§3.1Tum praefecti regis Persae legatos miserunt Athenas questum, quod Chabrias adversum regem bellum gereret cum Aegyptiis.
Then the governors of the Persian king sent envoys to Athens to complain that Chabrias was waging war against the king in alliance with the Egyptians.
Athenienses diem certam Chabriae praestituerunt, quam ante domum nisi redisset, capitis se illum damnaturos denuntiarunt.
The Athenians set a fixed day for Chabrias, announcing that if he did not return home before that day, they would condemn him to death.
hoc ille nuntio Athenas rediit, neque ibi diutius est moratus, quam fuit necesse.
Upon this news he returned to Athens, but did not delay there any longer than was necessary.
§3.2non enim libenter erat ante oculos suorum civium, quod et vivebat laute et indulgebat sibi liberalius, quam ut invidiam vulgi posset effugere.
For he did not willingly appear before the eyes of his fellow citizens, because he both lived sumptuously and indulged himself too freely to be able to escape the envy of the common people.
§3.3est enim hoc commune vitium magnis liberisque civitatibus, ut invidia gloriae comes sit et libenter de iis detrahant, quos eminere videant altius, neque animo aequo pauperes alienam opulentiam intueantur.
For this is a common vice in great and free states, that envy is the companion of glory, and they willingly detract from those whom they see rising higher, nor do the poor look upon the wealth of others with an equal mind.
itaque Chabrias, quoad ei licebat, plurimum aberat.
Therefore Chabrias, as long as he was permitted, was away as much as possible.
§3.4neque vero solus ille aberat Athenis libenter, sed omnes fere principes fecerunt idem, quod tantum se ab invidia putabant afuturos, quantum a conspectu suorum recesserint.
Nor indeed was he the only one who was willingly away from Athens, but almost all the leading men did the same, because they thought they would be as far removed from envy as they withdrew from the sight of their citizens.
itaque Conon plurimum Cypri vixit, Iphicrates in Thraecia, Timotheus Lesbi, Chares Sigei, dissimilis quidem Chares horum et factis et moribus, sed tamen Athenis et honoratus et potens.
Therefore Conon lived for the most part in Cyprus, Iphicrates in Thrace, Timotheus in Lesbos, and Chares in Sigeum—Chares, to be sure, was unlike them both in deeds and character, but yet he was both honored and powerful in Athens.