§65καίτοι πῶς ἄν τις τὴν ἀνδρίαν ἢ τὴν φρόνησιν ἢ σύμπασαν τὴν ἀρετὴν τὴν Εὐαγόρου φανερώτερον ἐπιδείξειεν ἢ διὰ τοιούτων ἔργων καὶ κινδύνων;
And yet, how could anyone show the courage or the wisdom or the entire virtue of Evagoras more clearly than through such deeds and dangers?
οὐ γὰρ μόνον φανεῖται τοὺς ἄλλους πολέμους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν τῶν ἡρώων ὑπερβαλόμενος, τὸν ὑπὸ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ὑμνούμενον.
For he will be seen to have surpassed not only other wars, but also that of the heroes, which is sung of by all men.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ μεθʼ ἁπάσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος Τροίαν μόνην εἷλον, ὁ δὲ μίαν πόλιν ἔχων πρὸς ἅπασαν τὴν Ἀσίαν ἐπολέμησεν· ὥστʼ εἰ τοσοῦτοι τὸ πλῆθος ἐγκωμιάζειν αὐτὸν ἠβουλήθησαν ὅσοι περ ἐκείνους, πολὺ ἂν μείζω καὶ τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν ἔλαβεν.
For they, with the whole of Greece, captured Troy alone, but he, having a single city, waged war against the whole of Asia; so that if as many in number had wished to praise him as praised them, he would have received a glory far greater than theirs.
§66τίνα γὰρ εὑρήσομεν τῶν τότε γενομένων, εἰ τοὺς μύθους ἀφέντες τὴν ἀλήθειαν σκοποῖμεν, τοιαῦτα διαπεπραγμένον, ἢ τίνα τοσούτων μεταβολῶν ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν αἴτιον γεγενημένον;
For whom shall we find of those of that time, if leaving myths aside we should look at the truth, who has accomplished such things, or who has become the cause of so many changes in affairs?
ὃς αὑτὸν μὲν ἐξ ἰδιώτου τύραννον κατέστησε, τὸ δὲ γένος ἅπαν ἀπεληλαμένον τῆς πολιτείας εἰς τὰς προσηκούσας τιμὰς πάλιν ἐπανήγαγε, τοὺς δὲ πολίτας ἐκ βαρβάρων μὲν Ἕλληνας ἐποίησεν, §67ἐξ ἀνάνδρων δὲ πολεμικούς, ἐξ ἀδόξων δʼ ὀνομαστούς, τὸν δὲ τόπον ἄμικτον ὅλον παραλαβὼν καὶ παντάπασιν ἐξηγριωμένον ἡμερώτερον καὶ πραότερον κατέστησεν, ἔτι δὲ πρὸς τούτοις εἰς ἔχθραν μὲν βασιλεῖ καταστὰς οὕτως αὐτὸν ἠμύνατο καλῶς ὥστʼ ἀείμνηστον γεγενῆσθαι τὸν πόλεμον τὸν περὶ Κύπρον, ὅτε δʼ ἦν αὐτῷ σύμμαχος, τοσούτῳ χρησιμώτερον αὑτὸν παρέσχε τῶν ἄλλων §68ὥσθʼ ὁμολογουμένως μεγίστην αὐτῷ συμβαλέσθαι δύναμιν εἰς τὴν ναυμαχίαν τὴν περὶ Κνίδον, ἧς γενομένης βασιλεὺς μὲν ἁπάσης τῆς Ἀσίας κύριος κατέστη, Λακεδαιμόνιοι δʼ ἀντὶ τοῦ τὴν ἤπειρον πορθεῖν περὶ τῆς αὑτῶν κινδυνεύειν ἠναγκάσθησαν, οἱ δʼ Ἕλληνες ἀντὶ δουλείας αὐτονομίας ἔτυχον, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ τοσοῦτον ἐπέδοσαν ὥστε τοὺς πρότερον αὐτῶν ἄρχοντας ἐλθεῖν αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀρχὴν δώσοντας.
Who established himself as ruler from being a private citizen, and restored his entire family, which had been expelled from the government, back to its fitting honors, and made his citizens Greeks instead of barbarians, and warlike instead of cowardly, and famous instead of ignoble, and receiving the whole place as inhospitable and utterly wild, made it more civilized and gentle; and furthermore, having entered into hostility with the king, defended himself against him so finely that the war concerning Cyprus has become memorable forever, and when he was his ally, he showed himself so much more useful than the others that by common consent he contributed the greatest power to him for the naval battle around Cnidus, which having taken place, the king became master of all Asia, while the Lacedaemonians, instead of ravaging the continent, were forced to run risks concerning their own land, and the Greeks obtained autonomy instead of slavery, and the Athenians increased so much that those who formerly ruled over them came to give the rule to them.
§69ὥστʼ εἴ τις ἔροιτό με, τί νομίζω μέγιστον εἶναι τῶν Εὐαγόρᾳ πεπραγμένων, πότερον τὰς ἐπιμελείας καὶ τὰς παρασκευὰς τὰς πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους ἐξ ὧν τὰ προειρημένα γέγονεν, ἢ τὸν τελευταῖον πόλεμον, ἢ τὴν κατάληψιν τῆς βασιλείας, ἢ τὴν ὅλην τῶν πραγμάτων διοίκησιν, εἰς πολλὴν ἀπορίαν ἂν κατασταίην· ἀεὶ γάρ μοι δοκεῖ μέγιστον εἶναι καὶ θαυμαστότατον καθʼ ὅ τι ἂν αὐτῶν ἐπιστήσω τὴν διάνοιαν.
So that if anyone should ask me what I consider to be the greatest of the deeds accomplished by Evagoras—whether his cares and preparations against the Lacedaemonians from which the aforementioned things arose, or the last war, or the seizure of the kingship, or the whole administration of affairs—I should be placed in great perplexity; for whichever of these I direct my mind to, that one always seems to me to be the greatest and most wonderful.
§70ὥστʼ εἴ τινες τῶν προγεγενημένων διʼ ἀρετὴν ἀθάνατοι γεγόνασιν, οἶμαι κἀκεῖνον ἠξιῶσθαι ταύτης τῆς δωρεᾶς, σημείοις χρώμενος ὅτι καὶ τὸν ἐνθάδε χρόνον εὐτυχέστερον καὶ θεοφιλέστερον ἐκείνων διαβεβίωκεν.
Therefore, if any of those of former times have become immortal because of virtue, I believe that he also has been deemed worthy of this gift, using as signs the fact that he lived his life here more happily and more beloved of the gods than they did.
τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἡμιθέων τοὺς πλείστους καὶ τοὺς ὀνομαστοτάτους εὑρήσομεν ταῖς μεγίσταις συμφοραῖς περιπεσόντας, Εὐαγόρας δʼ οὐ μόνον θαυμαστότατος ἀλλὰ καὶ μακαριστότατος ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὢν διετέλεσεν.
For we shall find most of the demigods and the most famous of them falling into the greatest misfortunes, but Evagoras continued being not only most admirable but also most blessed from the beginning.
§71τί γὰρ ἀπέλιπεν εὐδαιμονίας, ὃς τοιούτων μὲν προγόνων ἔτυχεν οἵων οὐδεὶς ἄλλος, πλὴν εἴ τις ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐκείνῳ γέγονεν, τοσοῦτον δὲ καὶ τῷ σώματι καὶ τῇ γνώμῃ τῶν ἄλλων διήνεγκεν ὥστε μὴ μόνον Σαλαμῖνος ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς Ἀσίας ἁπάσης ἄξιος εἶναι τυραννεῖν, κάλλιστα δὲ κτησάμενος τὴν βασιλείαν ἐν ταύτῃ τὸν βίον διετέλεσε, θνητὸς δὲ γενόμενος ἀθάνατον τὴν περὶ αὑτοῦ μνήμην κατέλιπε, τοσοῦτον δʼ ἐβίω χρόνον ὥστε μήτε τοῦ γήρως ἄμοιρος γενέσθαι μήτε τῶν νόσων μετασχεῖν τῶν διὰ ταύτην τὴν ἡλικίαν γιγνομένων.
For what did he lack of happiness, who obtained such ancestors as no other did—except if anyone was born from the same as he—and surpassed others so much both in body and in mind that he was worthy of ruling not only Salamis but also the whole of Asia, and having acquired the kingship in the finest way, continued his life in it, and though being mortal, left an immortal memory of himself, and lived for so long a time that he neither was without a share of old age, nor did he partake in the sicknesses that arise because of this age.
§72πρὸς δὲ τούτοις, ὃ δοκεῖ σπανιώτατον εἶναι καὶ χαλεπώτατον, εὐπαιδίας τυχεῖν ἅμα καὶ πολυπαιδίας, οὐδὲ τούτου διήμαρτεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτʼ αὐτῷ συνέπεσεν.
In addition to these things, what seems to be rarest and most difficult, to obtain at the same time good children and many children, not even of this did he fail, but this also befell him.
καὶ τὸ μέγιστον, ὅτι τῶν ἐξ αὑτοῦ γεγονότων οὐδένα κατέλιπεν ἰδιωτικοῖς ὀνόμασι προσαγορευόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν βασιλέα καλούμενον, τοὺς δʼ ἄνακτας, τὰς δʼ ἀνάσσας.
And the greatest thing, that of those born from him he left no one addressed by private names, but one called king, others princes, and others princesses.
ὥστʼ εἴ τινες τῶν ποιητῶν περί τινος τῶν προγεγενημένων ὑπερβολαῖς κέχρηνται, λέγοντες ὡς ἦν θεὸς ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἢ δαίμων θνητός, ἅπαντα τὰ τοιαῦτα περὶ τὴν ἐκείνου φύσιν ῥηθῆναι μάλιστʼ ἂν ἁρμόσειεν.
So that if any of the poets have used exaggerations about any of those of former times, saying that he was a god among men or a mortal divinity, all such things would most fitly be said concerning his nature.