[217] Ἀλλὰ τὰ περὶ τὴν ὅλην ἀρχήν τε καὶ τὴν περὶ ταύτην πολιτείαν εἴρηται ὅντιν´ ἔγνωτε τρόπον καὶ ὅπως κατεστήσασθε· περὶ δὲ τοῦ μαχίμου καὶ τῶν κατὰ στρατείας νῦν καιρὸς εἰπεῖν, ὅπως αὖ καὶ τοῦτ´ ἐπενοήσατε καὶ ἥντινα τάξιν αὐτῷ ἀπέδοτε. θαυμαστὴ ἄρ´ ἦν καὶ ἡ περὶ τοῦτο σοφία καὶ παράδειγμα εἰς τὸ παντελὲς οὐκ ἔχει. μέχρι γὰρ τοῦ τὸ μάχιμον ἀποκρῖναι καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι προῆλθον καὶ ἐδόκουν τοῦτο σοφώτατον εὑρεῖν, ὅτι αὐτοῖς ἰδίᾳ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἵδρυντο οἱ προπολεμοῦντες τῆς χώρας, ὥσπερ καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐδόκουν εἶναι, ᾗ φασιν, Αἰγύπτιοι σοφοί. τοῦτο δὲ ὑμεῖς κατὰ ταυτὸ γνόντες οὐ ταυτὸν ἐποιήσατε, ἀλλὰ τοσούτῳ κάλλιον καὶ σοφώτερον αὐτοὶ διείλεσθε, ὥστε ἐν ἐκείνῳ μὲν τῷ συντάγματι οὐκ ἦν ἴσον ἔχειν τῆς πολιτείας ἀλλήλοις, ἀλλ´ ἦσαν ἐν τῷ χείρονι οἱ στρατευόμενοι τῶν ἡσυχαζόντων μόνοι πονοῦντες δι´ αἰῶνος, οὔκουν ἴσως οὐδὲ ἡδέως εἶχον αὐτοῖς· παρ´ ὑμῖν δὲ ἁπάντων ἐχόντων τὸ ἴσον τὸ μάχιμον δυνατὸν χωρὶς ἱδρῦσθαι. οὕτω καὶ Ἑλλήνων τόλμα καὶ Αἰγυπτίων καὶ ὅτων εἴποι τις ἂν τῆς ὑμετέρας ἡττᾶται. καὶ τοσοῦτον ὑμῶν λειπόμενοι πάντες τοῖς ὅπλοις, ἔτι τῇ γνώμῃ πλέον εἰσὶν ὀπίσω· τὸ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως στρατεύεσθαι καὶ ταλαιπωρεῖν οὐκ ἄξια τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ τῆς παρούσης εὐδαιμονίας ἀπολαύειν εἶναι ἐνομίσατε, ξένοις δὲ οὐκ ἐπιστεύσατε· ἔδει δὲ στρατιωτῶν πρὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης. πῶς οὖν ἐποιήσατε; εὕρετε οἰκεῖον στράτευμα τῶν πολιτῶν οὐκ ἐνοχλουμένων. τοῦτο δὲ ὑμῖν ἐπόρισεν ἡ περὶ πάσης τῆς ἀρχῆς βουλὴ καὶ τὸ μηδὲν ἐκκρίνειν ξένον εἰς μηδὲν ὧν ἂν δύνηταί τε καὶ δέῃ ποιεῖν. τίς οὖν ἡ συλλογὴ καὶ τίς ὁ τρόπος; ἐλθόντες ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ὑπήκοον ἐντεῦθεν ἐσκέψασθε

[217] I have discussed the nature of your policies and institutions concerned with the empire as a whole and its government. Now is the time to speak of your ingenuity in military matters, and the organization you have decreed for the army. Your wisdom in this too is amazing and has altogether no parallel. The Egyptians advanced to the point of segregating the soldiers, and got credit for a very wise device: they had the defenders of the country encamped apart from the civil population. (Likewise in many other ways, the Egyptians were — as people say — deemed wise beyond the rest of mankind.) Your understanding of the problem agrees with the Egyptians, but your actions do not. You have made a much finer and wiser division. Under their system, the various groups could not have equal shares in the state. For the soldiers, it was not equal or pleasant to be the only ones under perpetual discipline; they were worse off than the people living at case. Under your system, all have equality, but a separate setup for the military is feasible. Accordingly, the valor of the Greeks, the Egyptians, and whoever else might be named falls short of yours. And much as all may be inferior to you in weapons, they are still farther behind in sagacity. You decided that for men from your city to undergo the hardships of campaigning was no way to enjoy the empire and the happiness of the era. Aliens you could not trust; yet of necessity you had to have soldiers. So how did you go about it? You dug up a loyal army without troubling the citizens. What made it available to you was your planning for the whole empire and counting no one that is qualified and needed for any task an alien. Whom do you recruit and how? You go through every province and sift it