ὁ μὲν γράψας τὸ ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ τῆς Ὀλυμπίασιν ἱπποδρομίας εἰς Ἀλκιβιάδην ἐγκώμιον, εἴτʼ Εὐριπίδης, ὡς ὁ πολὺς κρατεῖ λόγος, εἴθʼ ἕτερός τις ἦν, Σόσσιε, φησὶ χρῆναι τῷ εὐδαίμονι πρῶτον ὑπάρξαι τὰν πόλιν εὐδόκιμον ἐγὼ δὲ τῷ μὲν εὐδαιμονήσειν μέλλοντι τὴν ἀληθινὴν εὐδαιμονίαν, ἧς ἐν ἤθει καὶ διαθέσει τὸ πλεῖστόν ἐστιν, οὐδὲν διαφέρειν ἡγοῦμαι ἀδόξου καὶ ταπεινῆς πατρίδος ἢ μητρὸς ἀμόρφου καὶ μικρᾶς γενέσθαι.
THE author of the encomium upon Alcibiades for his victory in the chariot-race at Olympia, whether he was Euripides, as the prevailing report has it, or some other, says, Sosius, that the first requisite to a man’s happiness is birth in a famous city; but in my opinion, for a man who would enjoy true happiness, which depends for the most part on character and disposition, it is no disadvantage to belong to an obscure and mean city, any more than it is to be born of a mother who is of little stature and without beauty.
γελοῖον γάρ εἴ τις οἴοιτο τὴν Ἰουλίδα, μέρος μικρὸν οὖσαν οὐ μεγάλης νήσου τῆς Κέω, καὶ τὴν Αἴγιναν, ἣν τῶν Ἀττικῶν τις ἐκέλευεν ὡς λήμην ἀφαιρεῖν τοῦ Πειραιῶς, ὑποκριτὰς μὲν ἀγαθοὺς τρέφειν καὶ ποιητάς, ἄνδρα δʼ οὐκ ἄν ποτε δύνασθαι δίκαιον καὶ αὐτάρκη καὶ νοῦν ἔχοντα καὶ μεγαλόψυχον προενεγκεῖν.
For it were laughable to suppose that Iulis, which is a little part of the small island of Ceos, and Aegina, which a certain Athenian was urgent to have removed as an eye-sore of the Piraeus, should breed good actors and poets, but should never be able to produce a man who is just, independent, wise, and magnanimous.
τὰς γὰρ ἄλλας τέχνας εἰκός ἐστι πρὸς ἐργασίαν ἢ δόξαν συνισταμένας ἐν ταῖς ἀδόξοις καὶ ταπειναῖς πόλεσιν ἀπομαραίνεσθαι, τὴν δʼ ἀρετὴν, ὥσπερ ἰσχυρὸν καὶ διαρκὲς φυτὸν, ἐν ἅπαντι ῥιζοῦσθαι τόπῳ, φύσεώς τε χρηστῆς καὶ φιλοπόνου ψυχῆς ἐπιλαμβανομένην. ὅθεν οὐδʼ ἡμεῖς, εἴ τι τοῦ φρονεῖν ὡς δεῖ καὶ βιοῦν ἐλλείπομεν, τοῦτο τῇ σμικρότητι τῆς πατρίδος, ἀλλʼ αὑτοῖς δικαίως ἀναθήσομεν.
The arts, indeed, since their object is to bring business or fame, naturally pine away in obscure and mean cities; but virtue, like a strong and hardy plant, takes root in any place, if she finds there a generous nature and a spirit that shuns no labour. Wherefore we also, if we fail to live and think as we ought, will justly attribute this, not to the smallness of our native city, but to ourselves.
τῷ μέντοι σύνταξιν ὑποβεβλημένῳ καὶ ἱστορίαν ἐξ οὐ προχείρων οὐδʼ οἰκείων, ἀλλὰ ξένων τε τῶν πολλῶν καὶ διεσπαρμένων ἐν ἑτέροις συνιοῦσαν ἀναγνωσμάτων, τῷ ὄντι χρὴ πρῶτον ὑπάρχειν καὶ μάλιστα τὴν πόλιν εὐδόκιμον καὶ φιλόκαλον καὶ πολυάνθρωπον, ὡς βιβλίων τε παντοδαπῶν ἀφθονίαν ἔχων, καὶ ὅσα τοὺς γράφοντας διαφύγοντα σωτηρίᾳ μνήμης ἐπιφανεστέραν εἴληφε πίστιν ὑπολαμβάνων ἀκοῇ καὶ διαπυνθανόμενος, μὴ πολλῶν μηδʼ ἀναγκαίων ἐνδεὲς ἀποδιδοίη τὸ ἔργον.
However, when one has undertaken to compose a history based upon readings which are not readily accessible or even found at home, but in foreign countries, for the most part, and scattered about among different owners, for him it is really necessary, first and above all things, that he should live in a city which is famous, friendly to the liberal arts, and populous, in order that he may have all sorts of books in plenty, and may by hearsay and enquiry come into possession of all those details which elude writers and are preserved with more conspicuous fidelity in the memories of men. He will thus be prevented from publishing a work which is deficient in many, and even in essential things.
ἡμεῖς δὲ μικρὰν οἰκοῦντες πόλιν, καὶ ἵνα μὴ μικροτέρα γένηται φιλοχωροῦντες, ἐν δὲ Ῥώμῃ καὶ ταῖς περὶ τὴν Ἰταλίαν διατριβαῖς οὐ σχολῆς οὔσης γυμνάζεσθαι περὶ τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν διάλεκτον ὑπὸ χρειῶν πολιτικῶν καὶ τῶν διὰ φιλοσοφίαν πλησιαζόντων, ὀψέ ποτε καὶ πόρρω τῆς ἡλικίας ἠρξάμεθα Ῥωμαϊκοῖς γράμμασιν ἐντυγχάνειν.
But as for me, I live in a small city, and I prefer to dwell there that it may not become smaller still; and during the time when I was in Rome and various parts of Italy I had no leisure to practise myself in the Roman language, owing to my public duties and the number of my pupils in philosophy. It was therefore late and when I was well on in years that I began to study Roman literature.
καὶ πρᾶγμα θαυμαστὸν μέν, ἀλλʼ ἀληθὲς ἐπάσχομεν. οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ἐκ τῶν ὀνομάτων τὰ πράγματα συνιέναι καὶ γνωρίζειν συνέβαινεν ἡμῖν, ὡς ἐκ τῶν πραγμάτων ἁμῶς γέ πως εἴχομεν ἐμπειρίαν ἐπακολουθεῖν διʼ αὐτὰ καὶ τοῖς ὀνόμασι. κάλλους δὲ Ῥωμαϊκῆς ἀπαγγελίας καὶ τάχους αἰσθάνεσθαι καὶ μεταφορᾶς ὀνομάτων καὶ ἁρμονίας καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οἷς ὁ λόγος ἀγάλλεται, χαρίεν μέν ἡγούμεθα καὶ οὐκ ἀτερπές· ἡ δὲ πρὸς τοῦτο μελέτη καὶ ἄσκησις οὐκ εὐχερής, ἀλλʼ οἷστισι πλείων τε σχολὴ καὶ τὰ τῆς ὥρας ἔτι πρὸς τὰς τοιαύτας ἐπιχωρεῖ φιλοτιμίας.
And here my experience was an astonishing thing, but true. For it was not so much that by means of words I came to a complete understanding of things, as that from things I somehow had an experience which enabled me to follow the meaning of words. But to appreciate the beauty and quickness of the Roman style, the figures of speech, the rhythm, and the other embellishments of the language, while I think it a graceful accomplishment and one not without its pleasures, still, the careful practice necessary for attaining this is not easy for one like me, but appropriate for those who have more leisure and whose remaining years still suffice for such pursuits.
διὸ καὶ γράφοντες ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ, τῶν παραλλήλων βίων ὄντι πέμπτῳ, περὶ Δημοσθένους καὶ Κικέρωνος, ἀπὸ τῶν πράξεων καὶ τῶν πολιτειῶν τὰς φύσεις αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς διαθέσεις πρὸς ἀλλήλας ἐπισκεψόμεθα, τὸ δὲ τοὺς λόγους ἀντεξετάζειν καὶ ἀποφαίνεσθαι πότερος ἡδίων ἢ δεινότερος εἰπεῖν, ἐάσομεν.
Therefore, in this fifth book of my Parallel Lives, where I write about Demosthenes and Cicero, I shall examine their actions and their political careers to see how their natures and dispositions compare with one another, but I shall make no critical comparison of their speeches, nor try to show which was the more agreeable or the more powerful orator.
κακὴ γὰρ, ὥς φησιν ὁ Ἴων, ἡ δελφῖνος ἐν χέρσῳ βία, ἣν ὁ περιττὸς ἐν ἅπασι Κεκίλιος ἀγνοήσας ἐνεανιεύσατο σύγκρισιν τοῦ Δημοσθένους καὶ Κικέρωνος ἐξενεγκεῖν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἴσως, εἰ παντὸς ἦν τὸ γνῶθι σαυτὸν ἔχειν πρόχειρον, οὐκ ἂν ἐδόκει πρόσταγμα θεῖον εἶναι. Δημοσθένην γὰρ καὶ Κικέρωνα τὸν αὐτὸν ἔοικε πλάττων ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ὁ δαίμων πολλὰς μὲν ἐμβαλεῖν εἰς τὴν φύσιν αὐτῶν τῶν ὁμοιοτήτων, ὥσπερ τὸ φιλότιμον καὶ φιλελεύθερον ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ, πρὸς δὲ κινδύνους καὶ πολέμους ἄτολμον, πολλὰ δʼ ἀναμῖξαι καὶ τῶν τυχηρῶν.
For useless, as Ion says, is a dolphin’s might upon dry ground, a maxim which Caecilius, who goes to excess in everything, forgot when he boldly ventured to put forth a comparison of Demosthenes and Cicero. But really it is possible that, if the Know thyself of the oracle were an easy thing for every man, it would not be held to be a divine injunction. In the case of Demosthenes and Cicero, then, it would seem that the Deity originally fashioned them on the same plan, implanting in their natures many similarities, such as their love of distinction, their love of freedom in their political activities, and their lack of courage for wars and dangers, and uniting in them also many similarities of fortune.
δύο γὰρ ἑτέρους οὐκ ἂν εὑρεθῆναι δοκῶ ῥήτορας ἐκ μὲν ἀδόξων καὶ μικρῶν ἰσχυροὺς καὶ μεγάλους γενομένους, προσκρούσαντας δὲ βασιλεῦσι καὶ τυράννοις, θυγατέρας δʼ ἀποβαλόντας, ἐκπεσόντας δὲ τῆς πατρίδος, κατελθόντας δὲ μετὰ τιμῆς, ἀποδράντας δʼ αὖθις καὶ ληφθέντας ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων, ἅμα δὲ παυσαμένῃ τῇ τῶν πολιτῶν ἐλευθερίᾳ τὸν βίον συγκαταστρέψαντας·
For in my opinion two other orators could not be found who, from small and obscure beginnings, became great and powerful; who came into conflict with kings and tyrants; who lost each a daughter; who were banished from their native cities and returned with honour; and who, after taking to flight again and being captured by their enemies, ended their lives as soon as their countrymen ceased to be free.
ὥστε, εἰ γένοιτο τῇ φύσει καὶ τῇ τύχῃ καθάπερ τεχνίταις ἅμιλλα, χαλεπῶς ἂν διακριθῆναι πότερον αὕτη τοῖς τρόποις ἢ τοῖς πράγμασιν ἐκείνη τοὺς ἄνδρας ὁμοιοτέρους ἀπείργασται. λεκτέον δὲ περὶ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου πρότερον.
So that, if there should be a competition between nature and fortune, as between artists, it would be difficult to decide whether the one made the men more alike in their characters, or the other in the circumstances of their lives. But I must speak of the more ancient first.
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