[33,20] μή τι οὖν ὤνησεν αὐτοὺς ἢ τοῦ πλούτου τὸ μέγεθος ἢ τῶν ὑπηκόων ἢ τῶν συμμάχων τὸ πλῆθος ἢ τῶν πεδίων ἢ τῆς Ἴδης τὸ κάλλος ἢ τοῦ Σιμόεντος ἢ τοῦ Ξάνθου τοῦ δινήεντος, ὃν ἀθάνατος τέκετο Ζεύς. καίτοι φησὶ καὶ πηγάς τινας πάνυ καλὰς ἐν τῷ προαστείῳ, τὴν μὲν ἀλεεινὴν καὶ σφόδρα προσηνοῦς ὕδατος, ὥστε καὶ καπνὸν ἀπ´ αὐτῆς ἐγείρεσθαι, τὴν δ´ ἐοικυῖαν τῇ ψυχρότητι κρυστάλλῳ τοῦ θέρους, ὥστε καὶ θέρους καὶ χειμῶνος μὴ δυσχερῶς πλύνειν τὰς (21) καλὰς Τρώων θυγατέρας. οὐ μόνον δὲ πλούτῳ καὶ χώρας ἀρετῇ καὶ πλήθει διέφερον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνθρωποι κάλλιστοι παρ´ αὐτοῖς ἐγίγνοντο, καὶ ἄνδρες καὶ γυναῖκες, καὶ ἵπποι τάχιστοι, καὶ θεοφιλεῖς ἐδόκουν εἶναι, καὶ τείχει καρτερωτάτῳ περιπεφραγμένοι ἦσαν. {τὸ μέν γε τεῖχος αὐτοῖς Ποσειδῶνος ἔργον ἦν καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος. ὁ δὲ Ζεὺς τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον πόλεων ἐκείνην ἔφη μάλιστα ἀγαπῆσαι. τάχος δ´ ἵππων, ὥστε ἐπ´ ἄκρων θεῖν τῶν σταχύων. ἐπὶ κάλλει δὲ Γανυμήδην ὁ Ζεὺς ἐποιήσατο οἰνοχόον. Ἀλεξάνδρῳ δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐπηκολούθησεν ἡ ἀρίστη τῶν ἐκεῖθεν γυναικῶν. τὴν δὲ Κασσάνδραν Ὅμηρος οὔ φησι λείπεσθαι τῆς Ἀφροδίτης τὸ εἶδος.} (22) ἀλλ´ ὅμως, ἐπειδὴ τρυφὴ καὶ ὕβρις εἰσῆλθεν αὐτοὺς καὶ παιδείας καὶ σωφροσύνης οὐδὲν ᾤοντο δεῖσθαι, πολὺ πάντων ἀτυχέστατοι γεγόνασιν. οὐχ ἡ σύμπασα χθὼν ταῖς συμφοραῖς αὐτῶν διατεθρύληται; καὶ οὐδὲν ὤνησεν αὐτοὺς οὔτε τῶν ἵππων τὸ τάχος οὔτε ὁ Ζεὺς οὔτε ὁ Γανυμήδης, ἀλλ´ ὑπ´ ἀνδρὸς ἐξ οὕτω λυπρᾶς καὶ ἀδόξου πόλεως ἀπώλοντο, καὶ ἴσχυσεν ὁ τῆς Ἰθάκης πολίτης περιγενέσθαι τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Ἰλίου πάντων, καὶ τὴν εὐρυάγυιαν ἅπασαν (23) πορθῆσαι καὶ ἀνελεῖν; οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδ´ οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἔτι τοὺς ἀσελγεῖς καὶ ἄφρονας καὶ ἀκολάστους καὶ πρὸς ὕβριν ἐγκλίνοντας καὶ ῥᾳθυμίαν καὶ τρυφήν. ὥστε μὴ τούτοις θαρρεῖτε μηδὲ ἀποδέχεσθε τὸν συνηδόμενον ὑμῖν καὶ θαυμάζοντα λόγον μηδὲ τοὺς δεινοὺς ἐγκωμιάζειν· οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ ἐξαπατῶσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ μάτην ἐπαίρουσιν, ὥσπερ νηπίους παῖδας· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον, ὃς ὑμῖν δείξει τι τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, καὶ πρῶτον ἁπάντων, ἂν δύνηται, παρασκευάσει φρονεῖν ὑμᾶς, ὅτι τούτων ἕνεκεν, ὧν εἶπον, οὐκ ἐστὲ εὐδαίμονες, οὐδ´ ἂν ὁ Νεῖλος ὑμῶν διέρχηται τὴν πόλιν τῆς Κασταλίας γενόμενος διαυγέστερος, οὐδ´ ἂν ὁ Πακτωλὸς ἐνθάδε φανεὶς μὴ κατὰ ψῆγμα τὸ χρυσίον ὑμῖν φέρῃ, καθάπερ φασὶ Λυδοῖς πρότερον, ἀλλ´ ἄθρουν ὥσπερ ἰλύν, μηδ´ ἂν Αἴγυπτον ἢ Βαβυλῶνα (24) τῇ πολυτελείᾳ τῶν οἰκοδομημάτων ὑπερβάλλησθε. εἰ γὰρ ταῦτα δύναται ποιεῖν ἀνθρώπους μακαρίους, ποταμὸς ἢ κρᾶσις ἀέρος ἢ τόπος γῆς ἢ καὶ θαλάττης {λιμένες} ἢ ναὸς ἢ τεῖχος, οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὅσων λείπεσθε. Βυζαντίους ἐκείνους ἀκούετε παρ´ αὐτὸν οἰκοῦντας τὸν Πόντον, μικρὸν ἔξω τοῦ στόματος, αὐτομάτων ἰχθύων αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἐκπιπτόντων ἐνίοτε· ἀλλ´ ὅμως οὐδεὶς ἂν εἴποι διὰ τὸν ἰχθῦν εὐδαίμονας Βυζαντίους, εἰ μὴ καὶ τοὺς λάρους, οὐδὲ Αἰγυπτίους διὰ τὸν Νεῖλον οὐδὲ Βαβυλωνίους διὰ τὸ τεῖχος.

[33,20] Did Troy receive any benefit from either the magnitude of its wealth, or the number of its subjects or allies, or the beauty of its fields, or of Mt. Ida or Simoïs or 'eddying Xanthus', "whom Zeus the immortal created" ? And yet the poet says that there were also certain springs of rare beauty in the suburbs, one that was warm and whose waters were most pleasant, such that steam actually rose from it, and the other as cold as ice, even in summer, so that both in summer and in winter the lovely daughters of the Trojans could do their washing without discomfort. And not only were the Trojans distinguished for wealth and richness of soil and number of inhabitants, but also human beings born at Troy were very beautiful, both men and women, horses were very fleet, the people were held to be dear to the gods, and they were fenced about with a circuit-wall most strong—in fact that wall of theirs was the work of Poseidon and Apollo. Moreover, Zeus declared that of all the cities beneath the sun he loved that city most. Such was the fleetness of their steeds that they could run upon the tips of the heads of grain, such the beauty of Ganymede that he was made the cupbearer of Zeus ; and Alexander lured away from Greece the noblest woman of that land ; as for Cassandra, Homer declares that she was not inferior to Aphroditê in beauty. (22) But despite all that, because luxury and insolence came among them and they thought they had no need of culture and sobriety, they have become by far the most unfortunate of all men. Has not the whole earth been filled with the tale of their disasters ? Yea, neither the speed of their horses nor Zeus nor Ganymede availed them aught, but a man from a city so wretched and obscure destroyed them, and that citizen of Ithaca was able to overcome the men of Ilium one and all and to pillage utterly and destroy the `wide-wayed land.' (23) Aye, the gods no longer love men who are wanton and senseless and unrestrained and inclined toward insolence and laziness and luxury. Therefore, rely not on these speakers of yours and do not accept their words of congratulation and admiration or the men themselves who are so clever at singing praises ; for they only deceive and vainly excite you like foolish children; but rather welcome the man who will point out to you some of your faults, and will first of all, if he can, enable you to think, because such things as I have named do not make you blessed, not even if the mighty Nile itself should flow through your city with waters clearer than Castalia ; not even if Pactolus, appearing here, should bear to you its gold, not grain by grain, as they say it used to do for the Lydians in days gone by, but in a mass like mud ; not even if you should surpass Egypt and Babylon in the costliness of your buildings. For if these are the things which can make men blessed—rivers or climate or situation or even harbours opening on the sea or temples or fortifications—it is impossible to list the cities that surpass you. You are told that the people of Byzantium yonder, who dwell close beside the Pontus itself but a short distance outside its entrance (reap much profit from their situation), since from time to time fish are thrown out upon their shores without man's intervention ; but still no one would call Byzantines blessed beeause of the fish—unless he would say the same of cormorants—nor would he call Egyptians blessed because of the Nile, or Babylonians because of their wall.