§16Ἄλλος δέ τις αὐτῶν ὑπόμνημα τῶν γεγονότων γυμνὸν συναγαγὼν ἐν γραφῇ κομιδῇ πεζὸν καὶ χαμαιπετές, οἷον καὶ στρατιώτης ἄν τις τὰ καθ' ἡμέραν ὑπογραφόμενος συνέθηκεν ἢ τέκτων ἢ κάπηλός τις συμπερινοστῶν τῇ στρατιᾷ.
And another of them, having gathered a bare memorandum of the events in writing, extremely pedestrian and low-lying, such as a soldier keeping a daily diary or a carpenter or some peddler traveling around with the army might have compiled.
πλὴν ἀλλὰ μετριώτερός γε ὁ ἰδιώτης οὗτος ἦν, αὐτὸς μὲν αὐτίκα δῆλος ὢν οἷος ἦν, ἄλλῳ δέ τινι χαρίεντι καὶ δυνησομένῳ ἱστορίαν μεταχειρίσασθαι προπεπονηκώς.
But indeed, this layman was at least more modest, being immediately clear himself what kind of person he was, and having done the preliminary work for someone else who was graceful and capable of handling history.
τοῦτο μόνον ᾐτιασάμην αὐτοῦ, ὅτι οὕτως ἐπέγραψε τὰ βιβλία τραγικώτερον ἢ κατὰ τὴν τῶν συγγραμμάτων τύχην—“Καλλιμόρφου ἰατροῦ τῆς τῶν κοντοφόρων ἕκτης ἱστοριῶν Παρθικῶν,” καὶ ὑπεγέγραπτο ἑκάστῃ ὁ ἀριθμός.
This alone I blamed him for, that he entitled the books in this way, more tragically than befitted the fortune of such writings—"Of Callimorphus, physician of the sixth unit of pikemen, Parthian Histories," and the number was written below each.
καὶ νὴ Δία καὶ τὸ προοίμιον ὑπέρψυχρον ἐποίησεν οὕτως συναγαγών· οἰκεῖον εἶναι ἰατρῷ ἱστορίαν συγγράφειν, εἴ γε ὁ Ἀσκληπιὸς μὲν Ἀπόλλωνος υἱός, Ἀπόλλων δὲ Μουσηγέτης καὶ πάσης παιδείας ἄρχων· καὶ ὅτι ἀρξάμενος ἐν τῇ Ἰάδι γράφειν οὐκ οἶδα ὅ τι δόξαν αὐτίκα μάλα ἐπὶ τὴν κοινὴν μετῆλθεν, ἰητρικὴν μὲν λέγων καὶ πείρην καὶ ὁκόσα καὶ νοῦσοι, τὰ δ’ ἄλλα ὁμοδίαιτα τοῖς πολλοῖς καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα οἷα ἐκ τριόδου.
And indeed, by Zeus, he made the preface also extremely chilly, putting it together in this way: that it is appropriate for a physician to write history, since Asclepius is the son of Apollo, and Apollo is the Leader of the Muses and the ruler of all education; and that, having begun to write in the Ionic dialect, I know not what occurred to him, he immediately switched over to the common dialect, saying "ie-trike" and "peire" and "okosa" and "nousoi," but the rest was of the same style as ordinary people and most of it like what is found at the crossroads.
§17Εἰ δέ με δεῖ καὶ σοφοῦ ἀνδρὸς μνησθῆναι, τὸ μὲν ὄνομα ἐν ἀφανεῖ κείσθω, τὴν γνώμην δὲ ἐρῶ καὶ τὰ πρῴην ἐν Κορίνθῳ συγγράμματα, κρείττω πάσης ἐλπίδος.
But if I must mention also a wise man, let his name lie in obscurity, but I will tell his opinion and his writings heard lately in Corinth, which were beyond all expectation.
ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν γὰρ εὐθὺς ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ τοῦ προοιμίου περιόδῳ συνηρώτησε τοὺς ἀναγινώσκοντας λόγον πάνσοφον δεῖξαι σπεύδων, ὡς μόνῳ ἂν τῷ σοφῷ πρέποι ἱστορίαν συγγράφειν.
For at the very beginning, in the first period of the preface, he asked his readers questions, hastening to display a most wise argument, that it would be fitting only for the wise man to write history.
εἶτα μετὰ μικρὸν ἄλλος συλλογισμός, εἶτα ἄλλος· καὶ ὅλως ἐν ἅπαντι σχήματι συνηρώτητο αὐτῷ τὸ προοίμιον.
Then, after a little, another syllogism, then another; and in short, the preface was formulated in questions in every figure.
τὸ τῆς κολακείας ἐς κόρον, καὶ τὰ ἐγκώμια φορτικὰ καὶ κομιδῇ βωμολοχικά, οὐκ ἀσυλλόγιστα μέντοι, ἀλλὰ συνηρωτημένα κἀκεῖνα.
The flattery was to the point of disgust, and the encomiums vulgar and completely buffoonish, not unsyllogistic, however, but those too formulated in questions.
καὶ μὴν κἀκεῖνο φορτικὸν ἔδοξέν μοι καὶ ἥκιστα σοφῷ ἀνδρὶ καὶ πώγωνι πολιῷ καὶ βαθεῖ πρέπον, τὸ ἐν τῷ προοιμίῳ εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἐξαίρετον τοῦτο ἕξει ὁ ἡμέτερος ἄρχων, οὗ γε τὰς πράξεις καὶ φιλόσοφοι ἤδη συγγράφειν ἀξιοῦσιν.
And indeed, that also seemed to me vulgar and least fitting for a wise man with a grey and deep beard: namely, to say in the preface that our general would have this extraordinary distinction, that even philosophers now deign to write his deeds.
τὸ γὰρ τοιοῦτον, εἴπερ ἄρα, ἡμῖν ἔδει καταλιπεῖν λογίζεσθαι ἢ αὐτὸν εἰπεῖν.
For such a thing, if indeed it were so, should have been left for us to think, rather than for him to say.
§18Καὶ μὴν οὐδ’ ἐκείνου ὅσιον ἀμνημονῆσαι, ὃς τοιάνδε ἀρχὴν ἤρξατο· “Ἔρχομαι ἐρέων περὶ Ῥωμαίων καὶ Περσέων,” καὶ μικρὸν ὕστερον· “ἔδεε γὰρ Πέρσῃσι γενέσθαι κακῶς,” καὶ πάλιν· “ἦν Ὀσρόης, τὸν οἱ Ἕλληνες Ὀξυρόην ὀνυμέουσιν,” καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ τοιαῦτα.
And indeed, neither is it holy to forget that man who began with such a beginning: "I come to speak of Romans and Persians," and a little later: "for it was necessary for things to go badly for the Persians," and again: "there was Osroes, whom the Greeks name Oxyroes," and many other such things.
ὁρᾷς;
Do you see?
ὅμοιος αὐτὸς ἐκείνῳ παρ' ὅσον ὁ μὲν Θουκυδίδῃ, οὗτος δὲ Ἡροδότῳ εὖ μάλα ἐῴκει.
He was similar to that other one, except that while that one was very like Thucydides, this one was very like Herodotus.
§19Ἄλλος τις ἀοίδιμος ἐπὶ λόγων δυνάμει Θουκυδίδῃ καὶ αὐτὸς ὅμοιος ἢ ὀλίγῳ ἀμείνων αὐτοῦ, πάσας πόλεις καὶ πάντα ὄρη καὶ πεδία καὶ ποταμοὺς ἑρμηνεύσας πρὸς τὸ σαφέστατον καὶ ἰσχυρότατον, ὡς ᾤετο.
Another, famous for his power of words, and himself similar to Thucydides or a little better than him, having described all cities and all mountains and plains and rivers to the greatest clarity and force, as he thought.
τὸ δὲ ἐς ἐχθρῶν κεφαλὰς ὁ ἀλεξίκακος τρέψειε·
But may the averter of evil turn this upon the heads of our enemies!
τοσαύτη ψυχρότης ἐνῆν ὑπὲρ τὴν Κασπιακὴν χιόνα καὶ τὸν κρύσταλλον τὸν Κελτικόν.
Such coldness was in it, beyond the Caspian snow and the Celtic ice.
ἡ γοῦν ἀσπὶς ἡ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος ὅλῳ βιβλίῳ μόγις ἐξηρμηνεύθη αὐτῷ, καὶ Γοργὼν ἐπὶ τοῦ ὀμφαλοῦ καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτῆς ἐκ κυανοῦ καὶ λευκοῦ καὶ μέλανος καὶ ζώνη ἰριοειδὴς καὶ δράκοντες ἑλικηδὸν καὶ βοστρυχηδόν.
At least the shield of the emperor was scarcely described by him in a whole book, with a Gorgon on the boss, and her eyes of dark blue, white, and black, and a rainbow-colored belt, and dragons coiling and curling.
ἡ μὲν γὰρ Οὐολογέσσου ἀναξυρὶς ἢ ὁ χαλινὸς τοῦ ἵππου, Ἡράκλεις, ὅσαι μυριάδες ἐπῶν ἕκαστον τούτων, καὶ οἵα ἦν ἡ Ὀσρόου κόμη, διανέοντος τὸν Τίγρητα, καὶ ἐς οἷον ἄντρον κατέφυγε, κιττοῦ καὶ μυρρίνης καὶ δάφνης ἐς ταὐτὸ συμπεφυκότων καὶ σύσκιον ἀκριβῶς ποιούντων αὐτό.
For as for the trousers of Vologesus, or the bridle of his horse—by Heracles, how many tens of thousands of verses were spent on each of these! And what kind of hair Osroes had as he swam across the Tigris, and into what kind of cave he fled for refuge, where ivy, myrtle, and laurel grew together into the same spot and made it precisely shady.
σκόπει ὡς ἀναγκαῖα τῇ ἱστορίᾳ ταῦτα, καὶ ὧν ἄνευ οὐκ ἂν ᾔδειμέν τι τῶν ἐκεῖ πραχθέντων.
Consider how necessary these things are to history, and without which we would not have known anything of the deeds done there.