§9καὶ γὰρ ἀπαρρησίαστος καὶ δειλὸς ἅπας ὁ τοιοῦτος ἄνθρωπος οὐδὲν ἐς τοὐμφανὲς ἄγων, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ οἱ λοχῶντες ἐξ ἀφανοῦς ποθεν τοξεύων, ὡς μηδὲ ἀντιτάξασθαι δυνατὸν εἶναι μηδὲ ἀνταγωνίσασθαι, ἀλλʼ ἐν ἀπορίᾳ καὶ ἀγνοίᾳ τοῦ πολέμου διαφθείρεσθαι, ὃ μέγιστόν ἐστι σημεῖον τοῦ μηδὲν ὑγιὲς τοὺς διαβάλλοντας λέγειν.
For indeed, every such person is uncandid and cowardly, bringing nothing to light, but like those lying in ambush, shooting from some unseen place, so that it is not even possible to draw up in battle array against them or to contend, but rather to be destroyed in helplessness and ignorance of the attack—which is the greatest sign of the fact that those who Slander say nothing sound.
ἐπεὶ εἴ τίς γε τἀληθῆ κατηγοροῦντι ἑαυτῷ συνεπίσταται, οὗτος, οἶμαι, καὶ εἰς τὸ φανερὸν ἐλέγχει καὶ διευθύνει καὶ ἀντεξετάζει τῷ λόγῳ, ὥσπερ οὐδεὶς ἂν ἐκ τοῦ προφανοῦς νικᾶν δυνάμενος ἐνέδρᾳ ποτὲ καὶ ἀπάτῃ χρήσαιτο κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων.
For if anyone is conscious in himself of making a true accusation, this man, I think, also refutes openly, corrects, and cross-examines with argument, just as no one who is able to win openly would ever use ambush and deceit against his enemies.
§10ἴδοι δʼ ἄν τις τοὺς τοιούτους μάλιστα ἔν τε βασιλέων αὐλαῖς καὶ περὶ τὰς τῶν ἀρχόντων καὶ δυναστευόντων φιλίας εὐδοκιμοῦντας, ἔνθα πολὺς μὲν ὁ φθόνος, μυρίαι δὲ ὑπόνοιαι, πάμπολλαι δὲ κολακειῶν καὶ διαβολῶν ὑποθέσεις· ὅπου γὰρ ἀεὶ μείζους ἐλπίδες, ἐνταῦθα καὶ οἱ φθόνοι χαλεπώτεροι καὶ τὰ μίση ἐπισφαλέστερα καὶ αἱ ζηλοτυπίαι κακοτεχνέστεραι.
One might see such men flourishing especially in the courts of kings and around the friendships of rulers and potentates, where there is much envy, countless suspicions, and very many pretexts for flattery and slanders; for where hopes are always greater, there also envies are more severe, hatreds more dangerous, and jealousies more malicious.
πάντες οὖν ἀλλήλους ὀξὺ δεδόρκασι καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ μονομαχοῦντες ἐπιτηροῦσιν εἴ πού τι γυμνωθὲν μέρος θεάσαιντο τοῦ σώματος· καὶ πρῶτος αὐτὸς ἕκαστος εἶναι βουλόμενος παρωθεῖται καὶ παραγκωνίζεται τὸν πλησίον καὶ τὸν πρὸ αὑτοῦ, εἰ δύναιτο, ὑποσπᾷ καὶ ὑποσκελίζει.
Therefore, all watch each other sharply and, like gladiators, they watch closely to see if they might spy any exposed part of the body; and each, wishing to be first himself, pushes aside and elbows his neighbor and, if he can, pulls down and trips up the one in front of him.
ἔνθα ὁ μὲν χρηστὸς ἀτεχνῶς εὐθὺς ἀνατέτραπται καὶ παρασέσυρται καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον ἀτίμως ἐξέωσται, ὁ δὲ κολακευτικώτερος καὶ πρὸς τὰς τοιαύτας κακοηθείας πιθανώτερος εὐδοκιμεῖ· καὶ ὅλως ὁ φθάσας κρατεῖ·
Where the honest man is simply at once overthrown and dragged away and finally cast out in dishonor, while the more flattering one, and more persuasive in such malicious arts, flourishes; and in general, the one who gets in first prevails.
τὰ γὰρ τοῦ Ὁμήρου πάνυ ἐπαληθεύουσιν, ὅτι τοι
"ξυνὸς Ἐνυάλιος καὶ τὸν κτανέοντα κατέκτα. "
τοιγαροῦν ὡς οὐ περὶ μικρῶν τοῦ ἀγῶνος ὄντος ποικίλας κατʼ ἀλλήλων ὁδοὺς ἐπινοοῦσιν, ὧν ταχίστη καὶ ἐπισφαλεστάτη ἐστὶν ἡ τῆς διαβολῆς, τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ φθόνου ἢ μίσους εὐέλπιδα λαμβάνουσα, οἰκτρότερα δὲ καὶ τραγικὰ ἐπάγουσα τὰ τέλη καὶ πολλῶν συμφορῶν ἀνάπλεα.
For they fully verify the words of Homer, that indeed "Enyalius is common, and kills him who would kill." Therefore, since the contest is not about small things, they devise various paths against one another, of which the quickest and most slippery is that of Slander, taking its hopeful beginning from envy or hatred, but bringing about ends that are more pitiable, tragic, and full of many disasters.
§11οὐ μέντοι μικρὸν οὐδὲ ἁπλοῦν ἐστι τοῦτο, ὡς ἄν τις ὑπολάβοι, ἀλλὰ πολλῆς μὲν τέχνης, οὐκ ὀλίγης δὲ ἀγχινοίας, ἀκριβοῦς δέ τινος ἐπιμελείας δεόμενον· οὐ γὰρ ἂν τοσαῦτα ἔβλαπτεν ἡ διαβολή, εἰ μὴ πιθανόν τινα τρόπον ἐγίνετο· οὐδʼ ἂν κατίσχυε τὴν πάντων ἰσχυροτέραν ἀλήθειαν, εἰ μὴ πολὺ τὸ ἐπαγωγὸν καὶ πιθανὸν καὶ μυρία ἄλλα παρεσκεύαστο κατὰ τῶν ἀκουόντων.
However, this is not small nor simple, as one might suppose, but requiring much art, not a little quickness of wit, and a certain precise care; for Slander would not do so much harm if it were not done in some plausible manner, nor would it overpower truth, which is stronger than all, if it had not prepared much that is attractive and plausible, and a myriad of other things against the hearers.
§12διαβάλλεται μὲν οὖν ὡς τὸ πολὺ μάλιστα ὁ τιμώμενος καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοῖς ὑπολειπομένοις αὐτοῦ ἐπίφθονος· ἅπαντες γὰρ τῷδʼ ἐπιτοξάζονται καθάπερ τι κώλυμα καὶ ἐμπόδιον προορώμενοι, καὶ ἕκαστος οἴεται πρῶτος αὐτὸς ἔσεσθαι τὸν κορυφαῖον ἐκεῖνον ἐκπολιορκήσας καὶ τῆς φιλίας ἀποσκευασάμενος.
Now, for the most part, it is the honored man who is especially slandered and for this reason envied by those who fall behind him; for all shoot their arrows at him, as they foresee him to be a kind of obstacle and hindrance, and each thinks he will be first himself after dislodging that chief man and shaking him off from the friendship.
οἷόν τι καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς γυμνικοῖς ἀγῶσιν ἐπὶ τῶν δρομέων γίγνεται· κἀκεῖ γὰρ ὁ μὲν ἀγαθὸς δρομεὺς τῆς ὕσπληγγος εὐθὺς καταπεσούσης μόνον τοῦ πρόσω ἐφιέμενος καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν ἀποτείνας πρὸς τὸ τέρμα κἀν τοῖς ποσὶ τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς νίκης ἔχων τὸν πλησίον οὐδὲν κακουργεῖ οὐδέ τι τῶν κατὰ τοὺς ἀγωνιστὰς πολυπραγμονεῖ, ὁ δὲ κακὸς ἐκεῖνος καὶ ἄναθλος ἀνταγωνιστὴς ἀπογνοὺς τὴν ἐκ τοῦ τάχους ἐλπίδα ἐπὶ τὴν κακοτεχνίαν ἐτράπετο, καὶ τοῦτο μόνον ἐξ ἅπαντος σκοπεῖ, ὅπως τὸν τρέχοντα ἐπισχὼν ἢ ἐμποδίσας ἐπιστομιεῖ, ὡς, εἰ τούτου διαμάρτοι, οὐκ ἄν ποτε νικῆσαι δυνάμενος.
Something similar happens also in the athletic contests in the case of runners; for there, the good runner, as soon as the starting-gate falls, striving only for the front and stretching his mind toward the goal, and having his hope of victory in his feet, does no mischief to his neighbor, nor busies himself with the affairs of his fellow-contestants, but that bad and unsporting rival, despairing of hope from speed, turns to dirty tricks, and considers this alone above all, how by checking or tripping the runner he may curb him, as though, if he should miss this, he would never be able to win.
ὁμοίως δὲ τούτοις κἀν ταῖς φιλίαις τῶν εὐδαιμόνων τούτων γίνεται· ὁ γὰρ προέχων αὐτίκα ἐπιβουλεύεται καὶ ἀφύλακτος ἐν μέσῳ ληφθεὶς τῶν δυσμενῶν ἀνηρπάσθη, οἱ δὲ ἀγαπῶνται καὶ φίλοι δοκοῦσιν ἐξ ὧν ἄλλους βλάπτειν ἔδοξαν.
In like manner to these things it happens also in the friendships of these prosperous men; for the one who excels is immediately plotted against and, being caught off guard in the midst of his enemies, is ruined, while those others are loved and seem to be friends as a result of things by which they seemed to injure others.
§13τό τε ἀξιόπιστον τῆς διαβολῆς οὐχ ὡς ἔτυχεν ἐπινοοῦσιν, ἀλλʼ ἐν τούτῳ τὸ πᾶν αὐτοῖς ἐστιν ἔργον δεδοικόσι τι προσάψαι ἀπῳδὸν ἢ καὶ ἀλλότριον.
And they do not devise the plausibility of the slander at random, but in this is their whole business, fearing to attach anything discordant or foreign.
ὡς γοῦν ἐπὶ πολὺ τὰ προσόντα τῷ διαβαλλομένῳ πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον μεταβάλλοντες οὐκ ἀπιθάνους ποιοῦνται τὰς κατηγορίας, οἷον τὸν μὲν ἰατρὸν διαβάλλουσιν ὡς φαρμακέα, τὸν πλούσιον δὲ ὡς τύραννον, τὸν τυραννικὸν δὲ ὡς προδοτικόν.
At any rate, for the most part, by changing the qualities actually belonging to the slandered person into something worse, they make their accusations not implausible, for example, slandering the physician as a poisoner, the rich man as a tyrant, and the powerful man as a traitor.