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to greet the emperor and not to repay so many benefits in this way; I do not mean these common and public prosperities of which the enjoyment is also common, I speak of the rescuing of cities and the raising or rebuilding of others, the downfall of enemies, and the enslavement of some, nor the freedom and well-being of all the Romans, for whom the malady of slavery among their opponents is a reproach, nor the broadening of the race, or its exaltation, or however one might wish to call it; I speak of none of these common things, but something else now and more dear. For from him we have received our learning and have become what we now are, raised by the emperor and educated in the arts of speech by his commands and expenses. Therefore, as I said, it was necessary to honor him not with such words but with others, that is, not with dirges but with praises, not with mournful cries but with auspicious words, nor to meet him with tear-stained faces, but with bright and joyful countenances. Thus we ought to have made our speeches and thus to have repaid him. But the occasion at that time, along with the confusion of affairs, took these away; for long ago these things bound my tongue, but how and for what reason it is not possible to say; for a time, therefore, it bound it. But now the emperor's passing grievously loosens it and unhappily breaks the bonds, and I, a most unfortunate orator, work out the delivery for you, my audience, who are heavy with grief and dressed in black.

12 But oh, what am I to do? How could I express the magnitude of the suffering that has overcome the Romans? How could I represent in speech what has happened? For if the entire army mourns and laments the misfortune when one good soldier or general has fallen, how is it when so great an emperor and one of such virtue has departed this life, whose countless victories and heroic deeds against enemies it would be difficult for long books composed by wise men to interpret with accuracy— how then, when such a misfortune has befallen the Romans, will not everyone weep with boundless wailing and groan from the depths and cry out mournfully and shriek piteously and tear their cheeks with their nails, and pluck out the hair of their head, and sprinkle it with ashes, and tear their garment and put on sackcloth and raise an entire mournful cry? For by attending to the histories, we have drawn to mind worldwide calamities and ecumenical sufferings and universal destructions, certain terrible earthquakes that have occurred and the collapse of the greatest portions of land, and the boiling over of the sea and the drowning of men, and again violent conflagrations and the burning of the greatest cities; for every element wars against man—fire and water and the air—departing from their natural boundaries and overflowing their usual order; and incursions of foreigners have happened to others, and captivity has ensued and the enslavement of men, and women with their infants have seen the day of servitude; and again, downpours of torrential rains have occurred among some, by which everything is flooded. Terrible, then, are these things and truly very difficult and more grievous than natural death; for nature knows the latter and what happens is not new, but the former a disorderly motion of the elements has enacted or an unstable fortune has dramatized.

13 Many grievous things, therefore, happen to men because of these, some more broadly, others more particularly and partially; but nothing so painful occurs as the loss of a ruling man, skilled in his rule, excellent in all things, in appearance, in strength, in courage, in justice, in wisdom, and in addition to these, his goodness and gentleness, which make the ruler hold the place of a father to those under his hand. But the tokens of his courage, of the one who was steadfast and resolute and firm as a square, of a spirit sharper than fire

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δεξιοῦσθαι τὸν αὐτοκράτορα μηδὲ τῶν τοσούτων εὐεργετη μάτων οὕτως ἀμείβεσθαι· οὐ λέγω δὴ τὰς κοινὰς ταύτας καὶ πανδήμους εὐετηρίας ὧν καὶ κοινὴ ἡ ἀπόλαυσις, πόλεών φημι ἀναρρύσεις ἑτέρων τε ἀναστάσεις ἢ ἀνοικοδομήσεις, ἐχθρῶν καταπτώσεις, ἐνίων δὲ καὶ καταδουλώσεις, οὐδὲ τὴν ἁπάντων Ῥωμαίων ἐλευθερίαν καὶ εὐεξίαν, οἷς ἡ τῆς δουλείας νόσος παρὰ τοῖς ἐναντίοις τὸ ἐπονείδιστον, οὐδὲ τὴν τοῦ γένους πλάτυνσιν εἴτε ὕψωσιν ἢ ὅπως ἄν τις ἐθέλῃ καλεῖν· οὐδὲν ἐκ τούτων φημὶ τῶν κοινῶν, ἀλλ' ἤδη ἕτερόν τι καὶ προσφιλέστερον. ἐξ ἐκείνου γὰρ τοὺς λόγους εἰλήφειμεν καὶ ὅπερ νῦν ἐσμεν ἐγεγόνειμεν, τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀνατεθραμμένοι καὶ προστάγμασιν ἐκείνου καὶ ἀναλώμασι πεπαιδευμένοι τὰ λογικά. ἔδει γοῦν ὡς ἔφην μὴ τοιούτοις λόγοις ἀλλ' ἑτέροις σεμνύνειν αὐτόν, εἴτουν οὐ θρηνητη ρίοις ἀλλ' ἐπαινετηρίοις, οὐ γοεραῖς ταῖς φωναῖς ἀλλ' εὐφημούσαις ταῖς λαλιαῖς, οὐδὲ δεδακρυμένοις προσώποις αὐτῷ προσυπαντᾶν, ἀλλὰ φαιδραῖς καὶ γεγανωμέναις ταῖς ὄψεσιν. οὕτως ἡμᾶς ἔδει τοὺς λόγους ποιεῖσθαι καὶ οὕτως ἐκεῖνον ἀμείβεσθαι. ἀλλὰ τούτους μὲν περιεῖλε τῷ τότε μετὰ τῆς συγχύσεως τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ ὁ καιρός· πάλαι γάρ μοι ταῦτα τὴν γλῶτταν ἐπέδησεν, ὅπως δὲ καὶ ὅ,του χάριν λέγειν οὐκ ἔνεστι· τέως οὖν γε ἐπέδησεν. ἀλλὰ νῦν ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως μετάστασις λύει ταύτην κακῶς καὶ διαρρήσσει τοὺς δεσμοὺς δυστυχῶς, καὶ ῥήτωρ ἐγὼ δυστυχέστατος ἐπ' ἀκροαταῖς ὑμῖν βαρυπενθέσι καὶ μελανείμοσι τὴν ἀπαγγε λίαν ἐπεξεργαζόμενος.

12 Ἀλλ' ὢ τί πάθω; πῶς ἂν ἐξειπεῖν δυναίμην τοῦ κατα σχόντος πάθους Ῥωμαίους τὸ μέγεθος; πῶς ἂν λόγῳ παραστή σαιμι τὸ συμβάν; εἰ γὰρ ἑνὸς ἀγαθοῦ στρατιώτου πεσόντος ἢ στρατηγοῦ τὸ σύμπαν ὀλοφύρεται στράτευμα καὶ ἀπο κλαίεται τὸ δυστύχημα, πῶς τοσούτου βασιλέως καὶ τοιούτου τὴν ἀρετὴν τὸ βιοῦν μεταλλάξαντος, οὗ τὰς ἀπείρους νίκας καὶ τὰ κατ' ἐχθρῶν ἀριστεύματα μακραί τινες βίβλοι παρὰ σοφῶν συντιθέμεναι δυσχερὲς ἂν ἦν ἐφερμηνεῦσαι πρὸς τὴν ἀκρίβειαν- πῶς οὖν τοιούτου συνηντηκότος Ῥωμαίοις τοῦ δυσ πραγήματος οὐ πᾶς τις ἀπλέτοις τοῖς κωκυτοῖς ἀποκλαύσεται καὶ βύθιόν τι στενάξει καὶ γοερὸν ἀνοιμώξει καὶ ἐλεεινὸν ὀλολύξειε καὶ δρύψει μὲν τοῖς ὄνυξι παρειάς, ἐκτιλεῖ δὲ τρίχας τῆς κεφαλῆς, τέφραν δὲ αὐτῆς καταπάσειε, καὶ ἱμάτιον σχίσει καὶ σάκκον ἐνδύσεται καὶ σύμπαν πένθιμον ὀλολύξειε; παγκοσμίους μὲν γὰρ συμφορὰς καὶ οἰκουμενικὰ παθήματα καὶ πάγκοινα ὀλοθρεύματα ταῖς ἱστορίαις προσχόντες κατὰ νοῦν ἠρυσάμεθα, σεισμούς τινας γεγενημένους δεινοὺς καὶ τμημάτων γῆς μεγίστων κατερειπώσεις θαλάσσης τε ἐκβρασμοὺς καὶ ἀνθρώπων καταποντώσεις ἐμπρησμούς τε αὖθις σφοδροὺς καὶ ἄστεων μεγίστων ἐκκαύσεις· πολεμεῖ γὰρ ἅπαν στοιχεῖον τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ πῦρ καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ ὁ ἀήρ, τῶν φυσικῶν ὁρίων ἐκστάντα καὶ τῆς συνήθους ὑπερβλύσαντα τάξεως· καταδρομαὶ δ' ἀλλοφύλων ἄλλοις γεγόνασι, καὶ ἐπισυμβέβηκε τὸ αἰχμάλωτον ἀνδραποδισμοί τε ἀνδρῶν, καὶ γυναῖκες σὺν ὑπομαζίοις ἦμαρ εἶδον τὸ δούλιον· ὑετῶν δ' αὖθις ῥαγδαίων καταφοραὶ παρά τισι συμβεβήκασιν, ἐξ ὧν τὸ πᾶν κατακλύζεται. δεινὰ μὲν οὖν ταῦτα καὶ ὄντως παγχάλεπα καὶ φυσικοῦ θανάτου βαρυαλ γέστερα· τοῦτον μὲν γὰρ οἶδεν ἡ φύσις καὶ οὐ καινὸν τὸ γινόμενον, ἐκεῖνα δὲ κίνησις στοιχείων ἔπαιξεν ἄτακτος ἢ τύχη δεδραματούργηκεν ἄστατος.

13 Πολλὰ μὲν οὖν ἐπισυμβαίνει διὰ ταῦτα τοῖς ἀνθρώ ποις ἀνιαρά, τὰ μὲν πλατυκώτερον τὰ δὲ ἰδικώτερόν τε καὶ μερικώτερον· οὐδὲν δὲ τοιοῦτον ἀλγεινὸν ἐπιγίνεται οἷον ἀπολέσθαι ἄνδρα ἡγεμόνα, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐπιστήμονα, καλὸν τὰ πάντα, τὸ εἶδος τὴν ἰσχὺν τὴν ἀνδρείαν τὴν δικαιοσύνην τὴν φρόνησιν, πρὸς ἐπὶ τούτοις τὴν καλοκαγαθίαν καὶ ἡμερότητα, ἃ πατρὸς λόγον ἐπέχειν τοῖς ὑπὸ χεῖρα τὸν κρατοῦντα ποιεῖ. ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν τῆς ἀνδρείας ἐκείνου γνω ρίσματα τοῦ στερροῦ καὶ καρτερικοῦ καὶ βεβηκότος ὡς τὸ τετράγωνον, τοῦ ὀξυτέρου πνεύματος ἢ πυρὸς