[21] ἀνόητοι τῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς κακοῖς ἔτι χάριν εἰδότων φειδόμενοι. τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον, ἄνδρες Νικομηδεῖς, τὰς αἰτίας τῆς στάσεως ἴδωμεν. εἰ μὲν γὰρ τηλικαῦτά ἐστιν, ὥστ̓ ἄξιον εἶναι πολεμεῖν πόλεμον οὐ σύντομον, οἷος ἄν τοῖς ὅπλοις ἐγίγνετο καὶ παρηγορίαν εἶχε τὸ τάχος τῆς διακρίσεως, ἀλλὰ μακρὸν καὶ ἄπαυστον, ὥστε αὐτὸν ὑπολείπεσθαι καὶ τοῖς παισὶ καὶ τοῖς ἐκγόνοις καὶ μηδέποτε σχεῖν ἐλπίδα καταλλαγῆς: ἀγωνιζώμεθα καὶ στασιάζωμεν καὶ πράγματα παρέχωμεν ἀλλήλοις, ὅσα ἔνεστι παρέχειν, ἀχθόμενοι διότι μὴ καὶ πλείω δυνάμεθα. εἰ δὲ μάλιστα μὲν οὐδέν ἐστι τὸ ἆθλον τούτου τοῦ κακοῦ, τὰ δὲ δοκοῦντα εἶναι καὶ μικρά ἐστι καὶ φαῦλα καὶ οὐδ̓ ἰδιώτας ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν στασιάζειν ἄξιόν ἐστιν, οὐχ ὅπως πόλεις τηλικαύτας: μὴ πάσχωμεν ὅμοιόν τι τοῖς ἄφροσι τῶν παίδων, οἵτινες αἰδούμενοι μὴ δοκῶσι μάτην ὀργίζεσθαι τοῖς πατράσιν ἢ
[21] First of all, then, men of Nicomedia, let us inspect the reasons for your strife. For if the issues are so great that it is fitting to wage a war that is no short one, such as could be waged by force of arms and have as its consolation the speed of its decision, but instead a long war without cessation, one to be handed on to our children and our children’s children and never achieve the hope of settlement, then let us engage in the struggle, maintain the strife, and make all the trouble we can for one another, being vexed that our powers are not even greater. But if at best the prize for which this evil is endured is a mere nothing and the supposed issues are both small and trifling and it is not fitting even for private persons to squabble over them, much less cities of such importance, then let us not behave at all like foolish children who, ashamed lest they may seem to their fathers or their mothers to be enraged without a cause, do not wish to make it up with one another lightly.
[22] ταῖς μητράσιν οὐ βούλονται καταλλάττεσθαι ῥᾳδίως. ὑπὲρ μὲν οὖν γῆς ἢ θαλάττης οὐδὲ μαχόμεθα, ἀλλὰ θαλάττης μὲν οὐδ̓ ἀντιποιοῦνται πρὸς ὑμᾶς οἱ Νικαεῖς, ἀλλ̓ ἡδέως, ὥστε μηδεμίαν παρέχειν μάχην, διακέκρινται. καὶ μὴν οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ προσόδων ἀγωνιζόμεθα, ἀλλὰ ἑκάστοις ἀπόχρη τὰ οἰκεῖα: καὶ ταῦτα δὲ τυγχάνει διωρισμένα, καὶ μήν γε καὶ τἄλλα πάντα, ὥσπερ ἐν εἰρήνῃ καὶ φιλίᾳ. καὶ καρπῶν εἰσιν ἀντιδόσεις καὶ γάμων ἐπιμιξίαι καὶ ἀπ̓ αὐτῶν καὶ συγγένειαι πολλαί τινες ἤδη γεγενημέναι: καὶ προξενίας [p. 36] δὲ ἔχομεν καὶ φιλίας ἰδιωτικάς. θεούς τε τοὺς αὐτοὺς νομίζετε καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς τὰς πλείστας ὁμοίως ἄγετε. καὶ μὴν οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐθῶν οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεμία ὑμῖν μάχη. τούτων δὲ ἁπάντων οὐκ ἔχθρας παρεχόντων αἰτίαν, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον φιλίας καὶ ὁμονοίας,
[22] Well now, surely we are not fighting for land or sea; on the contrary, the Nicaeans do not even present counterclaims against you for the sea, but they have gladly withdrawn from competition so as to afford no cause for conflict. And what is more, we are not contending for revenues either, but each side is content with what is its own; moreover, these matters, as it happens, have been clearly delimited — and so indeed is all else besides — just as if in peace and friendship. Furthermore, there is interchange of produce between the two cities, as well as intermarriage, and in consequence already there have come to be many family ties between us; yes, and we have proxenies and ties of personal friendship to unite us. Besides, you worship the same gods as they do, and in most cases you conduct their festivals as they do. In fact you have no quarrel as to your customs either. Yet, though all these things afford no occasion for hostility, but rather for friendship and concord, still we fight.
[23] μαχόμεθα. κἄν τις ὑμᾶς ἐπιστὰς ἔρηται, Τί δὲ ὑμᾶς οἱ Νικαεῖς ἀδικοῦσιν; οὐδὲν εἰπεῖν ἕξετε. κἂν ἐκείνων πύθηται πάλιν, Τί δὲ οἱ Νικομηδεῖς ἀδικοῦσιν ὑμᾶς; οὐδὲ αὐτοὶ λέγειν ἕξουσιν οὐδὲ ἕν. ἀλλὰ ἆθλόν ἐστιν ἐστιν ἐν τῷ μέσῳ κείμενον, ὑπὲρ οὗ διαφέρεσθε. καὶ τί τοῦτό ἐστιν; ἃ μέν γε καὶ ὀνομάσαι ἄξιον καὶ ὁμολογῆσαι καὶ περὶ ὧν ἂν καὶ συγγνοίη τις τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις, τούτων οὐδέν ἐστι, τὰ δὲ ὄντα οὐδὲ εἰπεῖν οὐδὲ ὁμολογῆσαι ὡς καλῶς ἔχει: τοιαῦτά ἐστιν, οὕτω σμικρά, οὕτως τὰ τυχόντα, ἐφ̓ οἷς οἱ μὲν ἀνόητοι
[23] And if some one comes up and asks you, “But how are the Nicaeans wronging you?” you will have nothing to reply. And if he asks them in turn, “But how are the men of Nicomedia wronging you?” they too will not have a single thing to say.
However, there is a prize at stake between you, one over which you are at odds. And what is this prize? It is none of those things which are fit to name or to acknowledge, and the competitors for which one might even pardon, nay, its constituent elements it is not well even to mention or acknowledge; they are of such a nature, so petty, so commonplace, things upon which fools perhaps might pride themselves, but not any man of good sense.
[24] φιλοτιμηθεῖεν ἂν ἴσως, εὖ δὲ φρονῶν ἂν οὐδεὶς. οἱ γὰρ παρακαλοῦντες ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν στάσιν: δἰ ἃς δὲ αἰτίας οὐκ ἐμὸν ἴσως ἐξελέγχειν: ἀλλ̓ οἵ γε χαίροντες αὐτῇ τοῦτο μόνον λαλοῦσιν: Ὑπὲρ πρωτείων ἀγωνιζόμεθα. τούτους οὖν αὐτοὺς ἐρήσομαι πάλιν ἐγώ: Τίνων πρωτείων; καὶ πότερον ἔργῳ καὶ πράγματι δοθησομένων ἢ περὶ ὀνόματος αὐτὸ μόνον ἐστὶν ὑμῖν ἡ μάχη; καὶ πρότερον γὰρ δήποτε ἀκούω τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο γενέσθαι στάσεως Ἑλληνικῆς αἴτιον, καὶ πολεμῆσαι περὶ τῶν πρωτείων τοὺς Ἀθηναίους καὶ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους.
[24] For those who summon you to the contest — but their motives it is perhaps not for me to scrutinize — however that may be, those who delight in it prate of naught but this: “We are contending for primacy.” Very well, I will reply to these same persons with the query: “What primacy? And is it a primacy to be actually and in fact conceded to you, or is your battle for a name and nothing more?”
Yes, I hear that this is not the first time this same thing has served as the cause of strife among the Greeks — that the Athenians and the Spartans went to war for the primacy.
[25] καὶ διότι μὲν οὐδὲ ἐκείνοις ἐλυσιτέλησεν ἡ στάσις καὶ ὁ πόλεμος, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγωνιζόμενοι περὶ τῶν πρωτείων ἀπώλεσαν αὐτὰ ἀμφότεροι, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἅπαντες ἐκεῖνα ἴστε καὶ ἴσως κἀγὼ μικρὸν ὕστερον ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἐρῶ. τί δέ; το
ῦτο ὡς ὅμοιον ἐκείνῳ προβαλλόμενοι λέγουσιν; Ἀθηναῖοι περὶ τοῦ φόρους λαμβάνειν παρὰ τῶν νησιωτῶν ἐπολέμουν, καὶ περὶ τοῦ δικάζειν οἴκοι τὰς ἁπάντων δίκας Ἑλλήνων ἠγωνίζοντο, καὶ καθόλου περὶ
[25] Moreover, that strife and warfare were not profitable in their case either, but in struggling with one another for the primacy they both lost it, you all know and I myself may possibly mention a bit later. What then? In proposing this struggle of yours do they speak of it as similar to that of the Athenians and the Spartans? The Athenians waged war that they might continue to receive tribute from the islanders, and they and their opponents fought each other over the right of every man to have his lawsuits tried in his own home city, and, broadly speaking, the war between those states was for the prize of empire.
[26] βασιλείας ὁ πόλεμος ἦν ταῖς πόλεσιν ἐκείναις. ἡμεῖς δὲ ἂν ἀπολάβωμεν τὸ πρωτεῖον ἀμαχεὶ παραδόντων αὐτὸ τῶν Νικαέων, πότερα ληψόμεθα τοὺς φόρους, οὓς νῦν ἐκεῖνοι λαμβάνουσιν; ἢ τὰς πόλεις τὰς συντελούσας εἰς τὸ παῤ ἐκείνοις δικαστήριον [p. 37] ἐνταυθοῖ καλέσομεν; ἢ πέμψομεν αὐτοῖς ἁρμοστάς; ἢ δεκάτας τὰς παρὰ τῶν Βιθυνῶν ἐκείνοις ἔλαττον παρέξομεν; ἢ τί ἔσται; καὶ τί ἡμῖν γενήσεται πλέον; ἐγὼ γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων νομίζω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τῶν πραττομένων οὐχὶ μάτην οὐδὲ εἰκῇ σπουδάζειν, ἀλλ̓
[26] But if we recover the primacy, the Nicaeans relinquishing it without a fight, shall we receive the tribute they get now? Shall we summon for trial here the cities which now are subject to their jurisdiction? Shall we send them military governors? Shall we any the less permit them to have the tithes from Bithynia? Or what will be the situation? And what benefit will accrue to us? For I believe that in all their undertakings men do not exert themselves idly or at random, but that their struggle is always for some end.
[27] ἀεὶ γίγνεσθαι τὸν ἀγῶνα ἀντί τινος. ὁ μὲν γὰρ πολεμῶν ἢ περὶ ἐλευθερίας ἀγωνίζεται, καταδουλουμένων αὐτὸν ἄλλων, ἢ περὶ ἀρχῆς, αὐτὸς ἑτέρους καταδουλούμενος. ὁ δὲ πλέων τὴν θάλατταν οὐκ ἄλην εἰκῇ διατίθεται: κινδυνεύει γὰρ ἤτοι γε ὁδοῦ χάριν ἢ ἐμπορίας. ἵνα δὲ μὴ πάντα φέρω τὰ παραδείγματα, ἁπλῶς καὶ πράττομεν ἅπαντα οἱ ἄνθρωποι τέλους ἕνεκεν ἀγαθοῦ καὶ φεύγομεν τὰς ἐναντίας πράξεις τέλους ἕνεκεν κακοῦ. τὸ δὲ χωρὶς αἰτίας σπουδάζειν ἢ πονεῖν, τοῦτ̓ ἔστιν ὃ τοῖς ἀνοήτοις προσήκει μόνοις.
[27] For example, the man who goes to war fights either for liberty — in which case others are trying to enslave him — or for sovereignty — in which case he himself is trying to enslave the others. Similarly the man who goes to sea does not undertake an aimless roving, for surely the risks he takes are either for the purpose of reaching some destination or else for trafficking. But, not to present all the various illustrations, in a word we human beings not only do all we do because of an end that is good, but we also avoid the opposite activities because of an end that is evil. On the other hand, to exert oneself or toil without a reason
[28] εἰ μὲν οὖν τις σπουδὴν ἔχοι καλεῖσθαι βασιλεὺς ἰδιώτης ὤν, καὶ τοῦτο ἄριστα ἐπιστάμενος αὐτὸς ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ, τοὐναντίον οὗτος ἢ δοκεῖ γέλωτα ὀφλήσει, χρώμενος ὀνόματι ψευδεῖ δίχα πράγματος. καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ ὁμοίως ἁπάντων, κἂν αὐλητής τις ἐθέλῃ δοκεῖν, αὐλεῖν οὐκ ἐπιστάμενος, κἂν μουσικὸς οὐδὲν ὑπὲρ μουσικῆς εἰδώς, κἂν κιθαριστὴς οὐδὲ ἅψασθαι τῆς λύρας ἐπιστημόνως δυνάμενος. τοὺς μὲν οὖν τοιούτους οὐδὲν κωλύσει καὶ μαινομένους δοκεῖν, ἡμεῖς δὲ οἰόμεθα, ἐὰν ἐπιγραφῶμέν που πρῶτοι, τὸ πρωτεῖον
[28] is appropriate for fools alone. If, for example, a man should entertain a serious purpose to be called King when he is merely a private citizen — and when, moreover, he knows that fact about himself perfectly well — quite contrary to his fond imagining, he would become a laughing-stock, inasmuch as he would be using a false title devoid of reality. And it is much the same in all the other matters too, whether a man wishes to be thought a flautist when he doesn’t know how to blow the pipes, or musical when he knows nothing of the art of music, or a player of the cithara when he cannot even touch the harp intelligently. While, therefore, there will be nothing to prevent men like that from being deemed actually crazy, do we imagine that, provided we are somewhat registered as “first,” we shall actually have the primacy?
[29] ἕξειν; ποῖον, ἄνδρες Νικομηδεῖς, πρωτεῖον; καὶ γὰρ δεύτερον ὑμᾶς ἐρήσομαι καὶ τρίτον: οὗ τί τὸ ὄφελός ἐστιν; οὗ τί τὸ ἔργον; ἀφ̓ οὗ πότερον πλουσιώτεροι γενησόμεθα ἢ μείζονες ἢ δυνατώτεροι; τὸ κενοδοξεῖν ἀνόητον μὲν εἶναι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν νενόμισται, καὶ μάλιστα τούτων καταγελῶμεν καὶ διαπτύομεν αὐτοῖς καὶ τελευτῶντες ἐλεοῦμεν τοὺς οὐκ ἐπισταμένους τίνι διαφέρει δόξα ψευδὴς ἀληθοῦς: καὶ τῶν πεπαιδευμένων οὐδεὶς οὕτως ἔχει πρὸς αὐτὴν ὡς ἐπιθυμεῖν ἀνονήτου πράγματος: ταῖς δὲ πόλεσι φῇ τις κοινῇ προσήκειν
[29] What kind of primacy, men of Nicomedia? You see, I am going to ask you a second time, and even a third time. A primacy whose utility is what? Whose function is what? One by reason of which we shall become wealthier or greater or more powerful? Vainglory has come to be regarded as a foolish thing even in private individuals, and we ourselves deride and loathe, and end by pitying, those persons above all who do not know wherein false glory differs from the genuine; besides, no educated man has such a feeling about glory as to desire a foolish thing.
Shall we say, then, that all these things befit our cities as communities which do not befit even persons in private life who are men of breeding and cultivation?
[30] ὅσα μηδὲ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν τοῖς γενναίοις καὶ πεπαιδευμένοις; καθόλου δ̓ εἴ τις ὑμᾶς ἔροιτο, Ἄνδρες Νικομηδεῖς, τί βούλεσθε, πότερον εἶναι πρῶτοι ταῖς ἀληθείαις ἢ καλεῖσθαι μὴ ὄντες; ὁμολογήσαιτε ἂν δήπουθεν εἶναι πρῶτοι μᾶλλον ἐθέλειν ἢ καλεῖσθαι μάτην. οὐ γὰρ τὰ ὀνόματα δύναμιν ἔχει τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων: ὅσα δὲ ταῖς [p. 38]
[30] But, speaking generally, if some one were to question you and say, “Men of Nicomedia, what do you want? To be first in very truth, or to be called first when you are not?” Surely you would admit that you prefer to be first rather than to be called first to no purpose. For names have not the force of facts; whereas things that are in very truth of a given nature must also of necessity be so named.
[31] ἀληθείαις ἐστὶ τοιαῦτα, οὕτω κ�
�ὶ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ὀνομάζεται. πειρᾶσθε τοίνυν πρωτεύειν τῶν πόλεων τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐκ τῆς ἐπιμελείας τῆς περὶ αὐτάς: τοῦτο μὲν γάρ, καθὸ μητρόπολίς ἐστε, ἐξαίρετόν ἐστιν ἔργον ὑμέτερον: εἶτα τῷ παρέχειν αὑτοὺς δικαίους ἅπασι καὶ μετρίους καὶ μὴ πλεονεκτεῖν ἐν μηδενὶ μηδὲ βιάζεσθαι. ταῦτα γὰρ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀπεχθείας κινεῖ καὶ διαφοράς, φύσει μὲν τῶν ἐλαττόνων πρὸς τοὺς μείζονας ὑπόπτως διακειμένων, ὡς ἐξ ἅπαντος πλεονεκτεῖσθαι μελλόντων, ὅταν δὲ καὶ ἔργῳ τοῦτο γίγνηται,
[31] Try, therefore, to hold first place among our cities primarily on the strength of your solicitude for them — for since you are a metropolis, such indeed is your special function — and then too by showing yourselves fair and moderate toward all, by not being grasping in any matter or trying to gain your end by force. For greed and violence necessarily stir up hatreds and disagreements, since it is natural that the weaker party should be disposed to look with suspicion on the stronger, believing they are due to be overreached in every matter, and when that does actually take place, their hostility is still more justly aroused.
[32] δικαιότερον τῆς ἀπεχθείας παροξυνομένης. ἔξεστι δὲ ὑμῖν εὐεργετεῖν τὰς πόλεις καὶ πλέον καὶ μεῖζον ἢ ἐκείνοις, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον καὶ μάλιστα διὰ τὴν θάλατταν, ἐξ ἧς ἁπάντων μὲν καὶ τῶν νῦν κομιζομένων ῾δεῖ δὲ δημοσίᾳ χαρίζεσθαι τὴν πόλιν, οὐκ ἰδίᾳ τινάς᾿ τὰ δὲ καὶ διακλέπτοντες αὐτοί, τὰ δ̓ αἰτούμενοι παῤ ἕκαστα: καὶ ἀντιλέγετε μὲν οὐδέποτε τοῖς αἰτήσασιν ὑμεῖς, αὐτὸ δὲ ὅμως φορτικόν ἐστι τὸ τὴν τῆς αἰτήσεως ἀνάγκην ἔχειν. εἰ δὲ καὶ τούτων ἁπάντων μεταλαμβάνειν ἐπιτρέψετε τοῖς δήμοις τοῖς καθ̓ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν αἰτουμένοις τὸ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἐπεῖγον, πῶς οὐκ εἰκός ἐστι μείζους ὑμᾶς ἔσεσθαι παῤ αὐτοῖς, εὐεργετοῦντας αὐτούς; καὶ ἅμα καὶ μεγάλην ποιήσετε τὴν ὁμόνοιαν διὰ πάντων
Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom Page 309