A Treatise on the Virtues and on the Office of Ambassadors. Addressed to Caius.

 I. (1) How long shall we, who are aged men, still be like children, being indeed as to our bodies gray-headed through the length of time that we have

 II. (8) For who-when he saw Caius, after the death of Tiberius Caesar, assuming the sovereignty of the whole world in a condition free from all sediti

 III. (15) Accordingly, when the news was spread abroad that he was sick while the weather was still suitable for navigation (for it was the beginning

 IV. (22) At all events it was not long before Caius-who was now looked upon as a saviour and benefactor, and who was expected to shower down some fres

 V. (28) With these words he deceived both those who were present and the youth himself for his proposal was a mere bait, his intention being not to i

 VI. (32) But when this first and greatest undertaking had been accomplished by Caius, there being no longer left any one who had any connexion with th

 VII. (41) Therefore, as he knew that he had preserved him ten thousand times, when he was in the most imminent danger of being put to death, he used t

 VIII. (52) The unhappy man kept dinning suggestions of this kind into his ears in the hope of improving Caius but he, being a contentious and quarrel

 IX. (62) But after Macro and all his house had been sacrificed, Caius then began to design a third more grievous piece of treachery still. His fatheri

 X. (66) And by this time the matter began to be widely talked about in consequence of the continual deaths of so many eminent men, so that now these t

 XI. (74) Having now, then, entirely accomplished the three undertakings above-mentioned, with reference to three most important divisions, two of them

 XII. (86) All these beings, O Caius! were admired on account of the benefits which they had conferred on mankind, and they are admired for them even u

 XIII. (93) But the madness and frenzy to which he gave way were so preposterous, and so utterly insane, that he went even beyond the demigods, and mou

 XIV. (103) Again, of all the attributes of Apollo, what is there which in the least degree resembles his characteristics? He wears a crown emitting ra

 XV. (111) A man, indeed, may expect anything rather than that a man endowed with such a body and such a soul, when both of them are effeminate and bro

 XVI. (114) Have we not, then, learned from all these instances, that Caius ought not to be likened to any god, and not even to any demi-god, inasmuch

 XVII. (119) Therefore a most terrible and irreconcileable war was prepared against our nation, for what could be a more terrible evil to a slave than

 XVIII. (120) And the mixed and promiscuous multitude of the Alexandrians perceiving this, attacked us, looking upon it as a most favourable opportunit

 XIX. (127) As they then were no longer able to endure the misery of the place within which they were enclosed, they poured forth into desolate parts o

 XX. (132) But as the governor of the country, who by himself could, if he had chosen to do so, have put down the violence of the multitude in a single

 XXI. (140) Perhaps some people who would not have opened their mouths then will say now: They were accustomed to pay respect to the good deeds done b

 XXII. (148) Now this man who was so great a benefactor to them for the space of three and forty years, during which he reigned over Egypt, they passed

 XXIII. (152) Therefore, though they had such admirable pretexts for such conduct, and all the nations in every part of the world inclined to agree wit

 XXIV. (159) Therefore, all people in every country, even if they were not naturally well inclined towards the Jewish nation, took great care not to vi

 XXV. (162) But Caius puffed himself up with pride, not only saying, but actually thinking that he was a god. And then he found no people, whether amon

 XXVI. (166) The greater portion of these men ere Egyptians, wicked, worthless men, who had imprinted the venom and evil disposition of their native as

 XXVII. (171) By these preposterous and accursed arguments he excited his own expectations, and trained himself, and inflamed his own wishes and then

 XXVIII. (178) Accordingly, we being in a great strait and in most difficult circumstances, we, though we had availed ourselves of every expedient whic

 XXIX. (184) Having these ideas in my mind, I resisted the sanguine hopes of the others, and had no rest in my mind day or night. But while I was thus

 XXX. (197) These were the sort of things which we said, bewailing at the same time our unexpected calamities, and yet also encouraging one another wit

 XXXI. (207) And the letter respecting the erection of the statue was written not in plain terms, but with as much caution and prudence as possible, ta

 XXXII. (225) In this way did they bewail their fate but when the inhabitants of the holy city and of all the region round about heard of the design w

 XXXIII. (243) They uttered these complaints and entreaties with great agony and misery of soul, with exceeding sobbing and difficulty of speech, for a

 XXXIV. (254) And when his assessors had delivered their opinions, he commanded letters to be written, and appointed active men, who were accustomed to

 XXXV. (261) However a short time afterwards King Agrippa arrived in Rome, according to custom, to pay his respects to Caius, and he knew absolutely no

 XXXVI. (276) And having taken tablets, he writes to him in the following manner: O master, fear and shame have taken from me all courage to come into

 XXXVII. (294) But why need I invoke the assistance of foreign witnesses when I have plenty with whom I can furnish you from among your own countrymen

 XXXVIII. (299) Moreover, I have it in my power to relate one act of ambition on his part, though I suffered an infinite number of evils when he was a

 XXXIX. (306) Now the things set up on that occasion were shields, on which there was no representation of any living thing whatever engraved. But now

 XL. (311) And though I might be able to establish this fact, and demonstrate to you the feelings of Augustus, your great grandfather, by an abundance

 XLI. (321) Therefore, O master, having all these examples most nearly connected with yourself and your family, of our purposes and customs, derived f

 XLII. (330) Having written this letter and sealed it, he sent it to Caius, and then shutting himself up he remained in his own house, full of agony, c

 XLIII. (338) And he was intending to do this while on his voyage along the coast during the period which he had allotted for his sojourn in Egypt. For

 XLIV. (349) It is worth while to make mention of what we both saw and heard, when we were sent for to encounter a contest on behalf of our national co

 XLV. (355) And while he was triumphing in these super-human appellations, the sycophant Isidorus, seeing the temper in which he was, said, O master,

 XLVI. (368) Having then escaped from what was rather a theatre and a prison than a court of justice (for as in a theatre, there was a great noise of p

I. (1) How long shall we, who are aged men, still be like children, being indeed as to our bodies gray-headed through the length of time that we have lived, but as to our souls utterly infantine through our want of sense and sensibility, looking upon that which is the most unstable of all things, namely, fortune, as most invariable, and that which is of all things in the world the most steadfast, namely, nature, as utterly untrustworthy? For, like people playing at draughts, we make changes, altering the position of actions, and considering the things which are the result of fortune as more durable than those which result from nature, and the things which proceed in accordance with nature as less stable than those which are the result of chance. (2) And the reason of all this is, that we form our judgment of present events without paying any prudential attention to the future, being influenced by the erroneous guidance of our outward senses instead of the secret operations of the intellect; for the things which are openly conspicuous and before our hands so as to be taken up by them, are comprehended by our eyes, but our reasoning power outstrips them, hastening onwards to what is invisible and future; but nevertheless, we obscure the vision of our reason, though it is far more acute than those bodily powers of sight which are exercised by the eyes, some of us confusing it by indulgence in wine and satiety, and others by that greatest of all evils, namely, ignorance. (3) Nevertheless, the existing opportunity and the many and important proportions which arise to be decided on at the present time, even if some people should be incredulous that the Deity exercises a providential foresight with regard to human affairs, and especially on behalf of a nation which addresses its supplications to him, which belongs especially to the father and sovereign of the universe, and the great cause of all things; and these propositions are sufficient to persuade them of this Truth.[there seems some corruption in the text here.] (4) And this nation of suppliants is in the Chaldaic language called Israel, but when the name is translated into the Greek language it is called, "the seeing nation;" which appellation appears to me to be the most honourable of all things in the world, whether private or public; (5) for if the sight of elders, or instructors, or rulers, or parents, excites those who behold them to reverence and orderly conduct, and to an admiration of and desire for a life of moderation and temperance, how great a bulwark of virtue and excellence must we not expect to find in those souls which, after having investigated the nature of every created thing, have learnt to contemplate the uncreated and Divine Being, the first good of all, the one beautiful, and happy, and glorious, and blessed being; better, if one is to tell the plain truth, than the good itself; more beautiful than the beautiful itself; more happy than happiness itself; more blessed than blessedness itself; and, in short, if anything else in the world is so, more perfect than any one of the abovementioned things. (6) For reason cannot make such advances as to attain to a thorough comprehension of God, who can neither be touched nor handled; but it withdraws from and falls short of such a height, being unable to employ appropriate language as a step towards the manifestation (I will not say of the living God, for even if the whole heaven were to become endowed with articulate voice, it would not be furnished with felicitous and appropriate expressions to do justice to such a subject); but even of his subordinate powers, those, for instance, by which he created the world and by which he reigns over it as its king, and by which he foresees the future, and all his other beneficent, and chastising, and corrective powers. (7) Unless, indeed, we ought to class his correction among his beneficent powers, not only because such a display is a portion of his laws and ordinances (for law is made up of two things, the honour of the good, and the chastisement of the wicked), but also because punishment reproves, and very often even corrects, and ameliorates those who have done wrong; and if it fails to do so with respect to them, at all events it does so to those who are near the offenders thus punished; for the punishment of others makes most men better, for fear lest they themselves should suffer the same things.