Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79)

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [5] ἐὰν δ᾽ ἀντιπράττωσί σοι καὶ τοὺς λόγους μὴ προσδέχωνται ταῖς διὰ σὲ καὶ διὰ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τὴν σὴν γενομέναις περὶ αὐτοὺς τύχαις ὡς ἀεὶ διαμενούσαις ἐπαιρόμενοι, τῆς στρατηγίας αὐτοῖς ἀφίστασο φανερῶς, καὶ μήτε προδότης γίνου τῶν πεπιστευκότων μήτε πολέμιος τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων: ἀσεβὲς γὰρ ἑκάτερον. ταῦτα ἥκω δεομένη σου γενέσθαι μοι παρὰ σοῦ, Μάρκιε τέκνον, οὔτ᾽ ἀδύναθ᾽, ὡς σὺ φῄς, πάσης τ᾽ ἀδίκου καὶ ἀνοσίου συνειδήσεως καθαρά.

  [5] But if they oppose you and refuse to accept your proposals, being elated by the successes they have gained through you and your leadership, as if these would always continue, resign publicly the command of their army and make yourself neither a traitor to those who have trusted you nor an enemy to those who are nearest to you; for to do either is impious. These are the favours I have come begging you to grant me, Marcius, my son, and they are not only not impossible to grant, as you assert, but are free from any consciousness on my part of an unjust or impious intent.

  [1] φέρε, ἀλλὰ δόξαν αἰσχρὰν οἴσεσθαι δέδοικας, ἐὰν ἃ παρακαλῶ σε πράττῃς, ὡς ἀχάριστος εἰς τοὺς εὐεργέτας ἐξελεγχθησόμενος, οἵ σε πολέμιον ὄντα ὑποδεξάμενοι πάντων μετέδωκαν ὧν τοῖς φύσει πολίταις μέτεστιν ἀγαθῶν: ταῦτα γάρ ἐστιν, ἃ μεγάλα ποιεῖς τοῖς λόγοις ἀεί.

  [49.1] “But come, you are afraid perhaps that if you do what I urge you will incur a shameful reputation, believing that you will stand convicted of ingratitude to your benefactors, who received you, an enemy, and shared with you all the advantages to which their native-born citizens are entitled; for these are the things you constantly stress in your remarks.

  [2] οὐκ ἀποδέδωκας οὖν αὐτοῖς πολλὰς καὶ καλὰς ἀμοιβὰς καὶ νενίκηκας ἀπείρῳ δή τινι μεγέθει καὶ πλήθει χαρίτων τὰς ἐξ ἐκείνων εὐεργεσίας; οὓς ἀγαπητὸν ἡγουμένους καὶ πάντων μέγιστον ἀγαθῶν, ἐὰν ἐλευθέρας οἰκῶσι τὰς πατρίδας, οὐ μόνον ἑαυτῶν κυρίους εἶναι βεβαίως παρεσκεύακας, [p. 198] ἀλλὰ καὶ πεποίηκας ἤδη σκοπεῖν, πότερα καταλῦσαι τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν αὐτοῖς ἄμεινον, ἢ μετέχειν αὐτῆς

  [2] Have you not, then, made them many fine returns, and have you not by the favours you have bestow wed, while nigh limitless in magnitude and number, surpassed the kindnesses received from them? Though they regarded it as enough and as the greatest of all blessings if they could continue to live as freemen in their native cities, you have not only made them securely their own masters, but have also brought it about that they are already considering whether it is better for them to destroy the dominion of the Romans or to have an equal share in it by forming a joint commonwealth.

  [3] ἐξ ἴσου κοινὴν καταστησαμένους πολιτείαν. ἐῶ γὰρ λέγειν, ὅσοις κεκόσμηκας ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου λαφύροις τὰς πόλεις αὐτῶν, καὶ πηλίκους κεχάρισαι τοῖς συστρατευσαμένοις πλούτους. τοὺς δὴ τοσούτους διὰ σὲ γενομένους καὶ ἐπὶ τηλικαύτης βεβηκότας εὐτυχίας οὐ δοκεῖς ἀγαπήσειν οἷς ἔχουσιν ἀγαθοῖς, ἀλλ᾽ ὀργιεῖσθαί σοι καὶ ἀγανακτήσειν, ἐὰν μὴ καὶ τὸ τῆς πατρίδος αἷμα ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν ἐπισπείσῃς; ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ οἴομαι.

  [3] I say nothing of all the spoils of war with which you have adorned their cities nor of the great riches you have bestowed upon those who accompanied you on your expeditions. Do you believe that those who through your aid have become so great and have entered upon such prosperity will not be content with the blessings they have, but will be angry with you and indignant if you do not also spill by their hands your country’s blood? For my part, I do not believe so.

  [4] εἷς ἔτι μοι καταλείπεται λόγος ἰσχυρὸς μέν, ἐὰν λογισμῷ κρίνῃς αὐτόν, ἀσθενὴς δ᾽, ἐὰν μετ᾽ ὀργῆς, ὁ περὶ τῆς οὐ δικαίως μισουμένης ὑπὸ σοῦ πατρίδος. οὔτε γὰρ ὑγιαίνουσα καὶ τῷ πατρίῳ κόσμῳ πολιτευομένη τὴν οὐ δικαίαν κατὰ σοῦ κρίσιν ἐξήνεγκεν, ἀλλὰ νοσοῦσα καὶ ἐν πολλῷ κλύδωνι σαλευομένη, οὔτε πᾶσα τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην τότ᾽ ἔσχεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ κάκιον ἐν αὐτῇ μέρος πονηροῖς προστάταις χρησάμενον.

  [4] I have still one point left to speak of — a strong one if you judge of it by reason, but weak if you judge by passion. I refer to the unjust hatred you bear toward your country. For the commonwealth was neither in a state of health nor governed according to the established constitution when she pronounced that unjust sentence against you, but was diseased and tossed in a violent tempest; nor did the state as a whole entertain this opinion at that time, but only the baser element in it, which had followed evil leaders.

  [5] εἰ δὲ δὴ μὴ τοῖς κακίστοις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν ἐδόκει ταῦτα, καὶ ὡς οὐ τὰ κράτιστα πολιτευόμενος ἀπηλάθης ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν, οὐδ᾽ οὕτω σοι προσῆκε μνησικακεῖν πρὸς τὴν σεαυτοῦ πατρίδα. πολλοῖς γὰρ δὴ καὶ ἄλλοις τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ βελτίστου πολιτευομένων τὰ παραπλήσια συνέβη παθεῖν: καὶ σπάνιοι δή τινές εἰσιν, οἷς οὐκ ἀντέπνευσε πρὸς τὴν δοκοῦσαν ἀρετὴν [p. 199]

  [5] Yet supposing not only the worst of the citizens, but all the rest of as well had been of this mind, and you had been banished by them as not acting for the best interests of the state, not even in that case did it become you to bear any resentment against your country. For it has fallen to the lot of many others, you know, of those whose policies were prompted by the best motives, to have the same experience, and few indeed are those who have not, because of their reputation for virtue, felt the breath of unjust envoy on the part of their political rivals.

  [6] φθόνος ἐκ τῶν συμπολιτευομένων ἄδικος. ἀλλ᾽ ἀνθρωπίνως, ὦ Μάρκιε, φέρουσι καὶ μετρίως ἅπαντες οἱ γενναῖοι τὰς συμφοράς, καὶ πόλεις μεταλαμβάνουσιν, ἐν αἷς οἰκήσαντες οὐθὲν λυπήσουσι τὰς πατρίδας: ὥσπερ καὶ Ταρκύνιος ἐποίησεν ὁ Κολλατῖνος ἐπικαλούμενος: ἱκανὸν ἓν παράδειγμα καὶ οἰκεῖον: ὃς συνελευθερώσας ἀπὸ τῶν τυράννων τοὺς πολίτας, ἔπειτα διαβληθεὶς πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὡς συμπράττων πάλιν τοῖς τυράννοις τὴν κάθοδον, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐξελασθεὶς αὐτὸς ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος, οὐκ ἐμνησικάκει πρὸς τοὺς ἐκβαλόντας αὐτόν, οὐδ᾽ ἐπεστράτευε τῇ πόλει τοὺς τυράννους ἐπαγόμενος, οὐδ᾽ ἐποίει τεκμήρια τῶν διαβολῶν τὰ ἔργα, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τὴν μητρόπολιν ἡμῶν Λαουΐνιον ἀπελθ
ὼν ἐκεῖ πάντα τὸν λοιπὸν ἐβίω χρόνον εὔνους ὢν τῇ πατρίδι καὶ φίλος.

  [6] But all who are high-minded, Marcius, bear their misfortunes like men and with moderation, and remove to other cities in which they can dwell without causing harm to their fatherland. This was the case with Tarquinius, surnamed Collatinus. (A single instance and one from our own history will suffice.) He had assisted in freeing his fellow citizens from the tyrants, but was later accused before them of attempting in turn to restore these tyrants and for that reason was himself banished from his country; yet he retained no resentment against those who had exiled him, nor would he march against his country bringing with him the tyrants nor commit acts that would substantiate the charges made against him, but retiring to Lavinium, our mother-city, he spent the remainder of his life there, continuing loyal to his country and its friend.

  [1] ἔστω δ᾽ οὖν ὅμως, καὶ δεδόσθω τοῖς τὰ δεινὰ παθοῦσι μὴ διακρίνειν εἴτε φίλιον εἴη τὸ κακῶς δεδρακὸς εἴτ᾽ ἀλλότριον, ἀλλ᾽ ἴσην πρὸς ἅπαντας ὀργὴν ἔχειν: ἔπειτ᾽ οὐχ ἱκανὰς εἰσπέπραξαι παρὰ τῶν ὑβρισάντων σε δίκας γῆν τ᾽ αὐτῶν τὴν ἀρίστην πεποιηκὼς μηλόβοτον καὶ πόλεις διαπεπορθηκὼς συμμαχίδας, ἃς πολλοῖς πόνοις κτησαμένη κατέσχε, καὶ τρίτον ἤδη ταῦτ᾽ ἔτος εἰς πολλὴν τῶν ἀναγκαίων κατακεκλεικὼς αὐτοὺς ἀπορίαν; ἀλλὰ καὶ πόρρω ἀνδραποδισμοῦ τῆς πόλεως αὐτῶν καὶ κατασκαφῆς τὴν ἀγριαίνουσαν καὶ [p. 200]

  [50.1] “Conceding the point nevertheless, and granting the right to all who have suffered grievously not to distinguish whether those who have injured them are friends or aliens but to direct their anger against all impartially, even so have you not taken a sufficient revenge on such as abused you, now that you have turned their best land into a sheep-walk, have utterly destroyed the cities of their allies, which they had acquired and held at the cost of many hardships, and have reduced them now for the third year to a great scarcity of provisions? But you carry your wild and mad resentment even to the point of enslaving them and razing their city;

  [2] μαινομένην ὀργὴν προάγεις: καὶ οὐδὲ τοὺς πεμφθέντας ὑπὸ τῆς βουλῆς πρέσβεις φέροντάς σοι τῶν τε ἐγκλημάτων ἄφεσιν καὶ κάθοδον ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα φίλους καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ἄνδρας ἐλθόντας ἐνετράπης, οὐδὲ τοὺς ἱερεῖς, οὓς τὸ τελευταῖον ἔπεμψεν ἡ πόλις, ἱερὰ στέμματα θεῶν ἔχοντας καὶ προτείνοντας γηραιοὺς ἄνδρας ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτους ἀπήλασας, αὐθάδεις καὶ δεσποτικὰς ὡς κεκρατημένοις ἀποκρίσεις δούς.

  [2] and you showed no regard even for the envoys sent to you by the senate, men of worth and your friends, who came to offer you a dismissal of the charges and leave to return home, nor yet for the priests whom the commonwealth sent at the last to you, old men holding before them the holy garlands of the gods; but these also you drove away, giving a haughty and imperious answer to them as to men who had been conquered,

  [3] ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἔχω, πῶς ἐπαινέσω ταῦτα τὰ σκληρὰ καὶ ὑπέραυχα καὶ τὴν θνητὴν φύσιν ἐκβεβηκότα δικαιώματα ὁρῶσα καταφυγὰς εὑρημένας ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις καὶ παραιτήσεις, ὧν ἂν ἐξαμαρτάνωσι περὶ ἀλλήλους, ἱκετηρίας καὶ λιτὰς καὶ τὸ καταφυγεῖν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἠδικημένους τὸ ἀδικοῦν ταπεινόν, θεῶν ἡμῖν ταῦτα τὰ ἔθη καταστησαμένων: ὑφ᾽ ὧν μαραίνεται πᾶσα ὀργὴ καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ μισεῖν τὸν ἐχθρὸν ἐλεεῖ: τοὺς δ᾽ αὐθαδείᾳ χρησαμένους καὶ λιτὰς ἱκετῶν ὑβρίσαντας, ἅπαντας νεμεσωμένους ὑπὸ θεῶν καὶ εἰς συμφορὰς καταστρέφοντας οὐκ εὐτυχεῖς.

  [3] For my part, I cannot commend these harsh and overbearing claims, which overstep the bounds of human nature, when I observe that a refuge for all men and the means of securing forgiveness for their offences one against another have been devised in the form of suppliant boughs and prayers, by which all anger is softened and instead of hating one’s enemy one pities him; and when I observe also that those who act arrogantly and treat with insolence the prayers of suppliants all incur the indignation of the gods and in the end come to a miserable state.

  [4] αὐτοὶ γὰρ δὴ πρῶτον οἱ ταῦτα καταστησάμενοι καὶ παραδόντες ἡμῖν θεοὶ συγγνώμονες τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις εἰσὶν ἁμαρτήμασι καὶ εὐδιάλλακτοι, καὶ πολλοὶ ἤδη μεγάλα [p. 201] εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐξαμαρτόντες εὐχαῖς καὶ θυσίαις τὸν χόλον ἐξιλάσαντο: εἰ μὴ σύ, ὦ Μάρκιε, ἀξιοῖς τὰς μὲν τῶν θεῶν ὀργὰς θνητὰς εἶναι, τὰς δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀθανάτους. δίκαια μὲν οὖν ποιήσεις καὶ σεαυτῷ πρέποντα καὶ τῇ πατρίδι αὐτῇ, ἀφεὶς τὰ ἐγκλήματα μετανοούσῃ γε καὶ διαλλαττομένῃ καὶ ὅσα πρότερον ἀφείλετο σοὶ νῦν ἀποδιδούσῃ.

  [4] For the gods themselves, who in the first place instituted and delivered to us these customs, are disposed to forgive the offences of men and are easily reconciled; and many have there been ere now who, though greatly sinning against them, have appeased their anger by prayers and sacrifices. Unless you think it fitting, Marcius, that the anger of the gods should be mortal, but that of men immortal! You will be doing, then, what is just and becoming both to yourself to your country if you forgive her her offences, seeing that she is repentant and ready to be reconciled and to restore to you now everything that she took away from you before.

  [1] εἰ δ᾽ ἄρα πρὸς ἐκείνην ἀδιαλλάκτως ἔχεις, ἐμοὶ ταύτην δός, ὦ τέκνον, τὴν τιμὴν καὶ χάριν, παρ᾽ ἧς οὐ τὰ ἐλαχίστου ἄξια ἔχεις οὐδ᾽ ὧν ἀντιποιήσαιτ᾽ ἄν τις καὶ ἕτερος, ἀλλὰ τὰ μέγιστα καὶ τιμιώτατα καὶ οἷς ἅπαντα τὰ λοιπὰ κέκτησαι, τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν ψυχήν. δανείσματα γὰρ ἔχεις ταῦτ᾽ ἐμά, καὶ οὐκ ἀφαιρήσεταί με ταῦτ᾽ οὐθεὶς οὔτε τόπος οὔτε καιρός, οὐδέ γ᾽ αἱ Οὐολούσκων οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων εὐεργεσίαι συμπάντων καὶ χάριτες τοσοῦτον ἰσχύουσιν οὐδ᾽ ἂν οὐρανομήκεις γένωνται, ὥστε τὰ τῆς φύσεως ἐξαλεῖψαι καὶ παρελθεῖν δίκαια: ἀλλ᾽ ἐμὸς ἅπαντα τὸν χρόνον ἔσῃ καὶ πρώτῃ πάντων τὰς τοῦ βίου χάριτας ὀφειλήσεις ἐμοί, καὶ ὧν ἂν δέωμαι δίχα προφάσεως ὑπουργήσεις.

  [51.1] “But if you are indeed irreconcilable to her, grant, my son, this honour and favour to me, at least, from whom you have received, not the boons that are of least value nor those to which another also might lay claim, but rather those that are the greatest and most precious and have enabled you to acquire everything else you possess — namely, your body and your soul. These are loans you have from me, and neither place nor time will ever deprive me of them, nor will the
benefactions of the Volscians or of all the rest of mankind together, even if they should reach the heavens in magnitude, avail to efface and surpass the rights of Nature; but you will be mine forever, and to me before all others you will owe gratitude for your life, and you will oblige me in everything I ask without alleging any excuse.

  [2] τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ τῆς φύσεως νόμος ὥρισεν ἅπασι τοῖς αἰσθήσεως καὶ λόγου μετειληφόσι τὸ δίκαιον, ᾧ πιστεύουσα, Μάρκιε τέκνον, κἀγὼ δέομαί σου μὴ ἐπάγειν πόλεμον τῇ πατρίδι, καὶ ἐμποδὼν ἵσταμαί σοι βιαζομένῳ. ἢ προτέραν οὖν ἐμὲ τὴν ἐναντιουμένην σοι μητέρα ταῖς ἐρινύσι προθυσάμενος αὐτοχειρίᾳ [p. 202] τότε τοῦ κατὰ τῆς πατρίδος ἅπτου πολέμου, ἢ τὸ μητροκτόνον ἄγος αἰδούμενος εἶξον τῇ σεαυτοῦ

  [2] For this is a right which the law of Nature has prescribed for all who partake of sense and reason; and putting my trust in this law, Marcius, my son, I too beg of you not to make war upon your country, and I stand in your way if you resort to violence. Either, therefore, first sacrifice with your own hand to the Furies your mother who opposes you and then begin the war against your country, or, if you shrink from the guilt of matricide, yield to your mother, my son, and grant this favour willingly.

  [3] μητρὶ καὶ δός, ὦ τέκνον, τὴν χάριν ἑκών. νόμον μὲν οὖν τόνδε, ὃν οὐθεὶς πώποτε ἀνελεῖ χρόνος, τιμωρὸν καὶ σύμμαχον ἔχουσα οὐκ ἀξιῶ, Μάρκιε, μόνη τιμῶν, ἃς οὗτός μοι δίδωσιν, ἄμοιρος ἐκ σοῦ γενέσθαι: ἔργων δὲ χρηστῶν ὑπομνήσεις, ἵν᾽ ἀφῶ τὸν νόμον, σκόπει πάλιν ὡς πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας: ἥτις ὀρφανὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς καταλειφθέντα σε παραλαβοῦσα νήπιον διέμεινα ἐπὶ σοὶ χήρα καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς παιδοτροφίας ἀνήντλησα πόνους, οὐ μήτηρ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πατὴρ καὶ τροφὸς καὶ ἀδελφὴ καὶ πάντα τὰ φίλτατά σοι γενομένη.