἀποφανθεῖσι κοινωνοῖς τῶν ἀτόπων καὶ ἐξαγίστων βουλευμάτων. τὴν δὲ ἐς τὸν τοῦ παρανομήσαντος παῖδα καὶ πατήσαντος πίστιν καὶ ὅρκια [C] φειδὼ ἆρα βασιλικὸν ἀληθῶς καὶ θεῖον φήσομεν, ἢ μᾶλλον ἀποδεξόμεθα τὸν ἀγαμέμνονα χαλεπαίνοντα καὶ πικραινόμενον τῶν Τρώων οὐ τοῖς ξυνεξελθοῦσι μόνον τῷ Πάριδι καὶ καθυβρίσασι τοῦ Μενέλεω τὴν ἑστίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς κυουμένοις ἔτι καὶ ὧν τυχὸν οὐδὲ αἱ μητέρες τότ᾽ ἐγεγόνεσαν, ὁπότε ἐκεῖνος τὰ περὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν ἐνενόει; εἰ δὴ τὸ μὲν ὠμόν τις οἴεται [D] καὶ τραχὺ καὶ ἀπάνθρωπον ἥκιστα βασιλεῖ πρέπειν, τὸ πρᾷον δὲ οἶμαι καὶ χρηστὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον ἁρμόττειν ἥκιστα μὲν χαίροντι τιμωρίαις, ἀχθομένωι δὲ ἐπὶ ταῖς τῶν ὑπηκόων ξυμφοραῖς, ὅπως ἂν γίγνωνται, εἴτε κακίᾳ σφῶν καὶ ἀμαθίᾳ, εἴτε ἔξωθεν παρὰ τῆς τύχης ἐπάγοιντο, δῆλός ἐστι τούτῳ διδοὺς τὰ νικητήρια. ἐννοεῖτε γάρ, ὡς περὶ τὸν παῖδα γέγονε τοῦ φύσαντος ἀμείνων καὶ δικαιότερος, περὶ δὲ τοὺς ἐκείνου φίλους [100] πιστότερος τοῦ τὴν φιλίαν ὁμολογήσαντος. ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἅπαντας προεῖτο, ὁ δὲ ἀπέσωσεν ἅπαντας. καὶ εἰ μὲν ἐκεῖνος ταῦτα περὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐγνωκὼς(472) τρόπου ἅτε ἐν πολλῷ χρόνῳ κατανοήσας σφόδρα ἐπίστευεν, ἀσφαλῶς μέν οἱ τὰ τοῦ παιδός, βεβαίως δὲ ὁρμεῖν τὰ τῶν φίλων, συνίει μὲν ὀρθῶς, πολλάκις δὲ ἧν πανοῦργος καὶ μοχθηρὸς καὶ δυστυχής, πολέμιος ἐθέλων εἶναι τῷ τοιοίτῳ καὶ ὃν σφόδρα ἀγαθὸν καὶ διαφερόντως [B] πρᾷον ἠπίστατο μισῶν καὶ ἐπιβουλεύων καὶ ἀφαιρούμενος ὧν οὐδαμῶς ἐχρῆν. εἰ δέ, ἀνελπίστου μέν οἱ τοῦ παιδὸς τῆς σωτηρίας τυγχανούσης, χαλεπῆς δὲ καὶ ἀδυνάτου τῆς(473) τῶν φίλων καὶ τῶν συγγενῶν, τὴν ἀπιστίαν ὅμως προείλετο, ὁ μὲν ἦν καὶ διὰ ταῦτα μοχθηρὸς καὶ ἀνόητος καὶ ἀγριώτερος τῶν θηρίων, ὁ δὲ ἥμερος καὶ πρᾷος καὶ μεγαλόφρων, τοῦ μὲν νηπίου κατελεήσας τὴν ἡλικίαν καὶ τὸν τρόπον, [C] τοῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐξελεγχθεῖσι πρᾷως ἔχων, τοῦ δὲ ὑπεριδὼν καὶ καταφρονήσας τῶν πονηρευμάτων. ὁ γὰρ ἃ μηδὲ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τις διὰ μέγεθος ὧν αὑτῷ σύνοιδεν ἀδικημάτων ἐλπίζει ξυγχωρῶν εἰκότως ἀρετῆς ἐστι νικηφόρος, τὴν δίκην μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον καὶ πρᾳότερον μετατιθεῖς, σωφροσύνῃ δὲ ὑπερβαλλόμενος τοὺς τὸ μέτριον ἐπιτιθέντας ταῖς τιμωρίαις, ἀνδρείᾳ δὲ διαφέρων τῷ μηδένα [D] πολέμιον ἀξιόχρεων ὑπολαμβάνειν, φρόνησιν δὲ ἐπιδεικνύμενος τῷ συγκαταλύειν τὰς ἔχθρας καὶ οὐ παραπέμπειν εἰς τοὺς παῖδας οἐδὲ εἰς ἐγγόνους προφάσει τῆς ἀκριβοῦς δίκης καὶ τοῦ βούλεσθαι(474) ἐπιεικῶς μάλα πίτυος δίκην τῶν πονηρῶν ἀφανίζειν τὰ σπέρματα. ἐκείνων γὰρ δὴ καὶ τὸ ἔργον τόδε, καὶ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ τὴν εἰκόνα παλαιὸς ἀπέφηνε λόγος. ὁ δὲ ἀγαθὸς βασιλεὺς μιμούμενος ἀτεχνῶς τὸν θεὸν [101] οἶδε μὲν καὶ ἐκ τῶν πετρῶν ἑσμοὺς μελιττῶν ἐξιπταμένους, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ δριμυτάτου ξύλου τὸν γλυκὺν καρπὸν φυόμενον, σῦκά φημι τὰ χαρίεντα, καὶ ἐξ ἀκανθῶν τὴν σίδην καὶ ἄλλα ἐξ ἄλλων φυόμενα ἀνόμοια τοῖς γεννῶσι καὶ ἀποτίκτουσιν. οὔκουν οἴεται ταῦτα χρῆναι πρὸ τῆς ἀκμῆς διαφθείρειν, ἀλλὰ περιμένειν τὸν χρόνον καὶ ἐπιτρέπειν αὐτοῖς ἀπωσαμένοις τῶν πατέρων τὴν ἄνοιαν [B] καὶ τὴν μωρίαν ἀγαθοῖς γενέσθαι καὶ σώφροσι, ζηλωτὰς δὲ γενομένους τῶν πατρῴων ἐπιτηδευμάτων ὑφέξειν ἐν καιρῷ τὴν δίκην, οὐκ ἀλλοτρίοις ἔργοις καὶ ξυμφοραῖς παραναλωθέντας.

(But seeing that my argument has, of its own accord, once reached this point and is describing the affection that the Emperor inspires in the common people, the magistrates, and the garrisons who aid him to protect the empire and repulse its enemies, are you willing that I should relate to you a signal proof of this, which happened, one may say, yesterday or the day before? A certain man(475) who had been given the command of the garrisons in Galatia—you probably know his name and character—left his son behind him as a hostage for his friendship and loyalty to the Emperor, though not at the Emperor’s request. Then he proved to be more treacherous than “lions who have no faithful covenants with man,”(476) as the poet says, and plundered the cities of their wealth and distributed it among the invading barbarians, paying it down as a sort of ransom, though he was well able to take measures to win security by the sword rather than by money. But he tried to win them over to friendliness by means of money. And finally he took from the women’s apartments a purple dress, and showed himself truly a tyrant and tragical indeed. Then the soldiers, resenting his treachery, would not tolerate the sight of him thus dressed up in women’s garb,(477) and they set on the miserable wretch and tore him limb from limb,(478) nor would they endure either that the crescent moon(479) should rule over them. Now it was the affection of his garrison that gave the Emperor this guerdon, a wonderful recompense for his just and blameless rule. But you are eager to hear how he behaved after this. This too, however, you cannot fail to know, that he chose neither to be harsh towards that man’s son(480) nor suspicious and formidable to his friends, but in the highest possible degree he was merciful and kindly to them all, though many desired to bring false accusations(481) and had raised their stings to strike the innocent. But though many were perhaps really involved in the crimes of which they were suspected, he was merciful to all alike, provided they had not been convicted or proved to be partners in the usurper’s monstrous and abominable schemes. And shall we not declare that the forbearance shown by him towards the son of one who had broken the laws and trampled on loyalty and sworn covenants was truly royal and godlike; or shall we rather approve Agamemnon, who vented his rage and cruelty not only on those Trojans who had accompanied Paris and had outraged the hearth of Menelaus, but even on those who were yet unborn, and whose mothers even were perhaps not yet born when Paris plotted the rape? Anyone therefore who thinks that cruelty and harshness and inhumanity ill become a king, and that mercy and goodness and human kindness befit one who takes no pleasure in acts of vengeance, but grieves at the misfortunes of his subjects, however they may arise, whether from their own wickedness and ignorance or aimed at them from without by fate, will, it is evident, award to the Emperor the palm of victory. For bear in mind that he was kinder and more just to the boy than his own father, and to the usurper’s friends he was more loyal than he who acknowledged the tie of friendship. For the usurper forsook them all, but the Emperor saved them all. And if the usurper, knowing all this about the Emperor’s character, since he had for a long time been able to observe it, was entirely confident that his son was safely at anchor and his friends securely also, then he did indeed understand him aright, but he was many times over criminal and base and accursed for desiring to be at enmity with such a man, and for hating one whom he knew to be so excellent and so surpassingly mild, and for plotting against him and trying to rob him of what it was a shame to take from him. But if, on the other hand, his son’s safety was something that he had never hoped for, and the safety of his friends and kinsfolk he had thought difficult or impossible, and he nevertheless chose to be disloyal, this is yet another proof that he was wicked and infatuated and fiercer than a wild beast, and that the Emperor was gentle and mild and magnanimous, since he took pity on the youth of the helpless child, and was merciful to those who were not proved guilty, and ignored and despised the crimes of the usurper. For he who grants what not one of his enemies expects, because the guilt that is on their conscience is so great, beyond a doubt carries off the prize for virtue: for while he tempers justice with what is nobler and more merciful, in self‐restraint he surpasses those who are merely moderate in their vengeance; and in courage he excels because he thinks no enemy worthy of notice; and his wisdom he displays by suppressing enmities and by not handing them down to his sons and descendants on the pretext of strict justice, or of wishing, and very reasonably too, to blot out the seed of the wicked like the seed of a pine‐tree.(482) For this is the way of those trees, and in consequence an ancient tale(483) gave rise to this simile. But the good Emperor, closely imitating God, knows that even from rocks swarms of bees fly forth, and that sweet fruits grow even from the bitterest wood, pleasant figs, for instance, and from thorns the pomegranate, and there are other instances where things are produced entirely unlike the parents that begat them and brought them forth. Therefore he thinks that we ought not to destroy these before they have reached maturity, but to wait for time to pass, and to trust them to cast off the folly and madness of their fathers and become good and temperate, but that, if they should turn out to emulate their fathers’ practices, they will in good time suffer punishment, but they will not have been uselessly sacrificed because of the deeds and misfortunes of others.

Ἆρ᾽ οὖν ὑμῖν ἱκανῶς δοκοῦμεν ἐκτετελεκέναι τὸν ἀληθινὸν ἔπαινον; ἢ ποθεῖτε ἀκούειν ὑμεῖς καὶ τὴν καρτερίαν καὶ τὴν σεμνότητα, καὶ ὡς οὐ μόνον ἐστὶ τῶν πολεμίων ἀήττητος, [C] ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε αἰσχρᾶς ἐπιθυμίας ἑάλω πώποτε, οὔτε οἰκίας καλῆς οὔτ᾽ ἐπαύλεως πολυτελοῦς οὔτε ὅρμων σμαραγδίνων ἐπιθυμήσας ἀφείλετο βίᾳ ἢ καὶ πειθοῖ τοὺς κεκτημένους, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ γυναικὸς ἐλευθέρας οὐδὲ θεραπαίνης, οὐδὲ ὅλως τὴν ἄδικον ἀφροδίτην ἠγάπησε, καὶ ὡς οὐδὲ ὧν ὧραι φύουσιν ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἄμετρον ἀπαιτεῖ πλησμονήν, οὐδὲ αὐτῷ θέρους ὥρᾳ τοῦ κρυστάλλου μέλει, [D] οὐδὲ μεταβάλλει πρὸς τὰς ὥρας τὴν οἴκησιν, τοῖς πονουμένοις δὲ ἀεὶ πάρεστι τῆς ἀρχῆς μέρεσιν ἀντέχων καὶ πρὸς τὸ κρύος καὶ πρὸς τὰ θάλπη τὰ γενναῖα; τούτων δὲ εἴ με κελεύοιτε φέρειν ὑμῖν ἐμφανῆ τὰ τεκμήρια, γνώριμα μὲν ἐρῶ καὶ οὐκ ἀπορήσω, μακρὸς δὲ ὁ λόγος καὶ διωλύγιος, ἐμοί τε οὐ σχολὴ τὰς μούσας ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον θεραπεύειν, ἀλλ᾽ ὥρα λοιπὸν πρὸς ἔργον τρέπεσθαι.

(Now do you think I have made my sincere panegyric sufficiently thorough and complete? Or are you anxious to hear also about the Emperor’s powers of endurance and his august bearing, and that not only is he unconquerable by the enemy, but has never yet succumbed to any disgraceful appetite, and never coveted a fine house or a costly palace or a necklace of emeralds, and then robbed their owners of them either by violence or persuasion; and that he has never coveted any free‐born woman or handmaid or pursued any dishonourable passion; and that he does not even desire an immoderate surfeit of the good things that the seasons produce, or care for ice in summer, or change his residence with the time of year; but is ever at hand to aid those portions of the empire that are in trouble, enduring both frost and extreme heat? But if you should bid me bring before you plain proofs of this, I shall merely say what is familiar to all, and I shall not lack evidence, but the account would be long, a monstrous speech, nor indeed have I leisure to cultivate the Muses to such an extent, for it is now time for me to turn to my work.(484))

ORATION III

Introduction To Oration III

The Third Oration is an expression of gratitude (χαριστήριος λόγος)(485) to the Empress Eusebia, the first wife of Constantius. After Julian’s intractable step‐brother Gallus Caesar had been murdered by the Emperor, he was summoned to the court at Milan, and there, awkward and ill at ease, cut off from his favourite studies and from the society of philosophers, surrounded by intriguing and unfriendly courtiers, and regarded with suspicion by the Emperor, Julian was protected, encouraged and advised by Eusebia. His praise and gratitude are, for once, sincere. The oration must have been composed either in Gaul or shortly before Julian set out thither after the dangerous dignity of the Caesarship had been thrust upon him. His sincerity has affected his style, which is simpler and more direct than that of the other two Panegyrics.

ΙΟΥΛΙΑΝΟΥ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ ΕΥΣΕΒΙΑΣ

(Julian, Caesar)

ΤΗΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΔΟΣ ΕΓΚΩΜΙΟΝ

(Panegyric in Honour of the Empress Eusebia)

[102] Τί ποτε ἄρα χρὴ διανοεῖσθαι περὶ τῶν ὀφειλόντων μεγάλα καὶ πέρα(486) μεγάλων, οὔτι φημὶ χρυσίον οὐδὲ ἀργύριον, ἀλλὰ ἁπλῶς ὅ,τι ἂν τύχῃ τις παρὰ τοῦ πέλας εὖ παθών· εἶτα τοιαῦτα μὲν ἀποτίνειν οὔτε ἐπιχειρούντων οὔτε διανοουμένων, ῥᾳθύμως δὲ καὶ ὀλιγώρως ἐχόντων πρὸς τὸ τὰ δυνατὰ ποιεῖν καὶ διαλύεσθαι τὸ ὄφλημα; [B] ἢ δῆλον ὅτι φαύλους καὶ μοχθηροὺς νομιστέον; οὐδενὸς γὰρ οἶμαι τῶν ἄλλων ἀδικημάτων ἔλαττον μισοῦμεν ἀχαριστίαν καὶ ὀνειδίζομεν τοῦς ἀνθρώποις, ὅταν εὖ παθόντες περὶ τοὺς εὐεργέτας ὦσιν ἀχάριστοι· ἔστι δὲ οὐχ οὗτος ἀχάριστος μόνον, ὅστις εὖ παθὼν δρᾷ κακῶς ἢ λέγει, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅστις σιωπᾷ καὶ ἀποκρύπτει, λήθῃ παραδιδοὺς καὶ ἀφανίζων τὰς χάριτας. καὶ τῆς μὲν θηριώδους ἐκείνης [C] καὶ ἀπανθρώπου μοχθηρίας σφόδρα ὀλίγα καὶ εὐαρίθμητα κομιδῇ τὰ παραδείγματα· πολλοὶ δὲ ἀποκρύπτουσι τὸ δοκεῖν εὖ παθεῖν, οὐκ οἶδα ὅ,τι βουλόμενοι· φασὶ δὲ ὅμως θωπείας τινὸς καὶ ἀγεννοῦς κολακείας τὴν δόξαν ἐκκλίνειν. ἐγὼ δὲ [103] τούτους(487) μὲν ὅτι μηδὲν ὑγιὲς λέγουσι σαφῶς εἰδὼς ὅμως ἀφίημι, καὶ κείσθω διαφεύγειν αὐτούς, καθάπερ οἴονται, κολακείας οὐκ ἀληθῆ δόξαν, πολλοῖς ἅμα πάθεσιν ἐνόχους φανέντας καὶ νοσήμασιν αἰσχίστοις πάνυ καὶ ἀνελευθέροις. ἢ γὰρ οὐ συνιέντες ἀναίσθητοι λίαν εἰσίν, ὧν οὐδαμῶς ἁναίσθητον εἶναι χρῆν, ἢ συνιέντες ἐπιλήσμονες ὧν ἐχρῆν εἰς ἅπαντα μεμνῆσθαι τὸν χρόνον· μεμνημένοι δὲ καὶ ἀποκνοῦντες δι᾽ ἁσδηποτοῦν αἰτίας δειλοὶ καὶ βάσκανοι φύσει καὶ ἁπλῶς ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις δυσμενεῖς, [B] οἵ γε οὐδὲ τοῖς εὐεργέταις πρᾷοι καὶ προσηνεῖς ἐθέλοντες εἶναι, εἶτα, ἂν μὲν δέῃ λοιδορῆσαί που καὶ δακεῖν, ὥσπερ τὰ θηρία ὀργίλον καὶ ὀξὺ βλέπουσιν· ὥσπερ δὲ ἀνάλωμα πολυτελὲς φεύγοντες τὸν ἀληθινὸν ἔπαινον, οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅπως, αἰτιῶνται τὰς ὑπὲρ τῶν καλῶν ἔργων εὐφημίας, ἐξὸν ἐκεῖνο ἐξετάζειν μόνον, εἰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν τιμῶσι καὶ περὶ πλείονος ποιοῦνται [C] τοῦ δοκεῖν ἐν τοῖς ἐπαίνοις χαρίζεσθαι. οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῦτο ἔνεστιν εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἀνωφελὲς χρῆμα ἡ εὐφημία οὔτε τοῖς ὑπὲρ ὧν γέγονεν οὔτε αὖ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ὁπόσι τὴν ἴσην ἐκείνοις κατὰ τὸν βίον τάξιν εἰληχότες τῆς ἐν ταῖς πράξεσιν ἀρετῆς ἀπελείφθησαν. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἄκουσμά τέ ἐστιν ἡδὺ καὶ προθυμοτέρους παρέχει περὶ τὰ καλὰ καὶ διαφέροντα τῶν ἔργων· τοὺς δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ ζηλοῦν ἐκεῖνα πειθοῖ καὶ βίᾳ παρώρμησεν ὁρῶντας ὅτι μηδὲ τῶν προλαβόντων τινὲς ἀπεστερήθησαν ὃ μόνον δοῦναί τε καὶ λαβεῖν ἐστι δημοσίᾳ καλόν. [D] χρήματα μὲν γὰρ εἰς τὸ ἐμφανὲς διδόναι καὶ περιβλέπειν, ὅπως ὅτι πλεῖστοι τὸ δοθὲν εἴσονται, πρὸς ἀνδρὸς ἀπειροκάλου· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ὑποσχὼν(488) τὼ χεῖρε ὑποδέξαιτ᾽ ἄν τις ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς πάντων, μὴ παντάπασιν ἀποσεισάμενος αἰδῶ καὶ ἐπιείκειαν τοῦ τρόπου. Ἀρκεσίλαος δὲ [104] καὶ διδοὺς τὸν λαβόντα ἐπειρᾶτο λαθεῖν· συνίει δὲ ἐκεῖνος ἐκ τῆς πράξεως τὸν δράσαντα. ἐπαίνων δὲ ζηλωτὸν μὲν ἀκροατὰς ὡς πλείστους εὑρεῖν, ἀγαπητὸν δὲ οἶμαι καὶ ὀλίγους. καὶ ἐπῄνει δὲ Σωκράτης πολλοὺς καὶ Πλάτων καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης· Ξενοφῶν δὲ καὶ Ἀγησίλαον τὸν βασιλέα καὶ Κῦρον τὸν Πέρσην, οὔτι τὸν ἀρχαῖον ἐκεῖνον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ᾧ(489) συνεστράτευτο ἐπὶ βασιλέα(490) καὶ τοὺς ἐπαίνους ξυγγράφων οὐκ ἀπεκρύπτετο. [B] ἐμοὶ δὲ θαυμαστὸν εἶναι δοκεῖ, εἰ τοὺς ἄνδρας μὲν τοὺς καλούς τε κἀγαθοὺς(491) προθύμως ἐπαινεσόμεθα, γυναῖκα δὲ ἀγαθὴν τῆς εὐφημίας οὐκ ἀξιώσομεν, ἀρετῆς οὐδὲν μεῖον αὐταῖς ἤπερ τοῖς ἀνδράσι προσήκειν ὑπολαμβάνοντες. ἢ γὰρ εἶναι σώφρονα καὶ συνετὴν καὶ οἴαν νέμειν(492) ἑκάστῳ τὰ πρὸς τὴν ἀξίαν καὶ θαρραλέαν ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς καὶ μεγαλόφρονα καὶ ἐλευθέριον καὶ πάντα ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ὑπάρχειν ἐκείνῃ(493) οἰόμενοι χρῆναι τὰ τοιαῦτα, εἶτα(494) τῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἔργοις [C] ἐγκωμίων ἀφαιρησόμεθα τὸν ἐκ τοῦ κολακεύειν δοκεῖν ψόγον δεδοικότεσ; Ὅμηρος δὲ οὐκ ᾐσχύνετο τὴν Πηνελόπην ἐπαινέσας οὐδὲ τὴν Ἀλκίνου γαμετήν, οὐδὲ εἴ τις ἄλλη διαφερόντως ἀγαθὴ γέγονεν ἢ καὶ ἐπὶ σμικρὸν ἀρετῆς μετεποιήθη. οὔκουν οὐδὲ ἐκείνη τῆς ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ τούτωι διήμαρτεν εὐφημίας. πρὸς δὲ αὖ τούτοις παθεῖν μὲν εὖ καὶ τυχεῖν τινος ἀγαθοῦ, σμικροῦ τε ὁμοίως καὶ μείζονος, [D] οὐδὲν ἔλαττον παρὰ γυναικὸς ἢ παρὰ ἀνδρὸς δεξόμεθα, τὴν δὲ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ χάριν ἀποτίνειν ὀκνήσομεν; ἀλλὰ μή ποτε καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ δεῖσθαι καταγέλαστον εἶναι φῶσι καὶ οὐκ ἄξιον ἀνδρὸς ἐπιεικοῦς καὶ γενναίου, εἶναι δὲ καὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα τὸν σοφὸν ἀγεννῆ καὶ δειλόν, ὅτι τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ἱκέτευε θυγατέρα παίζουσαν ἐπὶ τοῦ λειμῶνος ξὺν ταῖς ὁμήλιξι παρθένοις παρὰ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ταῖς ᾐόσι. μή ποτε οὖν οὐδὲ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς τῆς τοῦ Διὸς ἀπόσχωνται παιδός, [105] ἣν Ὅμηρός φησιν ἀπεικασθεῖσαν παρθένῳ καλῇ καὶ γενναίᾳ Ὀδυσσεῖ μὲν ἡγήσασθαι τῆς ἐπὶ τὰ βασίλεια φερούσης ὁδοῦ, σύμβουλον δὲ αὐτῷ(495) καὶ διδάσκαλον γενομένην, ὧν ἐχρῆν εἴσω παρελθόντα δρᾶν καὶ λέγειν, καθάπερ τινὰ ῥήτορα ξὺν τέχνῃ(496) τέλειον ᾆσαι βασιλίδος ἐγκώμιον, ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους ἀρξαμένην. ἔχει δὲ αὐτῷ τὰ ὑπὲρ τούτων ἔπη τὸν τρόπον τόνδε·

(What, pray, ought we to think of those who owe things of price and beyond price—I do not mean gold or silver, but simply any benefit one may happen to receive from one’s neighbour—suppose that they neither try nor intend to repay that kindness, but are indolent and do not trouble themselves to do what they can and try to discharge the debt? Is it not evident that we must think them mean and base? Far more I think than any other crime do we hate ingratitude, and we blame those persons who have received benefits and are ungrateful to their benefactors. And the ungrateful man is not only he who repays a kindness with evil deeds or words, but also he who is silent and conceals a kindness and tries to consign it to oblivion and abolish gratitude. Now of such brutal and inhuman baseness as the repayment with evil the instances are few and easily reckoned; but there are many who try to conceal the appearance of having received benefits, though with what purpose I know not. They assert, however, that it is because they are trying to avoid a reputation for a sort of servility and for base flattery. But though I know well enough that what they say is all insincere, nevertheless I let that pass, and suppose we assume that they, as they think, do escape an undeserved reputation for flattery, still they at the same time appear to be guilty of many weaknesses and defects of character that are in the highest degree base and illiberal. For either they are too dense to perceive what no one should fail to perceive, or they are not dense but forgetful of what they ought to remember for all time. Or again, they do remember, and yet shirk their duty for some reason or other, being cowards and grudging by nature, and their hand is against every man without exception, seeing that not even to their benefactors do they consent to be gentle and amiable; and then if there be any opening to slander and bite, they look angry and fierce like wild beasts. Genuine praise they somehow or other avoid giving, as though it were a costly extravagance, and they censure the applause given to noble actions, when the only thing that they need enquire into is whether the eulogists respect truth and rate her higher than the reputation of showing their gratitude by eulogy. For this at any rate they cannot assert, that praise is a useless thing, either to those who receive it or to others besides, who, though they have been assigned the same rank in life as the objects of their praise, have fallen short of their merit in what they have accomplished. To the former it is not only agreeable to hear, but makes them zealous to aim at a still higher level of conduct, while the latter it stimulates both by persuasion and compulsion to imitate that noble conduct, because they see that none of those who have anticipated them have been deprived of that which alone it is honourable to give and receive publicly. For to give money openly, and to look anxiously round that as many as possible may know of the gift, is characteristic of a vulgar person. Nay no one would even stretch out his hands to receive it in the sight of all men, unless he had first cast off all propriety of manner and sense of shame. Arcesilaus indeed, when offering a gift, used to try to hide his identity even from the recipient.(497) But in his case the manner of the deed always made known the doer. For a eulogy, however, one is ambitious to obtain as many hearers as possible, and even a small audience is, I think, not to be despised. Socrates, for instance, spoke in praise of many, as did Plato also and Aristotle. Xenophon, too, eulogised King Agesilaus and Cyrus the Persian, not only the elder Cyrus, but him whom he accompanied on his campaign against the Great King, nor did he hide away his eulogies, but put them into his history. Now I should think it strange indeed if we shall be eager to applaud men of high character, and not think fit to give our tribute of praise to a noble woman, believing as we do that excellence is the attribute of women no less than of men. Or shall we who think that such a one ought to be modest and wise and competent to assign to every man his due, and brave in danger, high‐ minded and generous, and that in a word all such qualities as these should be hers,—shall we, I say, then rob her of the encomium due to her good deeds, from any fear of the charge of appearing to flatter? But Homer was not ashamed to praise Penelope and the consort of Alcinous(498) and other women of exceptional goodness, or even those whose claim to virtue was slight. Nay nor did Penelope fail to obtain her share of praise for this very thing. But besides these reasons for praise, shall we consent to accept kind treatment from a woman no less than from a man, and to obtain some boon whether small or great, and then hesitate to pay the thanks due therefor? But perhaps people will say that the very act of making a request to a woman is despicable and unworthy of an honourable and high‐ spirited man, and that even the wise Odysseus was spiritless and cowardly because he was a suppliant to the king’s daughter(499) as she played with her maiden companions by the banks of the river. Perhaps they will not spare even Athene the daughter of Zeus, of whom Homer says(500) that she put on the likeness of a fair and noble maiden and guided him along the road that led to the palace, and was his adviser and instructed him what he must do and say when he had entered within; and that, like some orator perfect in the art of rhetoric, she sang an encomium of the queen, and for a prelude told the tale of her lineage from of old. Homer’s verses about this are as follows:)

Δέσποιναν μὲν πρῶτα κιχήσεαι ἐν μεγάροισιν,
Ἀρήτη δ᾽ ὄνομ᾽ ἐστὶν ἐπώνυμον, [B] ἐκ δὲ τοκήων
Τῶν αὐτῶν, οἵπερ τέκον Ἀλκίνοον βασιλῆα.

(“The queen thou shalt find first in the halls. Arete is the name
she is called by, and of the same parents is she as those who
begat king Alcinous.”(501))

ἀναλαβὼν δὲ ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος οἶμαι τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ γένους καὶ ὅσα ἔδρασάν τε καὶ ἔπαθον εἰπών, καὶ ὅπως αὐτὴν ὁ θεῖος, τοῦ πατρὸς ἀπολομένου νέου καὶ νυμφίου, ἔγημέ τε καὶ ἐτίμησεν,

(Then he goes back and begins with Poseidon and tells of the origin of that family and all that they did and suffered, and how when her father perished, still young and newly‐wed, her uncle married her, and honoured her)

ὡς οὔτις ἐπὶ χθονὶ τίεται ἄλλη,

(“As no other woman in the world is honoured,”)

καὶ ὅσων τυγχάνει C

(and he tells of all the honour she receives)

Ἔκ τε φίλων παίδων ἔκ τ᾽ αὐτοῦ Ἀλκινόοιο,

(“From her dear children and from Alcinous himself,”)

ἔπι δὲ οἷμαι τῆς γερουσίας καὶ τοῦ δήμου, οἱ καθάπερ θεὸν ὁρῶσι πορευομένην διὰ τοῦ ἄστεος, τέλος ἐπέθηκε ταῖς εὐφημίαις ζηλωτὸν ἀνδρὶ καὶ γυναικί,

(and from the council of elders also, I think, and from the people who look upon her as a goddess as she goes through the city; and on all his praises he sets this crown, one that man and woman alike may well envy, when he says)

Οὐ μὲν γάρ τι νόου γε καὶ αὐτὴ δεύεται ἐσθλοῦ

(“For indeed she too has no lack of excellent understanding,”)

λέγων, καὶ ὡς κρίνειν εὖ ἠπίστατο, οἷσίν τ᾽ εὗ φρονέῃσι, [D] καὶ διαλύειν τὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐγκλήματα τοῖς πολίταις ἀναφυόμενα ξὺν δίκῃ. ταύτην δὴ οὖν ἱκετεύσας εἰ τύχοις εὔνου, πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφη,

(and that she knows well how to judge between men, and, for those citizens to whom she is kindly disposed, how to reconcile with justice the grievances that arise among them. Now if, when you entreat her, the goddess says to him, you find her well disposed,)

Ἐλπωρή τοι ἔπειτα φίλους τ᾽ ἰδέειν καὶ ἱκέσθαι
Οἶκον ἐς ὑψόροφον·

(“Then is there hope that you will see your friends and come to
your high‐roofed house.”)

ὁ δ᾽ ἐπείσθη τῇ ξυμβουλῇ. ἆρ᾽ οὖν ἔτι δεησόμεθα μειζόνων εἰκόνων καὶ ἀποδείξεων ἐναργεστέρων, ὥστε ἀποφυγεῖν τὴν ἐκ τοῦ κολακεύειν δοκεῖν ὑποψίαν; [106] οὐχὶ δὲ ἤδη μιμούμενοι τὸν σοφὸν ἐκεῖνον καὶ θεῖον ποιητὴν ἐπαινέσομεν Εὐσεβίαν τὴν ἀρίστην, ἐπιθυμοῦντες μὲν ἔπαινον αὐτῆς ἄξιον διεξελθεῖν, ἀγαπῶντες δέ, εἰ καὶ μετρίως τυγχάνοιμεν οὕτω καλῶν καὶ πολλῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων; καὶ τῶν(502) ἀγαθῶν τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἐκείνῃ, σωφροσύνης καὶ δικαιοσύνης ἢ πρᾳότητος καὶ ἐπιεικείας ἢ τῆς περὶ τὸν ἄνδρα φιλίας ἢ τῆς περὶ τὰ χρήματα μεγαλοψυχίας [B] ἢ τῆς περὶ τοὺς οἰκείους καὶ ξυγγενεῖς τιμῆς. προσήκει δὲ οἶμαι καθάπερ ἴχνεσιν ἑπόμενον τοῖς ἤδη ῥηθεῖσιν οὕτω ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ξὺν εὐφημίᾳ τάξιν, ἀποδιδόντα τὴν αὐτὴν ἐκείνῃ, πατρίδος τε, ὡς εἰκός, καὶ πατέρων μνημονεύοντα, καὶ ὅπως ἐγήματο καὶ ᾧτινι, καὶ τἆλλα πάντα τὸν αὐτὸν ἐκείνοις τρόπον.

(And he was persuaded by her counsel. Shall I then need yet greater instances and clearer proofs, so that I may escape the suspicion of seeming to flatter? Shall I not forthwith imitate that wise and inspired poet and go on to praise the noble Eusebia, eager as I am to compose an encomium worthy of her, though I shall be thankful if, even in a moderate degree, I succeed in describing accomplishments so many and so admirable? And I shall be thankful if I succeed in describing also those noble qualities of hers, her temperance, justice, mildness and goodness, or her affection for her husband, or her generosity about money, or the honour that she pays to her own people and her kinsfolk. It is proper for me, I think, to follow in the track as it were of what I have already said, and, as I pursue my panegyric, so arrange it as to give the same order as Athene, making mention, as is natural, of her native land, her ancestors, how she married and whom, and all the rest in the same fashion as Homer.)

Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς πατρίδος πολλὰ σεμνὰ λέγειν ἔχων, τὰ μὲν διὰ παλαιότητα παρήσειν μοι δοκῶ· φαίνεται γὰρ εἶναι τῶν μύθων οὐ πόρρω· [C] ὁποῖον δή τι καὶ τὸ περὶ τῶν Μουσῶν λεγόμενον, ὡς εἶεν δήπουθεν ἐκ τῆς Πιερίας, οὐχὶ δὲ ἐξ Ἑλικῶνος εἰς τὸν Ὄλυμπον ἀφίκοιντο παρὰ τὸν πατέρα κληθεῖσαι. τοῦτο μὲν δὴ καὶ εἰ δή τι τοιοῦτον ἕτερον, μύθῳ μᾶλλον ἢ λόγῳ προσῆκον, ἀπολειπτέον· ὀλίγα δὲ εἰπεῖν τῶν οὐ πᾶσι γνωρίμων τυχὸν οὐκ ἄτοπον οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ παρόντος λόγου. Μακεδόνων γὰρ οἰκίσαι φασὶ τὴν χώραν τοὺς Ἡρακλέους ἐγγόνους, Τημένου παῖδας, [D] οἵ τὴν Ἀργείαν λῆξιν νεμόμενοι καὶ στασιάζοντες τέλος ἐποιήσαντο τὴν ἀποικίαν τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔριδος καὶ φιλοτιμίας· εἶτα ἑλόντες τὴν Μακεδονίαν καὶ γένος ὄλβιον ἀπολιπόντες(503) βασιλεῖς ἐκ βασιλέων διετέλουν καθάπερ κλῆρον τὴν τιμὴν διαδεχόμενοι. πάντας μὲν οὖν αὐτοὺς ἐπαινεῖν οὔτε ἀληθὲς οὔτε οἶμαι ῥάδιον. πολλῶν δὲ ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν γενομένων καὶ καταλιπόντων Ἑλληνικοῦ τρόπου μνημεῖα πάγκαλα, Φίλιππος καὶ ὁ τούτου παῖς ἀρετῇ διηνεγκάτην πάντων, [107] ὅσοι πάλαι Μακεδονίας καὶ Θρᾴκης ἦρξαν, οἶμαι δὲ ἔγωγε καὶ ὅσοι Λυδῶν ἢ Μήδων καὶ Περσῶν καὶ Ἀσσυρίων, πλὴν μόνου τοῦ Καμβύσου παιδός, ὃς ἐκ τῶν Μήδων ἐς Πέρσας τὴν βασιλείαν μετέστησεν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτος ἐπειράθη τὴν Μακεδόνων αὐξῆσαι δύναμιν, καὶ τῆς Εὐρώπες τὰ πλεῖστα καταστρεψάμενος ὅρον ἐποιήσατο πρὸς ἕω μὲν καὶ πρὸς μεσημβρίαν τὴν θάλατταν, ἀπ᾽ ἄρκτων δὲ οἶμαι [B] τὸν Ἴστρον καὶ πρὸς ἑσπέραν τὸ Ὠρικὸν ἔθνος. ὁ τούτου δὲ αὖ παῖς ὑπὸ τῷ Σταγειρίτηι σοφῷ τρεφόμενος τοσοῦτον μεγαλοψυχίᾳ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων διήνεγκε καὶ προσέτι τὸν αὑτοῦ πατέρα τῇ στρατηγίᾳ καὶ τῇ θαρραλεότητι καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἀρεταῖς ὑπερβαλλόμενος, ὥστ᾽(504) οὐκ ἄξιον αὑτῷ ζῆν ὑπερλάμβανεν, εἰ μὴ ξυμπάντων μὲν ἀνθρώπων, πάντων δὲ ἐθνῶν κρατήσειεν. οὐκοῦν [C] τὴν μὲν Ἀσίαν ἐπῆλθε σύμπασαν καταστρεφόμενος, καὶ ἀνίσχοντα πρῶτος ἀνθρώπων τὸν ἥλιον προσεκύνει, ὡρμημένον δὲ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν Εὐρώπην, ὅπως τὰ λειπόμενα περιβαλόμενος γῆς τε ἁπάσης καὶ θαλάττης κύριος γένοιτο, τὸ χρεὼν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι κατέλαβε. Μακεδόνες δὲ ἁπάντων ἦρχον, ὧν ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνῳ κτησάμενοι πόλεων καὶ ἐθνῶν ἔτυχον. ἆρ᾽ οὖν ἔτι χρὴ διὰ μειζόνων τεκμηρίων δηλοῦν, [D] ὡς ἔνδοξος μὲν ἡ Μακεδονία καὶ μεγάλη τὸ πρόσθεν γένοιτο; ταύτης δὲ αὐτῆς τὸ κράτιστον ἡ πόλις ἐκείνη, ἣν ἀνέστησαν, πεσόντων, οἶμαι, Θετταλῶν, τῆς κατ᾽ ἐκείνων ἐπώνυμον νίκης. καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων οὐδὲν ἔτι δέομαι μακρότερα λέγειν.

(Now though I have much that is highly honourable to say about her native land,(505) I think it well to omit part, because of its antiquity. For it seems to be not far removed from myth. For instance, the sort of story that is told about the Muses, that they actually came from Pieria(506) and that it was not from Helicon that they came to Olympus, when summoned to their father’s side. This then, and all else of the same sort, since it is better suited to a fable than to my narrative, must be omitted. But perhaps it is not out of the way nor alien from my present theme to tell some of the facts that are not familiar to all. They say(507) that Macedonia was colonised by the descendants of Heracles, the sons of Temenus, who had been awarded Argos as their portion, then quarrelled, and to make an end of their strife and jealousy led out a colony. Then they seized Macedonia, and leaving a prosperous family behind them, they succeeded to the throne, king after king, as though the privilege were an inheritance. Now to praise all these would be neither truthful, nor in my opinion easy. But though many of them were brave men and left behind them very glorious monuments of the Hellenic character, Philip and his son surpassed in valour all who of old ruled over Macedonia and Thrace, yes and I should say all who governed the Lydians as well, or the Medes and Persians and Assyrians, except only the son of Cambyses,(508) who transferred the sovereignty from the Medes to the Persians. For Philip was the first to try to increase the power of the Macedonians, and when he had subdued the greater part of Europe, he made the sea his frontier limit on the east and south, and on the north I think the Danube, and on the west the people of Oricus,(509) And after him, his son, who was bred up at the feet of the wise Stagyrite,(510) so far excelled all the rest in greatness of soul, and besides, surpassed his own father in generalship and courage and the other virtues, that he thought that life for him was not worth living unless he could subdue all men and all nations. And so he traversed the whole of Asia, conquering as he went, and he was the first of men(511) to adore the rising sun; but as he was setting out for Europe in order to gain control of the remainder and so become master of the whole earth and sea, he paid the debt of nature in Babylon. Then Macedonians became the rulers of all the cities and nations that they had acquired under his leadership. And now is it still necessary to show by stronger proofs that Macedonia was famous and great of old? And the most important place in Macedonia is that city which they restored, after, I think, the fall of the Thessalians, and which is called after their victory over them.(512) But concerning all this I need not speak at greater length.)

Εὐγενείας γε μὴν τί ἂν ἔχοιμεν ἔτι πράγματα ἐπιζητοῦντες φανερώτερον καὶ ἐναργὲς μᾶλλον τεκμήριον; θυγάτηρ γάρ ἐστιν ἀνδρὸς ἀξίου νομισθέντος τὴν ἐπώνυμον τοῦ ἔτους ἀρχὴν ἄρχειν,(513) πάλαι [108] μὲν ἰσχυρὰν καὶ βασιλείαν ἀτεχνῶς ὀνομαζομένην, μεταβαλοῦσαν δὲ διὰ τοὺς οὐκ ὀρθῶς χρωμένους τῇ δυνάμει τὸ ὄνομα· νῦν δὲ ἤδη τῆς δυνάμεως ἐπιλειπούσης, ἐπειδὴ πρὸς μοναρχίαν τὰ τῆς πολιτείας μεθέστηκε, τιμὴ καθ᾽ αὑτὴν τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων στερομένη πρὸς πᾶσαν ἰσχὺν ἀντίρροπος εἶναι δοκεῖ, τοῖς μὲν ἰδιώταις οἷον ἆθλον ἀποκειμένη καὶ γέρας ἀρετῆς ἦ πίστεως ἤ τινος εὐνοίας καὶ ὑπηρεσίας περὶ τοὺς τῶν ὅλων ἄρχοντας ἢ πράξεως λαμπρᾶς, [B] τοῖς βασιλεῦσι δὲ πρὸς οἷς ἔχουσιν ἀγαθοῖς οἷον ἄγαλμα καὶ κόσμος ἐπιτιθεμένη· τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἄλλων ὀνομάτων τε καὶ ἔργων, ὁπόσα τῆς παλαιᾶς ἐκείνης πολιτείας διασώζει τινὰ φαύλην καὶ ἀμυδρὰν εἰκόνα, ἢ παντάπασιν ὑπεριδόντες διὰ τὴν ἰσχὺν κατέγνωσαν, ἢ προσιέμενοὶ γε διὰ βίου καρποῦνται τὰς ἐπωνυμίας· μόνης δέ, οἶμαι, ταύτης οὔτε τὴν ἀρχὴν ὑπερεῖδον, χαίρουσί τε(514) καὶ πρὸς ἐνιαυτὸν τυγχάνοντες· [C] καὶ οὔτε ἐδιώτης οὐδεὶς οὔτε βασιλεύς ἐστιν ἢ γέγονεν, ὃς οὐ ζηλωτὸν ἐνόμισεν ὕπατος ἐπονομασθῆναι. εἰ δέ, ὅτι πρῶτος ὔτυχεν ἐκεῖνος καὶ γέγονεν ἀρχηγὸς τῷ γένει τῆς εὐδοξίας, ἔλαττὸν τις ἔχειν αὐτὸν τῶν ἄλλων ὑπολαμβάνει, λίαν ἐξαπατώμενος οὐ μανθάνει· τῷ παντὶ γὰρ οἶμαι κρεῖττον ἐστι καὶ σεμνότερον ἀρχὴν παρασχεῖν τοῖς ἐγγόνοις περιφανείας τοσαύτης [D] ἢ λαβεῖν παρὰ τῶν προγόνων. ἐπεὶ καὶ πόλεως μεγίστης οἰκιστὴν γενέσθαι κρεῖττον ἢ πολίτην, καὶ λαβεῖν ὁτιοῦν ἀγαθὸν τοῦ δοῦναι τῷ παντὶ καταδεέστερον. λαμβάνειν δὲ ἐοίκασι παρὰ τῶν πατέρων οἱ παῖδες καὶ οἱ πολῖται παρὰ τῶν πόλεων οἷον ἁφορμάς τινας πρὸς εὐδοξίαν. ὅστις δὲ ἀποδίδωσι πάλιν ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ προγόνοις τε καὶ πατρίδι μείζονα τιμῆς ὑπόθεσιν, λαμπροτέραν μὲν ἐκείνην καὶ σεμνοτέραν, τοὺς πατέρας δὲ ἐνδοξοτέρους ἀποφαίνων, οὗτος οὐδενὶ δοκεῖ καταλιπεῖν(515) πρὸς εὐγενείας λόγον ἅμιλλαν· [109] οὐδὲ ἔστιν ὅστις ἐκείνου φήσει κρείττων γεγονέναι· ἐξ ἀγαθῶν μὲν γὰρ ἀγαθὸν φῦναι χρή. ὁ δὲ ἐξ ἐνδόξων ἐνδοξότερος γενόμενος, ἐς ταὐτὸν ἀρετῇ τῆς τύχης πνεούσης, οὗτος οὐδενὶ δίδωσιν ἀπορεῖν, εἰ τῆς εὐγενείας εἰκότως μεταποιεῖται.

(And of her noble birth why should I take any further trouble to seek for clearer or more manifest proof than this? I mean that she is the daughter of a man who was considered worthy to hold the office that gives its name to the year,(516) an office that in the past was powerful and actually called royal, but lost that title because of those who abused their power. But now that in these days its power has waned, since the government has changed to a monarchy, the bare honour, though robbed of all the rest, is held to counterbalance all power, and for private citizens is set up as a sort of prize and a reward of virtue, or loyalty, or of some favour done to the ruler of the empire, or for some brilliant exploit, while for the emperors, it is added to the advantages they already possess as the crowning glory and adornment. For all the other titles and functions that still retain some feeble and shadowy resemblance to the ancient constitution they either altogether despised and rejected, because of their absolute power, or they attached them to themselves and enjoy the titles for life. But this office alone, I think, they from the first did not despise, and it still gratifies them when they obtain it for the year. Indeed there is no private citizen or emperor, nor has ever been, who did not think it an enviable distinction to be entitled consul. And if there be anyone who thinks that, because he I spoke of was the first of his line to win that title and to lay the foundations of distinction for his family, he is therefore inferior to the others, he fails to understand that he is deceived exceedingly. For it is, in my opinion, altogether nobler and more honourable to lay the foundations of such great distinction for one’s descendants than to receive it from one’s ancestors. For indeed it is a nobler thing to be the founder of a mighty city than a mere citizen and to receive any good thing is altogether less dignified than to give. Indeed it is evident that sons receive from their fathers, and citizens from their cities, a start, as it were, on the path of glory. But he who by his own effort pays back to his ancestors and his native land that honour on a higher scale, and makes his country show more brilliant and more distinguished, and his ancestors more illustrious, clearly yields the prize to no man on the score of native nobility. Nor is there any man who can claim to be superior to him I speak of. For the good must needs be born of good parents. But when the son of illustrious parents himself becomes more illustrious, and fortune blows the same way as his merit, he causes no one to feel doubt, if he lays claim, as is reasonable, to be of native nobility.)

Εὐσεβία δέ, περὶ ἧς ὁ λόγος, παῖς μὲν ὑπάτου γέγονε, γαμετὴ δέ ἐστι βασιλέως ἐνδρείου, σώφρονος, συνετοῦ, δικαίου, χρηστοῦ καὶ πρᾴου καὶ μεγαλοψύχου, [B] ὃς ἐπειδὴ πατρῴαν οὖσαν αὐτῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀνεκτήσατο, ἀφελόμενος τοῦ βίᾳ λαβόντος, γάμου τε ἐδεῖτο πρὸς παίδων γένεσιν, οἳ κληρονομήσουσι τῆς τιμῆς καὶ τῆς ἐξουσίας, ταύτην ἀξίαν ἔκρινε τῆς κοινωνίας γεγονὼς ἤδη σχεδόν τι τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης κύριος. καίτοι πῶς ἄν τις μείζονα μαρτυρίαν ἐπιζητήσειε τῆσδε; οὐ μόνον περὶ τῆς εὐγενείας αὐτῆς, [C] ὑπὲρ δὲ ἁπάντων ἁπλῶς, ὅσα χρῆν οἶμαι τὴν βασιλεῖ τοσούτῳ συνιοῦσαν, καθάπερ φερνὴν οἴκοθεν ἐπιφερομένην, κομίζειν ἀγαθά, παιδείαν ὀρθήν, σύνεσιν ἐμμελῆ, ἀκμὴν καὶ ὥραν σώματος καὶ κάλλος τοσοῦτον, ὥστε ἀποκρύπτεσθαι τᾶς ἄλλας παρθένους, καθάπερ οἶμαι περὶ τῇ σελήνῃ πληθούσῃ οἱ διαφανεῖς ἀστέρες καταυγαζόμενοι κρύπτουσι τὴν μορφὴν. ἓν μὲν γὰρ τούτων οὐδὲν(517) ἐξαρκεῖν δοκεῖ πρὸς κοινωνίαν βασιλέως, πάντα δὲ ἅμα, [D] ὥσπερ θεοῦ τινος ἀγαθῷ βασιλεῖ καλὴν καὶ σώφρονα πλάττοντος τὴν νύμφην, εἰς ταὐτὸ συνεληλυθότα πόρρωθεν καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀμμάτων ἐφελκυσάμενα μάλα ὄλβιον ἦγε τὸν νυμφίον. κάλλος μὲν γὰρ τῆς ἐκ τοῦ γένους βοηθείας καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀγαθῶν οἶμαι στερόμενον οὐδὲ ἰδιώτην ἀκόλαστον ἰσχύει πείθειν τὴν γαμήλιον ἀνάψαι λαμπάδα, ἄμφω δὲ ἅμα συνελθόντα γάμον μὲν ἧρμοσε πολλάκις, ἀπολειπόμενα δὲ [110] τῆς ἐκ τῶν τρόπων ἁρμονίας καὶ χάριτος οὐ λίαν ἐφάνη ζηλωτά.

(Now Eusebia, the subject of my speech, was the daughter of a consul, and is the consort of an Emperor who is brave, temperate, wise, just, virtuous, mild and high‐souled, who, when he acquired the throne that had belonged to his ancestors, and had won it back from him who had usurped it by violence, and desired to wed that he might beget sons to inherit his honour and power, deemed this lady worthy of his alliance, when he had already become master of almost the whole world. And indeed why should one search for stronger evidence than this? Evidence, I mean, not only of her native nobility, but of all those combined gifts which she who is united to so great an Emperor ought to bring with her from her home as a dowry, wit and wisdom, a body in the flower of youth, and beauty so conspicuous as to throw into the shade all other maidens beside, even as, I believe, the radiant stars about the moon at the full are outshone and hide their shape.(518) For no single one of these endowments is thought to suffice for an alliance with an Emperor, but all together, as though some god were fashioning for a virtuous Emperor a fair and modest bride, were united in her single person and, attracting not his eyes alone, brought from afar that bridegroom blest of heaven. For beauty alone, if it lacks the support of birth and the other advantages I have mentioned, is not enough to induce even a licentious man, a mere citizen, to kindle the marriage torch, though both combined have brought about many a match, but when they occur without sweetness and charm of character they are seen to be far from desirable.)

Ταῦτα ἐπιστάμενον σαφῶς τὸν βασιλέα τὸν σώφρονα φαίην ἂν εἰκότως πολλάκις βουλευσάμενον ἑλέσθαι τὸν γάμον, τὰ μὲν οἶμαι πυνθανόμενον, ὅσα χρῆν δι᾽ ἀκοῆς περὶ αὐτῆς μαθεῖν, τεκμαιρόμενον δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς μητρὸς τὴν εὐταξίαν· ὑπὲρ ἧς τὰ μὲν ἄλλα τί δεῖ λέγοντας διατρίβειν, καθάπερ οὐκ ἔχοντας ἴδιον ἐγκώμιον τῆς,(519) ὑπὲρ ἧς ὁ λόγος, [B] διελθεῖν; τοσοῦτον δὲ ἴσως οὔτε εἰπεῖν οὔτε ἐπακοῦσαι πολὺ καὶ ἐργῶδες, ὅτι δὴ γένος μὲν αὐτῇ σφόδρα Ἑλληνικόν, Ἑλλήνων τῶν πάνυ, καὶ πόλις ἡ μητρόπολις τῆς Μακεδονίας, σωφροσύνη δὲ ὑπέρ τε Εὐάδνην τὴν Καπανέως καὶ τὴν Θετταλὴν ἐκείνην Λαοδάμειαν. αἱ μὲν γὰρ καλοὺς καὶ νέους καὶ ἔτι νυμφίους τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀφαιρεθεῖσαι διαμόνων βίᾳ βασκάνων ἢ μοιρῶν νήμασι τοῦ ζῆν ὑπερεῖδον διὰ τὸν ἔρωτα, ἡ δέ, [C] ἐπειδὴ τὸ χρεὼν τὸν κουρίδιον αὐτῆς ἄνδρα κατέλαβε, τοῖς παισὶ προσκαθημένη τοσοῦτον ἐπὶ σωφροσύνῃ κλέος αὑτῇ εἰργάσατο, ὥστε τῇ μὲν Πηνελόπῃ περιόντος ἔτι καὶ πλανωμένου τοῦ γήμαντος, προσῄει τὰ μειράκια μνηστευσόμενα ἔκ τε Ἰθάκης καὶ Σάμου καὶ Δουλιχίου, τῇ δὲ ἀνὴρ μὲν οὐδεὶς καλὸς καὶ μέγας ἢ ἰσχυρὸς καὶ πλούσιος ὑπὲρ(520) τούτων εἰς λόγους ἐλθεῖν ὑπέμεινέ ποτε· τὴν θυγατέρα δὲ βασιλεὺς ἑαυτῷ συνοικεῖν ἀξίαν ἔκρινε, [D] καὶ ἔδρασε τὸν γάμον λαμπρῶς μετὰ τὰ τρόπαια, ἔθνη καὶ πόλεις καὶ δήμους(521) ἑστιῶν.

(I have good reason to say that the Emperor in his prudence understood this clearly, and that it was only after long deliberation that he chose this marriage, partly making enquiries about all that was needful to learn about her by hearsay, but judging also from her mother of the daughter’s noble disposition. Of that mother why should I take time to say more, as though I had not to recite a special encomium on her who is the theme of my speech? But so much perhaps I may say briefly and you may hear without weariness, that her family is entirely Greek, yes Greek of the purest stock, and her native city was the metropolis of Macedonia, and she was more self‐controlled than Evadne(522) the wife of Capaneus, and the famous Laodameia(523) of Thessaly. For these two, when they had lost their husbands, who were young, handsome and still newly‐wed, whether by the constraint of some envious powers, or because the threads of the fates were so woven, threw away their lives for love. But the mother of the Empress, when his fate had come upon her wedded lord, devoted herself to her children, and won a great reputation for prudence, so great indeed, that whereas Penelope, while her husband was still on his travels and wanderings, was beset by those young suitors who came to woo her from Ithaca and Samos and Dulichium, that lady no man however fair and tall or powerful and wealthy ever ventured to approach with any such proposals. And her daughter the Emperor deemed worthy to live by his side, and after setting up the trophies of his victories, he celebrated the marriage with great splendour, feasting nations and cities and peoples.)

Εἰ δέ τις ἄρα ἐκείνων ἐπακούειν ποθεῖ, ὅπως μὲν ἐκ Μακεδονίας ἐκαλεῖτο μετὰ τῆς μητρὸς ἡ νύμφη, τίς δὲ ἧν ὁ τῆς πομπῆς τρόπος, ἁρμάτων καὶ ἵππων καὶ ὀχημάτων παντοδαπῶν χρυσῷ καὶ ἀργύρῳ καὶ ὀρειχάλκῳ μετὰ τῆς ἀρίστης τέχνης εἰργασμένων, ἴστω παιδικῶν σφόδρα ἀκουσμάτων ἐπιθυμῶν· [111] καθάπερ γὰρ οἶμαι κιθαρῳδοῦ τινος δεξιοῦ τὴν τέχνην· ἔστω δέ, εἰ βούλει, Τέρπανδρος οὗτος ἢ ὁ Μηθυμναῖος ἐκεῖνος, ὃν δὴ λόγος ἔχει δαιμονίᾳ πομπῇ χρησάμενον φιλομουσοτέρου τοῦ δελφῖνος τυχεῖν ἢ τῶν ξυμπλεόντων, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν Λακωνικὴν ἄκραν κομισθῆναι· ἔθελγε γὰρ οἶμαι τοὺς δυστυχεῖς ναύτας ὅσα ἐκεῖνος ἀπὸ τῆς τέχνης εἰργάσατο, αὐτῆς δὲ ἐκείνης ὑπερεώρων καὶ οὐδεμίαν ὤραν ἐποιοῦντο τῆς μουσικῆς· [B] εἰ δὴ οὖν τις τοῖν ἀνδροῖν ἐκείνοιν τὸν κράτιστον ἐπιλεξάμενος καὶ ἀποδοὺς τὸν περὶ τὸ σῶμα κόσμον τῇ τέχνῃ πρέποντα εἶτα ἐς θέατρον παραγάγοι παντοδαπῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν καὶ παίδων φύσει τε καὶ ἡλικίᾳ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπιτηδεύμασι διαφερόντων, οὐκ ἂν οἴεσθε τοὺς μὲν παῖδας καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν(524) ὁπόσοι τοιοῦτοι εἰς τὴν ἐσθῆτα καὶ τὴν κιθάραν ἀποβλέποντας ἐκπεπλῆχθαι δεινῶς πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν, τῶν ἀνδρῶν δὲ τοὺς ἀμαθεστέρους καὶ γυναικῶν πλὴν σφόδρα ὀλίγων ἅπαν τὸ πλῆθος ἡδονῇ [C] καὶ λύπῃ κρίνειν τὰ κρούματα, μουσικὸν δὲ ἄνδρα, τοὺς νόμους(525) ἐξεπιστάμενον τῆς τέχνης, οὔτε μιγνύμενα τὰ μέλη τῆς ἡδονῆς χάριν φαύλως ἀνέχεσθαι, δυσχεραίνειν τε(526) καὶ εἰ(527) τοὺς τρόπους τῆς μουσικῆς διαφθείροι καὶ εἰ ταῖς ἁρμονίαις μὴ δεόντως χρῷτο μηδὲ ἑπομένως τοῖς νόμοις τῆς ἀληθινῆς καὶ θείας μουσικῆς; ὁρῶν δὲ ἐμμένοντα τοῖς νομισθεῖσι καὶ οὐ κίβδηλον ἡδονήν, καθαρὰν δὲ [D] καὶ ἀκήρατον τοῖς θεαταῖς ἐνεργασάμενον ἄπεισι τοῦτον ἐπαινῶν καὶ ἐκπληττόμενος, ὄτι δὴ σὺν τέχνῃ μηδὲν ἀδικῶν τὰς Μούσας τῷ θεάτρῳ ξυγγέγονε. τὸν δὲ τὴν ἁλουργίδα καὶ τὴν κιθάραν ἐπαινοῦντα ληρεῖν οἴεται καὶ ἀνοηταίνειν· καὶ εἰ διὰ πλείονων(528) τὰ τοιαῦτα διηγεῖται, λέξει τε ἡδίστῃ κοσμῶν καὶ ἐπιλεαίνων τὸ φαῦλον καὶ ἀγεννὲς τῶν διηγημάτων, γελοιότερον νομίζει [112] τῶν ἀποτορνείειν τὰς κέγχρους ἐπιχειρούντων, καθάπερ οἶμαι φασὶ τὸν Μυρμηκίδην ἀντιταττόμενον τῇ Φειδίου τέχνῃ. οὔκουν οὐδὲ ἡμεῖς ἑκόντες αὑτοὺς ταύταις ὑποθήσομεν ταῖς αἰτίαις, ἱματίων πολυτελῶν καὶ δώρων παντοίων ὅρμων τε καὶ στεφάνων κατάλογον τῶν ἐκ βασιλέως μακρόν τινα τοῦτον ᾄδοντες, οὐδὲ ὡς ἀπήντων οἱ δῆμοι δεξιούμενοι καὶ χαίροντες, οὐδὲ ὅσα κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἐκείνην λαμπρὰ καὶ ζηλωτὰ γέγονε καὶ ἐνομίσθη. [B] ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ τῶν βασιλείων εἴσω παρῆλθε καὶ τῆς ἐπωνυμίας ταύτης ἠξιώθη, τί πρῶτον ἔργον ἐκείνης γέγονε, καὶ αὖθις δεύτερον, καὶ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ τρίτον, καὶ πολλὰ δὴ μάλα τὸ ἐντεῦθεν; οὐ γάρ, εἰ σφόδρα λέγειν ἐθέλοιμι καὶ μακρὰς ὑπὲρ τούτων βίβλους ξυντιθέναι, ἀρκέσειν ὑπολαμβάνω τῷ πλήθει τῶν ἔργων, ὅσα ἐκείνῃ φρόνησιν καὶ πρᾳότητα καὶ σωφροσύνην καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν ἐπιείκειάν τε καὶ ἐλευθεριότητα [C] καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἀρετὰς ἐξεμαρτύρησε λαμπρότερον, ἢ νῦν ὁ παρὼν περὶ αὐτῆς λόγος δηλοῦν ἐπιχειρεῖ καὶ ἐκδιδάσκειν τοὺς πάλαι διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐγνωκότας. οὐ μὴν ἐπειδὴ ἐκεῖνο δυσχερές, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀδύνατον ἐφάνη, παντελῶς ἄξιον ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων ἀποσιωπῆσαι, πειράσθαι δὲ εἰς δύναμιν φράζειν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς μὲν φρονήσεως ποιεῖσθαι σημεῖον καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀρετῆς πάσης, ὅτι τὸν γήμαντα διέθηκεν οὕτω περὶ αὑτὴν, ὥσπερ οὖν ἄξιον γυναῖκα καλὴν καὶ γενναίαν.