§8.1ταῦτα δὲ ὁ Νομᾶς ἐπʼ εὐνοίᾳ καὶ χάριτι τοῦ δήμου πολιτευσάμενος εὐθὺς ἐπεχείρει τὴν πόλιν, ὥσπερ σίδηρον, ἐκ σκληρᾶς καὶ πολεμικῆς μαλακωτέραν ποιῆσαι καὶ δικαιοτέραν.
Numa, having conducted his administration of these matters to gain the goodwill and favor of the people, straightway attempted to make the city, like iron, softer and more righteous from its hard and warlike state.
ἀτεχνῶς γὰρ ἣν Πλάτων ἀποκαλεῖ φλεγμαίνουσαν πόλιν ἐκείνη τότʼ ἦν, συστᾶσα μὲν εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς τόλμῃ τινὶ καὶ παραβόλῳ θρασύτητι τῶν θρασυτάτων καὶ μαχιμωτάτων ἐκεῖ πανταχόθεν ὠσαμένων, §8.2ταῖς δὲ πολλαῖς στρατείαις καὶ τοῖς συνεχέσι πολέμοις τροφῇ χρησαμένη καὶ αὐξήσει τῆς δυνάμεως, καὶ καθάπερ τὰ καταπηγνύμενα τῷ σείεσθαι μᾶλλον ἑδράζεται, ῥώννυσθαι δοκοῦσα διὰ τῶν κινδύνων, οὕτω δὴ μετέωρον καὶ τετραχυμένον δῆμον οὐ μικρᾶς οὐδὲ φαύλης οἰόμενος εἶναι πραγματείας μεταχειρίσασθαι καὶ μετακοσμῆσαι πρὸς εἰρήνην, ἐπηγάγετο τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν βοήθειαν,
For in truth that city was then what Plato calls a "fevered city," having been constituted straight from the beginning by a certain daring and reckless audacity of the boldest and most warlike who had pushed their way thither from all quarters, and having used its many campaigns and continuous wars as nourishment and increase of its power, and seeming to grow strong through dangers, just as things driven deep are more firmly fixed by being shaken.
§8.3τὰ μὲν πολλὰ θυσίαις καὶ πομπαῖς καὶ χορείαις, ἃς αὐτὸς ὠργίασε καὶ κατέστησεν, ἅμα σεμνότητι διαγωγὴν ἐπίχαριν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον ἡδονὴν ἐχούσαις, δημαγωγῶν καὶ τιθασεύων τὸ θυμοειδὲς καὶ φιλοπόλεμον ἔστι δ’ ὅτε καὶ φόβους τινὰς ἀπαγγέλλων παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ φάσματα δαιμόνων ἀλλόκοτα καὶ φωνὰς οὐκ εὐμενεῖς, ἐδούλου καὶ ταπεινὴν ἐποίει τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν ὑπὸ δεισιδαιμονίας.
Thus, thinking that to handle and reorganize for peace a populace so excited and roughened was a task of no small or trivial importance, he brought in the aid of the gods, and for the most part, by means of sacrifices, processions, and dances, which he himself established and regulated, combining solemnity with a pleasant diversion and a humane pleasure, he won over and tamed their high-spirited and warlike temper; and sometimes also, by announcing certain terrors from God, strange apparitions of spirits, and threatening voices, he enslaved and made humble their minds through superstition.
§8.4ἐξ ὧν καὶ μάλιστα λόγον ἔσχεν ἡ σοφία καὶ ἡ παίδευσις τοῦ ἀνδρός, ὡς Πυθαγόρᾳ συγγεγονότος.
From which things especially the wisdom and education of the man gained the reputation of his having been an associate of Pythagoras.
μέγα γὰρ ἦν μέρος, ὡς ἐκείνῳ τῆς φιλοσοφίας, καὶ τούτῳ τῆς πολιτείας ἡ περὶ τὸ θεῖον ἁγιστεία καὶ διατριβή.
For indeed, the sacred ritual and devotion concerning the divine was a great part of statecraft for Numa, just as it was of philosophy for Pythagoras.
λέγεται δὲ καὶ τὸν ἔξωθεν ὄγκον καὶ σχηματισμὸν ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς Πυθαγόρᾳ διανοίας περιβαλέσθαι.
And it is said also that he assumed his outward dignity and demeanor from the same intention as Pythagoras.
§8.5καὶ γάρ ἐκεῖνος ἀετόν τε δοκεῖ πραῦναι, φωναῖς τισιν ἐπιστήσας καὶ καταγαγὼν ὑπεριπτάμενον, τόν τε μηρὸν ὑποφῆναι χρυσοῦν Ὀλυμπίασι διαπορευόμενος τὴν πανήγυριν· ἄλλας τε τερατώδεις μηχανὰς αὐτοῦ καὶ πράξεις ἀναγγέλλουσιν, ἐφʼ αἷς καὶ Τίμων ὁ Φλιάσιος ἔγραψε· "
Πυθαγόρην δὲ γόητας ἀποκλίνοντʼ ἐπὶ δόξας
θήρῃ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπων, σεμνηγορίης ὀαριστὴν
" §8.6τῷ δὲ Νομᾷ δρᾶμα θεᾶς τινος ἢ νύμφης ὀρείας ἔρως ἦν καὶ συνουσία πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπόρρητος, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, καὶ κοιναὶ μετὰ Μουσῶν διατριβαί.
For indeed that philosopher is believed to have tamed an eagle, having stopped and brought it down by certain voices as it flew over, and to have shown his thigh of gold as he passed through the assembly at Olympia; and they report other miraculous devices and deeds of his, concerning which Timon of Phlius also wrote: "And Pythagoras, who inclined to sorcerers' beliefs, on the hunt for men, a conversationalist of solemn talk." But Numa's drama was the love and secret intercourse with him of some goddess or mountain nymph, as has been said, and his joint associations with the Muses.
τὰ γὰρ· πλεῖστα τῶν μαντευμάτων εἰς Μούσας ἀνῆγε, καὶ μίαν Μοῦσαν ἰδίως καὶ διαφερόντως ἐδίδαξε σέβεσθαι τοὺς Ῥωμαίους, Τακίταν προσαγορεύσας, οἷον σιωπηλὴν ἢ ἐνεάν· ὅπερ εἶναι δοκεῖ τὴν Πυθαγόρειον ἀπομνημονεύοντος ἐχεμυθίαν καὶ τιμῶντος.
For he referred most of his oracles to the Muses, and he taught the Romans to worship one Muse especially and distinctively, whom he named Tacita, that is to say, Silent or Mute; which seems to be the act of one remembering and honoring the Pythagorean silence.
§8.7ἔστι δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν ἀφιδρυμάτων νομοθετήματα παντάπασιν ἀδελφὰ τῶν Πυθαγόρου δογμάτων, οὔτε γὰρ ἐκεῖνος αἰσθητὸν ἢ παθητόν, ἀόρατον δὲ καὶ ἄκτιστον καὶ νοητὸν ὑπελάμβανεν εἶναι τὸ πρῶτον, οὗτός τε διεκώλυσεν ἀνθρωποειδῆ καὶ ζῳόμορφον εἰκόνα θεοῦ Ῥωμαίους νομίζειν.
Moreover, his regulations concerning the images of the gods are entirely akin to the doctrines of Pythagoras; for neither did Pythagoras suppose the First Principle to be sensible or capable of suffering, but invisible and uncreated and intelligible, nor did Numa allow the Romans to believe in an image of God having human or animal form.
οὐδʼ ἦν παρʼ αὑτοῖς οὔτε γραπτὸν οὔτε πλαστὸν εἶδος θεοῦ πρότερον, §8.8ἀλλʼ ἐν ἑκατὸν ἑβδομήκοντα τοῖς πρώτοις ἔτεσι ναοὺς μὲν οἰκοδομού μεν οι καὶ καλιάδας ἱερὰς ἱστῶντες, ἄγαλμα δὲ οὐδὲν ἔμμορφον ποιούμενοι διετέλουν, ὡς οὔτε ὅσιον ἀφομοιοῦν τὰ βελτίονα τοῖς χείροσιν οὔτε ἐφάπτεσθαι θεοῦ δυνατὸν ἄλλως ἢ νοήσει, κομιδῆ δὲ καὶ τὰ τῶν θυσιῶν ἔχεται τῆς Πυθαγορικῆς ἁγιστείας·
Nor was there among them either painted or molded form of God before this; but in the first hundred and seventy years, though they built temples and established sacred chapels, they continued to make no shapely image, thinking that it was neither pious to represent better things by worse, nor possible to apprehend God otherwise than by thought.
ἀναίμακτοι γάρ ἦσαν αἵ γε πολλαί, διʼ ἀλφίτου καὶ σπονδῆς καὶ τῶν εὐτελεστάτων πεποιημέναι.
Moreover, the matters of their sacrifices are entirely linked with the Pythagorean ritual; for they were bloodless, at least for the most part, being made of barley-meal and libation and the cheapest things.
§8.9χωρὶς δὲ τούτων ἑτέροις ἔξωθεν ἐπαγωνίζονται τεκμηρίοις οἱ τὸν ἄνδρα τῷ ἀνδρὶ συνοικειοῦντες.
Aside from these things, those who associate the man with the philosopher support their case with other external proofs.
ὧν ἓν μέν ἐστιν ὅτι Πυθαγόραν Ῥωμαῖοι τῇ πολιτείᾳ προσέγραψαν, ὡς ἱστόρηκεν Ἐπίχαρμος ὁ κωμικὸς ἔν τινὶ λόγῳ πρὸς Ἀντήνορα γεγραμμένῳ, παλαιὸς ἀνήρ καὶ τῆς Πυθαγορικῆς διατριβῆς μετεσχηκώς ἕτερον δὲ ὅτι τεσσάρων υἱῶν βασιλεῖ Νομᾷ γενομένων ἕνα Μάμερκον ἐπὶ τῷ Πυθαγόρου παιδὶ προσηγόρευσεν.
One of these is that the Romans enrolled Pythagoras as a citizen, as Epicharmus the comic poet has recorded in a certain discourse written to Antenor, he being an ancient man who had shared in the Pythagorean school. Another is that when four sons were born to King Numa, he named one Mamercus after the son of Pythagoras.
§8.10ἀπʼ ἐκείνου δὲ καὶ τὸν Αἰ μιλίων οἶκον ἀναμιχθέντα τοῖς πατρικίοις ὀνομασθῆναί φασιν, οὕτως ὑποκοριζομένου τοῦ βασιλέως τὴν ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αἱμυλίαν καὶ χάριν, αὐτοὶ δ’ ἀκηκόαμεν πολλῶν ἐν Ῥώμῃ διεξιόντων ὅτι χρησμοῦ ποτε Ῥωμαίοις γενομένου τὸν φρονιμώτατον καὶ τὸν ἀνδρειότατον Ἑλλήνων ἱδρύσασθαι παρʼ αὑτοῖς, ἔστησαν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς εἰκόνας χαλκᾶς δύο, τὴν μὲν Ἀλκιβιάδου, τὴν δὲ Πυθαγόρου.
And from him they say that the house of the Aemilii, which was later mixed with the patricians, was named, the king having thus playfully called the wily sweetness and grace in the man's words. I myself have heard many in Rome relating that once when an oracle came to the Romans to establish among themselves the wisest and the bravest of the Greeks, they set up two bronze statues in the Forum, one of Alcibiades and the other of Pythagoras.
ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἀμφισβητήσεις ἔχοντα πολλὰς καὶ τὸ κινεῖν διὰ μακροτέρων καὶ τὸ πιστοῦσθαι μειρακιώδους ἔστι φιλονεικίας.
These things, then, which involve many disputes, both to investigate at greater length and to try to prove belongs to a childish love of controversy.