Texte grec :
| [38,25] καὶ διότι μὲν οὐδὲ ἐκείνοις ἐλυσιτέλησεν ἡ στάσις
καὶ ὁ πόλεμος, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγωνιζόμενοι περὶ τῶν πρωτείων
ἀπώλεσαν αὐτὰ ἀμφότεροι, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἅπαντες ἐκεῖνα ἴστε
καὶ ἴσως κἀγὼ μικρὸν ὕστερον ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἐρῶ. τί δέ; τοῦτο ὡς
ὅμοιον ἐκείνῳ προβαλλόμενοι λέγουσιν; Ἀθηναῖοι περὶ τοῦ φόρους
λαμβάνειν παρὰ τῶν νησιωτῶν ἐπολέμουν, καὶ περὶ τοῦ δικάζειν
οἴκοι τὰς ἁπάντων δίκας {Ἑλλήνων} ἠγωνίζοντο, καὶ καθόλου περὶ
βασιλείας ὁ πόλεμος ἦν ταῖς πόλεσιν ἐκείναις.
(26) ἡμεῖς δὲ ἂν ἀπολάβωμεν τὸ πρωτεῖον ἀμαχεὶ παραδόντων αὐτὸ τῶν
Νικαέων, πότερα ληψόμεθα τοὺς φόρους, οὓς νῦν ἐκεῖνοι λαμβάνουσιν; ἢ
τὰς πόλεις τὰς συντελούσας εἰς τὸ παρ´ ἐκείνοις δικαστήριον
ἐνταυθοῖ καλέσομεν; ἢ πέμψομεν αὐτοῖς ἁρμοστάς; ἢ δεκάτας τὰς
παρὰ τῶν Βιθυνῶν ἐκείνοις ἔλαττον παρέξομεν; ἢ τί ἔσται; καὶ
τί ἡμῖν γενήσεται πλέον; ἐγὼ γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων νομίζω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους
τῶν πραττομένων οὐχὶ μάτην οὐδὲ εἰκῇ σπουδάζειν, ἀλλ´
ἀεὶ γίγνεσθαι τὸν ἀγῶνα ἀντί τινος.
(27) ὁ μὲν γὰρ πολεμῶν ἢ περὶ ἐλευθερίας ἀγωνίζεται, καταδουλουμένων
αὐτὸν ἄλλων, ἢ περὶ ἀρχῆς, αὐτὸς ἑτέρους καταδουλούμενος. ὁ δὲ πλέων τὴν
θάλατταν οὐκ ἄλην εἰκῇ διατίθεται· κινδυνεύει γὰρ ἤτοι γε ὁδοῦ χάριν ἢ
ἐμπορίας. ἵνα δὲ μὴ πάντα φέρω τὰ παραδείγματα, ἁπλῶς καὶ
πράττομεν ἅπαντα οἱ ἄνθρωποι τέλους ἕνεκεν ἀγαθοῦ καὶ φεύγομεν
τὰς ἐναντίας πράξεις τέλους ἕνεκεν κακοῦ. τὸ δὲ χωρὶς αἰτίας
σπουδάζειν ἢ πονεῖν, τοῦτ´ ἔστιν ὃ τοῖς ἀνοήτοις προσήκει μόνοις.
(28) εἰ μὲν οὖν τις σπουδὴν ἔχοι καλεῖσθαι βασιλεὺς ἰδιώτης ὤν, καὶ
τοῦτο ἄριστα ἐπιστάμενος αὐτὸς ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ, τοὐναντίον οὗτος
ἢ δοκεῖ γέλωτα ὀφλήσει, χρώμενος ὀνόματι ψευδεῖ δίχα πράγματος.
καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ ὁμοίως ἁπάντων, κἂν αὐλητής τις ἐθέλῃ
δοκεῖν, αὐλεῖν οὐκ ἐπιστάμενος, κἂν μουσικὸς οὐδὲν ὑπὲρ μουσικῆς
εἰδώς, κἂν κιθαριστὴς οὐδὲ ἅψασθαι τῆς λύρας ἐπιστημόνως δυνάμενος.
τοὺς μὲν οὖν τοιούτους οὐδὲν κωλύσει καὶ μαινομένους δοκεῖν,
ἡμεῖς δὲ οἰόμεθα, ἐὰν ἐπιγραφῶμέν που πρῶτοι, τὸ πρωτεῖον ἕξειν;
(29) ποῖον, ἄνδρες Νικομηδεῖς, πρωτεῖον; καὶ γὰρ δεύτερον
ὑμᾶς ἐρήσομαι καὶ τρίτον· οὗ τί τὸ ὄφελός ἐστιν; οὗ τί τὸ ἔργον; ἀφ´
οὗ πότερον πλουσιώτεροι γενησόμεθα ἢ μείζονες ἢ δυνατώτεροι; τὸ
κενοδοξεῖν ἀνόητον μὲν εἶναι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν νενόμισται, καὶ
μάλιστα τούτων καταγελῶμεν καὶ διαπτύομεν {αὐτοῖς} καὶ τελευτῶντες
ἐλεοῦμεν τοὺς οὐκ ἐπισταμένους τίνι διαφέρει δόξα ψευδὴς ἀληθοῦς·
καὶ τῶν πεπαιδευμένων οὐδεὶς οὕτως ἔχει πρὸς αὐτὴν {ὡς ἐπιθυμεῖν
ἀνονήτου πράγματος}· ταῖς δὲ πόλεσι φῇ τις κοινῇ προσήκειν
ὅσα μηδὲ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν τοῖς γενναίοις καὶ πεπαιδευμένοις;
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Traduction française :
| [38,25] Moreover, that strife and
warfare were not profitable in their case either, but
in struggling with one another for the primacy they
both lost it, you all know and I myself may possibly
mention a bit later. What then ? In proposing
this struggle of yours do they speak of it as similar
to that of the Athenians and the Spartans ? The
Athenians waged war that they might continue to
receive tribute from the islanders, and they and their
opponents fought each other over the right of every
man to have his lawsuits tried in his own home city,
and, broadly speaking, the war between those states
was for the prize of empire.
(26) But if we recover the primacy, the Nicaeans
relinquishing it without a fight, shall we receive the
tribute they get now ? Shall we summon for
trial here the cities which now are subject to their
jurisdiction ? Shall we send them military governors ?
Shall we any the less permit them to have
the tithes from Bithynia ? Or what will be the
situation ? And what benefit will accrue to us ?
For I believe that in all their undertakings men do
not exert themselves idly or at random, but that
their struggle is always for some end. For example,
the man who goes to war fights either for liberty—
in which case others are trying to enslave him—or
for sovereignty—in which case he himself is trying
to enslave the others. Similarly the man who goes to
sea does not undertake an aimless roving, for surely
the risks he takes are either for the purpose of
reaching some destination or else for trafficking.
But, not to present all the various illustrations, in
a word we human beings not only do all we do
because of an end that is good, but we also avoid
the opposite activities because of an end that is
evil. On the other hand, to exert oneself or toil
without a reason is appropriate for fools alone. If,
for example, a man should entertain a serious purpose
to be called King when he is merely a private
citizen—and when, moreover, he knows that fact
about himself perfectly well—quite contrary to his
fond imagining, he would become a laughing-stock,
inasmuch as he would be using a false title devoid
of reality. And it is much the same in all the other
matters too, whether a man wishes to be thought a
flautist when he doesn't know how to blow the pipes,
or musical when he knows nothing of the art of music,
or a player of the cithara when he cannot even touch
the harp intelligently. While, therefore, there will
be nothing to prevent men like that from being
deemed actually crazy, do we imagine that, provided
we are somewhere registered as " first," we shall
actually have the primacy ? (29) What kind of primacy,
men of Nicomedia ? You see, I am going to ask
you a second time, and even a third time. A
primacy whose utility is what ? Whose function is
what ? One by reason of which we shall become
wealthier or greater or more powerful ? Vainglory
has corne to be regarded as a foolish thing even in
private individuals, and we ou selves deride and
loathe, and end by pitying, those persons above all
who do not know wherein false glory differs from
the genuine ; besides, no educated man has such a
feeling about glory as to desire a foolish thing.
Shall we say, then, that all those things befit our
cities as communities which do not befit even persons
in private life who are men of breeding and cultivation ?
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