Ἃ δεδιὼς ἐγὼ πολλάκις εἰκότως ἐπαινῶ τὸν ἔμπροσθεν βίον, καὶ σοὶ πειθόμενος μάλιστα ταῦτα ἐγὼ διανοοῦμαι, οὐχ ὅτι μοι τὸν ζῆλον πρὸς ἐκείνους μόνον ἔφης προκεῖσθαι τοὺς ἄνδρας, Σόλωνα καὶ Λυκοῦργον καὶ Πιττακόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι μεταβῆναί με φὴς ἐκ τῆς ὑποστέγου φιλοσοφίας πρὸς τὴν ὑπαίθριον. [263] ὥσπερ οὖν, εἰ τῷ χαλεπῶς καὶ μόλις ὑγιείας ἕνεκα τῆς αὑτοῦ γυμναζομένῳ μετρίως οἴκαδε προύλεγες, ὅτι “Νῦν ἥκεις εἰς Ὀλυμπίαν καὶ μεταβέβηκας ἐκ τῆς ἐν τῷ δωματίῳ παλαίστρας ἐπὶ τὸ στάδιον τοῦ Διός, οὗ θεατὰς ἕξεις τούς τε ἁπανταχόθεν Ἕλληνας [pg 226] καὶ πρώτους γε τοὺς σαυτοῦ πολίτας, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἀγωνίζεσθαι χρή, τινὰς δὲ καὶ τῶν βαρβάρων, οὓς ἐκπλῆξαι χρεών, φοβερωτέραν αὐτοῖς τὴν πατρίδα όο γε εἰς σὲ νῦν ἧκον ἐπιδείξαντα,” κατέβαλες ἂν εὐθέως καὶ τρέμειν ἐποίησας πρὸ τῆς ἀγωνίας· [B] οὕτω κἀμὲ νῦν νόμιζε διατεθῆναι τοῖς τοιούτοις λόγοις. καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων εἴτε ὀρθῶς ἔγνωκα νῦν εἴτε ἐν μέρει σφάλλομαι τοῦ προσήκοντος εἴτε καὶ τοῦ παντὸς διαμαρτάνω, διδάξεις αὐτίκα μάλα.
(And since this sort of thing is what I dread, it is natural that I should often dwell on the advantages of my previous mode of life, and I am but obeying you when I reflect that you said not only that I must emulate those famous men Solon, Lycurgus and Pittacus, but also that I must now quit the shades of philosophy for the open air. This is as though you had announced to a man who for his health's sake and by exerting himself to the utmost was able to take moderate exercise at home: “Now you have come to Olympia and have exchanged the gymnasium in your house for the stadium of Zeus, where you will have for spectators Greeks who have come from all parts, and foremost among them your own fellow-citizens, on whose behalf you must enter the lists; and certain barbarians will be there also whom it is your duty to impress, showing them your fatherland in as formidable a light as lies in your power.” You would have disconcerted him at once and made him nervous before the games began. You may now suppose that I have been affected in the same manner by just such words from you. And you will very soon inform me whether my present view is correct, or whether I am in part deceived as to my proper course or whether indeed I am wholly mistaken.)
[C] Ὑπὲρ δὲ ὧν ἀπορῆσαί μοι πρὸς τὴν ἐπιστολὴν τὴν σὴν παρέστη, ὦ φίλη κεφαλὴ καὶ πάσης ἔμοιγε τιμῆς ἀξία, βούλομαι δηλῶσαι· σαφέστερον γάρ πως ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἐπιθυμῶ μαθεῖν. ἔφησθα ὅτι τὸν ἐν τῇ πράξει παρὰ τὸν φιλόσοφον ἐπαινεῖς βίον, καὶ τὸν Ἀριστοτέλη τὸν σοφὸν ἐκάλεις μάρτυρα, τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν ἐν τῷ πράττειν εὖ τιθέμενον, καὶ τὴν διαφορὰν σκοποῦντα τοῦ τε πολιτικοῦ βίου καὶ τῆς ἐν τῇ θεωρίᾳ ζωῆς, διαπορεῖν ἄττα περὶ αὐτῶν, καὶ τὴν μὲν θεωρίαν ἐν ἄλλοις προτιμᾶν, ἐπαινεῖν δὲ ἐνταῦθα τοὺς τῶν καλῶν πράξεων ἀρχιτέκτονας. [D] τούτους δὲ αὐτὸς μὲν εἶναι φὴς τοὺς βασιλέας, Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ εἴρηκεν οὐδαμοῦ κατὰ τὴν ὑπὸ σοῦ προστεθεῖσαν λέξιν, πλέον δὲ θάτερον ἐξ ὧν παραγέγραφας ἄν τις νοήσειε. τὸ γὰρ “Μάλιστα δὲ πράττειν λέγομεν κυρίως καὶ τῶν ἐξωτερικῶν πράξεων τοὺς ταῖς διανοίαις ἀρχιτέκτονας” εἰς τοὺς νομοθέτας καὶ [pg 228] τοὺς πολιτικοὺς φιλοσόφους καὶ πάντας ἁπλῶς τοὺς νῷ τε καὶ λόγῳ πράττοντας, οὐχὶ δὲ εἰς τοὺς αὐτουργοὺς [264] καὶ τῶν πολιτικῶν πράξεων ἐργάτας εἰρῆσθαι νομιστέον· οἷς οὐκ ἀπόχρη μόνον ἐνθυμηθῆναι καὶ κατανοῆσαι καὶ τὸ πρακτέον τοῖς ἄλλοις φράσαι, προσήκει δὲ αὐτοῖς ἕκαστα μεταχειρίζεσθαι καὶ πράττειν ὧν οἱ νόμοι διαγορεύουσι καὶ πολλάκις οἱ καιροὶ προσαναγκάζουσι, πλὴν εἰ μὴ τὸν ἀρχιτέκτονα καλοῦμεν, καθάπερ Ὅμηρος τὸν Ἡρακλέα καλεῖν εἴωθεν ἐν τῇ ποιήσει “μεγάλων ἐπιίστορα ἔργων,” αὐτουργότατον ἁπάντων γενόμενον.
(But I should like to make clear to you the points in your letter by which I am puzzled, my dearest friend to whom I especially am bound to pay every honour: for I am eager to be more precisely informed about them. You said that you approve a life of action rather than the philosophic life, and you called to witness the wise Aristotle who defines happiness as virtuous activity, and discussing the difference between the statesman's life and the life of contemplation, showed a certain hesitation about those lives, and though in others of his writings he preferred the contemplative life, in this place you say he approves the architects of noble actions. But it is you who assert that these are kings, whereas Aristotle does not speak in the sense of the words that you have introduced: and from what you have quoted one would rather infer the contrary. For when he says: “We most correctly use the word ‘act’ of those who are the architects of public affairs by virtue of their intelligence,”[409] we must suppose that what he says applies to lawgivers and political philosophers and all whose activity consists in the use of intelligence and reason, but that it does not apply to those who do the work themselves and those who transact the business of politics. But in their case it is not enough that they should consider and devise and instruct others as to what must be done, but it is their duty to undertake and execute whatever the laws ordain and circumstances as well often force them; unless indeed we call that man an architect who is “well versed in mighty deeds,”[410] a phrase which Homer in his poems usually applies to Heracles, who was indeed of all men that ever lived most given to do the work himself.)
[B] Εἰ δὲ τοῦτ᾽ ἀληθὲς ὑπολαμβάνομεν ἢ καὶ μόνον ἐν τῇ πράττειν τὰ κοινά φαμεν εὐδαίμονας τοὺς κυρίους[411] ὄντας καὶ βασιλεύοντας πολλῶν, τί ποτε περὶ Σωκράτους ἐροῦμεν; Πυθαγόραν δὲ καὶ Δημόκριτον καὶ τὸν Κλαζομένιον Ἀναξαγόραν ἴσως διὰ τὴν θεωρίαν κατ᾽ ἄλλο φήσεις εὐδαίμονας· Σωκράτης δὲ τὴν θεωρίαν παραιτησάμενος καὶ τὸν πρακτικὸν ἀγαπήσας βίον οὐδὲ τῆς γαμετῆς ἦν τῆς αὑτοῦ κύριος οὐδὲ τοῦ παιδός· [C] ἦπού γε δυοῖν ἢ τριῶν πολιτῶν ἐκείνῳ κρατεῖν ὑπῆρχεν; ἆρ᾽ οὖν οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖνος πρακτικός, ἐπεὶ μηδενὸς ἦν κύριος; ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν Ἀλεξάνδρου φημὶ μείζονα τὸν Σωφρονίσκου κατεργάσασθαι, τὴν Πλάτωνος αὐτῷ σοφίαν ἀνατιθείς, τὴν Ξενοφῶντος στρατηγίαν, τὴν Ἀντισθένους ἀνδρείαν, τὴν Ἐρετρικὴν φιλοσοφίαν, τὴν Μεγαρικήν, τὸν Κέβητα, [pg 230] τὸν Σιμμίαν, [D] τὸν Φαίδωνα, μυρίους ἄλλους· καὶ οὔπω φημὶ τὰς γενομένας ἡμῖν ἐνθένδ᾽ ἀποικίας, τὸ Λύκειον, τὴν Στοάν, τὰς Ἀκαδημείας. τίς οὖν ἐσώθη διὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου νίκην; τίς πόλις ἄμεινον ᾠκήθη; τίς αὑτοῦ γέγονε βελτίων ἰδιώτης ἀνήρ; πλουσιωτέρους μὲν γὰρ πολλοὺς ἂν εὕροις, σοφώτερον δὲ οὐδένα οὐδὲ σωφρονέστερον αὐτὸν αὑτοῦ, εἰ μὴ καὶ μᾶλλον ἀλαζόνα καὶ ὑπερόπτην. ὅσοι δὲ σώζονται νῦν ἐκ φιλοσοφίας, διὰ τὸν Σωκράτη σώζονται. καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐγὼ μόνος, [265] Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ πρότερος[412] ἔοικεν ἐννοήσας εἰπεῖν, ὅτι μὴ μεῖον αὐτῷ προσήκει φρονεῖν ἐπὶ τῆς θεολογικῇ συγγραφῇ τοῦ καθελόντος τὴν Περσῶν δύναμιν. καί μοι δοκεῖ τοῦτο ἐκεῖνος ὀρθῶς ξυννοῆσαι· νικᾶν μὲν γὰρ ἀνδρείας ἐστὶ μάλιστα καὶ τῆς τύχης, κείσθω δέ, εἰ βούλει, καὶ τῆς ἐντρεχοῦς ταύτης φρονήσεως, ἀληθεῖς δὲ ὑπὲρ τοῦ θεοῦ δόξας ἀναλαβεῖν οὐκ ἀρετῆς μόνον τῆς τελείας ἔργον ἐστίν, [B] ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιστήσειεν ἄν τις εἰκότως, πότερον χρὴ τὸν τοιοῦτον ἄνδρα ἢ θεὸν καλεῖν. εἰ γὰρ ὀρθῶς ἔχει τὸ λεγόμενον, ὅτι πέφυκεν ἕκαστον ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκείων γνωρίζεσθαι, τὴν θείαν οὐσίαν ὁ γνωρίσας θεῖός τις ἂν εἰκότως νομίζοιτο.
(But if we conceive this to be true, or that only those are happy who administer public affairs and who are in authority and rule over many, what then are we to say about Socrates? As for Pythagoras and Democritus and Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, you will perhaps say that they were happy in another sense of the word, because of their philosophic speculations. But as for Socrates who, having rejected the speculative life and embraced a life of action, had no authority over his own wife or his son, can we say of him that he governed even two or three of his fellow-citizens? Then will you assert that since he had no authority over any one he accomplished nothing? On the contrary I maintain that the son of Sophroniscus[413] performed greater tasks than Alexander, for to him I ascribe the wisdom of Plato, the generalship of Xenophon, the fortitude of Antisthenes, the Eretrian[414] and Megarian[415] philosophies, Cebes, Simmias,[416] Phaedo and a host of others; not to mention the offshoots derived from the same source, the Lyceum, the Stoa and the Academies. Who, I ask, ever found salvation through the conquests of Alexander? What city was ever more wisely governed because of them, what individual improved? Many indeed you might find whom those conquests enriched, but not one whom they made wiser or more temperate than he was by nature, if indeed they have not made him more insolent and arrogant. Whereas all who now find their salvation in philosophy owe it to Socrates. And I am not the only person to perceive this fact and to express it, for Aristotle it seems did so before me, when he said that he had just as much right to be proud of his treatise on the gods as the conqueror[417] of the Persian empire. And I think he was perfectly correct in that conclusion. For military success is due to courage and good fortune more than anything else or, let us say, if you wish, to intelligence as well, though of the common everyday sort. But to conceive true opinions about God is an achievement that not only requires perfect virtue, but one might well hesitate whether it be proper to call one who attains to this a man or a god. For if the saying is true that it is the nature of everything to become known to those who have an affinity with it, then he who comes to know the essential nature of God would naturally be considered divine.)
Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ πάλιν ἐοίκαμεν εἰς τὸν θεωρηματικὸν ὁρμήσαντες βίον τούτῳ παραβάλλειν τὸν πρακτικόν, ἐξ ἐρχῆς παραιτησαμένου καὶ σοῦ τὴν σύγκρισιν, [C] αὐτῶν ἐκείνων, ὧν ἐπεμνήσθης, Ἀρείου, Νικολάου, Θρασύλλου καὶ Μουσωνίου μνημονεύσω. τούτων γὰρ οὐχ ὅπως τις ἦν κύριος τῆς αὑτοῦ πόλεως, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν Ἄρειος, ὡς φασί, καὶ διδομένην αὐτῷ τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἐπιτροπεῦσαι παρῃτήσατο, Θράσυλλος δὲ Τιβερίῳ πικρῷ καὶ φύσει χαλεπῷ τυράννῳ ξυγγενόμενος, εἰ μὴ διὰ τῶν καταλειφθέντων ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ λόγων ἀπελογήσατο, δείξας ὅστις ἦν, [D] ὦφλεν ἂν εἰς τέλος αἰσχύνην ἀναπάλλακτον, οὕτως αὐτὸν οὐδὲν ὤνησεν ἡ πολιτεία, Νικόλαος δὲ πράξεων μὲν οὐ μεγάλων αὐτουργὸς γέγονε γνώριμος δέ ἐστι μὰλλον διὰ τοὺς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν λόγους, καὶ Μουσώνιος ἐξ ὧν ἔπαθεν ἀνδρείως καὶ νὴ Δί᾽ ἤνεγκεν ἐγκρατῶς τὴν τῶν τυράννων ὠμότητα γέγονε γνώριμος, ἴσως οὐκ ἔλαττον εὐδαιμονῶν ἐκείνων τῶν τὰς μεγάλας ἐπιτροπευσάντων βασιλείας. Ἄρειος δὲ ὁ τὴν ἐπιτροπὴν [266] τῆς Αἰγύπτου παραιτησάμενος ἑκὼν αὑτὸν ἀπεστέρει τοῦ κρατίστου τέλους εἰ τοῦτ᾽ ᾤετο κυριώτατον. σὺ δὲ αὐτὸς ἡμῖν ἄπρακτος εἶ, μήτε στρατηγῶν μήτε δημηγορῶν μήτε ἔθνους ἢ πόλεως ἄρχων; ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἂν φαίη νοῦν ἔχων ἁνήρ. ἔξεστι γάρ σοι φιλοσόφους πολλοὺς ἀποφήναντι, εἰ δὲ μή, τρεῖς ἢ τέτταρας μείζονα τὸν βίον εὐεργετῆσαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων πολλῶν ὁμοῦ βασιλέων. [B] οὐ μικρᾶς γὰρ μερίδος ὁ φιλόσοφος [pg 234] προέστηκεν, οὐδέ, καθάπερ ἔφης, συμβουλῆς ἐστι μόνης τῆς ὑπὲρ τῶν κοινῶν ἐκεῖνος κύριος, οὐδὲ ἡ πρᾶξις εἰς λόγον αὖθις αὐτῷ περιίσταται, ἔργῳ δὲ βεβαιῶν τοὺς λόγους καὶ φαινόμενος τοιοῦτος, ὁποίους βούλεται τοὺς ἄλλους εἶναι, πιθανώτερος ἂν εἴη καὶ πρὸς τὸ πράττειν ἀνυσιμώτερος τῶν ἐξ ἐπιτάγματος [C] ἐπὶ τὰς καλὰς πράξεις παρορμώντων.
(But since I seem to have harked back to the life of contemplation and to be comparing it with the life of action, though in the beginning of your letter you declined to make the comparison, I will remind you of those very philosophers whom you mentioned, Areius,[418] Nicolaus,[419] Thrasyllus,[420] and Musonius.[421] So far from any one of these governing his own city, Areius we are told refused the governorship of Egypt when it was offered to him, and Thrasyllus by becoming intimate with the harsh and naturally cruel tyrant Tiberius would have incurred indelible disgrace for all time, had he not cleared himself in the writings that he left behind him and so shown his true character; so little did his public career benefit him. Nicolaus did not personally do any great deeds, and he is known rather by his writings about such deeds; while Musonius became famous because he bore his sufferings with courage, and, by Zeus, sustained with firmness the cruelty of tyrants; and perhaps he was not less happy than those who administered great kingdoms. As for Areius, when he declined the governorship of Egypt he deliberately deprived himself of the highest end, if he really thought that this was the most important thing. And you yourself,—may I ask, do you lead an inactive life because you are not a general or a public speaker and govern no nation or city? Nay, no one with any sense would say so. For it is in your power by producing many philosophers, or even only three or four, to confer more benefit on the lives of men than many kings put together. To no trivial province the philosopher appointed, and, as you said yourself, he does not only direct counsels or public affairs, nor is his activity confined to mere words; but if he confirm his words by deeds and show himself to be such as he wishes others to be, he may be more convincing and more effective in making men act than those who urge them to noble actions by issuing commands.)
Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπανιτέον εἰς ἀρχὴν καὶ συμπεραντέον τὴν ἐπιστολὴν μείζονα ἴσως οὖσαν τοῦ δέοντος. ἔστι δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ τὸ κεφάλαιον, ὅτι μήτε τὸν πόνον φεύγων μήτε τὴν ἡδονὴν θηρεύων μήτε ἀπραγμοσύνης καὶ ῥᾳστώνης ἐρῶν τὸν ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ δυσχεραίνω βίον· ἀλλ᾽, ὅπερ ἔφην ἐξ ἀρχῆς, οὔτε παιδείαν ἐμαυτῷ [D] συνειδὼς τοσαύτην οὔτε φύσεως ὑπεροχήν, καὶ προσέτι δεδιώς, μὴ φιλοσφίαν, ἧς ἐρῶν οὐκ ἐφικόμην, εἰς τοὺς νῦν ἀνθρώπους οὐδὲ ἄλλως εὐδοκιμοῦσαν διαβάλλω, πάλαι τε ἔγραφον ἐκεῖνα καὶ νῦν τὰς παρ᾽ ὑμῶν ἐπιτιμήσεις ἀπελυσάμην εἰς δύναμιν.
(But I must go back to what I said at the beginning, and conclude this letter, which is perhaps longer already than it should be. And the main point in it is that it is not because I would avoid hard work or pursue pleasure, nor because I am in love with idleness and ease that I am averse to spending my life in administration. But, as I said when I began, it is because I am conscious that I have neither sufficient training nor natural talents above the ordinary; moreover, I am afraid of bringing reproach on philosophy, which, much as I love it, I have never attained to, and which on other accounts has no very good reputation among men of our day. For these reasons I wrote all this down some time ago, and now I have freed myself from your charges as far as I can.)