§1.1Phocion Atheniensis etsi saepe exercitibus praefuit summosque magistratus cepit, tamen multo eius notior est integritas vitae quam rei militaris labor.
Phocion the Athenian, although he often commanded armies and held the highest offices, yet the integrity of his life is much better known than his labor in military affairs.
itaque huius memoria est nulla, illius autem magna fama, ex quo cognomine Bonus est appellatus. §1.2fuit enim perpetuo pauper, cum divitissimus esse posset propter frequentes delatos honores potestatesque summas, quae ei a populo dabantur.
Therefore, there is no memory of the latter, but great fame of the former, because of which surname he was called "the Good." For he was continuously poor, although he could have been very rich because of the frequent offices offered and the highest powers which were given to him by the people.
§1.3hic cum a rege Philippo munera magnae pecuniae repudiaret legatique hortarentur accipere simulque admonerent, si ipse iis facile careret, liberis tamen suis prospiceret, quibus difficile esset in summa paupertate tantam pater §1.4nam tueri gloriam, iis ille 'si mei similes erunt, idem hic' inquit 'agellus illos alet, qui me ad hanc dignitatem perduxit; sin dissimiles sunt futuri, nolo meis impensis illorum ali augerique luxuriam. '
When he rejected gifts of a large sum of money from King Philip, and the ambassadors urged him to accept them and at the same time warned that, even if he himself easily did without them, he should nevertheless look out for his children, for whom in extreme poverty it would be difficult to maintain so great a pater- -nal glory, he said to them, "If they are similar to me, this same little field will nourish them, which has brought me to this dignity; but if they are going to be dissimilar, I do not want their luxury to be nourished and increased at my expense."