§7.350ᾤκουν δὴ τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο ἔξω τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ἐν τοῖς μισθοφόροις·
After this, then, I lived outside the acropolis among the mercenaries.
προσιόντες δέ μοι ἄλλοι τε καὶ οἱ τῶν ὑπηρεσιῶν ὄντες Ἀθήνηθεν, ἐμοὶ πολῖται, ἀπήγγελλον ὅτι διαβεβλημένος εἴην ἐν τοῖς πελτασταῖς καί μοί τινες ἀπειλοῖεν, εἴ που λήψονταί με, διαφθερεῖν.
And others came to me, as well as those from Athens who were in the service, my fellow-citizens, and reported that I had been slandered among the peltasts and that some of them were threatening to destroy me if they should catch me anywhere.
μηχανῶμαι δή τινα τοιάνδε σωτηρίαν.
So I devised some such means of safety.
πέμπω παρʼ Ἀρχύτην καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους φίλους εἰς Τάραντα, φράζων ἐν οἷς ὢν τυγχάνω·
I sent to Archytas and my other friends in Taras, telling them in what circumstances I happened to be.
οἱ δὲ πρόφασίν τινα πρεσβείας πορισάμενοι παρὰ τῆς πόλεως πέμπουσιν τριακόντορόν τε καὶ Λαμίσκον αὑτῶν ἕνα, ὃς ἐλθὼν ἐδεῖτο Διονυσίου περὶ ἐμοῦ, λέγων ὅτι βουλοίμην ἀπιέναι, καὶ μηδαμῶς ἄλλως ποιεῖν.
And they, having procured a pretext for an embassy from their city, sent a thirty-oared vessel and Lamiscus, one of themselves, who on his arrival entreated Dionysius on my behalf, saying that I wished to depart and that he should by no means do otherwise.
ὁ δὲ συνωμολόγησεν καὶ ἀπέπεμψεν ἐφόδια δούς, τῶν Δίωνος δὲ χρημάτων οὔτʼ ἐγὼ ἔτι ἀπῄτουν οὔτε τις ἀπέδωκεν.
He agreed and sent me away, providing travelling expenses, but as for Dion's property, neither did I any longer demand it, nor did anyone return it.
ἐλθὼν δὲ εἰς Πελοπόννησον εἰς Ὀλυμπίαν, Δίωνα καταλαβὼν θεωροῦντα, ἤγγελλον τὰ γεγονότα·
And having come to Peloponnesus, to Olympia, I found Dion watching the games, and reported what had happened.
ὁ δὲ τὸν Δία ἐπιμαρτυράμενος εὐθὺς παρήγγελλεν ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς ἐμοῖς οἰκείοις καὶ φίλοις παρασκευάζεσθαι τιμωρεῖσθαι Διονύσιον, ἡμᾶς μὲν ξεναπατίας χάριν—οὕτω γὰρ ἔλεγέν τε καὶ ἐνόει— αὐτὸν δʼ ἐκβολῆς ἀδίκου καὶ φυγῆς.
And he, calling Zeus to witness, immediately called upon me and my relatives and friends to prepare to take vengeance on Dionysius—us indeed for the sake of the deception of a guest, for so he said and thought, and himself for his unjust expulsion and exile.
ἀκούσας δʼ ἐγὼ τοὺς μὲν φίλους παρακαλεῖν αὐτὸν ἐκέλευον, εἰ βούλοιντο· ἐμὲ δʼ
εἶπον ὅτι
σὺ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων βίᾳ τινὰ τρόπον σύσσιτον καὶ συνέστιον καὶ κοινωνὸν ἱερῶν Διονυσίῳ ἐποίησας, ὃς ἴσως ἡγεῖτο διαβαλλόντων πολλῶν ἐπιβουλεύειν ἐμὲ μετὰ σοῦ ἑαυτῷ καὶ τῇ τυραννίδι, καὶ ὅμως οὐκ ἀπέκτεινεν, ᾐδέσθη δέ.
On hearing this, I told him to call upon his friends if they wished; "But as for me," I said, "you, along with the others, by a kind of force made me a messmate, a hearth-companion, and a sharer of sacred rites with Dionysius, who probably thought, because many were slandering me, that I was plotting with you against himself and his tyranny, and yet he did not kill me, but showed respect.
οὔτʼ οὖν ἡλικίαν ἔχω συμπολεμεῖν ἔτι σχεδὸν οὐδενί, κοινός τε ὑμῖν εἰμι, ἄν ποτέ τι πρὸς ἀλλήλους δεηθέντες φιλίας ἀγαθόν τι ποιεῖν βουληθῆτε· κακὰ δὲ ἕως ἂν ἐπιθυμῆτε, ἄλλους παρακαλεῖτε. ταῦτα εἶπον μεμισηκὼς τὴν περὶ Σικελίαν πλάνην καὶ ἀτυχίαν·
Therefore, I am no longer of an age to join in war with almost anyone, and I am neutral to you both, if ever, having need of friendship, you should wish to do some good to one another; but as long as you desire evils, call upon others." These things I said because I hated my wandering and misfortune in Sicily.
ἀπειθοῦντες δὲ καὶ οὐ πειθόμενοι ταῖς ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ διαλλάξεσιν πάντων τῶν νῦν γεγονότων κακῶν αὐτοὶ αἴτιοι ἐγένοντο αὑτοῖς, ὧν, εἰ Διονύσιος ἀπέδωκεν τὰ χρήματα Δίωνι ἢ καὶ παντάπασι κατηλλάγη, οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἐγένετο οὐδέν, ὅσα γε δὴ τἀνθρώπινα—Δίωνα γὰρ ἐγὼ καὶ τῷ βούλεσθαι καὶ τῷ δύνασθαι κατεῖχον ἂν ῥᾳδίως—νῦν δὲ ὁρμήσαντες ἐπʼ ἀλλήλους κακῶν πάντα ἐμπεπλήκασιν.
But they, disobeying and not being persuaded by my attempts at reconciliation, became themselves the causes of all the evils that have now happened to them, none of which would ever have occurred, as far as human power goes, if Dionysius had restored the property to Dion or had been reconciled with him completely—for I would easily have held Dion back both by his willingness and his power—but now, having rushed against each other, they have filled everything with evils.
§7.351καίτοι τήν γε αὐτὴν δίων εἶχεν βούλησιν ἥνπερ ἂν ἐγὼ φαίην δεῖν ἐμὲ καὶ ἄλλον, ὅστις μέτριος, περί τε τῆς αὑτοῦ δυνάμεως καὶ φίλων καὶ περὶ πόλεως τῆς αὑτοῦ διανοοῖτʼ ἂν εὐεργετῶν ἐν δυνάμει καὶ τιμαῖσιν γενέσθαι τὰ μέγιστα ἐν ταῖς μεγίσταις.
And yet Dion had the very same purpose which I would say that I and any other moderate man ought to have concerning his own power, his friends, and his own city—namely, that while being in power and in the greatest honors, he should do the greatest good.
ἔστιν δὲ οὐκ ἄν τις πλούσιον ἑαυτὸν ποιήσῃ καὶ ἑταίρους καὶ πόλιν, ἐπιβουλεύσας καὶ συνωμότας συναγαγών, πένης ὢν καὶ ἑαυτοῦ μὴ κρατῶν, ὑπὸ δειλίας τῆς πρὸς τὰς ἡδονὰς ἡττημένος, εἶτα τοὺς τὰς οὐσίας κεκτημένους ἀποκτείνας, ἐχθροὺς καλῶν τούτους, διαφορῇ τὰ τούτων χρήματα καὶ τοῖς συνεργοῖς τε καὶ ἑταίροις παρακελεύηται ὅπως μηδεὶς αὐτῷ ἐγκαλεῖ πένης φάσκων εἶναι· ταὐτὸν δὲ καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἂν οὕτω τις εὐεργετῶν τιμᾶται ὑπʼ αὐτῆς, τοῖς πολλοῖς τὰ τῶν ὀλίγων ὑπὸ ψηφισμάτων διανέμων, ἢ μεγάλης προεστὼς πόλεως καὶ πολλῶν ἀρχούσης ἐλαττόνων, τῇ ἑαυτοῦ πόλει τὰ τῶν σμικροτέρων χρήματα διανέμῃ μὴ κατὰ δίκην.
But it is not possible that a man should make himself, his companions, and his city rich by plotting and gathering conspirators, being himself poor and not master of himself, but vanquished by cowardice toward pleasures, and then, having killed those who possess property, calling them enemies, should plunder their goods and exhort his helpers and companions that no one should complain of him, claiming to be poor; nor indeed in the same way if anyone, in rendering benefits to the city, is honored by it, distributing the goods of the few to the many by means of decrees, or if, presiding over a great city that rules over many smaller ones, he should distribute the property of the smaller cities to his own city contrary to justice.
οὕτω μὲν γὰρ οὔτε δίων οὔτε ἄλλος πετὲ οὐδεὶς ἐπὶ δύναμιν ἑκὼν εἶσιν ἀλιτηριώδη ἑαυτῷ τε καὶ γένει εἰς τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον, ἐπὶ πολιτείαν δὲ καὶ νόμων κατασκευὴν τῶν δικαιοτάτων τε καὶ ἀρίστων, οὔ τι διʼ ὀλιγίστων θανάτων καὶ φόνων γιγνομένην·
For in this way, neither Dion nor any other man will ever willingly go toward a power that is ruinous to himself and his race for all time, but toward a constitution and the establishment of the most just and best laws, which is achieved not by a very few deaths and slaughters.
ἃ δὴ δίων νῦν πράττων, προτιμήσας τὸ πάσχειν ἀνόσια τοῦ δρᾶσαι πρότερον, διευλαβούμενος δὲ μὴ παθεῖν, ὅμως ἔπταισεν ἐπʼ ἄκρον ἐλθὼν τοῦ περιγενέσθαι τῶν ἐχθρῶν, θαυμαστὸν παθὼν οὐδέν.
This indeed is what Dion was recently doing, having preferred to suffer unholy deeds rather than to do them first, though being careful not to suffer them, yet he stumbled when he had reached the very summit of prevailing over his enemies, having suffered nothing surprising.
ὅσιος γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἀνοσίων πέρι, σώφρων τε καὶ ἔμφρων, τὸ μὲν ὅλον οὐκ ἄν ποτε διαψευσθείη τῆς ψυχῆς τῶν τοιούτων πέρι, κυβερνήτου δὲ ἀγαθοῦ πάθος ἂν ἴσως οὐ θαυμαστὸν εἰ πάθοι, ὃν χειμὼν μὲν ἐσόμενος οὐκ ἂν πάνυ λάθοι, χειμώνων δὲ ἐξαίσιον καὶ ἀπροσδόκητον μέγεθος λάθοι τʼ ἂν καὶ λαθὸν κατακλύσειεν βίᾳ.
For a holy man concerning unholy men, and a temperate and sensible man, would not on the whole be entirely deceived in his soul concerning the character of such men, yet he might perhaps suffer what a good pilot suffers, who would not entirely fail to notice a coming storm, but might fail to notice the extraordinary and unexpected greatness of the storms, and having failed to notice, might be overwhelmed by force.
ταὐτὸν δὴ καὶ Δίωνα ἔσφηλεν· κακοὶ μὲν γὰρ ὄντες αὐτὸν σφόδρα οὐκ ἔλαθον οἱ σφήλαντες, ὅσον δὲ ὕψος ἀμαθίας εἶχον καὶ τῆς ἄλλης μοχθηρίας τε καὶ λαιμαργίας, ἔλαθον, ᾧ δὴ σφαλεὶς κεῖται, Σικελίαν πένθει περιβαλὼν μυρίῳ.
This very thing indeed tripped Dion also; for that those who tripped him were wicked did not entirely escape him, but the greatness of the ignorance and of the rest of their depravity and greed did escape him, by which indeed having been tripped, he lies fallen, wrapping Sicily in countless grief.
§7.352τὰ δὴ μετὰ τὰ νῦν ῥηθέντα ἃ συμβουλεύω, σχεδὸν εἴρηταί τέ μοι καὶ εἰρήσθω·
As to what follows after what has now been said, what I advise has indeed been almost said, and let it be considered said.
ὧν δʼ ἐπανέλαβον ἕνεκα τὴν εἰς Σικελίαν ἄφιξιν τὴν δευτέραν, ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι ἔδοξέ μοι ῥηθῆναι δεῖν διὰ τὴν ἀτοπίαν καὶ ἀλογίαν τῶν γενομένων.
But as to the reasons why I took up again my second arrival in Sicily, it seemed to me necessary that they should be told because of the strangeness and irrationality of what occurred.
εἰ δʼ ἄρα τινὶ νῦν ῥηθέντα εὐλογώτερα ἐφάνη καὶ προφάσεις πρὸς τὰ γενόμενα ἱκανὰς ἔχειν ἔδοξέν τῳ, μετρίως ἂν ἡμῖν καὶ ἱκανῶς εἴη τὰ νῦν εἰρημένα.
If, then, what has now been said appears to anyone to be more reasonable and seems to have sufficient pretexts for what occurred, what has now been said would be moderate and sufficient for us.