§125Τρίτον δ’ ἔτι πρὸς τοῖς εἰρημένοις κἀκεῖνό μοι δοκεῖ θείᾳ προνοίᾳ συμβῆναι.
Third, in addition to what has been said, that also seems to me to have happened by divine providence.
ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀναχθεὶς ἀρχομένου χειμῶνος — ἔδει γὰρ αὐτὸν καὶ τῶν ἐν θαλάττῃ φοβερῶν ἀπολαῦσαι τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ παντὸς ἀσεβημάτων ἀναπλήσαντα — μυρία πονηθεὶς μόλις ἦλθεν εἰς Ἰταλίαν, εὐθὺς ἐκδέχονται τὰς ἐπ’ αὐτῷ κατηγορίας δύο τῶν ἐχθίστων, Ἰσίδωρός τε καὶ Λάμπων, §126οἳ πρὸ μικροῦ μὲν τάξιν εἶχον ὑπηκόων δεσπότην καὶ εὐεργέτην καὶ σωτῆρα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀνακαλοῦντες, νυνὶ δ’ ἀντιδίκων οὐκ ἰσόρροπον ἀλλὰ δυνατωτέραν ἰσχὺν ἐκ πολλοῦ τοῦ περιόντος ἐπιδεικνυμένων, οὐ μόνον ἕνεκα τοῦ θαρρεῖν τοῖς δικαίοις, ἀλλ’, ὃ δὴ μέγιστον ἦν, ὅτι τὸν πρύτανιν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων ἐχθρὸν ἑώρων ἄσπονδον αὐτῷ, μέλλοντα σχῆμα μὲν ὑποδύεσθαι δικαστοῦ, προνοίᾳ τοῦ μὴ δοκεῖν ἀκρίτου τινὸς προκαταγινώσκειν, ἔργον δ’ ἐπιδείκνυσθαι δυσμενοῦς, πρὸ κατηγορίας καὶ ἀπολογίας ἤδη τῇ ψυχῇ κατεγνωκότος καὶ τὰς ἀνωτάτω τιμωρίας ὡρικότος ἐπ’ αὐτῷ.
For when, having set sail at the beginning of winter—since it was necessary for him, who had filled the elements of the universe with his impieties, to experience also the terrors of the sea—after enduring countless hardships, he with difficulty arrived in Italy, immediately two of his bitterest enemies, Isidorus and Lampon, took up the accusations against him, who a short time before had held the rank of subjects, calling him master, benefactor, savior, and the like, but now displayed a strength not equal but more powerful from an abundant superiority; not only because they trusted in the justice of their cause, but, what was indeed the greatest thing, because they saw that the ruler of human affairs was his implacable enemy, who was going to assume the outward form of a judge, with foresight so as not to seem to condemn anyone without trial beforehand, but to display the action of an enemy, having already in his soul condemned him before the accusation and defense, and having decreed the highest punishments for him.
§127χαλεπὸν δ’ οὐδὲν οὕτως, ὡς ὑπ’ ἐλαττόνων κρείττους καὶ πρὸς ὑπηκόων ἄρχοντάς ποτε γενομένους κατηγορεῖσθαι, ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ καὶ δεσπότας ὑπ’ οἰκοτρίβων ἢ ἀργυρωνήτων.
And nothing is so hard as for superiors to be accused by inferiors, and those who were once rulers by their subjects, just as if masters were accused by home-born or purchased slaves.
§128Ἀλλ’ ἦν, ὡς ἔοικε, τοῦτο κουφότερον κακὸν συγκρινόμενον ἑτέρῳ μείζονι.
But this was, as it seems, a lighter evil compared to another greater one.
οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῆν τινα τάξιν ἔχοντες ὑπηκόων αἰφνίδιον ἐπέθεντο ταῖς κατηγορίαις ἐπαποδυσάμενοι καὶ συμφρονήσαντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν πλεῖστον χρόνον τῆς ἐπιτροπῆς ἣν ἐπετρόπευσε τῆς χώρας ἐκ πάντων οὗτοι μάλιστ’ αὐτῷ δι’ ἀπεχθείας ἐγεγένηντο· Λάμπων μὲν ἀσεβείας τῆς εἰς Τιβέριον Καίσαρα δίκην σχὼν καὶ ἐπὶ διετίαν τριβομένου τοῦ πράγματος ἀπειρηκώς.
For they did not, having some simple rank of subjects, suddenly attack him, having girt themselves for the accusations and conspired together, but during the longest part of the period of his governorship of the land, they had been of all men in the greatest hostility towards him; Lampon indeed having undergone a trial for impiety against Tiberius Caesar, and having been worn out as the matter was dragged on for two years.
§129ὑπερθέσεις γὰρ καὶ ἀναβολὰς ὁ δικαστὴς ἐθελοκακῶν ἐσκήπτετο βουλόμενος, κἂν ἀποφύγῃ τὸ ἔγκλημα, τὸν γοῦν περὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος ἀδήλου φόβον πρὸς μήκιστον χρόνον ἐπικρεμάσας αὐτῷ ζωὴν ὀδυνηροτέραν θανάτου παρασχεῖν.
For the judge, acting maliciously, pretended pretexts of postponements and delays, wishing, even if he should escape the charge, at least to hang over him for the longest time the fear of an uncertain future, and so to provide him with a life more painful than death.
§130εἶθ’ ὕστερον καὶ ὅτε νικᾶν ἔδοξεν, εἰς τὴν οὐσίαν ἐπηρεασθῆναι ἔφασκεν — ἠναγκάσθη γὰρ γυμνασιαρχεῖν —, ἤτοι τῷ γλίσχρος καὶ ἀνελεύθερος εἶναι περὶ τὰς δαπάνας, προφασιζόμενος τὸ μὴ κεκτῆσθαι πρὸς τοσαύτην ἀφθονίαν ἀναλωμάτων ἱκανὴν οὐσίαν, ἢ τῷ ὄντι μὴ κεκτημένος, ἀλλὰ πρὶν μὲν εἰς ἀπόπειραν ἐλθεῖν ἐπιφάσκων τὸν πάνυ πλούσιον, ἐν δὲ τῇ δοκιμασίᾳ μὴ φανεὶς ἄγαν πολυχρήματος ἄνθρωπος, ὅσα ἐκτήσατο σχεδὸν ἅπαντα ἐξ ἀδικημάτων περιποιησάμενος·
Then later, also when he seemed to win, he claimed to have been harassed in his property—for he was forced to serve as gymnasiarch—either because he was stingy and illiberal regarding expenditures, pretending not to possess a sufficient estate for such an abundance of outlays, or because he really did not possess it, but before being put to the test had pretended to be very rich, whereas in the examination he did not appear to be an exceedingly wealthy man, having acquired almost everything he possessed from unjust deeds.
§131προσεστὼς γὰρ τοῖς ἡγεμόσιν, ὁπότε δικάζοιεν, ὑπεμνηματίζετο τὰς δίκας εἰσάγων ὡς ἔχων τάξιν, εἶτα τὰ μὲν ἀπήλειφεν ἢ παρῄει ἑκών, τὰ δ’ οὐ λεχθέντα προσενέταττεν, ἔστι δ’ ὅτε καὶ ὑπηλλάττετο μεταποιῶν καὶ μετατιθεὶς καὶ στρέφων ἄνω κάτω τὰ γράμματα, κατὰ συλλαβήν, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ κεραίαν ἑκάστην ἀργυρολογῶν ὁ γραμματοκύφων· §132ὃν πολλάκις ὁ δῆμος ἅπας ὁμοθυμαδὸν εὐθυβόλως καὶ εὐσκόπως καλαμοσφάκτην ἐξεκήρυξεν, οἷς ἔγραφε μυρίους [καὶ] ἀνελόντα καὶ ζῶντας ἀθλιωτέρους τῶν ἀποθανόντων ἀπεργασάμενον, οἳ δυνάμενοι νικᾶν καὶ περιουσιάζειν ἧτταν καὶ πενίαν ἀδικωτάτην ὑπέμειναν, ὠνησαμένων ἀμφότερα τῶν ἐχθρῶν παρὰ τοῦ τὰς ἀλλοτρίας οὐσίας ἐπευωνίζοντος καὶ πιπράσκοντος.
For standing by the governors when they judged, he would take notes, introducing the lawsuits since he held that post, then he would erase some things or pass over them voluntarily, and insert other things that had not been said, and sometimes he would substitute them, altering and shifting and turning the letters upside down, making money out of every syllable, or rather indeed every stroke, this stooping scribe; whom many times the whole populace with one accord, with direct aim and good mark, proclaimed a "pen-slayer," because by what he wrote he destroyed countless people and made the living more miserable than the dead, who, though able to win and preserve their property, endured defeat and most unjust poverty, their enemies having purchased both from the man who undervalued and sold others' estates.
§133ἀμήχανον μὲν γὰρ ἦν τοὺς ἡγεμόνας τοσαύτης χώρας ἐπιτροπεύοντας, ἀεὶ καινοτέρων ἐπεισρεόντων ἰδιωτικῶν τε καὶ δημοσίων πραγμάτων, ἁπάντων μεμνῆσθαι, καὶ ταῦτα οὐ δικάζοντας μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ λογισμοὺς τῶν προσόδων καὶ δασμῶν λαμβάνοντας, ὧν ἡ ἐξέτασις τὸν πλείονα τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ χρόνον ἀνήλισκεν.
For it was impossible for governors of so great a territory, since newer private and public affairs were always flowing in, to remember everything, and this when they were not only judging, but also receiving accounts of revenues and taxes, the examination of which consumed the greater part of the year.
§134ὁ δὲ φυλάττειν ἐπιτραπεὶς τὴν ἀναγκαιοτάτην παρακαταθήκην, τὰ δίκαια καὶ τὰς ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς ὁσιωτάτας γνώμας, ἐνεπορεύετο τὴν λήθην τῶν δικαστῶν, τοὺς μὲν νικᾶν ὀφείλοντας γράφων ἐν ἡττημένοις, τοὺς δ’ ἡττᾶσθαι μετὰ τὸν ἐπάρατον μισθὸν ἢ κυριώτερον εἰπεῖν τὸ μίσθωμα ἐν νενικηκόσιν.
But he who had been entrusted to guard the most necessary deposit, namely justice and the most holy decisions based upon it, made a trade of the forgetfulness of the judges, writing those who ought to win among the defeated, and those who ought to be defeated, after receiving his accursed reward or, to speak more properly, his bribe, among the victors.