[47,20] εἰ δὲ μή, τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἕξω βοώντων ὑμῶν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἄπειμι. οὐ γὰρ ὥσπερ ἡ ἀλώπηξ καταφαγοῦσα τὰ κρέα οὐκ ἐδύνατο ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ τῆς δρυὸς διὰ τὸ ἐμπλησθῆναι, κἀμοὶ ἐξελθεῖν διὰ τοῦτο χαλεπόν. πολὺ γὰρ γέγονα λεπτότερος ἢ ὅτε εἰσῆλθον. καὶ πρὸς θεῶν μή μοι νομίζετε χαρίζεσθαι περὶ τῆς στοᾶς ἐπιβοῶντες. ἐμοὶ γὰρ εἷς ἀνήρ ἐστιν ὁ χαριζόμενος ἐν τῇ πόλει σχεδόν, ὡς ἐγὼ ἀκούω, καὶ μάλιστα προνοῶν τῶν ἐμοὶ συμφερόντων· καὶ οὔτε φίλος οὔτε συγγενὴς οὕτως οὐδεὶς ἐμοῦ κήδεται. (47,21) σκοπεῖτε δὲ εἰ δόξει καλῶς ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ λογίζεσθαι καί με ἀγαπᾶν, ὃς πρῶτον οἴεταί με δεῖν πολλὰ κινδυνεύσαντα καὶ πονήσαντα τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἐνθάδε ἄγειν καὶ τοῖς ἐμαυτοῦ προσέχειν καὶ μήτε ἡγεμόνας θεραπεύειν μήτε ἄλλην ἀσχολίαν μηδεμίαν ἔχειν· ἔπειτα σμικρόν τι μέρος εὑρηκότα τῆς οὐσίας, καὶ πρὸς ταῖς πρότερον βλάβαις ἔτι καὶ τῆς ἀδελφῆς ἀποθανούσης ὠφεληθέντα μὲν μηδέν, ἀπολέσαντα δὲ πάντα, ὅσα τῶν ἐμῶν εἶχε, δανεισάμενόν τε, ὥστε τὰ χωρία πρίασθαι, τοῦτο ἀποδοῦναι τὸ χρέος καὶ τὰ πρότερον ὀφειλόμενα, καὶ μὴ στοὰν οἰκοδομεῖν μηδὲ ἀναλίσκειν παρὰ δύναμιν· (47,22) ἔπειτα συνηθείας οὔσης μοι πρὸς τὸν αὐτοκράτορα, ἴσως δὲ καὶ φιλίας, καὶ πρὸς ἄλλους πολλοὺς τοὺς δυνατωτάτους σχεδόν τι Ῥωμαίων, ἐκείνοις συνεῖναι τιμώμενον καὶ θαυμαζόμενον· {ἀλλὰ μὴ παρ´ ὑμῖν πρὸς τὸν δεῖνα ἢ τὸν δεῖνα ἐξεταζόμενον·} εἰ δὲ ἄρα ἀποδημῶν ἥδομαι, τὰς μεγίστας πόλεις ἐπιέναι μετὰ πολλοῦ ζήλου καὶ φιλοτιμίας παραπεμπόμενον, χάριν εἰδότων μοι παρ´ οὓς ἂν ἀφίκωμαι καὶ δεομένων λέγειν καὶ συμβουλεύειν καὶ περὶ τὰς ἐμὰς θύρας ἰόντων ἐξ ἑωθινοῦ, μηδὲν ἀναλώσαντα μηδὲ προστιθέντα, ὥστε θαυμάζειν ἅπαντας καὶ τυχὸν ἂν εἰπεῖν τινας, ὦ πόποι, ὡς ὅδε πᾶσι φίλος καὶ τίμιός ἐστιν ἀνθρώποις, ὅτεών κε πόλιν καὶ δῆμον ἵκηται· (47,23) ἀλλὰ μὴ δαπανᾶν μὲν ἐξ ὀλίγων ὑπαρχόντων, ἀσχολεῖσθαι δὲ ἀσχολίας ἀνωφελεῖς, τὸ δὲ σῶμα, θεραπείας δεόμενον καὶ πολλῆς προσοχῆς, καταφθείρειν ἀμελοῦντα, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν τοσοῦτον χρόνον ἐᾶν ἄγευστον φιλοσοφίας καὶ τῶν τοιούτων μαθημάτων, πρὸς δὲ τὸν δεῖνα ἐξετάζεσθαι ἢ τὸν δεῖνα καὶ κακῶς ἀκούειν ἐνίοτε καὶ δάκνεσθαι. πρὸς θεῶν ὁ ταῦτα ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ φροντίζων καὶ διαλεγόμενος οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων εὐνούστατος ἐμοὶ καὶ μάλιστα ὑπὸ ἐμοῦ φιλεῖσθαι δίκαιος; ὅταν δὲ ἀκούω λέγειν τινὰ ὡς περὶ τυράννου, παράδοξον ἐμοὶ φαίνεται καὶ γελοῖον. (47,24) ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐπίσταμαι τῶν τυράννων ἔργα τοιαῦτα, μοιχεύειν γυναῖκας ἀλλοτρίας καὶ διαφθείρειν παῖδας, ἀνθρώπους ἐλευθέρους τύπτειν καὶ αἰκίζεσθαι πάντων ὁρώντων, τοὺς δὲ καὶ στρεβλοῦν, οἷον εἰς ζέοντα λέβητα καθιέντας, ἄλλους δὲ καταπιττοῦντας· ὧν οὐδὲν ἐγὼ ποιῶ· ἑτέραν δὲ γυναῖκα τύραννον Σεμίραμιν, ὅτι πρεσβυτέρα τὴν ἡλικίαν οὖσα καὶ μάχλος ἠνάγκαζε συγγίγνεσθαί τινας ἑαυτῇ. τῶν δὲ τυράννων ἕνα ἀκήκοα ταῦτα ποιοῦντα, πρεσβύτην θρασύν. (47,25) ὧν τί πρὸς ἐμέ ἐστιν; ἢ ὅτι τὴν οἰκίαν οἰκοδομῶ πολυτελῶς; ἀλλ´ οὐκ ἐῶ πίπτειν; ἢ ὅτι πορφύραν αὐτὸς ἠμφίεσμαι; ἀλλ´ οὐ φαῦλον τριβώνιον; ἀλλ´ ὅτι κομῶ καὶ γένεια ἔχω; τοῦτο δ´ ἴσως οὐ τυραννικόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ βασιλικόν. ἔφη δ´ οὖν τις ὅτι καὶ τὸ κακῶς ἀκούειν καλῶς ποιοῦντα καὶ τοῦτο βασιλικόν ἐστιν.

[47,20] Only do give me some instructions; otherwise I shall hold my peace and let you shout — or rather I shall go away. For unlike the fox who ate the meat and could not get out of the oak because she had stuffed herself, I shall find no difficulty in getting out on that score, for I have grown much thinner than I was when I came in. And in Heaven's name don't imagine you are showing me kindness when you shout about the (p267) colonnade, for there is, I may say, only one man in the city, so I hear, who is showing me kindness and taking special thought for my welfare; moreover, no one, whether friend or kinsman, shows concern for me in that way. But consider whether you will think he reasons well in my behalf and is devoted to me, 21 seeing that, in the first place, he believes that after all my perils and hardships I should live here quietly and devote myself to my private affairs and neither cultivate proconsuls nor have any other occupation; also, since I have recovered only a small part of my property, and since, on top of my earlier losses, when my sister died I not only derived no profit from her estate but even lost everything of mine that she controlled and had to make a loan for the purchase my farm, he argues that I should repay this obligation, as well as the earlier debts, and not be building a colonnade or incurring expenses beyond my ability to carry; 22 furthermore, since I am on terms of acquaintance, perhaps even of intimacy, with the Emperor, as well as with many others who may be called the most influential among the Romans, he suggests that I should associate with them, enjoying their esteem and admiration, instead of being taken to task in your city before this or that individual; again, if I really like foreign travel, I should, he says, visit the greatest cities, escorted with much enthusiasm and éclat, the recipients of my visits being (p269) grateful for my presence and begging me to address them and advise them flocking about my doors from early dawn, all without my having incurred any expense or having made any contribution, with the result that all would admire me and perhaps some would exclaim, Ye gods! his dear and honoured is this man To whatsoever town and folk he comes; 23 but I should not spend money out of slender resources, be busied with unprofitable ventures, destroy with neglect my body, which calls for treatment and much attention, allow my soul to go so long without a taste of philosophy and kindred subjects, and be called to account before this or that man and be subjected to abuse at times and made to smart. By Heaven, is not the man who frets and reasons thus in my behalf most well disposed toward me of all and most deserving of my love? However, when I hear that a certain person is talking about me as if I were a tyrant, it seems to me to be amazing, yes, ridiculous. 24 For according to my understanding tyrant's acts are like the following: seduction of married women and ruining of boys, beating and maltreating free men in the sight of all, sometimes even subjecting men to torture, as, for example, plunging them into a seething cauldron, and at other times administering a coat of tar; but I do naught of this. Furthermore, I know regarding a female tyrant, Semiramis, that, being advanced in years and lustful, she used to force men to lie with (p271) her. And of male tyrants I have heard it said that so-and-so did the same thing, outrageous old sinner! 25 But what has all this to do with me? Is it because I build my house in costly style instead of letting it tumble down? Or because I myself wear purple instead of a miserable rag or cloak? Can it be because I wear long hair and have a beard? But, possibly this is not the mark of a tyrant but rather of a king. However that may be, some one has said that being roundly abused, though doing kindly deeds, is also a mark of royalty.