(I would fain recite every single one of your achievements, but you will with reason pardon me, most mighty Emperor, if I fall short of that ambition and omit to mention the naval armament against Carthage which was equipped in Egypt and set sail from Italy to attack her, and also your conquest of the Pyrenees, against which you sent an army by sea, and your successes against the barbarians, which of late have been so frequent, and all such successes in the past as have not become a matter of common knowledge. For example, I often hear that even Antioch now calls herself by your name. Her existence she does indeed owe to her founder,[189] but her present wealth and increase in every sort of abundance she owes to you, since you provided her with harbours that offer good anchorage for those who put in there. For till then it was considered a dangerous risk even to sail past Antioch; so full were all the waters of that coast, up to the very shores, of rocks and sunken reefs. I need not stop to mention the porticoes, fountains, and other things of the kind that you caused to be bestowed on Antioch by her governors. As to your benefactions to the city of your ancestors,[190] you built round it a wall that was then only begun, and all buildings that seemed to be unsound you restored and made safe for all time. But how could one reckon up all these things? Time will fail me if I try to tell everything separately.)
Σκοπεῖν δὲ ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων ἄξιον ἤδη τῶν ῥηθέντων, εἰ μετὰ ἀρετῆς καὶ τῆς βελτίστης ἕξεως ἅπαντα γέγονε· τούτῳ γὰρ ἤδη καὶ τῶν λόγων ἀρχόμενος μάλιστα προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν ἠξίουν. οὐκοῦν τῷ πατρὶ μὲν εὐσεβῶς καὶ φιλανθρώπως ὅπως προσηνέχθης, ὁμονοῶν δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς διετέλεσας τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον, ἀρχόμενος μὲν προθύμως, [C] συνάρχων δὲ ἐκείνοις σωφρόνως, πάλαι τε εἴρηται καὶ νῦν ἀξιούσθω μνήμης. τοῦτο δὲ ὅστις μικρᾶς ἀρετῆς ἔργον ὑπέλαβεν Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν Φιλίππου καὶ Κῦρον τὸν Καμβύσου σκοπῶν ἐπαινείτω. ὁ μὲν γὰρ μειράκιον ἔτι κομιδῇ νέον δῆλος ἦν τοῦ πατρὸς οὐκ ἀνεξόμενος ἄρχοντος, ὁ δὲ ἀφείλετο τὴν ἀρχὴν τὸν πάππον. καὶ ταῦτα οὐδείς ἐστιν οὕτως[191] ἠλίθιος, ὅστις οὐκ οἴεταί σε,[192] μηδὲν ἐκείνων μεγαλοψυχίᾳ καὶ τῇ πρὸς τὰ καλὰ φιλοτιμίᾳ λειπόμενον, οὕτως ἐγκρατῶς καὶ σωφρόνως [D] τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς προσενηνέχθαι. παρασχούσης γὰρ τῆς τύχης τὸν καιρὸν, ἐν ᾧ τῆς ἁπάντων ἡγεμονίας ἐχρῆν μεταποιηθῆναι, πρῶτος ὡρμήθης, πολλῶν ἀπαγορευόντων καὶ πρὸς τἀναντία ξυμπείθειν ἐπιχειρούντων· ῥᾷστα δὲ καὶ πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν τὸν ὲν χερσὶ πόλεμον διοικησάμενος ἐλευθεροῦν ἔγνως τῆς ἀρχῆς τὰ κατειλημμένα, [42] δικαιοτάτην μὲν καὶ οἵαν οὔπω πρόσθεν ἔλαβε πρόφασιν πόλεμος τῆς πρὸς ἐκείνους ἔχθρας [pg 108] τιθέμενος. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐμφύλιον ἄξιον προσαγορεύειν τὸν πόλεμον, οὗ βάρβαρος ἦν ἡγεμὼν ἑαυτὸν ἀναγορεύσας βασιλέα καὶ χειροτονήσας στρατηγόν. τῶν ἀδικημάτων δὲ τῶν ἐκείνου καὶ ὧν ἔδρασεν εἰς οἰκίαν τὴν σὴν οὐχ ἡδύ μοι πολλάκις μεμνῆσθαι. ἀνδρειοτέραν δὲ τ῀εσδε τῆς πράξεως τίς ἂν εἰπεῖν ἔχοι; ἐφ᾽ ἧς δῆλος μὲν [B] ἦν ἀποτυχόντι τῶν ἔργων ὁ[193] κίνδυνος· ὑπέμενες δὲ οὐδὲν κέρδους χάριν οὐδὲ κλέος ἀείμνηστον ἀντωνούμενος, ὑπὲρ οὗ καὶ ἀποθνήσκειν ἄνδρες ἀγαθοὶ πολλάκις τολμῶσιν, οἷον πρὸς ἀργύριον τὴν δόξαν τὰς ψυχὰς ἀποδιδόμενοι, οὐδὲ μὴν δι᾽ ἐπιθυμίαν ἀρχῆς μείζονος καὶ λαμπροτέρας, ὅτι μηδὲ νέῳ σοι τούτων ἐπιθυμῆσαι συνέβη, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸ τὸ καλὸν στέργων τῆς πράξεως πάντα ὑπομένειν ᾤου δεῖν πρὶν ἰδεῖν Ῥωμαίων βάρβαρον βασιλεύοντα καὶ νόμων κύριον καὶ [C] πολιτείας καθεστῶτα καὶ τὰς ὑπὲρ τῶν κοινῶν εὐχὰς ποιούμενον τὸν τοσούτοις ἀσεβήμασιν ἔνοχον καὶ φόνοις. τῆς παρασκευῆς δὲ αὐτῆς ἡ λαμπρότης καὶ τῶν ἀναλωμάτων τὸ μέγεθος τίνα οὐχ ἱκανὸν ἐκπλῆξαι; καίτον Ξέρξην μὲν ἀκούω τὸν τὴν Ἀσίαν ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐξαναστήσαντα χρόνον ἐτῶν οὐκ ἐλάσσονα δέκα πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἐκεῖνον παρασκευάζεσθαι, εἶτα ἐπαγαγεῖν πρὸς ταῖς χιλίαις τριήρεσι διακοσίας ἐκ τούτων αὐτῶν οἶμαι τῶν χωρίων, [D] ἐξ ὧν αὐτὸς ἐν οὐδὲ ὅλοις μησὶ δέκα ναυπηγησάμενος ἤγειρας τὸν στόλον, πλήθει νεῶν ἐκεῖνον ὑπερβαλλόμενος· τῇ τύχῃ δὲ οὐδὲ ἄξιον συμβαλεῖν οὐδὲ τοῖς ἔργοις.
(The time has now come when it is proper to consider whether your career, so far as I have described it, is at every point in harmony with virtue and the promptings of a noble disposition. For to this, as I said at the beginning of my speech, I think it right to pay special attention. Let me therefore mention once more what I said some time ago, that to your father you were dutiful and affectionate, and that you constantly maintained friendly relations with your brothers, for your father you were ever willing to obey, and as the colleague of your brothers in the empire you always displayed moderation. And if anyone thinks this a trifling proof of merit, let him consider the case of Alexander the son of Philip, and Cyrus the son of Cambyses, and then let him applaud your conduct. For Alexander, while still a mere boy, showed clearly that he would no longer brook his father's control, while Cyrus dethroned his grandfather. Yet no one is so foolish as to suppose that, since you displayed such modesty and self-control towards your father and brothers, you were not fully equal to Alexander and Cyrus in greatness of soul and ambition for glory. For when fortune offered you the opportunity to claim as your right the empire of the world, you were the first to make the essay, though there were many who advised otherwise and tried to persuade you to the contrary course. Accordingly, when you had carried through the war that you had in hand, and that with the utmost ease and so as to ensure safety for the future, you resolved to liberate that part of the empire which had been occupied by the enemy, and the reason that you assigned for going to war was most just and such as had never before arisen, namely your detestation of those infamous men. Civil war one could not call it, for its leader was a barbarian who had proclaimed himself emperor and elected himself general. I dislike to speak too often of his evil deeds and the crimes that he committed against your house. But could anything be more heroic than your line of action? For should you fail in your undertaking the risk involved was obvious. But you faced it, and you were not bidding for gain, nay nor for undying renown, for whose sake brave men so often dare even to die, selling their lives for glory as though it were gold, nor was it from desire of wider or more brilliant empire, for not even in your youth were you ambitious of that, but it was because you were in love with the abstract beauty of such an achievement, and thought it your duty to endure anything rather than see a barbarian ruling over Roman citizens, making himself master of the laws and constitution and offering public prayers for the common weal, guilty as he was of so many impious crimes and murders. Who could fail to be dazzled by the splendour of your armament and the vast scale of your expenditure? And yet I am told that Xerxes, when he mustered all Asia against the Greeks, spent no less than ten years in preparing for that war. Then he set out with twelve hundred triremes, from the very spot, as I understand, where you gathered your fleet together, having built it in rather less than ten months, and yet you had more ships than Xerxes. But neither his fortune nor his achievements can properly be compared with yours.)
Τὴν δὲ εἰς τὰ λοιπὰ δαπανήματα μεγαλοπρέπειαν μὴ πολὺ λίαν ἔργον ᾖ φράζειν, οὐδὲ ὁπόσα ταῖς πόλεσι πάλαι στερομέναις ἀπεδίδους ἀπαριθμούμενος ἐνοχλήσω τὰ νῦν. [43] πλουτοῦσι μὲν γὰρ ἅπασαι διὰ σὲ ἐπὶ τῶν[194] ἔμπροσθεν ἐνδεεῖς οὖσαι καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων, ἐπιδίδωσι δὲ τῶν ἰδίων ἕκαστος οἴκων διὰ τὰς κοινὰς τῶν πόλεων εὐετηρίας. ἀλλὰ τῶν εἰς τοὺς ἰδιώτας ἄξιον δωρεῶν μεμνῆσθαι, ἐλευθέριόν σε καὶ μεγαλόδωρον βασιλέα προσαγορεύοντα, ὃς πολλοῖς μὲν στερομένοις πάλαι τῶν αὑτῶν κτημάτων, τοῦ πατρῴου κλήρου συμφορᾷ περιπεπτωκότος ἐν δίκῃ καὶ παρὰ δίκην, ἐπειδὴ πρῶτον ἐγένου κύριος, [B] τοῖς μὲν καθάπερ δικαστὴς ἀγαθὸς τὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἁμαρτήματα διορθωσάμενος κυρίους εἶναι τῆς αὑτῶν οὐσίας παρέσχες, τοῖς δὲ ἐπιεικὴς κριτὴς γενόμενος ταῦτα μὲν ὧν ἀφῄρηντο πάλιν ἐχαρίσω, ἀρκεῖν οἰόμενος τὸ μῆκος τοῦ χρόνου πρὸς τιμωρίαν τοῖς παθοῦσιν· ὅσα δὲ αὐτὸς οἴκοθεν χαριζόμενος πλουσιωτέρους ἀπέθηνας πολλοὺς τῶν πάλαι δοξάντων ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν χρημάτων εὐπορίᾳ σεμνύνεσθαι, [C] τί χρὴ νῦν ὑπομιμνήσκοντα περὶ μικρὰ διατρίβειν δοκεῖν; ἄλλως τε καὶ πᾶσιν ὄντος καταφανοῦς, ὅτι μηδεὶς πώποτε πλὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Φιλίππου τοσαῦτα βασιλεῦς τοῖς αὑτοῦ φίλοις διανέμων ὤφθη. ἀλλὰ τοῖς μὲν ὁ τῶν φίλων πλοῦτος τῆς τῶν πολεμίων ῥώμης ὕποπτος ἐφάνη μᾶλλον καὶ φοβερώτερος, ἄλλοι [pg 112] δὲ τὴν τῶν ἀρχομένων εὐγένειαν ὑπιδόμενοι πάντα τρόπον τοὺς εὖ γεγονότας προπηλακίζοντες [D] ἢ καὶ ἀναιροῦντες ἄρδην τὰς οἰκίας κοινῇ μὲν ταῖς πόλεσι συμφορῶν, ἰδίᾳ δὲ αὑτοῖς ἀνοσίων ἔργων αἰτιώτατοι κατέστησαν. οὐκ ἀπέσχοντο δὲ ἤδη τινὲς τοῖς τοῦ σώματος ἀγαθοῖς, ὑγιείᾳ φημὶ καὶ κάλλει καὶ εὐεξίᾳ, βασκαίνοντες· ψυχῆς τε ἀρετὴν ἔν τινι τῶν πολιτῶν γενομένην οὐδὲ ἀκούειν ὑπέμενον, ἀλλ᾽ ἦν ἀδίκημα τοῦτο, καθάπερ ἀνδροφονία καὶ κλοπὴ καὶ προδοσία, τὸ δοκεῖν ἀρετῆς μεταποιηθῆναι. [44] καὶ ταῦτα τυχὸν ἀληθῶς οὐ βασιλέων φήσει τις, πονηρῶν δὲ καὶ ἀνελευθέρων τυράννων ἔργα καὶ πράξεις. ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἤδη τὸ πάθος οὐ τῶν ἀνοήτων μόνον, ἀλλά τινων ἐπιεικῶν καὶ πρᾴων ἀνδρῶν ἁψάμενον, τὸ τοῖς φίλοις ἄχθεσθαι πλέον ἔχουσι[195] καὶ πολλάκις ἐλαττοῦν ἐθέλειν καὶ τῶν προσηκόντων αὐτοὺς ἀφαιρεῖσθαι, τίς ἐπὶ σοῦ λέγειν ἐτόλμησε; τοῦτο καὶ Κῦρόν φασι τὸν Πέρσην γάμβρον ὄντα βασιλέως παρὰ τοῦ κηδεστοῦ παθεῖν ἀχθομένου τῇ παρὰ τοῦ πλήθους εἰς τὸν ἄνδρα τιμῇ, καὶ ἀγησίλαος δὲ [B] δῆλος ἦν ἀχθόμενος τιμωμένῳ παρὰ τοῖς Ἴωσι Λυσάνδρῳ.
(I fear that it is beyond my powers to describe the magnificence of your outlay for other purposes, nor will I risk being tedious by staying now to count up the sums you bestowed on cities that had long been destitute. For whereas, in the time of your predecessors, they lacked the necessaries of life, they have all become rich through you, and the general prosperity of each city increases the welfare of every private household in it. But it is proper that I should mention your gifts to private persons, and give you the title of a generous and open-handed Emperor; for since there were many who long ago had lost their property, because, in some cases justly, in others unjustly, their ancestral estates had suffered loss, you had no sooner come into power, than like a just judge you set right in the latter cases the errors committed by men in the past, and restored them to the control of their property, while in the former cases you were a kindly arbiter, and granted that they should recover what they had lost, thinking that to have suffered so long was punishment enough. Then you lavished large sums from your privy purse, and increased the reputation for wealth of many who even in the past had prided themselves on their large incomes. But why should I remind you of all this and seem to waste time over trifles? Especially as it must be obvious to all that no king except Alexander the son of Philip was ever known to bestow such splendid presents on his friends. Indeed some kings have thought that the wealth of their friends gave more grounds for suspicion and alarm than did the resources of their enemies, while others were jealous of the aristocrats among their subjects, and therefore persecuted the well-born in every possible way, or even exterminated their houses, and thus were responsible for the public disasters of their cities and, in private life, for the most infamous crimes. There were some who went so far as to envy mere physical advantages, such as health or good looks, or good condition. And as for a virtuous character among their subjects, they could not bear even to hear of it, but counted it a crime like murder or theft or treason to appear to lay claim to virtue. But perhaps someone will say, and with truth, that these were the actions and practices not of genuine kings but of base and contemptible tyrants. Nay, but that other malady which has been known to attack not only those who were irrational, but some even who were just and mild, I mean the tendency to quarrel with friends who were too prosperous and to wish to humble them and deprive them of their rightful possessions, who I ask has ever dared so much as to mention such conduct in your case? Yet such, they say, was the treatment that Cyrus the Persian, the king's son-in-law, received from his kinsman,[196] who could not brook the honour in which Cyrus was held by the common people, and Agesilaus also is well known to have resented the honours paid to Lysander by the Ionians.)
Τούτους οὖν[197] πάντας ὑπερβαλλόμενος ἀρετῇ, τοῖς πλουτοῦσι μὲν τὸ πλουτεῖν ἀσφαλέστερον ἢ πατὴρ τοῖς αὑτοῦ παισί κατέστησας, εὐγενείας [pg 114] δὲ τῆς τῶν ὑπηκόων προνοεῖς καθάπερ ἁπάσης πόλεως οἰκιστὴς καὶ νομοθέτης· καὶ τοὶς ἐκ τῆς τύχης ἀγαθοῖς πολλὰ μὲν προστιθείς, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐξ ἀρχῆς χαριζόμενος, δῆλος [C] εἶ τῷ μεγέθει μὲν τὰς παρὰ τῶν βασιλέων δωρεὰς ὑπερβαλλόμενος, τῇ βεβαιότητι δὲ τῶν ἅπαξ δοθέντων τὰς παρὰ τῶν δήμων χάριτας ἁποκρυπτόμενος. τοῦτο δὲ οἶμαι καὶ μάλα εἰκότως συμβαίνει. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐφ᾽ οἷς συνίσασιν αὑτοῖς ἀπολειφθεῖσιν ἀγαθοῖς, τοῖς κεκτημένοις βασκαίνουσιν, ὅτῳ δὲ τὰ μὲν ἐκ τῆς τύχης ἐστὶ λαμπρὰ καὶ οἷα οὐδενὶ τῶν ἄλλων, τὰ δὲ ἐκ τῆς προαιρέσεως τῶν ἐκ τῆς τύχης μακρῷ σεμνότερα, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅτου δεόμενος τῷ κεκτημένῳ φθονήσειεν. [D] ὃ δὴ καὶ σαυτῷ μάλιστα πάντων ὑπάρχειν ἐγνωκὼς χαίρεις μὲν ἐπὶ τοῖς τῶν ἄλλων ἀγαθοῖς, εὐφραίνει δὲ σε τὰ τῶν ὑπηκόων κατορθώματα· καὶ τιμὰς ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς τὰς μὲν ἐχαρίσω, τὰς δὲ ἤδη μέλλεις, ὑπὲρ δὲ ἐνίων βουλεύῃ· καὶ οὐκ ἀπόχρη σοι πόλεως μιᾶς οὐδὲ ἔθνους ἑνὸς οὐδὲ πολλῶν ὁμοῦ τοῖς φίλοις ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐπ᾽ αὐταῖς τιμὰς διανέμειν· ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μὴ καὶ βασιλείας [45] ἕλοιο κοινωνόν, ὑπὲρ ἧς τοσοῦτον ὑπομείνας πόνον τὸ τῶν τυράννων γένος ἀνῄρηκας, οὐδὲν ἄξιον τῶν σαυτοῦ κατορθωμάτων ἔργον ὑπέλαβες. καὶ ὅτι μὴ χρείᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ χαίρειν πάντα [pg 116] δωρούμενος ἐπὶ ταύτην ὥρμησας τὴν γνώμην, ἅπασιν οἶμαι γνώριμον γέγονε. τῶν μὲν γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς τυράννους ἀγώνων κοινωνὸν οὐχ εἵλου, τῆς τιμῆς δὲ τὸν οὐ μετασχόντα τῶν πόνων ἠξίωσας μεταλαβεῖν μόνον, ὅτε μηδὲν ἔτι φοβερὸν ἐδόκει. [B] καὶ τῆς μὲν οὐδὲ ἐπ᾽ ὀλίγον ἀφελὼν δῆλος εἶ, τῶν πόνων δὲ οὐδὲ ἐπὶ σμικρὸν κοινωνεῖν ἀξιοῖς. πλὴν εἴ που δέοι πρὸς ὀλίγον ἑπόμενον σοι στρατεύεσθαι. πότερον οὖν καὶ περὶ τούτων μαρτύρων τινῶν καὶ τεκμηρίων τῷ λόγῳ προσδεῖ; ἢ δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ λέγοντος, ὅτι μὴ ψευδεῖς ἐπεισάγει λόγους; ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ μὲν τούτων οὐδὲν ἔτι πλέον ἄξιον ἐνδιατρίβειν.
(All these, then, you have surpassed in merit, for you have made their wealth more secure for the rich than a father would for his own children, and you take thought that your subjects shall be well-born, as though you were the founder and law-giver of every single city. Those to whom fortune has been generous you still further enrich, and in many cases men owe all their wealth to your generosity, so that in amount your gifts clearly surpass those of other princes, while, in security of ownership of what has once been given, you cast into the shade any favours bestowed by democracies.[198] And this is, I think, very natural. For when men are conscious that they lack certain advantages, they envy those who do possess them, but when a man is more brilliantly endowed by fortune than any of his fellows, and by his own initiative has won even higher dignities than fate had assigned him, he lacks nothing, and there is none whom he need envy. And since you realise that in your case this is especially true, you rejoice at the good fortune of others and take pleasure in the successes of your subjects. You have already bestowed on them certain honours, and other honours you are on the point of bestowing, and you are making plans for the benefit of yet other persons. Nor are you content to award to your friends the government of a single city or nation, or even of many such, with the honours attaching thereto. But unless you chose a colleague[199] to share that empire on whose behalf you had spared no pains to exterminate the brood of usurpers, you thought that no act of yours could be worthy of your former achievements. That you reached this decision not so much because it was necessary as because you take pleasure in giving all that you have to give, is, I suppose, well known to all. For you chose no colleague to aid you in your contests with the usurpers, but you thought it right that one who had not shared in the toil should share in the honour and glory, and that only when all danger seemed to be over. And it is well known that from that honour you subtract not even a trifling part, though you do not demand that he should share the danger even in some small degree, except indeed when it was necessary for a short time that he should accompany you on your campaign. Does my account of this call for any further witnesses or proofs? Surely it is obvious that he who tells the tale would not be the one to introduce a fictitious account. But on this part of my subject I must not spend any more time.)
Σωφροσύνης δὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς σῆς καὶ φρονήσεως καὶ ὅσην εὔνοιαν τοῖς ὑπηκόοις ἐνειργάσω, [C] βραχέα διελθεῖν ἴσως οὐκ ἄτοπον. τίς γάρ σ᾽[200] ἀγνοεῖ τῶν ἁπάντων τοσαύτην ἐκ παίδων τῆς ἀρετῆς ταύτης ἐπιμέλειαν ἐσχηκότα, ὅσην οὐδεὶς ἄλλος τῶν ἔμπροσθεν; καὶ τῆς μὲν ἐν παισὶ σωφροσύνης μάρτυς ὁ πατὴρ γέγονεν ἀξιόχρεως, σοὶ τὰ περὶ τὴς ἀρχὴν καὶ τὰ πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς διοικεῖν ἐπιτρέψας μόνῳ, ὄντι γε οὐδὲ πρεσβυτάτῳ τῶν ἐκείνου παίδων· τῆς δὲ ἐν ἀνδράσιν ἅπαντες αἰσθανόμεθα, [D] καθάπερ πολίτου τοῖς νόμοις ὑπακούοντος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ βασιλέως τῶν νόμων ἄρχοντος, ἀεί σου προσφερομένου τῷ πλήθει καὶ τοῖς ἐν τέλει. τίς γάρ σ᾽[201] ἔγνω μεῖζον ὑπὸ τῆς εὐτυχίας φρονήσαντα; τίς δὲ ἐπαρθέντα [pg 118] τοῖς κατορθώμασι τοσούτοις[202] καὶ τηλικούτοις ἐν βραχεῖ χρόνῳ γενομένοις; ἀλλὰ τὸν Φιλίππου φασὶν Ἀλέξανδρον, ἐπειδὴ τὴν Περσῶν καθεῖλε δύναμιν, οὐ μόνον τὴν ἄλλην δίαιταν πρὸς ὄγκον μείζονα καὶ λίαν ἐπαχθῆ τοῖς πᾶσιν ὑπεροψίαν μεταβαλεῖν, [46] ἀλλ᾽ ἤδη καὶ τοῦ φύσαντος ὑπερορᾶν καὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἁπάσης φύσεως. ἠξίου γὰρ υἱὸς Ἄμμωνος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ Φιλίππου νομίζεσθαι, καὶ τῶν συστρατευσαμένων ὄσοι μὴ κολακεύειν μηδὲ δουλεύειν ἠπίσταντο τῶν ἑαλωκότων πικρότερον ἐκολάζοντο. ἀλλὰ σοῦ γε τῆς εἰς τὸν πατέρα τιμῆς ἆρα ἄξιον ἐνταῦθα μεμνῆσθαι; ὃν οὐκ ἰδίᾳ μόνον σεβόμενος, ἀεὶ δὲ ἐν τοῖς κοινοῖς συλλόγοις διετέλεις ἀνακηρύττων καθάπερ ἀγαθὸν ἥρωα. τῶν φίλων δέ, [B] ἀξιοῖς γὰρ αὐτοὺς οὐκ ἄχρις ὀνόματος μόνον τῆς τιμῆς, πολὺ δὲ πλέον διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων βεβαιοῖς ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν τοὔνομα· ἔστιν οὖν ἄρα τις ὁ μεμφόμενος ἀτιμίαν ἢ ζημίαν ἢ βλάβην ἤ τινα μικρὰν ὑπεροψίαν ἢ μείζονα; ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἂν οὐδαμῶς εἰπεῖν ἔχοι τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν. τούτων γὰρ οἱ μὲν γηραιοὶ σφόδρα, ταῖς ἀρχαῖς εἰς τὴν εἱμαρμένην τελευτὴν τοῦ βίου παραμείναντες, τὰς ἐπιμελείας τῶν κοινῶν συναπέθεντο τοῖς σώμασι, [C] παισὶν ἢ φίλοις ἤ τισι πρὸς γένους τοὺς κλήρους παραπέμποντες· ἄλλοι δὲ πρὸς τοὺς πόνους καὶ τὰς στρατείας ἀπαγορεύοντες, ἀφέσεως ἐντίμου τυχόντες, ζῶσιν ὄλβιοι· τινὲς δὲ καὶ μετήλλαξαν, εὐδαίμονες παρὰ τοῦ πλήθους εἶναι [pg 120] κρινόμενοι. ὅλως δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲ εἷς, ὃς ἐπειδὴ ταύτης ἠξιώθη τῆς τιμῆς, εἰ καὶ μοχθηρὸς ὕστερον ἐφάνη, τιμωρίας ἔτυχε μικρᾶς ἢ μείζονος· ἤρκεσε δὲ αὐτὸν ἀπηλλάχθαι μόνον καὶ μηδὲν ἐνοχλεῖν ἔτι.
(A few words about your temperance, your wisdom, and the affection that you inspired in your subjects, will not, I think, be out of place. For who is there among them all who does not know that from boyhood you cultivated the virtue of temperance as no one had ever done before you? That in your youth you possessed that virtue your father is a trustworthy witness, for he entrusted to you alone the management of affairs of state and all that related to your brothers, although you were not even the eldest of his sons. And that you still display it, now that you are a man, we are all well aware, since you ever behave towards the people and the magistrates like a citizen who obeys the laws, not like a king who is above the laws. For who ever saw you made arrogant by prosperity? Who ever saw you uplifted by those successes, so numerous and so splendid, and so quickly achieved? They say that Alexander, Philip's son, when he had broken the power of Persia, not only adopted a more ostentatious mode of life and an insolence of manner obnoxious to all, but went so far as to despise the father that begat him, and indeed the whole human race. For he claimed to be regarded as the son of Ammon instead of the son of Philip, and when some of those who had taken part in his campaigns could not learn to flatter him or to be servile, he punished them more harshly than the prisoners of war. But the honour that you paid to your father need I speak of in this place? Not only did you revere him in private life, but constantly, where men were gathered together in public, you sang his praises as though he were a beneficent hero-god. And as for your friends, you grant them that honour not merely in name, but by your actions you make their title sure. Can any one of them, I ask, lay to your charge the loss of any right, or any penalty or injury suffered, or any overbearing act either serious or trifling? Nay there is not one who could bring any such accusation. For your friends who were far advanced in years remained in office till the appointed end of their lives, and only laid down with life itself their control of public business, and then they handed on their possessions to their children or friends or some member of their family. Others again, when their strength failed for work or military service, received an honourable discharge, and are now spending their last days in prosperity; yet others have departed this life, and the people call them blessed. In short there is no man who having once been held worthy of the honour of your friendship, ever suffered any punishment great or small, even though later he proved to be vicious. For them all that he had to do was to depart and give no further trouble.)
[D] Ἐν δὲ τούτοις ἅπασιν ὢν καὶ γεγονὼς τοιοῦτος ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡδονῆς ἁπάσης, ᾗ πρόσεστιν ὄνειδος καὶ μικρόν, καθαρὰν τὴν ψυχὴν διεφύλαξας. μόνον δὲ οἶμαι σὲ τῶν πρόσθεν αὐτοκρατόρων, σχεδὸν δὲ πλὴν σφόδρα ὀλίγων καὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων οὐκ ἀνδράσι μόνον παράδειγμα πρὸς σωφροσύνην παρασχεῖν κάλλιστον, καὶ γυναιξὶ δὲ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς ἄνδρας κοινωνίας. [47] ὅσα γὰρ ἐκείναις ἀπαγορεύουσιν οἱ νόμοι τοῦ γνησίους[203] φύεσθαι τοὺς παῖδας ἐπιμελόμενοι, ταῦτα ὁ λόγος ἀπαγορεύει ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις παρὰ σοί. ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ μὲν τούτων ἔχων ἔτι πλείονα λίγειν ἀφίημι.