Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [3] For what we have now obtained we might have had then, and we might have employed the present opportunity toward obtaining further grants. However that may be, when I had experienced at the hands of the present Emperor a benevolence and an interest in me whose magnitude those who were there know full well, though if I speak of it now I shall greatly annoy certain persons — and possibly the statement will not even seem credible, that one who met with such esteem and intimacy and friendship should have neglected all these things and have given them scant attention, having formed a longing for the confusion and bustle here at home, to put it mildly — for all that, I did not employ that opportunity or the goodwill of the Emperor for any selfish purpose, not even to a limited degree, for example toward restoring my ruined fortunes or securing some office or emolument, but anything that it was possible to obtain I turned in your direction and I had eyes only for the welfare of the city.

  [4] ὑμᾶς ἔτρεψα καὶ μόνον εἶδον τὸ τῆς πόλεως. ταῦτα δὲ εἰ μέν ἐστι χρήσιμα καὶ μεγάλα, ἢ μὴ πολλοῖς ὑπάρξαντα ἑτέροις ἀλλ̓ ἢ μιᾷ πόλει, καὶ ταύτῃ σχεδόν τι τῶν ἐλλογιμωτάτων κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν καὶ τηλικοῦτον ἐχούσῃ δίκαιον πρὸς τὸν αὐτοκράτορα, τοῦ θεοῦ παῤ ἐκείνοις μαντευσαμένου καὶ προειπόντος τὴν ἡγεμονίαν αὐτῷ καὶ πρώτου πάντων ἐκείνου φανερῶς αὐτὸν ἀποδείξαντος τῶν ὅλων κύριον: οὐ λέγω τοιοῦτον οὐδέν. ὅτι δ̓ ὑμεῖς μάλιστα τούτου ἐπεθυμεῖτε, καὶ χρόνος ἦν πολύς, ὃν ἠλπίζετε, ἐξηπάτησθε, τοῖς ὑποσχομένοις μόνον τῶν ἰδιωτῶν ῾οὐ γὰρ δὴ τῶν ἡγεμόνων οὐδεὶς οὔτε προσεδόκησε πώποτε οὔτε ὑπέσχετὀ τιμὰς ὑπερβαλλούσας ἐδίδοτε πρὸ πολλοῦ τῆς πόλεως ἀπαντῶντες πανδημεὶ ἢ

  [4] But the question whether these concessions are useful and important, or whether they have been granted, not to many other cities, but to one only, and that too, I venture to state, one of the most illustrious in all Asia, a city possessing so great a claim upon the Emperor, inasmuch as the god they worship had prophesied and foretold his leadership to him and had been the first of all openly to proclaim him master of the world — I am not speaking of anything like that. But that you desired these concessions most of all, and that there had been a long period during which you were in a state of expectancy, victims of deception, constantly bestowing extravagant honours upon those private persons who merely gave you promises — for of course none of the proconsuls ever either expected or promised these concessions — inasmuch as you went in a body far from Prusa to meet the men of whom I speak, and waited for them in other cities — this perhaps is a matter worth bearing in mind.

  [5] περιμένοντες ἐν ἑτέραις πόλεσι: τοῦτο ἴσως ἐννοεῖν ἄξιον. καίτοι σμικρῶν γενομένων καὶ οὐδενὸς ἀξίων, τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν γενναῖον καὶ μὴ φθόνου καὶ βασκανίας ἥττονα τότε ἐχρῆν λέγειν ὅτι μαίνεσθε καὶ παρανοεῖτε τοιούτων ἐξεχόμενοι σφόδρα οὕτως καὶ θεραπεύοντες ἀνθρώπους οὕτω ταπεινοὺς ἐπὶ πράγμασιν οὔτε ἀναγκαίοις οὔτε μεγάλοις, καὶ ταῦτα ἀδήλοις ἔτι καὶ μηδὲν ἔχοντες βέβαιον. ἀλλ̓ οἶμαι χαλεπὸν μὲν ἦν αὐτοῖς καὶ ὁπωσοῦν γενόμενόν τι τούτων. οὐ μὴν ὁμοίως ἐλύπει τὸ τὸν δεῖνα καὶ τὸν δεῖνα τῶν ἡγεμόνων εἶναι τὸν ποιήσαντα καὶ παρασχόντα, μὴ τῶν ἡμετέρων τινὰ πολιτῶν. ἔτι δὲ ἐλπὶς ὑπῄει καὶ ἔθελγεν αὐτοὺς ὡς οὐδέποτε ἂν

  [5] And yet, seeing that only trifling, yes worthless, concessions were effected by them, the high-minded man, the man who was not the slave of envy and malice, should have said at the time, “You are crazy and deluded in clinging so tenaciously to men like that and in cultivating such low fellows in order to gain favours that are neither essential nor important, to say nothing of their being vague and of your having no assurance.” But, I suspect, any of these things, no matter how it was brought to pass, was to them difficult. Yet surely the people were not equally distressed that it was this or that proconsul who had effected the concession and presented it to them instead of one of our own citizens. Besides, they had a lurking hope which cheered them regarding concessions that never came to pass.

  [6] γενομένων. καίτοι καὶ τοῦτο ἀκήκοα πολλῶν ἐγὼ λεγόντων ὡς πρότερον ἀντιγράψαντος περὶ τῆς διοικήσεως τῶν ἡγεμόνων τινὸς καὶ τοῦ πράγματος ἀποτευχθέντος πολλοὶ κατεγέλων τῆς πόλεως, οὐ τῶν ἀστυγειτόνων ῾ἧττον γὰρ ἂν ἦν τὸ δεινόν̓ ἀλλὰ τῶν πολιτῶν, [p. 73] ὡς μειζόνων ἢ καθ̓ αὑτὴν ἐφιεμένης καὶ διαφερούσης οὐδὲν κατὰ τὴν ἀφροσύνην τῶν παίδων τῶν βασιλέων. καὶ ταῦτα λέγοντες οὐκ ᾐσχύνοντο διασύροντες τὴν αὑτῶν πατρίδα καὶ καθαιροῦντες ἐν τοῖς λόγοις αὑτοὺς ἀνοήτως. εἴτε γάρ εἰσι τῶν πρωτευόντων ἐν αὐτῇ ἢ τιμωμένων, αὑτοὺς καθαιροῦσιν ἀσθενοῦς καὶ ἀδόξου πόλεως προεστηκότες: εἴτε τῶν ἀπερριμμένων εἰσὶ καὶ τῶν ὑστάτων, ἔτι μείζω καὶ χαλεπωτέραν ποιοῦσι τὴν ἀτιμίαν αὑτοῖς,

  [6] And yet this too I have heard from many sources, that when one of the proconsuls on a previous occasion had sent a rescript regarding the administration of our finances and the project came to naught, many ridiculed the city — I don’t mean many of our neighbours, for the outrage would have been less in that case, but many of our own fellow citizens — alleging that the city was aiming at things beyond its reach and in point of folly proving in no wise superior to the sons of kings. And in saying these things they were not ashamed to be disparaging their own country and discrediting it so thoughtlessly by their words. For if they are among the foremost in it or among those held in honour, they are discrediting themselves, having been the outstanding men of a weak and ignoble city; while if they are among the outcast and lowest group, they are making their own disgrace still greater and more grievous, if they happen to occupy the lowest station in a city of the lowest grade.

  [7] εἰ τῆς ἐσχάτης πόλεως ἔσχατοι τυγχάνουσιν ὄντες. ἵνα δὲ μὴ διὰ τοὺς ἐμπίπτοντας λόγους τοῦ προτεθέντος ἐκκρουσθῶ, τούτων ὅπως δήποτε ληφθέντων καὶ κομισθέντων ἐνταῦθα, σκοπεῖτε εἴ τῳ βαρὺς γέγονα τῶν πολιτῶν ἢ κατ̓ ἰδίαν ὑπὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ λέγων ἢ κοινῇ προφέρων καὶ ὀνειδίζων χάριτας ἢ προαγαγών τινας ὧν ἐβουλόμην: ἢ τοὐναντίον οὐκ ἔλαττον ἑκατὸν βουλευτῶν καταλεγέντων ἕτεροι μὲν εἰσήγαγον φίλους αὑτῶν καὶ παρεσκεύασαν ὅπως ἕξουσι τοὺς συναγωνιζομένους καὶ βοηθοῦντας οἷς ἄν ποτε ἐθέλωσιν: ἐγὼ δὲ οὔτ̓ ἐποίησα τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν οὔτε διελέχθην τοιοῦτον, ὡς ἐμοὶ μᾶλλον ἂν προσθεμένων, εἰ ἐβουλόμην
, ἢ ἄλλῳ

  [7] But, not to be diverted from my theme by these incidental reflections, now that these favours have been obtained in whatever way they were, and brought to Prusa, consider whether I have made myself obnoxious to any of our citizens, either privately by speaking to my own interest, or publicly by parading and casting in your teeth favours conferred, or by having given preferment to certain men of my choice; or whether, on the contrary, though no fewer than a hundred councillors were enrolled, while others had put in friends of their own and had schemed to have in the Council persons to aid them and to give their support to whatever they might wish to accomplish, I neither did anything of the kind nor discussed such a thing, in the belief that they would have sided with me rather than with somebody else had I so desired.

  [8] τινί. μάλιστα μὲν γὰρ ἠξίουν μηδὲ ἕτερον μηδένα τοιοῦτον ἔθος εἰσάγειν μηδὲ καθ̓ ἑταιρείας πολιτεύεσθαι μηδ̓ εἰς μέρη διασπᾶν τὴν πόλιν: εἰ δ̓ οὖν, αὐτὸς ἀπέχεσθαι τῶν τοιούτων ἁμαρτημάτων, εἰ καὶ πάντων ἔλαττον ἰσχύειν ἔμελλον καὶ μηδενὸς ἀξιοῦσθαι λόγου. τί οὖν ἥμαρτον ἐν τούτοις καὶ τί παρελείφθη μοι; δίκαιός εἰμι πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὁμολογεῖν ὅτι μήτε αὐτὸς μηδὲν ἔπραττον ἄδικον καὶ παράνομον μήτε τοὺς ἄλλους ἐκώλυον, ἐξὸν ἑνὶ ῥήματι κωλῦσαι καὶ καταστάντα καὶ μηνῦσαι τὸ γιγνόμενον καίπερ εἰδόσιν ὑμῖν καὶ τοῖς ἡγεμόσιν. εἰ δὲ μήτε ὑμεῖς προσείχετε μήτε τῶν ἡγεμόνων τὸ πρᾶγμα ἥπτετο, οὐ χαλεπὸν ἦν ἐπιστεῖλαι τῷ

  [8] No, I held that, if possible, no other man should introduce such a practice or conduct state affairs by means of political clubs or split the city into factions, but if they did, that I at any rate should abstain from such misdeeds, even if it meant that I should have much less influence than any of the others and be considered of no importance at all.

  Then what error have I committed in the matters under consideration, or in what have I been found remiss? I have the right to admit to you that I was neither doing anything unjust or illegal myself nor trying to prevent the others from so doing, although by a single word I could have prevented and, by presenting myself, have disclosed to you and the proconsuls what was going on, though you knew it already. And, in case you paid no heed and the matter did not impress the proconsuls either, it would not have been difficult to send word to the Emperor.

  [9] αὐτοκράτορι. τοῦτο οὖν ἦν τὸ ποιῆσαν ἐμὲ τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν, ἵνα μὴ δοκῶ κατηγορεῖν τινων μηδὲ διαβάλλειν τὴν πόλιν μηδ̓ [p. 74] ὅλως λυπηρότερος ὦ τῶν ἐνθάδε μηδενί. τὸ μὲν δὴ τῆς βουλῆς οὕτω διῳκήθη τά γ̓ ἄλλα ὀρθῶς ῾οὔτε γὰρ φαύλους οὔτε ἀναξίους ἄνδρας ἐχειροτονήσατἐ πλὴν ὅτι πάντες τῆς ἴσης τυχόντες τιμῆς, καίτοι δικαίως τυγχάνοντες καὶ δἰ αὑτούς, ὅμως καθάπερ οἱ μυούμενοι μυσταγωγῶν ἐδεήθησαν. ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδὲ ψῆφον ἠξίωσα διενεγκεῖν ὑπὲρ οὐδενὸς μόνος, μὴ ῥοπήν τινα δοκῇ τὸ τοιοῦτον παρέχειν καὶ μαρτυρίαν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τινὲς ὀκνήσωσιν ἐμοὶ τἀναντία

  [9] It was this, therefore, that made me keep quiet, that I might not be suspected of accusing certain persons or of maligning the city and, in general, that I might not be too irritating to anyone at Prusa. Now then, the matter of the Council was managed as follows, correctly for the most part, for you elected men who were neither mediocre nor undeserving; however, since they all received the same rank — even though they obtained it justly and through their own merits — they nevertheless, like those who are being initiated into the mysteries, required mystagogoi. Yet I did not see fit even to vote on a single candidate, yes, I alone, lest such action on my part might seem to lend some weight and testimony, and lest some of the others might be reluctant to write and declare themselves in opposition to me.

  [10] γράφειν καὶ ἀποφαίνεσθαι. τί οὖν; ἐπὶ δύο ἡμέρας ἢ τρεῖς γιγνομένης τῆς χειροτονίας ἐξῆλθον οὐδ̓ ἔμελλον παρατυχὼν τοῖς γεγονόσιν οὐδένα ἔχειν χρεώστην οὐδὲ συνωμότην οὐδὲ ἐμοὶ χάριν ὀφείλοντα τοῦ πράγματος. ὑμῖν γάρ, οὐκ ἐμαυτῷ, τοὺς βουλευτὰς ᾐτησάμην. καὶ τοίνυν διοικήσεως νῦν πρῶτον ἀχθείσης πολλὰ ὑπὸ πολλῶν ἠδικημένος, ὥσπερ εἰκός ἐστι τὸν ἐλθόντα μετὰ τοσαῦτα ἔτη φυγῆς, καὶ πρὸς ἐνίους οὐδὲ δικῶν μοι δέον, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν καὶ μνησθῆναι περὶ τῶν κατεχομένων, πρὸς οὐδένα οὔτ̓ ἐμνήσθην οὔτε λόγον ἐποιησάμην οὐδένα, τοσούτων μὲν εἰς ἐλευθερίαν ἀφεστηκότων οἰκετῶν, τοσούτων δὲ χρήματα ἀπεστερηκότων, τοσούτων δὲ χωρία κατεχόντων, ἅτε μηδενὸς ὄντος τοῦ

  [10] What then? When the voting had been in progress for two or three days I left Prusa and did not intend by being present at the proceedings to have any one as my debtor or confederate or owing me thanks because of the affair. For it was for you, not for myself, that I had asked for the councillors.

  And again, when now for the first time the question of financial administration had been brought up, though I had been wronged by many men in many matters — as indeed it was to be expected that a man should be who had come home after so many years of exile — and although with regard to some I did not even need to go to law, but rather to speak to them and remind them of what was being held in their possession, nevertheless I did not mention these matters to any one or make any statement, although so many slaves had run away and obtained freedom, so many persons had defrauded me of money, so many were occupying lands of mine, since there was no one to prevent such doings.

  [11] κωλύσοντος. οὐ γὰρ δὴ τῷ μὲν Ὀδυσσεῖ πατέρα οἴκοι καταλιπόντι καὶ γυναῖκα ἀγαθὴν καὶ φίλους συνέβη καταφρονηθῆναι διὰ τὴν ἀποδημίαν οὕτως ὥστε τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ καταλαβόντας ἐνίους ἑστιᾶσθαι καὶ πίνειν καθ̓ ἑκάστην τὴν ἡμέραν τὸν οἶνον ἀντλοῦντας καὶ τὰ βοσκήματα ἀποκτιννύντας, καὶ μηδὲ τῆς γυναικὸς ἀπέχεσθαι τελευτῶντας, ἀλλ̓ ἄκουσαν βιάζεσθαι γῆμαι καὶ καταλιπεῖν τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν, ἐμὲ δὲ οὐκ ἦν εἰκὸς ὑπὸ πολλῶν πολλὰ τοιαῦτα πεπονθέναι, πάντων ἀπεγνωκότων με καὶ μηδενὸς ἔτι

  [11] For if Odysseus, who had left at home a father, a faithful wife, and friends, had the misfortune to be so despised because of his absence from home that some took possession of his house and feasted and drank there every day, draining his wine casks and killing off his cattle, and finally did not even keep their hands off his wife, but tried to make her marry again against her will and to abandon her husband and her home, was it not to be expected that I should have suffered many such wrongs at the hands of many men, since all had come to despair of me and no one any longer expected me to return in safety?

  [12] σω�
�ήσεσθαι προσδοκῶντος. ἀλλὰ περὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἴσως οὐχ ὅμοιος ἑτέροις γέγονα, λέγω δὲ οὐ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ πολλῶν καὶ φιλοσόφων καλουμένων σωφρονέστερος: ἐλύπησα δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τὴν πόλιν. περὶ δὲ τούτων, ὡς ἐγένετο, πολλάκις ἀκηκόατε: δεῖ [p. 75] δὲ καὶ νῦν ἴσως ἀναμνῆσαι. ἐγὼ γάρ, ἄνδρες, τὸ μὲν βούλεσθαι τὴν πόλιν κοσμεῖν καὶ κατασκευάζειν μὴ μόνον στοαῖς καὶ ὕδασιν, ἀλλά, εἰ δυνατὸν ἦν, καὶ τείχεσι καὶ λιμέσι καὶ νεωρίοις ὁμολογῶ.

  [12] However, though possibly I have not been like others in regard to such matters — I mean that, as compared not only with laymen but even with many who are known as philosophers, I may have acted with more self-restraint — still I have offended the city in the matter of the public improvements. Concerning these, how they came about, you have often heard me speak; yet perhaps I should take this occasion also to refresh your memory. For, gentlemen, that I wished in the first place to beautify the city and equip it with, not merely colonnades and fountains, but also, if that were possible, fortifications and harbours and shipyards, I freely admit.