§9.10.1οὐκ ἐκ τῶν ἔξω κοσμεῖται πόλις, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῆς τῶν οἰκούντων ἀρετῆς.
A city is not adorned by external things, but by the virtue of those who dwell in it.
§9.10.2ἐκρίθη μὲν οὖν διὰ τοῦτο τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις τὰ προειρημένα μετακομίζειν εἰς τὴν ἑαυτῶν πατρίδα καὶ μηδὲν ἀπολιπεῖν·
For this reason, therefore, it was decided by the Romans to transfer the aforementioned things to their own fatherland and to leave nothing behind.
§9.10.3πότερα δʼ ὀρθῶς τοῦτο καὶ συμφερόντως αὑτοῖς ἔπραξαν ἢ τἀναντία, πολὺς ἂν εἴη λόγος, πλείων γε μὴν εἰς τὸ μὴ δεόντως σφίσι πεπρᾶχθαι μηδʼ ἀκμὴν νῦν πράττεσθαι τοῦτο τοὔργον.
But whether they did this rightly and advantageously for themselves, or the opposite, would be a subject of much discussion, and indeed more arguments would incline toward the view that it was not done properly by them, nor should this deed be done even now.
§9.10.4εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τοιούτων ὁρμηθέντες προεβίβασαν τὴν πατρίδα, δῆλον ὡς εἰκότως ταῦτα μετέφερον εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν, διʼ ὧν ηὐξήθησαν.
For if they had started from such things to advance their fatherland, it is clear that they would naturally transfer to their own home those things by which they were increased.
§9.10.5εἰ δʼ ἁπλουστάτοις χρώμενοι βίοις καὶ πορρωτάτω τῆς ἐν τούτοις περιττότητος καὶ πολυτελείας ἀφεστῶτες ὅμως ἐπεκράτουν τούτων αἰεὶ παρʼ οἷς ὑπῆρχε πλεῖστα καὶ κάλλιστα τὰ τοιαῦτα, πῶς οὐ νομιστέον εἶναι τὸ γινόμενον ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἁμάρτημα;
But if, while leading the simplest lives and standing farthest aloof from superfluousness and luxury in these matters, they nevertheless constantly prevailed over those who possessed the greatest and most beautiful of such things, how can we not consider what was done by them to be an error?
§9.10.6τὸ γὰρ ἀπολιπόντας τὰ τῶν νικώντων ἔθη τὸν τῶν ἡττωμένων ζῆλον ἀναλαμβάνειν, προσεπιδραττομένους ἅμα καὶ τὸν ἐξακολουθοῦντα τοῖς τοιούτοις φθόνον, ὃ πάντων ἐστὶ φοβερώτατον ταῖς ὑπεροχαῖς, ὁμολογούμενον ἂν εἴποι τις εἶναι τῶν πραττόντων παράπτωμα.
For to abandon the customs of the victors and to adopt the emulation of the vanquished, and at the same time to grasp the envy that follows such things, which is the most terrible of all things to preeminence, one might say is by common consent an error of those who do so.
§9.10.7οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ὁ θεώμενος οὐδέποτε μακαρίζει τοὺς τἀλλότρια κεκτημένους, ὡς ἐν τῷ φθονεῖν ἅμα καί τις ἔλεος αὐτὸν ὑποτρέχει τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀποβαλόντων.
For the spectator never so much blesses those who possess what belongs to others, as at the same time a certain pity for those who originally lost them steals upon him in his envy.
§9.10.8ἐπὰν δὲ καὶ προβαίνῃ τὰ τῆς εὐκαιρίας καὶ πάντα συνάγῃ πρὸς αὑτὸν τὰ τῶν ἄλλων, καὶ ταῦτα συγκαλῇ τρόπον τινὰ τοὺς ἐστερημένους ἐπὶ θέαν, διπλάσιον γίνεται τὸ κακόν.
And when the course of good fortune advances and gathers all the possessions of others to itself, and summons, in a way, those who have been deprived to look at them, the evil becomes twofold.
§9.10.9οὐ γὰρ ἔτι τοὺς πέλας ἐλεεῖν συμβαίνει τοὺς θεωμένους, ἀλλὰ σφᾶς αὐτούς, ἀναμιμνησκομένους τῶν οἰκείων συμπτωμάτων.
For the spectators no longer happen to pity their neighbors, but themselves, being reminded of their own misfortunes.
§9.10.10ἐξ ὧν οὐ μόνον φθόνος, ἀλλʼ οἷον ὀργή τις ἐκκαίεται πρὸς τοὺς εὐτυχοῦντας· ἡ γὰρ τῶν ἰδίων περιπετειῶν ἀνάμνησις ὡς ἂν εἰ προτροπή τις ἐστι πρὸς τὸ κατὰ τῶν πραξάντων μῖσος.
From which not only envy, but a kind of anger is kindled against those who are successful; for the remembrance of one's own reverses is, as it were, an incitement to hatred against those who caused them.
§9.10.11τὸ μὲν οὖν τὸν χρυσὸν καὶ τὸν ἄργυρον ἁθροίζειν πρὸς αὑτοὺς ἴσως ἔχει τινὰ λόγον· οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τε τῶν καθόλου πραγμάτων ἀντιποιήσασθαι μὴ οὐ τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ἀδυναμίαν ἐνεργασαμένους, σφίσι δὲ τὴν τοιαύτην δύναμιν ἑτοιμάσαντας.
Therefore, to amass gold and silver for themselves has perhaps some justification; for it is impossible to contend for universal dominion without having rendered others weak and prepared such power for themselves.
§9.10.12τὰ δʼ ἐκτὸς ὑπάρχοντα τῆς προειρημένης δυνάμεως ἦν ἐν τοῖς ἐξ ἀρχῆς τόποις ἅμα τῷ φθόνῳ καταλιπόντας ἐνδοξοτέραν ποιεῖν τὴν σφετέραν πατρίδα, μὴ γραφαῖς καὶ τύποις, ἀλλὰ σεμνότητι καὶ μεγαλοψυχίᾳ κοσμοῦντας αὐτήν.
But as for things outside the aforementioned power, they ought to have left them in their original places along with the envy they arouse, and made their own fatherland more glorious, not adorning it with paintings and statues, but with dignity and magnanimity.
§9.10.13οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν εἰρήσθω μοι χάριν τῶν μεταλαμβανόντων ἀεὶ τὰς δυναστείας, ἵνα μὴ σκυλεύοντες τὰς πόλεις κόσμον ὑπολαμβάνωσιν εἶναι ταῖς ἑαυτῶν πατρίσι τὰς ἀλλοτρίας συμφοράς· Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ μετακομίσαντες τὰ προειρημένα ταῖς μὲν ἰδιωτικαῖς κατασκευαῖς τοὺς αὑτῶν ἐκόσμησαν βίους, ταῖς δὲ δημοσίαις τὰ κοινὰ τῆς πόλεως.
However, let these things be said by me for the sake of those who successively receive supreme power, so that they may not, by despoiling cities, suppose that the misfortunes of others are an adornment for their own fatherlands; at all events, the Romans, having transferred the aforementioned things, adorned their own lives with the private acquisitions, and the public parts of the city with the public ones.