The Seventh Letter By Plato, 11-20

Πλάτωνος Ἡ Ἑβδόμη Ἐπιστολὴ

The Seventh Letter By Plato

Translated by J. Harward

11-20

Ὅθεν μοι σκοπουμένῳ καὶ διστάζοντι πότερον εἴη πορευτέον καὶ ὑπακουστέον ἢ πῶς, ὅμως ἔρρεψε δεῖν, εἴ ποτέ τις τὰ διανοηθέντα [7.328c] περὶ νόμων τε καὶ πολιτείας ἀποτελεῖν ἐγχειρήσοι, καὶ νῦν πειρατέον εἶναι· πείσας γὰρ ἕνα μόνον ἱκανῶς πάντα ἐξειργασμένος ἐσοίμην ἀγαθά.	(11) Therefore, I pondered the matter and was in two minds as to whether I ought to listen to entreaties and go, or how I ought to act; and finally the scale turned in favour of the view that, if ever anyone was to try to carry out in practice my ideas about laws and constitutions, now was the time for making the attempt; for if only I could fully convince one man, I should have secured thereby the accomplishment of all good things.
Ταύτῃ μὲν δὴ τῇ διανοίᾳ τε καὶ τόλμῃ ἀπῆρα οἴκοθεν, οὐχ ᾗ τινες ἐδόξαζον, ἀλλ᾽ αἰσχυνόμενος μὲν ἐμαυτὸν τὸ μέγιστον, μὴ δόξαιμί ποτε ἐμαυτῷ παντάπασι λόγος μόνον ἀτεχνῶς εἶναι τίς, ἔργου δὲ οὐδενὸς ἄν ποτε ἑκὼν ἀνθάψασθαι, κινδυνεύσειν δὲ προδοῦναι πρῶτον [7.328d] μὲν τὴν Δίωνος ξενίαν τε καὶ ἑταιρίαν ἐν κινδύνοις ὄντως γεγονότος οὐ σμικροῖς. εἴτ᾽ οὖν πάθοι τι, εἴτ᾽ ἐκπεσὼν ὑπὸ Διονυσίου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐχθρῶν ἔλθοι παρ᾽ ἡμᾶς φεύγων καὶ ἀνέροιτο εἰπών· "ὦ Πλάτων, ἥκω σοι φυγὰς οὐχ ὁπλιτῶν δεόμενος οὐδὲ ἱππέων ἐνδεὴς γενόμενος τοῦ ἀμύνασθαι τοὺς ἐχθρούς, ἀλλὰ λόγων καὶ πειθοῦς, ᾗ σὲ μάλιστα ἠπιστάμην ἐγὼ δυνάμενον ἀνθρώπους νέους ἐπὶ τὰ ἀγαθὰ καὶ τὰ δίκαια προτρέποντα εἰς φιλίαν τε καὶ ἑταιρίαν ἀλλήλοις [7.328e] καθιστάναι ἑκάστοτε· ὧν ἐνδείᾳ κατὰ τὸ σὸν μέρος νῦν ἐγὼ καταλιπὼν Συρακούσας ἐνθάδε πάρειμι. καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐμὸν ἔλαττον ὄνειδός σοι φέρει· φιλοσοφία δέ, ἣν ἐγκωμιάζεις ἀεὶ καὶ ἀτίμως φῂς ὑπὸ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων φέρεσθαι, πῶς οὐ προδέδοται τὰ νῦν μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ μέρος ὅσον ἐπὶ σοὶ γέγονεν; [7.329a] καὶ Μεγαροῖ μὲν εἰ κατοικοῦντες ἐτυγχάνομεν, ἦλθες δήπου ἄν μοι βοηθὸς ἐφ᾽ ἅ σε παρεκάλουν, ἢ πάντων ἂν φαυλότατον ἡγοῦ σαυτόν· νῦν δ᾽ ἄρα τὸ μῆκος τῆς πορείας καὶ τὸ μέγεθος δὴ τοῦ πλοῦ καὶ τοῦ πόνου ἐπαιτιώμενος οἴει δόξαν κακίας ἀποφευξεῖσθαί ποτε; πολλοῦ καὶ δεήσει." λεχθέντων δὲ τούτων τίς ἂν ἦν μοι πρὸς ταῦτα εὐσχήμων ἀπόκρισις; οὐκ ἔστιν.	(12) With these views and thus nerved to the task, I sailed from home, in the spirit which some imagined, but principally through a feeling of shame with regard to myself, lest I might some day appear to myself wholly and solely a mere man of words, one who would never of his own will lay his hand to any act. Also there was reason to think that I should be betraying first and foremost my friendship and comradeship with Dion, who in very truth was in a position of considerable danger. If therefore anything should happen to him, or if he were banished by Dionysios and his other enemies and coming to us as exile addressed this question to me: "Plato, I have come to you as a fugitive, not for want of hoplites, nor because I had no cavalry for defence against my enemies, but for want of words and power of persuasion, which I knew to be a special gift of yours, enabling you to lead young men into the path of goodness and justice, and to establish in every case relations of friendship and comradeship among them. It is for the want of this assistance on your part that I have left Syracuse and am here now. And the disgrace attaching to your treatment of me is a small matter. But philosophy-whose praises you are always singing, while you say she is held in dishonour by the rest of mankind-must we not say that philosophy along with me has now been betrayed, so far as your action was concerned? Had I been living at Megara, you would certainly have come to give me your aid towards the objects for which I asked it; or you would have thought yourself the most contemptible of mankind. But as it is, do you think that you will escape the reputation of cowardice by making excuses about the distance of the journey, the length of the sea voyage, and the amount of labour involved? Far from it." To reproaches of this kind what creditable reply could I have made? Surely none.
Ἀλλ᾽ ἦλθον μὲν κατὰ λόγον ἐν δίκῃ τε [7.329b] ὡς οἷόν τε ἀνθρώπῳ μάλιστα, διά τε τὰ τοιαῦτα καταλιπὼν τὰς ἐμαυτοῦ διατριβάς, οὔσας οὐκ ἀσχήμονας, ὑπὸ τυραννίδα δοκοῦσαν οὐ πρέπειν τοῖς ἐμοῖς λόγοις οὐδὲ ἐμοί· ἐλθών τε ἐμαυτὸν ἠλευθέρωσα Διὸς ξενίου καὶ τῆς φιλοσόφου ἀνέγκλητον μοίρας παρέσχον, ἐπονειδίστου γενομένης ἄν, εἴ τι καταμαλθακισθεὶς καὶ ἀποδειλιῶν αἰσχύνης μετέσχον κακῆς.	(13) I took my departure, therefore, acting, so far as a man can act, in obedience to reason and justice, and for these reasons leaving my own occupations, which were certainly not discreditable ones, to put myself under a tyranny which did not seem likely to harmonise with my teaching or with myself. By my departure I secured my own freedom from the displeasure of Zeus Xenios, and made myself clear of any charge on the part of philosophy, which would have been exposed to detraction, if any disgrace had come upon me for faint-heartedness and cowardice.
Ἐλθὼν δέ--οὐ γὰρ δεῖ μηκύνειν--ηὗρον στάσεως τὰ περὶ Διονύσιον μεστὰ σύμπαντα καὶ διαβολῶν [7.329c] πρὸς τὴν τυραννίδα Δίωνος πέρι· ἤμυνον μὲν οὖν καθ᾽ ὅσον ἠδυνάμην, σμικρὰ δ᾽ οἷός τ᾽ ἦ, μηνὶ δὲ σχεδὸν ἴσως τετάρτῳ Δίωνα Διονύσιος αἰτιώμενος ἐπιβουλεύειν τῇ τυραννίδι, σμικρὸν εἰς πλοῖον ἐμβιβάσας, ἐξέβαλεν ἀτίμως.	(14) On my arrival, to cut a long story short, I found the court of Dionysios full of intrigues and of attempts to create in the sovereign ill-feeling against Dion. I combated these as far as I could, but with very little success; and in the fourth month or thereabouts, charging Dion with conspiracy to seize the throne, Dionysios put him on board a small boat and expelled him from Syracuse with ignominy.
οἱ δὴ Δίωνος τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο πάντες φίλοι ἐφοβούμεθα μή τινα ἐπαιτιώμενος τιμωροῖτο ὡς συναίτιον τῆς Δίωνος ἐπιβουλῆς· περὶ δ᾽ ἐμοῦ καὶ διῆλθε λόγος τις ἐν Συρακούσαις, ὡς τεθνεὼς εἴην ὑπὸ Διονυσίου τούτων ὡς πάντων τῶν τότε [7.329d] γεγονότων αἴτιος. ὁ δὲ αἰσθανόμενος πάντας ἡμᾶς οὕτω διατεθέντας, φοβούμενος μὴ μεῖζον ἐκ τῶν φόβων γένοιτό τι, φιλοφρόνως πάντας ἀνελάμβανεν, καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸν ἐμὲ παρεμυθεῖτό τε καὶ θαρρεῖν διεκελεύετο καὶ ἐδεῖτο πάντως μένειν· ἐγίγνετο γάρ οἱ τὸ μὲν ἐμὲ φυγεῖν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ καλὸν οὐδέν, τὸ δὲ μένειν--διὸ δὴ καὶ σφόδρα προσεποιεῖτο δεῖσθαι. τὰς δὲ τῶν τυράννων δεήσεις ἴσμεν ὅτι μεμειγμέναι ἀνάγκαις [7.329e] εἰσίν--ὃ δὴ μηχανώμενος διεκώλυέν μου τὸν ἔκπλουν, εἰς ἀκρόπολιν ἀγαγὼν καὶ κατοικίσας ὅθεν οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἷς ἔτι με ναύκληρος μὴ ὅτι κωλύοντος ἐξήγαγε Διονυσίου, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ εἰ μὴ πέμπων αὐτὸς τὸν κελεύοντα ἐξαγαγεῖν ἐπέστελλεν, οὔτ᾽ ἂν ἔμπορος οὔτε τῶν ἐν ταῖς τῆς χώρας ἐξόδοις ἀρχόντων οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἷς περιεῖδέν με μόνον ἐκπορευόμενον, ὃς οὐκ ἂν συλλαβὼν εὐθέως παρὰ Διονύσιον πάλιν ἀπήγαγεν, ἄλλως τε καὶ διηγγελμένον ἤδη ποτὲ τοὐναντίον ἢ [7.330a] τὸ πρότερον πάλιν, ὡς Πλάτωνα Διονύσιος θαυμαστῶς ὡς ἀσπάζεται.	All of us who were Dion's friends were afraid that he might take vengeance on one or other of us as an accomplice in Dion's conspiracy. With regard to me, there was even a rumour current in Syracuse that I had been put to death by Dionysios as the cause of all that had occurred. Perceiving that we were all in this state of mind and apprehending that our fears might lead to some serious consequence, he now tried to win all of us over by kindness: me in particular he encouraged, bidding me be of good cheer and entreating me on all grounds to remain. For my flight from him was not likely to redound to his credit, but my staying might do so. Therefore, he made a great pretence of entreating me. And we know that the entreaties of sovereigns are mixed with compulsion. So to secure his object he proceeded to render my departure impossible, bringing me into the acropolis, and establishing me in quarters from which not a single ship's captain would have taken me away against the will of Dionysios, nor indeed without a special messenger sent by him to order my removal. Nor was there a single merchant, or a single official in charge of points of departure from the country, who would have allowed me to depart unaccompanied, and would not have promptly seized me and taken me back to Dionysios, especially since a statement had now been circulated contradicting the previous rumours and giving out that Dionysios was becoming extraordinarily attached to Plato.
Τὸ δ᾽ εἶχεν δὴ πῶς; τὸ γὰρ ἀληθὲς δεῖ φράζειν. Ἠσπάζετο μὲν ἀεὶ προϊόντος τοῦ χρόνου μᾶλλον κατὰ τὴν τοῦ τρόπου τε καὶ ἤθους συνουσίαν, ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἐπαινεῖν μᾶλλον ἢ Δίωνα ἐβούλετό με καὶ φίλον ἡγεῖσθαι διαφερόντως μᾶλλον ἢ ᾽κεῖνον, καὶ θαυμαστῶς ἐφιλονίκει πρὸς τὸ τοιοῦτον· ᾗ δ᾽ ἂν οὕτως ἐγένετο, εἴπερ ἐγίγνετο, κάλλιστα, ὤκνει [7.330b] ὡς δὴ μανθάνων καὶ ἀκούων τῶν περὶ φιλοσοφίαν λόγων οἰκειοῦσθαι καὶ ἐμοὶ συγγίγνεσθαι, φοβούμενος τοὺς τῶν διαβαλλόντων λόγους, μή πῃ παραποδισθείη καὶ δίων δὴ πάντα εἴη διαπεπραγμένος. Ἐγὼ δὲ πάντα ὑπέμενον, τὴν πρώτην διάνοιαν φυλάττων ᾗπερ ἀφικόμην, εἴ πως εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν ἔλθοι τῆς φιλοσόφου ζωῆς· ὁ δ᾽ ἐνίκησεν ἀντιτείνων.	What were the facts about this attachment? I must tell the truth. As time went on, and as intercourse made him acquainted with my disposition and character, he did become more and more attached to me, and wished me to praise him more than I praised Dion, and to look upon him as more specially my friend than Dion, and he was extraordinarily eager about this sort of thing. But when confronted with the one way in which this might have been done, if it was to be done at all, he shrank from coming into close and intimate relations with me as a pupil and listener to my discourses on philosophy, fearing the danger suggested by mischief-makers, that he might be ensnared, and so Dion would prove to have accomplished all his object. I endured all this patiently, retaining the purpose with which I had come and the hope that he might come to desire the philosophic life. But his resistance prevailed against me.
Καὶ ὁ πρῶτος δὴ χρόνος τῆς εἰς Σικελίαν ἐμῆς ἐπιδημίας [7.330c] τε καὶ διατριβῆς διὰ πάντα ταῦτα συνέβη γενόμενος. Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἀπεδήμησά τε καὶ πάλιν ἀφικόμην πάσῃ σπουδῇ μεταπεμπομένου Διονυσίου· ὧν δὲ ἕνεκα καὶ ὅσα ἔπραξα, ὡς εἰκότα τε καὶ δίκαια, ὑμῖν πρῶτον μὲν συμβουλεύσας ἃ χρὴ ποιεῖν ἐκ τῶν νῦν γεγονότων, ὕστερον τὰ περὶ ταῦτα διέξειμι, τῶν ἐπανερωτώντων ἕνεκα τί δὴ βουλόμενος ἦλθον τὸ δεύτερον, ἵνα μὴ τὰ πάρεργα ὡς ἔργα μοι συμβαίνῃ λεγόμενα. Λέγω δὴ τάδε ἐγώ--	(15) The time of my first visit to Sicily and my stay there was taken up with all these incidents. On a later occasion I left home and again came on an urgent summons from Dionysios. But before giving the motives and particulars of my conduct then and showing how suitable and right it was, I must first, in order that I may not treat as the main point what is only a side issue, give you my advice as to what your acts should be in the present position of affairs; afterwards, to satisfy those who put the question why I came a second time, I will deal fully with the facts about my second visit; what I have now to say is this.
Τὸν συμβουλεύοντα ἀνδρὶ κάμνοντι καὶ δίαιταν διαιτωμένῳ [7.330d] μοχθηρὰν πρὸς ὑγίειαν ἄλλο τι χρὴ πρῶτον μὲν μεταβάλλειν τὸν βίον, καὶ ἐθέλοντι μὲν πείθεσθαι καὶ τἆλλα ἤδη παραινεῖν· μὴ ἐθέλοντι δέ, φεύγοντα ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ τοιούτου συμβουλῆς ἄνδρα τε ἡγοίμην ἂν καὶ ἰατρικόν, τὸν δὲ ὑπομένοντα τοὐναντίον ἄνανδρόν τε καὶ ἄτεχνον.	(16) He who advises a sick man, whose manner of life is prejudicial to health, is clearly bound first of all to change his patient's manner of life, and if the patient is willing to obey him, he may go on to give him other advice. But if he is not willing, I shall consider one who declines to advise such a patient to be a man and a physician, and one who gives in to him to be unmanly and unprofessional.
Ταὐτὸν δὴ καὶ πόλει, εἴτε αὐτῆς εἷς εἴη κύριος εἴτε καὶ πλείους, εἰ μὲν κατὰ τρόπον ὀρθῇ πορευομένης ὁδῷ τῆς πολιτείας συμβουλεύοιτό [7.330e] τι τῶν προσφόρων, νοῦν ἔχοντος τὸ τοῖς τοιούτοις συμβουλεύειν· τοῖς δ᾽ ἔξω τὸ παράπαν βαίνουσι τῆς ὀρθῆς πολιτείας καὶ μηδαμῇ ἐθέλουσιν αὐτῆς εἰς ἴχνος ἰέναι, προαγορεύουσιν δὲ τῷ συμβούλῳ τὴν μὲν πολιτείαν ἐᾶν καὶ μὴ [7.331a] κινεῖν, ὡς ἀποθανουμένῳ ἐὰν κινῇ, ταῖς δὲ βουλήσεσιν καὶ ἐπιθυμίαις αὐτῶν ὑπηρετοῦντας συμβουλεύειν κελεύοιεν, τίνα τρόπον γίγνοιτ᾽ ἂν ῥᾷστά τε καὶ τάχιστα εἰς τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον, τὸν μὲν ὑπομένοντα συμβουλὰς τοιαύτας ἡγοίμην ἂν ἄνανδρον, τὸν δ᾽ οὐχ ὑπομένοντα ἄνδρα.	In the same way with regard to a State, whether it be under a single ruler or more than one, if, while the government is being carried on methodically and in a right course, it asks advice about any details of policy, it is the part of a wise man to advise such people. But when men are travelling altogether outside the path of right government and flatly refuse to move in the right path, and start by giving notice to their adviser that he must leave the government alone and make no change in it under penalty of death-if such men should order their counsellors to pander to their wishes and desires and to advise them in what way their object may most readily and easily be once for all accomplished, I should consider as unmanly one who accepts the duty of giving such forms of advice, and one who refuses it to be a true man.
Ταύτην δὴ τὴν διάνοιαν ἐγὼ κεκτημένος, ὅταν τίς μοι συμβουλεύηται περί τινος τῶν μεγίστων περὶ τὸν αὑτοῦ βίον, οἷον περὶ χρημάτων κτήσεως [7.331b] ἢ περὶ σώματος ἢ ψυχῆς ἐπιμελείας, ἂν μέν μοι τὸ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἔν τινι τρόπῳ δοκῇ ζῆν ἢ συμβουλεύσαντος ἂν ἐθέλειν πείθεσθαι περὶ ὧν ἀνακοινοῦται, προθύμως συμβουλεύω καὶ οὐκ ἀφοσιωσάμενος μόνον ἐπαυσάμην.	(17) Holding these views, whenever anyone consults me about any of the weightiest matters affecting his own life, as, for instance, the acquisition of property or the proper treatment of body or mind, if it seems to me that his daily life rests on any system, or if he seems likely to listen to advice about the things on which he consults me, I advise him with readiness, and do not content myself with giving him a merely perfunctory answer.
Ἐὰν δὲ μὴ συμβουλεύηταί μοι τὸ παράπαν ἢ συμβουλεύοντι δῆλος ᾖ μηδαμῇ πεισόμενος, αὐτόκλητος ἐπὶ τὸν τοιοῦτον οὐκ ἔρχομαι συμβουλεύσων, βιασόμενος δὲ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὑὸς ᾖ μου.	But if a man does not consult me at all, or evidently does not intend to follow my advice, I do not take the initiative in advising such a man, and will not use compulsion to him, even if he be my own son.
Δούλῳ δὲ συμβουλεύσαιμ᾽ ἂν καὶ μὴ ἐθέλοντά γε προσβιαζοίμην· [7.331c] πατέρα δὲ ἢ μητέρα οὐχ ὅσιον ἡγοῦμαι προσβιάζεσθαι μὴ νόσῳ παραφροσύνης ἐχομένους, ἐὰν δέ τινα καθεστῶτα ζῶσι βίον, ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκοντα, ἐμοὶ δὲ μή, μήτε ἀπεχθάνεσθαι μάτην νουθετοῦντα μήτε δὴ κολακεύοντά γε ὑπηρετεῖν αὐτοῖς, πληρώσεις ἐπιθυμιῶν ἐκπορίζοντα ἃς αὐτὸς ἀσπαζόμενος οὐκ ἂν ἐθέλοιμι ζῆν.	I would advise a slave under such circumstances, and would use compulsion to him if he were unwilling. To a father or mother I do not think that piety allows one to offer compulsion, unless they are suffering from an attack of insanity; and if they are following any regular habits of life which please them but do not please me, I would not offend them by offering useless, advice, nor would I flatter them or truckle to them, providing them with the means of satisfying desires which I myself would sooner die than cherish.
Ταὐτὸν δὴ καὶ περὶ πόλεως αὑτοῦ διανοούμενον χρὴ ζῆν τὸν ἔμφρονα· λέγειν μέν, εἰ μὴ [7.331d] καλῶς αὐτῷ φαίνοιτο πολιτεύεσθαι, εἰ μέλλοι μήτε ματαίως ἐρεῖν μήτε ἀποθανεῖσθαι λέγων, βίαν δὲ πατρίδι πολιτείας μεταβολῆς μὴ προσφέρειν, ὅταν ἄνευ φυγῆς καὶ σφαγῆς ἀνδρῶν μὴ δυνατὸν ᾖ γίγνεσθαι τὴν ἀρίστην, ἡσυχίαν δὲ ἄγοντα εὔχεσθαι τὰ ἀγαθὰ αὑτῷ τε καὶ τῇ πόλει.	The wise man should go through life with the same attitude of mind towards his country. If she should appear to him to be following a policy which is not a good one, he should say so, provided that his words are not likely either to fall on deaf ears or to lead to the loss of his own life. But force against his native land he should not use in order to bring about a change of constitution, when it is not possible for the best constitution to be introduced without driving men into exile or putting them to death; he should keep quiet and offer up prayers for his own welfare and for that of his country.
Κατὰ δὴ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ἐγὼ ὑμῖν τ᾽ ἂν συμβουλεύοιμι, συνεβούλευον δὲ καὶ Διονυσίῳ μετὰ Δίωνος, ζῆν μὲν τὸ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν πρῶτον, ὅπως ἐγκρατὴς αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ ὅτι μάλιστα [7.331e] ἔσεσθαι μέλλοι καὶ πιστοὺς φίλους τε καὶ ἑταίρους κτήσεσθαι, ὅπως μὴ πάθοι ἅπερ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ, ὃς παραλαβὼν Σικελίας πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας πόλεις ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων ἐκπεπορθημένας, οὐχ οἷός τ᾽ ἦν κατοικίσας πολιτείας ἐν ἑκάσταις καταστήσασθαι πιστὰς ἑταίρων ἀνδρῶν, οὔτε ἄλλων δή [7.332a] ποθεν ὀθνείων οὔτε ἀδελφῶν, οὓς ἔθρεψέν τε αὐτὸς νεωτέρους ὄντας, ἔκ τε ἰδιωτῶν ἄρχοντας καὶ ἐκ πενήτων πλουσίους ἐπεποιήκει διαφερόντως.	(18) These are the principles in accordance with which I should advise you, as also, jointly with Dion, I advised Dionysios, bidding him in the first place to live his daily life in a way that would make him as far as possible master of himself and able to gain faithful friends and supporters, in order that he might not have the same experience as his father. For his father, having taken under his rule many great cities of Sicily which had been utterly destroyed by the barbarians, was not able to found them afresh and to establish in them trustworthy governments carried on by his own supporters, either by men who had no ties of blood with him, or by his brothers whom he had brought up when they were younger, and had raised from humble station to high office and from poverty to immense wealth.
Τούτων κοινωνὸν τῆς ἀρχῆς οὐδένα οἷός τ᾽ ἦν πειθοῖ καὶ διδαχῇ καὶ εὐεργεσίαις καὶ συγγενείαις ἀπεργασάμενος ποιήσασθαι, Δαρείου δὲ ἑπταπλασίῳ φαυλότερος ἐγένετο, ὃς οὐκ ἀδελφοῖς πιστεύσας οὐδ᾽ ὑφ᾽ αὑτοῦ τραφεῖσιν, κοινωνοῖς δὲ μόνον τῆς τοῦ Μήδου τε [7.332b] καὶ εὐνούχου χειρώσεως, διένειμέ τε μέρη μείζω ἕκαστα Σικελίας πάσης ἑπτά, καὶ πιστοῖς ἐχρήσατο τοῖς κοινωνοῖς καὶ οὐκ ἐπιτιθεμένοις οὔτε αὐτῷ οὔτε ἀλλήλοις, ἔδειξέν τε παράδειγμα οἷον χρὴ τὸν νομοθέτην καὶ βασιλέα τὸν ἀγαθὸν γίγνεσθαι· νόμους γὰρ κατασκευάσας ἔτι καὶ νῦν διασέσωκεν τὴν Περσῶν ἀρχήν.	Not one of these was he able to work upon by persuasion, instruction, services and ties of kindred, so as to make him a partner in his rule; and he showed himself inferior to Darius with a sevenfold inferiority. For Darius did not put his trust in brothers or in men whom he had brought up, but only in his confederates in the overthrow of the Mede and Eunuch; and to these he assigned portions of his empire, seven in number, each of them greater than all Sicily; and they were faithful to him and did not attack either him or one another. Thus he showed a pattern of what the good lawgiver and king ought to be; for he drew up laws by which he has secured the Persian empire in safety down to the present time.
Ἔτι δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι πρὸς τούτοις, οὐκ αὐτοὶ κατοικίσαντες, πολλὰς τῶν Ἑλλήνων πόλεις ὑπὸ βαρβάρων ἐμβεβλημένας ἀλλ᾽ οἰκουμένας παραλαβόντες, ὅμως [7.332c] ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη διεφύλαξαν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἄνδρας φίλους ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν ἑκάσταις κεκτημένοι. Διονύσιος δὲ εἰς μίαν πόλιν ἁθροίσας πᾶσαν Σικελίαν, ὑπὸ σοφίας πιστεύων οὐδενί, μόγις ἐσώθη· πένης γὰρ ἦν ἀνδρῶν φίλων καὶ πιστῶν, οὗ μεῖζον σημεῖον εἰς ἀρετὴν καὶ κακίαν οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδέν, τοῦ ἔρημον ἢ μὴ τοιούτων ἀνδρῶν εἶναι.	(19) Again, to give another instance, the Athenians took under their rule very many cities not founded by themselves, which had been hard hit by the barbarians but were still in existence, and maintained their rule over these for seventy years, because they had in each them men whom they could trust. But Dionysios, who had gathered the whole of Sicily into a single city, and was so clever that he trusted no one, only secured his own safety with great difficulty. For he was badly off for trustworthy friends; and there is no surer criterion of virtue and vice than this, whether a man is or is not destitute of such friends.
Ἃ δὴ καὶ Διονυσίῳ συνεβουλεύομεν ἐγὼ καὶ Δίων, ἐπειδὴ τὰ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς [7.332d] αὐτῷ συνεβεβήκει οὕτως, ἀνομιλήτῳ μὲν παιδείας, ἀνομιλήτῳ δὲ συνουσιῶν τῶν προσηκουσῶν γεγονέναι, πρῶτον . . . ἔπειτα ταύτῃ ὁρμήσαντα φίλους ἄλλους αὑτῷ τῶν οἰκείων ἅμα καὶ ἡλικιωτῶν καὶ συμφώνους πρὸς ἀρετὴν κτήσασθαι, μάλιστα δ᾽ αὐτὸν αὑτῷ, τούτου γὰρ αὐτὸν θαυμαστῶς ἐνδεᾶ γεγονέναι, λέγοντες οὐκ ἐναργῶς οὕτως--οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἀσφαλές --αἰνιττόμενοι δὲ καὶ διαμαχόμενοι τοῖς λόγοις ὡς οὕτω μὲν πᾶς ἀνὴρ αὑτόν τε καὶ ἐκείνους ὧν ἂν ἡγεμὼν γίγνηται σώσει, [7.332e] μὴ ταύτῃ δὲ τραπόμενος τἀναντία πάντα ἀποτελεῖ·	(20) This, then, was the advice which Dion and I gave to Dionysios, since, owing to bringing up which he had received from his father, he had had no advantages in the way of education or of suitable lessons, in the first place...; and, in the second place, that, after starting in this way, he should make friends of others among his connections who were of the same age and were in sympathy with his pursuit of virtue, but above all that he should be in harmony with himself; for this it was of which he was remarkably in need. This we did not say in plain words, for that would not have been safe; but in covert language we maintained that every man in this way would save both himself and those whom he was leading, and if he did not follow this path, he would do just the opposite of this.
πορευθεὶς δὲ ὡς λέγομεν, καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἔμφρονά τε καὶ σώφρονα ἀπεργασάμενος, εἰ τὰς ἐξηρημωμένας Σικελίας πόλεις κατοικίσειεν νόμοις τε συνδήσειεν καὶ πολιτείαις, ὥστε αὑτῷ τε οἰκείας καὶ ἀλλήλαις εἶναι πρὸς τὰς τῶν βαρβάρων βοηθείας, οὐ [7.333a] διπλασίαν τὴν πατρῴαν ἀρχὴν μόνον ποιήσοι, πολλαπλασίαν δὲ ὄντως·	And after proceeding on the course which we described, and making himself a wise and temperate man, if he were then to found again the cities of Sicily which had been laid waste, and bind them together by laws and constitutions, so as to be loyal to him and to one another in their resistance to the attacks of the barbarians, he would, we told him, make his father's empire not merely double what it was but many times greater.
ἕτοιμον γὰρ εἶναι τούτων γενομένων πολὺ μᾶλλον δουλώσασθαι Καρχηδονίους τῆς ἐπὶ Γέλωνος αὐτοῖς γενομένης δουλείας, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὥσπερ νῦν τοὐναντίον ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ φόρον ἐτάξατο φέρειν τοῖς βαρβάροις.	For, if these things were done, his way would be clear to a more complete subjugation of the Carthaginians than that which befell them in Gelon's time, whereas in our own day his father had followed the opposite course of levying attribute for the barbarians.
Ταῦτα ἦν τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ παρακελευόμενα ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων Διονυσίῳ, ὡς πολλαχόθεν ἐχώρουν οἱ τοιοῦτοι λόγοι, οἳ δὴ καὶ κρατήσαντες παρὰ Διονυσίῳ ἐξέβαλον μὲν Δίωνα, ἡμᾶς [7.333b] δ᾽ εἰς φόβον κατέβαλον· ἵνα δ᾽ ἐκπεράνωμεν οὐκ ὀλίγα πράγματα τὰ ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ, ἐλθὼν ἐκ Πελοποννήσου καὶ Ἀθηνῶν Δίων ἔργῳ τὸν Διονύσιον ἐνουθέτησεν.	This was the language and these the exhortations given by us, the conspirators against Dionysios according to the charges circulated from various sources-charges which, prevailing as they did with Dionysios, caused the expulsion of Dion and reduced me to a state of apprehension. But when-to summarise great events which happened in no great time-Dion returned from the Peloponnese and Athens, his advice to Dionysios took the form of action.

Αρχή σελίδας

Μικρός Απόπλους
http://www.mikrosapoplous.gr
Ιανουάριος 2001