§145καὶ ὁ μὲν ἕνεκα τοῦ συνειδότος ἀπεδίδρασκε σύλληψιν εὐλαβηθείς· ὁ δὲ Φλάκκος οὐδὲν ἐπ’ αὐτῷ περιειργάζετο, νομίσας ἐκποδὼν ἑκουσίῳ γνώμῃ γεγονότος ἀστασίαστα καὶ ἀνερίθευτα τὰ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ἔσεσθαι.
And he, out of a guilty conscience, fearing arrest, fled; while Flaccus took no further trouble about him, thinking that since he had removed himself of his own free will, the affairs of the city would be free from faction and strife.
§146Ταῦτ’ ἐμήκυνα, οὐχ ὑπὲρ τοῦ παλαιῶν ἀπομνημονεύειν ἀδικημάτων, ἀλλὰ τεθαυμακὼς τὴν ἔφορον τῶν ἀνθρωπείων δίκην, ὅτι οἱ ἐξ ἀρχῆς γενόμενοι δυσμενεῖς αὐτῷ καὶ οἷς ἐκ πάντων ἀπηχθάνετο καὶ ἐκληρώσαντο τὴν ἐπ’ αὐτῷ κατηγορίαν εἰς ἀνίας ὑπερβολήν· οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ἐστὶ δεινὸν τὸ ἐγκαλεῖσθαι ὡς τὸ πρὸς ὁμολογουμένων ἐχθρῶν.
I have prolonged these matters, not for the sake of recalling old wrongs, but because I have marveled at the Justice that oversees human affairs, in that those who had been hostile to him from the beginning, and whom of all men he most hated, even drew the lot of accusing him, to his extreme distress; for being accused is not so terrible as being accused by acknowledged enemies.
§147ὁ δ’ οὐ κατηγορήθη μόνον, ἄρχων πρὸς ὑπηκόων καὶ ὑπὸ δυσμενῶν ἀεὶ γενομένων ὁ πρὸ μικροῦ κύριος ὢν τῆς ἑκατέρου ζωῆς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνὰ κράτος ἡλίσκετο, διπλοῦν ἐκδεχόμενος κακόν, τὸ μεθ’ ἥττης γελᾶσθαι πρὸς ἐχθρῶν ἐφηδομένων, ὃ καὶ θανάτου χεῖρόν ἐστι τοῖς εὖ φρονοῦσιν.
And he was not only accused, a ruler by his subjects and by those who had always been hostile—he who but a little before had been the master of the life of each—but he was also utterly convicted, receiving a double evil: being laughed at along with defeat by rejoicing enemies, which indeed to sensible men is worse than death.
§148εἶτά τις εὐφορία γίνεται κακοπραγιῶν αὐτῷ· τῆς τε γὰρ οὐσίας ἁπάσης εὐθὺς ἐξίσταται, ἥν τε παρὰ γονέων ἐκληρονόμησε καὶ ἣν αὐτὸς ἐκτήσατο, φιλόκοσμος ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα γεγονώς.
Then there came a harvest of misfortunes upon him; for he was immediately stripped of all his property, both what he had inherited from his parents and what he had acquired himself, although he had been exceptionally fond of luxury.
οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἐνίων πολυχρημάτων ὁ πλοῦτος ἀργὸς ἦν ὕλη, πάντα δ’ ἐξητασμένα πρὸς τὸ περίεργον, ἐκπώματα, ἐσθῆτες, στρωμναί, ἔπιπλα, τἄλλα ὅσα οἰκίας κόσμος, ἔκλογα πάντα· §149καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἡ οἰκετικὴ θεραπεία, ἀριστίνδην ἐπικριθεῖσα κατά τε τὰς τῶν σωμάτων εὐμορφίας ὁμοῦ καὶ εὐεξίας καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἄπταιστον ἐν τῷ χρειώδει τῶν ὑπηρεσιῶν· ἐφ’ ὧν γὰρ ἦσαν ἕκαστοι τεταγμένοι, διέφερον, ὡς ἢ πρῶτοι νομίζεσθαι τῶν τὰ αὐτὰ ἐπιτηδευόντων ἢ μηδενὸς δεύτεροι τὸ παράπαν.
For his wealth was not, as with some rich men, inactive material, but everything was refined to the point of luxury: drinking cups, garments, bedding, furniture, and all other household ornaments, were all choice specimens; and in addition to these, his household servants, selected for the beauty and vigor of their bodies, and for their faultlessness in the performance of their duties; for in whatever task each was stationed, they so excelled as to be considered either first among those who practiced the same arts or second to none at all.
§150ἐναργὴς δὲ πίστις τὸ μυρίων δημοπράτων γενομένων οὐσιῶν, αἳ τῶν κατακρίτων ἦσαν, μόνην τὴν τοῦ Φλάκκου ταμιευθῆναι τῷ αὐτοκράτορι, δίχα τινῶν ὀλίγων, ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ παραβιβασθῆναι τὸν ἐπὶ τοῖς οὕτως ἑαλωκόσι τεθέντα νόμον.
And a clear proof of this is that, while countless properties belonging to condemned persons were sold by public auction, that of Flaccus alone was reserved for the Emperor, with the exception of a few minor items, so that the law established concerning those thus convicted should not be violated.
§151μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἀφαίρεσιν τῆς οὐσίας κατέγνωστο αὐτοῦ φυγή, καὶ ἐξ ἁπάσης μὲν ἠλαύνετο τῆς ἠπείρου — τὸ δ’ ἐστὶ μεῖζον καὶ ἄμεινον τμῆμα τῆς οἰκουμένης —, ἐξ ἁπάσης δὲ νήσου τῶν εὐδαιμόνων.
After the confiscation of his property, banishment was decreed against him, and he was driven from the whole continent —which is the larger and better part of the inhabited world—and from every prosperous island.
ἐμέλλησε γὰρ εἰς τὴν λυπροτάτην τῶν ἐν Αἰγαίῳ — Γύαρα καλεῖται — διώκεσθαι, μὴ παρακλήτῳ χρησάμενος Λεπίδῳ, δι’ ὃν ἀνθυπηλλάξατο Γυάρων Ἄνδρον ἐγγυτάτω κειμένην.
For he was about to be banished to the most wretched of the Aegean islands—called Gyara—had he not obtained Lepidus as an intercessor, thanks to whom he exchanged Gyara for Andros, which lay very near.
§152εἶτ’ ἐστέλλετο τὴν ἀπὸ Ῥώμης ἄχρι Βρεντεσίου πάλιν ὁδόν, ἣν καὶ πρὸ ὀλίγων ἐτῶν ἐστείλατο, καθ’ ὃν καιρὸν κεχειροτόνητο τῆς Αἰγύπτου καὶ τῆς ὁμόρου Λιβύης ἐπίτροπος, ἵν’ αἱ τότε θεασάμεναι πόλεις αὐτὸν μέγα πνέοντα καὶ τὸν ὄγκον τῆς εὐτυχίας ἐπιδεικνύμενον πάλιν θεάσωνται μεστὸν ἀτιμίας.
Then he set out again on the journey from Rome to Brundisium, which he had also traveled a few years before, at the time when he had been appointed governor of Egypt and the neighboring Libya, so that the cities which had then beheld him full of pride and displaying the pomp of his prosperity might now behold him filled with ignominy.
§153ὁ δὲ δακτυλοδεικτούμενος καὶ ὀνειδιζόμενος τῆς ἀθρόας μεταβολῆς πιέζεται βαρυτέραις ἀνίαις, ἀεὶ καινουμένης καὶ ζωπυρουμένης αὐτῷ τῆς συμφορᾶς νεωτέρων κακῶν προσθήκαις, ἃ καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς νόσοις ὑποτροπιάζειν ἀναγκάζει καὶ τὰς τῶν ἀρχαίων κακοπραγιῶν ὑπομνήσεις, αἳ τέως ἔδοξαν ἠμαυρῶσθαι.
And being pointed at and reproached for his sudden change of fortune, he was weighed down by heavier distress, his misfortune always being renewed and rekindled by the additions of fresh evils, which, as in diseases, forced a relapse also of the memories of his past troubles, which until then seemed to have faded away.
§154Περαιωσάμενος δὲ τὸν Ἰόνιον κόλπον ἔπλει τὴν ἄχρι Κορίνθου θάλατταν, ταῖς παράλοις τῶν ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ πόλεων θέα γινόμενος κατὰ πύστιν τῆς αἰφνιδίου μεταβολῆς· ὁπότε γὰρ ἀποβαίη τῆς νεώς, συνέθεον οἱ μὲν μοχθηροὶ τὰς φύσεις ἐθελοκακοῦντες, οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι συναλγήσοντες, οἷς ἔθος ταῖς ἑτέρων τύχαις σωφρονίζεσθαι.
And having crossed the Ionian Gulf, he sailed the sea as far as Corinth, becoming a spectacle to the coastal cities of the Peloponnese upon the report of his sudden change of fortune; for whenever he disembarked from the ship, there would run together those of a malignant nature to gloat, and others to sympathize, who were accustomed to take warning from the fortunes of others.
§155διελθὼν δ’ ἀπὸ Λεχαίου τὸν Ἰσθμὸν εἰς τὴν ἀντιπέραν θάλατταν καὶ καταβὰς εἰς Κεγχρεάς, τὸ Κορίνθιον ἐπίνειον, ἀναγκάζεται πρὸς τῶν φυλάκων ἀναχώρησιν οὐδ’ ἡντιναοῦν ἐνδιδόντων εὐθὺς ἐπιβὰς βραχείας ὁλκάδος ἀνάγεσθαι καὶ πνεύματος ἐναντίου καταρραγέντος μυρία ταλαιπωρηθεὶς μόλις ἄχρι τοῦ Πειραιῶς κατασύρεται.
And having crossed the Isthmus from Lechaeum to the opposite sea, and having gone down to Cenchreae, the port of Corinth, he was compelled by the guards, who allowed no delay at all, to embark immediately on a small merchant vessel and set sail; and a contrary wind having broken out, after suffering countless hardships, he was with difficulty dragged as far as Piraeus.