Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [39] Well, it is perfectly clear that no one tries to disguise things that are done in a straightforward fashion and have nothing irregular about them. And I think it is even more obvious that nobody would be in the least inclined to take precautions to prevent men who are receiving favours at their hands from knowing in just what manner they were getting them and anything whatsoever that was being done in connection with the honour, at least if the action taken were done in a sincere and honourable way. So what is now happening must necessarily be contemptible in every way and ill-befitting for even a man in private station. For the man who, in the very act of doing a kindness to others either because he has previously received a kindness from them, or because he is actually taking the initiative and inviting them to be his friends, then deceives and cheats — what would such a man do in an honest fashion?

  So, then, you do know that no one is unaware of what is going on, nay, it is notorious and on everybody’s tongue, not only now that certain cities have followed this practice to great excess and with utter lack of restraint, but because it is being done even among you.

  [40] ὑμῖν πράττεται. τὸ γὰρ ἀξίωμα τῆς πόλεως καὶ τὸ μέγεθος οὐδὲνἄγνωστον ἐᾷ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ τὸ σεμνότερον ὑμᾶς ἁπάντων ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἑαυτοὺς ἄγειν, ἔτι δὲ οἶμαι τὸ πράττειν ἄριστα τῶν Ἑλλήνων, φθόνον κινεῖ καὶ ζηλοτυπίαν, ὥστε πολλοὺς εἶναι τοὺς ἐξετάζοντας, ἐάν τι δοκῆτε ἁμαρτάνειν. οὐκοῦν οἱ μὲν ὅπως ὅ,τι πράττουσιν ἀγνοεῖσθαι μᾶλλον ἐθέλοντες κακίας τοῦτο σημεῖον ἐκ-[p. 231] φέρουσιν: οἱ δ᾽ ἅ μηδεὶς ἀγνοεῖ λανθάνειν νομίζοντες εὐηθείας: οἷς ἀμφοτέροις οὐκ ἂν ἕλοισθε ἔνοχον εἷναι τὴν πόλιν.

  [40] For the high standing of your city and her greatness allow nothing that goes on here to remain unknown; and the greater decorum of your conduct as compared with that of any other city; and, besides, I presume, your being the most prosperous of the Greeks, all arouse dislike and jealousy, so that there are many who watch to see if you appear to be at fault in any matter. Therefore those who prefer that what they do shall remain utterly unknown thereby reveal a sign of baseness, while those who think that what nobody is ignorant of goes unnoticed show their simplicity; and you would not care to have your city held guilty of both these faults!

  [41] νὴ Δία, ἀλλὰ δαπανήσομεν, εἰ μὴ τοῖς οὖσι χρησόμεθα καὶ πολλῶν δεήσει χρημάτων, ἐὰν πᾶσι κατασκευάζωμεν ἀνδριάντας ὅσοις ψηφιζόμεθα. καὶ πόσῳ κρεῖττον ἐλάττοσι διδόναι τὴν δωρεὰν ἢ πλείους ἐξαπατᾶν, μέλλοντάς γε ὑπὸ πλειόνων καταγιγνώσκεσθαι καὶ μισεῖσθαι, σαφῶς εἰδότων ὃ ποιεῖτε; καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὲν οὐ σφόδρα ἐπιεικεῖς εἰσιν, οὓς ὁπωσδήποτε ἵστατε νῦν, ὃ μηδαμῇ φρονοῦντες εἴποιτ᾽ ἄν, ὁρᾶτε τὸ γιγνόμενον: διὰ γὰρ τοὺς φαύλους ἀδικεῖτε τοὺς χρηστούς. ὅτι γὰρ ὑμῶν οἱ πρόγονοι μὴ ἐθαύμαζον εἰκῇ μηδὲ ἀνάξιόν τινα ἐγὼ διαβεβαιωσαίμην ἄν. εἰ δὲ ἀγαθοὺς τιμᾶτε, τούς γε τοιούτους εἰκὸς ἄχθεσθαι τῷ πράγματι.

  [41] “Oh yes!” you say, “but we shall be put to expense if we do not use those we already have! And what sums will be required if we are to have new statues made for all those to whom we vote them!”

  And how much better it would be to make the gift to fewer persons rather than to deceive a larger number, since you will be condemned and hated by a larger number, for they know well what you are doing!

  Again, if they are not very distinctly superior men whose memorials you are now setting up in some fashion or other — and if you are wise, you will by no means say that they are — see what takes place: on account of the inferior you are wronging the excellent; for your ancestors, I dare assert, did not bestow their admiration at random or upon any undeserving person. On the other hand, if you are honouring good men, then these have good reason to be indignant at your action.

  [42] τίς γὰρ ἂν μέτριος ἄνθρωπος βούλοιτο ἕτερον κακῶς πάσχειν καὶ τῶν δικαίως δεδομένων ἀποστερεῖσθαι δι᾽ αὑτόν; ἢ πῶς οὐκ ἂν ὀργίζοιτο ἐπὶ τούτῳ γιγνομένῳ μᾶλλον ἤπερ εἰδείη χάριν; ἢ γυναῖκα μὲν οὐδεὶς ἂν ὑπομείνειε χρηστὸς ὢν διὰ μοιχείαν λαβεῖν, ὅτι τὸν πρότερον ἔχοντα ἠδίκησε: μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὅλως λάβοι τις ἡδέως παρὰ ἀνδρὸς ἑτέρου: καίτοι πολλάκις γίγνεται τοῦτο οὐ μετὰ πονηρᾶς αἰτίας: τιμὴν δέ, ἣν οὐκ ἔστι δικαίως ἀπ᾽ ἄλλου λαβεῖν οὐδὲ χωρὶς ὕβρεως τῆς εἰς ἐκεῖνον, ἀγαπᾶν τινα οἴεσθε, καὶ ταῦτα μηδ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐλπίζοντα ὡς οὐθὲν ἂν πάθοι τοιοῦτον; ἀλλ᾽ ἀνδράποδον μέν τις ὠνούμενος εἴ ποτε ἀπέδρα σκοπεῖ καὶ εἰ μὴ παρέμενε τῷ πρώτῳ δεσπότῃ: δωρεὰν δὲ καὶ χάριν, ἣν ἄπιστον ἡγεῖται καὶ σαφῶς οἶδε μηδὲν ἔχουσαν βέβαιον, ἑκὼν ἂν πρόσοιτο;

  [42] For what fair-minded man would wish another to be ill-treated on his account and deprived of what had been justly given? How could he help being angry at such treatment, instead of feeling grateful? To take another case: no man, if he were honourable, would consent to get a wife through having committed adultery with her, because by that act he had done an injury to her former husband; or rather, a man would not willingly take any woman at all away from another, her husband, although this is often done without any base motive. But an honour, which it is not possible justly to take away from another person or without inflicting an injury on him — do you think that anyone cares to have, even though he is not expecting to be subjected to any such treatment himself? Nay, a man who is buying a slave inquires if he ever ran away, and if he would not stay with his first master; but a gift or a favour which a man believes was not given in good faith and which he knows well enough has no permanence in it at all — would he willingly accept that?

  [43] Ῥωμαῖοι γάρ εἰσιν οἱ πλείους αὐτῶν, καὶ τίς ἂν τούτων ἅψαιτο; οἱ δέ γε παρεστῶτες αὐτοῖς Μακεδόνες, οἱδὶ δὲ Λακεδαιμόνιοι: καὶ νὴ Δία τούτων ἁπτόμεθα. καίτοι τοὺς μὲν πρότερον [p. 232] κειμένους πάντας ἢ τούς γε πλείστους δι᾽ εὐεργεσίαν φήσετε τεθῆναι, τῶν δὲ νῦν τιμωμένων πολλοὺς δι᾽ ἰσχὺν θεραπεύεσθαι. τὸ μὲν δὴ ποτέρους αὐτῶν δικαιότερόν ἐστι ποιεῖσθαι περὶ πλείονος ἐάσω: τὸ δέ, εἰ μὴ πᾶσι τὰ δοθέντα δικαίως ὑπάρξει, ποτέρους μᾶλλον εἰκὸς ἐπ᾽ ἀδήλῳ λαμβάνειν οὐδ᾽ αὐτοὺς τούτουσλανθάνει. πάντες γὰρ οἴδασιν ὅσῳ βεβαιότερόν ἐστιν εὐεργεσία δυνάμεως. ἰσχὺν μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν ἥντινα οὐκ ἀναιρεῖ χρόνος,

  [43] “Yes,” you say, “for the majority of them are Romans and who would think of touching them? But those who stand beside them here are Macedonians, while these
over here are Spartans, and by heavens, it is these we touch.”

  And yet all that stood here formerly, or the most of them at any rate, you will admit were erected in acknowledgement of a benefaction, whereas of those now receiving honour many are being courted owing to their political power. Now the question which of the two classes has the greater right to be held in higher regard I will pass over; but this further question, which of the two classes — assuming that the honours granted are not to belong rightfully to all — can more reasonably be expected to take them on the basis of so uncertain a title, this question, I say, even these men themselves know well how to answer. For all know how much more permanent a benefaction is than power, for there is no strength which time does not destroy, but it destroys no benefaction.

  [44] εὐεργεσίαν δὲ οὐδεμίαν. ἵν᾽ οὖν τὴν ὑπερβολὴν ἐκείνην ἀφῇ τις, ἀληθῆ τρόπον τινὰ οὖσαν, τὸ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν ἀηδέστερον ἔχειν τοὺς οὕτω τιμᾶσθαι ζητοῦντας καὶ τὸ συμβαῖνον εἰς ὕβριν λαμβάνεινκαὶ καταφρόνησιν ἑαυτῶν: ἀλλὰ τοῦτό γε εἰδέναι φημὶ βεβαίως ὅτι μηδὲ χάριν ὑμῖν μηδεμίαν οἴδασι μηδ᾽ οἴονται τυγχάνειν μηδενός, τὸ γιγνόμενον εἰδότες καὶ τὴν ῥᾳδιουργίαν τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ. πρὸς τοῦ Διός, εἶθ᾽ ἃ καὶ τούτων δεχομένων οὐκ εἰκὸς ἦν ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τοὺς ἔμπροσθεν εἰληφότας, ταῦτα ἀφαιρώμεθα τοὺς

  [44] Assuming, therefore, that we may reject that extreme view, which in a sense is true, that those who are seeking to be honoured in this way are quite displeased with your city and take what is done as an insult and affront to themselves, yet at least I assert positively that they feel no gratitude whatever to you and do not think that they are getting anything, knowing as they do what is taking place and the unscrupulousness displayed in it. In heaven’s name, when even if the men in question do accept from us honours which we should have no right to take away from their former recipients, are we, then, to take them away from whoever possesses them, even though we do not really ‘give’ them to another set of men?

  [45] ἔχοντας οὐδὲ ἑτέροις διδόντες; καὶ μὴν εἴ γε ἐν οἷς ἡ πόλις δοκεῖ τινος δεῖσθαι, τὴν δαπάνην μόνον ὀψόμεθα καὶ τὸ πῶς ἂν εὐχερέστατα γένοιτο, μηθὲν ἄλλο ἐξετάζοντες, τί κωλύει μὴ μόνον ταύτην ὑπάρχειν ἐν ἑτοίμῳ τὴν δωρεάν, ἀλλὰ κἂν ἄλλο τι θέλητε χαρίσασθαί τινι, γῆν, ἀργύριον, οἰκίαν, τοὺς ἔχοντας ἀφαιρουμένους;ἢ τί δεῖ πόρους ζητεῖν καὶ τὰ κοινὰ ἀναλίσκειν, ὅταν ᾖ καιρὸς ἢ τεῖχος ἐπισκευάζειν ἢ ναῦς, ἀλλὰ μὴ τὰ τοῦ δεῖνος λαβεῖν ἢ τὰ τῶν πολιτῶν τινος ἢ τῶν ἐνοικούντων παρ᾽ ὑμῖν; ἀλλὰ νὴ Δία βοήσονται καὶ δεινὰ φήσουσι πάσχειν. οὐκοῦν ἐξέσται δήπουθεν μὴ προσέχειν αὐτοῖς.

  [45] Furthermore, if in cases where the city is thought to need anything, we shall consider the expense alone and how the thing can be done most easily, examining into no other aspects of the matter, what is to prevent our having not only this gift ready at hand, but any other favour you may wish to bestow upon any one, such as land, money, or a house, by simply taking them away from those who have them? Or what need is there to seek ways and means and to expend the public money when occasion arises to repair either a wall or ships, instead of merely taking So-and-so’s property, either that of some citizen or of one of the strangers who are sojourning among you?

  “Never, by Zeus,” you say, “they will raise an outcry and say that it is an outrage.”

  [46] καὶ γὰρ εἰ νῦν εἰσιν, ἐφ᾽ οὓσἂν ἔλθοιεν ὑμῶν ταῦτα ποιούντων, πρότερόν γε οὐκ ἦν ἕτερος οὐδεὶς τοῦ δήμου κυριώτερος. ἆρ᾽ οὖν οἱ τότε ὄντες οὕτω προσεφέροντο τοῖς κατὰ μέρος; πόθεν; οἳ τοῦτο πάντων ἡγοῦντο χαλεπώτατον, καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς ἐπεύχοντο μηδέποτε συμβῆναι τοιοῦτον καιρόν, ἐν ᾧ δεήσει κατ᾽ ἄνδρα ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων εἰσενεγκεῖν:καὶ τὸ τοιοῦτον σπανίως ποτὲ παρ᾽ ὑμῖν γενέσθαι φασίν, οὐδὲ [p. 233] ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς πολέμοις, ἀλλ᾽ εἴ ποτε ἐσχάτως ἡ πόλις ἐκινδύνευσεν.

  [46] Then it will be possible, presumably, to pay no attention to them. For even if there are now those to whom they can appeal when you act this way, in the old days, at any rate, there was no person who had greater authority than the people.

  “Can it be that the men of that time treated individuals in that way?”

  What nonsense! Why, they considered it to be the worst thing imaginable, and prayed the gods that the time might never come in which it would be necessary that each individual citizen should ever be obliged to pay a tax out of his own private means; and it is said that so extreme a measure has only rarely been taken among you in spite of all your wars, except at a time when your city was in extreme peril.

  [47] ἴσως οὖν ἐρεῖ τις ὡς οἵ γε ἀνδριάντες τῆς πόλεώς εἰσιν. καὶ γὰρ ἡ χώρα τῆς πόλεως, ἀλλ᾽ οὐθὲν ἧττον τῶν κεκτημένων ἕκαστος κύριός ἐστι τῶν ἑαυτοῦ. καὶ κοινῇ μὲν ἐὰν πυνθάνηταί τις τίνος ἐστὶν ἡ νῆσος ἢ τίνος ἡ Καρία, φήσουσι Ῥοδίων. ἐὰν δὲ ἄλλως ἐρωτᾷς, τουτὶ τὸ χωρίον ἢ τόνδε τὸν ἀγρόν, δῆλον ὅτι πεύσῃ τοῦ δεσπότου τὸ ὄνομα. οὕτως καὶ τὰς εἰκόνας ἁπλῶς μὲν πάσας Ῥοδίων εἶναι λέγουσιν, ἰδίᾳ δὲ ἑκάστην τοῦ δεῖνος ἢ τοῦ δεῖνος, ᾧ ἄν ποτε ᾖ δεδομένη. καίτοι τὰ μὲν χωρία καὶ τὰς οἰκίας καὶ τἄλλα κτήματα οὐκ ἂν εἰδείης ὧν ἐστιν, εἰ μὴ πυθόμενος: ἡ δὲ εἰκὼν ἐπιγέγραπται, καὶ οὐ μόνον τὸ ὄνομα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν χαρακτῆρα σῴζει τοῦ λαβόντος, ὥστ᾽ εὐθὺς εἶναι προσελθόντα εἰδέναι τίνος ἐστίν.

  [47] Now perhaps some one will say that the statues belong to the city. Yes, and the land also belongs to the city, but none the less every one who possesses any has full authority over what is his own. Speaking in a political sense, if anyone inquires who owns the Island or who owns Caria, he will be told that the Rhodians own it. But if you ask in a different sense about this specific estate here or this field, it is clear that you will learn the name of the private owner. So also with the statues; in a general sense men say that they belong to the people of Rhodes, but in the particular or special sense they say that this or that statue belongs to So-and-so or to So-and-so, naming whatever man it has been given to. And yet, whereas in the case of estates, houses, and other possessions, you cannot learn who owns them unless you inquire, the statue has an inscription on it and preserves not only the name but also the lineaments of the man to whom it was first given, so that it is possible to step near and at once know whose it is. I refer to those on which the truth is still given.

  [48] λέγω δὲ ἐφ᾽ ὧν ἔτι μένει τἀληθές. καὶ μὴν τό γε ἐν κοινῷ κεῖσθαι γελοιότατόν ἐστιν, εἴ τις ἄρα σημεῖον ἡγε
ῖται τοῦ μὴ τῶν εἰληφότων αὐτὰς ὑπάρχειν, ἀλλὰ τῆς πόλεως. οὕτω μὲν γὰρ ἐξέσται. λέγειν καὶ τὰ ἐν μέσῳ τῆς ἀγορᾶς πιπρασκόμενα τοῦ δήμου εἶναι, καὶ τὰ πλοῖα δήπουθεν οὐχὶ τῶν κεκτημένων, ἀλλὰ τῆς πόλεως, ἐπείπερ ἐν τοῖς λιμέσιν ἕστηκεν. ὅ τοίνυν ἤκουσά τινος ὑπὲρ τούτου λέγοντος ὡς ἰσχυρότατον, οὐκ ἂν ἀποκρυψαίμην, ὅτι δημοσίᾳ τοὺς ἀνδριάντας ἀπεγράψασθε ὑμεῖς. τί οὖν τοῦτό ἐστιν; καὶ γὰρ τὴν ἄντικρυς χώραν καὶ Κάρπαθον ταύτην καὶ ἤπειρον, ἑτέρας νήσους καὶ καθόλου πολλὰ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν, ἃ κοινῇ μὲν ἀπεγράψατο ἡ πόλις, διῄρηται δὲ εἰς τοὺς κατὰ μέρος.

  [48] Moreover, the plea that they stand on public property is most absurd, if this is really held to be an indication that they do not belong to those who received them, but to the city. Why, if that be true, it will be possible to say that also the things which are on sale in the centre of the market-place belong to the commonwealth, and that the boats, no doubt, do belong, not to their possessors, but to the city, just because they are lying in the harbours.