Texte grec :
| [219] Τοιγαροῦν καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν τειχῶν ἐβουλεύσασθέ τε
καὶ ἐπενοήσατε· νῦν γὰρ ἄξιον εἰπεῖν. οὔτε γὰρ κατὰ τὴν
Λακεδαιμονίων αὐθάδειαν ἀτείχιστον ἂν προσείποις τήνδε
τὴν πόλιν οὔτ´ αὖ τειχήρη κατὰ τὴν Βαβυλῶνος λαμπρότητα,
ἢ εἴ τις ἄλλη σεμνότερον ἐτειχίσθη πρότερον ἢ
ὕστερον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτον τὸν τειχισμὸν παιδιὰν καὶ
γυναικὸς ὡς ἀληθῶς ἔργον ἀπεφήνατε. αὐτῇ μὲν γὰρ τῇ
πόλει περιβαλεῖν τὰ τείχη, οἷον ἀποκρύπτοντες αὐτὴν, ἢ
φεύγοντες τοὺς ὑπηκόους, ἀγεννές τε εἶναι καὶ οὐ πρὸς
τῆς ἄλλης διανοίας ἐνομίσατε, οἷον εἴ τις δεσπότης
δεικνύοιτο τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ δούλους φοβούμενος. τειχῶν γε μὴν
οὐκ ἠμελήσατε, ταῦτα δὲ τῇ ἀρχῇ περιεβάλετε, οὐ τῇ
πόλει· καὶ ἐστήσατε ὡς πορρωτάτω λαμπρά τε καὶ ὑμῶν
ἄξια, ὁρατὰ τοῖς εἴσω τοῦ κύκλου, ἡ δὲ πορεία ἐπ´ αὐτὰ,
εἴ τις βούλοιτο ἰδεῖν, μηνῶν τε καὶ ἐνιαυτῶν ἀρξαμένῳ
βαδίζειν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως. ὑπὲρ γὰρ τὸν ἐξωτάτω κύκλον
τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀτεχνῶς οἷον ἐν τειχισμῷ πόλεως δεύτερον
ἀγαγόντες ἕτερον εὐκαμπέστερόν τε καὶ εὐφυλακτότερον,
ἐνταῦθα τείχη τε προὐβάλεσθε καὶ πόλεις ἐφορίους ἐδείμασθε,
ἄλλας ἐν ἄλλοις μέρεσι πληρώσαντες οἰκητόρων,
τέχνας τε ὑπουργοὺς δόντες αὐτοῖς καὶ τἄλλα κοσμήσαντες.
ὥσπερ δὲ τάφρος κύκλῳ περιείργει στρατόπεδον, ὥστε
οὐδὲ δέκα παρασάγγαι λογιζομένῳ τοῦ περιβόλου τούτου
τὸ περίμετρον, οὐδ´ εἴκοσιν, οὐδ´ ὀλίγῳ πλείους, οὐδ´
εἴποις ἂν εὐθὺς ὁπόσον, ἀλλ´ ὅσον Αἰθιοπίας τὸ ἐποικούμενον
καὶ Φᾶσις ἐνθένδε καὶ Εὐφράτης ἄνω, καὶ
πρὸς ἐσπέραν ἡ μεγάλη τελευταία νῆσος ἐντὸς ἀποκλείουσι,
τοῦτο πᾶν ἔξεστι κύκλον καὶ περίβολον τῶν τειχῶν εἰπεῖν.
τὰ δὲ οὐκ ἀσφάλτῳ οὐδὲ πλίνθῳ ὀπτῇ δέδμηται, οὐδὲ
κόνει στιλπνὰ ἕστηκεν, ἀλλ´ ἐστὶ μὲν καὶ ταῦτα νομιζόμενα
ἐφ´ ἑκάστων τῶν τόπων, καὶ μάλα πολλὰ,
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Traduction française :
| [219] You have given care and thought to walls too, which deserve mention
now. This city cannot be described as unwalled, in Spartan arrogance,
or walled in such splendor as Babylon or any other city earlier or later
that had over-elaborate walls. You have shown up the walls of Babylon
for child's play and woman's work indeed. You felt that to surround
the city itself with walls, as though you were hiding it or taking refuge
from your subjects, would be ignoble and contrary to your whole attitude
— like a master showing himself afraid of his own slaves. Yet you
did not neglect walls. You surrounded the empire, not the city, with
them. You built them as far away as possible; they are splendid and
worthy of you. They can be seen by people within their compass; but
whoever wants to see them will have a trip of months or years to reach
them, starting out from the city. For beyond the outermost ring of settlement,
you laid out another ring, more regular and defensible, just
as in the fortification of a city. There you put up walls, built border
towns in the various regions, filled them with settlers, provided artisans
to serve them, and otherwise set them up handsomely.
Imagine a ditch running all around a camp such that the perimeter
of this enclosure is not ten leagues or twenty or a little more, but a figure
that cannot be counted right off. All that lies between the settled part
of Ethiopia and the Phasis over here, the Euphrates in inner Asia and
the great island farthest to the west — all this may be called the ring
and compass of the walls. But they are net built of asphalt and baked
brick, nor do they stand gleaming with plaster. You do indeed have such
walls in use everywhere — many, many of them —
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