§341ἀδωροδοκήτου, ὡς πρότερον τὰ ῥεῖθρα τῶν ποταμῶν ἄν τινα στῆσαι ἢ ʼκεῖνον πρίασθαι, οὕτω δʼ αὖ δεινοῦ περὶ πράγματα καὶ πάντων ἥκιστα ἂν ἐξαπατηθέντος;
...who was not to be bribed, so that one would sooner stop the streams of rivers than buy him over, and on the other hand so clever in affairs and least of all likely to be deceived?
ἔοικεν ἡ ὑπόσχεσις ἄρνησις εἶναι, ἐπεῖναι γὰρ τὸ ἀδύνατον.
The promise seemed to be a refusal, for the impossible was attached to it.
ταῦτα ἠπόρουν· κἀν τούτῳ ἐκάλει ὁ θεὸς πάλιν εἰς Πέργαμον, καὶ ἐτύγχανε Ῥουφῖνος ἐπιδημῶν, ἔμελε δʼ αὐτῷ τοῦ τιμᾶν ἡμᾶς εἰς ὅσον οἷός τʼ ἦν.
I was perplexed at these things; and in the meantime the god called me again to Pergamum, and Rufinus happened to be residing there, and he cared to honor us as much as he was able.
συντυχὼν δʼ αὐτῷ διηγοῦμαι τὰ πεπραγμένα καὶ βοηθεῖν ἠξίουν.
Having met with him, I related what had been done and requested him to help.
πάντως δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν Σεβῆρον ὡμολογηκέναι κυρίαν εἶναί μοι τὴν ἀτέλειαν· τοῦτο δʼ οὐκ ἐξαρκεῖν γεγράφθαι· καὶ γὰρ ἄλλῳ παντὶ τῶν ἡγεμόνων ὑπάρξειν ἄλλο τι προστάττειν ἐμοὶ μετὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τούτου παραγράμματος, καὶ οὕτω λυθήσεσθαι τὴν ἀτέλειαν διὰ προσθήκης τοῦ μένειν. δεῖσθαι δὲ οὐ τῆς τοῦ ῥήματος εὐπρεπείας, ἀλλὰ τοῦ πράγματος, τὸ γὰρ σῶμα οὕτως ἔχειν μοι.
At all events, Severus himself had agreed that my immunity was valid; but this was not sufficient merely to have been written; for indeed every other governor would have it in his power to command something else of me with this same saving clause, and thus the immunity would be dissolved through the addition of "remaining." And I said that I needed not the fairness of the word, but the reality, for my body was in this state.
ἔδοξα δίκαια λέγειν τῷ Ῥουφίνῳ καί μοι δίδωσι πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπιστολὴν τῇ αὑτοῦ φωνῇ γράψας ὡς δυνατὸν προθυμότατα, ἐν ᾗ τά τε ἄλλα ἐπεξῄει, τὰ μὲν ὡς συνιστὰς, τὰ δʼ ὡς συμβουλεύων, καὶ περὶ μὲν τοῦ μέλλοντος ᾐνίττετο ὁποῖόν τι ἔσοιτο, εἰ μή με ἑκὼν ἀφίοι.
I seemed to speak justly to Rufinus, and he gave me a letter to him, written in his own voice as eagerly as possible, in which he went through other things, partly recommending and partly advising, and hinted at what the future would be like if he did not release me willingly.
ἵνα δʼ ἐκπεράνω, γιγνόμεθα ἐν τῇ Σμύρνῃ Διονυσίοις, καὶ παρῆν ὁ Σεβῆρος κατὰ τὴν ἑορτήν· ἦν οὖν τις τῶν καλουμένων πρεσβευτῶν τά τε ἄλλα θαυμαστὸς ὡς ἐπιτηδείως ἔχων αὐτῷ, καὶ σχεδὸν ὡσπερεὶ γραμματεὺς αὐτοῦ· πάντων γὰρ ὅσα ἐν γράμμασι κύριος αὐτὸς ἦν.
To make an end, we came to Smyrna during the Dionysia, and Severus was present at the festival; there was then one of the so-called ambassadors, remarkable in other respects as being on intimate terms with him, and almost, as it were, his secretary; for he was master of all that was in writing.
καὶ δὴ καὶ τότε τὴν ἐπιστολὴν τούτῳ δείκνυμεν, ἐντυχόντες πρώτῳ· καὶ γὰρ ἦν ἐπὶ τῆς διοικήσεως τῆς περὶ Σμύρναν.
And indeed then we showed the letter to him, having met him first; for he was in charge of the administration around Smyrna.
καὶ μὴν ὅσα γε ἀπὸ στόματος εἰπεῖν ἔδει, πάντα διῆλθον πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἵνα εἰδὼς ἀκριβῶς φράζοι πρὸς τὸν ἡγεμόνα.
And indeed, whatever had to be said by mouth, I went through everything with him, so that knowing accurately he might tell the governor.
καὶ ὡς ἑώρων τούς τε λόγους δεχόμενον καὶ πρὸς τὰ δίκαια καμπτόμενον, ἐνθύμιον ποιοῦμαι τὴν τοῦ ἐνυπνίου φωνὴν, ὡς ὁ γραμματεὺς ὑπισχνεῖτό μοι συμπράξειν.
And when I saw that he accepted my words and was leaning toward justice, I took to heart the voice of the dream, how the secretary promised to cooperate with me.
καὶ τό τε ὄναρ αὐτὸ διηγοῦμαι πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ ἠξίουν ὑπακοῦσαι τῷ θεῷ, φάσκων τοῦτον ἐκεῖνον εἶναι τὸν ὑπισχνούμενον, αὐτὸν δὴ λέγων.
And I related the dream itself to him and requested him to obey the god, saying that he was that one who promised, meaning himself.
ἥσθη τοῖς λόγοις, προσῆγεν ἡμᾶς τῷ ἡγεμόνι, ἀπεδίδου τὰ γράμματα §342κοινῇ μεθʼ ἡμῶν.
He was pleased with the words, brought us to the governor, and delivered the letters jointly with us.
καὶ ὃς ἔτι μὲν ἀναγιγνώσκων δῆλος ἦν παντοῖος γιγνόμενος, ἱστάμενός τε πολλαχοῦ τῶν γραμμάτων καὶ στρεφόμενος· πλεῖστα δὲ καὶ μέγιστα ἐπιστείλαντος αὐτῷ περὶ τῶν λόγων τῶν ἐμῶν Παρδάλου τοῦ ἡμετέρου μὲν ἑταίρου, ἐκείνῳ δʼ οἰκείου καὶ συνήθους ἐκ παίδων, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ταύτην ἔλαβε τὴν ἐπιστολὴν καὶ διῆλθεν ἀμφοτέρας, οὐδεὶς, ἔφη, ζητεῖ περὶ τῶν λόγων, ἀλλʼ ἕτερόν ἐστι πρῶτον Ἑλλήνων εἶναι καὶ ἄκρον ἐν λόγοις, οὕτω γὰρ ὠνόμασε, καὶ ἕτερον διατρίβειν ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ μαθητὰς ἔχειν. καὶ μικρὸν διαλιπὼν, πορεύθητι, ἔφη, πρὸς τὴν βουλὴν, πεῖσον τοὺς πολίτας· καὶ ἅμα προὔτρεπε καὶ παρῄνει προσίεσθαι τοὺς νέους· ὅτε δὴ κἀγὼ τοσοῦτον ἀπεκρινάμην, ὅτι οὐδὲν δεοίμην παρακλήσεως, ἀλλʼ ὁ θεὸς αὐτῶν τούτων ἕνεκα ἀποστείλειεν, ὡς ἀνάγκη πείθεσθαι.
And he, while reading, was clearly becoming of all sorts of moods, stopping in many places of the writings and turning them over; and since Pardalas, our companion, but to him a relative and familiar friend from childhood, had written to him very many and very great things about my eloquence, when he had received this letter also and had gone through both, "No one," he said, "inquires about eloquence; but it is one thing to be first of the Greeks and supreme in eloquence," for so he named it, "and another thing to spend time on this and to have pupils." And after a short pause, "Go," he said, "to the council, persuade the citizens;" and at the same time he urged and advised me to admit the young men; when indeed I also answered only this much, that I needed no exhortation, but the god had sent me for these very things, so that it was necessary to obey.
ἀρχὴ μὲν δὴ καὶ κατάστασις αὕτη τοῦ πράγματος γίγνεται καὶ πάροδος πρώτη μετὰ τὴν ἐν τῇ Ἐφέσῳ γνῶσιν γενομένην.
This indeed became the beginning and establishment of the matter, and the first step after the decision made in Ephesus.
ἔτι δʼ ὄντος μετεώρου συμβαίνει δεύτερον τοιόνδε.
But while the matter was still in suspense, a second event of this kind happened.
πρὶν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βουλὴν ἐμὲ καὶ γενέσθαι λόγον ὁντινοῦν περὶ τούτων, ἦσαν δʼ ἀρχαιρεσίαι κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον πρυτανεῖαι, προὐβάλετό με ἡ βουλὴ δυοῖν καὶ τριῶν ὑπειπόντων.
Before I entered the council and any word whatsoever was spoken about these things—and it was the time of the elections for the prytaneis—the council nominated me, two or three having suggested it.
καὶ περιειστήκει τὸ πρᾶγμα εἰς ἄτοπον.
And the matter turned into something absurd.
ἀντὶ γὰρ τοῦ πείθειν ἐκείνους περὶ ὧν ὁ ἡγεμὼν ἀπέστειλεν, ἠναγκαζόμην αὖθις ἐφιέναι παρʼ ἐκείνων εἰς τὸ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος δικαστήριον, καὶ δύο γε ἀντὶ μιᾶς αἱ δίκαι γίγνονται, καὶ δικαστὴς πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς ὅσπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς.
For instead of persuading them about those things which the governor had sent, I was forced again to appeal from them to the tribunal of the governor, and two lawsuits arose instead of one, and the judge was again the same as from the beginning.
καὶ ἀπηντῶμεν εἰς Πέργαμον.
And we met at Pergamum.
μελλούσης δὲ καλεῖσθαι τῆς δίκης, ἵνα συντέμω, ᾔδει μὲν οὐδεὶς ἡμῶν· οὐ γὰρ προείρητο ἡμέρα· ὄναρ δʼ ἐπιστὰν περὶ τὴν ἕω τοσοῦτον ἔφραζε,
"Κάδμου πολῖται, χρὴ λέγειν τὰ καίρια. "
εὐθὺς οὖν δῆλον ἦν ὅτι ἀγωνίζεσθαι δεήσοι, καὶ παρεσκευαζόμην οὕτω.
When the trial was about to be called—to be brief—none of us knew it; for no day had been announced beforehand; but a dream appearing toward dawn declared this much, "Citizens of Cadmus, one must speak to the purpose." Immediately indeed it was clear that it would be necessary to contend, and I prepared myself accordingly.
καὶ οὐ πολὺ ὕστερον ἧκεν ἀγγέλλων τις ὅτι καὶ δὴ καλεῖταί μου τὸ ὄνομα.
And not long afterward someone came announcing that indeed my name was being called.
ἐν ὅσῳ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ κατῄειν εἰς τὴν πόλιν, διατριβῆς ἐγγιγνομένης καὶ καλουμένου πάλιν αὖ τοῦ ὀνόματος ἔφασαν τὸν Σεβῆρον μάλα δεξιῶς εἰπεῖν ὅτι ἀφιξοίμην τε καὶ οὐδὲν δέοι κατεπείγειν.
While I was going down from the temple into the city, a delay occurring and my name being called again, they said that Severus spoke very graciously, saying that I would arrive and there was no need to hurry.
καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ὡς εἶδε προσιόντα, ῥαβδούχους
And after this, when he saw me approaching, the lictors...