§10.2.1ὅτι μέλλοντες ἱστορεῖν τὰ πραχθέντα Ποπλίῳ κατὰ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν, συλλήβδην δὲ πάσας τὰς κατὰ τὸν βίον ἐπιτελεσθείσας αὐτῷ πράξεις, ἀναγκαῖον ἡγούμεθα τὸ προεπιστῆσαι τοὺς ἀκούοντας ἐπὶ τὴν αἵρεσιν καὶ φύσιν τἀνδρός.
As we are about to relate the achievements of Publius in Iberia, and in short, all the actions accomplished by him during his life, we think it necessary first to direct the attention of our hearers to the character and natural disposition of the man.
§10.2.2τῷ γὰρ σχεδὸν ἐπιφανέστατον αὐτὸν γεγονέναι τῶν πρὸ τοῦ, ζητοῦσι μὲν πάντες εἰδέναι τίς ποτʼ ἦν καὶ ἀπὸ ποίας φύσεως ἢ τριβῆς ὁρμηθεὶς τὰς τηλικαύτας καὶ τοσαύτας ἐπετελέσατο πράξεις, §10.2.3ἀγνοεῖν δὲ καὶ ψευδοδοξεῖν ἀναγκάζονται διὰ τὸ τοὺς ἐξηγουμένους ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ παραπεπαικέναι τῆς ἀληθείας.
For since he was almost the most illustrious of those before him, though everyone seeks to know who he was and starting from what natural disposition or training he accomplished such great and numerous deeds, yet they are forced to remain ignorant and hold false opinions because those who have written about him have strayed from the truth.
§10.2.4ὅτι δʼ ἔστιν ὑγιὲς τὸ νυνὶ λεγόμενον ὑφʼ ἡμῶν δῆλον ἔσται διὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐξηγήσεως τοῖς ἐπισημαίνεσθαι δυναμένοις τὰ κάλλιστα καὶ παραβολώτατα τῶν ἐκείνῳ πεπραγμένων.
That what we are now saying is sound will become clear through our narrative to those who are capable of appreciating the finest and most hazardous of his exploits.
§10.2.5οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι πάντες αὐτὸν ἐπιτυχῆ τινα καὶ τὸ πλεῖον αἰεὶ παραλόγως καὶ ταὐτομάτῳ κατορθοῦντα τὰς ἐπιβολὰς παρεισάγουσι, §10.2.6νομίζοντες ὡς ἂν εἰ θειοτέρους εἶναι καὶ θαυμαστοτέρους τοὺς τοιούτους ἄνδρας τῶν κατὰ λόγον ἐν ἑκάστοις πραττόντων, ἀγνοοῦντες ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἐπαινετόν, τὸ δὲ μακαριστὸν εἶναι συμβαίνει τῶν προειρημένων, καὶ τὸ μὲν κοινόν ἐστι καὶ τοῖς τυχοῦσι, §10.2.7τὸ δʼ ἐπαινετὸν μόνον ἴδιον ὑπάρχει τῶν εὐλογίστων καὶ φρένας ἐχόντων ἀνδρῶν, οὓς καὶ θειοτάτους εἶναι καὶ προσφιλεστάτους τοῖς θεοῖς νομιστέον.
Now, all other writers represent him as a man of fortune, who succeeded in his enterprises for the most part unexpectedly and by mere chance, thinking that such men are, as it were, more divine and more admirable than those who act in each matter in accordance with reason, being ignorant that of the aforementioned things, one happens to be praiseworthy, while the other is merely blest, and that the latter is common even to ordinary men, whereas that which is praiseworthy belongs uniquely to men of sound reason and intelligence, who should be regarded both as most divine and as most beloved by the gods.
§10.2.8ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ Πόπλιος Λυκούργῳ τῷ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων νομοθέτῃ παραπλησίαν ἐσχηκέναι φύσιν καὶ προαίρεσιν.
To me, indeed, Publius seems to have possessed a natural disposition and purpose very similar to those of Lycurgus, the lawgiver of the Lacedaemonians.
§10.2.9οὔτε γὰρ Λυκοῦργον ἡγητέον δεισιδαιμονοῦντα καὶ πάντα προσέχοντα τῇ Πυθίᾳ συστήσασθαι τὸ Λακεδαιμονίων πολίτευμα, οὔτε Πόπλιον ἐξ ἐνυπνίων ὁρμώμενον καὶ κληδόνων τηλικαύτην περιποιῆσαι τῇ πατρίδι δυναστείαν· §10.2.10ἀλλʼ ὁρῶντες ἑκάτεροι τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὔτε τὰ παράδοξα προσδεχομένους ῥᾳδίως οὔτε τοῖς δεινοῖς τολμῶντας παραβάλλεσθαι χωρὶς τῆς ἐκ τῶν θεῶν ἐλπίδος, §10.2.11Λυκοῦργος μὲν αἰεὶ προσλαμβανόμενος ταῖς ἰδίαις ἐπιβολαῖς τὴν ἐκ τῆς Πυθίας φήμην εὐπαραδεκτοτέρας καὶ πιστοτέρας ἐποίει τὰς ἰδίας ἐπινοίας, §10.2.12Πόπλιος δὲ παραπλησίως ἐνεργαζόμενος αἰεὶ δόξαν τοῖς πολλοῖς ὡς μετά τινος θείας ἐπιπνοίας ποιούμενος τὰς ἐπιβολάς, εὐθαρσεστέρους καὶ προθυμοτέρους κατεσκεύαζε τοὺς ὑποταττομένους πρὸς τὰ δεινὰ τῶν ἔργων.
For we must neither suppose that Lycurgus established the Lacedaemonian constitution under the influence of superstition and by paying absolute attention to the Pythia, nor that Publius, acting on the impulse of dreams and omens, acquired so great a dominion for his country; but since both of them saw that the majority of mankind do not easily accept what is unexpected, nor dare to expose themselves to dangers without hope derived from the gods, Lycurgus, by always calling in the authority of the Pythian oracle to support his own designs, rendered his own ideas more acceptable and trustworthy, and Publius, in like manner, by always instilling in the minds of the multitude the belief that he was making his plans with some divine inspiration, rendered his subordinates more courageous and more ready to face dangerous enterprises.
§10.2.13ὅτι δʼ ἕκαστα μετὰ λογισμοῦ καὶ προνοίας ἔπραττε, καὶ διότι πάντα κατὰ λόγον ἐξέβαινε τὰ τέλη τῶν πράξεων αὐτῷ, δῆλον ἔσται διὰ τῶν λέγεσθαι μελλόντων.
That he did indeed perform each action with calculation and foresight, and that the outcomes of all his actions turned out in accordance with reason, will be clear from what we are about to say.