[122] And the philosopher who spoke about this matter and rebuked them they refused to obey and did not even applaud; on the contrary, they were so incensed that, although in blood he was inferior to no Roman, but enjoyed a reputation greater than any one man has attained for generations, and was admittedly the only man who since the time of the ancients had lived most nearly in conformity with reason, this man was forced to leave the city and preferred to go and live somewhere else in Greece. But you, O men of Rhodes, would not tolerate any such thing as that, since among you there is a law which prescribes that the executioner must never enter the city.
[123] τίνος οὖν ἕνεκα ἐπεμνήσθην; οὐ μὰ τὸν Δία λοιδορῆσαι βουλόμενος τοὺς Ἀθηναίους: τοὐναντίον γὰρ πᾶσιν ἐλεεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐπέρχεται τοῖς μετρίοις: ἀλλ᾽ ὅπως εἰδῆθ᾽ ὅτι λοιπὸν ὑμῖν οὐ πρὸς ἐκείνους ἐστὶν ὁ λόγος, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων εἴ τις σωφρονεῖ. καίτοι πάντα ὅσα ἂν εἴποι τις κατὰ Ἀθηναίων ἢ κατὰ Λακεδαιμονίων ἢ καθ᾽ ὧν δήποτε, παρ᾽ οἷς ἄλλα τινὰ φαύλως ἔχει καὶ σφόδρα ὀλιγώρως, ἐμοὶ συναγωνιεῖται: τὸ γὰρ τῶν εἰκόνων οὐκ ἔστι παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἰδεῖν οὕτω γιγνόμενον: ὥσθ᾽ ὅ γε μηδὲ παρ᾽ ἐκείνοις ἁμαρτάνεται τοῖς ἐσχάτως ἀπολωλόσι τῶς οὐκ ἂν ὑπερβολήν τινα ἔχοι τῆς ἀτοπίας;
[123] What, then, was my object in mentioning this? Not, I assure you, any desire to abuse the Athenians; for, on the contrary, all decent men instinctively feel pity for them; it was rather in order that you might know that from this time on your reckoning is not with them but your own selves and with all others who are sober-minded. And yet everything that might be said in criticism of the Athenians or of the Spartans or any other peoples among whom are found other practices which are bad and due to gross carelessness, will reinforce my argument; for in the matter of statues you can find no such abuse among them as prevails here; must we not, therefore, of necessity conclude that this particular form of wrongdoing, which is not practiced even among those we have mentioned who are utterly lost to shame, is beyond all exaggeration monstrous?
[124] ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον αὐτὰ τὰ περὶ τὰς τιμὰς παρατεθέντα ἀποδείκνυσι τοῦτο. εἰ γὰρ τὸ τῶν νῦν τινα παραστῆσαι τῶν ἀρχαίων τινὶ δοκεῖ δεινόν, πόσῳ δεινότερον τὸ οὕτως ἀφελέσθαι τινὰ ἐκείνων τῆς τιμῆς, ὥστε ἑτέρῳ δοῦναι; καὶ εἰ τὸ ὄνομα ἐπιγράψαι τινὸς ἄλλῳ τῳ πολὺ ἐλάττονι τηλικαύτην κατάγνωσιν φέρει, τὸ ἐξαλεῖψαι καὶ ἀνελεῖν τὸ τοῦ κρείττονος, ἐὰν οὕτω τύχῃ, ποῖόν τι φαίνεσθαι νομίζετε; καὶ μὴν εἴ τις ὑμᾶς Καυνίοις ἢ Μυνδίοις ὁμοίους εἶναι λέγοι, σφόδρα ὀργιεῖσθε καὶ βλασφημεῖν αὐτὸν ἡγήσεσθε κατὰ τῆς πόλεως: πῶς ἂν οὖν ἔθ᾽ ὑμῖν ἀπολογίαν τινὰ φέροι περί τινος τῶν παρ᾽ ὑμῖν τὸ καὶ παρ᾽ ἐκείνοις αὐτὸ γίγνεσθαι;
[124] And this characterization becomes still more convincing if some few details of what happens in connection with the honours you grant are brought into comparison by themselves. If, for instance, it is considered an outrage to place any man of the present day beside any of the ancients, how much more of an outrage is it to deprive, as you are doing, an ancient of his honour for the purpose of bestowing it upon another? And if the inscribing of one person’s name over that of another and a much inferior person brings so great condemnation, completely to erase and remove the name of the better man, if it so happens — in what sort of light do you think this act appears?
Moreover, if anyone says that you are no better than the Caunians or Myndians, you will be very angry and think that he is slandering your city; how, then, could any man any longer bring forward before you in defence of any practice prevalent among you the argument that that very thing is done by those other peoples also?
[125] καθάπερ εἰ καὶ τὰ τείχη τις οἴοιτο δεῖν λῦσαι τὰ παρ᾽ ὑμῖν ἢ καὶ καταπίπτοντα ἐᾶν, ὅτι καὶ παρ᾽ ἑτέροις πέπτωκε, μᾶλλον δὲ πᾶσι τοῖς ἄλλοις σχεδόν. καίτοι τὰ μὲν τείχη διὰ τὴν εἰρήνην καὶ τὴν δουλείαν ἐᾶται παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς, ὧν τὸ μὲν ἅπαντες εὔχονται, τὴν εἰρήνην, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν οὐκ ἔστι κακίας σημεῖον: τὸ δὲ τοῖς παλαιοῖς τῶν εὐεργετῶν οὕτω προσφέρεσθαι [p. 256] δἰ ἀχαριστίαν γίγνεται. φαίην δ᾽ ἂν ἔγωγε παρὰ τούτοις μηδὲ εὐεργέτας ἀδικεῖσθαι. τίς γὰρ παρὰ Καυνίοις γέγονε γενναῖος ἀνήρ; ἢ τίς πώποτε ἐκείνους ἀγαθόν τι πεποίηκεν; οἵ γε δουλεύουσιν οὐχ ὑμῖν μόνοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ῥωμαίοις, δι᾽ ὑπερβολὴν ἀνοίας καὶ μοχθηρίας διπλῆν αὑτοῖς τὴν δουλείαν κατασκευάσαντες.ταῦτα δὲ καὶ περὶ ἄλλων τις ἂν εἴποι τῶν ὁμοδόξων.
[125] It is just as if a person thought that you ought to demolish your own walls, or let them lie when they fall, simply because they lie fallen in the other cities, or rather, in practically all the others. Yet with them the walls are neglected because of their condition of peace and servitude, one of which everybody welcomes, to wit, peace, whereas the other is no longer a sign of baseness; but when people treat in this way their benefactors of long ago, the reason is ingratitude. But I for my part venture to assert that even among your neighbours yonder wrong is not done to benefactors! For who among the Caunians has ever proved himself a noble man? Or who has ever conferred any benefaction upon them? Why, they are in a state of abject slavery, not alone to you but also to the Romans, on account of their excessive folly and wickedness having made their slavery a double one. And this one might also say about others who have the same reputation.
[126] ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ καθόλου τοὺς τηλικοῦτον ἐφ᾽ αὑτοῖς φρονοῦντας ἡλίκον ὑμεῖς δικαίως οὐ πρὸς ἑτέρους ἀποβλέπειν οἴομαι δεῖν ἐν οἷς πράττουσιν, ἄλλως τε τοὺς τοσοῦτον χείρονας, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴνἑαυτῶν δόξαν καὶ τὸ τῆς πόλεως ἀξίωμα. γελοῖον γὰρ ἂν ἦν, εἰ τῶν ὑμετέρων τις πολιτῶν, Δωριεὺς ἐκεῖνος ἢ Λεωνίδας, οὓς τοσαυτάκις φασὶν Ὀλυμπίασι νικῆσαι, πρὸς ἄλλον τινὰ ὁρῶν ἐγυμνάζετο, καὶ ταῦτά γε μηδέποτε στεφανωθέντα. τοῖς μέντοι Λακεδαιμονίοις ἢ τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις εἰ βούλεσθε ἀντεξετάζεσθαι, συγχωρῶτοῖς τότε οὖσιν, ὅτε αὐτοῖς εἰκότως ἄν τις τῶν ὁμοίων ὑμῖν συνεκρίνετο.
[126] But, speaking generally, I think that a people who take such pride in themselves as you justly do should not, in shaping their conduct, keep their eyes on these others, especially on those who are so much their inferiors, but rather upon their own reputation and the proud position of their city. It would have been absurd if one of your own citizens, that famous Dorieus, or Leonidas, men who are said to have won so many victories at Olympia, had done his
training with his eye on some other athlete, and him a man who had never been crowned. However, if you wish to measure yourselves against the Spartans or the Athenians, I concede the point in regard to the Athenians of the olden days, when any people similar to yourselves might with good reason have tried to be comparable to them.
[127] καὶ γὰρ τὸν ἀθλητὴν τὸν φιλοτιμούμενον ἔτι καὶ μηδέπω παραχωροῦντα τῆς ἰσχύος οὐ τοὺς νοσοῦντας εὔλογόν ἐστι προκαλεῖσθαι τῶν καθ᾽ αὑτὸν ἐνδόξων οὐδὲ τοὺς τεθνεῶτας, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μὲν εἶέν τινες ἐρρωμένοι, πρὸς ἐκείνους ἀγωνίζεσθαι περὶ τῆσνίκης: εἰ δὲ μή, τοιοῦτόν τι πρᾶξαι ζητεῖν, ὃ μηδενὸς αὐτὸν ἀσθενέστερον δείξει τῶν πρότερον. ὁ μὲν οὖν ὑγιὴς οὗτός ἐστι περὶ τῶν τοιούτων λόγος. εἰ δὲ ἄρα παρεῖναί τι δεῖ, μήτε πρὸς τοὺς τότε, οἳ ἦσαν κράτιστοι, παραβάλλοντες ἐξετάζετε τὸ πρᾶγμα, μήτε πρὸς τοὺς νῦν, οἳ μηδενὸς τῶν φαυλοτάτων διαφέρουσιν, ἀλλὰ
[127] Take, for instance, the athlete: If he is still eager for honours and is not yet declining in bodily vigour, it is not sensible for him to challenge the famous prize-winners of his own time who are sick, nor yet the dead, nay rather, if there are any who are at the top of their strength, he should select these and strive with them for the victory; but if none such are available, he should aim to achieve an exploit of such a kind as will show that he is no whit inferior in strength to any athlete of former times. That is sound reasoning about such matters. But if after all it is necessary to make some concession, do not test the question by making a comparison with the peoples who in former times were the strongest, nor yet with those of the present day who are no better than any people of the most worthless sort, but measure yourselves against those who are in between, or against those who are still lower in the scale than they.
[128] πρὸς τοὺς μέσους αὐτῶν ἢ καὶ τοὺς ἔτι τούτων ἐλάττονας. παρὰ τοίνυν τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις κατὰ Φίλιππον μάλιστα, ὅτε τῆς ἡγεμονίας παρακεχωρήκεσαν, τῆς δ᾽ ἐλευθερίας μόνης λοιπὸν ἀντείχοντο, Λεπτίνης τις εἰσήνεγκε νόμον ὡς χρὴ τὰς ἀτελείας ἀφελέσθαι τοὺς ἔχοντας παρὰ τοῦ δήμου, δίχα τῶν ἀφ᾽ Ἁρμοδίου καὶ Ἀριστογείτονος,καὶ μηκέτι τὸ λοιπὸν ἐξεῖναι διδόναι μηδενὶ τὴν δωρεὰν [p. 257] ταύτ̣̣̔̓ν. τί οὖν; ἔσθ᾽ ὅπως παρεδέξαντο τὸν νόμον; οὐμενοῦν,
[128] Well then, among the Athenians of the time of Philip, and at very near the time when they had given up the primacy among the Greeks and their liberty was the only thing to which they still clung, there was a certain Leptines who proposed a law to the effect that all should be deprived of the privileges of exemption from public duties who had received it from the people, with the exception of the descendants of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, and that for the future it will be no longer permissible to grant to any one this gift. Well, what happened? Did they by any chance accept that law? They did not, but the law’s proposer was convicted on an indictment for introducing an illegal measure.
[129] ἀλλ᾽ ἑάλω γραφῆς. φέρε τοίνυν συμβάλετε τοῦτο τὸ ἔθος ἐκείνῳ τῷ νόμῳ, κἂν μὲν ὑμῖν κατά τι βέλτιον φαίνηται, φυλάξατε αὐτὸ καὶ ποιήσατε ἰσχυρότερον πρὸς τὸ λοιπόν: ὅπερ ἐξ ἀνάγκης γένοιτ᾽ ἄν, εἰ μὴ λυθήσεται νῦν: ἐὰν δὲ πανταχῇ σκοπούμενοι χεῖρον εὑρίσκητε, μιμήσασθε τοὺς κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον Ἀθηναίους καὶ τὸ μᾶλλον ἄτοπον τοῦ τότε λυθέντος ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνων καὶ ὑμεῖς νῦν λύσατε.
[129] Come then, compare this custom with that law, and if it seems to you in any way better, retain it and make it stronger for the future — which is bound to happen if it is not abolished now — but if after considering it on all sides you find it to be inferior, then imitate the Athenians of that early period and abolish now that practice which is more monstrous than the one abolished formerly by them.
[130] τὸ μὲν οὖν ψευδῆ τὴν πόλιν δεικνύναι καὶ περὶ τὰς δωρεὰς ἄπιστον καὶ τὸ τοὺς εὐεργέτας ἀδικεῖν, ἀφαιρουμένην αὐτῶν τὰς ἀμοιβάς, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπ᾽ ἴσης κοινὰ ἀμφοτέροις πρόσεστιν: ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖ μὲν οὐκ ἦν μηδὲν ὠφελῆσθαι τοὺς τὴν ἀτέλειαν ἐσχηκότας: ἃ γὰρ ἐκτήσαντο ἐκ τῆς ἀφέσεως εἰς ἅπαν αὐτοῖς ἔμεινε ὡς καὶ τὸν ἄλλον χρόνον ἔμελλον εὐπορώτεροι δι᾽ αὐτὴν ἔσεσθαι. τοῖς δέ γε τῆς εἰκόνος ἀφαιρεθεῖσιν ἐκ τοῦ τετιμῆσθαι πρότερον οὐδ᾽ ὁτιοῦν περίεστι δίχα γε τῆς ὕβρεως καὶ τῆς ἀτιμίας.
[130] However, as to any attempt to show that the city is insincere, is faithless in its gifts, and that it wrongs its benefactors by robbing them of their rewards — such reproaches apply in all respects equally to both Athens and Rhodes. But whereas at Athens those who had formerly received exemption from public burdens could not possibly have received no benefit at all — for whatever they had previously acquired from the immunity remained theirs in every respect for the future as for the past, and they could not fail to be better off on account of it; those, on the other hand, who have had their statues taken away from them have nothing left over from the honour they had formerly enjoyed — except the insult and the dishonour.
[131] πρὸς τούτῳ δὲ ὁ μὲν τιθεὶς τότε τὸν νόμον ἔστιν ὧν κατηγόρει τῶν εἰληφότων τὴν ἀτέλειαν καὶ πονηροὺς ἀπέφαινε τοὺς πλείους, οὐ μόνον ἀναξίους χάριτος: ὥστε τοῦτ᾽ εἶναι τὸ δεινὸν ὅτι μὴ πᾶσιν ἐγκαλῶν πάντας ἀπεστέρει τὰς δωρεάς. ἐνθάδε δὲ οὐδ᾽ ἔνεστι τοῖς ἀφελομένοις εἰπεῖν τι κατ᾽ ἐκείνων: οὓς γὰρ μηδ᾽ ἴσασι, πῶς αὐτοὺς αἰτιᾶσθαι δυνατόν;
[131] And, in addition, the Athenian who, on the occasion I have mentioned, proposed the law attacked a considerable number of those who had received exemption from public duties and tried to show that the majority of them were knaves, not merely unworthy of any favour, so that the unfairness of it was that, while not accusing all, he was proposing to deprive all of their gifts. But in Rhodes here it is utterly impossible for those who have deprived men of their statues to say anything against them; for when they do not even know who the original recipients were, as they admit, how is it possible to bring a charge against them?
[132] ἔτι δὲ ὁ μὲν νόμος ἐξαιρέτους τινὰς ἐποίει τούς τὰ μέγιστα δοκοῦντας εὐεργετηκέναι τὴν πόλιν, τοὺς ἀφ᾽ Ἁρμοδίου καὶ Ἀριστογείτονος: ἐνθάδε δὲ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἐξαίρετον. τῷ γὰρ ἀγράφως τὸ πρᾶγμα γίγνεσθαι καὶ μήτε κατὰ νόμον μήτε κατὰ ψήφισμα περὶ οὐδενὸς ὅλως ἀπείρηται, καὶ ἐπὶ παντὶ συμβῆναι δυνατόν ἐστιν, ἐφ᾽ ὅτῳ ποτὲ ἂν δόξῃ τῷ στρατηγῷ.
[133] καὶ μὴν ὅ γε νόμος δεινὸν ἐδόκει ποιεῖν ἀφαιρούμενος τοῦ δήμου τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ὥστε μηδὲ τὸ λοιπὸν ἐξεῖναι ψηφίσασθαι τὴν δωρεὰν ταύτην. καὶ πόσῳ κρεῖττον τὴν ἀρχὴν κωλῦσαί τι διδόναι τὸν δῆμον, εἰ μὴ συνέφερε τῇ πόλει, ἢ καταλιπόντα τὸ χαρίζεσθαι τὸ ἀφαιρεῖσθαι ταῦτα ἐφ᾽ ἑνὶ ποιήσασθαι; [p. 258] αἰσχροῦ γὰρ ὄντος, ὡς οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἷς ἀντείποι, τοῦ ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τοὺς λαβόντας τι, κατὰ μὲν τὸν νόμον τοῦτο ἅπαξ ἐγίγνετο,
[133] Again, the Athenian law was thought to be committing an outrage in depriving the people of their authority in the matter, so that not even in the future would it be possible for them to vote this gift. Yet how much better to prevent the people from granting any honour or any privilege than, while leaving the right to confer a favour, to place the power of taking it away in the hands of one man! For while it is disgraceful, as no man would deny, to take any gift away from those who have received it, according to that Athenian law this was happening just once, but according to this Rhodian custom it takes place all the time!
Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom Page 272