[11] Come now, in Heaven’s name, if I should go so far as to admit to you that my parents are those whom you say they are, how can you know that they are slaves? Or were you really sure who their parents were, and are you ready to take your solemn oath in regard to each of them also that both were born of two slaves — they and their progenitors back to the very beginning — all of them? For it is clear that if any member of a family is free-born, it is no longer possible rightly to regard his descendants as slaves. And it is impossible, my good sir, that from all eternity, as the saying is, there should be any race of men in which there have not been countless numbers free and not fewer than these in number those who have been slaves; and indeed, tyrants and kings and prisoners and branded slaves and shopkeepers and cobblers and all the rest such as are found in the world of men, so that among them you have had experience of all the occupations, all the careers, all the fortunes, and all the mischances.
[12] δὲ βίους, ἁπάσας δὲ τύχας καὶ ξυμφορὰς μετηλλαχότες. ἢ οὐκ οἶσθα ὅτι τούτου ἕνεκεν τὰ τῶν ἡρώων λεγομένων γένη εὐθὺς εἰς θεοὺς οἱ ποιηταὶ ἀναφέρουσιν, ὥστε μηκέτι ἐξετάζεσθαι τὸ προσώτερον; καὶ τούς γε πλείονας αὐτῶν φασιν ἐκ Διὸς γεγονέναι, ἵνα μὴ αὐτοῖς οἵ τε βασιλεῖς καὶ οἱ οἰκισταὶ τῶν πόλεων καὶ ἐπώνυμοι εἰς τοιαῦτα ἐμπίπτωσιν, ἃ δοκεῖ παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὀνείδη [p. 236] εἶναι. ὥστε, εἴπερ οὕτως ἔχει τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὡς ἡμεῖς τε καὶ ἄλλοι σοφώτεροι ἡμῶν φασιν, οὐδὲν ἂν μᾶλλον σοὶ προσήκοι ἐλευθερίας κατὰ γένος ἢ ὁτῳοῦν τῶν σφόδρα δοκούντων οἰκετῶν: εἰ μὴ ἄρα καὶ σὺ φθάσεις ἀναγαγὼν εἰς Δία ἢ Ποσειδῶνα ἢ Ἀπόλλωνα τοὺς σαυτοῦ προγόνους: οὐδέ γε ἐμοὶ περὶ δουλείας.
[12] Or do you not know that the reason why the poets trace the families of so-called heroes directly back to the gods is simply that the character in question may not be investigated further? And quite the majority of them men say are sprung from Zeus, in order that they may not have their kings and the founders of their cities and their eponymous heroes getting into predicaments of the kind that are regarded among men as disgraceful. Consequently, if it really is with men as we and others wiser than we claim, you can have no greater share in freedom on the score of family than any one of those who are regarded as out-and-out slaves — unless, of course, you too make haste to trace your own ancestry back to Zeus or Poseidon or Apollo — and I no greater share in slavery.”
[13] Τὸ μὲν τοίνυν, ἔφη, τοῦ γένους καὶ τὸ τῶν προγόνων ἐῶμεν, ἐπειδὴ οὕτω σοι δοκεῖ ἀστάθμητον εἶναι: ἴσως γάρ τοι ἀναφανήσῃ ὥσπερ Ἀμφίων καὶ Ζῆθος καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Πριάμου γεγονώς. ἀλλὰ σέ γε αὐτὸν πάντες ἐπιστάμεθα δουλεύοντα. Τί δέ; εἶπε, δοκοῦσί σοι πάντες οἱ δουλεύοντες ἀλλὰ οὐ πολλοὶ αὐτῶν ἐλεύθεροι ὄντες καὶ ἀδίκως; ὧν τινες ἤδη καὶ εἰς δικαστήριον εἰσελθόντες ἀπέδειξαν ἐλευθέρους ὄντας ἑαυτούς, οἱ δέ τινες καὶ ἀνέχονται μέχρι παντός, οὐκ ἔχοντες ἀποδεῖξαι φανερῶς περὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἢ οἷς ἂν μὴ χαλεποὶ ὦσιν οἱ λεγόμενοι αὐτῶν δεσπόται.
[13] B. “Well then,” said the other, “let us drop all this about family and ancestors, since you think it is so difficult to determine; for it is quite possible that you will turn out to be just like Amphion and Zethus, and like Alexander the offspring of Priam. But as for you, your own self, we all know that you are in a state of servitude.”
A. “What,” said the first man, “do you think that all those who are in a state of servitude are slaves? But are not many of these, although free men, yet held unjustly in servitude? Some of them have already gone before the court and proved that they are free, while others are enduring to the end, either because they have no clear proof of their freedom, or else because those who are called their masters are not harsh with them.
[14] ἐπεὶ φέρε, Εὔμαιος, ὁ Κτησίου τοῦ Ὀρμένου ἀνδρὸς πάνυ ἐλευθέρου καὶ πλουσίου παῖς, οὐκ ἐδούλευεν ἐν Ἰθάκῃ παῤ Ὀδυσσεῖ καὶ Λαέρτῃ; καὶ ἐνὸν αὐτῷ ἀποπλεῦσαι πολλάκις οἴκαδε, εἰ ἐβούλετο, οὐδέποτε ἠξίωσε. τί δέ; Ἀθηναῖοι πολλοὶ τῶν ἐν Σικελίᾳ ληφθέντων οὐκ ἐδούλευον ἐν Σικελίᾳ καὶ ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ ἐλεύθεροι ὄντες, καὶ ἐν ἄλλαις πολλαῖς μάχαις οἱ αἰεὶ αἰχμάλωτοι γιγνόμενοι οἱ μὲν χρόνον τινά, ἕως ἂν εὕρωσι τοὺς λυσομένους, οἱ
[14] Consider, for instance, the case of Eumaeus, the son of Ctesias, son of Ormenus: he was the son of a man who was altogether free and of great wealth, but did he not serve as a slave in Ithaca in the households of Odysseus and Laertes? And yet, although he could, time and again, have sailed off home if he had so wished, he never thought it worth while. What, did not many Athenians among those made prisoners in Sicily serve as slaves in Sicily and in the Peloponnese although they were free men; and of those taken captive from time to time in many other battles, some only for a time until they found men who would ransom them, and others to the very end?
[15] δὲ μέχρι παντός; ὁπότε καὶ ὁ Καλλίου υἱὸς ἔδοξε δουλεῦσαι πολὺν χρόνον ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης μετὰ τὴν μάχην, ἣν Ἀθηναῖοι περὶ Ἄκανθον ἡττήθησαν: ὥστε καὶ ὕστερον διαφυγὼν καὶ ἀφικόμενος ἠμφισβήτει τοῦ κλήρου τοῦ Καλλίου καὶ πολλὰ πράγματα παρεῖχε τοῖς ξυγγενέσιν, ἐκεῖνος μὲν οἶμαι ψευδόμενος ῾ἦν γὰρ οὐχ υἱός, ἀλλ̓ ἱπποκόμος Καλλίου, τὴν δὲ ὄψιν ὅμοιος τῷ τοῦ Καλλίου μειρακίῳ, ὃ ἔτυχεν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ τελευτῆσαν: ἔτι δὲ ἡλλήνιζεν ἀκριβῶς καὶ γράμματα ἠπίστατὀ, ἀλλὰ ἕτεροί γε μυρίοι τοῦτο πεπόνθασιν: [p. 237]
[15] In the same period too, even the son of Callias was thought to have been in servitude a long time in Thrace after the battle in which the Athenians suffered a defeat at Acanthus, so that when he escaped afterwards and reached home he laid claim to the estate left by Callias and caused a great deal of trouble to the next of kin, being, in my opinion, an impostor. For he was not the son of Callias but his groom, in appearance resembling that boy of Callias who did lose his life in the battle; and besides he spoke Greek accurately and could read and write. —
[16] ἐπεὶ καὶ τῶν νῦν τῶν ἐνθάδε δουλευόντων οὐκ ἀπογιγνώσκω πολλοὺς εἶναι ἐλευθέρους. οὐ γὰρ ἐὰν μὲν Ἀθηναίων τις ἁλοὺς κατὰ πόλεμον εἰς Πέρσας ἀπαχθῇ ἢ καὶ νὴ Δία ἐὰν εἰς Θρᾴκην ἢ Σικελίαν ἀχθεὶς ἀπεμποληθῇ, φήσομεν ἐλεύθερον ὄντα δουλεύειν: ἐὰν δὲ Θρᾳκῶν τις ἢ Περσῶν μὴ μόνον ἐξ ἐλευθέρων γεγονὼς ἐκεῖ δεῦρο ἀχθῇ, ἀλλὰ καὶ δυνάστου τινὸς ἢ βασιλέως υἱός, οὐχ ὁμολογήσομεν
[16] But there have been innumerable others who have suffered this fate, since, even of those who are in servitude here at the present time Iº firmly believe that many are free-born men. For we shall not assert that any Athenian who is free-born is a slave if he has been made a prisoner in war and carried off to Persia, or even, if you like, is taken to Thrace or Sicily and sold like a chattel; but if any Thracian or Persian, not only born there of free parents but even the son of some prince or king, is brought here, we shall not admit that he is a free person.
[17] ἐλεύθερον εἶναι. οὐκ οἶσθα τὸν Ἀθήνησιν, ἔφη, νόμον, παρὰ πολλοῖς δὲ καὶ ἄλλοις, ὅτι τὸν φύσει δοῦλον γενόμενον οὐκ ἐᾷ μετέχειν τῆς πολιτείας; τὸν δὲ Καλλίου υἱόν, εἴπερ ὄντως ἐσώθη τότε ἁλούς, ἀφικόμενον ἐκ Θρᾴκης, συχνὰ ἔτη γεγονότα ἐκεῖ καὶ πολλάκις μεμαστιγωμένον οὐδεὶς ἂν ἠξίου τῆς πολιτείας ἀπελαύνειν: ὥστε ἐνίοτε καὶ ὁ νόμος οὔ φησι δούλους γεγονέναι τοὺς ἀδίκως
[17] Do you not know,” he continued, “the law they have at Athens and in many other states as well, which does not allow the man who was born a slave to enjoy the rights of a citizen? But the son of Callias, if he actually did escape from captivity on that occasion, after reaching home from Thrace, even though he had spent many years there and had often been scourged, no one would think it right to exclude from Athenian citizenship; so that there are occasional instances where the law too denies that those who have been unjustly in servitude have thereby become slaves.
[18] δουλεύσαντας. τί δὲ καὶ ποιοῦντά με ἐπίστασαι πρὸς θεῶν ἢ τί πάσχοντα, ὅτι με φῂς ἐπίστασθαι δουλεύοντα; Τρεφόμενον ἔγωγε ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσπότου καὶ ἀκολουθοῦντα ἐκείνῳ καὶ ποιοῦντα ὅ,τι ποτ̓ ἐκεῖνος προστάττοι: εἰ δὲ μή, παιόμενον. Οὕτως μέν, ἔφη, καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς ἀποφαίνεις δούλους τῶν πατέρων. καὶ γὰρ ἀκολουθοῦσι πολλοῖς τῶν πενήτων καὶ εἰς γυμνάσιον βαδίζουσι καὶ ἐπὶ δεῖπνον, καὶ τρέφονται πάντες ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων καὶ παίονται πολλάκις ὑπ̓ αὐτῶν, καὶ πείθονται ὅ,τι ἂν ἐκεῖνοι προστάττωσιν
[18] In heaven’s name, I ask you, what is it that I do of which you have knowledge, or what is it that is done to me, which justifies your saying that you know that I am in a state of slavery?”
B. “I know that you are being kept by your master, dance attendance upon him, and do whatever he commands; or else you take a beating.”
A. “According to that,” said the first man, “you can make out that sons also are the slaves of their fathers; for they dance attendance upon their fathers, often, if they are poor, walking with them to the gymnasium or to dinner; and they without exception are supported by their fathers and frequently are beaten by them, and they obey any orders their fathers give them.
[19] αὐτοῖς. καίτοι ἕνεκα τοῦ πείθεσθαι καὶ πληγὰς λαμβάνειν καὶ τῶν γραμματιστῶν οἰκέτας φήσεις τοὺς παῤ αὐτοῖς μανθάνοντας καὶ τοὺς παιδοτρίβας δεσπότας εἶναι τῶν μαθητῶν ἢ τοὺς ἄλλο τι διδάσκοντας: καὶ γὰρ προστάττουσιν αὐτοῖς καὶ τύπτουσι μὴ πειθομένους. Νὴ Δἴ, ἔφη: ἀλλ̓ οὐκ ἔστι τοῖς παιδοτρίβαις οὐδὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις διδασκάλοις δῆσαι τοὺς μαθητὰς οὐδὲ ἀποδόσθαι οὐδέ γε εἰς μυλῶνα ἐμβαλεῖν: τοῖς δέ γε δεσπόταις ἅπαντα ταῦτα ἐφειμένα
[19] And yet, so far as obeying and being thrashed are concerned, you can go on and assert that the boys who take lessons of schoolmasters are likewise their servants and that the gymnastic trainers are slave-masters of their pupils, or those who teach anything else; for they give orders to their pupils and trounce them when they are disobedient.”
B. “Indeed that’s true,” replied the other, “but it is not permissible for the gymnastic instructors or for the other teachers to imprison their pupils or to sell them or to cast them into the mill, but to slave-masters all these things are allowed.”
[20] ἐστίν. Ἴσως γὰρ οὐκ οἶσθα ὅτι παρὰ πολλοῖς καὶ σφόδρα εὐνομουμένοις ταῦτα ἃ λέγεις ἔξεστι τοῖς πατράσι περὶ τοὺς υἱέας, καὶ δὴ καί, ἐὰν βούλωνται, καὶ ἀποδίδοσθαι, καὶ τὸ ἔτι τούτων χαλεπώτερον: ἐφεῖται γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἀποκτεῖναι μήτε κρίναντας μήτε [p. 238] ὅλως αἰτιασαμένους: ἀλλ̓ ὅμως οὐδὲν ἧττον οὐ δοῦλοί εἰσι τῶν πατέρων, ἀλλὰ υἱεῖς. εἰ δὲ δὴ ὅτι μάλιστα ἐδούλευον καὶ δοῦλος ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑπῆρχον δικαίως, τί με, ἔφη, κωλύει νῦν ἐλεύθερον εἶναι μηδενὸς ἔλαττον, σὲ δὲ αὖ τοὐναντίον, εἰ καὶ σφόδρα
[20] A. “Yes, but perhaps you do not know that in many states which have exceedingly good laws fathers have all these powers which you mention in regard to their sons, and what is more, if they wish to do so, they may even imprison or sell them; and they have a power even more terrible than any of these; for they actually are allowed to put their sons to death without any trial and even without bringing any accusation at all against them; but still none the less they are not their fathers’ slaves but their sons. And even if I was once in a state of slavery in the fullest sense of the term and had been a slave justly from the very beginning, what is to prevent me now,” he continued, “from being just as free as anybody else, and you in your turn, on the contrary, even if you most indisputably were the son of free parents, from being an out-and-out slave?”
[21] ἐξ ἐλευθέρων ἦσθα, δοῦλον εἶναι παντὸς μᾶλλον; Ἐγὼ μέν, εἶπεν, οὐχ ὁρῶ ὅπως ἐλεύθερος ὢν δοῦλος ἔσομαι: σὲ δὲ οὐκ ἀδύνατον ἐλεύθερον γεγονέναι, ἀφέντος τοῦ δεσπότου. Τί δέ, ὦ λῷστε, ἔφη, οὐθεὶς ἂν γένοιτο ἐλεύθερος μὴ ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσπότου ἀφεθείς; Πῶς γάρ; εἶπεν. Ὅπως Ἀθηναίων ψηφισαμένων μετὰ τὴν ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ μάχην τοὺς συμπολεμήσοντας οἰκέτας ἐλευθέρους εἶναι, εἰ προὔβη ὁ πόλεμος, ἀλλὰ μὴ διελύσατο θᾶττον ὁ Φίλιππος πρὸς αὐτούς, πολλοὶ ἂν τῶν Ἀθήνησιν οἰκετῶν ἢ μικροῦ πάντες ἐλεύθεροι ἦσαν, οὐχ ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσπότου ἕκαστος ἀφεθείς. Ἔστω
[21] B. “For my part,” rejoined the other, “I do not see how I am to become a slave when, in fact, I am free; but as for you, it is not impossible that you have become free by your master’s having emancipated you.”
A. “See here, my good fellow,” said his antagonist, “would nobody get his freedom unless emancipated by his owner?”
B. “Why, how could anybody?” asked the other.
A. “In the same way that, when the Athenians after the battle of Chaeronea passed a vote to the effect that those slaves who would help them in the war should receive their freedom, if the war had continued and Philip had not made peace with them too soon, many of the slaves at Athens, or rather, practically all of them, would have been free without having been emancipated one at a
time by their respective masters.”
B. “Yes, let that be granted — if the state is going to free you by taking official action.”
[22] τοῦτό γε, εἰ δημοσίᾳ σε ἡ πόλις ἐλευθερώσει. Τί δέ; ἐμαυτὸν οὐκ ἄν σοι δοκῶ ἐλευθερῶσαι; Εἴ γε ἀργύριόν ποθεν καταβάλοις τῷ δεσπότῃ. Οὐ τοῦτόν φημι τὸν τρόπον, ἀλλὰ όνπερ Κῦρος οὐ μόνον ἑαυτόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ Πέρσας ἅπαντας ἠλευθέρωσε, τοσοῦτον ὄχλον, οὔτε ἀργύριον οὐδενὶ καταβαλὼν οὔτε ὑπὸ τοὺ δεσπότου ἀφεθείς. ἢ οὐκ οἶσθα ὅτι λυχνοποιὸς ἦν Κῦρος Ἀστυάγους, καὶ ὁπότε γ̓ ἐνεθυμήθη καὶ ἔδοξεν αὐτῷ, ἐλεύθερος ἅμα καὶ βασιλεὺς
Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom Page 237