§1.4ἤδη δὲ καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἀφεῖναι τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ καταθέσθαι τὴν δυναστείαν ἐσκοπούμην, ὅπως μόνον ἀσφαλῶς παύσαιτο ἄν τις ἐννοῶν, ἐπεὶ τό γε ἄρχειν αὐτὸ καὶ πάντα πράττειν ἐπαχθὲς ἤδη καὶ σὺν φθόνῳ καματηρὸν ἐδόκει μοι εἶναι· τὸ δʼ ὅπως μηκέτι τοιαύτης τινὸς θεραπείας δεήσεται ἡ πόλις, τοῦτʼ ἐζήτουν ἔτι.
then I was already considering giving up my rule and laying down my power, thinking only of how one might step down in safety, since ruling itself and managing everything already seemed to me to be a burden and full of envy and toil; but I was still seeking how the city might no longer need such treatment.
κἀγὼ μὲν ὁ ἀρχαῖος περὶ ταῦτα εἶχον, οἱ δὲ ἤδη τε συνίσταντο ἐπʼ ἐμὲ καὶ περὶ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς καὶ ἀποστάσεως ἐσκοποῦντο καὶ συνωμοσίας συνεκρότουν καὶ ὅπλα ἤθροιζον καὶ χρήματα ἐπορίζοντο καὶ τοὺς ἀστυγείτονας ἐπεκαλοῦντο καὶ εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα παρὰ Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ Ἀθηναίους ἐπρεσβεύοντο·
And while I, my former self, was occupied with these things, they were already conspiring against me, considering the manner of their plot and rebellion, forming conspiracies, gathering weapons, procuring money, calling upon their neighbors, and sending embassies to Greece, to the Lacedaemonians and the Athenians.
ἃ μὲν γὰρ περὶ ἐμοῦ αὐτοῦ, εἰ ληφθείην, ἐδέδοκτο ἤδη αὐτοῖς καὶ ὅπως με αὐτοχειρίᾳ διασπάσεσθαι ἠπείλουν καὶ ἃς κολάσεις ἐπενόουν, δημοσίᾳ στρεβλούμενοι ἐξεῖπον.
For what they had already decided to do to me myself, if I should be captured, and how they threatened to tear me to pieces with their own hands, and what tortures they devised, were disclosed by those who were tortured in public.
τοῦ μὲν δὴ μηδὲν παθεῖν τοιοῦτον οἱ θεοὶ αἴτιοι φωράσαντες τὴν ἐπιβουλήν, καὶ μάλιστά γε ὁ Πύθιος ὀνείρατά τε προδείξας καὶ τοὺς μηνύσοντας ἕκαστα ἐπιπέμπων. §1.5ἐγὼ δὲ ἐνταῦθα ἤδη ὑμᾶς, ὦ Δελφοί, ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ δέους νῦν τῷ λογισμῷ γενομένους ἀξιῶ περὶ τῶν τότε πρακτέων μοι συμβουλεῦσαι, ὅτε ἀφύλακτος ὀλίγου δεῖν ληφθεὶς ἐζήτουν τινὰ σωτηρίαν περὶ τῶν παρόντων.
That I suffered no such thing was due to the gods who detected the plot, and especially to the Pythian god, who foresaw it in dreams and sent messengers to report each detail., O Delphians, I ask you, placing yourselves in thought in that same state of fear, to advise me on what I ought to have done then, when, having been caught all but unguarded, I was seeking some safety from the present dangers.
πρὸς ὀλίγον οὖν τῇ γνώμῃ ἐς Ἀκράγαντα παρʼ ἐμὲ ἀποδημήσαντες καὶ ἰδόντες τὰς παρασκευὰς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς ἀπειλὰς ἀκούσαντες εἴπατε τί δεῖ ποιεῖν;
Journey in your minds for a little while to me in Acragas, and seeing their preparations and hearing their threats, tell me, what was I to do?
φιλανθρωπίᾳ χρῆσθαι πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἔτι καὶ φείδεσθαι καὶ ἀνέχεσθαι ὅσον αὐτίκα μελλήσοντα πείσεσθαι τὰ ὕστατα;
Was I still to show benevolence toward them, spare them, and endure being about to suffer the ultimate fate at any moment?
μᾶλλον δὲ γυμνὴν ἤδη ὑπέχειν τὴν σφαγὴν καὶ τὰ φίλτατα ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρᾶν ἀπολλύμενα;
Or rather, was I already to offer my bare throat for slaughter and watch my dearest ones perish before my eyes?
ἢ τὰ μὲν τοιαῦτα πάνυ ἠλιθίου τινὸς εἶναι, γενναῖα δὲ καὶ ἀνδρώδη διανοηθέντα καὶ χολὴν ἔμφρονος καὶ ἠδικημένου ἀνδρὸς ἀναλαβόντα μετελθεῖν ἐκείνους, ἐμαυτῷ δὲ ἐκ τῶν ἐνόντων τὴν ἐς τὸ ἐπιὸν ἀσφάλειαν παρασχεῖν;
Or was such conduct that of a complete fool, and should I, having conceived noble and manly designs and taken up the wrath of a sensible and wronged man, have pursued them and provided for myself such safety for the future as was possible?
ταῦτʼ οἶδʼ ὅτι συνεβουλεύσατε ἄν. §1.6τί οὖν ἐγὼ μετὰ τοῦτο ἐποίησα;
I know that this is what you would have advised., then, did I do after this?
μεταστειλάμενος τοὺς αἰτίους καὶ λόγου μεταδοὺς αὐτοῖς καὶ τοὺς ἐλέγχους παραγαγὼν καὶ σαφῶς ἐξελέγξας ἕκαστα, ἐπεὶ μηδʼ αὐτοὶ ἔτι ἔξαρνοι ἦσαν, ἠμυνόμην ἀγανακτῶν τὸ πλέον οὐχ ὅτι ἐπεβεβουλεύμην, ἀλλʼ ὅτι μὴ εἰάθην ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ προαιρέσει μεῖναι, ἣν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐνεστησάμην.
Having summoned the guilty, given them a hearing, produced the proofs, and clearly refuted each point, since they themselves could no longer deny it, I took my revenge, being indignant more because I was not permitted by them to remain in that policy which I had established from the beginning, rather than because I had been plotted against.
καὶ τὸ ἀπʼ ἐκείνου φυλάττων μὲν ἐμαυτὸν διατελῶ, ἐκείνων δὲ τοὺς ἀεὶ ἐπιβουλεύοντάς μοι κολάζων.
And from that time on, I continue to guard myself and to punish those who are always plotting against me.
εἶθʼ οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐμὲ τῆς ὠμότητος αἰτιῶνται οὐκέτι λογιζόμενοι παρὰ ποτέρου ἡμῶν ἦν ἡ πρώτη τούτων ἀρχή, συνελόντες δὲ τἀν μέσῳ καὶ ἐφʼ οἷς ἐκολάζοντο τὰς τιμωρίας αὐτὰς ᾐτιῶντο καὶ τὰς δοκούσας ἐν αὐταῖς ὠμότητας, ὅμοιον ὡς εἴ τις παρʼ ὑμῖν ἱερόσυλόν τινα ἰδὼν ἀπὸ τῆς πέτρας ῥιπτόμενον ἃ μὲν ἐτόλμησε μὴ λογίζοιτο, ὡς νύκτωρ ἐς τὸ ἱερὸν παρῆλθε καὶ κατέσπασε τὰ ἀναθήματα καὶ τοῦ ξοάνου ἥψατο, κατηγοροίη δὲ ὑμῶν πολλὴν τὴν ἀγριότητα, ὅτι Ἕλληνές τε καὶ ἱεροὶ εἶναι λέγοντες ὑπεμείνατε ἄνθρωπον Ἕλληνα πλησίον τοῦ ἱεροῦ — καὶ γὰρ οὐ πάνυ πόρρω τῆς πόλεως εἶναι λέγεται ἡ πέτρα — κολάσει τοιαύτῃ περιβαλεῖν.
Yet men accuse me of cruelty, no longer considering from which of us the first beginning of these things came, but omitting what lay in between and accusing the punishments themselves and the cruelties seemed to be in them, rather than the reasons for which they were punished. It is just as if someone among you, seeing a temple-robber being cast down from the cliff, should not consider what he dared to do—how he entered the temple by night, dragged down the offerings, and touched the cult-statue—but should accuse you of great savagery, because, though you call yourselves Greeks and sacred, you tolerated subjecting a fellow Greek near the temple—for the cliff is said to be not very far from the city—to such a punishment.
ἀλλʼ, οἶμαι, αὐτοὶ καταγελάσεσθε, ἢν ταῦτα λέγῃ τις καθʼ ὑμῶν, καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι πάντες ἐπαινέσονται ὑμῶν τὴν κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβούντων ὠμότητα.
But, I think, you yourselves will laugh if anyone says this against you, and all other men will praise your cruelty against the impious.