[31,60] τί οὖν; οὐχὶ νενόμισται παρά γε τοῖς μὴ παντάπασιν ἀδίκοις τὸν ἀποστερούμενόν {τινος κτήματος} ὃ γοῦν κατατέθεικε κομίζεσθαι παρὰ τῶν εἰληφότων; ἆρ´ οὖν ἐθέλοιτ´ ἂν ἀποδοῦναι τὰς χάριτας, ἀνθ´ ὧν ἐψηφίσασθε ἐκείνοις τοὺς ἀνδριάντας; λυσιτελεῖ γοῦν ὑμῖν ἐκτίνουσιν, ἐπειδὴ τὸ λυσιτελὲς οἴονται δεῖν τινες ὁρᾶν ἐξ ἅπαντος. (31,61) ἐὰν οὖν ἢ πόλεμον ᾖ τις κατωρθωκώς, ὃν εἰ μὴ συνέβη κατορθῶσαι τοῖς τότε, ἡμεῖς οἱ νῦν οὐκ ἂν εἴχομεν τὴν πόλιν, ἢ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἡμῖν κεκομισμένος ἢ τῶν οἰκιστῶν ὑπάρχῃ τις· οὐ γὰρ ἔχομεν σαφῶς εἰπεῖν τίνες εἰσὶν οἷς συμβέβηκεν ἢ συμβήσεται, τοῦ πράγματος εἰκῇ γιγνομένου καὶ μόνον ἔθει τινί· μὴ δυσχερὲς εἰπεῖν ᾖ τὸ μετὰ ταῦτα ὅτι καὶ τῆς πόλεως αὐτῆς ἀποστῆναι δεήσει βουλομένους γε τὰ δίκαια ποιεῖν. εἰ δὲ δή τις εἴη τι τοιοῦτον δεδωκὼς ὃ μηδὲ βουληθέντας ἀποδοῦναι δυνατόν· μυρίοι δ´ εἰσὶν οἱ τὰς ψυχὰς προειμένοι {ἑαυτῶν} ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως καὶ τοῦ ζῆν ἐωνημένοι τὴν εἰκόνα καὶ τὴν ἐπιγραφήν, καθάπερ εἶπον καὶ πρότερον· (31,62) ἆρ´ οὐ δεινὰ πάσχουσιν; οὐ τοίνυν οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνο ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι οὐχὶ ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν οἱ ταῦτ´ εἰληφότες. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἅπαντα ὀφείλουσι τὰ τῶν προγόνων οὐχ ἧττον αὐτῶν ἐκείνων εἰς οὓς ἄν ποτε καθήκῃ τὸ γένος. οὐ γὰρ ἀφίστασθαί γε φήσετε τῆς διαδοχῆς. εἶτα πάνθ´ ὅσα ἐξ ὧν τότε ἐκείνους τινὲς εὐηργετήκασι καὶ προυθυμοῦντο πάσχοντες ἢ δρῶντες ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν συνήχθη χρήσιμα καὶ μεγάλα, ὑμῖν ἔστι νῦν· ἡ δόξα τῆς πόλεως, τὸ μέγεθος, τὸ χωρὶς μιᾶς αὐτὴν πασῶν τῶν ἄλλων ὑπερέχειν. (31,63) εἰ τοίνυν, ὅτι {μὴ} παρ´ ὑμῶν εἰλήφασι, διὰ τοῦτο ἔλαττον ἀδικεῖν οἴεσθε, ἢ εἴ τι τῶν ἄλλως ὑπαρχόντων τινὸς ἀφῃρεῖσθε, τῶν ἄγαν τι φανερῶν ἀγνοεῖτε· πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι πάντες οἵ τινα ἀποστεροῦντες ὁτιοῦν κἀκεῖνον ἀδικοῦσιν οὐχ ἧττον, παρ´ οὗ ποτ´ ἂν τοῦτο εἰληφὼς τύχῃ· οἷον οἱ τῶν δημοσίων τι καταλύοντος οἰκοδομημάτων, ὅ τις τῶν καθ´ ἕνα ἐποίησε χαριζόμενος ὑμῖν, μᾶλλον ἂν δόξειαν τὸν ποιήσαντα ἀδικεῖν ἢ τὴν πόλιν. οὐκοῦν ὁ αὐτὸς λόγος κἂν ἡ πόλις ᾖ τι τῶν ἰδιωτῶν τινι δεδωκυῖα πρὸς τὸν ἀφαιρούμενον τοῦτο. τοιγαροῦν ὑμεῖς πρὸς ἐκείνοις, ὧν τὰς εἰκόνας ἀνεστήσατε, καὶ τὴν πόλιν οἶμαι τὴν δεδωκυῖαν ἀδικεῖτε, τοῦτ´ ἔστιν ἑαυτούς. (31,64) ἀλλ´ ὁ μὲν εἰς ἄλλον ἁμαρτὼν ὥστε ἑαυτὸν ὠφελῆσαι κακίᾳ μόνον ἐστὶν ἔνοχος τοῖς πολλοῖς· ὁ δ´ ἑαυτὸν ἀδικῶν ἐν οἷς ἕτερον τῆς μὲν πονηρίας ὑπερβολήν τινα ἔδειξεν, ἐκ περιττοῦ δὲ ἀνόητος δοκεῖ. πρὸς τούτῳ δ´ ἂν ἴδοι τις καὶ ἕτερον. ὁ μὲν ἀφαιρούμενος ἁπλῶς ὅ τις ἔχει δικαίως ὅτῳ δήποτε τρόπῳ κτησάμενος κατ´ αὐτὸ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἁμαρτάνει, φύσει τι ποιῶν ἄτοπον· ὁ δὲ τῶν ὑφ´ ἑαυτοῦ δεδομένων ἐν μέρει τιμῆς καὶ χάριτός τινα ἀποστερῶν οὐ μόνον τὸ κοινὸν τοῦτο παραβαίνει, καθ´ ὃ προσήκει μηδένα βλάπτειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ χρηστὸν ἄνδρα ἀδικεῖ, καὶ τοῦτον ὃν ἥκιστα αὐτῷ προσῆκεν. {οὐδαμῇ γὰρ ἰδεῖν ἔστι τοῖς φαύλοις τὰς τιμὰς διδομένας οὐδὲ ὑφ´ ὧν μηδὲν εὖ πεπόνθασιν.} (31,65) ὅσῳ δὴ χεῖρον τὸ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τιμὰς ἢ τὸ τοὺς ἄλλους καὶ τὸ τοὺς εὐεργέτας βλάπτειν τοῦ τὸν τυχόντα ἀδικεῖν οὐδένα λανθάνει. καὶ τοίνυν καὶ τοὺς Ἐφεσίους, εἴ τις ἀφέλοι τὸ πρὸς τὴν θεόν, κατ´ αὐτὸ τοῦτο φαίη τις ἂν ἧττον ἁμαρτάνειν λαβόντας ἀπ´ ἐκείνων τῶν χρημάτων ἢ τοὺς οὕτω προσφερομένους ταῖς εἰκόσιν, οὐ μόνον διὰ τὰ νῦν εἰρημένα δήπουθεν, ὅτι μηδὲν προσήκοντας ἀνθρώπους ἔμελλον ἀδικεῖν, ὧν τοὺς πολλοὺς οὐδὲ ἔγνωσαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ πράγματος αἰτίαν. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ παρακαταθήκην τινὰ μὴ φυλάξασιν οὐδεὶς ἂν οὐδὲν ἔτι τῶν ἑαυτοῦ πιστεύσειεν· τοὺς δὲ ὑβρίζοντας εἰς τοὺς εὐεργέτας οὐδεὶς κρινεῖ χάριτος ἀξίους. ὥσθ´ ὁ κίνδυνος ὑμῖν μὲν ἐν τῷ μηκέτ´ εὖ πάσχειν ὑπὸ μηδενός, ἐκείνοις δὲ ἐν τῷ μηκέτι φυλάττειν τὰ ἀλλότρια. (31,66) βούλομαι τοίνυν ὑμέτερόν τι ἔργον εἰπεῖν οὐ πάλαι μὲν γεγονός, εὐδοκιμοῦν δὲ παρὰ πᾶσιν οὐχ ἧττον τῶν πάνυ παλαιῶν, ἵν´ εἰδῆτε παραθέντες, εἰ καθόλου τοὺς τοιούτους ἄξιόν ἐστι τοιοῦτόν τι ποιεῖν. μετὰ γὰρ τὸν συνεχῆ καὶ μακρὸν ἐκεῖνον Ῥωμαίων πόλεμον, ὃν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐπολέμησαν, ὅτε ὑμῖν ἀτυχῆσαι συνέβη διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν δῆμον εὔνοιαν, ἐπειδὴ πέρας εἶχε τὰ δεινὰ καὶ πάντες ᾤοντο σεσῶσθαι, καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς μεγάλαις νόσοις πολλάκις δεινοῦ τινος ἐδέησε βοηθήματος, καὶ τότε ἔδοξε τὰ πράγματα ζητεῖν τοιαύτην ἐπανόρθωσιν. ὅθεν πᾶσιν ἐδόθη τοῖς ἔξωθεν χρεῶν ἄφεσις. (31,67) ἀσμένως δὲ αὐτῶν προσεμένων καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα δωρεὰν ἡγησαμένων, μόνοι τῶν ἄλλων ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἐδέξασθε, καίτοι τῆς ἁλώσεως ὑμῖν, ὅπερ ἔφην, ἄρτι γεγενημένης καὶ τῶν πολεμίων ἐν τῇ πόλει τὰς οἰκίας μόνον εἰακότων· ἀλλ´ ὅμως δεινὸν ὑμῖν ἔδοξε τὸ ἐν ὁποίῳ δήποτε καιρῷ παραβῆναί τι τῶν δικαίων καὶ διὰ τὰς συμφορὰς τὰς καταλαβούσας ἔτι καὶ τὴν πίστιν ἀνελεῖν τὴν παρ´ αὑτοῖς· καὶ τἄλλα πάντα Ῥωμαίοις παραχωροῦντες οὐκ ἠξιώσατε καθ´ ἓν τοῦτο παραχωρῆσαι, τὸ μηδὲν αἰσχρὸν αἱρεῖσθαι κέρδους ἕνεκα. (31,68) ὧν γὰρ οἶμαι τὴν ἐκείνων πόλιν ἑωρᾶτε μὴ δεηθεῖσαν δι´ ἀρετὴν ἅμα καὶ εὐτυχίαν, τούτου τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀπεφήνατε μὴ δεομένην διὰ μόνην τὴν ἀρετήν. οὐ τοίνυν φήσετε ἔλαττον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ῥόδιοι, τὴν χάριν ὀφείλεσθαι τοῖς εὖ πεποιηκόσιν ἢ τοῖς συμβαλοῦσι τὸ χρέος. εἶτα τὸ μὲν μὴ ἑκόντας ἐκτίνειν τὰ ὀφειλόμενα δεινὸν ὑμῖν ἔδοξε, τὸ δὲ ἀποδόντας ἀφαιρεῖσθαι μέτριον. οὐ γὰρ δὴ τὸ μετὰ πάντων ἀσχημονεῖν τοῦ μόνους αἴσχιον ὑπειλήφατε. καίτοι τοσαύτης μεταβολῆς καθ´ ὃν εἴρηκα καιρὸν γενομένης καὶ περὶ πάντα συγχύσεως, τά γε δοθέντα ὑπῆρχε βεβαίως ἔχειν τοῖς προειληφόσι, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐτόλμησεν εἰσπράττειν τοὺς ἤδη τι κεκομισμένους. ὑμεῖς δὲ νῦν οὐδὲ ἃ ἔφθητε διαλῦσαι τοῖς εὐεργέταις ἐᾶτε, ἀλλ´ οἱ μηδὲ τῶν αὐτῶν μηδὲν ὑπομείναντες τότε τοῖς ἄλλοις, καὶ ταῦτα ἐπταικότες, νῦν εὐτυχοῦντες πράττετε ὃ μηδὲ ἐκείνων τότε μηδὲ εἷς. (31,69) καίτοι τὸ μὲν τῶν χρεῶν γεγονὸς εὕροι τις ἂν καὶ ἐν ἄλλῳ χρόνῳ καὶ Σόλωνα λέγεται παρὰ Ἀθηναίοις ποτὲ ποιῆσαι. δίχα γὰρ τοῦ πολλάκις ἀναγκαίως αὐτὸ συμβαίνειν ἐκ τῆς ἀπορίας τῶν δεδανεισμένων ἔσθ´ ὅτε οὐδὲ ἀδίκως γίγνεται διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν τόκων, ὅταν τινὲς πολλάκις ὦσιν ἐν τούτοις τὰ ἀρχαῖα κεκομισμένοι. τὸ δὲ τὰς χάριτας τὰς ἀντὶ τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν ἀποστερεῖσθαι τοὺς εἰληφότας οὔτε ἀφορμὴν οὐδεμίαν δύναται παρασχεῖν εὔλογον οὔτε εἰσηγήσατο οὐδεὶς πώποτε, ἀλλὰ μόνου τούτου σχεδὸν ἁπάντων οὐδέποτε καιρὸς γέγονε.

[31,60] Well, what then? Is it not the established usage, at any rate among men who are not utterly lacking in sense of justice, that whoever is dispossessed of any piece of property should recover at least what he paid from those who have seized it? Would you, then, be willing to give back the favours in return for which you voted those honoured men their statues? It is to your advantage, at any rate, to make payment — since there are those who think a man ought to look out for his own advantage from whatever source. 61 Therefore, if a man has carried through a war successfully, a war so threatening that, had he not had the good fortune to win it for the people of his day, we who now live would not have our city, or if he has won back our freedom for us, or is one of the Restorers of our city — for we cannot state specifically what persons have enjoyed (p67) this good fortune, or will enjoy it, since that comes as it will and only by caprice, so to speak — I am afraid the conclusion may be unpleasant to state, namely, that if we wish to do the right thing, we shall actually have to cede to him the city herself! But if there should be any man who has indeed made such a splendid offering that even with the best of intentions we are unable to repay him — and countless are those who have sacrificed their lives on behalf of the city and at the price of life itself have bought their statue and the inscription — are they not, as I asked before, being treated shamefully? 62 And what is more, we cannot say that it is not ourselves who have received these benefits. For, in the first place, all the obligations incurred by our ancestors are debts which are owed, no less than they were owed by the ancestors themselves, by all those to whom their blood has descended. For you will not say that you withdraw from the succession! In the second place, all the benefits, valuable and great as they are, which have accrued from the services which certain men rendered to your ancestors in their time, and from what they gladly suffered or did in their behalf, are now yours: the glory of your city, its greatness, its pre-eminence over all other cities save one. 63 If, therefore, simply because these benefactors did not receive their gifts from you directly, you think you are committing a lesser wrong than if you take away from a man a piece of property that came into his hands in some other way, you are blind to truths most patent: first, that all those who deprive anybody of anything whatsoever do just as great a wrong to the man from whom he once happens to have received it; for instance, (p69) those who demolish any public building which some individual benefactor built as an expression of his gratitude to you, would seem to wrong the builder more than the city. Therefore, when it is the city that has given something to one of its own citizens, the same argument applies to the man who would deprive him of this. For this reason, in addition to wronging the persons whose statues you have set up, you are also, in my opinion, wronging the city which gave them, that is, your own selves. 64 But whereas he who sins against another man and thereby benefits himself is guilty of wrongdoing only, in the eyes of the majority, he who wrongs his own self while wronging another man shows an exceeding measure of depravity and is looked upon as needlessly a fool also. Besides this, one might consider another point also. The man who simply takes away from any one that which is justly in his possession, no matter how he got it, errs in this very act, since he is doing a thing which is by its very nature unseemly; but the man who deprives any one of what he himself has given in the way of honour and gratitude, not only violates that universal principle which says that we should injure no one, but also does wrong to a good man, and that, too, the man whom he ought least of all to wrong. For in no case do you see honours being given to worthless men or to those from whom no benefit has been received. 65 How very much worse it is to rob good men of honours bestowed than to rob anybody else, and to injure your benefactors than to injure any chance person, is something that nobody fails to see. Moreover, let us take the case of the Ephesians: (p71) Leaving aside scruples having to do with the goddess, one would say that they commit a misdeed if they take from the deposits to which I have referred, so far as the act itself is concerned; but that people who treat the statues in this way do an injustice, not merely, to be sure, for the reasons already given — that they would be wronging persons in no wise related to themselves, the majority of whom they did not even know — but also on account of the ill repute which arises from their act. For to those who have not taken good care of a deposit entrusted to them nobody would thereafter entrust any of his own property; but those who insult their benefactors will by nobody be esteemed to deserve a favour. Consequently, the danger for you is that you will no longer receive benefactions at the hands of anybody at all, while the danger to the Ephesians is merely that they will no longer have other persons' property to take care of. 66 I wish, moreover, to mention a deed of yours which took place not very long ago, and yet is commended by everyone no less than are the deeds of the men of old, in order that you may know by making comparison whether on principle it is seemly for people like you to be guilty of such behaviour as this. After that continuous and protracted civil war among the Romans, during which it was your misfortune to suffer a reverse on account of your (p73) sympathy with the democracy, when, finally, the terrible scenes came to an end, and all felt they were safe at last, just as in a severe illness there is often need of some heroic remedy, so then, too, the situation seemed to require a similar corrective measure. Consequently all the provinces were granted a remission of their debts. 67 Now the others accepted it gladly, and saw in the measure a welcome gift; but you Rhodians alone of all rejected it, although the capture of your city had recently occurred, as I have said, and the enemy had spared nothing in the city except your dwellings. But nevertheless, you thought it would be a shame to violate any principle of justice in any crisis whatsoever and on account of the disasters that had befallen you to destroy your credit to boot; and while deferring to the Romans in everything else, you did not think it right to yield to them in this one respect — of choosing a dishonourable course for the sake of gain. 68 For the things, methinks, which you saw that Rome did not lack because of its high character at once and of its good fortune, these you demonstrated that your city did not lack, because of its high character alone. Certainly you will not say, men of Rhodes, that gratitude is owing less to those who have done a service than to those who were ready to contribute the amount of your debt. After that, though you thought it a scandal not to pay your debts willingly, yet is it an equitable (p75) act, having discharged an obligation, then to rob the recipient of his requital? For surely you have not supposed that it is more shameful to act dishonourably in common with all the world than to be alone in so doing! And yet when that great revolution occurred at the time I have mentioned and there was repudiation of every kind, the gifts which had been made remained undisturbed in the possession of those who had received them previously, and no one was so bold as to try to exact a return from those who already had anything. You, however, are at this present time not leaving undisturbed even what you were so prompt to pay to your benefactors, but although at that time you would not consent to follow in any respect the same course as all the others took, and that too, in spite of the reverses you had suffered, now when you are prosperous you do what not a single one of the peoples in that crisis did! 69 And yet the action taken in regard to the debts you will find was taken at other times as well; Solon, for instance, is said to have taken it once at Athens. For apart from the fact that this measure often becomes necessary in view of the insolvency of those who have contracted loans, there are times also when it is even justifiable on account of the high rate of interest, on occasions when lenders have got back in interest their principal many times over. But to deprive the recipients of the tokens of gratitude which they have received in return for their benefactions can find no plausible excuse, nor has anyone ever yet formally proposed the adoption of this procedure; no, this is almost the only thing in the world for which there has never yet been found any occasion.