§9.30.1καὶ οὐκ ἐμοὶ ταῦτα πρώτῳ πολεμίοις ὁμόσε χωρήσαντι συνέβη παθεῖν, ἅπασι δʼ ὡς εἰπεῖν, ὅσοι μάχας παρακεκινδυνευμένας σὺν ἐλάττοσι ταῖς σφετέραις δυνάμεσι πρὸς μείζονας τὰς τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐποιήσαντο.
And I am not the first to have met with this fortune when going hand to hand with the enemy, but indeed almost all who have waged risky battles with their own smaller forces against the larger ones of their foes have done so.
ἐδίωξαν γὰρ ἤδη τινὲς ἐχθροὺς καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔφυγον καὶ ἀπέκτεινάν τε τῶν ἐναντίων πολλοὺς καὶ §9.30.2ἀπώλεσαν ἔτι πλείους τῶν σφετέρων.
For already some have pursued the enemy and themselves been put to flight, and have killed many of their adversaries and lost even more of their own.
ἐῶ γὰρ λέγειν, ὅτι πολλοὶ καὶ τὸ παράπαν ἡττηθέντες σὺν αἰσχύνῃ τε καὶ βλάβῃ μεγάλῃ ἀνέστρεψαν, ὧν οὐδεὶς τῆς τύχης δέδωκε δίκας· ἱκανὴ γὰρ ἡ συμφορά, καὶ τὸ μηδενὸς ἐπαίνου τυχεῖν, εἰ καὶ μηδὲν ἄλλο, μεγάλη τοῖς ἡγεμόσι καὶ χαλεπὴ ζημία.
For I refrain from mentioning that many, having been utterly defeated, have returned with disgrace and great loss, of whom no one has paid the penalty for their fortune; for the disaster itself, and the failure to obtain any praise, even if nothing else, is a great and harsh penalty for generals.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἔγωγε τοσούτου δέω λέγειν, ὃ πάντες οἱ μέτριοι δίκαιον εἶναι φήσουσιν, ὡς οὐ δεῖ με τύχης εὐθύνας ὑπέχειν, ὥστʼ εἰ καὶ μηδεὶς ἄλλος τοιόνδε ἀγῶνα ὑπέμεινεν εἰσελθεῖν, ἐγὼ μόνος οὐ παραιτοῦμαι, ἀλλὰ συγχωρῶ τὴν τύχην ἐξετάζεσθαι τὴν ἐμὴν οὐχ ἧττον τῆς γνώμης, ἐκεῖνο προειπών· §9.30.3ἐγὼ τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας πράξεις τάς τε δυστυχεῖς καὶ τὰς εὐτυχεῖς οὐκ ἐκ τῶν κατὰ μέρος ἔργων πολλῶν ὄντων καὶ ποικίλων ὁρῶ κρινομένας, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τοῦ τέλους·
Nevertheless, I am so far from saying what all moderate men would declare to be just—namely, that I ought not to submit to an examination of my fortune—that even if no one else has endured to enter such a contest, I alone do not refuse, but agree that my fortune should be examined no less than my judgment, after prepending this: I see that human actions, both unfortunate and fortunate, are judged not by their many and diverse partial deeds, but by their end.
καὶ ὅταν μὲν τοῦτο χωρήσῃ κατὰ νοῦν, κἂν τὰ μεταξὺ πολλὰ ὄντα μὴ καθʼ ἡδονὰς γένηται, οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐπαινουμένας ὑπὸ πάντων ἀκούω καὶ ζηλουμένας καὶ τῆς ἀγαθῆς νομιζομένας τύχης· ὅταν δὲ πονηρὰς λάβωσι τελευτάς, καὶ ἐὰν ἅπαντα τὰ πρὸ τοῦ τέλους ἐκ τοῦ ῥᾴστου γένηται, οὐ τῇ σπουδαίᾳ τύχῃ §9.30.4τῶν πραξάντων ἀποδιδομένας, ἀλλὰ τῇ κακῇ.
And when this turns out according to wish, even if the many events in between did not happen to our liking, I hear them nonetheless praised by all, envied, and deemed to be of good fortune; but when they receive bad endings, even if all things before the end happened in the easiest manner, they are attributed not to the good fortune of those who acted, but to the bad.
τοῦτον δὴ τὸν σκοπὸν προιδόντες αὐτοὶ ἐξετάζετε καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν τύχην, ᾗ παρὰ τοὺς πολέμους κέχρημαι.
Looking forward to this very mark, you yourselves examine my fortune too, which I have experienced during the wars.
καὶ ἐὰν μὲν εὕρητε ἡττημένον με ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων, πονηρὰν καλεῖτέ μου τὴν τύχην, ἐὰν δὲ κεκρατηκότα τῶν ἐχθρῶν, ἀγαθήν·
And if you find me defeated by the enemy, call my fortune bad, but if victorious over the foes, good.
περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς τύχης, οὐκ ἀγνοῶν, ὅτι φορτικοὶ πάντες εἰσὶν οἱ περὶ αὐτῆς λέγοντες, ἔχων ἔτι πλείω λέγειν παύσομαι.
Now concerning fortune, being not ignorant that all who speak of it are tedious, though I have still more to say, I shall stop.