[34,5] καίτοι τὰ μὲν τῶν οἰωνῶν εἰκάζειν δεῖ, τῶν δὲ ὑπ´ ἐμοῦ λεγομένων ἔστιν ἀκούσασι συνιέναι καὶ σκέψασθαι, ἐὰν ἄρα σαφῶς ᾖ τι χρήσιμον. βούλομαι δέ, ἐπεὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἐμνήσθην, ἐν Φρυγίᾳ τι συμβὰν εἰπεῖν, ἵν´ εὐθὺς ἐνθένδε μου καταγελᾶν ἔχητε. ἀνὴρ Φρὺξ ἐπὶ κτήνους ἐβάδιζεν. ὡς δ´ ἐθεάσατό τινα κορώνην, οἰωνισάμενος, οἱ γὰρ Φρύγες τὰ τοιαῦτα δεινοί, λίθῳ βάλλει καί πως τυγχάνει αὐτῆς. πάνυ οὖν ἥσθη, καὶ νομίσας εἰς ἐκείνην τετράφθαι τὸ χαλεπὸν ἀναιρεῖται καὶ ἀναβὰς ἤλαυνεν. ἡ δὲ μικρὸν διαλιποῦσα ἀνέσφηλε· τὸ δὲ κτῆνος πτοηθὲν ἀποβάλλει τὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ ὃς πεσὼν κατάγνυσι τὸ σκέλος. ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν οὕτως (6) ἀπήλλαξεν, ἀχάριστος γενόμενος περὶ τὸ σύμβολον. ἐγὼ δὲ πολύ μοι δοκᾶ τῆς κορώνης ἀσφαλέστερον βεβουλεῦσθαι καὶ πρὸς εὐγνωμονεστέρους ἄνδρας ἥκειν τοῦ Φρυγός. ἐὰν γὰρ ὑμῖν δοκῶ φλυαρεῖν, οὐ δήπου λίθοις βαλεῖτέ με, ἀλλὰ θορυβήσετε. φέρε οὖν, ἐπεὶ σιωπᾶτε καὶ ὑπομένετε, πρῶτον μὲν ἐκεῖνο, εἰ μὴ σαφῶς ἴστε, ἐπιδείξω, ὅτι δεῖσθε γνώμης ἐν τῷ παρόντι, καὶ τοιαῦτα ὑμῶν τὰ πράγματά ἐστιν ὥστε βουλῆς ἄξια εἶναι καὶ πολλῆς προνοίας· ἔπειθ´, ὅτι μηδεὶς ὑμῖν δύναται ῥᾳδίως τούτων τὸ δέον παραινέσαι, οἱ μὲν ἀγνοίᾳ τοῦ συμφέροντος, οἱ δέ τινες καὶ δειλίᾳ τῇ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἢ τῇ πρὸς ἑτέρους καὶ τὸ αὑτῶν ἴσως μᾶλλον (7) ἔνιοι σκοποῦντες· ἔπειτα, ἣν αὐτὸς ἔχω γνώμην περὶ τούτων, καὶ τί πράξασιν ὑμῖν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος καὶ πῶς καθόλου προϊσταμένοις τῆς πόλεως εἰς ἅπαντα καὶ τὸν αὖθις οἶμαι συνοίσειν χρόνον. ὑμῖν γάρ, ἄνδρες Ταρσεῖς, συμβέβηκε μὲν πρώτοις εἶναι τοῦ ἔθνους, οὐ μόνον τῷ μεγίστην ὑπάρχειν τὴν πόλιν τῶν ἐν τῇ Κιλικίᾳ καὶ μητρόπολιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ἀλλ´ ὅτι καὶ τὸν δεύτερον Καίσαρα ὑπὲρ πάντας ἔσχετε οἰκείως ὑμῖν διακείμενον. τὸ γὰρ δι´ ἐκεῖνον ἀτύχημα τῇ πόλει συμβὰν εἰκότως αὐτὸν εὔνουν ὑμῖν ἐποίει καὶ σπουδάζειν, ὅπως μείζονες ὑμῖν φανήσονται τῶν δι´ αὐτὸν συμφορῶν (8) αἱ παρ´ αὐτοῦ χάριτες. τοιγαροῦν ἅ τις ἂν φίλοις ὄντως καὶ συμμάχοις καὶ τηλικαύτην προθυμίαν ἐπιδειξαμένοις κἀκεῖνος ὑμῖν παρέσχε, χώραν, νόμους, τιμήν, ἐξουσίαν τοῦ ποταμοῦ, τῆς θαλάττης τῆς καθ´ αὑτούς· ὅθεν ταχὺ μείζων ἐγένετο ἡ πόλις καὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ πολύν τινα χρόνον διελθεῖν τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ἁλώσεως, καθάπερ οἱ μεγάλῃ μὲν νόσῳ χρησάμενοι, ταχὺ δ´ ἀνασφήλαντες, ἐπειδὰν τύχωσιν ἱκανῆς τῆς μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπιμελείας, πολλάκις μᾶλλον (9) εὐέκτησαν. καὶ μὴν τά γε ἐφεξῆς οὐχ ὡς οἴεταί τις ὤνησε τὴν πόλιν τὸ γενέσθαι τινὰς τῶν ἡγεμόνων βιαίους καὶ τούτοις ἐπεξελθεῖν ὑμᾶς. πρὸς μέν γε τὸ φανῆναί τινας ὄντας καὶ μὴ μόνον ἑαυτοῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις βοηθῆσαι, καὶ νὴ Δία ὥστε τοὺς αὖθις ὀκνηρότερον ἐξαμαρτάνειν, συνήνεγκε τὸ δίκην ἐκείνους ὑποσχεῖν· ἄλλως δὲ τὴν πόλιν ἐπίφθονον ἐποίησε καὶ δυσχερεστέρους ὑμᾶς δοκεῖν φύσει καὶ ῥᾳδίως αἰτιᾶσθαι. τὸ γὰρ πολλάκις ἐγκαλεῖν ἤδη ποτὲ ἔδοξε τοῦ συκοφαντεῖν σημεῖον, ἄλλως τε ὁπόταν περὶ ἡγεμόνων ὁ λόγος ᾖ πρὸς ἡγεμόνας. οὐ γὰρ τῷ πλέον τι πάσχειν, ἀλλὰ τῷ μὴ ἐθέλειν ἄρχεσθαι τὴν ἀπέχθειαν ὑπονοοῦσι γίγνεσθαι.

[34,5] Moreover, the messages of birds of omen require conjecture for their interpretation, whereas, as soon as one has heard my message one can understand its meaning and can take it under consideration, if in fact it clearly is something useful. But now that I am on the subjcet, I want to tell you something that happened in Phrygia, in order that at the very outset you may have an opportunity to laugh at my expense. A man of Phrygia was riding on an ox. And when he spied a crow, having made the proper observation of the omen (for Phrygians are clever at that sort of thing), he hurled a stone at it and, by good luck, struck the bird. Accordingly he was much pleased, and, thinking that his own ill-fortune had thus been diverted to the crow, he picked up the bird, remounted the ox, and rode along. But the crow after a brief interval recovered ; and the ox, taking fright, threw the man, and he broke his leg in the fall. So that is the way he fared for having shown ingratitude for the sign. But I, methinks, have planned much more safely than the crow, and have corne to men who are more considerate than the Phrygian. For if I seem to you to be talking rubbish, you will surely not pelt me with stones but will merely raise a hubbub. Well then, since you are silent and indulgent toward me, first of all I wish to point out to you one thing, in case you are not fully aware of it —that you need good judgement in the present emergency, and that your problems are such as to merit counsel and much foresight ; secondly, that no man in this company can readily advise you as to the proper course of action, some being really ignorant of your true advantage and some being swayed by fear of you or of others, and in certain instances, I dare say, looking rather to their own interests. Next I shall indicate my own opinion with reference to these affairs and suggest by what course of action on your part at the moment and by what general policy in your leadership of the city, things will, as I believe, work out in all respects to your advantage for the future also. For, men of Tarsus, it has come to pass that you are foremost among your people, not merely because your city is the greatest of all the cities of Cilicia and a metropolis from the start, but also because you beyond all others gained the friendly support of the second Caesar. For the misfortune that befell the City on his account naturally made him well disposed toward you, and eager that the favours received at his hands should appear in your eyes of greater importance than the misfortunes he had occasioned. Accordingly everything a man might bestow upon those who were truly friends and allies and had displayed such eagerness in his behalf he has bestowed upon you : land, laws, honour, control of the river and of the sea in your quarter of the world. And this is why your city grew rapidly, and also because not much time had elapsed since its capture ; just as with men who have experienced serious illness but have speedily recovered : when they receive adequate care thereafter, they are frequently in better health than before. (9) Furthermore, as to subsequent events at least, contrary to popular belief it benefited your city when some of your superior officers proved to be men of violence and you proceeded to prosecute them. Certainly in order to show that you amounted to something, and could aid yourselves and others too—and also, by Zeus, to make their successors not quite so ready to do wrong—it was really beneficial for those men of violence to pay the penalty for their misdeeds ; and yet, in another way, it made the city an object of hatred, and gave you the reputation of being naturally captious and prone to bring accusations rashly. For to make many accusations has ere this been held to be a sign of malicious prosecution, especially when the accusation involves men in authority, and is brought before men in authority. For people suspect that the hostility arose, not because you were treated too severely, but because you were unwilling to submit to authority.