Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [12] Well, it is a shame, then,” someone will say, “if they are to be at liberty to do whatever they please and to derive that advantage from their very helplessness, while we are to be in danger if we make a single move.” Granted that it is a shame and unfair, still, if some unfairness is the natural consequence, you should not through obstinacy on that point cause yourselves to be involved in an absurd situation, but should rather look to the future and be on your guard. For what is happening to you resembles what happens in the case of athletes when a smaller man contends against one much larger.

  [13] τῷ μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἔξεστι παρὰ τὸν νόμον, ἀλλὰ κἂν ἄκων ἁμάρτῃ τι, μαστιγοῦται: τὸν δ᾽ οὐδεὶς ὁρᾷ πάνθ᾽ ἃ δύναται ποιοῦντα. τοιγαροῦν κἀκεῖ σωφρονοῦντος ἀνδρός ἐστι καὶ ταῖς ἀληθείαις κρείττονος τῇ δυνάμει περιεῖναι, τὰς δὲ πλεονεξίας ταύτας ἐᾶν, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἂν ἔχητε νοῦν, τοῖς δικαίοις περιέσεσθε καὶ τῷ μεγέθει τῆς πόλεως τῶν φθονούντων, πρὸς ὀργὴν δὲ οὐδὲν οὐδὲ ἀγανακτοῦντες δράσετε. καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων αὖθις, ὥσπερ οἶμαι καὶ προεθέμην.

  [13] For the larger man is not allowed to do anything against the rules, but even if unwittingly he is guilty of a foul, he gets the lash; whereas nobody observes the smaller, though he does anything within his power. Accordingly not only in athletics is it the part of a man of discretion and one who is really the better man to win by his strength and overlook these unfair advantages, but also in your case, if you are sensible, you will by justice and by the greatness of your city overcome those who bear you malice, and you will do nothing in anger or vexation. And on that subject more later, as indeed, methinks, I promised in the beginning.

  [14] νῦν δὲ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ἐπέξειμι δι᾽ ἃ πλείονος σκέψεως ἧς φημι δεῖσθαι τὸν ἐνεστῶτα καιρόν. ἡ μέν γε τῶν Μαλλωτῶν ἀπέχθεια καὶ στάσις ἧττον ὀφείλει λυπεῖν ὑμᾶς. τὸ δὲ Σολεῖς τούτους καὶ Ἀδανεῖς καί τινας ἴσως ἄλλους ὁμοίως ἔχειν καὶ μηδὲν ἐπιεικέστερον, ἀλλὰ καὶ βαρύνεσθαι καὶ βλασφημεῖν καὶ μᾶλλον ἑτέρων ὑπακούειν ἐθέλειν, ὑποψίαν ποιεῖ τοῦ μηδὲ τοὺς Αἰγαίους τάχα μηδὲ τοὺς Μαλλώτας παντάπασιν ἀδίκως ἄχθεσθαι, μηδὲ τοὺς [p. 320] μὲν φθόνῳ, τοὺς δὲ πλεονεκτεῖν βουλομένους ἠλλοτριῶσθαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἀλλ᾽ ἴσως εἶναί τι τοιοῦτον περὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ ὑβρίζειν πως καὶ ἐνοχλεῖν τοὺς ἐλάττονας.

  [14] But at the moment I shall treat the other items that still remain, giving to them that fuller consideration which I claim is required by the present crisis. At any rate the hatred and rebellion of Mallus ought to disturb you less than it does. But the fact that your neighbours in Soli and in Adana, and possibly some others, are in a similar frame of mind and are not a whit more reasonable, but chafe under your domination and speak ill of you and prefer to be subject to others than yourselves — all this creates the suspicion that possibly the people of Aegae and of Mallus also are not wholly unwarranted in their vexation, and that their estrangement has not been due in the one instance to envy and in the other to a determination to get unfair advantage, but that possibly there is an element of truth in what they say about your city, namely, that it does somehow bully and annoy peoples who are weaker.

  [15] ταῦτα γὰρ ἔστι μὲν οὐκ ἀληθῆ, ταὐτὰ δ᾽ ἂν ὑμᾶς ὡς ἀληθῆ βλάψειεν. φέρε δὴ καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸν στρατηγὸν ὑμῖν ὡς ἔχει λογίσασθε. πρότερον μὲν ὑποψία μόνονὑπῆρχεν ὡς οὐχ ἡδέως ὑμῶν διακειμένων, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ἐκεῖνός τε ἐπολιτεύετο πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ ὑμεῖς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον καὶ φανερὸν οὐδὲν ἦν: ἄρτι δὲ ὑμεῖς τε τῷ δοκεῖν ἐλαττοῦσθαι παροξυνθέντες εἴπατέ τι κἀκεῖνος προήχθη καὶ γράψαι πρὸς ὀργὴν καὶ ποιῆσαι τοῦθ᾽,

  [15] For although these charges are not actually true, still they might do you the same harm as if they were.

  Well then, consider also the nature of your relations with the general. At first there was merely distrust, on the assumption that you were not agreeably disposed toward him; but still he performed his civic duties toward you and you toward him, and there was nothing visible on the surface; but recently you, irritated by the thought that you were getting the worst of it, made a statement, and he on his part was moved to write angrily and to put that anger into operation, a thing he had never done before.

  [16] ὅπερ μὴ πρότερον. νὴ Δία ἀλλά γε τὰ τῆς πόλεως αὐτῆς καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὑμῖν ὡς δεῖ πρόεισιν. οὐ χθὲς καὶ πρῴην χωρὶς ἦν ὁ δῆμος καὶ χωρὶς ἡ βουλὴ καὶ νῦν ἔτι καθ᾽ αὑτοὺς οἱ γέροντες, ἰδίᾳ τὸ συμφέρον ἕκαστοι δῆλον ὅτι σκοποῦντες: ὥσπερ εἰ κατα πλεόντων ἰδίᾳ μὲν οἱ ναῦται τὸ συμφέρον αὑτοῖς ζητοῖεν, ἰδίᾳ δὲ ὁ κυβερνήτης, ἰδίᾳ δὲ ὁ ναύκληρος. καὶ γὰρ εἰ πολλάκις ταῦταλέγεται, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν προσήκει μὴ διὰ τοῦτο παραπέμπειν. οὐ γὰρ τὸ πρώτως ῥηθὲν οὐδ᾽ ὃ μὴ πρότερόν τις ἤκουσε δεῖ προθύμως ἀποδέχεσθαι, τὸ δὲ οἰκεῖον τῷ πράγματι καὶ τὸ χρείαν τινὰ ἔχον.

  [16] ‘Yes, by Zeus,’ some one may retort, ‘but at least the business of the city itself and our dealings with one another are proceeding as they should.’ Is it not true that but a day or two ago the Assembly took one course and the Council another and that the Elders still maintain a position of independence, each body clearly consulting its own self-interest? It was just as if, when a ship is putting in for shore, the sailors should seek their own advantage, the pilot his, and the owner his. For even if this comparison is made repeatedly, still it is your duty not on that account to disregard it. For it is not that which is told for the first time nor that which one has never heard before which one should eagerly accept as true, but rather that which is germane to the situation and may be put to some practical use.

  [17] νὴ Δία, ἀλλὰ νῦν ὡμολογήκαμεν καὶ κοινῇ βουλευόμεθα. καὶ τίς ἂν ἀσφαλῆ καὶ βέβαιον ἡγήσαιτο τὴν τοιαύτην ὁμόνοιαν, τὴν ὑπ̓ὀργῆς μὲν γενομένην, τριῶν δὲ οὖσαν ἢ τεττάρων ἡμερῶν; οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑγιαίνειν ἀσφαλῶς εἴποι τις ἂν τὸν πρὸ μικροῦ πυρέττοντα. μὴ τοίνυν μηδὲ ὑμεῖς αὑτοὺς ὁμονοεῖν λέγετε, πρὶν ἂν ὑμῖν μάλιστα μὲν πολλαπλάσιος διέλθῃ χρόνος: εἰ δ᾽ οὖν, τοσοῦτος ὅσον δὴ διεφέρεσθε: μηδ᾽ εἰ ταὐτό ποτ᾽ ἐφθέγξασθε καὶ τὴν αὐτὴνἔσχετε ὁρμήν, καὶ δὴ νομίζετε ἐξῃρῆσθαι τὸ νόσημα τῆς πόλεως.

  [17] “Oh yes,” you may reply, “but now we have reached an agreement and are united in our counsel.” Nay, who could regard as safe and sure that sort of concord, a concord achieved in anger and of no more than three or four days’ standing? Why,
you would not say a man was in assured good health who a short time back was burning with fever. Well then, neither must you say you are in concord until, if possible, you have enjoyed a period of concord many times as long as that — at any rate as long as your discord — and just because perhaps on some occasion you all have voiced the same sentiment and experienced the same impulse, you must not for that reason assume that now at last the disease has been eradicated from the city.

  [18] καὶ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἀναρμόστοις ὀργάνοις ἐνίοτε οἱ φθόγγοι συνεφώνησαν [p. 321] πρὸς ὀλίγον, εἶτα εὐθὺς ἀπᾴδουσιν. ὥσπερ οὖν τὸ μὲν τρῶσαί τι καὶ διελεῖν ταχὺ γίγνεται καὶ πάνυ ῥᾳδίως, τὸ δὲ συμφῦσαι καὶ συναγαγεῖν χρόνου δεῖται καὶ προσοχῆς, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν πόλεων ἔχει. τὸ μὲν διενεχθῆναι καὶ στασιάσαι πρόχειρον καὶ διὰ μικρὰ συμβαίνει πολλάκις, τὸ δὲ καταστῆναι καὶ τὴν προσήκουσαν λαβεῖν διάθεσιν καὶ πίστιν μὰ Δί᾽ οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπόντας οὐδὲ δόξαντας μετανοεῖν εὐθὺς ἔχειν.

  [18] For the fact is that with discordant instruments of music sometimes the notes do sound in unison for a brief moment, only straightway to clash again. Or again, just as the act of wounding and dismembering takes place quickly and quite easily, but the process of healing and knitting together requires time and serious attention, so it is also in the case of cities: quarrelling and party strife within easy reach and frequently occur for paltry reasons, whereas men may not, by Zeus, immediately arrive at a real settlement of their difficulties and acquire the mental state and the confidence of their neighbours befitting such a settlement merely by claiming to be repentant, nor yet by being thought to be repentant.

  [19] ἴσως μὲν γὰρ οὐ παρὰ μόνοις ὑμῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασι μεγάλης τινὸς τοῦτο δεῖται θεραπείας, μᾶλλον δὲ εὐχῆς. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἄλλως ἢ τῶν κινούντων κακῶν καὶ ταρασσόντων ἀπολυθέντας, φθόνου, πλεονεξίας, φιλονικίας, τοῦ ζητεῖν ἕκαστον αὔξειν ἑαυτὸν καὶ τὴν πατρίδα καὶ τὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον ἐάσαντα συμπνεῦσαί ποτε ἰσχυρῶς καὶ ταὐτὰ προελέσθαι. ὡς παρ᾽ οἷς ἂν ἰσχύῃ ταῦτα καὶ τοιαῦθ᾽ ἕτερα, τούτους ἀνάγκη τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον ἐπισφαλεῖς εἶναι καὶ διὰ μικρὰ συμπίπτειν καὶ θορυβεῖσθαι, καθάπερ ἐν θαλάττῃ πνευμάτων ἐναντίων ἰσχυόντων.

  [19] For not among you alone, I dare say, but also among all other peoples, such a consummation requires a great deal of attentive care — or, shall I say, prayer? For only by getting rid of the vices that excite and disturb men, the vices of envy, greed, contentiousness, the striving in each case to promote one’s own welfare at the expense of both one’s native land and the common weal — only so, I repeat, is it possible ever to breathe the breath of harmony in full strength and vigour and to unite upon a common policy. Since those in whom these and similar vices are prevalent must necessarily be in a constant state of instability, and liable for paltry reasons to clash and be thrown into confusion, just as happens at sea when contrary winds prevail.

  [20] ἐπεί τοι μηδὲ τὴν βουλὴν αὐτὴν ἡγεῖσθ᾽ ὁμονοεῖν μηδ᾽ ὑμᾶς τὸν δῆμον. εἰ γοῦν τις ἐπεξίοι πάντας, δοκεῖ μοι μηδ᾽ ἂν δύο ἄνδρας εὑρεῖν ἐν τῇ πόλει τὸ αὐτὸ φρονοῦντας, ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ ἔνια τῶν ἀνιάτων καὶ χαλεπῶν νοσημάτων, ἃ δι᾽ ὅλων εἴωθεν ἔρχεσθαι τῶν σωμάτων καὶ οὐδέν ἐστι μέρος εἰς ὃ μὴ κάτεισιν, οὕτως ἡ τραχύτης αὕτη καὶ τὸ μικροῦ δεῖν ἅπαντας ἀλλήλων ἀπεστράφθαι διαπεφοίτηκε τῆς πόλεως.

  [20] For, let me tell you, you must not think that there is harmony in the Council itself, nor yet among yourselves, the Assembly. At any rate, if one were to run through the entire list of citizens, I believe he would not discover even two men in Tarsus who think alike, but on the contrary, just as with certain incurable and distressing diseases which are accustomed to pervade the whole body, exempting no member of it from their inroads, so this state of discord, this almost complete estrangement of one from another, has invaded your entire body politic.

  [21] ἵνα γὰρ τὴν βουλὴν ἀφῶ καὶ τὸν δῆμον τούς τε νέους καὶ τοὺς γέροντας, ἐστὶ πλῆθος οὐκ ὀλίγον ὥσπερ ἔξωθεν τῆς πολιτείας: τούτους δὲ εἰώθασιν ἔνιοι λινουργοὺς καλεῖν: καὶ ποτὲ μὲν βαρύνονται καί φασιν ὄχλον εἶναι περισσὸν καὶ τοῦ θορύβου καὶ τῆς ἀταξίας αἴτιον, πάλιν δὲ μέρος ἡγοῦνται τῆς πόλεως καὶ πολλοῦ ἀξιοῦσιν. οὓς εἰ μὲν οἴεσθε βλάπτειν ὑμᾶς καὶ στάσεως ἄρχειν καὶ ταραχῆς, ὅλως ἐχρῆν ἀπελάσαι καὶ μὴ παραδέχεσθαι ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις: εἰ δὲ τρόπον τινὰ πολίτας εἶναι τῷ μὴ μόνον οἰκεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ γεγονέναι τοὺς πλείους [p. 322] ἐνθάδε καὶ μηδεμίαν ἄλλην ἐπίστασθαι πόλιν, οὐδὲ ἀτιμάζειν δήπου προσήκει οὐδὲ ἀπορρηγνύειν αὑτῶν.

  [21] For instance, to leave now the discord of Council and Assembly, of the Youth and the Elders, there is a group of no small size which is, as it were, outside the constitution. And some are accustomed to call them ‘linen-workers,’ and at times the citizens are irritated by them and assert that they are a useless rabble and responsible for the tumult and disorder in Tarsus, while at other times they regard them as a part of the city and hold the opposite opinion of them. Well, if you believe them to be detrimental to you and instigators of insurrection and confusion, you should expel them altogether and not admit them to your popular assemblies; but if on the other hand you regard them as being in some measure citizens, not only because they are resident in Tarsus, but also because in most instances they were born here and know no other city, then surely it is not fitting to disfranchise them or to cut them off from association with you.

  [22] νυνὶ δὲ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀφεστᾶσι τὴν γνώμην τοῦ κοινῇ συμφέροντος, ὀνειδιζόμενοι καὶ δοκοῦντες ἀλλότριοι. τούτου δὲ οὐθέν ἐστι βλαβερώτερον ταῖς πόλεσιν οὐδὲ ὃ μᾶλλον στάσιν ἐγείρει καὶ διαφοράν, ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν σωμάτωνὁ προσγενόμενος ὄγκος, ἂν μὲν οἰκεῖος ᾖ τῷ λοιπῷ σώματι καὶ συμφυής, εὐεξίαν ποιεῖ καὶ μέγεθος: εἰ δὲ μή, νόσου καὶ διαφθορᾶς αἴτιος γίγνεται.

  [22] But as it is, they necessarily stand aloof in sentiment from the common interest, reviled as they are and viewed as outsiders. But there is nothing more harmful to a city than such conditions, nothing more conducive to strife and disagreement. Take for example the human body: the bulk that comes with the passing years, if it is in keeping with the rest of the person and natural to it, produces well-being and a desirable stature, but otherwise it is a cause stature, but otherwise it is a cause of disease and death.

  [23] τί οὖν σὺ κελεύεις ἡμᾶς; τοὺς ἅπαντας ἀν
αγράψαι πολίτας ναί φημι καὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀξίους, ἅμα μηδὲ ὀνειδίζειν μηδὲ ἀπορρίπτειν, ἀλλὰ μέρος αὑτῶν, ὥσπερ εἰσί, νομίζειν.οὐ μὲν γάρ, ἄν τις καταβάλῃ πεντακοσίας δραχμάς, δύναται φιλεῖν ὑμᾶς καὶ τῆς πόλεως εὐθὺς ἄξιος γεγονέναι: εἰ δέ τις ἢ πένης ὢν ἢ πολιτογραφοῦντός τινος οὐ μετείληφε τοῦ ὀνόματος, οὐ μόνον αὐτὸς παρ᾽ ὑμῖν γεγονώς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν προγόνων, οὐχ οἷός ἐστιν ἀγαπᾶν τὴν πόλιν οὐδ̓ἡγεῖσθαι πατρίδα, καὶ λίνον μὲν εἴ τις ἐργάζεται, χείρων ἐστὶν ἑτέρου καὶ δεῖ τοῦτο προφέρειν αὐτῷ καὶ λοιδορεῖσθαι: βαφεὺς δὲ ἢ σκυτοτόμος ἢ τέκτων ἐάν, οὐδὲν προσήκει ταῦτα ὀνειδίζειν.

  [23] “Well then, what do you bid us do?” I bid you enroll them all as citizens — yes, I do — and just as deserving as yourselves, and not to reproach them or cast them off, but rather to regard them as members of your body politic, as in fact they are. For it cannot be that by the mere payment of five hundred drachmas a man can come to love you and immediately be found worthy of citizenship; and, at the same time, that a man who through poverty or through the decision of some keeper-of-the-rolls has failed to get the rating of a citizen — although not only he himself had been born in Tarsus, but also his father and his forefathers as well — is therefore incapable of affection for the city or of considering it to be his fatherland; it cannot be that, if a man is a linen-worker, he is inferior to his neighbour and deserves to have his occupation cast in his teeth and to be reviled for it, whereas, if he is a dyer or a cobbler or a carpenter, it is unbecoming to make those occupations a reproach.