§12.28.1δοκεῖ δέ μοι καὶ τὸ τῆς ἱστορίας πρόσχημα τοιοῦτον ἄνδρα ζητεῖν.
And it seems to me that the dignity of history also demands such a man.
§12.28.2ὁ μὲν οὖν Πλάτων φησὶ τότε τἀνθρώπεια καλῶς ἕξειν, ὅταν ἢ οἱ φιλόσοφοι βασιλεύσωσιν ἢ οἱ βασιλεῖς φιλοσοφήσωσι· §12.28.3κἀγὼ δʼ ἂν εἴποιμι διότι τὰ τῆς ἱστορίας ἕξει τότε καλῶς, ὅταν ἢ οἱ πραγματικοὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν γράφειν ἐπιχειρήσωσι τὰς ἱστορίας, §12.28.4μὴ καθάπερ νῦν παρέργως, νομίσαντες δὲ καὶ τοῦτʼ εἶναι σφίσι τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων καὶ καλλίστων, ἀπερίσπαστοι παράσχωνται πρὸς τοῦτο τὸ μέρος κατὰ τὸν βίον, §12.28.5ἢ οἱ γράφειν ἐπιβαλλόμενοι τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων ἕξιν ἀναγκαίαν ἡγήσωνται πρὸς τὴν ἱστορίαν.
Now Plato says that human affairs will be well when either philosophers become kings or kings become philosophers; and I would say that the affairs of history will be well when either practical men undertake to write histories— not, as now, in a casual manner, but believing this also to be one of the most necessary and noble tasks for them, and presenting themselves undistracted for this part throughout their lives— or those who attempt to write consider the experience gained from actual affairs to be necessary for history.
πρότερον δʼ οὐκ ἔσται παῦλα τῆς τῶν ἱστοριογράφων ἀγνοίας.
Before this, there will be no end to the ignorance of historians.
ὧν Τίμαιος οὐδὲ τὴν ἐλαχίστην πρόνοιαν θέμενος, §12.28.6ἀλλὰ καταβιώσας ἐν ἑνὶ τόπῳ ξενιτεύων, καὶ σχεδὸν ὡς εἰ κατὰ πρόθεσιν ἀπειπάμενος καὶ τὴν ἐνεργητικὴν τὴν περὶ τὰς πολεμικὰς καὶ πολιτικὰς πράξεις καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς πλάνης καὶ θέας αὐτοπάθειαν, οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως ἐκφέρεται δόξαν ὡς ἕλκων τὴν τοῦ συγγραφέως προστασίαν.
Timaeus, without paying even the slightest attention to these things, but spending his life in one place as an exile, and having almost, as if by design, renounced both the active experience in military and political affairs and the personal experience derived from travel and observation, has somehow or other won a reputation as though he claimed the preeminence of a historian.
§12.28.7καὶ διότι τοιοῦτός ἐστιν αὐτὸν ἀνθομολογούμενον εὐχερὲς παραστῆσαι τὸν Τίμαιον.
And that Timaeus is such a person is easy to demonstrate on his own admission.
§12.28.8κατὰ γὰρ τὸ προοίμιον τῆς ἕκτης βύβλου φησί τινας ὑπολαμβάνειν διότι τινὸς μείζονος δεῖται φύσεως καὶ φιλοπονίας καὶ παρασκευῆς τὸ τῶν ἐπιδεικτικῶν λόγων γένος ἢ τὸ τῆς ἱστορίας· ταύτας δὲ τὰς δόξας πρότερον μὲν Ἐφόρῳ φησὶ προσπεσεῖν,
For in the preface to his sixth book he says that some people suppose that the genre of epideictic oratory requires a greater nature, industry, and preparation than that of history; and he says that these opinions first occurred to Ephorus.
§12.28.9οὐ δυνηθέντος δʼ ἱκανῶς ἐκείνου πρὸς τοὺς ταῦτα λέγοντας ἀπαντῆσαι, πειρᾶται συγκρίνειν αὐτὸς ἐκ παραβολῆς τὴν ἱστορίαν τοῖς ἐπιδεικτικοῖς λόγοις, πρᾶγμα ποιῶν πάντων ἀτοπώτατον, §12.28.10πρῶτον μὲν τὸ καταψεύσασθαι τοῦ συγγραφέως.
But since the latter was unable to meet those who said this adequately, Timaeus himself attempts to compare history with epideictic oratory by way of contrast, doing the most absurd thing of all: first, lying about the historian.
ὁ γὰρ Ἔφορος παρʼ ὅλην τὴν πραγματείαν θαυμάσιος ὢν καὶ κατὰ τὴν φράσιν καὶ κατὰ τὸν χειρισμὸν καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐπίνοιαν τῶν λημμάτων, δεινότατός ἐστιν ἐν ταῖς παρεκβάσεσι καὶ ταῖς ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ γνωμολογίαις, καὶ συλλήβδην ὅταν που τὸν ἐπιμετροῦντα λόγον διατίθηται· §12.28.11κατὰ δέ τινα συντυχίαν εὐχαριστότατα καὶ πιθανώτατα περὶ τῆς συγκρίσεως εἴρηκε τῆς τῶν ἱστοριογράφων καὶ λογογράφων.
For Ephorus, while admirable throughout his entire work in expression, treatment, and conception of themes, is most capable in digressions and in his own moralizing reflections, and in short, whenever he delivers a supplementary discourse; and by some happy chance he has spoken most gracefully and persuasively concerning the comparison of historians and rhetoricians.
§12.28.12ὁ δʼ ἵνα μὴ δόξῃ κατακολουθεῖν Ἐφόρῳ, πρὸς τῷ κατεψεῦσθαι ʼκείνου καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἅμα κατέγνωκε· τὰ γὰρ παρʼ ἄλλων δεόντως κεχειρισμένα μακρῶς καὶ ἀσαφῶς καὶ τρόπῳ παντὶ χεῖρον ἐξηγούμενος οὐδένα τῶν
But Timaeus, in order not to seem to follow Ephorus, in addition to having lied about him, has at the same time condemned the rest; for explaining what had been properly handled by others at great length, obscurely, and in every way worse, he (...) no one of the (...)