§325νόσημα πᾶν.
the whole illness.
ἐδόκει χρῆναι οὕτω ποιεῖν.
It seemed necessary to do so.
καὶ λαλούντων ἡμῶν καὶ βουλευομένων ἐπεισέρχεται Βίβλος ἐκ τρίτων, θεραπευτὴς τῶν παλαιῶν καί τινα τρόπον πρόθυμος περὶ λόγους.
And as we were speaking and deliberating, Biblus entered as a third person, an old worshipper and in some way enthusiastic about speeches.
οὗτος καὶ τὸ πρόβλημα ἦν ὁ προβαλών· καὶ ἦν γε τὸ πρόβλημα τοιόνδε· μέμνημαι γὰρ, ἅτε καὶ πρῶτον λαβών· Ἀλεξάνδρου, φησὶν, ἐν Ἰνδοῖς ὄντος συμβουλεύει Δημοσθένης ἐπιθέσθαι τοῖς πράγμασιν. εὐθὺς μὲν οὖν ἐδεξάμην τὴν φήμην τὸν Δημοσθένη τε αὖθις λέγοντα καὶ τοὺς λόγους ὄντας περὶ τῆς ἡγεμονίας.
He was also the one who proposed the subject; and the subject was as follows—for I remember it, since I received it as my first: "While Alexander is in India," he said, "Demosthenes advises to attack the affairs." Immediately, then, I received the omen, both of Demosthenes speaking again and of the speeches being about the hegemony.
καὶ μικρὸν ἐπισχὼν ἠγωνιζόμην, καὶ τά τε δὴ τῆς ἄλλης δυνάμεως ἦν οἷα θεοῦ παρασκευάζοντος, καὶ ἔδοξεν ὁ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ χρόνος οὐ σιωπῆς, ἀλλʼ ἀσκήσεως εἶναι.
And having paused for a short time, I began to contend, and the things concerning my other strength were as if a god were preparing them, and the period of that year seemed to be not of silence, but of practice.
ἀρχὴ μὲν οὖν αὕτη τῆς μελέτης τῶν λόγων ἡμῖν ἐγένετο, καὶ οὕτως ἐπανήλθομεν.
This, then, was the beginning of our study of speeches, and thus we returned.
ἐγίγνετο δὲ καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ εἰς ταυτὸν φέροντα, καὶ τὸ δὴ μάλιστα ἐπιρρῶσαν τοιόνδε ἦν.
And many other things also occurred leading to the same end, and what especially encouraged me was as follows.
Ῥώσανδρος ἦν τῶν φιλοσοφούντων καὶ ἄλλως περὶ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ θεραπείαν ἐπιμελής· οὗτος ἐδόκει μοι παρʼ ἀνδρὸς φιλοσόφου τῶν ἐπιφανῶν ἀρτίως διηγγελμένου παρὼν ἑστάναι πρόσθεν τῆς κλίνης, οἷον ἔνθεός τε καὶ σφόδρα ἐσπουδακώς· ἔπειτα λέγειν περὶ τῶν λόγων τῶν ἐμῶν εἰς ὅσον προβεβηκότες εἶεν, μνησθῆναι μὲν δὴ Πλάτωνος καὶ Δημοσθένους, ἐφʼ οἷσπερ ἐμνήσθη ἑκατέρου· ἀκροτελεύτιον δʼ ἐπιθεῖναι, παρῆλθες ἡμῖν τῷ ἀξιώματι τὸν Δημοσθένη, ὡς μηδʼ αὐτοῖς ἄρα τοῖς φιλοσόφοις εἶναι ὑπερφρονῆσαι. τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμα πᾶσαν ἐμοὶ τὴν ὕστερον φιλοτιμίαν ἐξῆψε, τοῦτʼ ἐποίησε πᾶν ὅ τι ποιοίην περὶ λόγους ἔλαττον εἶναι τοῦ δέοντος νομίζειν.
There was Rosandrus, one of those who study philosophy and in other ways diligent about the worship of the god; he seemed to me to stand before my bed, having just brought a message from one of the illustrious philosophers, as if inspired and very earnest; then to speak about my speeches, how far they had progressed, and indeed to mention Plato and Demosthenes, for the reasons he mentioned each; and to add at the end, "You have surpassed Demosthenes for us in dignity, so that not even the philosophers themselves can look down on you." This saying kindled all my subsequent ambition, and made me think that everything I did concerning speeches was less than what was necessary.
καὶ μέντοι καὶ ὕπαρ αὐτὸς ἐπεσφραγίσατο ὁ θεός.
And indeed, the god himself confirmed this when I was awake.
μετὰ γὰρ τὴν νύκτα ἐκείνην, ἣ τὸν ὄρθρον ἦγεν, εὐθὺς μελέτην ἐποιούμην, κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἔτι τῶν χρόνων ὥσπερ λέγω· καὶ οἱ παρόντες οὐδέν πω τοῦ ὀνείρατος προπεπυσμένοι, τῶν δὲ λόγων ἀκροώμενοι τότε πρῶτον, μάλιστα δὴ τοῦτο ἐπεσημήναντο τὸ ἀξίωμα.
For after that night, which brought the dawn, I immediately made a practice, still at the beginning of those times as I say; and those present, having heard nothing of the dream beforehand, but listening to the speeches then for the first time, especially marked this dignity.
καὶ τοῦτο πλεῖστον ἦν αὐτοῖς τοῦ θορύβου.
And this was the main cause of their applause.
χρόνῳ δʼ ὕστερον εἰς τὸν Ῥώσανδρον φέρον τοιόνδε μοι γίγνεται.
Some time later, another thing occurred to me concerning Rosandrus.
ἐδόκουν ἐν Διὸς Ὀλυμπίου χωρίῳ κατὰ δή τινα διατριβὴν ἤτοι πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν διανοηθῆναι §326ἤ τινα δεικνύναι μοι καὶ φράζειν ὡς ὁ Ῥώσανδρος δύναται δηλοῦν τὸν θεὸν, καὶ τὴν ἀπόδειξιν αὐτοῦ ποιεῖσθαι διὰ γραμμῆς τινος ὥσπερ οἱ γεωμέτραι, γράψαντα δύʼ ἑξῆς ὀνόματα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐξ ἴσου, τὸ μὲν Ῥώσανδρος, τὸ δὲ ἕτερον Θεόδοτος· καί πως τοῦτο Θεοδώτης ἦν ἐν τῇ γραφῇ.
I seemed, during a certain stay in the precinct of Olympian Zeus, either to think to myself or someone seemed to show and tell me that Rosandrus can signify the god, and to make the demonstration of it by means of a line, just like geometers, writing two names in succession on the ground equally, one Rosandrus, the other Theodotus; and somehow this was Theodotes in the writing.
σαφὲς δʼ εἶναι τοῦτό γε, ὡς ἄρα ὁ Θεόδοτος ὁ ἰατρὸς τὸν θεὸν δηλοῖ, ταυτὸν οὖν δύνασθαι καὶ τὸν Ῥώσανδρον, ἐπείπερ ἴσον γε Ῥώσανδρος καὶ Θεόδοτος.
And it was clear, at least, that Theodotus the physician signifies the god, and therefore Rosandrus can do the same, since Rosandrus and Theodotus are equal.
τοσαῦτα μὲν περὶ τοῦ ὀνόματος ἐδήλωσε τοῦ Ῥωσάνδρου.
This much he revealed concerning the name of Rosandrus.
συνέβαινε δέ μοι λαμβάνοντι μὲν τὰ προβλήματα καὶ καθισταμένῳ πρὸς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἀπορεῖσθαι καὶ μόλις ἀναφέρειν, ἐπιλείποντος τοῦ πνεύματος, προϊόντι δὲ τῶν προοιμίων ῥᾷον ἴσχειν ἤδη καὶ ἀναπνεῖν οἵῳ τε εἶναι, καὶ προϊόντος ἀεὶ τοῦ λόγου δυνάμεως ἐμπίπλασθαι μετὰ κουφότητος, καὶ συνείρειν οὕτως ὥσθʼ ἕπεσθαι μόλις τοὺς ἀκροωμένους.
And it happened to me, when receiving the subjects and preparing for the contest, to be at a loss and scarcely to recover my breath, as my wind failed me; but as I proceeded past the introductions, to have it easier already and to be able to breathe, and as the speech always proceeded, to be filled with power along with lightness, and to connect the words in such a way that the listeners could scarcely follow.
καὶ ἦν δὴ τὸ θέαμα κρεῖττον ἢ τὸ ἀκρόαμα γνώμην γʼ ἐμήν.
And indeed the sight was better than the hearing, in my opinion.
ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ ἄλλοις ὀνείρατα ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ φέροντα εἰς ταυτόν.
There were also dreams for others leading to the same point.
τοῦτο μὲν Εὐάρεστος Κρὴς, τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ διατριβόντων ἐλθὼν ἀπὸ Αἰγύπτου καθʼ ἱστορίαν τῶν περὶ τὸν θεὸν, γνώριμος καὶ συνήθης ἐμοὶ γεγονὼς ἐπὶ τῆς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ διατριβῆς, ἔφη προστάξαι τὸν θεὸν αὑτῷ προτρέπειν ἐμὲ πρὸς τοὺς λόγους, ὡς παντὸς μᾶλλον ἐμοὶ προσήκοντος·
On the one hand, Euarestus of Crete, one of those engaged in philosophy, who had come from Egypt for the sake of inquiry concerning the god, and who had become known and familiar to me during my stay in Egypt, said that the god had ordered him to encourage me to speeches, as it was fitting for me more than anything.
τοῦτο δὲ Ἑρμοκράτει Ῥοδίῳ ποιητῇ μελῶν ὄναρ γίγνεται, ὡς αὐτὸς ἔφη πρὸς ἐμὲ ὁ Ἑρμοκράτης. ἐξελελοίπειν δʼ, οἶμαι, μίαν ἢ δευτέραν τινὰ ἡμέραν, ἔπειτʼ Ἀριστείδης ἀγανακτήσει καὶ φήσει τὸν στόμαχον ἀλγεῖν, οὐκ ἐθέλων λέγειν. οὕτω μὲν ἁπανταχόθεν εἰς συνέχειαν κατέστη τὸ πρᾶγμα.
On the other hand, a dream occurred to Hermocrates of Rhodes, a lyric poet, as Hermocrates himself told me: "I have neglected, I think, some first or second day, and then Aristeides will be angry and say that his stomach hurts, not wishing to speak." Thus from all sides the matter was established into continuity.
συνεκρότει δὲ καὶ προὐβίβαζε πολλαχῆ τὴν δύναμιν.
And it built up and advanced my power in many ways.
τῶν τε γὰρ παλαιῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐν οἷς χρὴ διατρίβειν ἔφρασε, καὶ ποιητῶν λέγω καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, καί τινων καὶ καιρὸν ἔταξε τῆς χρήσεως· καί μοι πάντες οὗτοι μετʼ ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν ἑταῖροι σχεδὸν ἐφάνησαν, τοῦ θεοῦ προξενήσαντος.
For he indicated those of the ancient men with whom I ought to occupy myself, I mean both poets and others, and for some he even appointed the time of their use; and almost all of these appeared to me as companions after that day, the god having introduced them.