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He establishes man as emperor and judge, leader and master of himself, teaching by natural laws and the doctrines of philosophers, that of the things that exist, some are in our power, and others are not in our power; and in our power indeed, are whatever might be 412 according to choice and action, which also by nature happen to be free, unhindered, unimpeded, but those not in our power are weak, servile, subject to hindrance, belonging to another, which also concern the body and external things, being both inanimate and irrational, and have their substance as alien in every way from the proper nature of the rational animal. But of the things in our power, each person possesses in his own choice the impulse towards either side, of virtue and of vice, and the ruling and governing principle of the universe, proceeding according to nature, immediately accomplishes its end, but justice always follows as an avenger for those who fall short of the divine law; and the cause of the impulses to action is not the Fates, nor destiny, nor necessity; the cause is in the one who chooses, God is blameless. If then someone should be so bold as to wage war against what is in our power, let him not be concealed; let him openly declare his godlessness, acknowledging no providence, no God, nor anything else except the Fates and necessity, and let him add with uncovered head the things that follow from these: that no one becomes wise or foolish, just or unjust, virtuous or base, a sorcerer or a divine man by nature among men, that there is no philosophy, no education, nor in general any art, nor science, let him call no one else by nature good or evil, but that all things collectively are whirled around by necessity and the spindles of the Fates. This man, then, being godless and impious, let him be registered by the judgment of the pious and of philosophers, but if under a veil he should attempt to hold other opinions, providence and gods, while along with these someone should proclaim Fate and destiny, siding with conflicting and contrary doctrines, let him be enrolled among fools, having paid the penalty for his folly. So much, then, for this. But if after this some should still think it right to count the man in the schools of the philosophers 413, it shall be said, that if they should purge away the external defilement, and also the baggage introduced to him from this writing, all envy would be out of their way, but if someone proceeding beyond the bounds of truth should try to deify him beyond philosophers, he would unwittingly be inflicting on him simply the slander of a charlatan, since these writings, sophistically fabricated, seem to me to contain nothing except refutation and a terrible slander of the man among those who have sense.

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αὐτοκράτορά τε καὶ κριτὴν ἡγεμόνα τε καὶ κύριον αὐτὸν ἑαυτοῦ καθίστησι φυσικοῖς νόμοις καὶ φιλοσόφων δόγμασιν ἐκδιδάσκων, ὡς ἄρα τῶν ὄντων τὰ μέν ἐστιν ἐφ' ἡμῖν, τὰ δὲ οὐκ ἐφ' ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐφ' ἡμῖν μέν, ὅσα γένοιτ' ἂν 412 κατὰ προαίρεσίν τε καὶ πρᾶξιν, ἃ καὶ φύσει ἐλεύθερα ἀκώλυτα ἀπαρεμπόδιστα τυγχάνει, τὰ δὲ οὐκ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἀσθενῆ δοῦλα κωλυτὰ ἀλλότρια, ἃ καὶ περὶ τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὰ ἐκτὸς ἄψυχά τε ὄντα καὶ ἄλογα καὶ πάντῃ τῆς ἰδίας τοῦ λογικοῦ ζῴου φύσεως ἀλλοτρίαν τὴν ὑπόστασιν ἔχει. τῶν δ' ἐφ' ἡμῖν τὴν ἐπὶ θάτερα ὁρμὴν ἀρετῆς τε καὶ κακίας ἕκαστος ἐν αὐτῇ κέκτηται προαιρέσει, καὶ τὸ μὲν τῶν ὅλων δεσπόζον τε καὶ ἡγεμονοῦν εὐθέως περαίνει κατὰ φύσιν περιπορευόμενον, τῷ δ' αἰεὶ συνέπεται δίκη τῶν ἀπολειπομένων τοῦ θείου νόμου τιμωρός, τῶν δ' ἐπὶ τὰς πράξεις ὁρμῶν οὐ Μοίρας, οὐδὲ εἱμαρμένης, οὐδ' ἀνάγκης αἰτία· αἰτία ἑλομένου, θεὸς ἀναίτιος. εἰ δὴ θρασύνοιτό τις τῷ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἀντιπολεμῶν, μὴ παρακαλυπτέσθω οὗτος· ἀθεότητα ἀναφανδὸν διεξαγορευέτω μὴ πρόνοιαν, μὴ θεόν, μηδέ τι ἄλλο πλὴν Μοιρῶν καὶ ἀνάγκης ὁμολογῶν, καὶ τὰ ἀκόλουθα τούτοις γυμνῇ προσκαταλεγέτω κεφαλῇ, μὴ σοφόν, μὴ ἄφρονα, μὴ δίκαιον, μὴ ἄδικον, μὴ ἐνάρετον, μὴ φαῦλον, μὴ γόητα, μὴ θεῖον ἐν ἀνθρώπων γίνεσθαι φύσει, μὴ φιλοσοφίαν εἶναι, μὴ παιδείαν, μηδ' ὅλως τέχνην τινά, μηδὲ ἐπιστήμην, μή τινα ἄλλον τὴν φύσιν ἀγαθὸν ἢ πονηρὸν ἀποκαλείτω, πάντα δὲ συλλήβδην ἀνάγκῃ καὶ Μοιρῶν ἀτράκτοις περιδινεῖσθαι. ἄθεος δῆτα καὶ δυσσεβὴς οὗτος ἐν εὐσεβῶν καὶ ἐν φιλοσόφων ἀπογεγράφθω κριτηρίῳ, εἰ δ' ἐπικαλυπτόμενος ἕτερα δοξάζειν ἐπιχειροῖ πρόνοιαν καὶ θεούς, Μοῖραν δ' ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ εἱμαρμένην τις ἀνακηρύττοι μαχομένοις καὶ ἐναντίοις παριστάμενος δόγμασιν, ἐν ἄφροσι δίκην ἀνοίας παρασχὼν καταγεγράφθω. ταυτὶ μὲν οὖν ταύτῃ. εἰ δ' ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐν φιλοσόφων διατριβαῖς 413 ἀξιοῖεν ἔτι καταλέγειν τινὲς τὸν ἄνδρα, λελέξεται, ὡς ἄρα εἰ ἀποκαθήρειαν τῆς ἔξωθεν λύμης, ἀτὰρ καὶ τῆς ἀπὸ τῆσδε τῆς γραφῆς ἐπεισκυκλουμένης αὐτῷ σκευῆς, φθόνος πᾶς αὐτοῖς ἐκποδὼν ἂν εἴη, ὅρους δ' εἰ ἀληθείας προϊών τις 'πὲρ φιλοσόφους ἐκθειάζειν αὐτὸν πειρῷτο, λάθοι ἂν αὐτῷ γόητος ἀτεχνῶς διαβολὴν ἐπεντρίβων, ὡς ταυτὶ τὰ συγγράμματα σοφιστικῶς ἀναπεπλασμένα οὐδὲν πλὴν ἐλέγχου καὶ δεινῆς τἀνδρὸς διαβολῆς παρὰ τοῖς νοῦν ἔχουσιν ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ περιέχειν.