’Tis fanned to fury; should a calm ensue,
A little puff doth ruffle it. So let
Some change be made, the victim is engulfed.
[24] τάχ᾽ ἂν οὖν καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐμὲ τῷ θορύβῳ καταπίοιτε καὶ τῇ ταραχῇ, βουλόμενον ὑμᾶς ὠφελεῖν. μείναντες δὲ καὶ ἀκούσαντες διὰ τέλους πᾶσι θαυμαστοὶ δόξετε, καὶ οὐ μόνον κρουμάτων ἔμπειροι καὶ ὀρχημάτων, ἀλλὰ καὶ λόγων φρονίμων, ἵνα κἀμοὶ πρὸς τούς αἰτιωμένους [p. 274] καὶ καταγιγνώσκοντας, ὅτι δεῦρο εἰσῆλθον, ᾖ δικαίως ἀπολογεῖσθαι: αἰτιάσονται γάρ, εὖ ἴστε, καὶ φήσουσι δοξοκόπον εἶναι καὶ μαινόμενον, ὅστις ἐμαυτὸν ὄχλῳ καὶ θορύβῳ παρέβαλον: ὅπως οὖν ἔχω λέγειν ὅτι οὐ πᾶν πλῆθος ἀσελγές ἐστιν οὐδὲ ἀνήκοον, οὐδὲ ἀπὸ παντὸς δεῖ τοὺς πεπαιδευμένους φεύγειν.
[24] So you too might perhaps engulf me with your uproar and your turmoil, in spite of my desire to serve you. But if you wait and hear me through, all men will think you wonderful, and will give you credit for acquaintance, not alone with twanging lyres and dancing feet, but with words of wisdom too, that I also may thus have a just defence to offer those who blame and condemn me for coming here; for they will blame me, you may be sure, and will say that I am a notoriety-hunter and a madman to have thus exposed myself to the mob and its hubbub. Let me, then, be able to assert that not every populace is insolent and unwilling to listen, and that not every gathering of the people must be avoided by men of cultivation.
[25] σαφέστερον δ᾽ ὑμῖν, εἰ βούλεσθε, διελεύσομαι περὶ δήμου φύσεως, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστι περὶ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν. καὶ γὰρ ἕν τι τῶν χρησίμων ἐστὶ καὶ μᾶλλον ἂν ὑμᾶς ὠφελήσειεν ἢ περὶ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς εἰ λέγοιμι. φημὶ δὴ δῆμον ἐοικέναι μάλιστα ἀνδρὶ δυνάστῃ καὶ σφόδρα ἰσχυρῷ, μεγάλην τινὰ ἐξουσίαν καὶ ῥώμην ἔχοντι, καὶ τοσούτῳ μείζονι δυνάστῃ καὶ ἄρχοντι πλεόνων, ὅσῳπερ ἂν αὐτὸς ᾖ πλείων ὁ δῆμος καὶ πόλεως γενναιοτέρας.
[25] But I will explain to you more clearly, if you wish, the nature of the demos, in other words, the nature of yourselves. In fact such an explanation is a useful thing, and it will do you more good than if I were to speak about heaven and earth. Well then, I claim that the demos most closely resembles a potentate, and a very strong one too, one that has great authority and power, and a more powerful potentate and holding sway over a greater number in proportion as the people itself is more numerous and belongs to a prouder city.
[26] ἐκείνων μὲν οὖν εἰσι βασιλεῖς, θεοὶ ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ κοινῇ γεγονότες, κηδεμόνες ὄντως καὶ προστάται χρηστοὶ καὶ δίκαιοι, τῶν μὲν ἀγαθῶν ἑκούσιοι ταμίαι, τῶν δὲ χαλεπῶν σπανίως μεταδιδόντες καὶ κατὰ ἀνάγκην, κόσμῳπόλεων ἡδόμενοι. οἱ δὲ τοὐναντίον σκληροὶ καὶ ἄγριοι τύραννοι, χαλεποὶ μὲν ἀκοῦσαι, χαλεποὶ δὲ συμβαλεῖν: τούτων ἡ μὲν ὀργὴ πρὸς πάντα ἕτοιμος, ὥσπερ θηρίων ἀνημέρων, τὰ δὲ ὦτα ἐμπέφρακται, καὶ πάροδος οὐκ ἔστιν εἰς αὐτὰ λόγοις ἐπιεικέσιν, ἀλλὰ κολακεία καὶ ἀπάτη κρατεῖ παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς.
[26] Among these over-lords, then, are included kings, who have been deified for the general safety of their realm, real guardians and good and righteous leaders of the people, gladly dispensing the benefits, but dealing out hardship among their subjects rarely and only as necessity demands, rejoicing when their cities observe order and decorum. But others, on the contrary, are harsh and savage tyrants, unpleasant to listen to and unpleasant to meet; their rage is prompt to rise at anything, like the rage of savage beasts, and their ears are stopped, affording no entrance to words of fairness, but with them flattery and deception prevail.
[27] ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ δῆμος ὁμέν τις εὐγνώμων καὶ πρᾷος καὶ γαληνὸς ὄντως, οἷος γεύσασθαι παρρησίας καὶ μὴ πάντα ἐθέλειν τρυφᾶν, ἐπιεικής, μεγαλόφρων, αἰδούμενος τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς καὶ ἄνδρας καὶ λόγους, τοῖς νουθετοῦσι καὶ διδάσκουσι χάριν εἰδώς: ὃν ἐγὼ τίθημι τῆς θείας καὶ βασιλικῆς φύσεως, καὶ προσιέναι φημὶ καὶ διαλέγεσθαι τούτῳ πρέπειν,καθάπερ ἵππον γενναῖον ἐξ ἡνίας εὐτελοῦς πρᾴως ἄγοντα, οὐδὲν δεόμενον ψαλίων.
[27] In like manner democracy is of two kinds: the one is reasonable and gentle and truly mild, disposed to accept frankness of speech and not to care to be pampered in everything, fair, magnanimous, showing respect for good men and good advice, grateful to those who admonish and instruct; this is the democracy which I regard as partaking of the divine and royal nature, and I deem it fitting that one should approach and address it, just as one directs with gentleness a noble steed by means of simple reins, since it does not need the curb.
[28] οἱ δὲ πλείους καὶ οὶ θρασεῖς καὶ ὑπερήφανοι, δυσάρεστοι πρὸς ἅπαντα, ἁψίκοροι, τυράννοις ὅμοιοι καὶ πολὺ χείρους: οἷα δὴ τῆς κακίας αὐτῶν οὔσης οὐ μιᾶς οὐδὲ ἁπλῆς, ἀλλὰ συμπεφορημένης ἐκ μυρίων: ὥστε πάνυ ποικίλον τε καὶ δεινὸν εἶναιθηρίον, οἷα ποιηταὶ καὶ δημιουργοὶ πλάττουσι Κενταύρους τε καὶ Σφίγγας καὶ Χιμαίρας, ἐκ παντοδαπῶν φύσεων εἰς μίαν μορφὴν εἰδώλου ξυντιθέντες. τῷ δὲ τοιούτῳ τέρατι ξυμπλέκεσθαι καὶ ὁμόσε ἰέναι μαινομένου τινὸς ἀληθῶς ἔργον ἢ σφόδρα ἀνδρείου [p. 275]
[28] But the more prevalent kind of democracy is both bold and arrogant, difficult to please in anything, fastidious, resembling tyrants or much worse than they, seeing that its vice is not that of one individual or of one kind but a jumble of the vices of thousands; and so it is a multifarious and dreadful beast, like those which poets and artists invent, Centaurs and Sphinxes and Chimaeras, combining in a single shape of unreal existence attributes borrowed from manifold natures. And to engage at close quarters with that sort of monster is the act of a man who is truly mad or else exceedingly brave and equipped with wings, a Perseus or a Bellerophon.
[29] καὶ πτηνοῦ, Περσέως ἢ Βελλεροφόντου. τὸν οὖν τῶν Ἀλεξανδρέων δῆμον τὸν ἄπειρον, ὥς φασι, τῆς ποίας μερίδος θῶμεν; ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ ὡς τῆς βελτίονος οὖσιν ὑμῖν παρέσχηκα ἐμαυτόν: ἴσως δὲ καὶ ἄλλος προαιρήσεται τῶν ἐμοῦ κρειττόνων. καὶ μὴν οὐδὲν ἂν ἔχοιτε θέαμα κάλλιον καὶ παραδοξότερον αὑτῶν σωφρονούντων καὶ προσεχόντων. θεῖον γὰρ δὴ καὶ σεμνὸν ἀληθῶς καὶ μεγαλοπρεπὲς δήμου πρόσωπον πρᾷον καὶ καθεστηκὸς καὶ μήτε γέλωτι σφοδρῷ καὶ ἀκολάστῳ βρασσόμενον μήτε θορύβῳ συνεχ
εῖ καὶ ἀτάκτῳ τεταραγμένον, ἀλλ᾽ ἀκοὴ μία τοσοῦδε πλήθους.
[29] So, applying our analysis to the populace of Alexandria, the ‘unnumbered multitude,’ to use the current phrase, in which class shall we put it? I for my part offered you my services on the assumption that you were of the better sort; and perhaps someone else, one of my superiors, will decide to do likewise. And assuredly you Alexandrians could present no more beautiful and surprising spectacle than by being yourselves sober and attentive. For indeed it is a supernatural and truly solemn and impressive sight when the countenance of the assembly is gentle and composed, and neither convulsed with violent and unrestrained laughter nor distorted by continuous and disorderly clamour, but, on the contrary, listening as with a single pair of ears, though so vast a multitude.
[30] ἴδετε δὲ αὑτοὺς ἐν τῷ παρόντι καὶ ὅταν τὰ συνήθη θεωρῆτε, οἷοί ἐστε. ἐμοὶ γὰρ νῦν μὲν ἀξιοθέατοι δοκεῖτε εἶναι καὶ ἰδιώταις καὶ βασιλεῦσι, καὶ οὐδείς ἐστιν ὃς οὐκ ἂν εἰσελθὼν καταπλαγείη τε ὑμᾶς καὶ τιμήσειεν: ὥστε, εἰ μηδὲν ἄλλο, τοῦτό γε ὑμῖν ὁ λόγος παρέσχηκεν οὐ μικρόν, μίαν ὥραν σωφρονῆσαι. καὶ γὰρ τοῖς νοσοῦσι μεγάλη ῥοπὴ πρὸς σωτηρίαν μικρὸν ἡσυχάσασιν. ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἄλλαις σπουδαῖς, ὅταν ὑμῖν ἐμπέσῃ τὸ τῆς ἀταξίας πνεῦμα, ὥσπερ ἂν τραχὺς ἄνεμος κινήσῃ θάλατταν ἰλυώδη καὶ ῥυπαράν, ἀτεχνῶς οἶμαι καθ᾽ Ὅμηρον ὁρᾶται ἀφρός τε καὶ ἄχνη καὶ φυκίων πλῆθος ἐκχεομένων:
[30] But consider yourselves at this moment and then what you are like when you are watching the performances to which you are accustomed. For, to my mind, you now appear to be a sight worth seeing, for kings as well as for plain citizens, and there is nobody who would not admire and honour you as soon as he came into your presence; and so if this address of mine has accomplished nothing else, it has at any rate rendered you this service, and no small one — one hour of sobriety! As, for instance, it is of critical importance toward the recovery of the sick to have had a brief interval of calm. However, amid the varied activities which occupy your attention, whenever there falls upon you the blast of turbulence, as when a harsh gale stirs up a muddy, slimy sea, as Homer says, we see froth and scum and a mass of seaweed being cast up on the beach, so exactly with you, I fancy, we find jibes and fisticuffs and laughter.
[31] ὡσαύτως δὴ καὶ παρ᾽ ὑμῖν σκώμματα, πληγαί, γέλως. τίς ἂν οὖν τοὺς οὕτω διακειμένους ἐπαινέσειεν; οὐ γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τοῖς ἄρχουσιν εὐτελέστεροι φαίνεσθε; καὶ πρότερόν τινα εἰρηκέναι φασί: τὸ δὲ Ἀλεξανδρέων πλῆθος τί ἂν εἴποι τις, οἷς μόνον δεῖ παραβάλλειν τὸν πολὺν ἄρτον: οὕτω γὰρ εἰρῆσθαι πολὺ βέλτιον: καὶ θέαν ἵππων: ὡς τῶν γε ἄλλων οὐδενὸς αὐτοῖς μέλει. οὐ γὰρ ὑμεῖς μέν, ἄν τις ἀσχημονῇ τῶν μειζόνων ἐν τῷ μέσῳ πάντων ὁρώντων, καταφρονήσετε αὐτοῦ καὶ νομιεῖτε οὐδενὸς ἄξιον, κἂν μυριάκις ὑμῶν ἔχῃ τινὰ ἐξουσίαν, αὐτοὶ δὲ δύνασθε σεμνοὶ δοκεῖν καὶ σπουδαῖοι τοιαῦτα πράττοντες.
[31] Who, pray, could praise a people with such a disposition? Is not that the reason why even to your own rulers you seem rather contemptible? Someone already, according to report, has expressed his opinion of you in these words: “But of the people of Alexandria what can one say, a folk to whom you need only throw plenty of bread and a ticket to the hippodrome, since they have no interest in anything else?” Why, inasmuch as, in case a leading citizen misbehaves publicly in the sight of all, you will visit him with your contempt and regard him as a worthless fellow, no matter if he has authority a thousand times as great as yours, you yourselves cannot succeed in maintaining a reputation for dignity and seriousness so long as you are guilty of like misconduct.
[32] οὐκ ἴστε ὅτι ὥσπερ ἡγεμὼν καὶ βασιλεὺς ὅταν προέλθῃ, τότε σαφέστατα ὁρᾶται καὶ δεῖ μηδὲν [p. 276] ἀγεννὲς μηδὲ αἰσχρὸν ποιεῖν: παραπλησίως καὶ δῆμος, ὅταν εἰς ταὐτὸ προέλθῃ καὶ ἀθρόος γένηται; χρὴ μὲν γὰρ οἶμαι καὶ τὸν ἄλλον χρόνον σωφρονεῖν ὑμᾶς: ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ὅ, τι ἂν πράττῃ τις καθ᾽ αὑτόν, οὐ κοινόν ἐστι τοῦτο οὐδὲ τῆς πόλεως: ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ δὲ βλέπεται τὸ δημόσιον ἦθος. ὑμεῖς δὲ μάλιστα ἐνταῦθα ἀφυλάκτωσἔχετε καὶ προήσεσθε τὴν δόξαν τῆς πόλεως: ὥσπερ αἱ κακαὶ γυναῖκες, δέον αὐτάς, κἂν οἴκοι μὴ σωφρονῶσιν, ἔξω γε προϊέναι κοσμίως, αἱ δὲ μάλιστα ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς πλεῖστα ἁμαρτάνουσιν.
[32] Do you not know, that just as a prince or king is most conspicuous when he appears in public at such a time, the populace also is in like case when it too appears in public and forms a throng? One ought, of course, in my opinion, to behave with sobriety at other times as well; still whatever a man does privately does not concern the general public or the state, but in the theatre the people’s character is revealed. But with you it is there above all that you are off your guard and will prove traitors to the good name of your city: you act like women of low repute, who, however wanton they may be at home, should behave with decorum when they go abroad, and yet it is especially in the streets that they are most guilty of misconduct.
[33] τί οὖν; τάχα ἐρεῖ τις, τοῦτο μόνον ἁμαρτάνομεν, τὸ φαύλως θεωρεῖν; καὶ περὶ τούτου μόνου λέγεις ἡμῖν, ἄλλο δ᾽ οὐθέν; δέδοικαἅμα τὸ περὶ πάντων ἐπεξελθεῖν. καίτοι τάχα φήσει τις ὡς πολλὰ λέγων οὐδὲν ὑμῖν συμβεβούλευκα οὐδὲ εἴρηκα σαφῶς, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ μάλιστα ἐπιτιμῶ: τοῦτο δὲ ἔργον εἶναι τοῦ διδάσκοντος. ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ νῦν μὲν ἡγοῦμαι πολλὰ καὶ χρήσιμα εἰρηκέναι τοῖς προσέχουσι καὶ περὶ θεοῦ καὶ περὶ δήμου φύσεως καὶ περὶ τοῦ δεῖν ἀκούειν, κεἰμὴ πείθεσθε, λόγων. τοῦτο γὰρ οἶμαι καὶ ἀναγκαιότατον ἦν, παρασκευάσαι πρῶτον ὑμᾶς ὑπομένοντας ἀκούειν. ὥστ᾽, εἰ μηδὲν ἄλλο παρέσχηκεν ὑμῖν μέγα ὁ λόγος, τοῦτο γοῦν ὅτι τοσοῦτον χρόνον κάθησθε σωφρονοῦντες. καὶ γὰρ τοῖς νοσοῦσι μεγάλη ῥοπὴ πρὸς σωτηρίαν μικρὸν ἡσυχάσασιν.
[33] “How now,” perhaps someone will say, “is that our only fault, our bad behaviour at the theatre? Is that all you have to say about us and nothing more?” I dread the thought of attacking all your failings in one indictment. And yet perhaps someone will claim that, despite my long harangue, I have given you no advice and have not made clear what it is I criticize you for most; and that such is the function of anyone who offers instruction. But for my own part I believe that I have already made many valuable observations — at least for those of you who have been listening — regarding the god, the nature of the demos, and your duty to listen to counsel
even though you are not convinced by what is said. For the most urgent need of all, I fancy, was that I should first put you into a frame of mind to listen patiently. And so, if my address has accomplished nothing else of much importance to you, I have this at least to my credit, that for this space of time you have kept your seats in self-restraint. For, let me remind you, with the sick it is of critical importance toward recovery to have had a brief interval of calm.
[34] καὶ μὴν περί γε τῶν ἄλλωντὸ μὲν πάντα ἐπεξελθεῖν, καὶ ταῦτα ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ, καὶ τελέως ὑμᾶς ἀναγκάσαι καταγνῶναι τῆς κακίας καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων οὐ δυνατόν:
οὐδ᾽ εἴ μοι δέκα μὲν γλῶσσαι, δέκα δὲ στόματ᾽ εἶεν,
φωνὴ δ᾽ ἄρρηκτος, χάλκεον δέ μοι ἦτορ ἐνείη:
εἰ μὴ Ὀλυμπιάδες Μοῦσαι, Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο
θυγατέρες, μνησαίαθ᾽ ὅση κακότης παρὰ πᾶσιν,
οὐχ ὑμῖν μόνοις. αὐτὸ δὲ τοῦτο περὶ οὗ λέγειν ἠρξάμην, ὁρᾶτε [p. 277]
[34] And, on my word, to examine into all your failings, and that too in one day’s time, and to force you to condemn utterly all your vice and your shortcomings, is not within my power,
E’en though I had ten tongues, as many mouths,
A voice unyielding, in my breast a heart
Of bronze; unless the heavenly Muses, sprung
From Aegis-bearing Zeus, should call to mind
The varied evils found in all mankind,
and not in you alone.
[35] ἡλίκον ἐστίν. ὅπως μὲν γὰρ ἑστιᾶσθε καθ᾽ ἑαυτοὺς ἢ κοιμᾶσθε ἢ διοικεῖτε τὴν οἰκίαν ἕκαστος οὐ πάνυ δῆλός ἐστιν: ὅπως μέντοι θεωρεῖτε καὶ ποῖοί τινες ἐνθάδε ἐστὲ ἅπαντες Ἕλληνες καὶ βάρβαροι ἴσασιν. ἡ γὰρ πόλις ὑμῶν τῷ μεγέθει καὶ τῷ τόπῳ πλεῖστον ὅσον διαφέρει καὶ περιφανῶς ἀποδέδεικται δευτέρα τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον.
Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom Page 278