§156λήξαντος δὲ τοῦ χειμῶνος, παραμειψάμενος τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἄχρι τῆς Σουνιάδος ἄκρας τὰς ἑξῆς λοιπὸν ἐπεραιοῦτο νήσους, τὴν Ἑλένην, τὴν Κίαν, τὴν Κύθνον, τὰς ἄλλας ὅσαι κεῖνται στοιχηδὸν ἑξῆς μέχρι τῆς ἐφ’ ἣν τελευταίαν ἐλθεῖν ἔδει, τὴν Ἀνδρίων.
And when the winter had ceased, having passed by Attica as far as the promontory of Sunium, he then crossed the islands that lie in order, Helene, Ceos, Cythnos, and all the others which lie successively in a line as far as the one to which he had to come last, the island of the Andrians.
§157ἣν πόρρωθεν ἰδὼν ὁ κακοδαίμων δακρύων τινὰ φορὰν ὥσπερ ἀπὸ πηγῆς ἐξέχει κατὰ τῶν παρειῶν καὶ τὰ στέρνα πλήξας, πικρότατα ἀνοιμώξας, "ἄνδρες" εἶπεν, „οἱ φύλακές μου καὶ προπομποί, καλήν γε χώραν Ἄνδρον, οὐκ εὐτυχῆ νῆσον, τῆς εὐδαίμονος Ἰταλίας ἀνθυπαλλάττομαι, Φλάκκος, ὁ γεννηθεὶς μὲν καὶ τραφεὶς καὶ παιδευθεὶς ἐν τῇ
Seeing this from afar, the wretched man poured out a stream of tears, as if from a spring, down his cheeks, and beating his breast and groaning most bitterly, said: "Men, my guards and escorts, what a fine country, Andros, an unfortunate island, do I receive in exchange for prosperous Italy!
§158ἡγεμονίδι Ῥώμῃ, συμφοιτητὴς δὲ καὶ συμβιωτὴς γενόμενος τῶν θυγατριδῶν τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ, κριθεὶς δὲ τῶν πρώτων φίλων παρὰ Τιβερίῳ Καίσαρι καὶ τὸ μέγιστον αὐτοῦ τῶν κτημάτων, Αἴγυπτον, ἐπὶ ἑξαετίαν ἐπιτραπείς.
I, Flaccus, who was born and raised and educated in imperial Rome, and who became a classmate and companion of the grandsons of Augustus, and was judged one of the first friends of Tiberius Caesar, and was entrusted for six years with Egypt, the greatest of his possessions.
τίς ἡ τοσαύτη μεταβολή;
What is this so great change?
§159νὺξ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ, καθάπερ ἐκλείψεως γενομένης, τὸν ἐμὸν ἐπέσχηκε βίον.
A night in the daytime, as if an eclipse had occurred, has overshadowed my life.
τὴν νησίδα ταύτην τί φῶ;
What shall I call this small island?
πότερον φυγαδευτήριον ἐμὸν ἢ πατρίδα καινήν, ὑπόδρομον καὶ καταφυγὴν ἀτυχῆ;
My place of banishment, or a new fatherland, a wretched harbor and refuge?
τάφος ἂν εἴη τὸ κυριώτατον αὐτῆς ὄνομα.
'Tomb' would be its most proper name.
στέλλομαι γὰρ ὁ κακοδαίμων ἐγὼ τρόπον τινὰ νεκροφορῶν ἐμαυτὸν ὥσπερ εἰς ἠρίον· ἢ γὰρ ταῖς ἀνίαις τὴν ἀθλίαν ζωὴν ἀπορρήξω ἤ, κἂν ἐπιβιῶναι δυνηθῶ, τὸν μακρὸν καὶ σὺν αἰσθήσει θάνατον ἐκδέξομαι. “καὶ ὁ μὲν τοιαῦτα ἀπωδύρετο.
For I, wretched man, am being sent, in a way, carrying my own corpse as if to a grave; for either through my distresses I shall break off my wretched life, or, even if I should be able to survive, I shall await a long and conscious death." And he indeed made such lamentations.
§160τῆς δὲ νεὼς τῷ λιμένι προσσχούσης, ἀπέβαινε πᾶς εἰς τοὔδαφος νεύων, ὥσπερ οἱ θλιβόμενοι πρὸς ἄχθους βαρυτάτου, τὸν αὐχένα ταῖς συμφοραῖς πιεζόμενος, οὐδ’ ὅσον ἀνακύψαι σθένων ἢ μὴ τολμῶν διὰ τοὺς συναντῶντας καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ θέαν ἥκοντας, οἳ παρ’ ἑκάτερα τῆς ὁδοῦ προειστήκεσαν.
And when the ship drew near to the harbor, he disembarked, with his whole body inclining to the ground, like those who are weighed down by a very heavy burden, his neck being pressed down by his misfortunes, and being neither able to look up nor daring to do so because of those who met him and those who had come for the spectacle, who stood on both sides of the road.
§161οἱ δὲ παραπέμψαντες αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸν δῆμον ἀγαγόντες τῶν Ἀνδρίων ἐπεδείξαντο πᾶσι, μάρτυρας ποιούμενοι τῆς εἰς τὴν νῆσον ἀφίξεως τοῦ φυγάδος.
And those who escorted him, having led him to the assembly of the Andrians, exhibited him to everyone, making them witnesses of the arrival of the exile at the island.
§162καὶ οἱ μὲν τὴν διακονίαν ἐκπλήσαντες ἀπῄεσαν· τῷ δὲ Φλάκκῳ μηδεμίαν ὄψιν οἰκείαν ἔτι θεωμένῳ τὸ πάθος ἐκαινοῦτο τρανότερον φαντασίαις ἐναργεστέραις· καὶ τὴν ἐν κύκλῳ κατανοοῦντι πολλὴν ἐρημίαν, ἧς μέσος ἀπείληπτο, κουφότερον ἐδόκει κακὸν ἡ ἐν τῇ πατρίδι βίαιος ἀναίρεσις, μᾶλλον δὲ συγκρίσει τῶν παρόντων ἀσπαστὸν ἀγαθόν.
And they, having fulfilled their service, departed; but to Flaccus, seeing no longer any familiar face, his suffering was renewed more clearly with more vivid images; and as he contemplated the great solitude around him, in the midst of which he was cut off, a violent death in his fatherland seemed a lighter evil, or rather, in comparison with his present circumstances, a welcome blessing.
οὕτως ἐσφάδᾳζεν, ὡς μηδὲν τῶν μεμηνότων διαφέρειν· ἐπήδα πολλάκις ἄνω κάτω διαθέων, τὰς χεῖρας συνεκρότει, τοὺς μηροὺς ἔπαιε, κατέβαλεν εἰς τοὔδαφος ἑαυτόν, ἐξεφώνει πολλάκις· §163„ἐγὼ Φλάκκος εἰμί, ὁ πρὸ μικροῦ τῆς μεγαλοπόλεως ἢ πολυπόλεως Ἀλεξανδρείας ἡγεμών, ὁ τῆς εὐδαιμονεστάτης χώρας ἐπίτροπος Αἰγύπτου, εἰς ὃν ἐπέστρεφον αἱ τοσαῦται μυριάδες τῶν οἰκητόρων, ὁ δυνάμεις πολλὰς πεζὰς καὶ ἱππικὰς καὶ ναυτικὰς οὐκ ἀριθμὸν ἄλλως ἀλλ’ ὅσον δοκιμώτατον ἐν ὑπηκόοις ἔχων, ὁ καθ’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐν ταῖς ἐξόδοις ὑπὸ μυρίων ὅσων παραπεμπόμενος.
Indeed, he was so agitated that he differed in nothing from those who are mad; he often leaped, running up and down, clapped his hands, beat his thighs, threw himself to the ground, and cried out repeatedly: "I am Flaccus, who but a little before was the governor of the great city, or rather the populous city of Alexandria, the administrator of Egypt, that most prosperous land, to whom so many myriads of inhabitants turned their eyes, who held numerous forces of infantry, cavalry, and navy, not merely as a number, but the most proven among the subjects, and who was escorted every day on his outings by countless people!
§164ἀλλὰ μὴ φάσμα ταῦτ’ ἦν, οὐκ ἀλήθεια;
But was this not a phantom, and not the truth?
καὶ κοιμώμενος ὄναρ εἶδον τὴν τότ’ εὐθυμίαν, εἴδωλα κατὰ κενοῦ βαίνοντα, πλάσματα ψυχῆς ἴσως ἀναγραφούσης τὰ μὴ ὑπάρχοντα ὡς ὄντα;
And did I see that joy as a dream while sleeping, phantoms walking in the void, creations of a soul perhaps portraying what does not exist as being?
διηπάτημαι· §165σκιὰ πραγμάτων ἄρ’ ἦσαν, οὐ πράγματα, μίμησις ἐναργείας, οὐκ ἐνάργεια τρανοῦσα τὸ ψεῦδος.
I have been deceived; they were then shadows of things, not things, an imitation of reality, not a reality clarifying the falsehood.
ὡς γὰρ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὀνείροις φανέντων οὐδὲν περιαναστάντες εὑρίσκομεν, ἀλλ’ οἴχεται πάντα ἀθρόα διαπτάντα, οὕτως καὶ τὰ λαμπρὰ ἐκεῖνα, οἷς ποτε ἐνωμίλησα, ἐσβέσθη βραχυτάτῃ καιροῦ ῥοπῇ. “ §166Τοιούτοις ἀεὶ κατεπαλαίετο λογισμοῖς καὶ τρόπον τινὰ ἐξετραχηλίζετο· τὰς δὲ τῶν πολλῶν συνόδους ἀποδιδράσκων διὰ τὴν παρακολουθοῦσαν αἰσχύνην οὔτ’ εἰς λιμένα κατῄει οὔτ’ εἰς ἀγορὰν προελθεῖν ὑπέμενεν, ἀλλ’ οἴκοι συγκλεισάμενος ἐφώλευε, μηδὲ τὴν αὔλειον ὑπερβαίνειν θαρρῶν.
For as we find nothing of what appeared in our dreams when we stand up, but everything is gone, flying away all at once, so also those brilliant things in which I once associated were extinguished in the briefest turn of time." By such thoughts he was always overcome and in a way broken-necked; and avoiding the gatherings of the crowd because of the shame that followed him, he neither went down to the harbor nor endured to go forth into the marketplace, but having shut himself up at home, he lurked, not even daring to cross the outer door.