[30,0] ΧΑΡΙΔΗΜΟΣ. (1) (DION) Ἀκηκόειν μὲν καὶ πρότερον πρὶν ὑμᾶς ἰδεῖν πρὸ ἱκανοῦ περὶ τῆς Χαριδήμου τελευτῆς. εὐθὺς γὰρ ἐπυνθανόμην, ὡς παρέβαλον δευρί, περί τε ἄλλων τινῶν καὶ μάλιστα δὴ περὶ τούτων ἀμφοτέρων, ὅπου τε εἶεν καὶ ὅ,τι πράττοιεν. καί μοί τις ἐντυχὼν οὐ πάνυ τι αὐτοὺς ἐπιστάμενος, ἀλλ´ ὅσον ἀκοῦσαι τὰ ὀνόματα, ἠρώτησεν εἰ τοὺς Τιμάρχου υἱεῖς λέγω· κἀμοῦ φήσαντος, τοῦτον ἐδήλου, τὸν νεώτερον δὴ λέγων, ἐν Μεσσήνῃ ἔτι εἶναι μετὰ σοῦ διὰ τὸ πένθος τἀδελφοῦ· τελευτῆσαι γὰρ αὐτοῖν τὸν πρεσβύτερον. (2) φανερὸς οὖν ἦν Χαρίδημον ἀπαγγέλλων τεθνηκέναι· καὶ τότε μὲν ἐδόκει καὶ ἀμφιβολία τις εἶναι, καίτοι σαφῶς τἀνθρώπου εἰρηκότος· αὖθις δὲ ἀκριβέστερον ἔγνωμεν. καὶ οἶμαί γε ἐμαυτὸν οὐ πολύ τι ἔλαττον ὑμῶν δηχθῆναι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ μᾶλλον φάναι οὐ θεμιτὸν οὐδὲ ὅσιον ἡμῖν, εἴ τις ἐκεῖνον μᾶλλον ἐφίλει ὑμῶν τοῦ τε (3) πατρὸς καὶ ἀδελφοῦ. καίτοι οὐ μέγα ἰσχύειν ἔοικεν ἡ φύσις ἐν τοῖς φαύλοις· οἷόν τι καὶ περὶ τοῦτον τὸν Ὀπούντιον ἀκούω γεγονέναι χαρίεντα καὶ κομψὸν νεανίσκον ἀποβαλόντα, ἡμέτερον κἀκεῖνον ἑταῖρον, ἀλλ´ ὅμως ἔλαττον αὐτὸν λυπηθῆναί φασιν ἢ εἴ τι ἄλλο τῶν ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας ἀπολωλέκει. ἀλλ´ ὑμεῖς γε πάνυ ἐοίκατον ἀχθομένω τῇ συμφορᾷ· καὶ οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν· ἐπεὶ καὶ τῇ πόλει ὑμῶν καὶ τῇ Ἑλλάδι πάσῃ ὠφέλιμος ἂν ἦν τοιοῦτος ἀνὴρ ἐν τῷ βίῳ διαγενόμενος οἷος δὴ Χαρίδημος τάχα ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι. οὐ γὰρ ἔγωγε ἐκείνου μειρακίου ὄντος οὐδένα ἔγνων εὐψυχότερον οὐδὲ ἄμεινον πεφυκότα. (4) (TIMARXOS) Εἴ γε ᾔδεις ὅπως διέκειτο πρὸς σέ, πολὺ ἂν μᾶλλον ἐνεκωμίαζες αὐτόν. ἐμοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἐδόκει κἀμοῦ τοῦ πατρός, οὐ μόνον τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων σὲ προτιμᾶν, ὅς γε καὶ ἐν τῇ νόσῳ κἀπειδὴ πρὸς αὐτῷ σχεδόν τι τῷ θανάτῳ ἦν, καὶ ἡμῶν ἔνδον ὄντων καὶ ἄλλων ξυγγενῶν καὶ πολιτῶν καὶ γνωρίμων σὲ ὠνόμαζε, τὸ παράπαν πάνυ μόλις ἤδη φθεγγόμενος, καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐκέλευε λέγειν, ὅταν σοι ἐντύχωμεν, ὅτι σοῦ μεμνημένος ἐτελεύτα. καὶ γὰρ τὸ συνεῖναι αὐτῷ καὶ διαλέγεσθαι ἕως ὑστάτου παρέμεινεν. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ζῶν οὕτω διέκειτο ὥστε καὶ τῇ σιωπῇ καὶ τῷ βαδίσματι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις πᾶσί σε ἐμιμεῖτο, ὡς ἔλεγον οἱ εἰδότες.

[30,0] THE THIRTIETH DISCOURSE : CHARIDEMUS. (1) (Dion) I had heard about the death of Charidemus some time ago, even before I saw you ; for when I landed here, I straightway made inquiries about certain other persons and most especially about these two, wishing to learn where they were and how they were getting on. Then I chanced upon a man who did not know them very well, but had merely heard their names, who asked me if I meant the sons of Timarchus ; and when I replied in the affirmative, he told me that this one, meaning the younger, was still in Messenia with you on account of his mourning for his brother ; for, he said, the elder of the two had died. So it was clear that he was reporting the death of Charidemus. Yet even then there appeared to be some uncertainty, although the man had spoken clearly enough ; but afterwards we came to know with more certainty. Now I believe that I myself was almost as deeply pained as you men were ; for to say 'more pained' would not be right nor proper for me, even if it were indeed true that one had loved him more than you, his father and his brother, did. And yet the strength of natural affection does seem to be not very great in persons of the common sort. Something like this happened, I hear, in the case of our Opuntian friend here after he had lost a son, an agreeable and clever young man, who also was our companion ; but nevertheless they tell me that he grieved less over his death than if he had lost anything else out of his house. You two, however, seem to be very much distressed by your affliction, and no wonder ; for such a man as Charidemus certainly would speedily have turned out to be, would have been useful, not only to your city, but to all Hellas, if he had lived. I, for my part, never knew any young lad of higher spirit than he nor of better natural parts. (4) (Timarchus) Yes, and if you knew how he felt towards you, your praise would be much warmer. It seemed to me that he held you in more honour than he did even me, his father, not to mention other people, since in his illness and even when he was practically at death's door, and we were at his bedside along with other relatives, fellow citizens and acquaintances, he kept mentioning you by name, although by then he could scarcely speak at all, and bade us say when we met you that he was thinking of you when he died. For he retained consciousness and the power to speak up to the very last. Furthermore, even when he was alive and well, he was so attached to you that he imitated you in his taciturnity, his gait, and in all other respects, as people who knew used to say.