§80Ἀριστείδης τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Κοτυαέων χαίρειν.
Aristeides to the council and the people of the Cotiaeans, greeting.
εἰκὸς μὲν ἦν καὶ ἀπὸ πάσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος ὡς ὑμᾶς ἰέναι συναχθεσθησομένους ἐπὶ τοιαύτῃ συμφορᾷ καὶ κοσμήσοντας ἄνδρα τῶν Ἑλλήνων τοσοῦτον πρῶτον·
It would indeed have been fitting for people even from the whole of Greece to go to you, in order to share your grief at such a calamity and to honor a man who was so pre-eminent among the Greeks.
ἐγὼ δʼ οὖν πέμπων καὶ τάττων ἐμαυτὸν εἰς τοὺς οἰκεῖον τὸ συμβεβηκὸς νομίζοντας οὐκ ἄν μοι περιεργάζεσθαι δοκῶ.
However, in sending this and placing myself among those who consider what has happened as their own personal loss, I do not think I shall be deemed meddlesome.
ὅσα γὰρ νομίζεται κατʼ ἀνθρώπους καλὰ καὶ ἔντιμα ὀνόματα καὶ παισί τε ἡδονὴν ἔχοντα καὶ πρεσβυτέροις αἰδέσιμα, οὐδὲν τούτων ἀνὴρ ἐλλελοιπὼς ἦν ἐμοί.
For of all those names that are regarded among men as beautiful and honorable, bringing pleasure to children and respect to elders, there was none of these that that man left unfulfilled toward me.
ἀλλὰ καὶ τραφεὶς ὑπʼ ἐκείνῳ καὶ παιδευθεὶς καὶ ὅσων ἡ τύχη παρέσχε μετὰ ταῦτα κοινωνήσας πάντων διὰ σπουδῆς, τροφέα, διδάσκαλον, πατέρα, ἑταῖρον, πάντʼ εἶχον καλεῖν.
On the contrary, having been brought up and educated by him, and having eagerly shared in all those things which fortune subsequently provided, I was able to call him nurturer, teacher, father, companion, everything.
μέγιστον δʼ ἦν ἡμῖν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὅτι ἴσον φρονῆσαι ἐπʼ ἀλλήλοις εἴχομεν, ἐγὼ μὲν ἐκείνῳ διδασκάλῳ φιλοτιμούμενος, ὁ δʼ §81ἐν οἰκείας δόξης μέρει τὸ καθʼ ἡμᾶς τιθέμενος.
And the greatest thing in our mutual relation was that we were able to take equal pride in each other, I on my part taking pride in him as my teacher, while he placed what concerned me in the category of his own glory.
ἕως μὲν οὖν ἐξῆν ὡς ἐκεῖνον πέμπειν, ἐποίουν τοῦτο, καί τις ἦν ἡμῖν οὐκ ἄμουσος διατριβὴ περὶ λόγους διὰ γραμμάτων.
As long, then, as it was possible to send to him, I used to do this, and we had a not unrefined pastime in literary matters through letters.
ἐπειδὴ δʼ οὐκέτʼ ἔξεστιν ἐκείνῳ διαλέγεσθαι καὶ οὐδʼ ἃ πρώην ἔτυχον πέμψας ἀπεδέξατο ταῖς ἡδίσταις ἐμοὶ χερσὶν, ὑπόλοιπον ἦν ὡς ὑμᾶς ἀποστεῖλαι τὴν τῆς πόλεως ἑστίαν ἀντʼ ἐκείνου θέμενον.
But since it is no longer possible to converse with him, and since he did not even receive with those hands most sweet to me what I happened to have sent the other day, it remained to dispatch to you, establishing the hearth of your city instead of him.
ἐδόκουν γὰρ οὕτως Ἀλέξανδρόν τε διπλῇ τιμῇ τιμῆσαι, ἅμα μὲν αὐτοῦ μεμνημένος τὰ πρέποντα, ἅμα δὲ ὑμᾶς οἰκειούμενος διʼ ἐκεῖνον, ὑμῖν τε δὶς ἂν ποιεῖν κεχαρισμένα, δημοσίᾳ τε θαρρῶν ὑμῖν καὶ μεμνημένος ἀνδρὸς οὗ πλεῖστον λόγον ποιεῖσθε· οἶμαι δʼ οὐχ ὑμεῖς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντες ὅσοι καὶ ὁπωσοῦν τελοῦσιν εἰς Ἕλληνας.
For I thought that in this way I would both honor Alexander with a double honor—at once remembering him in a fitting manner, and at the same time making myself close to you through him—and that I would perform doubly pleasing deeds for you, both by publicly trusting in you and by remembering a man of whom you make the greatest account; and I think not only you, but also all those who in any way are numbered among the Greeks.
συμβαίνει δʼ ἐμοὶ τῇ μὲν μνήμῃ πάντων ἐφικνεῖσθαι τῶν ἐκείνου καλῶν, τῷ λόγῳ δὲ ἀπόρως ἔχειν ἐπεξελθεῖν.
But it happens to me that while in memory I can reach all his noble qualities, in speech I am at a loss to go through them.
ἀθρόα γὰρ πάντα ἐπέρχεται, ἃ καθʼ ἕκαστον μὲν εἰπεῖν ἀδύνατον, ἀρχὴν δὲ οὐδὲ πειρᾶσθαι καιρὸν ἔχειν μοι δοκεῖ· ἀπὸ μέρους δʼ εἰ λέγοιμι, δέδοικα μὴ βελτίων ὦ σιωπῶν.
For everything comes upon me in a crowd, which it is impossible to speak of individually, and it seems to me not even the proper time to attempt a beginning; but if I should speak of them in part, I fear that I may be better off keeping silent.
ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ἓν μὲν καὶ πρῶτον ἁπάντων μετέθηκε τὸ γιγνόμενον περὶ τοὺς ἐπαίνους.
For he, as one and the first of all things, altered what was customary concerning praises.
τοσοῦτον γὰρ ἀπέσχε τοῦ διὰ κοινότητα γένους εὐδοκιμεῖν, οἷον ἔθνει προσφεύγων ἢ πόλει, ὥστε παλαιότατον μὲν δή που γενῶν τὸ ὑμέτερον καὶ ἐν τῷ κοινῷ γένει τῶν Φρυγῶν ἡ πόλις αὖ, καθά φασιν, ἡ ὑμετέρα, ὁ δὲ καὶ τῇ πόλει καὶ τῷ γένει σύμπαντι τὴν φιλοτιμίαν αὑτοῦ κατέστησε, καὶ πᾶσιν ὑμῖν οὐ μικρὸν καύχημα πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐκείνου πολίτας εἶναι.
For he was so far from gaining renown through the commonness of race—as if taking refuge in a nation or a city—that, although your race is surely the oldest of races and your city, as they say, is in the common race of the Phrygians, he established his own ambition as a source of honor both for the city and for the entire race, and for all of you it is no small boast toward the Greeks to be his fellow-citizens.
διδασκάλοις δὲ χρήσασθαι μὲν λέγεται τοῖς ἀρίστοις, ὑπερβαλόμενος δʼ ὅσον παῖδας ἅπαντας φαίνεται.
He is said to have employed the best teachers, and he clearly surpasses all the other pupils by far.
ἐφαψάμενος δὲ τοῖς χρόνοις τῆς ἡλικίας ἁπάντων τῶν ἐνδοξοτάτων τῶν μὲν ἀρχαιοτάτων μαθητὴς, τῶν δʼ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἁπάντων τῶν μὲν διδάσκαλος, τῶν δὲ συνεργὸς κατέστη.
Having touched in the times of his life all the most illustrious men, he became a pupil of the oldest, and of all those after them, a teacher to some and a collaborator to others.
καὶ ὁποίους μέν τινας ἀπειργάσατο ἐροῦσιν ἕτεροι, οἷς δʼ αὖ συνεπαίδευσεν
And what kind of men he produced others will tell, or those whom in turn he helped to educate.