The Works of the Emperor Julian
Volume 1
With an English Translation by
Wilmer Cave Wright
Harvard University Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
1913
CONTENTS
Introduction
Bibliography
Oration I
Oration II
Oration III
Introduction To Oration III
Oration IV
Introduction To Oration IV
Oration V
Introduction To Oration V
Index
Footnotes
[Cover Art]
[Transcriber’s Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter
at Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.]
INTRODUCTION
FLAVIUS CLAUDIUS JULIANUS,(1) son of Julius Constantius and nephew of the
Emperor Constantine, was born at Constantinople in 331 A.D. His father,
eldest brother, and cousins were slain in the massacre by which
Constantius, Constantine II., and Constans secured the empire for
themselves on the death of their father Constantine in 337. Julian and his
elder brother Gallus spent a precarious childhood and youth, of which six
years were passed in close confinement in the remote castle of Macellum in
Cappadocia, and their position was hardly more secure when, in 350, Gallus
was elevated to the Caesarship by Constantius, who, after the violent
deaths of his two brothers, was now sole ruler of the empire. But Julian
was allowed to pursue his favourite studies in Greek literature and
philosophy, partly at Nicomedia and Athens, partly in the cities of Asia
Minor, and he was deeply influenced by Maximus of Ephesus, the occult
philosopher, Libanius of Nicomedia, the fashionable sophist, and
Themistius the Aristotelian commentator, the only genuine philosopher
among the sophists of the fourth century A.D.
When the excesses of the revolutionary Gallus ended in his death at the
hands of Constantius, Julian, an awkward and retiring student, was
summoned to the court at Milan, where he was protected by the Empress
Eusebia from the suspicions of Constantius and the intrigues of hostile
courtiers. Constantius had no heir to continue the dynasty of the
Constantii. He therefore raised Julian to the Caesarship in 355, gave him
his sister Helena in marriage, and dispatched him to Gaul to pacify the
Gallic provinces. To the surprise of all, Julian in four successive
campaigns against the Franks and the Alemanis proved himself a good
soldier and a popular general. His _Commentaries_ on these campaigns are
praised by Eunapius(2) and Libanius,(3) but are not now extant. In 357‐358
Constantius, who was occupied by wars against the Quadi and the
Sarmatians, and threatened with a renewal of hostilities by the Persian
king Sapor, ordered Julian, who was then at Paris, to send to his aid the
best of the Gallic legions. Julian would have obeyed, but his troops,
unwilling to take service in the East, mutinied and proclaimed him Emperor
(359 A.D.). Julian issued manifestoes justifying his conduct to the
Senates of Rome and Athens and to the Spartans and Corinthians, a
characteristic anachronism, since their opinion no longer had any weight.
It was not till 361 that he began his march eastward to encounter the army
of Constantius. His troops, though seasoned and devoted, were in numbers
no match for the legions of his cousin. But the latter, while marching
through Cilicia to oppose his advance, died suddenly of a fever near
Tarsus, and Julian, now in his thirtieth year, succeeded peacefully to the
throne and made a triumphal entry into Constantinople in December, 361.
The eunuchs and courtiers who had surrounded Constantius were replaced by
sophists and philosophers, and in the next six months Julian set on foot
numerous economic and administrative reforms. He had long been secretly
devoted to the Pagan religion, and he at once proclaimed the restoration
of the Pagan gods and the temple worship. Christianity he tolerated, and
in his brief reign of sixteen months the Christians were not actively
persecuted. His treatise _Against the Christians_, which survives only in
fragments, was an explanation of his apostasy. The epithet “Apostate” was
bestowed on him by the Christian Fathers. Meanwhile he was preparing—first
at Constantinople then at Antioch, where he wrote the _Misopogon_, a
satire on the luxury and frivolity of the inhabitants—for a campaign
against Sapor, a task which he had inherited from Constantius. In March,
362 he left Antioch and crossed the Euphrates, visited Carrhae, memorable
for the defeat of Crassus, then crossed the Tigris, and, after burning his
fleet, retired northwards towards Armenia. On the march he fought an
indecisive battle with the Persians at Maranga, and in a skirmish with the
retreating enemy he was mortally wounded by a javelin (January 26th, 363).
His body was carried to Tarsus by his successor the Emperor Jovian, and
was probably removed later to Constantinople. The legend that as he died
he exclaimed: Γαλιλαῖε νενίκηκας, “Thou hast conquered, O Galilæan!”
appears first in the Christian historian Theodoret in the fifth century.
Julian was the last male descendant of the famous dynasty founded by
Constantius Chlorus.
In spite of his military achievements, he was, first of all, a student.
Even on his campaigns he took his books with him, and several of his
extant works were composed in camp. He had been trained, according to the
fashion of his times, in rhetorical studies by professional sophists such
as Libanius, and he has all the mannerisms of a fourth century sophist. It
was the sophistic etiquette to avoid the direct use of names, and Julian
never names the usurpers Magnentius, Silvanus, and Vetranio, whose
suppression by Constantius he describes in his two first _Orations_,
regularly refers to Sapor as “the barbarian,” and rather than name
Mardonius, his tutor, calls him “a certain Scythian who had the same name
as the man who persuaded Xerxes to invade Hellas.”(4) He wrote the
literary Greek of the fourth century A.D. which imitates the classical
style, though barbarisms and late constructions are never entirely
avoided. His pages are crowded with echoes of Homer, Demosthenes, Plato,
and Isocrates, and his style is interwoven with half verses, phrases, and
whole sentences taken without acknowledgment from the Greek masterpieces.
It is certain that, like other sophists, he wished his readers to
recognise these echoes, and therefore his source is always classical, so
that where he seems to imitate Dio Chrysostom or Themistius, both go back
to a common source, which Julian had in mind. Another sophistic element in
his style is the use of commonplaces, literary allusions that had passed
into the sophistic language and can be found in all the writers of
reminiscence Greek in his day. He himself derides this practice(5) but he
cannot resist dragging in the well‐worn references to Cyrus, Darius, and
Alexander, to the nepenthe poured out by Helen in the _Odyssey_, to the
defiance of nature by Xerxes, or the refusal of Socrates to admit the
happiness of the Great King. Julian wished to make Neo‐Platonism the
philosophy of his revived Hellenism, but he belonged to the younger or
Syrian branch of the school, of which Iamblichus was the real founder, and
he only once mentions Plotinus. Iamblichus he ranked with Plato and paid
him a fanatical devotion. His philosophical writing, especially in the two
prose _Hymns_, is obscure, partly because his theories are only vaguely
realised, partly because he reproduces the obscurity of his model,
Iamblichus. In satire and narrative he can be clear and straightforward.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Manuscripts
The _Vossianus_ (V), Leyden, 13th or 14th cent. (contains also the
_Letters_ of Libanius), is the only reliable MS. of Julian, and was once
complete except for a few _Letters_. Where pages are lost from V a group
of inferior MSS. are used, _Marcianus_ 366 (M), 251 (Mb), both 15th cent.,
five _Monacenses_ (at Munich), and several _Parisini_ (at Paris). Cobet’s
contributions to the text are in _Mnemosyne_ 8, 9, 10 (old series
1859‐1861) and 10, 11 (new series 1882‐1883). A. Papadoulos Kerameus
published in _Rheinisches Museum_, 1887, six new _Letters_ discovered on
the island of Chalcis.
Editions
_Misopogon_ and _Letters_ (with Latin version) Martin, Paris, 1566. Martin
and Cantoclarus, Paris, 1583. Petau (Petavius) Paris, 1630. Spanheim,
Leipzig, 1696. _Oration I_, Schaefer, Leipzig, 1802 (with Latin version
and Wyttenbach’s _Critical Epistle to Ruhnken_). Hertlein, Leipzig
(Teubner), 1875‐1876.(6) _Against the Christians_, Neumann, Leipzig, 1880.
_Letters:_ Heyler, Mainz, 1828. Westermann, Leipzig, 1854.
Literature
_La Vie de l’Empereur Julien_, Abbé de la Bleterie, Paris, 1735. Strauss,
_Der Romantiker auf dem Throne der Caesaren_, Mannheim, 1847. Mücke
_Julian’s Leben und Schriften_, Gotha, 1868. Naville, _Julien l’Apostat_,
Neufchâtel, 1877. Schwartz, _De vita et scriptis Juliani_, Bonn, 1888.
Gildersleeve _Julian_ in _Essays and Studies_, Baltimore, 1890. Gardner,
_Julian_, New York, 1895. France (W. C. Wright), _Julian’s Relation to
Neo‐Platonism __ and the New Sophistic_, London, 1896. Negri,
_L’Imperatore Giuliano_, Milan, 1902 (translated by Letta‐Visconti‐Arese,
London, 1906). Bidez and Cumont, _Recherches sur la tradition manuscrite
des lettres de Julien_, Brussels, 1898. Asmus, _Julian und Dio
Chrysostomus_, Tauberbischofsheim, 1895. Brambs, _Studien_, Eichstätt,
1897. Allard, _Julien l’Apostat_, Paris, 1903. Cumont, _Sur l’authenticité
de quelques lettres de Julien_, Gaud, 1889.
Translations
Latin: _Misopogon_ and _Letters_, Martin in edition. _Oration I_, Schaefer
in edition. _Letters_, Heyler in edition. French: Tourlet, Paris, 3 vols.
1821. _Traduction de quelques Ouvrages de l’Empereur Julien_, Abbé de la
Bleterie, Paris, 1748. _Caesars_, Spanheim, Paris, 1683. German: _Against
the Christians_, Neumann, Leipzig, 1880. English: _Select Works_ by
Duncombe, London, 1784 (contains also some translations of Libanius).
Bibliographical Addendum (1980)
J. Bidez: _La tradition manuscrite et les éditions des discours de Julien_
(1929). J. Bidez: _La vie de l’empereur Julien_ (1930). G. W. Bowersock:
_Julian the Apostate_, Cambridge, Mass. (1978). R. Browning: _The Emperor
Julian_ (1975). G. Gigli: _Giuliano l’Apostata_ (1960). W. E. Kaegi:
“Research on Julian, 1945‐1964,” _CW_ 58 (1965) 229ff. G. Ricciotti:
_Julian the Apostate_, trans. M. J. Costelloe (1960).
ORATION I
[Transcriber’s Note: The original book had pages with Greek on the left
page and the corresponding English translation on the facing right page.
In this e‐book, each Greek paragraph will be immediately followed by the
English translation paragraph, surrounded in parentheses. The Greek text
contains markings such as [3] and [B]; they are section and sub‐section
markings that in the original book were in the right margin. These are
different from numbers within parentheses such as (10), which are used as
footnote references in some e‐book formats.]
ΙΟΥΛΙΑΝΟΥ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ ΕΓΚΩΜΙΟΝ ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΑ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΟΝ
(PANEGYRIC IN HONOUR OF THE EMPEROR CONSTANTIUS)
Πάλαι με προθυμούμενον, ὦ μέγιστε βασιλεῦ, τὴν σὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ πράξεις
ὑμνῆσαι καὶ τοὺς πολέμους ἀπαριθμήσασθαι, καὶ τὰς τυραννίδας ὅπως
ἀνῄιρηκας, τῆς μὲν λόγῳ καὶ πειθοῖ τοὺς δορυφόρους ἀποστήσας, τῆς δὲ τοῖς
ὅπλοις κρατήσας, τὸ μέγεθος εἶργε τῶν πράξεων, οὐ τὸ βραχὺ λειφθῆναι τῷ
λόγῳ τῶν ἔργων δεινὸν κρίνοντα, ἀλλὰ τὸ παντελῶς τῆς ὑποθέσεως διαμαρτεῖν
δόξαι. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ περὶ τοὺς πολιτικοῦς ἀγῶνας καὶ τὴν ποίησιν
διατρίβουσιν οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν εἰ ῥᾳδίως ἔξεστιν ἐγχειρεῖν τοῖς ἐπαίνοις τῶν
σοι πραχθέντων· [2] περίεστι γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐκ τῆς τοῦ λέγειν μελέτης καὶ τῆς
πρὸς τὰς ἐπιδείξεις συνηθείας τὸ θαρσεῖν ἐν δίκῃ. ὅσοι δὸ τοῦ μὲν τοιούτου
μέρους κατωλιγώρησαν, ὥρμησαν δ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἕτερον παιδείας εἶδος καὶ λόγων
ξυγγραφὴν οὐ δήμῳ κεχαρισμένην οὐδ᾽ ἐς θέατρα παντοδαπὰ τολμῶσαν
ἀποδύεσθαι, πρὸς τὰς ἐπιδείξεις ἔχοιεν ἂν εἰκότως εὐλαβεστέρως. ἔστι γὰρ
οὐκ ἄδηλον τοῦθ᾽ ὅτι [B] τοῦς μὲν ποιηταῖς Μοῦσαι καὶ τὸ δοκεῖν ἐκεῖθεν
ἐπιπνεομένους τὴν ποίησιν γράφειν ἄφθονον παρέχει τὴν ἐξουσίαν τοῦ
πλάσματος· τοῖς ῥήτορσι δὲ ἡ τέχνη τὴν ἴσην παρέσχεν ἄδειαν, τὸ μὲν
πλάττειν ἀφελομένη, τὸ δὲ κολακεύειν οὐδαμῶς ἀπαγορεύσασα, οὐδὲ αἰσχύνην
ὁμολογουμένην τῷ λέγοντι τὸ ψευδῶς(7) ἐπαινεῖν τοὺς οὐκ ἀξίους ἐπαίνου
κρίνασα. ἀλλ᾽ οἱ μὲν ἐπειδὰν καινόν τινα μῦθον καὶ μηδέπω τοῖς πρόσθεν
ἐπινοηθέντα φέρωσιν αὐτοὶ ξυνθέντες, [C] τῷ ξένῳ τοὺς ἀκούοντας
ψυχαγωγήσαντες πλέον θαυμάζονται· οἱ δὲ τῆς τέχνης ἀπολαῦσαί φασιν ἐν τῷ
δύνασθαι περὶ τῶν μικρῶν μειζόνως διελθεῖν, καὶ τὸ μέγεθος ἀφελεῖν τῶν
ἔργων τῷ λόγῳ, καὶ ὄλως ἀντιτάττειν τῇ τῶν πραγμάτων φύσει τὴν δύναμιν(8)
τῶν λόγων.
(I have long desired, most mighty Emperor, to sing the praises of your
valour and achievements, to recount your campaigns, and to tell how you
suppressed the tyrannies; how your persuasive eloquence drew away one
usurper’s(9) bodyguard; how you overcame another(10) by force of arms. But
the vast scale of your exploits deterred me, because what I had to dread
was not that my words would fall somewhat short of your achievements, but
that I should prove wholly unequal to my theme. That men versed in
political debate, or poets, should find it easy to compose a panegyric on
your career is not at all surprising. Their practice in speaking, their
habit of declaiming in public supplies them abundantly with a well‐
warranted confidence. But those who have neglected this field and chosen
another branch of literary study which devotes itself to a form of
composition little adapted to win popular favour and that has not the
hardihood to exhibit itself in its nakedness in every theatre, no matter
what, would naturally hesitate to make speeches of the epideictic sort. As
for the poets, their Muse, and the general belief that it is she who
inspires their verse, obviously gives them unlimited license to invent. To
rhetoricians the art of rhetoric allows just as much freedom; fiction is
denied them, but flattery is by no means forbidden, nor is it counted a
disgrace to the orator that the object of his panegyric should not deserve
it. Poets who compose and publish some legend that no one had thought of
before increase their reputation, because an audience is entertained by
the mere fact of novelty. Orators, again, assert(11) that the advantage of
their art is that it can treat a slight theme in the grand manner, and
again, by the use of mere words, strip the greatness from deeds, and, in
short, marshall the power of words against that of facts.)
Ἐγὼ δὲ εἰ μὲν ἑώρων ταύτης ἐμαυτὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἐν χρείᾳ τῆς τέχνης,
ἦγον ἂν τὴν προσήκουσαν ἡσυχίαν τοῖς ἀμελετήτως ἔχουσι τῶν τοιούτων λόγων,
[D] παραχωρῶν τῶν σῶν ἐγκωμίων ἐκείνοις, ὧν μικρῷ πρόσθεν ἐμνήσθην. ἐπεὶ
δὲ ἅπαν τοὐναντίον ὁ παρὼν ἀπαιτεῖ λόγος τῶν πραγμάτων ἁπλῆν διήγησιν
οὐδενὸς ἐπεισάκτου κόσμου δεομένην, ἔδοξε κἀμοὶ προσήκειν, τοῦ(12) ἀξίως
διηγήσασθαι τῶν ἔργων ἀνεφίκτου καὶ τοῖς προλαβοῦσιν(13) ἤδη φανέντος.
ἅπαντες γὰρ σχεδὸν οἱ [3] περὶ παιδείαν διατρίβοντες σε(14) ἐν μέτρῳ καὶ
καταλογάδην ὑμνοῦσιν, οἱ μὲν ἅπαντα περιλαβεῖν ἐν βραχεῖ τολμῶντες, οἱ δὲ
μέρεσιν αὑτοὺς ἐπιδόντες τῶν πράξεων ἀρκεῖν ᾠήθησαν, εἰ τούτων τῆς ἀξίας
μὴ διαμάρτοιεν. ἄξιον δὲ ἄγασθαι τὴν προθυμίαν τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἁπάντων, ὅσοι
τῶν σῶν ἐπαίνων ἥψαντο. οἱ μὲν γάρ, ὅπως μηδὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ χρόνου τῶν σοι
πραχθέντων ἀμαυρωθείη, τὸν μέγιστον ὑποδῦναι πόνον ἐτόλμησαν, οἱ δέ, ὅτι
τοῦ παντὸς διαμαρτήσειν ἤλπιζον, τὴν αὑτῶν γνώμην ἐν μέρει προύφηναν, [B]
ἄμεινον τοῦ τῆς σιωπῆς ἀκινδύνου γέρως κρίναντες κατὰ δύναμίν σοι τῶν
οἰκείων πόνων ἀπάρξασθαι.
(If, however, I had seen that on this occasion I should need their art, I
should have maintained the silence that befits those who have had no
practice in such forms of composition, and should leave your praises to be
told by those whom I just now mentioned. Since, on the contrary, the
speech I am to make calls for a plain narrative of the facts and needs no
adventitious ornament, I thought that even I was not unfit, seeing that my
predecessors had already shown that it was beyond them to produce a record
worthy of your achievements. For almost all who devote themselves to
literature attempt to sing your praises in verse or prose; some of them
venture to cover your whole career in a brief narrative, while others
devote themselves to a part only, and think that if they succeed in doing
justice to that part they have proved themselves equal to the task.)
Εἰ μὲν οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς εἷς ὢν ἐτύγχανον τῶν τοὺς ἐπιδεικτικοὺς ἀγαπώντων
λόγους, ἐχρῆν ἐντεῦθεν ἄρχεσθαι τῆς ὑποθέσεως, τὴν ἴσην εὔνοιαν
ἀπαιτήσαντα τῆς ὑπαρχούσης ἤδη σοι παρ᾽ ἡμῶν καὶ δεηθέντα τῶν λόγων
ἀκροατὴν εὐμενῆ γενέσθαι, οὐχὶ δὲ ἀκριβῆ καὶ ἀπαραίτητον κριτὴν
καταστῆναι. [C] ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐν ἄλλοις μαθήμασι τραφέντες καὶ παιδευθέντες,
καθάπερ ἐπιτηδεύμασι καὶ νόμοις, ἀλλοτρίων κατατολμᾶν ἔργων δοκοῦμεν οὐκ
ὀρθῶς, μικρά μοι δοκεῖ χρῆναι καὶ περὶ τούτων δηλῶσαι, οἰκειοτέραν ἀρχὴν
προθέντα τοῦ λόγου.
(Yet one can but admire the zeal of all who have made you the theme of a
panegyric. Some did not shrink from the tremendous effort to secure every
one of your achievements from the withering touch of time; others, because
they foresaw that they could not compass the whole, expressed themselves
only in part, and chose to consecrate to you their individual work so far
as they were able. Better this, they thought, than “the reward of silence
that runs no risk.”(15) Now if I were one of those whose favourite pursuit
is epideictic oratory, I should have to begin my speech by asking from you
no less goodwill than I now feel towards yourself, and should beg you
graciously to incline your ear to my words and not play the part of a
severe and inexorable critic. But since, bred as I have been and educated
in other studies, other pursuits, other conventions, I am criticised for
venturing rashly into fields that belong to others, I feel that I ought to
explain myself briefly on this head and begin my speech more after my own
fashion.)
Νόμος ἐστὶ παλαιὸς παρὰ τοῦ πρώτου φιλοσοφίαν ἀνθρώποις φήναντος οὑτωσὶ
κείμενος· ἅπαντας [D] πρὸς τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ πρὸς τὸ καλὸν βλέποντας
ἐπιτηδεύειν ἐν λόγοις, ἐν ἔργοις, ἐν ξυνουσίαις, ἐν πᾶσιν ἁπλῶς τοῖς κατὰ
τὸν βίον μικροῖς καὶ μείζοσι τοῦ καλοῦ πάντως ἐφίεσθαι. πάντων δὲ ὅτι
κάλλιστον ἀρετή, τίς ἂν ἡμῖν τῶν νοῦν ἐχόντων ἀμφισβητήσειε; ταύτης τοίνυν
ἀντέχεσθαι διακελεύεται τοὺς μὴ μάτην τουτὶ περιοίσοντας τοὔνομα, προσῆκον
οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς σφετερισαμένους. ταῦτα δὲ διαγορεύων ὁ νόμος οὐδεμίαν ἰδέαν
ἐπιτάττει λόγων, οὐδ᾽ ὥσπερ ἔκ τινος τραγικῆς μηχανῆς, φησὶ, χρῆναι
προαγορεύει τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσ [4] σπεύδειν μὲν πρὸς τὴν ἀρετήν, ἀποφεύγειν
δὲ τὴν πονηρίαν, ἀλλὰ πολλαῖς ὁδοῖς ἐπὶ τοῦτο δίδωσι χρῆσθαι τῷ βουληθέντι
μιμεῖσθαι τὴν ἐκείνου φύσιν. καὶ γὰρ παραίνεσιν ἀγαθὴν καὶ λόγων
προτρεπτικῶν χρῆσιν καὶ τὸ μετ᾽ εὐνοίας ἐπιπλήττειν τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασιν
ἐπαινεῖν τε αὖ τὰ καλῶς πραχθέντα καὶ ψέγειν, ὅταν ᾖ καιρός, τὰ μὴ [B]
τοιαῦτα τῶν ἔργων. ἐφίησι δὲ καὶ(16) ταῖς ἄλλαις ἰδεαις, εἴ τις ἐθέλοι,
πρὸς τὸ βέλτιστον τῶν λόγων χρῆσθαι, ἐπὶ παντὶ δὲ οἶμαι καὶ λόγῳ καὶ
πράξει μεμνῆσθαι προστάττων, ὅπῃ τούτων ὑφέξουσιν εὐθύνας, ὧν ἂν τύχωσιν
εἰπόντες, λέγειν δὲ οὐδὲν ὅ τι μὴ πρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ φιλοσοφίαν ἀνοίσουσι. τὰ
μὲν οὖν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου ταῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτα ἕτερα.
(There is an ancient maxim taught by him who first introduced philosophy
to mankind, and it is as follows. All who aspire to virtue and the
beautiful must study in their words, deeds, conversation, in short, in all
the affairs of life, great and small, to aim in every way at beauty. Now
what sensible man would deny that virtue is of all things the most
beautiful? Wherefore those are bidden to lay firm hold on her who do not
seek to blazon abroad her name in vain, appropriating that which in no way
belongs to them. Now in giving this counsel, the maxim does not prescribe
any single type of discourse, nor does it proclaim to its readers, like a
god from the machine in tragedy, “Ye must aspire to virtue and eschew
evil.” Many are the paths that it allows a man to follow to this goal, if
he desire to imitate the nature of the beautiful. For example, he may give
good advice, or use hortatory discourse, or he may rebuke error without
malice, or applaud what is well done, or condemn, on occasion, what is ill
done. It permits men also to use other types of oratory, if they please,
so as to attain the best end of speech, but it enjoins on them to take
thought in every word and act how they shall give account of all they
utter, and to speak no word that cannot be referred to the standard of
virtue and philosophy. That and more to the same effect is the tenour of
that precept.)
Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἄρα τί ποτε δράσομεν, εἰργόμενοι μὲν τῷ δοκεῖν ποιεῖσθαι πρὸς
χάριν τὴν εὐφημίαν, [C] τοῦ γένους δὲ ἤδη τῶν ἐπαίνων διὰ τούς οὐκ ὀρθῶς
μετιόντας ὑπόπτου καθεστῶτος δεινῶς, καὶ κολακείας ἀγεννοῦς, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ
μαρτυρίας ἀληθοῦς τῶν ἀρίστων ἔργων εἶναι νομισθέντος; ἢ δῆλον ὅτι τῇ περὶ
τὸν ἐπαινούμενον ἀρετῇ πεπιστευκότες ἐπιδώσομεν ἑαυτοὺς θαρροῦντες τοῖς
ἐγκωμίοις; τίς ἂν οὖν ἡμῖν ἀρχὴ καὶ τάξις τοῦ λόγου γένοιτο καλλίστη; [D]
ἢ δῆλον ὡς ἡ τῶν προγόνων ἀρετή, δι᾽ ἣν ὑπῆρξέ σοι καὶ τὸ τοιούτῳ
γενέσθαι; τροφῆς δὲ οἶμαι καὶ παιδείας ἑξῆς προσήκει μνησθῆναι, ἥπερ σοι
τὸ πλεῖστον εἰς τῆν ὑπάρχουσαν ἀρετὴν συνεισηνέγκατο, ἐφ᾽ ἅπασι δὲ τούτοις
ὥσπερ γνωρίσματα τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀρετῶν τὰς πράξεις διελθεῖν, καὶ τέλος
ἐπιτιθέντα τῷ λόγῳ τὰς ἕξεις δηλῶσαι, ὅθεν ὁρμώμενος τὰ κάλλιστα τῶν ἔργων
ἔδρασας καὶ ἐβουλεύσω. [5] τούτῳ γὰρ οἶμαι καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων διοίσειν
τὸν λόγον. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν πράξεων ἵστανται, ἀποχρῆν οἰόμενοι πρὸς τὴν
τελείαν εὐφημίαν τὸ τούτων μνησθῆναι, ἐγὼ δὲ οἶμαι δεῖν περὶ τῶν ἀρετῶν
τὸν πλεῖστον λόγον ποιήσασθαι, ἀφ᾽ ὧν ὁρμώμενος ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον τῶν
κατορθωμάτων ἦλθες. τὰ μὲν γὰρ πλεῖστα τῶν ἔργων, σχεδὸν δὲ πάντα, τύχη
καὶ δορυφόροι καὶ στρατιωτῶν φάλαγγες καὶ τάξεις ἱππέων(17) συγκατορθοῦσι,
[B] τὰ δὲ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἔργα μόνου τέ ἐστι τοῦ δράσαντος, καὶ ὁ ἐκ τούτων
ἔπαινος ἀληθής καθεστὼς ἴδιος ἐστι τοῦ κεκτημένου. οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὴ ταῦθ᾽
ἡμῖν σαφῶς διώρισται, τῶν λόγων ἄρξομαι.
(And now, what am I to do? What embarrasses me is the fact that, if I
praise you, I shall be thought simply to curry favour, and in fact, the
department of panegyric has come to incur a grave suspicion due to its
misuse, and is now held to be base flattery rather than trustworthy
testimony to heroic deeds. Is it not obvious that I must put my faith in
the merit of him whom I undertake to praise, and with full confidence
devote my energies to this panegyric? What then shall be the prelude of my
speech and the most suitable arrangement? Assuredly I must begin with the
virtues of your ancestors through which it was possible for you to come to
be what you are. Next I think it will be proper to describe your
upbringing and education, since these contributed very much to the noble
qualities that you possess, and when I have dealt with all these, I must
recount your achievements, the signs and tokens, as it were, of the
nobility of your soul, and finally, as the crown and consummation of my
discourse, I shall set forth those personal qualities from which was
evolved all that was noble in your projects and their execution. It is in
this respect that I think my speech will surpass those of all the others.
For some limit themselves to your exploits, with the idea that a
description of these suffices for a perfect panegyric, but for my part I
think one ought to devote the greater part of one’s speech to the virtues
that were the stepping‐stones by which you reached the height of your
achievements. Military exploits in most cases, nay in almost all, are
achieved with the help of fortune, the body‐guard, heavy infantry and
cavalry regiments. But virtuous actions belong to the doer alone, and the
praise that they inspire, if it be sincere, belongs only to the possessor
of such virtue. Now, having made this distinction clear, I will begin my
speech.)
Ὁ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἐπαίνων νόμος οὐδὲν ἔλαττον τῆς πατρίδος ἢ τῶν προγόνων
ἀξιοῖ μεμνῆσθαι. ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ οἶδα, τίνα χρὴ πρῶτον ὑπολαβεῖν πατρίδα σήν·
ἔθνη γὰρ μυρία περὶ ταύτης ἀμφισβητεῖ πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον. [C] καὶ ἡ μὲν
βασιλεύουσα τῶν ἁπάντων πόλις, μήτηρ οὖσα σὴ καὶ τροφὸς καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν
σοι μετὰ τῆς ἀγαθῆς τύχης παρασχοῦσα, ἐξαίρετον αὑτῆς φησιν εἶναι τὸ
γέρας, οὐ τοῖς κοινοῖς ἐφ᾽ ἁπάντων τῶν αὐτοκρατόρων δικαίοις χρωμένη· λέγω
δὲ ὅτι, κἂν ἀλλαχόθεν τυγχάνωσι, τῷ μετέχειν ἅπαντας ἤδη τοῦ πολιτεύματος
καὶ τοῖς ἐκεῖθεν ἡμῖν καταδειχθεῖσιν ἔθεσι καὶ νόμοις χρῆσθαι πολῖται
γεγόνασιν· οὔκουν οὕτως, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς(18) τεκοῦσα τὴν σὴν μητέρα [D] καὶ
θρεψαμένη βασιλικῶς καὶ τῶν ἐσομένων ἐκγόνων(19) ἀξίως. ἡ δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ
Βοσπόρῳ πόλις, ὅλου τοῦ γένους τοῦ Κωνσταντίων ἐπώνυμος, πατρὶς μὲν οὐκ
εἶναι φησι, γεγονέναι δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ σοῦ πατρὸς ὁμολογεῖ, καὶ δεινὰ πάσχειν
οἰήσεται, εἰ ταύτης γοῦν τις αὐτὴν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς συγγενείας ἀφαιροῖτο.
Ἰλλυριοὶ δέ, ὅτι παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς γέγονας, οὐκ ἀνέξονται τοῦ καλλίστου τῶν
εὐτυχημάτων στερόμενοι, [6] εἴ τις ἄλλην σοι πατρίδα προσνέμοι. ἀκούω δὲ
ἔγωγε καὶ τῶν ἑῴων ἤδη τινὰς λέγειν, ὅτι μὴ δίκαια δρῶμεν ἀφαιρούμενοι
σφᾶς τὸν ἐπὶ σοὶ λόγον· αὐτοὶ γάρ φασι τὴν τήθην ἐπὶ τὸν τοῦ μητροπάτορος
τοῦ σοῦ προπέμψαι γάμον. καὶ σχεδὸν ἅπαντες οἱ λοιποὶ προφάσεις
ἐπινοοῦντες μικρὰς ἢ μείζονας αὑτοῖς σε(20) εἰσποιεῖν ἐκ παντὸς ἐγνώκασιν.
ἐχέτω μὲν οὖν τὸ γέρας ἣν αὐτὸς ἐθέλεις, [B] καὶ ἣν ἀρετῶν μητέρα καὶ
διδάσκαλον πολλάκις ἐπαινῶν εἴρηκας, τυγχανόντων δὲ ἑκάστη κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν
αἱ λοιπαὶ τοῦ προσήκοντος. ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπαινεῖν μὲν ἁπάσας ἐθέλοιμ᾽(21) ἂν
ἀξίας οὔσας δόξης(22) καὶ τιμῆς, ὀκνῶ δὲ μὴ διὰ τὸ μῆκος, εἰ καὶ δοκεῖ
λίαν οἰκεῖα τοῦ παρόντος λόγου, διὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἀλλότρια φανῇ. τῶν μὲν οὖν
ἄλλων τοὺς ἐπαίνους διὰ τοῦτ᾽ ἀφήσειν μοι δοκῶ, τῆς Ῥώμης δὲ τὸ κεφάλαιον
τῶν ἐπαίνων αὐτός, [C] ὦ βασιλεῦ, συλλαβὼν ἐν βραχεῖ καὶ διδάσκαλον ἀρετῆς
προσειπών, τῷ δοῦναι τὸ κάλλιστον τῶν ἐγκωμίων, τοὺς παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων λόγους
ἀφῄρησαι. τί γὰρ λέξομεν ἡμεῖς περὶ αὐτῆς τοιοῦτον ἕτερον; τί δὲ ἄλλος τις
εἰπεῖν ἔχει; ὥστε μοι δοκῶ σεβόμενος εἰκότως τὴν πόλιν τούτῳ τιμᾶν αὐτὴν
πλέον, τῷ παραχωρεῖν σοι τῶν εἰς αὐτὴν λόγων.
(The rules of panegyric require that I should mention your native land no
less than your ancestors. But I am at a loss what country I ought to
consider peculiarly yours. For countless nations have long asserted their
claim to be your country. The city(23) that rules over them all was your
mother and nurse, and in an auspicious hour delivered to you the imperial
sceptre, and therefore asserts her sole title to the honour, and that not
merely by resorting to the plea that has prevailed under all the emperors.
I mean that, even if men are born elsewhere, they all adopt her
constitution and use the laws and customs that she has promulgated, and by
that fact become Roman citizens. But her claim is different, namely that
she gave your mother birth, rearing her royally and as befitted the
offspring who were to be born to her. Then again, the city on the Bosporus
which is named after the family of the Constantii, though she does not
assert that she is your native place, but acknowledges that she became
your adopted land by your father’s act, will think she is cheated of her
rights if any orator should try to deprive her of at least this claim to
kinship. Thirdly, the Illyrians, on whose soil you were born, will not
tolerate it if anyone assign you a different fatherland and rob them of
the fairest gift of fortune. And now I hear some even of the Eastern
provinces protest that it is unjust of me to rob them of the lustre they
derive from you. For they say that they sent forth your grandmother to be
the consort of your grandfather on the mother’s side. Almost all the rest
have hit on some pretension of more or less weight, and are determined, on
one ground or another, to adopt you for their own. Therefore let that
country(24) have the prize which you yourself prefer and have so often
praised as the mother and teacher of the virtues; as for the rest, let
each one according to her deserts obtain her due. I should be glad to
praise them all, worthy as they are of glory and honour, but I am afraid
that my compliments, however germane they may seem to my subject, might,
on account of their length, be thought inappropriate to the present
occasion. For this reason, then, I think it better to omit a eulogy of the
others, but as for Rome, your imperial Majesty summed up her praises in
two words when you called her the teacher of virtue, and, by bestowing on
her the fairest of all encomiums, you have forestalled all that others
might say. What praise of mine would come up to that? What indeed is left
for anyone to say? So I feel that I, who naturally hold that city in
reverence, shall pay her a higher honour if I leave her praise in your
hands.)
Ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐγενείας τῆς σῆς ἴσως ἄξιον ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἐν βραχεῖ
διελθεῖν. ἀπορεῖν δὲ ἔοικα κάνταῦθα, [D] πόθεν ἄρχεσθαι χρή. πρόγονοί τε
γάρ εἰσί σοι καὶ πάπποι καὶ γονεῖς ἀδελφοί τε καῖ ἀνεψιοὶ καὶ ξυγγενεῖς
βασιλεῖς ἅπαντες, αὐτοὶ κτησάμενοι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐννόμως ἢ παρὰ τῶν κρατούντων
εἰσποιηθέντες. καὶ τὰ μὲν παλαιὰ τί δεῖ λέγειν, Κλαυδίου μνησθέντα, καὶ
τῆς ἀρετῆς τῆς ἐκείνου ἐναργῆ παρέχειν καὶ γνώριμα πᾶσι τεκμήρια, τῶν
ἀγώνων τῶν(25) πρὸς τοὺς ὑπὲρ τὸν Ἴστρον οἰκοῦντας βαρβάρους
ἀναμιμνήσκοντα, καὶ ὅπως τὴν ἀρχὴν ὁσίως ἅμα καὶ δικαίως ἑκτήσατο, [7] καὶ
τὴν ἐν βασιλείᾳ τῆς διαίτης λιτότητα, καὶ τὴν ἀφέλειαν τῆς ἐσθῆτος ἐπὶ τῶν
εἰκόνων ὁρωμένην ἔτι; τὰ δὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν πάππων τῶν σῶν ἐστι μὲν τούτων
νεώτερα, λαμπρὰ δὲ οὐ μεῖον ἐκείνων. ἔτυχον μὲν γὰρ ἄμφω τῆς ἀρχῆς δι᾽
ἀρετὴν ἀξίω κριθέντε, γενομένω δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων οὕτω πρός τε ἀλλήλους
εὐνοïκῶς ἔσχον καὶ πρὸς τὸν μεταδόντα τῆς βασιλείας εὐσεβῶς, ὥσθ᾽ ὁ μὲν
ὡμολόγει μηδὲν τούτου πώποτε κρεῖττον βεβουλεῦσθαι, [B] πολλὰ καὶ ἄλλα
σωτήρια τοῖς κοινοῖς ἐξευρών, οἱ δὲ τὴν μετ᾽ ἀλλήλων κοινωνίαν μᾶλλον ἢ
τὴν τῶν ὅλων ἀρχήν, εἴπερ οἷόν τε ἦν, ἑκάστῳ περιγενομένην ἠγάπων. οὕτω δὲ
διακείμενοι τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἔργων ἔδρων τὰ κάλλιστα, σεβόμενοι μὲν μετὰ τὴν
κρείττονα φύσιν τὸν τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτοῖς παρασχόντα, τοῖς ὑπηκόοις δὲ
πρᾴως(26) καὶ φιλανθρώπως χρώμενοι, καὶ τοὺς [C] βαρβάρους οὐκ ἐλαύνοντες
μόνον πάλαι κατοικοῦντας καὶ νεμομένους καθάπερ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀδεῶς τὰ
ἡμέτερα, φρούρια δὲ ἐπιτειχίζοντες αὐτοῖς τοσαύτην πρὸς αὐτοὺς εἰρήνην
τοῖς ὑπηκόοις κατέστησαν, ὅσην οὐδὲ εὔξασθαι τότε ῥᾴδιον ἐδόκει. ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ
μὲν τούτων οὐκ ἄξιον ἐν παρέργῳ λέγειν. τῆς δὲ ὁμονοίας αὐτῶν τῆς πρὸς
ἀλλήλους τὸ μέγιστον σημεῖον παραλιπεῖν οὐδαμῶς εὔλογον, καὶ ἄλλως
προσῆκον τῷ λόγῳ. [D] κοινωνίαν γὰρ τὴν καλλίστην τοῖς αὑτῶν παισὶν
ἐπινοήσαντες τῶν σῶν πατέρων τοὺς γάμους ἥρμοσαν. προσήκει δὲ οἶμαι καὶ
περὶ τούτων ἐν βραχεῖ διελθεῖν, ὅπως μῆ τῆς ἀρχῆς φανῇς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ
τῆς ἀρετῆς κληρονόμος. τὴν μὲν οὖν βασιλείαν ὅπως μετὰ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς
κατέσχε τελευτὴν αὐτοῦ τε ἐκείνου τῇ κρίσει καὶ τῶν στρατοπέδων ἁπάντων τῇ
ψήφῳ πατὴρ ὁ σός, τί χρὴ νῦν περιεργάζεσθαι; τὴν δὲ ἐς τοὺς πολέμους ῥώμην
ἐκ τῶν ἔργων μᾶλλον ἢ διὰ τῶν λόγων ἄν τις γνωρίσειε. τυραννίδας γάρ, [8]
ἀλλ᾽ οὐ βασιλείας ἐννόμους καθαιρῶν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐπῆλθεν ἅπασαν.
τοσαύτην δὲ εὔνοιαν αὑτοῦ τοῖς ὑπηκόοις παρέστησεν, ὥσθ᾽ οἱ μὲν
στρατευόμενοι τῆς περὶ τὰς δωρεὰς καὶ τὰς χάριτας μεγαλοψυχίας ἔτι
μεμνημένοι καθάπερ θεὸν διατελοῦσι σεβόμενοι· τὸ δὲ ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι καὶ ἐπὶ
τῶν ἀγρῶν πλῆθος, οὐχ οὕτω τῆς τῶν τυράννων ἀπαλλαγῆναι βαρύτητος
εὐχόμενοι, ὡς παρὰ τοῦ σοῦ πατρὸς ἀρχθῆναι, [B] τὴν κατ᾽ ἐκείνων αὐτῷ
νίκην ἐπηύχοντο. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἁπάντων κύριος κατέστη, ὥσπερ ἐξ αὐχμοῦ τῆς
ἀπληστίας τοῦ δυναστεύσαντος πολλῆς ἀπορίας χρημάτων οὔσης καὶ τοῦ πλούτου
τῶν βασιλείων ἐν μυχοῖς συνεληλαμένου, τὸ κλεῖθρον ἀφελὼν ἐπέκλυσεν ἀθρόως
τῷ πλούτῳ πάντα, πόλιν τε ἐπώνυμον αὑτοῦ κατέστησεν ἐν οὐδὲ ὅλοις ἔτεσι
δέκα, τοσούτῳ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπασῶν μείζονα, [C] ὅσῳ τῆς Ῥώμης ἐλαττοῦσθαι
δοκεῖ, ἧς τὸ δευτέραν τετάχθαι μακρῷ βέλτιον ἔμοιγε φαίνεται ἢ τὸ τῶν
ἄλλων ἁπασῶν πρώτην νομίζεσθαι. καλὸν ἴσως ἐνταῦθα καὶ τῶν ἀοιδίμων Ἀθηνῶν
μνησθῆναι, ἂς ἐκεῖνος ἔργοις καὶ λόγοις τιμῶν τὸν πάντα χρόνον διετέλει.
βασιλεὺς γὰρ ὢν καὶ κύριος πάντων, στρατηγὸς ἐκείνων ἠξίου καλεῖσθαι, καὶ
τοιαύτης εἰκόνος τυγχάνων μετ᾽ ἐπιγράμματος ἐγάνυτο πλέον ἢ τῶν μεγίστων
τιμῶν ἀξιωθείς. [D] ἀμειβόμενος δὲ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ τὴν πόλιν, πυρῶν μεδίμνους
δίδωσι πολλάκις μυρίους καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ἔτος δωρεὰν καρποῦσθαι, ἐξ ὧν ὑπῆρχε
τῇ πόλει μὲν ἐν ἀφθόνοις εἶναι, ἐκείνῳ δὲ ἔπαινοι καὶ τιμαὶ παρὰ τῶν
βελτίστων.
(Now perhaps I ought at this point to say a few words about your noble
ancestors. Only that here too I am at a loss where to begin. For all your
ancestors, grandfathers, parents, brothers, cousins and kinsfolk were
emperors, who had either acquired their power by lawful means or were
adopted by the reigning house. Why should I recall ancient history or hark
back to Claudius and produce proofs of his merit, which are manifest and
known to all? To what end recount his campaigns against the barbarians
across the Danube or how righteously and justly he won the empire? How
plainly he lived while on the throne! How simple was his dress, as may be
seen to this day in his statues! What I might say about your
grandparents(27) is comparatively recent, but equally remarkable. Both of
them acquired the imperial sceptre as the reward of conspicuous merit, and
having assumed the command, they were on such good terms with each other
and displayed such filial piety to him(28) who had granted them a share in
the empire, that he used to say that of all the safeguards designed by him
for the realm, and they were many, this was his master‐stroke. They,
meanwhile, valued their mutual understanding more than undivided empire,
supposing that it could have been bestowed on either of them separately.
This was the temper of their souls, and nobly they played their part in
action, while next to the Supreme Being they reverenced him who had placed
authority in their hands. With their subjects they dealt righteously and
humanely, and expelled the barbarians who had for years settled in our
territory and had occupied it with impunity as though it were their own,
and they built forts to hinder encroachment, which procured for those
subjects such peaceful relations with the barbarians as, at that period,
seemed to be beyond their dreams. This, however, is a subject that
deserves more than a passing mention. Yet it would be wrong to omit the
strongest proof of their unanimity, especially as it is related to my
subject. Since they desired the most perfect harmony for their children,
they arranged the marriage of your father and mother.(29) On this point
also I think I must say a few words to show that virtue was bequeathed to
you as well as a throne. But why waste time in telling how your father, on
his father’s death, became emperor both by the choice of the deceased
monarch and by the vote of all the armies? His military genius was made
evident by his achievements and needs no words of mine. He traversed the
whole civilised world suppressing tyrants, but never those who ruled by
right. His subjects he inspired with such affection that his veterans
still remember how generous he was with largess and other rewards, and to
this day worship him as though he were a god. As for the mass of the
people, in town and country alike, they prayed that your father might be
victorious over the tyrants, not so much because they would be delivered
from that oppression as because they would then be governed by him. But
when he had made his power supreme, he found that the tyrant’s(30) greed
had worked like a drought, with the result that money was very scarce,
while there were great hoards of treasure in the recesses of the palace;
so he unlocked its doors and on the instant flooded the whole country with
wealth, and then, in less than ten years, he founded and gave his name to
a city(31) that as far surpasses all others as it is itself inferior to
Rome; and to come second to Rome seems to me a much greater honour than to
be counted first and foremost of all cities beside. Here it may be proper
to mention Athens “the illustrious,”(32) seeing that during his whole life
he honoured her in word and deed. He who was emperor and lord of all did
not disdain the title of General of the Athenians, and when they gave him
a statue with an inscription to that effect he felt more pride than if he
had been awarded the highest honours. To repay Athens for this compliment
he bestowed on her annually a gift of many tens of thousands of bushels of
wheat, so that while she enjoyed plenty, he won applause and reverence
from the best of men.)
Πολλῶν δὲ καὲ καλῶν ἔργων τῷ πατρὶ τῷ σῷ πραχθέντων, ὧν τε ἐπεμνήσθην καὶ
ὅσα διὰ τὸ μῆκος παραλιπεῖν δοκῶ, πάντων ἄριστον ἔγογε φαίην ἄν, [9] οἶμαι
δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας ὁμολογήσειν, τὴν σὴν γένεσιν καὶ τροφὴν καὶ
παιδείαν· ἐξ ἧς ὑπάρχει τοῖς λοιποῖς οὐ τὸ πρὸς ὀλίγον ἀπολαῦσαι τῆς
ἀρίστης ἀρχῆς, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς οἷον τέ ἐστιν εἰς πλείονα χρόνον. δοκεῖ γοῦν ἄρχειν
ἐκεῖνος εἰσέτι. καὶ Κύρῳ μὲν οὐχ ὑπῆρχε τοῦτο. τελευτήσαντος γὰρ ὁ παῖς
ὤφθη μακρῷ φαυλότερος, ὥστε ὁ μὲν ἐκαλεῖτο πατήρ, ὁ δὲ ἐπωνομάσθη
δεσπότης. [B] σὲ δὲ πρᾳότερον μὲν τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις πολλοῖς
κρείττονα σαφῶς τε(33) οἶδα, καὶ δηλώσω τοῦ καιροῦ φανέντος ἐν τῷ λόγῳ.
ἐκείνῳ δὲ προσήκειν καὶ τούτου νομίζω μεταδόντι σοι τῆς ἀρίστης τροφῆς,
ὑπὲρ ἧς ἤδη λέγειν πειράσομαι, μητρὸς καὶ ἀδελφῶν τῶν σῶν ἐπιμνησθείς.
(Your father’s achievements were many and brilliant. Some I have just
mentioned, and others I must omit for the sake of brevity. But the most
notable of all, as I make bold to say and I think all will agree, was that
he begat, reared and educated you. This secured to the rest of the world
the advantages of good government, and that not for a limited time but for
a period beyond his own lifetime, as far as this is possible. At any rate
your father seems still to be on the throne. This is more than Cyrus
himself could achieve. When he died his son proved far inferior, so that
while men called Cyrus “father,” his successor was called “master.”(34)
But you are even less stern than your father, and surpass him in many
respects, as I well know and will demonstrate in my speech as occasion
shall arise. Yet, in my opinion, he should have the credit of this as
well, since it was he who gave you that admirable training concerning
which I shall presently speak, but not till I have described your mother
and brothers.(35))
Τῇ μὲν γὰρ εὐγενείας τοσοῦτον περιῆν καὶ κάλλους σώματος καὶ τρόπων
ἀρετῆς, ὄσον οὐκ ἄλλῃ γυναικὶ ῥᾳδίως ἄν τις ἐξεύροι. ἐπεὶ καὶ Περσῶν ἀκούω
τὸν ὑπὲρ Παρυσάτιδος λόγον, [C] ὅτι μόνη γέγονεν ἀδελφὴ καὶ μήτηρ καὶ
γαμετὴ καὶ παῖς βασιλέως. ἀλλ᾽ ἦν γε αὕτη τοῦ γήμαντος ἀδελφὴ τῇ φύσει,
νόμος δὲ ἐδίδου γαμεῖν ἀδελφὴν τῷ Πέρσῃ. τὴν σὴν δὲ μητέρα κατὰ τοὺς παρ᾽
ἡμῖν νόμους ἀχράντους καὶ καθαρὰς τὰς οἰκειότητας ταύτας φυλάττουσαν
συνέβαινε(36) τοῦ μὲν εἶναι παῖδα, γαμετὴν δὲ ἑτέρου, καὶ ἀδελφὴν ἄλλου,
καὶ πολλῶν αὐτοκρατόρων, οἰχὶ δὲ ἑνὸς μητέρα. [D] ὧν ὁ μέν τις τῷ πατρὶ
συγκατειργάσατο τὸν πρὸς τοὺς τυράννους πόλεμον, ὁ δὲ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς Γέτας
ἡμῖν εἰρήνην τοῖς ὅπλοις κρατήσας ἀσφαλῆ παρεσκεύασεν, ὁ δὲ ἐτήρησεν
ἄβατον τοῖς πολεμίοις τὴν χώραν, αὐτὸς ἐπιστρατεύων ἐκείνοις πολλάκις, ἕως
ἐπέτρεπον οἱ μικρὸν ὕστερον τῶν εἰς ἐκεῖνον ἀδικημάτων δίκην ὑποσχόντες.
πολλῶν δὲ ὑπαρχόντων ἐκείνοις περιφανῶν ἔργων, ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἄν τις αὐτοὺς
δικαίως ἐπαινεῖν ἔχοι, καὶ τῶν ἐκ τῆς τύχης ἀγαθῶν περιουσίας οὔσης,(37)
[10] οὐδέν ἐστι τοιοῦτον τῶν ἄλλων, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ μακαρίζων ἄν(38) τις αὐτοὺς
εἰκότως σεμνύνοι, ὡς ὅτι τῶν μὲν ἀπόγονοι, τῶν δὲ ἔκγονοι(39)
γεγόνασιν.(40) ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα μὴ μακρότερα περὶ αὐτῶν λέγων τὸν ὀφειλόμενον τοῖς
ἐπαίνοις τοῖς σοῖς καιρὸν ἀναλώσω τοῦ λόγου, πειράσομαι λοιπὸν ὡς ἡμῖν
ἄξιον, μᾶλλον δέ, εἰ δεῖ μηδὲν ὑποστειλάμενον εἰπεῖν, μακρῷ τῶν προγόνων
ἐπιδείξω σε(41) σεμνότερον.
(Your mother’s ancestry was so distinguished, her personal beauty and
nobility of character were such that it would be hard to find her match
among women. I have heard that saying of the Persians about Parysatis,
that no other woman had been the sister, mother, wife, and daughter of
kings. Parysatis, however, was own sister of her husband, since their law
does not forbid a Persian to marry his sister. But your mother, while in
accordance with our laws she kept pure and unsullied those ties of
kinship, was actually the daughter of one emperor,(42) the wife of
another, the sister of a third, and the mother not of one emperor but of
several. Of these one aided your father in his war against the tyrants;
another conquered the Getae and secured for us a lasting peace with them;
the third(43) kept our frontiers safe from the enemy’s incursions, and
often led his forces against them in person, so long at least as he was
permitted by those who were so soon punished for their crimes against him.
Though by the number and brilliance of their achievements they have indeed
earned our homage, and though all the blessings of fortune were theirs in
abundance, yet in the whole tale of their felicity one could pay them no
greater compliment than merely to name their sires and grandsires. But I
must not make my account of them too long, lest I should spend time that I
ought to devote to your own panegyric. So in what follows I will, as
indeed I ought, endeavour—or rather, since affectation is out of place,
let me say I will demonstrate—that you are far more august than your
ancestors.)
[B] Φήμας μὲν δὴ καὶ μαντείας καὶ ὄψεις τὰς ἐν τοῖς ὕπνοις, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα
θρυλεῖν εἰώθασιν ἐπὶ τῶν οὕτω λαμπρὰ καὶ περιφανῊ πραξάντων, Κύρου καὶ τοῦ
τῆς ἡμετέρας οἰκιστοῦ πόλεως καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Φιλίππου, καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος
τοιοῦτος γέγονεν, ἑκὼν ἀφίημι· δοκεῖ γὰρ οὐ πόρρω ταῦτα τῆς ποιητικῆς
ἐξουσίας εἶναι. καὶ τὰ παρὰ τὴν πρώτην ὑπάρξαντά σοι γένεσιν ὡς λαμπρὰ καὶ
βασιλικὰ καὶ(44) τὸ λέγειν εὔηθες. [C] ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ τῆς ἐν τοῖς παισὶν
ἀγωγῆς ὁ καιρὸς ὑπομέμνηκεν, ἔδει σοι τῆς βασιλικῆς τροφῆς δήπουθεν, ἣ τὸ
μὲν σῶμα πρὸς ἰσχὺν καὶ ῥώμην καὶ εὐεξίαν καὶ κάλλος ἀσκήσει, τὴν ψυχὴν δὲ
πρὸς ἀνδρείαν καὶ δικαιοσύνην καὶ σωφροσύνην καὶ φρόνησιν ἐμμελῶς
παρασκευάσει. ταῦτα δὲ οὐ ῥᾴδιον διὰ τῆς ἀνειμένης ὑπάρχειν διαίτης,
θρυπτούσης μέν, ὡς εἰκός, τὰς ψυχὰς καὶ τὰ σώματα, ἀσθενεστέρας δὲ [D]
ἐργαζομένης πρός τε τοὺς κινδύνους τὰς γνώμας καὶ πρὸς τοὺς πόνους τὰ
σώματα. οὐκοῦν τῷ μὲν ἔδει γυμναστικῆς, τῷ σώματι, τὴν ψυχὴν δὲ τῇ τῶν
λόγων ἐκόσμεις μελέτῃ. ἐπὶ πλέον δὲ ὑπὲρ ἀμφοτέρων ἄξιον διελθεῖν· ἀρχὴ
γάρ τις αὕτη τῶν μετὰ ταῦτα πράξεων γέγονε. τῆς μὲν οὖν ἐπιμελείας τῆς
περὶ τὴν ἰσχὺν οὐ τὸ πρὸς τὰς ἐπιδείξεις ἁρμόζον ἤσκησας, ἥκιστα βασιλεῖ
πρέπειν ὑπολαβὼν τῶν τὰς παλαίστρας κατειληφότων τὴν θρυλουμένην εὐεξίαν,
[11] μέλλοντι τῶν ἀληθινῶν ἀγώνων μεθέξειν, ὕπνου τε ἐλαχίστου δεομένῳ καὶ
τροφῆς οὐ πολλῆς, καὶ ταύτης οὔτε κατὰ πλῆθος οὔτε κατὰ ποιότητα πάντως
ὡρισμένης οὔτε κατὰ τὸν καιρόν, ὃν χρὴ προσφέρεσθαι, τῆς ἐπιτυχούσης δέ,
ἐπειδὰν αἱ πράξεις τὸν καιρὸν ἐνδῶσιν. ὅθεν ᾤου δεῖν καὶ τὰ γυμνάσια πρὸς
ταύτην ποιεῖσθαι,(45) πολλὰ καὶ στρατιωτικά, χορείαν τὴν ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις,
[B] δρόμον τὸν ἐν τούτοις, τὴν ἱππικὴν τέχνην, οἷς ἅπασι διατετέλεκας ἐξ
ἀρχῆς ἐν καιρῷ χρώμενος· καὶ κατώρθωται παρὰ σοὶ τούτων ἕκαστον ὡς παρ᾽
οὐδενὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὁπλιτῶν. οὐκοῦν ὁ μέν τις ἐκείνων, πεζὸς ὢν ἀγαθός, τὴν
ἱππικὴν τέχνην ἠγνόησεν, ὁ δέ, ἐπιστάμενος χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἱππικοῖς, ὀκνεῖ
πεζὸς εἰς μάχην ἰέναι. μόνῳ δὲ ὑπάρχει σοὶ τῶν μὲν ἱππέων ἀρίστῳ φαίνεσθαι
παραπλησίως ἐκείνοις σταλέντι, [C] μετασκευασαμένῳ δὲ ἐς τοὺς ὁπλίτας
κρατεῖν ἁπάντων ῥώμῃ καὶ τάχει καὶ τῇ τῶν ποδῶν κουφότητι. ὅπως δὲ μὴ τὰς
ἀνέσεις ῥᾳιθύμους εἶναι μηδ᾽ ἄνευ τῶν ὅπλων ποιεῖσθαι συμβαίνῃ, ἐπίσκοπα
τοξεύειν ἤσκησας. καὶ τὸ μὲν σῶμα διὰ τῶν ἑκουσίων πόνων πρὸς τοὺς
ἀκουσίους εὖ ἔχειν παρεσκεύασας, τῇ ψυχῇ δὲ ἡγεῖτο μὲν ἡ τῶν λόγων μελέτη
καὶ τὰ προσήκοντα τοῖς τηλικούτοις μαθήματα. [D] ὅπως δὲ μὴ παντάπασιν
ἀγύμναστος ᾖ μηδὲ καθάπερ ᾄσματα καὶ μύθους τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐπακούῃ
λόγους, ἔργων δὲ ἀγαθῶν καὶ πράξεων ἄπειρος οὖσα τὸν τοσοῦτον διαμείνῃ
χρόνον, καθάπερ ὁ γενναῖος ἠξίωσε Πλάτων οἱονεὶ πτερὰ τοῖς παισὶ
χαριζόμενον καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἵππους ἀναβιβάζοντα(46) ἄγειν εἰς τὰς μάχας,
θεατὰς ἐσομένους ὧν οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἀγωνιστὰς ἐχρῆν καταστῆναι, πατέρα τὸν
σὸν [12] διανοηθέντα φαίην ἂν εἰκότως τοῖς Κελτῶν ἔθνεσιν ἐπιστῆσαι σε
φύλακα καὶ βασιλέα, μειράκιον ἔτι, μᾶλλον δὲ παῖδα κομιδῇ τῷ χρόνῳ, ἐπεὶ
τῇ γε συνέσει καὶ ῥώμῃ τοῖς καλοῖς κἀγαθοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἐνάμιλλον ἤδη. τοῦ
μὲν ἀκίνδυνον γενέσθαι σοι τὴν πολεμικὴν ἐμπειρίαν ὁ πατὴρ προυνόησε
καλῶς, εἰρήνην ἐπιτάξας πρὸς τοὸς ὑπηκόους ἄγειν τοῖς βαρβάροις· [B]
μάχεσθαι δὲ ἀναπείθων καὶ στασιάζειν πρὸς ἀλλήλουσ, ἐν ταῖς ἐκείνων
συμφοραῖς καὶ τοῖς σώμασι στρατηγικὴν ἐδίδασκε τέχνην, ἀσφαλέστερον
βουλευόμενος τοῦ σοφοῦ Πλάτωνος. τῷ μὲν γὰρ, εἰ πεζὸς ἐπέλθοι πολεμίων
στρατός, οἱ παῖδες θεαταὶ καὶ κοινωνοὶ τῶν ἔργων, ἤν που δεηθῶσι, τοῖς
πατράσι γένοιντ᾽ ἄν· κρατούντων δὲ ἱππεῦσι τῶν πολεμίων, ὥρα μηχανᾶσθαι
τοῖς μειρακίοις σωτηρίας τρόπον δυσεπινόητον. [C] τὸ δὲ ἐν ἀλλοτρίοις
κινδύνοις τοὺς παῖδας ἐθίζειν πολεμίων ἀνέχεσθαι καὶ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν
ἀρκούντως καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀσφάλειαν δοκεῖ βεβουλεῦσθαι.