Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [4] Nor, as it happens, am I asking what the leaders of the choruses are called, who give orders to the singers and set the tune, nor am I asking about the leaders of symposia, nor about any others who for a single act or for a set time assume a certain oversight and control over a group of men; on the contrary, I mean rather those who at any time rule human beings in their activities as citizens, or in their farming, it may be, or simply in their living, as Cyrus, for example, ruled the Persians, Deïoces the Medes, Hellen those named for him, Aeolus the Aeolians, Dorus the Dorians, Numa the Romans, and Dardanus the Phrygians.

  [5] — Ἀλλ̓ οὐδὲν ἤρου χαλεπόν: πάντες γὰρ οὗτοι, οὓς σὺ νῦν ὀνομάζεις, βασιλεῖς ἐκαλοῦντο καὶ ἦσαν: καὶ ἡ ἀρχὴ αὕτη, ἣν λέγεις, τὸ καθόλου ἀνθρώπων ἄρχειν καὶ ἐπιτάττειν ἀνθρώποις ἀνυπεύθυνον ὄντα βασιλεία καλεῖται. — Δ. Σὺ ἄρα οὐχ ἡγῇ βασιλείαν τὴν τῶν Ἡρακλειδῶν ἐν Λακεδαίμονι τοσοῦτον βασιλευσάντων χρόνον; ἐκεῖνοι γὰρ οὐ πάντα ἔπραττον ὡς αὐτοῖς ἐδόκει, ἀλλὰ

  [5] Int. Why, your question is not a hard one; for all these whom you now name were called kings, and kings they were; and this rule of which you speak, whereby a man exercises general control over human beings and gives them orders without being account able to them, is called kingship.

  Dio. Then you do not regard as kingship the rule of the Heracleidae, who were kings in Lacedaemon for so long a time? For they did not do everything according to their own pleasure,

  [6] περὶ πολλῶν ὑπήκουον τοῖς ἐφόροις, ὅτε κατέστη τοῦτο τὸ ἀρχεῖον ἐν Σπάρτῃ, Θεοπόμπου βασιλεύοντος πρὸς ἐνιαυτόν, οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐκράτουν τῶν βασιλέων: ὥστε καὶ Παυσανίαν τὸν Κλεομβρότου τὸν νικήσαντα Πλαταιᾶσιν ἐβούλοντο μὲν εἰς τὴν εἱρκτὴν ἐμβαλεῖν, καταφυγόντα δὲ εἰς τὸ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἱερὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπέκτειναν, καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτὸν ὤνησεν οὔτε ὅτι γένους ἦν τῶν Ἡρακλειδῶν οὔτε ὅτι παῖδα ἐπετρόπευεν οὔτε ὅτι τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἁπάσης ἡγήσατο,

  [6] but in many matters they were subject to the ephors, who, once this office had been established in Sparta in the reign of Theopompus, from their year of office had no less authority than the kings, insomuch that they wished to throw into prison even Pausanias son of Cleombrotus, the victor at Plataea, and when he had fled for refuge to the shrine of Athena, they killed him there, and it profited him nothing that he was of the line of the Heracleidae, or that he was guardian of a boy, or that he had been leader of all Hellas and not of Sparta alone.

  [7] οὐ μόνον τῆς Σπάρτης. ὕστερον δὲ Ἀγησίλαον πολεμοῦντα βασιλεῖ τῷ μεγάλῳ καὶ περὶ Σάρδεις νενικηκότα μάχῃ καὶ κρατήσαντα πάσης τῆς κάτω Ἀσίας ὑπηρέτην πέμψαντες ἐκάλουν παῤ αὑτούς: καὶ ὃς οὐδεμίαν ἡμέραν ἀνεβάλετο, τοσούτων μὲν Ἑλλήνων, τοσούτων δὲ βαρβάρων γεγονὼς κύριος. οὐκ ἄρα ὑπῆρχε [p. 123] βασιλεὺς τῆς Σπάρτης Ἀγησίλαος, ὃς ὑπήκουεν ἑτέροις ἄρχουσιν; — Καὶ πῶς ἂν εἶεν οὗτοι βασιλεῖς πρὸς τὸν ἀκριβῆ περὶ τῆς

  [7] And later on, when Agesilaüs was at war with the Great King and had been victorious in battle in the neighbourhood of Sardis and had gained control over all lower Asia, the ephors sent a subordinate to summon him home; and Agesilaüs did not delay a single day, although he had gained authority over so many Greeks and so many barbarians. Was Agesilaüs, then, not king of Sparta, since he was subject to other rulers?

  Int. Why, how could these be kings in the strict sense of kingship?

  [8] βασιλείας λόγον; — Δ. Ἆρα οὐδὲ Ἀγαμέμνονα ἐν Ἰλίῳ φήσεις βασιλεύειν Ἀργείων τε καὶ Ἀχαιῶν, ὅτι εἶχε τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐπίτροπον ἄνδρα πρεσβύτερον, Νέστορα τὸν Πύλιον; κἀκείνου κελεύοντος τὸ τεῖχος ᾠκοδομήθη τὸ περὶ τὰς ναῦς καὶ τὴν τάφρον περιεβάλοντο ἔρυμα τοῦ ναυστάθμου, καὶ διεῖλεν εἰς τάξεις τὸν στρατὸν ὁ Ἀγαμέμνων, πρότερον, ὡς ἔοικεν, εἰκῇ μαχόμενον, πεζούς τε καὶ ἱππέας, φύρδην ἁπάντων ἀναμεμιγμένων, Πυλίων τε καὶ Ἀργείων καὶ Ἀρκάδων καὶ Βοιωτῶν; ὁ δὲ Νέστωρ ὕστερον αὐτῷ προσέταξε κατὰ φῦλα διαιρεῖν τὸν στρατόν, ὡς φρήτρη φρήτρῃφιν ἀρήγῃ, φῦλα δὲ φύλοις.

  [8] Dio. Will you, then, hold that not even Agamemnon was king of both Argives and Achaeans at Ilium, since he had an older man as supervisor of his rule, Nestor of Pylus? Moreover, it was at that man’s bidding that the wall about the ships was built and the trench dug about it as protection for the naval station, and at his direction too Agamemnon divided the army into detachments, though previously, as it would seem, it had fought without organization, both infantry and cavalry, all being mixed together in confusion, both Pylians and Argives and Arcadians and Boeotians. However, Nestor later bade him divide the army by tribes,

  That phratry may aid phratry and tribe aid tribe.

  [9] οὕτω δὲ καὶ τῶν ἡγεμόνων, ἔφη, γνώσῃ τούς τε ἀγαθοὺς καὶ τοὺς κακούς: εἰ δὲ τῶν ἡγεμόνων, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν: ἅμα διδάσκων τῆς ὠφελείας τὸ μέγεθος. — Καὶ τί βουλόμενος οὕτως ἐποίει; — Δ. Ἵνα ἐπίστηται καὶ τελευτήσαντος αὐτοῦ τὴν στρατηγικὴν τέχνην ὁ Ἀγαμέμνων. οὕτως δὲ πάνυ ἦν κατήκοος τοῦ Νέστορος, ὥστε οὐ μόνον, εἴ τι προσέταττεν αὐτὸς παρών, τοῦτο ἐποίει προθύμως, ἀλλ̓ οὐδὲ εἴ τι ὄναρ ᾠήθη Νέστορα λέγειν, οὐκ ἂν οὐδὲ τοῦτο παρέλειπε. τὸ γοῦν ὄναρ τὸ περὶ τῆς μάχης οὕτως

  [9] “Moreover,” said he, “in this way wilt thou recognize both the valorous and the cowardly among thy leaders” — but if among the leaders, obviously among the common soldiers too — and at the same time he explained the magnitude of the advantage that would result.

  Int. And with what purpose did Nestor do this?

  Dio. In order that even after Nestor’s death Agamemnon might understand the art of generalship. But Agamemnon was so wholly obedient to Nestor that he not only did eagerly anything Nestor commanded in person, but even if in a dream he imagined that Nestor was saying something, he would not disregard that either. For instance, the dream about the battle deceived him in this way, because of its resemblance to Nestor.

  [10] ἐξηπάτησεν αὐτόν, Νέστορι ἀπεικασθέν. οὐ μόνον δὲ τῷ Νέστορι ὑπήκουε δοκοῦντι φρονιμωτάτῳ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, ἀλλ̓ οὐδὲ ἄνευ τῶν γερόντων οὐδὲν ἔπραττεν. ὁπότε γοῦν ἔμελλεν ἐξάγειν τὸν στρατὸν τῷ ἐνυπνίῳ πεισθείς, οὐ πρότερον ἐξήγαγε πρὶν ἡ βουλὴ τῶν γερόντων ἐκάθισε παρὰ τῇ νηὶ τῇ Νέστορος. οὐδὲ τὴν πεῖραν, ἣν ἐβούλετο λαβεῖν τοῦ πλήθους, εἰ ἔτι
μένειν ἐβούλετο καὶ διαπολεμεῖν τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως μηνίοντος, οὐκ ἄλλως ἐπειράθη, πρὶν εἰς τὴν βουλὴν πρῶτον εἰσήγγειλεν. οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ τῶν δημαγωγῶν ἀπροβούλευτα ψηφίσματα οὐκ ὀκνοῦσιν εἰς τὸν δῆμον εἰσφέρειν. ἐκεῖνος δὲ μετὰ τῶν γερόντων βουλευσάμενος οὕτως ἐμέμνητο εἰς [p. 124]

  [10] However, he was not only obedient to Nestor, who was deemed the wisest of the Achaeans, but also he would not attempt anything without the elders. For instance, when he was about to lead forth his army in obedience to the dream, he did not do so until the council of the elders had held a session by the ship of Nestor. Moreover, with regard to the test which he wished to make of the army, to see if it was willing to remain longer and fight it out despite the wrath of Achilles, he did not make the test in any other way before first consulting the council. On the other hand, most demagogues do not hesitate to bring before the popular assembly measures which have not been passed upon by the council. Yet Agamemnon conferred with the elders, and only then reported to the soldiery on the state of the war.

  [11] τὸ πλῆθος περὶ τῆς καταστάσεως τοῦ πολέμου. — Τοῦτο μὲν οὐδὲν ἄτοπον, εἰ βασιλεὺς ὢν μετεδίδου λόγου τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ σύμβουλον εἶχε διὰ γῆρας πιστευόμενον, αὐτὸς ὢν κύριος ἁπάντων τῶν πραγμάτων. ἐπεὶ διὰ τί τὰ περὶ τὴν Βρισηίδα οὕτως ἐποίησεν οὐ πεισθεὶς τῷ Νέστορι τῷ βελτίστῳ; — Δ. Ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν οὐ πειθόμενοι τοῖς ἄρχουσιν οὐδὲ τοῖς νόμοις πολλὰ πράττουσι παρανόμως, ὑπὲρ ὧν καὶ τὰς εὐθύνας ὑπέχουσιν: οὐκοῦν ἀχθέντες εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον τὴν ἀρχὴν ζημιοῦνται ἧς ἂν ἕκαστοι

  [11] Int. This is nothing strange, that, king though he was, he gave the others a chance to be heard and had an advisor who was trusted because of his years, though he himself had full authority in all matters. Else why did he act as he did in the matter of Briseïs instead of obeying the most noble Nestor?

  Dio. Why, it is just like the case of many men in private station who, not obeying their rulers or the laws, commit many unlawful acts, acts for which they even have to submit to an accounting; so when they are brought before the court they are subjected to whatever penalty they severally are thought to merit.

  Int. Certainly.

  [12] δοκῶσιν ἄξιοι ζημίας; — Πάνυ γε. — Δ. Τί οὖν; Ἀγαμέμνων οὐ δοκεῖ σοι τότε ἀπειθήσας ὕστερον εὐθύνεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ Νέστορος, ὁπηνίκα αὐτοῦ κατηγορεῖ τῆς πράξεως ἐκείνης ἐν τοῖς φρονιμωτάτοις τῶν συμμάχων, τοῖς ἡγεμόσιν αὐτοῖς τίμημα ἐπάγων ὅ, τι χρὴ παθεῖν ἢ ἀποτῖσαι, κατηγορίαν χαλεπωτάτην, ἅτε δεινὸς ὢν ῥήτωρ, λέγων ὅτι πάλαι βαρέως ἔχει τοῖς πράγμασιν:

  [12] Dio. Well then, does it not seem to you that Agamemnon, because he disobeyed on that occasion, was later called to account by Nestor? I refer to the passage in which Nestor accuses him of that act in the presence of the wisest of the allies, the leaders themselves, adding what he was to suffer or to pay by way of penalty, a most grievous assignment — for he was an able speaker — wherein he says he has long been troubled by Agamemnon’s conduct:

  [13] ἐξέτι τοῦ, ὅτε, διογενές, Βρισηίδα κούρην χωομένου Ἀχιλῆος ἔβης κλισίηθεν ἀπούρας οὔτι καθ̓ ἡμέτερόν γε νόον. μάλα γάρ τοι ἔγωγε πόλλ̓ ἀπεμυθεόμην: σὺ δὲ σῷ μεγαλήτορι θυμῷ εἴξας ἄνδρα φέριστον, ὃν ἀθάνατοί περ ἔτισαν, ἠτίμασσας: ἑλὼν γὰρ ἔχεις γέρας: ἀλλ̓ ἔτι καὶ νῦν φραζώμεσθα.

  [13] E’er since that day, oh son of Zeus, when thou

  Didst go and snatch Briseïs from the tent,

  Despite Achilles’ rage, and not at all

  As I was minded. Many words I spake

  Against it; yet to thy proud heart thou didst

  Submit, dishonouring the bravest man,

  Whom e’en the gods had honoured; for his prize

  Thou hast by seizure; still let us plan e’en now.

  [14] καὶ νὴ Δία γε οὐ μόνον αὐτὸν εὔθυνε τοῖς λόγοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ζημίαν ἐπήγαγε τοῦ ἁμαρτήματος πασῶν βαρυτάτην. κελεύει γὰρ αὐτὸν δεηθῆναι τοῦ Ἀχιλλέως καὶ πάντα ποιεῖν, ὅπως πείσῃ τὸν ἄνδρα. καὶ ὃς ὑποτιμᾶται χρημάτων τὸ πρῶτον, ὥσπερ οἱ ἁλόντες τοῖς δικαστηρίοις, ὅσα φησὶν ἀποτῖσαι δύνασθαι ἀντὶ τῆς ὕβρεως καὶ [p. 125] τά τε ἄλλα καὶ ὅρκον ὑποδέχεται ὀμόσειν σφαγίων γενομένων περὶ

  [14] And, by the gods, he not only called him to account by his words but even laid upon him the heaviest penalty of all for his misconduct. For he bids him entreat Achilles and go to all lengths to persuade him. And Agamemnon, like men convicted in the courts, first makes a counter proposal of a fine, such as he says he is able to pay, as compensation for his insult; then, among other things, he undertakes to offer sacrifice and to swear an oath regarding Briseïs, that he has not even touched her since the day he took her from Achilles;

  [15] τῆς Βρισηίδος, ἦ μὴν αὐτῆς μηδὲ ἅψασθαι λαβών: ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ μόνον μεταγαγεῖν ἀπὸ σκηνῆς ἐπὶ σκηνὴν χρυσίον ἐπαγγέλλεται δώσειν πολὺ καὶ ἵππους καὶ τρίποδας καὶ λέβητας καὶ γυναῖκας καὶ πόλεις: τελευταῖον δέ, ὡς οὐκ ὂν ἱκανόν, τῶν θυγατέρων τριῶν οὐσῶν ἣν ἂν βούληται συνοικιεῖν: ὅπερ οὐδεὶς πώποτε κατεκρίθη παθεῖν, ἀντὶ θεραπαίνης, καὶ ταύτης αἰχμαλώτου, μηδὲν παθούσης, ἀναγκάσαι συνοικίσαι τὴν θυγατέρα ἐπὶ προικὶ μεγάλῃ ἄνευ ἕδνων. καίτοι τῆς δίκης ταύτης οὐδεμίαν ἴσμεν ἰδιωτικὴν δίκην πικρότερον

  [15] and in payment for merely having removed her from one tent to another, he offers to give much gold, horses, tripods, cauldron, women, and cities; and finally, thinking this not enough, he offers Achilles whichever of his three daughters he may desire to have as wife. Such a penalty no man had ever been condemned to undergo — in payment for a maidservant, and her a captive woman, although she had suffered no harm, to be forced to give his own daughter in marriage, together with a huge dower, and without any presents from the groom! In truth we know of no suit involving a man in private station that has received a more bitter decision than this one.

  [16] κριθεῖσαν. ἆρά σοι δοκεῖ πρὸς θεῶν ἀνυπεύθυνος ἄρχειν ὁ Ἀγαμέμνων τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἀλλ̓ οὐ πάνυ ἀκριβεῖς ὑπέχειν εὐθύνας ἁπάντων ὧν ἔπραττεν; περὶ μὲν δὴ τούτων αὐτοῦ τὸν λόγον ἐάσωμεν, χθὲς ἱκανῶς εἰρημένον, ἐπ̓ ἄλλον δέ τινα ἴωμεν. — Μὴ πρὸς θεῶν, ἀλλὰ πειράθητι πάντα εἰπεῖν ὅσα ἔχεις ὑπὲρ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πράγματος, ὡς ἐγὼ μόλις ἀρτίως συν�
�ημι τοῦ λόγου τὴν ὑπόθεσιν. οἶμαι γάρ σε περὶ ἀρχῆς ἢ βασιλείας ἢ τοιοῦτόν τι βούλεσθαι λέγειν.

  [16] Does it seem to you, in Heaven’s name, that Agamemnon ruled the Greeks without being subject to an accounting, and that he did not give very strict account for all he did? Very well, let us drop our discussion of these matters just here, since they were dealt with adequately yesterday, and let us turn to some other topic.

  Int. Nay, by Heaven, rather try to say all you can upon the same topic, since I am now at last just beginning to understand the drift of your argument. For I imagine you wish to discuss government or kingship or some such thing.

  THE FIFTY-SEVENTH DISCOURSE: NESTOR

  ΝΕΣΤΩΡ.

  THE FIFTY-SEVENTH DISCOURSE: NESTOR

  This little Discourse has as its immediate aim a defence of Nestor’s behaviour in the famous passage in the first book of the Iliad, in which he seems to boast of his former prowess and importance. Dio maintains with some skill, not only that Homer intended the old man to speak as he did, but also that he did not mean to depict him as a braggart — the self-praise of Nestor was to serve the useful purpose of checking the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles.

  Having made his point, Dio (§ 10) lets his audience into the secret that his sermon on Nestor was really designed to forestall possible criticism of himself when he should presently deliver an address which he had previously delivered before the Emperor. The emperor in question was doubtless Trajan, and the speech to which our Discourse was to serve as prelude may well have been one of Dio’s four discourses On Kingship; see Vol. I of the Loeb Library edition and the Introductions. Such is the view of Arnim, who dates our Discourse in Dio’s latest period and finds in it evidence of what he takes to have been the speaker’s frequent practice, the repetition of speeches previously delivered somewhere else. If one may hazard a guess as to which of the four speeches just mentioned Dio was about to repeat, Or. seems a natural choice, for it is full of Homeric quotations and illustrations selected for their edifying quality, attention is called to Homer’s admiration for oratory, and Nestor himself is twice mentioned in that connexion (§§ 18-24).