ὄντων δὲ Διονυσίῳ παίδων τριῶν μὲν ἐκ τῆς Λοκρίδος, τεττάρων δὲ ἐξ Ἀριστομάχης, ὧν δύο ἦσαν θυγατέρες, Σωφροσύνη καὶ Ἀρέτη, Σωφροσύνη μὲν Διονυσίῳ τῷ υἱῷ συνῴκησεν, Ἀρέτη δὲ Θεαρίδῃ τῷ ἀδελφῷ. τελευτήσαντος δὲ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Θεαρίδου Δίων ἔλαβε τὴν Ἀρετήν ἀδελφιδῆν οὖσαν.
Dionysius had three children by his Locrian wife, and four by Aristomache, two of whom were daughters, Sophrosyne and Arete. Sophrosyne became the wife of his son Dionysius, and Arete of his brother Thearides, but after the death of Thearides, Arete became the wife of Dion, her uncle.
ἐπεὶ δὲ νοσῶν ἔδοξεν ὁ Διονύσιος ἀβιώτως ἔχειν, ἐπεχείρησεν αὐτῷ διαλέγεσθαι περὶ τῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἀριστομάχης τέκνων ὁ Δίων, οἱ δʼ ἰατροὶ τῷ μέλλοντι τὴν ἀρχὴν διαδέχεσθαι χαριζόμενοι καιρὸν οὐ παρέσχον·
Now, when Dionysius was sick and seemed likely to die, Dion tried to confer with him in the interests of his children by Aristomache, but the physicians, who wished to ingratiate themselves with the heir apparent, would not permit it;
ὡς δὲ Τίμαιός φησι, καὶ φάρμακον ὑπνωτικὸν αἰτοῦντι δόντες ἀφείλοντο τὴν αἴσθησιν αὐτοῦ, θανάτῳ συνάψαντες τὸν ὕπνον.
moreover, according to Timaeus, when the sick man asked for a sleeping potion, they gave him one that robbed him of his senses and made death follow sleep.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ συλλόγου πρώτου τῶν φίλων γενομένου παρὰ τὸν νέον Διονύσιον οὕτω διελέχθη περὶ τῶν συμφερόντων πρὸς τὸν καιρὸν ὁ Δίων ὥστε τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας τῇ μὲν φρονήσει παῖδας ἀποδεῖξαι, τῇ δὲ παρρησίᾳ δούλους τῆς τυραννίδος ἀγεννῶς καὶ περιφόβως τὰ πολλὰ πρὸς χάριν τῷ μειρακίῳ συμβουλεύοντας,
However, in the first conference held between the young Dionysius and his friends, Dion discoursed upon the needs of the situation in such a manner that his wisdom made all the rest appear children, and his boldness of speech made them seem mere slaves of tyranny, who were wont to give their counsels timorously and ignobly to gratify the young man.
μάλιστα δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐξέπληξε τὸν ἀπὸ Καρχηδόνος κίνδυνον ἐπικρεμάμενον τῇ ἀρχῇ δεδοικότας, ὑποσχόμενος, εἰ μὲν εἰρήνης δέοιτο Διονύσιος, πλεύσας εὐθὺς εἰς Λιβύην ὡς ἄριστα διαθήσεσθαι τὸν πόλεμον, εἰ δὲ πολεμεῖν προθυμοῖτο, θρέψειν αὐτὸς ἰδίοις τέλεσι καὶ παρέξειν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον αὐτῷ πεντήκοντα τριήρεις εὖ πλεούσας.
But what most amazed them in their fear of the peril that threatened the realm from Carthage, was Dion’s promise that, if Dionysius wanted peace, he would sail at once to Africa and put a stop to the war on the best terms possible; but if war was the king’s desire, he himself would furnish him with fifty swift triremes for the war, and maintain them at his own costs.
ὁ μὲν οὖν Διονύσιος ὑπερφυῶς τὴν μεγαλοψυχίαν ἐθαύμασε καὶ τὴν προθυμίαν ἠγάπησεν·
Dionysius, then, was greatly astonished at his magnanimity and delighted with his ardour;
οἱ δὲ ἐλέγχεσθαι τῇ λαμπρότητι καὶ ταπεινοῦσθαι τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Δίωνος οἰόμενοι, ταύτην εὐθὺς ἀρχὴν λαβόντες, οὐδεμιᾶς ἐφείδοντο φωνῆς ᾗ τὸ μειράκιον ἐξαγριαίνειν ἔμελλον πρὸς αὐτόν, ὡς ὑπερχόμενον διὰ τῆς θαλάττης τυραννίδα καὶ περισπῶντα ταῖς ναυσὶ τὴν δύναμιν εἰς τοὺς Ἀριστομάχης παῖδας, ἀδελφιδοῦς ὄντας αὐτῷ.
but the other courtiers, thinking themselves put out of countenance by Dion’s generosity and humbled by his power, began hostilities forthwith, and said everything they could to embitter the young king against him, accusing him of stealing into the position of tyrant by means of his power on the sea, and of using his ships to divert the power into the hands of the children of Aristomache, who were his nephews and nieces.
φανερώταται δὲ καὶ μέγισται τῶν εἰς φθόνον καὶ μῖσος αἰτιῶν ὑπῆρχον ἡ τοῦ βίου διαφορὰ καὶ τὸ τῆς διαίτης ἄμικτον.
But the strongest and most apparent grounds for their envy and hatred of him lay in the difference between his way of life and theirs, and in his refusal to mingle with others.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ, εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς νέου τυράννου καὶ τεθραμμένου φαύλως ὁμιλίαν καὶ συνήθειαν ἡδοναῖς καὶ κολακείαις καταλαμβάνοντες, ἀεί τινας ἔρωτας καὶ διατριβὰς ἐμηχανῶντο ῥεμβώδεις περὶ πότους καὶ γυναῖκας, καὶ παιδιὰς ἑτέρας ἀσχήμονας,
For from the very outset they obtained converse and intimacy with a tyrant who was young and had been badly reared by means of pleasures and flatteries, and were ever contriving for him sundry amours, idle amusements with wine and women, and other unseemly pastimes.
ὑφʼ ὧν ἡ τυραννὶς, ὥσπερ σίδηρος, μαλασσομένη, τοῖς μὲν ἀρχομένοις ἐφάνη φιλάνθρωπος, καὶ τὸ λίαν ἀπάνθρωπον ὑπανῆκεν, οὐκ ἐπιεικείᾳ τινὶ μᾶλλον ἢ ῥᾳθυμίᾳ τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἀμβλυνομένη.
In this way the tyranny, being softened, like iron in the fire, appeared to its subjects to be kindly, and gradually remitted its excessive cruelty, though its edge was blunted not so much by any clemency in the sovereign as by his love of ease.
ἐκ δὲ τούτου προϊοῦσα καὶ νεμομένη κατὰ μικρὸν ἡ περὶ τὸ μειράκιον ἄνεσις τοὺς ἀδαμαντίνους δεσμοὺς ἐκείνους, οἷς ὁ πρεσβύτερος Διονύσιος ἔφη δεδεμένην ἀπολείπειν τὴν μοναρχίαν, ἐξέτηξε καὶ διέφθειρεν.
As a consequence, the laxity of the young king gained ground little by little, until at last those adamantine bonds with which the elder Dionysius said he had left the monarchy fastened, were melted and destroyed.
ἡμέρας γὰρ, ὥς φασιν, ἐνενήκοντα συνεχῶς ἔπινεν ἀρξάμενος, καὶ τὴν αὐλὴν ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ σπουδαίοις ἀνδράσι καὶ λόγοις ἄβατον καὶ ἀνείσοδον οὖσαν μέθαι καὶ σκώμματα καὶ ψαλμοὶ καὶ ὀρχήσεις καὶ βωμολοχίαι κατεῖχον.
For it is said that the young king once kept up a drinking bout for ninety consecutive days from its beginning, and that during this time his court gave no access or admission to men or matters of consequence, but drunkenness and raillery and music and dancing and buffoonery held full sway.
ἦν οὖν, ὡς εἰκὸς, ὁ Δίων ἐπαχθής εἰς οὐδὲν ἡδὺ καὶ νεωτερικὸν ἐνδιδοὺς ἑαυτόν, διὸ καὶ πιθανὰ κακιῶν προσρήματα ταῖς ἀρεταῖς ἐπιφέροντες αὐτοῦ διέβαλλον, ὑπεροψίαν τὴν σεμνότητα καὶ τὴν παρρησίαν αὐθάδειαν ἀποκαλοῦντες· καὶ νουθετῶν κατηγορεῖν ἐδόκει καὶ μὴ συνεξαμαρτάνων καταφρονεῖν.
Dion, then, as was natural, was obnoxious to these men, since he indulged in no pleasure or youthful folly. And so they tried to calumniate him by actually giving to his virtues plausible names of vices; for instance, they called his dignity haughtiness, and his boldness of speech self-will.
ἀμέλει δὲ καὶ φύσει τινὰ τὸ ἦθος ὄγκον εἶχεν αὐτοῦ καὶ τραχύτητα δυσπρόσοδον ἐντεύξει καὶ δυσξύμβολον.
Even when he admonished, he was thought to denounce, and when he would not share men’s sins, to despise.
οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἀνδρὶ νέῳ καὶ διατεθρυμμένῳ τὰ ὦτα κολακείαις ἄχαρις ἦν συγγενέσθαι καὶ προσάντης, πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν πάνυ χρωμένων αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν ἁπλότητα καὶ τὸ γενναῖον ἀγαπώντων τοῦ τρόπου κατεμέμφοντο τῆς ὁμιλίας, ὡς ἀγροικότερον καὶ βαρύτερον πολιτικῶν χρειῶν τοῖς δεομένοις συναλλάσσοντα.
And in very truth his character had naturally a certain majesty, together with a harshness that repelled intercourse and was hard to deal with. For not only to a man who was young and whose ears had been corrupted by flattery was he an unpleasant and irksome associate, but many also who were intimate with him and who loved the simplicity and nobility of his disposition, were apt to find fault with the manner of his intercourse with men, on the ground that he dealt with those who sought his aid more rudely and harshly than was needful in public life.
περὶ ὧν καὶ Πλάτων ὕστερον ὥσπερ ἀποθεσπίζων ἔγραψε πρὸς αὐτόν ἐξευλαβεῖσθαι τὴν αὐθάδειαν ὡς ἐρημίᾳ συνοικοῦσαν.
On this head Plato also afterwards wrote to him, in a tone almost prophetic, that he should be on his guard against self-will, which was a companion of solitude.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τότε πλείστου δοκῶν ἄξιος ὑπάρχειν διὰ τὰ πράγματα καὶ μόνος ἢ μάλιστα τὴν τυραννίδα σαλεύουσαν ἀνορθοῦν καὶ διαφυλάττειν, ἐγίνωσκεν οὐ πρὸς χάριν, ἀλλʼ ἄκοντος ὑπὸ χρείας τοῦ τυράννου πρῶτος ὢν καὶ μέγιστος.
However, at this time, though circumstances led men to think him of more value than any one else, and the only or the chief supporter and guardian of the storm-tossed tyranny, he knew that it was not out of goodwill, but against the wishes of the tyrant and owing to his needs, that he was first and greatest.
αἰτίαν δέ τούτου τὴν ἀπαιδευσίαν εἶναι νομίζων ἐμβαλεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς διατριβὰς ἐλευθερίους ἐφιλοτιμεῖτο καὶ γεῦσαι λόγων καὶ μαθημάτων ἠθοποιῶν, ὡς ἀρετήν τε παύσαιτο δεδιὼς καὶ τοῖς καλοῖς χαίρειν ἐθισθείη.
Considering, then, that a reason for this lay in the tyrant’s want of education, he sought to engage him in liberal studies, and to give him a taste of such literature and science as formed the character, in order that he might cease to be afraid of virtue, and become accustomed to take delight in what was high and noble.
φύσει γὰρ οὐ γεγόνει τῶν φαυλοτάτων τυράννων ὁ Διονύσιος, ἀλλʼ ὁ πατὴρ, δεδοικώς μὴ φρονήματος μεταλαβὼν καὶ συγγενόμενος νοῦν ἔχουσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐπιβουλεύσειεν αὐτῷ καὶ παρέλοιτο τὴν ἀρχήν, ἐφρούρει κατάκλειστον οἴκοι, διʼ ἐρημίαν ὁμιλίας ἑτέρας καὶ ἀπειρίᾳ πραγμάτων, ὥς φασιν, ἁμάξια καὶ λυχνίας καὶ δίφρους ξυλίνους καὶ τραπέζας τεκταινόμενον.
For by nature Dionysius did not belong to the worst class of tyrants, but his father, fearing that if he should get wisdom and associate with men of sense, he would plot against him and rob him of his power, used to keep him closely shut up at home, where, through lack of association with others and in ignorance of affairs, as we are told, he made little waggons and lampstands and wooden chairs and tables.
οὕτω γὰρ ἦν ἄπιστος καὶ πρὸς ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους ὕποπτος καὶ προβεβλημένος διὰ φόβον ὁ πρεσβύτερος Διονύσιος ὥστε μηδὲ τῆς κεφαλῆς τὰς τρίχας ἀφελεῖν κουρικαῖς μαχαίραις, ἀλλὰ τῶν πλαστῶν τις ἐπιφοιτῶν ἄνθρακι τὴν κόμην περιέκαιεν.
For the elder Dionysius was so distrustful and suspicious towards every body, and his fear led him to be so much on his guard, that he would not even have his hair cut with barbers’ scissors, but a hairdresser would come and singe his locks with a live coal.
εἰσῄει δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ δωμάτιον οὔτε ἀδελφὸς οὔθʼ υἱὸς ὡς ἔτυχεν ἠμφιεσμένος, ἀλλʼ ἔδει πρὶν εἰσελθεῖν ἀποδύντα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ στολὴν ἕκαστον ἑτέραν ἀναλαβεῖν, ὁραθέντα γυμνὸν ὑπὸ τῶν φυλαττόντων.
Neither his brother nor his son could visit him in his apartment wearing any clothes they pleased, but every one had to take off his own apparel before entering and put on another, after the guards had seen him stripped.
ἐπεὶ δὲ Λεπτίνης ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτῷ ποτε χωρίου φύσιν ἐξηγούμενος λαβὼν λόγχην παρά τινος τῶν δορυφόρων ὑπέγραψε τὸν τόπον, ἐκείνῳ μὲν ἰσχυρῶς ἐχαλέπηνε, τὸν δέ δόντα τὴν λόγχην ἀπέκτεινεν.
And once, when his brother Leptines was describing to him the nature of a place, and drew the plan of it on the ground with a spear which he took from one of his body-guards, he was extremely angry with him, and had the man who gave him the spear put to death.
ἔλεγε δέ τοὺς φίλους φυλάττεσθαι νοῦν ἔχοντας εἰδὼς καὶ βουλομένους μᾶλλον τυραννεῖν ἢ τυραννεῖσθαι.
He used to say, too, that he was on his guard against his friends who were men of sense, because he knew that they would rather be tyrants than subjects of a tyrant.
καὶ Μαρσύαν δέ τινα τῶν προηγμένων ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ τεταγμένων ἐφʼ ἡγεμονίας ἀνεῖλε δόξαντα κατὰ, τοὺς ὕπνους σφάττειν αὐτόν, ὡς ἀπʼ ἐννοίας μεθημερινῆς καὶ διαλογισμοῦ τῆς ὄψεως ταύτης εἰς τὸν ὕπνον αὐτῷ παραγενομένης.
And he slew Marsyas, one of those whom he had advanced to positions of high command, for having dreamed that he killed him, declaring that this vision must have visited his sleep because in his waking hours he had purposed and planned such a deed.
ὁ μὲν δὴ Πλάτωνι θυμωθείς ὅτι μὴ πάντων αὐτὸν ἀνθρώπων ἀνδρειότατον ὄντα ἀπέφηνεν, οὕτω περίφοβον καὶ τοσούτων ὑπὸ δειλίας κακῶν μεστὴν εἶχε τὴν ψυχήν.
Yes, the man who was angry with Plato because he would not pronounce him the most valiant man alive, had a spirit as timorous as this, and so full of all the evils induced by cowardice.
τὸν δʼ υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, καθάπερ εἴρηται, διαλελωβημένον ἀπαιδευσίᾳ καὶ συντετριμμένον τὸ ἦθος ὁ Δίων ὁρῶν παρεκάλει πρὸς παιδείαν τραπέσθαι καὶ δεηθῆναι τοῦ πρώτου τῶν φιλοσόφων πᾶσαν δέησιν ἐλθεῖν εἰς Σικελίαν·
This tyrant’s son, as I have said, Dion saw to be dwarfed and deformed in character from his lack of education, and therefore exhorted him to apply himself to study, and to use every entreaty with the first of philosophers to come to Sicily,
ἐλθόντι δὲ παρασχεῖν αὑτόν, ὅπως διακοσμηθεὶς τὸ ἦθος εἰς ἀρετῆς λόγον, καὶ πρὸς τὸ θειότατον ἀφομοιωθεὶς παράδειγμα τῶν ὄντων καὶ κάλλιστον, ᾧ τὸ πᾶν ἡγουμένῳ πειθόμενον ἐξ ἀκοσμίας κόσμος ἐστί,
and, when he came, to become his disciple, in order that his character might be regulated by the principles of virtue, and that he might be conformed to that divinest and most beautiful model of all being, in obedience to whose direction the universe issues from disorder into order;
πολλὴν μὲν εὐδαιμονίαν ἑαυτῷ μηχανήσεται, πολλὴν δὲ τοῖς πολίταις, ὅσα νῦν ἐν ἀθυμίᾳ διοικοῦσι πρὸς ἀνάγκην τῆς ἀρχῆς, ταῦτα σωφροσύνῃ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ μετʼ εὐμενείας πατρονομούμενα παρασχών καὶ γενόμενος βασιλεὺς ἐκ τυράννου.
in this way he would procure great happiness for himself, and great happiness for his people, and that obedience which they now rendered dejectedly and under the compulsion of his authority, this his moderation and justice would base upon goodwill and a filial spirit, and he would become a king instead of a tyrant.
τοὺς γὰρ ἀδαμαντίνους δεσμοὺς οὐχ, ὥσπερ ὁ πατὴρ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῦ, φόβον καὶ βίαν καὶ νεῶν πλῆθος εἶναι καὶ βαρβάρων μυρίανδρον φυλακήν, εὔνοιαν δὲ καὶ προθυμίαν καὶ χάριν ἐγγενομένην ὑπʼ ἀρετῆς καὶ δικαιοσύνης, ἅ, καίπερ ὄντα μαλακώτερα τῶν συντόνων καὶ σκληρῶν ἐκείνων, ἰσχυρότερα πρὸς διαμονὴν ἡγεμονίας ὑπάρχειν.
For the adamantine bonds of sovereignty were not, as his father used to say, fear and force and a multitude of ships and numberless barbarian body-guards, but goodwill and ardour and favour engendered by virtue and justice; these, though they were more flexible than the bonds of severity and harshness, were stronger to maintain a lasting leadership.
χωρὶς δὲ τούτων ἀφιλότιμον εἶναι καὶ ἄζηλον τὸν ἄρχοντα, τῷ μὲν σώματι περιττῶς ἀμπεχόμενον καὶ τῇ περὶ τὴν οἴκησιν ἁβρότητι καὶ κατασκευῇ λαμπρυνόμενον, ὁμιλίᾳ δὲ καὶ λόγῳ μηδὲν ὄντα τοῦ προστυχόντος σεμνότερον, μηδὲ τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ βασίλειον ἀξιοῦντα κεκοσμημένον ἔχειν βασιλικῶς καὶ πρεπόντως.
And besides all this, it was mean and spiritless in a ruler, while his body was magnificently clothed and his habitation resplendent with luxurious furnishings, to be no more majestic in his intercourse and conversation than an ordinary man, and not to insist that the royal palace of his soul should be adorned in meet and royal fashion.
ταῦτα πολλάκις τοῦ Δίωνος παραινοῦντος, καὶ τῶν λόγων τοῦ Πλάτωνος ἔστιν οὕστινας ὑποσπείροντος, ἔσχεν ἔρως τὸν Διονύσιον ὀξὺς καὶ περιμανὴς τῶν τε λόγων καὶ τῆς συνουσίας τοῦ Πλάτωνος.
Since Dion frequently gave him such advice, and artfully mingled with it some of Plato’s doctrines, Dionysius was seized with a keen and even frenzied passion for the teachings and companionship of Plato.
εὐθὺς οὖν Ἀθήναζε πολλὰ μὲν ἐφοίτα γράμματα παρὰ τοῦ Διονυσίου, πολλαὶ δʼ ἐπισκήψεις παρὰ τοῦ Δίωνος, ἄλλαι δʼ ἐξ Ἰταλίας παρὰ τῶν Πυθαγορικῶν, διακελευομένων παραγενέσθαι καὶ νέας ψυχῆς ἐξουσίᾳ μεγάλῃ καὶ δυνάμει περιφερομένης ἐπιλαβέσθαι καὶ κατασχεῖν ἐμβριθεστέροις λογισμοῖς.
At once, then, many letters began to come to Athens from Dionysius, and many injunctions from Dion, as well as others from the Pythagorean philosophers of Italy, all of whom urged Plato to come and get control of a youthful soul now tossed about on a sea of great authority and power, and steady it by his weighty reasonings.
Πλάτων μὲν οὖν, ὥς φησιν αὐτός, ἑαυτὸν αἰσχυνθεὶς μάλιστα, μὴ δόξειε λόγος εἶναί μόνον, ἔργου δʼ ἑκὼν οὐδενὸς ἂν ἅψασθαι, καὶ προσδοκήσας διʼ ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς ὥσπερ ἡγεμονικοῦ μέρους ἐκκαθαρθέντος ὅλην ἰατρεύσειν Σικελίαν νοσοῦσαν, ὑπήκουσεν.
Plato, accordingly, as he tells us himself, out of shame more than any thing else, lest men should think him nothing but theory and unwilling to take any action; and further, because he expected that by the purification of one man, who was, as it were, a controlling factor, he would cure all Sicily of her distempers, yielded to these requests.
οἱ δὲ τῷ Δίωνι πολεμοῦντες φοβούμενοι τὴν τοῦ Διονυσίου μεταβολήν ἔπεισαν αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς φυγῆς μεταπέμπεσθαι Φίλιστον, ἄνδρα καὶ πεπαιδευμένον περὶ λόγους καὶ τυραννικῶν ἠθῶν ἐμπειρότατον, ὡς ἀντίταγμα πρὸς Πλάτωνα καὶ φιλοσοφίαν ἐκεῖνον ἕξοντες.
But the enemies of Dion, afraid of the alteration in Dionysius, persuaded him to recall from exile Philistus, a man versed in letters and acquainted with the ways of tyrants, that they might have in him a counterpoise to Plato and philosophy.
ὁ γὰρ δὴ Φίλιστος ἐξ ἀρχῆς τε τῇ τυραννίδι καθισταμένῃ προθυμότατον ἑαυτὸν παρέσχε, καὶ τὴν ἄκραν διεφύλαξε φρουραρχῶν ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον. ἦν δὲ λόγος ὡς καὶ τῇ μητρὶ πλησιάζοι τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου Διονυσίου, τοῦ τυράννου μὴ παντάπασιν ἀγνοοῦντος.
For Philistus at the outset had most zealously assisted in establishing the tyranny, and for a long time was commander of the garrison that guarded the citadel. There was a story, too, that he was very intimate with the mother of the elder Dionysius, and that the tyrant was not wholly ignorant of the fact.
ἐπεὶ δὲ Λεπτίνης, ἐκ γυναικὸς ἣν διαφθείρας ἑτέρῳ συνοικοῦσαν ἔσχε γενομένων αὐτῷ δυεῖν θυγατέρων, τὴν ἑτέραν ἔδωκε Φιλίστῳ μηδὲ φράσας πρὸς Διονύσιον, ὀργισθεὶς ἐκεῖνος τὴν μὲν γυναῖκα τοῦ Λεπτίνου δήσας ἐν πέδαις καθεῖρξε, τὸν δὲ Φίλιστον ἐξήλασε Σικελίας, φυγόντα παρὰ ξένους τινὰς εἰς τὸν Ἀδρίαν, ὅπου καὶ δοκεῖ τὰ πλεῖστα συνθεῖναι τῆς ἱστορίας σχολάζων.
But when Leptines, who had two daughters by a woman whom he had corrupted when she was living with another man and then taken to wife, gave one of them to Philistus without so much as telling Dionysius, the tyrant was wroth, put the wife of Leptines into fetters and prison, and banished Philistus from Sicily.
οὐ γὰρ ἐπανῆλθε τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου ζῶντος, ἀλλὰ μετὰ τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτήν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, κατήγαγεν αὐτὸν ὁ πρὸς Δίωνα τῶν ἄλλων φθόνος, ὡς αὐτοῖς τε μᾶλλον ἐπιτήδειον ὄντα καὶ τῇ τυραννίδι βεβαιότερον.
Philistus took refuge with some friends in Adria, and there, it would seem, in his leisure, composed the greater part of his history. For he did not return to Syracuse while the elder Dionysius was alive, but after his death, as I have said, the envy which the other courtiers felt towards Dion brought about his recall; they thought him a more suitable man for their purposes, and a stauncher friend of the tyranny.
οὗτος μὲν οὖν εὐθὺς κατελθὼν διεπεφύκει τῆς τυραννίδος τῷ δὲ Δίωνι καὶ παρʼ ἄλλων ἐτύγχανον οὖσαι διαβολαὶ καὶ κατηγορίαι πρός τὸν τύραννον, ὡς διειλεγμένῳ περὶ καταλύσεως τῆς ἀρχῆς πρός τε Θεοδότην καὶ πρός Ἡρακλείδην.
Philistus, then, as soon as he had returned, was in close touch with the tyranny; and there were others also who brought slanders and accusations against Dion to the tyrant, alleging that he had been in conference with Theodotes and Heracleides concerning a subversion of the government.
ἤλπιζε μὲν γὰρ, ὡς ἔοικε, διὰ Πλάτωνος παραγενομένου τὸ δεσποτικὸν καὶ λίαν ἄκρατον ἀφελὼν τῆς τυραννίδος ἐμμελῆ τινα καὶ νόμιμον ἄρχοντα τὸν Διονύσιον καταστήσειν·
For Dion had hopes, as it seems likely, that by means of the visit of Plato he could mitigate the arrogance and excessive severity of the tyranny, and convert Dionysius into a fit and lawful ruler;
εἰ δὲ ἀντιβαίνοι καὶ μὴ μαλάσσοιτο, καταλύσας ἐκεῖνον ἐγνώκει τὴν πολιτείαν ἀποδιδόναι Συρακουσίοις, οὐκ ἐπαινῶν μὲν δημοκρατίαν, πάντως δὲ βελτίω τυραννίδος ἡγούμενος τοῖς διαμαρτάνουσιν ὑγιαινούσης ἀριστοκρατίας.
but if Dionysius should oppose his efforts and refuse to be softened, he had determined to depose him and restore the civil power to the Syracusan people; not that he approved of a democracy, but he thought it altogether better than a tyranny in lack of a sound and healthy aristocracy.
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