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harsher, always bringing 8.14.31 incurable destruction. But the majority of the unexamined, being deceived by the brilliant appearance, have suffered the same thing as those hooked by ugly little harlots, who conceal their deformity with clothing and gold and cosmetics on their face, for want of genuine beauty, create a counterfeit one to ensnare those who behold them. 8.14.32 » The exceedingly fortunate are full of such profound unhappiness, the excesses of which they, having judged for themselves, do not conceal, but just as those who out of necessity blurt out unspeakable things, they utter the most truthful cries from suffering, living in the company of punishments both present and expected, just like the cattle that are fattened for sacrifice; for these too receive the greatest care 8.14.33 for the purpose of being slaughtered for a feast of much meat. And there are some who have paid not obscure, but manifest penalties for the wealth of the impious, to recount the number of whom is a superfluous labor, but one deed is sufficient to stand as an example for all. It is said, then, by those who have recorded the Sacred War in Phocis, that since a law was established for the temple-robber to be thrown down a cliff or drowned in the sea or burned, three who plundered the temple in Delphi, Philomelus and Onomarchus and Phayllus, shared the punishments among themselves. For the one, a rock having broken away from a rough and stony hill, was thrown down the cliff and stoned to death; the other, when the horse carrying him bolted and went down to the sea, as the ocean rushed in, sank into the gaping deep with the animal itself; and Phayllus either was consumed by a wasting disease—for the account concerning him is twofold—or perished, being burned along with the temple at Abae. 8.14.34 For it would be most contentious to say that these things happened by chance. For if some were punished either at different times or with other punishments, it would have been plausible to allege the instability of fortune; but with all of them punished at once and at the same time, and not with other punishments but with those contained in 8.14.35 the laws, it is reasonable to say that they were caught by the judgment of God. But if some of the remaining violent men who rose up against the masses and enslaved not only other peoples but also their own fatherlands remained unpunished, it is no wonder. For in the first place, man and God do not judge in the same way, because we investigate manifest things, but he, penetrating silently to the recesses of the soul, illuminates the bright mind as if in the sun, stripping off the wrappings in which it is enveloped, and beholding the intentions naked, 8.14.36 and discerning at once the counterfeit and the genuine. Therefore let us never, preferring our own tribunal to the divine, say that it is more truthful and wiser; for it is not pious. For in the one there are many things that cause error: deceptive senses, treacherous passions, the very heavy fortification of vices; but in the other there is nothing for the sake of deception, but righteousness and truth, by which each thing, being judged, is by nature laudably 8.14.37 set right. Then, O noble one, do not think it unprofitable for tyranny to exist at times. For neither is punishment unprofitable, but to inflict punishments is either more beneficial for the good or not without benefit; for which reason it has been included in all correctly written laws, and those who wrote them are praised by all; 8.14.38 for what a tyrant is among a people, that, punishment is in a law. Therefore whenever a terrible want and scarcity of virtue seizes the cities, and an abundance of folly prevails, then God, desiring to drain away the rush of vice like a winter torrent, so that he may cleanse our race, gives strength and power 8.14.39 to those who are rulers by nature. For without a cruel soul, vice is not purged. And in the same way that cities rear public executioners for murderers and traitors and temple-robbers, not approving the character of the men, but considering the usefulness of their service, in the same way also the guardian of this great city of the world, as it were

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χαλεπωτέραν, ἀθεράπευτον ἀεὶ φέρουσαν 8.14.31 ὄλεθρον. οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνεξετάστων ὑπὸ τῆς λαμπρᾶς φανερότητος ἀπατώμενοι ταὐτὸν πεπόνθασι τοῖς ἀγκιστρευομένοις ὑπὸ τῶν εἰδεχθῶν ἑταιριδίων, ἃ τὴν δυσμορφίαν ἐσθῆτι καὶ χρυσῷ καὶ ταῖς τῆς ὄψεως ὑπογραφαῖς ἐπισκιάζοντα, γνησίου κάλλους ἀπορίᾳ νόθον ἐπ' ἐνέδρᾳ τῶν θεωμένων δη8.14.32 μιουργεῖ.» τοιαύτης γέμουσι βαρυδαιμονίας οἱ λίαν εὐτυχεῖς, ἧς τὰς ὑπερβολὰς αὐτοὶ δικάσαντες παρ' ἑαυτοῖς οὐ στέγουσιν, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ οἱ τὰ ἄρρητα ὑπ' ἀνάγκης ἐκλαλοῦντες ἀφιᾶσι τὰς ἐκ πάθους ἀψευδεστάτας φωνάς, ἐπὶ συνουσίᾳ τιμωριῶν καὶ παρουσῶν καὶ προσδοκωμένων ζῶντες καθάπερ τῶν θρεμμάτων τὰ πρὸς ἱερουργίαν πιαινόμενα· καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα τῆς πλείστης ἐπιμελείας 8.14.33 ἐπὶ τῷ σφαγῆναι τυγχάνει διὰ πολύκρεων εὐωχίαν. εἰσὶ δ' οἳ καὶ περὶ χρημάτων ἀσεβῶν οὐκ ἀδήλους, ἀλλὰ φανερὰς ἔδοσαν δίκας, ὧν τὰ πλήθη καταλέγεσθαι περιττὸς πόνος, ἀπόχρη δ' ἓν ἔργον παράδειγμα πάντων ἑστάναι. λέγεται τοίνυν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀναγεγραφότων τὸν ἱερὸν πόλεμον τὸν ἐν Φωκίδι, νόμου κειμένου τὸν ἱερόσυλον κατακρημνίζεσθαι ἢ καταποντοῦσθαι ἢ καταπίμπρασθαι, τρεῖς συλήσαντας τὸ ἐν ∆ελφοῖς ἱερόν, Φιλόμηλον καὶ Ὀνόμαρχον καὶ Φάϋλλον, διανείμασθαι τὰς τιμωρίας. τὸν μὲν γὰρ διὰ λόφου τραχέος καὶ λιθώδους ῥαγείσης πέτρας κατακρημνισθῆναί τε καὶ καταλευσθῆναι· τὸν δὲ ἀφηνιάσαντος τοῦ κομίζοντος ἵππου καὶ μέχρι θαλάττης καταβάντος, ἐπιδραμόντος τοῦ πελάγους εἰς ἀχανῆ βυθὸν αὐτῷ ζῴῳ καταδῦναι· Φάϋλλον δ' ἢ φθινάδι νόσῳ διττὸς γὰρ ὁ περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγος συντακῆναι ἢ ἐν τῷ ἐν Ἄβαις 8.14.34 ἱερῷ συνεμπρησθέντα ἀπολέσθαι. ταῦτα γὰρ φιλονεικότατον λέγειν ἀποβῆναι κατὰ τύχην. εἰ μὲν γάρ τινες ἢ ἐν διαφέρουσι καιροῖς ἢ ἑτέραις ἐκολάσθησαν τιμωρίαις, εἰκὸς ἦν τὸ ἄστατον τῆς τύχης προφασίζεσθαι· πάντων δὲ ἀθρόως καὶ ὑφ' ἕνα καιρὸν καὶ μὴ ἑτέραις τιμωρίαις, ἀλλὰ ταῖς περιεχομέναις ἐν 8.14.35 τοῖς νόμοις κολασθέντων εὔλογον φάσκειν ὅτι θεοῦ δικάσαντος ἑάλωσαν. εἰ δέ τινες τῶν ὑπολειφθέντων βιαίων καὶ τοῖς πλήθεσιν ἐπαναστάντων καὶ δουλωσαμένων οὐ μόνον δήμους ἑτέρους, ἀλλὰ καὶ πατρίδας τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἀτιμώρητοι διετέλεσαν, θαυμαστὸν οὐδέν. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ οὐχ ὁμοίως ἄνθρωπος δικάζει καὶ θεός, διότι τὰ μὲν φανερὰ ἡμεῖς ἐρευνῶμεν, ὁ δὲ ἄχρι μυχῶν ψυχῆς εἰσδυόμενος ἀψοφητὶ καθάπερ ἐν ἡλίῳ λαμπρὰν διάνοιαν αὐγάζει, ἀπαμπίσχων μὲν τὰ περίαπτα, οἷς ἐγκατείληπται, γυμνὰ δὲ περιαθρῶν τὰ βουλήματα 8.14.36 καὶ διαγινώσκων εὐθὺς τά τε παράσημα καὶ δόκιμα. μηδέποτ' οὖν τὸ οἰκεῖον δικαστήριον τοῦ θείου προκρίναντες ἀψευδέστερον αὐτὸ καὶ εὐβουλότερον εἶναι φῶμεν· οὐ γὰρ ὅσιον. ἐν ᾧ μὲν γὰρ πολλὰ τὰ σφάλλοντα, ἀπατηλοὶ αἰσθήσεις, πάθη ἐπίβουλα, κακιῶν ὁ βαρύτατος ἐπιτειχισμός, ἐν ᾧ δὲ οὐδὲν μὲν τῶν ἐπ' ἐξαπάτῃ, δικαιότης δὲ καὶ ἀλήθεια, αἷς ἕκαστον βραβευόμενον ἐπαινετῶς 8.14.37 ἐξορθοῦσθαι πέφυκεν. ἔπειτ', ὦ γενναῖε, μὴ νομίσῃς ἀλυσιτελὲς ἐπὶ καιρῶν εἶναι τυραννίδα. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἡ κόλασις ἀλυσιτελές, ἀλλὰ τιμωρίας διδόναι τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἢ ὠφελιμώτερον ἢ οὐκ ἀποδέον· οὗ χάριν ἐν ἅπασι μὲν τοῖς ὀρθῶς γραφεῖσι παρείληπται νόμοις, οἱ δὲ γράψαντες ὑπὸ πάντων ἐπαινοῦνται· 8.14.38 ὅπερ γὰρ ἐν δήμῳ τύραννος, τοῦτ' ἐν νόμῳ κόλασις. ἐπειδὰν οὖν ἔνδεια μὲν καὶ σπάνις δεινὴ καταλάβῃ τὰς πόλεις ἀρετῆς, ἀφθονία δ' ἀφροσύνης ἐπιπολάσῃ, τηνικαῦτα ὁ θεός, ὥσπερ ῥεῦμα χειμάρρου τὴν φορὰν τῆς κακίας ἀποχετεῦσαι γλιχόμενος, ἵνα καθάρῃ τὸ γένος ἡμῶν, ἰσχὺν καὶ κράτος δίδωσι 8.14.39 τοῖς ἀρχικοῖς τὰς φύσεις. ὠμῆς γὰρ δίχα ψυχῆς οὐ καθαίρεται κακία. καὶ ὅνπερ τρόπον αἱ πόλεις ἐπ' ἀνδροφόνοις καὶ προδόταις καὶ θεοσύλαις δημίους ἀνατρέφουσιν, οὐ τὴν γνώμην ἀποδεχόμεναι τῶν ἀνδρῶν, ἀλλὰ τὸ τῆς ὑπηρεσίας χρήσιμον ἐξετάζουσαι, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ὁ τῆς μεγαλοπόλεως τοῦδε τοῦ κόσμου κηδεμὼν οἷα