[201] ἐσθῆτας δὲ (201) αὖ Βαβυλωνίους καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς ἐπέκεινα βαρβάρου κόσμους πολὺ πλείους τε καὶ ῥᾷον εἰσαφικνουμένους ἢ εἰ ἐκ Νάξου ἢ Κύθνου Ἀθήναζε ἔδει κατᾶραι τῶν ἐκεῖ τι φέροντας. γεωργίαι δὲ ὑμῶν Αἴγυπτος, Σικελία, Λιβύης ὅσον ἥμερον. κατάπλοι δὲ καὶ ἀπόπλοι οὔποτε λείπουσιν. ὥστε εἶναι θαυμάσαι μὴ ὅτι περὶ τοῦ λιμένος, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῆς θαλάττης, ὅτι περ ἐξαρκεῖ ὁλκάσιν. ἀτεχνῶς δὲ ὅπερ Ἡσίοδος ἔφη περὶ τῶν τοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ περάτων, εἶναι τόπον οὗ συντετρῆσθαι πάντα εἰς μίαν ἀρχήν τε καὶ τελευτὴν, εἰς αὐτὴν συντέτρηται· καὶ πάντα ἐνταῦθα συμπίπτει, ἐμπορίαι, ναυτιλίαι, γεωργίαι, μετάλλων κάθαρσις, τέχναι ὁπόσαι εἰσί τε καὶ γεγένηνται, πάντα ὅσα γεννᾶται καὶ φύεται. ὅ τι δ´ ἂν μὴ ἐνταῦθα ἴδῃ τις, οὐκ ἔστι τῶν γενομένων, ἢ γιγνομένων· ὥστε μὴ εἶναι ῥᾴδιον διακρῖναι πότερον ἡ πόλις ὑπερέχει πλεῖον εἰς τὰς πόλεις τὰς οὔσας, ἢ ἡ ἀρχὴ τὰς ἀρχὰς τὰς πώποτε γενομένας. ἐρυθριῶ δῆτα, εἰ τοσούτων καὶ τηλικούτων εἰρημένων, εἶτα μὴ ἔχοντος τοῦ λόγου φανοῦμαι μεμνημένος ἢ βαρβαρικῆς τινος ἀρχῆς ἢ Ἑλληνικῆς δυνάμεως καὶ δοκῶ τοὐναντίον ποιήσειν τοῖς Αἰολεῦσι ποιηταῖς. ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ ἐπειδάν τι βούλωνται τῶν καθ´ αὑτοὺς φαυλίσαι, μεγάλῳ αὐτὸ παρέβαλον καὶ παρ´ ἀρχαίῳ περιφανεῖ, ἡγούμενοι μάλιστ´ ἂν οὕτως ἐξελέγξειν, ἐγὼ δὲ τὰ ὑμέτερα οὐκ ἔχων ἐπιδεικνύειν ἄλλως ὅσῳ ὑπερέχει, παραβαλῶ μικροῖς ἀρχαίοις· πάντα γὰρ ὑμεῖς καὶ τὰ μέγιστα μικρότατα ἀπεφήνατε ταῖς ὑπερβολαῖς. ἐπεὶ ἐγὼ μὲν τὰ μέγιστα ἐκλέξας ἐρῶ, ὑμεῖς δ´ ἴσως γελάσεσθε ἐπ´ αὐτοῖς.

[201] Clothing from Babylon and the luxuries of the barbarian lands beyond arrive in much greater quantity and more easily than if one were to ferry a cargo from Naxos or Cythnos to Athens. Egypt, Sicily, and the civilized part of Africa are your farms. The arrival and departure of ships never ceases. I can hardly believe that the sea — let alone the harbor — is big enough to hold them. Just as Hesiod said that at the ends of the Ocean is a common channel where all water has a single source and destination, so there is a common channel to Rome, and everything meets here — trade, sea-faring, agriculture, metallurgy, all the arts that are and all that have been, everything engendered or sprung from the soil. Anything not seen here was and is non-existent. It is not easy to decide whether your city surpasses all cities that exist, more than your empire surpasses all empires that ever existed. After a discourse upon so much that is of great consequence, I blush at the impression I shall convey of paying uncalled-for attention now to a barbarian empire or a Greek regime. You will think I am doing the opposite of the Aeolic poets. Whenever they wanted to disparage anything contemporary, they would compare it with some grandeur and glory of antiquity; they felt this would be the surest condemnation. I, on the contrary, have no other way to show the extent of your superiority than by a comparison with ancient trifles. For by your excellence, you have dwarfed all, even the colossal. I shall limit my remarks to the colossal, but you may find them laughable.