Texte grec :
| [34,35] ἔνιοι δ´, ἂν εἰς ἀρχήν τινα καταστῶσιν, ἐν ἐκείνῃ μόνον ζητοῦσιν ἅψασθαί
τινος πράξεως, ὅπως ἀπέλθωσιν ἐνδοξότεροι, τοῦτο μόνον σκοποῦντες.
τοιγαροῦν πρὸς ἓξ μῆνάς εἰσιν ὑμῖν ἀνδρεῖοι, πολλάκις οὐδὲ ἐπὶ
τῷ συμφέροντι τῆς πόλεως. ὥστε νῦν μέν ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ λέγων,
κἀκείνῳ ἔτι εὐθὺς ἄλλος, εἶθ´ ἕτερος· καὶ τὸν πρὸ τριάκοντα ἡμερῶν
λαμπρὸν καὶ μόνον φάσκοντα κήδεσθαι τῆς πόλεως οὐδ´ ἰδεῖν
(36) ἔστι προσιόντα τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, καθάπερ οἶμαι τῶν πομπευόντων
αὐτὸς ἕκαστος ὀφθῆναι ἐπιθυμῶν κατὰ τοῦτ´ ἐσπούδακεν, ἕως ἂν
παρέλθῃ, μικρὸν δὲ ἀποστὰς ἔλυσε τὸ σχῆμα καὶ τῶν ἄλλων εἷς
ἐστι καὶ ὅπως δήποτε ἄπεισιν. ἐχρῆν μέντοι τὸν μὲν πρυτανεύοντα
τῆς ἀρχῆς τοὺς ἓξ μῆνας ἡγεῖσθαι μέτρον· τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ νόμος
κελεύει· τὸν μέντοι γε πολιτευόμενον τῆς εὐνοίας τῆς πρὸς
ὑμᾶς καὶ τῆς ὑπὲρ τῶν κοινῶν ἐπιμελείας καὶ σπουδῆς μὴ μὰ Δία
καιρόν τινα ἐξαίρετον ἔχειν, καὶ ταῦτα βραχὺν οὕτως, ἀλλ´ εἰς
(37) αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἀποδύεσθαι καὶ ἀεὶ παραμένειν. νῦν δὲ ὥσπερ οἱ
τοῖς ἀπογείοις, μᾶλλον δὲ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν γνόφων πνεύμασι πλέοντες,
οὕτως φέρεσθε, ἄνδρες Ταρσεῖς, οὔτε τῆς τοιαύτης πολιτείας
οὔτ´ ἐκείνου τοῦ πλοῦ βέβαιον οὐδ´ ἀσφαλὲς ἔχοντος οὐδέν.
διαρκέσαι μὲν γὰρ ἄχρι παντὸς {ἢ διαστήματος} οὐχ οἷαί τέ εἰσιν αἱ
τοιαῦται προσβολαί, πολλάκις δὲ κατέδυσαν ἀκαίρως προσπεσοῦσαι.
ἔδει δὲ πόλιν οὕτως μεγάλην καὶ λαμπρὰν ἔχειν τοὺς ἀληθῶς
προνοοῦντας. ταύτῃ δὲ ἴσως ὑπὸ τῶν ἐφημέρων τούτων καὶ πρὸς
ὀλίγον δημαγωγῶν οὐδὲν ἔστιν ἀγαθὸν παθεῖν.
(38) περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων καὶ μυρίων ἄλλων πολλὰ ἂν ἔχοι τις
λέγειν. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀφ´ ἧς ἐπεδήμησα ἡμέρας ὑμῖν γέγονα
δημαγωγός, καὶ ταῦτα ἐπιτιμῶν τοῖς τοιούτοις, * ὅμως εἰπεῖν ἅπερ
ὑπεσχόμην, ἃ γιγνώσκω περὶ τῶν παρόντων. καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τὰ
πρὸς τὸν στρατηγόν. ἔσται δέ μοι περὶ πάντων ὁ λόγος. φημὶ
δὴ τοίνυν τοὺς ἐν τοιαύτῃ καταστάσει τυγχάνοντας, ὁποία δὴ τὰ
νῦν ἐστι παρὰ πᾶσιν, οὕτω προσήκειν φρονεῖν, ὡς μήτε πάντα
ἀνεξομένους καὶ παρέξοντας αὑτοὺς ἁπλῶς χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς
ἐξουσίας, ὅπως ἂν αὐτοὶ θέλωσι, κἂν εἰς ὁτιοῦν προΐωσιν ὕβρεως
καὶ πλεονεξίας, μήτε ὡς ὅλως μηδὲν οἴσοντας διακεῖσθαι, μηδὲ
προσδοκᾶν ὅτι Μίνως τις ὑμῶν ἀφίξεται νῦν ἢ Περσεὺς ἐπιμελησόμενος.
(39) τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐφ´ ἅπαν ἀποστῆναι τοῦ βοηθεῖν αὑτοῖς
ἀνδραπόδων ἐστί, καὶ δυσχερές, εἰ μηδεὶς ὄκνος μηδὲ ὑποψία καταλειφθήσεται
τοῖς ἀγνωμονοῦσιν. τὸ δὲ πλῆθος ἀπεχθάνεσθαι
καὶ πάντα ἐξετάζειν οὐχ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐστιν. ἐὰν γὰρ ἀλόγως ἐνίοτε
ἐγκαλεῖν δόξητε καί τις ὑμῶν περιγένηται· διὰ πολλὰς δ´ ἂν αἰτίας
τοῦτο συμβαίη· δέδοικα μὴ τελέως ἀποβάλητε τὴν παρρησίαν.
ὁρᾶτε δὲ τοὺς περὶ τὴν Ἰωνίαν, ὅτι μηδενὸς ἁπλῶς κατηγορεῖν
ἐψηφίσαντο. δεῖ δὴ τοὺς νοῦν ἔχοντας ἅπαντα ταῦτα προορᾶσθαι,
καὶ μὴ καθάπερ τοὺς ἀπείρους ἐν τῷ μάχεσθαι ῥᾳδίως ἀφέντας
τὸ παρὸν αὐτοῖς ἀνόπλους εἶναι τὸ λοιπὸν καὶ μηδὲν ἔχειν ποιῆσαι,
μηδ´ ἂν ἀποσφάττῃ τις.
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Traduction française :
| [34,35] And some, in case they do accept office, seek therein
only to engage in some enterprise out of which they
may emerge with added glory for themselves, making
that their sole aim. Accordingly for six months
they are your `men of valour,' frequently not to the
advantage of the city either. And so at one moment
it is So-and-so who makes the motions, and hard upon
his heels cornes someone else in quick succession,
and then a third; and he who but one brief month
ago was resplendent and claimed to be the only one
who cared for the city cannot be seen even coming
to the assembly. It reminds me of a parade, in which
each participant, eager to catch the public eye, exerts
himself to that end until he has passed beyond the
spectators, but when he gets a short distance away,
he relaxes his pose and is just one of the many and
goes home in happy-go-lucky style. However, while
your president should regard his six months as the
limit to his term of office—for so the law prescribes —
still the statesman should not, by heaven, observe
any set term for the exercise of benevolence toward
you and of care and concern for the commonwealth —
and that too a term so brief—nay, he should strip
for action for that very purpose and hold himself
in readiness for service constantly. But at present,
just like men who sail with offshore breezes—or
rather with gusts from the storm-clouds—so are you
swept along, men of Tarsus, though neither such
statecraft nor such voyaging has aught of certainty
or of safety in it. For such blasts are not the kind
to last for ever or to blow devoid of interruption,
but they often sink a ship by falling upon it with
undiminished violence. And a city of such size and
splendour as your own should have men who truly
take thought on its behalf. But as things go now,
I dare say, under these transitory, short-lived
demagogues no good can come to you.
(38) Well then, on these topics, as well as on countless
others too, there is a great deal one might say.
But since I myself also from the very day of my
arrival here have played the demagogue for you,
and that too though I find fault with men of that
sort, I must notwithstanding express my opinion
regarding your present situation, as indeed I promised
to do. And first of all, your dealings with the
general—but what I have to say will cover everything.
Very well then, I say that men who find
themselves in such a situation as yours, which of
course is the common situation everywhere today,
should be so minded as not, on the one hand, to submit
to any and every thing and allow those in authority
to treat them simply as they please, no matter to what
lengths of insolence and greed they may proceed;
nor, on the other hand, to be disposed to put up with
nothing disagreeable whatever, or to expect, as you
might, that some Minos or Perseus will arrive
in these days to take care of them. For to refrain
entirely from coming to one's own assistance is the
conduct of slaves, and it is a serious matter if no
remnant of hesitancy or distrust is to be left in the
minds of those who deal unfairly. And yet for the
populace to incur hatred and be constantly prying
into everything is not to your advantage either.
For if you get the reputation of making complaints
now and then without good reason, and someone gets
the better of you—and there are many reasons why
this might happen—I fear that you may lose the
right of free speech altogether. Pray consider what
the people of Ionia have done. They have passed
a decree prohibiting accusations against anyone at all.
So men of sense should foresee all these contingencies
and not, like men inexperienced in fighting, rashly
abandoning the equipment they have, be defenceless
from then on and unable to act at all, not even if an
enemy threatens them with slaughter.
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