§321ἔτει δεκάτῳ περιήκοντι τῆς ἀσθενείας ἐπελθὸν φάσμα ἔλεγε τοιάδε, ἐγὼ τὴν αὐτὴν νόσον νοσήσας περιιόντι τῷ δεκάτῳ ἔτει, βουλομένου τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ πορευθεὶς ἐπὶ τοὺς τόπους, ἐν οἷς ἡ νόσος ἤρξατο συλλέγεσθαι, ἀπηλλάγην. τοιαῦτʼ ἦν τὰ λεχθέντα καὶ ἐδόκει γεγράφθαι·
In the tenth year of my illness, as it was coming round, a vision appeared and spoke as follows: "I myself, having suffered from the same illness in the revolving tenth year, by the will of Asclepius, went to the places where the illness first began to gather, and was rid of it." Such were the words spoken, and they seemed to have been written down.
διήγομεν δὴ καὶ τότε περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Ὀλυμπίου.
At that time we were staying near the temple of Olympian Zeus.
χειμὼν δʼ ἦν ὀλίγον μετὰ τροπὰς, ὁ δʼ ἀὴρ ἤπιος.
It was winter, a little after the solstice, but the air was mild.
χρησθέντων δὲ τούτων ἦν οἷον εἰκὸς χαρά τε καὶ ὁρμὴ θαυμαστὴ πρὸς τὴν ἔξοδον.
When these instructions were given, there was, as might be expected, joy and a wonderful impulse towards the journey.
ἀπέχει δὲ ὁ Αἴσηπός τε καὶ τὰ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ θερμὰ ὕδατα δυοῖν ἡμερῶν ὁδὸν τοῦ περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν τόπου τούτου.
The Aesepus and the hot waters on its banks are a two days' journey away from this area around the temple.
καί μοι τὸ σῶμα ἐκεῖ πρῶτον ὑπώλισθε, χειμῶνος ὥρᾳ ψυγὲν, ὑσθέντι λαμπρῶς ἐπὶ λουτροῖς πολλοῖς, ἑσπέρας ἤδη πρὸς τὸ χωρίον καὶ τὴν ἔπαυλιν ἀπελαύνοντι τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ πλησίον οὖσαν, ὥς γʼ οὑτωσὶ φάναι.
And it was there that my body first failed me, chilled by the winter season, after having been heavily rained upon following many baths, as I was driving back in the evening towards my own estate and villa, which was nearby, so to speak.
πρὸς μέντοι τὸν παρόντα καιρὸν καὶ ἀφʼ ὧν ἐπανῄειν καὶ πλείω ἦν τοῦ δέοντος καὶ τούτοις δὴ ἐπιγίγνεται ἡ εἰς Ἰταλίαν δυσχερὴς ἔξοδος ὀλίγαις ὕστερον ἡμέραις.
However, relative to the present occasion and the circumstances of my return, those events were more than enough, and upon them followed my difficult departure for Italy a few days later.
ταῦτα μὲν δὴ προεγεγόνει πρότερον ἔτει δεκάτῳ·
These things had indeed occurred previously, ten years before.
τότε δʼ ὡς εἰς θεωρίαν ἐστελλόμεθα ὑπʼ εὐθυμίας αἰθρίας τε οὔσης θαυμαστῆς καὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ δεχομένης.
But then, as we set out as if for a sacred festival, with wonderful cheerfulness and clear weather, and with the road welcoming us, we made our way.
ἔστι δὲ Ποιμανηνὸς χωρίον τῆς Μυσίας καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἱερὸν Ἀσκληπιοῦ ἅγιόν τε καὶ ὀνομαστὸν, ἐνταῦθα ἐτελέσαμεν σταδίους ἑξήκοντα μάλιστα καὶ ἑκατόν·
There is a place in Mysia called Poemanenus, where there is a holy and famous temple of Asclepius.
καὶ τούτων τοὺς ἑξήκοντα σχεδὸν νυκτὸς, ἅτε καὶ προηκούσης τῆς ἡμέρας κινηθέντες, καί τινι καὶ πηλῷ περὶ τοῦτον ἤδη τὸν τόπον ἐνετύχομεν ἐξ ὄμβρων προτέρων οὐ ῥᾳδίῳ διεξελθεῖν·
There we completed about one hundred and sixty stades; of these, nearly sixty were by night, since we set out late in the day, and we also encountered some mud in this very region, due to previous rains, which was not easy to traverse.
ἡ δὲ πορεία ἐγίγνετο ὑπὸ λαμπάδων.
The journey was made by torchlight.
ἐνταῦθα δὴ παντελῶς οἱονεὶ καθιερώμην τε καὶ εἰχόμην, καί μοι πολλὰ μὲν εἰς
There, indeed, I was completely consecrated, as it were, and possessed, and many songs...
§322αὐτὸν τὸν σωτῆρα ἐποιήθη μέλη, ὡς ἔτυχον καθήμενος ἐπὶ τοῦ ζεύγους· πολλὰ δὲ εἴς τε τὸν Αἴσηπον καὶ Νύμφας καὶ τὴν Θερμαίαν Ἄρτεμιν, ἣ τὰς πηγὰς τὰς θερμὰς ἔχει, δοῦναι λύσιν ἁπάντων ἤδη τῶν δυσχερῶν, καὶ καταστῆσαι πάλιν εἰς τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς.
were composed by me to the Savior himself, just as I happened to be sitting in the carriage; and many also to the Aesepus, the Nymphs, and Thermaean Artemis, who rules the hot springs, praying that they would grant a release from all my difficulties at last, and restore me to my original state.
ὡς δὲ ἐγενόμην ἐν τῷ Ποιμανηνῷ, χρηματίζει τε ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἐπίσχει τινὰς ἡμέρας· καὶ καθαίρει τὴν ἄνω, καὶ σχεδὸν οὐκ εἰσάπαξ.
When I arrived at Poemanenus, the god gave an oracle and detained me for some days; and he purged my upper digestive tract, and not just once.
καὶ γίγνεται ὄναρ ἀνθρώπῳ γεωργῷ, ὃς ἐμὲ οὐκ ᾔδει πω, πλὴν ὅσον ἤκουεν· ἐδόκει τινὰ αὑτῷ λέγειν ὅτι Ἀριστείδης ἐχίδνης κεφαλὴν ἐξεμημεκὼς εἴη.
And a dream came to a farmer, who did not yet know me, except by reputation; he seemed to hear someone telling him that Aristides had vomited up the head of a viper.
ταύτην δὲ ἰδὼν τὴν ὄψιν φράζει τῶν ἐμῶν τινὶ, ὁ δʼ ἐμοί.
Seeing this vision, he told one of my friends, and he told me.
καὶ τοῦτο μὲν δὴ τοιοῦτον.
This matter was indeed such.
ὡς δʼ ἀπέπεμπεν ἐπὶ τὸν Αἴσηπον, λουτρῶν μὲν ἐκείνων αὐτόθεν προσέταξεν ἀπέχεσθαι, τὴν δʼ ἄλλην δίαιταν ἔφραζεν ἐφʼ ἡμέρᾳ.
And when the god sent me to the Aesepus, he ordered me to abstain from those baths there, but prescribed the rest of my regimen day by day.
κἀνταῦθα δὴ καθαρμοί τε ἐγίγνοντο ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ὑπὸ σπονδῶν καὶ καθάρσεις οἴκοι διʼ ἐμέτου.
And there, purifications took place by the river with libations, and purgings at home by vomiting.
καὶ τριῶν ἢ τεττάρων ἡμερῶν διαγενομένων γίγνεται φωνὴ διʼ ὀνείρατος, ὅτι πέρας τε ἔχοι καὶ ἐπανήκειν δεῖ.
After three or four days had passed, a voice came through a dream, saying that the end was reached and that I must return.
ἦν οὖν οὐ μόνον τελετῇ τινι ἐοικὸς, οὕτω θείων τε καὶ παραδόξων τῶν δρωμένων ὄντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ συνέπιπτέ τι θαυμαστὸν ἀηθείᾳ, ἅμα μὲν γὰρ ἦν εὐθυμεῖσθαι, χαίρειν, ἐν εὐκόλοις εἶναι καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος, ἅμα θʼ οἷον ἀπιστεῖν εἴ ποτε ταύτην ἰδεῖν ἐξέσται τὴν ἡμέραν, ἐν ᾗ τις ἐλεύθερον αὑτὸν τῶν τοσούτων πραγμάτων ὄψεται, πρὸς δὲ καὶ δεδιέναι μή πού τι τῶν εἰωθότων αὖθις συμβὰν λυμήνηται ταῖς περὶ τῶν ὅλων ἐλπίσι.
It was therefore not only like some initiation ceremony, so divine and extraordinary were the things being done, but there also coincided a wonderful feeling due to its novelty; for at the same time, it was a matter of being cheerful, rejoicing, and being at ease in both soul and body, and at the same time, as it were, of disbelieving whether it would ever be possible to see this day in which one would see oneself free from such great troubles, and besides, of fearing lest some of the usual occurrences happening again might ruin all hopes for the whole matter.
κατεσκεύαστο μὲν οὕτω τὰ τῆς γνώμης καὶ μετὰ τοιαύτης ἡδονῆς ἅμα καὶ ἀγωνίας ἡ ἀναχώρησις ἐγίγνετο·
My mind was thus disposed, and with such a mixture of pleasure and anxiety, the return took place.
θεῶν δὲ οὕτω διδόντων ἐγένετο ἀπὸ τούτων ἤδη τῶν χρόνων μεταβολὴ περὶ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν δίαιταν σαφὴς, καὶ τόν τε ἀέρα ὑπῆρξε μᾶλλον φέρειν καὶ ὁδοιπορεῖν ἐπιεικῶς οὐδὲν ἔλαττον τῶν πρὸς ὑπερβολὴν ἐρρωμένων.
But since the gods so granted, from this time onward there was a clear change in my whole body and regimen, and it was possible for me to bear the air better and to travel fairly well, no less than those who are exceedingly strong.
καὶ τῶν σκεπασμάτων τὰ περιττὰ ἀφῃρέθη, οἵ τε ἀνώνυμοι κατάρροι καὶ σφάκελοι περὶ τὰς φλέβας καὶ τὰ νεῦρα ἀπεπαύσαντο.
The superfluous coverings were removed, and the nameless catarrhs and inflammations around the veins and nerves ceased.
τροφὴ δέ πως ἤδη διῳκεῖτο καὶ ἀγῶνας ἐντελεῖς ἠγωνιζόμεθα οἴκοι τε κἀν τοῖς δημοσίοις.
My diet was now somehow managed, and we contested complete contests both at home and in public.
καὶ δὴ καὶ πόλεις εἰσήλθομεν ἡγουμένου τοῦ θεοῦ μετὰ τῆς ἀγαθῆς
And indeed, we entered cities under the guidance of the god with good fortune.