§11.1Hunc infamatum a plerisque tres gravissimi historici summis laudibus extulerunt: Thucydides, qui eiusdem aetatis fuit, Theopompus, post aliquanto natus, et Timaeus: qui quidem duo maledicentissimi nescio quo modo in illo uno laudando consentiunt.
This man, although defamed by most people, three most authoritative historians have extolled with the highest praises: Thucydides, who was of the same age, Theopompus, born somewhat later, and Timaeus; indeed, those two most slanderous writers, in some way or other, agree in praising this single man.
§11.2namque ea, quae supra scripsimus, de eo praedicarunt atque hoc amplius: cum Athenis, splendidissima civitate, natus esset, omnes splendore ac dignitate superasse vitae; §11.3postquam inde expulsus Thebas venerit, adeo studiis eorum inservisse, ut nemo eum labore corporisque viribus posset aequiperare (omnes enim Boeoti magis firmitati corporis quam ingenii acumini serviunt); §11.4eundem apud Lacedaemonios, quorum moribus summa virtus in patientia ponebatur, sic duritiae se dedisse, ut parsimonia victus atque cultus omnes Lacedaemonios vinceret; fuisse apud Thraecas, homines vinolentos rebusque veneriis deditos: hos quoque in his rebus antecessisse; §11.5venisse ad Persas, apud quos summa laus esset fortiter venari, luxuriose vivere: horum sic imitatum consuetudinem, ut illi ipsi eum in his maxime admirarentur. §11.6quibus rebus effecisse ut, apud quoscumque esset, princeps poneretur habereturque carissimus.
For they declared about him those things which we have written above, and even more: that, although he was born in Athens, a most splendid state, he surpassed all in the splendor and dignity of his life; that after he was expelled from there and came to Thebes, he so devoted himself to their pursuits that no one could equal him in toil and bodily strength (for all Boeotians devote themselves more to physical strength than to sharpness of intellect); that this same man among the Lacedaemonians, by whose customs the highest virtue was placed in endurance, so gave himself up to hardship that he surpassed all Lacedaemonians in the frugality of his diet and living; that he was among the Thracians, men prone to wine and lust, and surpassed them too in these matters; that he went to the Persians, among whom the highest praise was to hunt bravely and to live luxuriously, and so imitated their custom that they themselves admired him most of all in these things; and that by these means he brought it about that, among whomsoever he was, he was regarded as the foremost and held most dear.
sed satis de hoc: reliquos ordiamur.
But enough of this man: let us begin on the rest.