and a most graceful tongue, flowing toward justice with an unobstructed course, you have brought as a sufficient aid—in place of some subscription—one dear to God, acceptable to those who ask, and satisfying to those in need.
XVIII. TO JOHN. The man who brings this present letter is an upright person, who laments his poverty caused by his brother’s injustice. For this reason he has recourse to the justice of Caesar, in the hope that he might thus be able to recover what is his due. But deign to assist him, preparing those among you who are powerful to provide him with sufficient aid; for he has one hope of consolation: to obtain the assistance of the laws, of which he has been deprived for a very long time, having a most wicked brother who is always devising new stratagems. Therefore, comfort his destitution, reducing the legal expenses as much as possible.
XIX. TO PHILIPPUS, BROTHER. I have always longed for the man who brings this letter to you, and not least because he is always mindful of your virtues. In the end, he became the cause of this letter to you, saying it was a terrible thing if he should appear before you empty-handed of a letter from me. You, at any rate, must send us back a single letter, and break your silence in this fifth year, following the Pythagoreans; for we have become like the brazen cauldron of Dodona, wishing to move you to speech.
XX. TO EVAGRIUS. How these words are those of someone who longs [for me] very much, and who has decided to crown his beloved with victory over everyone! For in your letters, I have not only conquered those who exist at present, but—if it is not forbidden to say—Demosthenes himself was defeated, and Thucydides occupied the second place, and the sweet Herodotus was ranked along with them. Such was the extent of the words [I felt] as I smiled to myself, and I thought that nothing was more powerful than the tyranny of love. For having become the dearest [friend], he ignored my affairs, and provides something similar: just as if someone were to produce the... [fragmentary text] ...beyond Homer; and what else is this but bringing forth Thersites to the view of the Greeks as better even than Nireus himself, who came to Ilium as the most beautiful of men? But for me, it would be the greatest praise if I were to seem ignorant of those whom, through you, we have conquered. Hence, having marveled at your goodwill, I was stirred to words by [this] love, taking leave of the Paeanian [Demosthenes], [asking] whether love persuades men to say whatever they wish to say, and especially those who pride themselves on the strength of their words. But I shall turn to a prayer, and a moderate one at that, saying: "May you be fortunate, dearest [friend], and may you conquer the laws as much as you have conquered with your words."
XXI. TO NEILUS. You were then very clever at making small things great, and at showing an invincible tongue wherever you wish; for you have fabricated so many praises against me, and delivered them so easily, that no one could have said them so readily if starting from the truth. And it seems to me that you... B
A are also lacking in what is required to repay such gifts, and from this, you wonder all the more at the benefactor through what he does well, [in that] those who have benefited triumph over their repayments. For this ornament is fitting for an emperor: to conquer with enemies also his subjects—the former with arms, the latter with a multitude of goods, and both with virtues. Our city, having received the benefactor through his image, like some passionate lover, rises up at the sight B and rouses every age; a father stands by his child, and an elder comes to the youth, and points, and they leap with joy at the sight. Perhaps, then, I shall seem to be the only one among the others to proceed to such a mass of subjects, and to have such boldness that I have stood up in the middle of the theater and dare to say something, and even if someone threatens, I shall not cease. But it is not so; the whole city is moved to make a just return for the benefits it has received. And since it considers that time is not sufficient for each man to speak for himself, all are content with the orator's voice by a common vote; for he who is put forward to speak on behalf of the city interprets the thoughts of all with one tongue. From these things, it happens to me simultaneously and paradoxically to be confident and afraid: for that the subject matter, dragging nothing lowly into C its height, raises up the speech and makes the speaker ready for eloquence—this is great and brilliant for my good fortune; but I fear that, struck by the excessive magnitude and the multitude of the facts, and not knowing how to use the material for speaking, I might turn the wealth into silence and stand in perplexity. Just as in a pleasant meadow providing a varied sight, all things are seen to be beautiful—but the spectator, though all things delight him equally, not knowing what to prefer and pick, stands withholding himself from all alike. Nevertheless, even though things are so, my speech is filled with bold confidence in everything, and it leaps insolently, and it revels as if in passion, trusting more to fortune than to judgment, and caring nothing for what is to come. For this reason, we shall dare something beyond our strength, shielding ourselves with the eagerness that requires indulgence.
II. For fortune, as if D foreseeing well what was to happen for you, has given you all that would befit a Roman emperor. And first, as was right, she gifted you a fatherland that would surpass the happiness of other lands; for writers sing of Epidamnus, and fame cries out along with them, as a city jutting into the sea, like one inhabiting each of the elements, and…
sharing in the benefits that both land and sea are able to provide. For it is possible there to live partly as an islander and partly as a mainlander, and to avoid the troubles of both, while enjoying the blessings of each clearly. It lies there, as it were, stretching out a hand to those arriving from the sea, and meeting them in a friendly manner; and whoever sails the Ionian Sea, looking out from his ship, turns toward it and feeds his soul with the pleasure of what he sees. From here came Epidamnus, who gave the city its name, and later he stirred the Pythian Apollo to love it, and adorned the city as a Greek colony, as if he were a prophet who perhaps knew well the future, namely that he who was to adorn all lands and the sea with benefits ought to be born here. B If, therefore, you admire the Athenians as aborigines, it is permitted to you to take pride along with them; if you emulate the hospitality of the Phaeacians, from there is this city. It also possesses the lineage of the Corinthians, the ambition of Sparta, and as an ancestor, Heracles, and through him, Zeus.
III. Having received these and such primary gifts from the Almighty, you did not disgrace, by Heracles, a lineage so splendid and celebrated by all, but rather you outshone those who came before; and those who surpassed others in virtues learn to be surpassed by you, and indeed they are overcome with a most sweet victory, such as fathers would wish to be overcome by. For having come from such origins, and having been brought up as one would expect of him who so greatly surpassed all in everything, and increasing his virtues as time progressed, thinking it fitting that a beautiful foundation of an excellent life be laid, you considered the possession of piety to be this. This you purposed in your desire, you sought it in practice, and you were carried to the heights of the matter; and most swiftly you attained the goal. If these things are trifle and the boasting of words, I have wandered far from the truth. But of these things my witnesses are not a few or lowly, and they are not ones whom someone might mark out for blame for their judgment; but the whole city, and indeed the city of kings D, which cries out for you and leads you toward the priestly form.
A Thus Eumolpus, having failed to obtain the kingdom, seized the priesthood—a prize of audacity, not of a sober life. And now he is bearing arms and being numbered among the servants of Mars, and now he is changing his clothes and appearance, suddenly performing sacrifices and standing by the altars. B IV. But you, indeed, received this as the proper prelude and fitting testimony of your future imperial rule; you have attained the reward owed to virtues, not by reaching for the thing itself, but as much as the dignity demanded.
NOTES OF ANSELM VANDERBOUCH
A ...neither did Anastasius seek the patriarchate, but a tyrannical power over the patriarchs themselves, which he attained a short time later. That word for "voted for" (*synephephisthe*) is placed in the passive voice. Grammarians offer not a few examples by which they show that the aorist tense there signifies that action. Thus, therefore, that passage ought to be translated: "Palladius was supported by the votes of John, son of Constantine, and Anastasius the Silentiary (a name of a dignity, concerning which see Du Cange’s *Glossarium*), who afterward ruled most wickedly." Both, however, were of great influence in the court, whose leading men they were; hence it was no wonder if, with the Catholics doubtlessly unwilling, Palladius obtained that see which he sought, supported by such powerful patronage.
B ...for since Anastasius before he attained the empire had been cast out of the church by the patriarch Euphemius as a heretic and a follower of Eutyches. ...and he overturned the seat that he had in the church, threatening him that if he did not cease, he would shave his head and show him in triumph to the crowds. ...Anastasius the Silentiary, who afterward reigned, having constructed a seat for himself during the time of Euphemius, patriarch of Constantinople, with certain... C ...thus above in the annotation to page 8, we observed that the same Bollandists had erred when, among the patriarchs of Constantinople, they enumerated a certain Mararius, who was never elected patriarch, but was indicated and proposed to the emperor along with two others who were "co-voters," who then preferred Philotheus. D ...Theophanes in his *Chronographia*, p. 115: Euphemius, where Goar wrongly translates *anestrepse* as "his seat in the assembly of the church was overturned"; wrongly also Anastasius Bibliothecarius, *Historia ecclesiastica*, p. 48, translating this passage, has "he overturned his seat which was in the church": even worse is the learned Tillemont, *Histoire des empereurs*, vol. VI, art. 4, p. 552, ed. Venet. Nothing, however, is clearer; this was a seat properly erected in the church, in which Anastasius publicly sat and spread his errors. Suidas, who on the word *phatria* should be consulted entirely, narrates almost the same thing about Anastasius: "(a seat constructed for himself) he was factious, etc.," concerning which see also George Cedrenus, p. 353. Which words of Suidas indeed are wrongly interpreted in that same place by a most eminent man—though one in whom you might desire a more accurate knowledge of the Greek language—the learned Tillemont, vol. VI, art. 1, p. 532. That bitter persecutor of the Catholics showed a great facade of piety. The learned Le Beau, *Histoire du Bas-Empire*, vol. VIII, p. 310: "Anastasius was devout without being a Christian; he went to church before daybreak and did not leave until the people had withdrawn; he fasted, he gave great alms. The multitude, always duped by hypocrisy, admired..."
A that which was sufficient for your dignity to be perceived, you being preserved for a greater judgment and a more common benefit; and it was afterwards clear to all that, having brought together the greatest things among men—the figure of a king and the mind of a priest—you exalted both by the addition of the other. But not yet these things; for you still had such a desire for piety, knowing well that the gathering of the other virtues would easily follow it, as if reverencing its kinship with the better things; and you were not deceived in your judgment. For they followed and dwelt together, as if having found your soul a common dwelling; and you conquered in all things, being humane both to look upon and to experience, directing your life with the experience of wisdom, observing as much as a sober eye would permit, and knowing how to endure easily whatever fortune brings. Therefore, while living in the palace, you showed yourself to others as a pattern of a happy life, knowing well how to be ruled before ruling; for the best practice for attaining the path to ruling properly is the experience B of having been ruled well. For it was permitted to you also to judge, when in power, what was done wrongly by those in authority, and what contributed to the happiness of the subjects; and you inquired into the causes, and trained yourself safely, as if preparing for the future in the circumstances of others.
V. Furthermore, the time had arrived, as if paying a due debt, and you shone forth for such a great empire; and the state of the subjects was changed. But it does not seem inappropriate for me to recall for you a little of the former condition, and to show what a change of affairs has taken place. Nor will the good things that followed allow us to be saddened by the memory of what came before. For there was a time when things were not going well for those who C constitute the Roman empire; rather, a certain disordered love of gain flourished, and perfidy of mind; and calumniators ruled over all. He who was just now happy, a little later, having cast away good hopes, took on the habit of the wretched. And it made no difference if you had property or were in need, since the same thing was to be expected for you. It was a condition resembling a monster and against nature; for riches distressed those who possessed them. With these things thus being so, and all despairing through wretchedness, just as a God from a machine appearing, he was holding out a liberating hand D and those things were straightway brought to an end, and difficulties
A dissolved like a mist. A divine decree, in truth, moved the vote for you; and as if with a single mind the entire populace cried out. Great counsel was being added, the Augusta was nodding assent, and the assembly was completed. This was the beginning and the first foundation of our happiness; this roused the whole city with a sense of felicity. From that time our affairs have flourished and changed; and there is no power in those who had harmed us.
VI. By some, from early birth, even the swaddling clothes are of purple, and they are called kings straightway, before testing fortune. But later, appearing often unworthy of the gift, they rouse accusers against the goddess, as if she knew nothing of future events, nor knows how to judge well, but bestows honors at random, and gives herself not to those to whom it is fitting, but to those whom she pleases. And even if they B should appear worthy of that summit, still through desire for honor, and so as not to be left behind it, they appear to cultivate the virtues. But in your case, fortune exercised judgment beyond expectation and brought a just vote. For it followed the virtues, bestowing the empire as a reward and a favor, and one bloodless and removed from all deceit. For not as for others, through weapons and battles and the slaughter of kinsmen, and through guile overcoming with deceit, did it bestow upon you such honor. These are the unfortunate beginnings of an unfortunate empire, and proper to those who put on the purple to satisfy the greed for gain. But you received what was rightfully owed to you piously; and, by Hercules, you did not frustrate the testimony of those who chose you, but you even surpassed their hopes.
VII. Having progressed thus far in my C speech, and seeing such a multitude of matters, I seem to undergo the same thing as those who look out over the open sea. For often when they turn their eyes there, they see only the sea; nothing defines the view for them. Nevertheless, the attempt must be made; for neither do they shrink from navigation, nor do we from the speech. For when you had just received the scepter, thinking it fitting to drive far from your empire all that was alien and barbarian, and to appear with liberty to your subjects, you commanded these things to be done, and straightway the matter came to an end. For you had observed the Orient, the more excellent part of your empire, being troubled by certain D neighboring barbarians, men arrogant and ferocious, who acknowledged it as virtue alone to assault the goods of others; and who, coming on swiftly, also retreat swiftly, and into whatever part of the earth they have betaken themselves, they easily lie hidden, for there is no place nor city defined for them to dwell in, but the whole [earth is their home].
A And what crime would such men as these refrain from? To them, cities once prosperous and shining, but then destitute of assistance and deprived of alliances, lay open for plunder; of these, one had already been captured, another was on the point of being so, while a third was being abandoned; and the fear of what was to come tormented them more than the calamity itself. An unhappy rumor struck the ears of all, reporting one thing after another, and everything terrible. You could hear of a city being stormed, wealth being carried off, women being dragged to lewdness, children being nefariously treated, hoary heads being insulted, youth being dragged away, and virgins being led off—not to a happy bridal chamber and a fortunate husband, according to their earlier hopes, but to the insolence of an enemy and a barbarian, an object of loathing even to look upon. For to such men, everything lay exposed. He who, for his part, had B previously been untouched by evils, knew how to thank only fortune; but now, O Emperor, all celebrate you along with it, those who because of you have not suffered, and those who do not expect to suffer again. For the barbarian, having received the wound he deserved, casts his eyes down, acknowledges his master, and despite his unwillingness, behaves with moderation. The cities, moreover, are free from these sufferings; and the walls, which had grown old, are rejuvenated, while others are now rising for the first time; the cities act with restraint, displaying a secure order to the barbarians. Fortresses have been placed everywhere to protect the provincials, and the youth of the soldiers are fortified with strength and numbers: men in the prime of life, looking fierce, and as Homer said, C "servants of Ares" — not as before, weak and aged, trembling in the face of dangers, and fearing along with us, and themselves in need of someone to save them. And the army itself is witness to us here at hand, performing such things for the prince, and accommodated to serve him for the advancement of the common salvation. Wherefore it calls you father, and trusts in you, and with one voice praises and admires you, and will never cease to admire you.
VIII.
But the discourse, always holding to the sequence of events, like a stream borne along, has been carried to this point by force. We must, therefore, return to where we branched off. For you rightly judged that it behooves an empire that is to be well-constituted to be purged not only of foreigners D and freed from the evils arising from them, but also, if any part of it is diseased and ulcerous, and...A stands against the rest, to convert this to order, and to show one harmony pervading all parts, just as in a body. For you knew that men who are in concord and stand with one another are formidable to their opponents, and defend themselves swiftly against those who trouble them; but those who are factious among themselves possess their own ruin from within, and have no need of an enemy, or rather, they bring upon themselves those who are hostile and hate them, as they consider the calamity of those suffering within to be a suitable opportunity. How the matter stood, I shall narrate from a little further back.
IX. The Isaurian War
IX. In the borders of Cilicia dwells a fierce tribe, the nation of the Solymi, extending from the sea-coast into the inland regions. They, therefore, not knowing how to enjoy their own prosperity, lift up their heads and grow arrogant against the Roman empire, B puffed up by boasting to their own ruin. But what especially moved them and made them confident beyond reason was the region, which is truly difficult to storm: for it is a fortress, lifting many peaks toward the sky; and also the training of the men. For they are agile, a swift race, and move over the mountains like winged creatures, from where they descend to fall upon us. Therefore they would plunder the goods of their neighbors, and threaten in a dreadful manner, with boastful words... a crowd of leaders and other preparation; their hopes were splendid; just as on the stage one man appears to be Agamemnon, another represents the image of Achilles in his attire, and one mimics another, being mere beggars and homeless men; but when the drama is finished, the stage is dissolved.
X. And yet these men were soon to be taught by experience how benevolent an emperor they had provoked to just anger, even if they did not pay the penalty they deserved. But you, C August, conquered twice; you overcame the fierce in battle, and the defeated by clemency, and you showed that virtues truly support one another. For those whom you had subdued by bravery and imperial arts, these clemency, following its sisters, commanded you to save. And you set up a double trophy, the second of which D
surpasses the former. For to overcome the enemy might perhaps happen by fortune alone; but to add the secondary favors to those that have gone before, this is what adorned the victory of the battle and made this trophy the work of virtue alone. You did not, like Philip the Macedonian—a man truly a barbarian, and one who flourished on the calamities of the Greeks, and by fraud and guile captured thirty-two Chalcidic cities—so cruelly destroy them that it is uncertain if they existed before; and I am silent about how the most wise Athenians treated the Melians and B Scionaeans. You, however, having received just grounds for anger against those who act unjustly, did not exact such revenge, O Emperor. But like a good father, as you yourself used to call yourself, you taught them only how to be moderate, and you gave them back the city that you yourself had built, and the fertile land, and now they use Rome fittingly and are shielded by the others. This is an ornament worthy of an emperor and greater than all hope. And it seems to me that you surpass even that Alexander in royal temper; who, after he had conquered the Indian in battle, began to consult the enemy as to how he ought to be treated. When the other replied, "Royally," he asked him again if he wished to add anything to this advice. But when he said that he had indicated his whole virtue in that one word, Alexander, moved, I think, by the shame of such an exhortation, perhaps became humane against his will. But you, knowing what is beautiful by C nature, had the counsel from within yourself; and the defeated are grateful, I think, and deem it their only misfortune that so great a man as you has been wronged by them.
XI. I believe, indeed, that if I were to say only these things, I would have arrived at a sufficient conclusion for my speech, and one not meagerly embellished by what has been said. But now, my words, vying with the virtue of the Emperor, judge it intolerable and the most cowardly thing of all if they cannot even speak of those things which he, in his acts, does not tire of doing for the sake of the multitude. For since there are two seasons among men, peace and war, he divides his virtue so that he manages both as if he had learned only that one and were ignorant of the other. And of his bravery in wars, the things I just mentioned supply sufficient evidence; but now I must speak of that which is the greatest of the blessings of peace, and the cause of many others in succession, and which brings cities most of all to happiness. For from the time when it began to be the custom for men to be ruled, and the name and authority of a king were born, each of those who rule, since he cannot, with one body, be present everywhere to all who are subjected to him, through those who possess [authority]
A over the subjects, holds the cities together, and by means of them seems to be present to all as a benefactor; and what nature cannot achieve, prudence attempts to accomplish. These things, therefore, initially well-established, certain spurious and illicit men, having been elevated to royal dignity against right, seeking private gain from the public affairs of the empire, corrupted and turned to the opposite of what was needed. For just as if they were engaged in some commerce, they made magistracies venal; and it was possible to see cities—under the guise of magistracy—being sold to those who knew how to give and receive money, but not to those who knew how to act rightly. Therefore, as soon as they arrived in a province, they would do the very thing for which they were present, and with the public calamity, the leaders of men grew rich.
XII. But from the time that you began to sustain the cities for us by your nod, we learned that the insatiable love of wealth, which does not allow justice to dwell among men, did not, as it seemed, overcome everything, but indeed, that it is sometimes B unexpectedly overcome. And yet, because of this, a father betrays his son, a wife her husband, and nations take up arms against one another. But you, when you sit at the tribunal, justice passes before your eyes, and as if she were discerning [the case], you send the judges to cast their votes. And it is not he who offers gold who conciliates your judgment to himself, but he who is rich in virtue and knows how to transform men into happiness. Lysander, however, although he was a Spartan and elated in spirit because of his previously successful deeds, by his actions belied the Spartan; for when he appointed magistrates not as was fitting, he filled the race of the Greeks with slaughter and turmoil, and by the counsel of one man the cities lived miserably.
XIII. But since I have mentioned one or two things by which you have helped C the whole republic, I shall now turn my speech to those things that you have munificently performed for individuals. For you yourselves know—and I ask that you hear me with a tranquil mind—that a certain harsh tax, like some horrendous evil, used to invade the cities at fixed times and seize the individual citizens, a name foreign to justice and ill-omened to the subjects, embraced in a single word—gold and silver. For working men, needy in their daily sustenance, who had every hope of life deposited in their hands, paid these as if they were a wage for their sweat and miseries: and this pressed upon them over and above their fortune. The farmer used to groan D over his trees; for he suffered a double misfortune, both in enduring labors with his body, and in calling to mind his sorrows. The fisherman by the sea cast his net
A wishing to catch a haul in which others would share. And a certain merchant, 40 after winter and sea and fierce fortune, having with difficulty stepped onto land and seen the city, did not possess the view of it without paying a price. And what need is there to mention the others? 41 For the women in the houses of prostitution, 42 having drawn as their lot a life of necessary disgrace, did not even possess the right to be unfortunate in peace, but were making an object for sale the insult to their own bodies; and a wage was paid for their lack of self-control; and to speak simply, the emperor's treasury was filled from common misfortunes. Some of those who ruled previously, thinking themselves to be philanthropists, indeed pitied them, but had no means to help them; 43 they only wished, and up to this point showed their virtue; but they marveled that it was a task beyond their power to carry into effect. For it was necessary that this also be preserved for you, and become your own work along with the others, so that such great virtue would not remain hidden, lacking the things of sufficient importance regarding which it might show itself. Therefore, having disregarded the notion of all shameful gain 44 and having admired a loss that is worthy of praise, you willed, you gave the command, and it arrived at the deed. And our benefits did not stop even there; but you did not even allow them to become shameful again for those who follow: for every document regarding this became the work of fire; and with those who cause grief, the memory of these things was also destroyed. For you ordered these things 45 to be burned up, just as the heads of the Hydra, 46 so that it might not rise again, imitating your own Hercules.
XIV. Formerly, Aristides, by imposing unaccustomed tributes upon the Greeks, as if he had accomplished some great thing, B brought upon himself the title of "the Just," and if anyone spoke of Aristides, he would surely add: "the just." But you, by removing such great tributes from your subjects, C as if they were some common Erinys, 47 with what title
A could you rightly be addressed? For small compared to these are the things for which Aristides and Pisistratus were each admired. The latter, having ordained that a tenth of the produce of the land be paid as revenue to the Athenians, as he was passing through the Attic countryside near Hymettus, saw an old man digging a stone and exhausted by his labors. Pitying him, as was natural, he sent someone to ask what fruits the stone yielded him. The man, sighing heavily, said: "Sorrows, and a multitude of evils; and of these, a tenth must now go to Pisistratus." He did not know that the tyrant himself was near when he spoke these words. When the report of the man's speech was brought to him, Pisistratus admired his endurance, and, thinking he was bestowing something great, he granted the farmer immunity for the stone; and from that time, the field was called "Immune" in memory of that virtue. B But why has it come into my mind to mention Pisistratus, one old man, and that wretched field, in the face of the freedom of all your subjects, whence even each of the craftsmen, prospering beyond his hopes, and the farmer amidst his fields, sings your praises as a consolation for his labors?
XV. Consistently with these things, you performed others that surpass all report. For previously, the cities held certain inhuman spectacles, in which miserable men were delivered to wild beasts in the presence of the people, while those who had the same kind of nature watched them. And a man would take pleasure, I know not how, in seeing a man torn limb from limb and his body not even concealed by the earth, but rather filling the bellies of the wild beasts as if it were a tomb.
XVI. Further, there was another spectacle, which tended entirely to the opposite extreme. C For effeminate boys, as if changing their own nature into that of women, wished to seem women in their appearance, and with a soft gait, moving their hands instead of their tongue, they inflamed the whole populace to lewd spectacle; whence men, kindled to strife and madness, were divided by hatred and shoved one another. These things, therefore, you have swept away from your subjects like a stain; and in both respects nature becomes sound for men, and the cities were saved.
XVII. But lest I wander too far from the occasion, having added these stones to these, I shall proceed in my speech to the remaining matters. For you did not consider it sufficient D to extend your kindness toward the common interest solely through your munificence, [alt-version omitted]
but, A as if moved by a perpetual desire to do good, you kept watch over those in need of benefits, looking out for the individual hardships by which the cities were pressed, arranging to supply what was lacking and to convert their condition into a better state. And the outcome followed your will. Passing over most of these matters (for they are too extensive, and time would not suffice to relate them), I shall seek what is fitting as a beginning for my discourse, as if from sacred things.
XVIII. The city is sacred, situated in the regions of the East, populous, known for its piety, and preeminent over others in divine mysteries. B Therefore, Indians and Persians and Phoenicians and the tribes of the Scythians and the noble nations of Greece, and all Ionia, come to it; you might call it a common fatherland of the human race. This city was afflicted by a lack of water, which distressed not only the citizens but also those arriving from everywhere. For it provided only as much as chance might yield from the rains; and, lacking other veins of water, they had created treasuries for rain, and by artfully overcoming the scarcity, they barely sustained themselves. But this also troubled them until your time. For since you judged that this city should be treated with the honor it was due, and took it grievously C that because of this single lack all men were laboring under hardships, you built up aqueducts on high and, having collected fountains which gushed in higher places, you joined distant streams, leading them through the rough and jagged ground along the bed of a river, which through those channels pour out a clear and abundant supply of water, overcoming the sight with the speed of their flowing, so that now those who arrive celebrate feast days in safety, and all dwell there with pleasure.
XIX. I return to our own regions. The city which is adorned with the name of Caesar no longer corresponded in reality to that name, D but had preserved nothing beyond the bare name from its ancient fortune; for the harbor had failed with age and lay exposed to all the threats of the waves. You did not disregard it in its entreaty, and as it forever lamented the merchant ships which, often after overcoming the perils of the sea, were dashed to pieces in the harbor. Moreover, those who were in need of the cargoes were even more to be pitied: for they watched the necessities perish, offered to their eyes in vain. But by your will it is renewed, and confidently receives the ships; and the city abounds in the things necessary.
XX. The case of Alexandria was, one might almost say, very similar. For a tower, exceeding high, a work of ancient prosperity, rising at the edge of the harbor, raises a flame as a signal of salvation [alt-version omitted] to those arriving from the sea, a comfort to navigators, announcing that the city is near. Looking towards this, the helmsman directs his course and saves the ship, keeping it free from the impending dangers; and the sailors, rejoicing at the sight, immediately applaud, and one shows it to another, and...
to speak in a word, it provides both joy and safety to those arriving. A The sea, attacking this from behind and gradually stripping away its defenses now that it had come close, was shaking it and nearly brought it down to the ground. But you anticipated the disaster with a remedy. For with indissoluble substructures, which might withstand the force of the savage sea, you fortified it and restored it to the city to remain forever.
XXI. But what need is there to enumerate one by one the walls and harbors, the beauty of the buildings, and the abundance of wealth generously spent on the provision of food? What of the construction of that greatest wall, which surpasses every thought, B which, tall and great, is led through the whole of Thrace in part? For it is drawn from sea to sea, blocking the approach from the barbarians and repelling every attack of the enemy; so that, compared to this, even the wall of Themistocles is small, although its breadth is celebrated because it could hold two wagons meeting each other, even if they were moving in opposite directions upon the wall. For I think that if Homer were alive and became a spectator of such works, he would abandon the anger of Achilles and the single burning ship, and would often summon the Muses here, so that the magnificence of his poetic words might not fall too far below the dignity of the achievements.
XXII. For besides other things, you also lend a kind ear to one who approaches you, C who speaks with you without fear about necessary matters, seeing the greatness of your dignity immune from all pride: which, however, foolishly puffed up Pausanias the Spartan to arrogance, being convicted by Persian luxury. But you speak kindly, and listen to those who speak; and a gaze terrible and haughty is reserved for barbarians and enemies. You exercise judgment for us benevolently, and you command what is necessary by the laws; and because you are feared lawfully, contracts are just, and marriages of your subjects are modest; the lineages are genuine, and children are not doubtful to their fathers on account of suspicion.
XXIII. For truly, that golden age celebrated in speech has at last in reality shown itself to us in this era. For not only do you establish for us the best things by laws, but by lif
life as a living law and an exemplar of temperance for your subjects; for the subject class is always wont, in a way, to model itself upon the mind of its rulers. For you have made for yourself one consort, a partner in your life and your counsels, whom fortune has bestowed upon you along with the diadem. And if any other woman seems beautiful to some, and receives much talk on that account, she is unknown to you B just as much as Helen was—naturally so, for it would seem unendurable to you to hold sway over so many subjects, while yet serving the pleasures with the most wretched of all servitudes, and abusing your power to satisfy lust.
XXIV. But I confess that I have been overcome by a strange feeling, and through the pleasure of speaking of your excellent achievements, I am carried away so as not to measure my speech by my own powers, but to weave a long discourse, as if I were narrating your affairs to those C ignorant of them. And yet, I consider it always most delightful even for you to hear of those things of which report has often informed us, even as we desired. For they say that those who are in love, beyond all other time, know their beloved, and in so far as they the more strive to know them, yet they have nothing they more gladly say or hear than that which keeps the memory of these things. Now, as for those individuals famous in the past, I have often wondered at them as I heard of them, and I am stirred at the mention of them, D and I have always prayed that such men might rule over affairs, and that our life might not be destitute of a harvest of good men. Yet I find that such men pride themselves, each upon a different quality; and if someone possesses even one thing, he is admired as though he had attained everything. You, however, having gathered together the virtues of all, and having adorned that which was lacking in each with the addition of another's quality, display in your own person the images of all who have gone before.
XXV. The Persians, then, admire Cyrus, calling him both benefactor and father: and I will not, for the time being, blame their judgment, for they gave the title to the king from the good fortunes they enjoyed—not, however, from the calamities of the Medes and what Astyages lamented, he being the grandfather of Cyrus, sprinkled with the ashen grey of captivity, the height of whose miseries was that he called his own grandson, his daughter's son, at once child and master. And in such a way, through unjust desire and domestic tragedies, he seized the rule. And having accomplished these things, the lovers of liberty
A he attacked with sword and battle, leading them into slavery and unusual laws; yet from what was fitting, he bound Asia to himself. But you, with no such base desire, but by just votes having received the kingdom, have become to us all what Cyrus was to the Persians alone; and, contrary to him, you have freed us from the accustomed tributes. And now, that liberty seems to all, uniquely, to be to obey you willingly and to comply with your humane inclination.
B XXVI. The Spartans celebrate Agesilaus and think magnificently of him. And I, too, with them, love and admire him, the only one of all who have ever reigned in Sparta who, having first learned how to be ruled, came to rule. For it was possible to see in him a good man, breathing the Laconian spirit, who had taught the barbarians to act with restraint and to know what was the character of Greece. Furthermore, he curbed what was diseased and factious in his homeland and brought Sparta to concord through his counsels. But we shall no longer allow the Spartans to be arrogant, now that we have a new Agesilaus, through whom the barbarian remains quiet, having hung up his shield, and embracing peace, however unwelcome it may be; and whatever was disturbed in the empire has been recalled to temperance and lawful order. But as for the practice of standing by friends unjustly and contending beyond what is right—from which Sparta first saw the enemy’s fires and lost her flower at Leuctra—let that ancient Agesilaus keep such things to himself; we are far removed from those vices.
C XXVII. When I used to hear it said that Alexander, son of Philip, had shown a spirit worthy of such an empire, that he held out to his subjects a hand overflowing with gold, and that he mastered bodily pleasures—nay, that he was endowed with a divine nature—I used to be incredulous, thinking these things a fable rashly invented. But now, having experienced, I see the things which, when handed down in words, I used to wonder at. Thus I feel about him: if he was such as we have found you to be by experience, I believe he did indeed excel all others, that he was the son of Zeus, and that Philip was deceived.
D XXVIII. And thus you have stepped forth for us, hiding all by your miracle. Hence our cities are happy, occupied with dances and festivals; for peace blooms upon our affairs; and Ares and sedition are driven far from us. Merchants sail the sea without fear; the earth is cultivated with joyful hope; and the helmet and spear and sword have been turned into plowshares and friendly names: And women bear children like to their sires.