§30δῆλον δʼ ἐκ τῶν ἔργων· ἀποβὰς γὰρ εἰς τὴν νῆσον οὐχ ἡγήσατο δεῖν χωρίον ἐχυρὸν καταλαβὼν καὶ τὸ σῶμʼ ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ καταστήσας περιιδεῖν εἴ τινες αὑτῷ τῶν πολιτῶν βοηθήσουσιν· ἀλλʼ εὐθύς, ὥσπερ εἶχε, ταύτης τῆς νυκτὸς διελὼν τοῦ τείχους πυλίδα καὶ ταύτῃ τοὺς μεθʼ αὑτοῦ διαγαγὼν προσέβαλλε πρὸς τὸ βασίλειον. §31καὶ τοὺς μὲν θορύβους τοὺς ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις καιροῖς γιγνομένους καὶ τοὺς φόβους τοὺς τῶν ἄλλων καὶ τὰς παρακελεύσεις τὰς ἐκείνου τί δεῖ λέγοντα διατρίβειν;
This is clear from his deeds; for having landed on the island, he did not think he should occupy a stronghold and, having placed his own person in safety, wait to see if any of the citizens would come to his aid; but immediately, just as he was, on that very night he broke through a postern gate of the wall, and having led those with him through it, he attacked the palace. And as for the tumults that arise at such crises, the fears of the others, and his encouragements, why should I spend time in speaking of them?
γενομένων δʼ αὐτῷ τῶν μὲν περὶ τὸν τύραννον ἀνταγωνιστῶν, τῶν δʼ ἄλλων πολιτῶν θεατῶν, δεδιότες γὰρ τοῦ μὲν τὴν ἀρχήν, τοῦ δὲ τὴν ἀρετήν, §32ἡσυχίαν εἶχον, οὐ πρότερον ἐπαύσατο μαχόμενος καὶ μόνος πρὸς πολλοὺς καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγων πρὸς ἅπαντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς, πρὶν ἑλεῖν τὸ βασίλειον, καὶ τούς τʼ ἐχθροὺς ἐτιμωρήσατο καὶ τοῖς φίλοις ἐβοήθησεν, ἔτι δὲ τῷ γένει τὰς τιμὰς τὰς πατρίους ἐκομίσατο, καὶ τύραννον αὑτὸν τῆς πόλεως κατέστησεν. §33ἡγοῦμαι μὲν οὖν, εἰ καὶ μηδενὸς ἄλλου μνησθείην, ἀλλʼ ἐνταῦθα καταλίποιμι τὸν λόγον, ῥᾴδιον ἐκ τούτων εἶναι γνῶναι τήν τʼ ἀρετὴν τὴν Εὐαγόρου καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν πεπραγμένων·
Since the supporters of the tyrant became his adversaries, while the rest of the citizens became spectators—for they feared the rule of the one, and the virtue of the other— they kept quiet, while he did not cease fighting, both alone against many and with a few against all his enemies, until he captured the palace; and he punished his enemies and aided his friends, and moreover recovered for his family their ancestral honors, and established himself as tyrant of the city. Therefore, even if I should mention nothing else, but should leave my discourse here, I think it is easy from these facts to know both the virtue of Evagoras and the magnitude of his deeds.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἔτι γε σαφέστερον περὶ ἀμφοτέρων τούτων ἐκ τῶν ἐχομένων οἶμαι δηλώσειν. §34τοσούτων γὰρ τυράννων ἐν ἅπαντι τῷ χρόνῳ γεγενημένων οὐδεὶς φανήσεται τὴν τιμὴν ταύτην κάλλιον ἐκείνου κτησάμενος.
Nevertheless, I think I shall make both of these still clearer from what follows. For of all the tyrants who have existed in all time, no one will be found to have acquired this honor more creditably than he.
εἰ μὲν οὖν πρὸς ἕκαστον αὐτῶν τὰς πράξεις τὰς Εὐαγόρου παραβάλλοιμεν, οὔτʼ ἂν ὁ λόγος ἴσως τοῖς καιροῖς ἁρμόσειεν οὔτʼ ἂν ὁ χρόνος τοῖς λεγομένοις ἀρκέσειεν· ἢν δὲ προελόμενοι τοὺς εὐδοκιμωτάτους ἐπὶ τούτων σκοπῶμεν, οὐδὲν μὲν χεῖρον ἐξετῶμεν, πολὺ δὲ συντομώτερον διαλεχθησόμεθα περὶ αὐτῶν. §35τῶν μὲν οὖ τὰς πατρικὰς βασιλείας παραλαβόντων τίς οὐκ ἂν τοὺς Εὐαγόρου κινδύνους προκρίνειεν;
Now, if we should compare the deeds of Evagoras with each one of them, perhaps the discourse would not suit the occasion, nor would the time suffice for the telling; but if, selecting the most illustrious, we examine them in the light of these, we shall investigate them no worse, and shall discuss them much more briefly. In the first place, of those who inherited their ancestral kingdoms, who would not prefer the dangers of Evagoras?
οὐδεὶς γάρ ἐστιν οὕτω ῥᾴθυμος, ὅστις ἂν δέξαιτο παρὰ τῶν προγόνων τὴν ἀρχὴν ταύτην παραλαβεῖν μᾶλλον ἢ κτησάμενος ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος τοῖς παισὶ τοῖς αὑτοῦ καταλιπεῖν. §36καὶ μὴν τῶν γε παλαιῶν καθόδων αὗται μάλιστʼ εὐδοκιμοῦσιν ἃς παρὰ τῶν ποιητῶν ἀκούομεν·
For there is no one so indolent who would choose to receive this rule from his ancestors rather than, having acquired it as he did, to leave it to his own children. And indeed, of the ancient returns, those are most celebrated which we hear of from the poets; for they not only report to us the finest of those that happened, but also compose new ones of their own.
οὗτοι γὰρ οὐ μόνον τῶν γεγενημένων τὰς καλλίστας ἡμῖν ἀπαγγέλλουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρʼ αὑτῶν καινὰς συντιθέασιν. ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὐδεὶς αὐτῶν μεμυθολόγηκεν, ὅστις οὕτω δεινοὺς καὶ φοβεροὺς ποιησάμενος τοὺς κινδύνους εἰς τὴν αὑτοῦ κατῆλθεν· ἀλλʼ οἱ μὲν πλεῖστοι πεποίηνται διὰ τύχην λαβόντες τὰς βασιλείας, οἱ δὲ μετὰ δόλου καὶ τέχνης περιγενόμενοι τῶν ἐχθρῶν. §37ἀλλὰ μὴν τῶν γʼ ἐπὶ τάδε γεγενημένων, ἴσως δὲ καὶ τῶν ἁπάντων, Κῦρον τὸν Μήδων μὲν ἀφελόμενον τὴν ἀρχήν, Πέρσαις δὲ κτησάμενον, καὶ πλεῖστοι καὶ μάλιστα θαυμάζουσιν.
Yet nevertheless, none of them has mythologized anyone who returned to his own land after having faced dangers so terrible and formidable; rather, most of them are represented as having obtained their kingdoms by fortune, and the others as having overcome their enemies by guile and craft. Furthermore, among those who have lived since those times, and perhaps indeed among all men, Cyrus—who deprived the Medes of their rule and acquired it for the Persians—is most admired by the greatest number.
ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν τῷ Περσῶν στρατοπέδῳ τὸ Μήδων ἐνίκησεν, ὃ πολλοὶ καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ τῶν βαρβάρων ῥᾳδίως ἂν ποιήσειαν· ὁ δὲ διὰ τῆς ψυχῆς τῆς αὑτοῦ καὶ τοῦ σώματος τὰ πλεῖστα φαίνεται τῶν προειρημένων διαπραξάμενος. §38ἔπειτʼ ἐκ μὲν τῆς Κύρου στρατηγίας οὔπω δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τοὺς Εὐαγόρου κινδύνους ἂν ὑπέμεινεν, ἐκ δὲ τῶν τούτῳ πεπραγμένων ἅπασι φανερόν, ὅτι ῥᾳδίως ἂν κἀκείνοις τοῖς ἔργοις ἐπεχείρησεν.
But while he conquered the Medes with the army of the Persians, which many of the Greeks and barbarians alike could easily do, the other is seen to have accomplished most of the things mentioned above through his own soul and body. Then, from the generalship of Cyrus, it is not yet clear that he would also have endured the dangers of Evagoras, while from the things accomplished by the latter, it is manifest to all that he would have easily attempted those exploits too.
πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τῷ μὲν ὁσίως καὶ δικαίως ἅπαντα πέπρακται, τῷ δʼ οὐκ εὐσεβῶς ἔνια συμβέβηκεν· ὁ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἀπώλεσε, Κῦρος δὲ τὸν πατέρα τὸν τῆς μητρὸς ἀπέκτεινεν.
Moreover, by the one all things have been done piously and justly, while to the other some things happened impiously; for the one destroyed his enemies, but Cyrus killed his mother's father.
ὥστʼ εἴ τινες βούλοιντο μὴ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν συμβάντων ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν τὴν ἑκατέρου κρίνειν, δικαίως ἂν Εὐαγόραν καὶ τούτου μᾶλλον ἐπαινέσειαν.
So that, if any should wish to judge not the magnitude of the events, but the virtue of each, they would justly praise Evagoras even more than him.