,

becoming, let his corpse not be honored with burial, so that you may not sow in the bowels of the earth the rottenness of a loathsome soul. And let Chosroes' head be stripped of the diadem. He is not kingly in soul, he is not adorned with a ruler's mind, 4.4.15 his spirit is not masterful. He is unrestrained in his impulses, he is rabid in his anger, he has an inhuman gaze, he does not know how to be dignified by the laws of providence, he is arrogant in manner, he is by nature pleasure-seeking in his appetite, he puts everything second to his own will, he does not look out for what is expedient, he does not embrace good counsel, he dismisses ambition, he is entangled with avarice, being fond of strife and 4.4.16 fond of war and having no desire for peace. But I shall appoint by my speech today for you the youth as king, who is by nature my good son, the brother of Chosroes by nature, but not 4.4.17 his brother in character. Or did I not bring the affairs of the Persians to a great state of order, steering the Babylonian state with the helm of magnanimity? And the proof of my words are the Turks paying tribute, the Dilimnites laying down their necks to us along with their weapons, the Romans losing their illustrious cities and weeping for their secondary fortunes at the fall of their primary ones. 4.4.18 These things I, who have done and suffered all things because of the changeable and unstable nature of fortune. But it is in your power to hold to the desire for what is expedient, or, having neglected what is noble, to reject second thoughts and, in regret for your mistakes, being at a loss as for what you might do in the present circumstances, to lament." 4.5.1 When, therefore, the admonitions of the speech were flowing from Hormisdas, Bindoes the Persian, raising a boisterous laugh, scorned the exposition of Hormisdas's dialogue, and rising up in the midst, he set before the assembly something like this. 4.5.2 "Men, kinsmen and allies and haters of tyrants, but if you cannot endure tyrants still legislating. The tyrant does wrong even 4.5.3 now as a private citizen. He still clothes himself with the power of words and attempts to command and reigns by making public speeches and legislates from the platform and accuses generals and re4.5.4jects a kingdom and he appoints the one who will be monarch, and everything is at his feet, as much as not even the ambition of dreams has been able to bestow on those who are deceived, not being able to conceive so much as this, that it is not natural for those who have not managed their own affairs 4.5.5 skillfully to be recognized in the portion of counselors. From where then will he deposit for us a very firm and trustworthy pledge for his proposal? Or has he contrived to offer his own fortune as security to us, wishing to see us as fellow prisoners and guiltless partners in the same sufferings? For we did not share in the things he did wrong 4.5.6 while being tyrannized. And how has he moved his tongue against tyranny, he who left no Persian law untyrannized, who ruled more like a brigand and debased his authority with violence, and rained down murders throughout the entire time of his rule and almost made the Tigris land with bodies, he who created an abundance for the tombs and fattening his sword with blood and trafficking in a scarcity of men, so that, having fortified his wickedness by a shortage of men, 4.5.7 he might bequeath the immortal deeds of his tyranny. He is an arbiter of the opinion of children, who has not by his own actions corrupted what is advantageous. Away with this absurdity, Hormisdas. Tyrants do not play the sophist after their deposition; they do not legislate, having become subjects; 4.5.8 they do not give counsel, having been condemned to death. Since, therefore, it is no longer possible for you to tyrannize your subjects, you, wretch, having practiced insolence against your children, have chosen to wrong the elder with the younger, so that your injustice may never have 4.5. a respite. The Turkish nation pays tribute; but these are not by nature the exercises of your sagacity; these are the works of providence and dying Persians and the virtues of generals have well 4.5.10 fashioned. cities and towns the Roman

γινόμενος, μὴ τιμάσθω ὁ τούτου νεκρὸς τῇ ταφῇ, ἵνα μὴ ταῖς λαγόσι τῆς γῆς σηπεδόνα ψυχῆς βδελυρᾶς κατασπείρητε. ἀπογυμνούσθω τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ Χοσρόης τοῦ διαδήματος. οὐκ ἔστι βασιλικὸς τὴν ψυχήν, οὐκ ἀρχικῇ διανοίᾳ κεκόσμηται, 4.4.15 οὐκ ἐξουσιαστικὸν τούτου τὸ φρόνημα. ἀκάθεκτός ἐστι ταῖς ὁρμαῖς, λυσσώδης πέφυκε τὸν θυμόν, ἀφιλάνθρωπον αὐτῷ περικέχυται βλέμμα, οὐκ οἶδε νόμοις προνοίας σεμνύνεσθαι, τὸν τρόπον ἐστὶν ἀγέρωχος, τὴν ὄρεξιν φιλήδονος πέφυκεν, πάντα δεύτερα τίθεται τοῦ βουλήματος, οὐ καραδοκεῖ τὸ συνοῖσον, τὴν εὐβουλίαν οὐκ ἐναγκαλίζεται, τὸ φιλότιμον ἀποπέμπεται, τῇ φιλοχρηματίᾳ προσπλέκεται φίλερις ὢν καὶ 4.4.16 φιλοπόλεμος καὶ τῆς εἰρήνης ἀνόρεκτος. χειροτονήσω δὲ τῷ λόγῳ βασιλέα σήμερον ὑμῖν τὸ μειράκιον, ὃς παῖς ἐμὸς πέφυκεν ἀγαθός, ἀδελφὸς Χοσρόου τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλ' οὐκ 4.4.17 ἀδελφὸς τὴν προαίρεσιν. ἢ οὐκ εἰς μέγα τὰ Περσῶν περιήγαγον τάξεως, τῷ τῆς μεγαλοφροσύνης οἴακι τὸ Βαβυλώνιον διιθύνων πολίτευμα; βάσανος δὲ τῶν λόγων Τοῦρκοι φορολογούμενοι, οἱ ∆ιλιμνῖται καταθέντες μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων τοὺς αὐχένας ἡμῖν, ῾Ρωμαῖοι πόλεις ἐπιφανεῖς ἀποβαλλόμενοι καὶ τὰς δευτέρας τύχας τῇ ἐκπτώσει τῶν πρώτων δακρύοντες. 4.4.18 ταῦτα μὲν ἐγὼ ὁ πάντα δράσας καὶ πεπονθὼς διὰ τὸ τῆς τύχης εὐμετάβολόν τε καὶ ἄστατον. ὑμῖν δὲ ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ τὸ ἔχεσθαι τὴν τοῦ συνοίσοντος ἔφεσιν, ἢ καταμελήσαντας τοῦ καλοῦ τὰς δευτέρας φροντίδας ἀποδοκιμάζειν καὶ τῷ μεταμέλῳ τῶν ἡμαρτημένων πρὸς τὰ ἐν ποσὶν ὅ τι καὶ πράξαιτε διηπορηκότας ὀδύρεσθαι." 4.5.1 ῞Οτε τοίνυν ἀπέρρει ῾Ορμίσδᾳ τὰ τῆς διαλέξεως νουθε-τήματα, Βινδόης ὁ Πέρσης βρασματώδη συστησάμενος γέλωτα ἀπεσκοράκιζεν ῾Ορμίσδου τοῦ διαλόγου τὴν ἔκθεσιν, ἐς μέσον δὲ ἀνιστάμενος τάδε που τῷ ξυλλόγῳ παρέθετο. 4.5.2 "῎Ανδρες ὁμόφυλοι καὶ σύμμαχοι καὶ μισοτύραννοι, ἀλλ' εἰ μὴ νομοθετούντων ἔτι τυράννων ἀνέχεσθε. ἀδικεῖ καὶ 4.5.3 νῦν ἰδιωτεύων ὁ τύραννος. ἔτι τῶν λόγων τὸ κράτος ἀμπέχεται καὶ προστάττειν διεγχειρεῖ καὶ βασιλεύει δημηγορῶν καὶ θεσμοθετεῖ ἐπὶ βήματος καὶ κατηγορεῖ στρατηγῶν ἀπο4.5.4 δοκιμάζει τε βασιλείαν καὶ χειροτονεῖ τὸν μοναρχήσοντα, καὶ πάντα πάρεστιν αὐτῷ ἐν ποσὶν ὁπόσα οὐδὲ τὸ τῶν ἐνυπνίων φιλότιμον δωρεῖσθαι τοῖς ἀπατωμένοις δεδύνηται, μήτε τοσοῦτον ἐννοηθῆναι δυνάμενος, ὡς οὐ πέφυκεν ἐν συμβούλων μοίρᾳ γνωρίζεσθαι τοὺς μὴ τὰ περὶ ἑαυτῶν διαθεμένους 4.5.5 ἐπιδεξίως τοῖς πράγμασιν. πόθεν οὖν ἡμῖν ἐνέχυρον τῆς εἰσηγήσεως καταθήσει λίαν ἑδραῖον καὶ ἀξιόχρεων; ἢ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τύχην κατεγγυᾶν ἡμῖν ἐσοφίστευσεν ἐθέλων ἡμᾶς συνδεσμίους θεάσασθαι καὶ τῶν αὐτῶν παθημάτων κοινωνοὺς ἀνευθύνους; οὐ γὰρ τῶν ἐκείνῳ πεπλημμελημένων 4.5.6 μετέσχομεν τυραννούμενοι. πῶς δὲ κατὰ τυραννίδος γλῶτταν κεκίνηκεν ὁ μηδένα νόμον Περσῶν καταλιπὼν ἀτυράννητον, ὁ λῃστρικώτερον ἄρξας καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν κιβδηλεύσας τῇ βίᾳ, ἐπομβρήσας δὲ τοῖς φόνοις παρὰ πάντα τὸν τῆς ἡγεμονίας καιρὸν καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν τὸν Τίγριν ἀποχερσώσας τοῖς σώμασιν, ὁ τοῖς τάφοις εὐθηνίαν πραγματευσάμενος καὶ τοῖς αἵμασι καταπιαίνων τὴν μάχαιραν καὶ σπάνιν ἀνθρώπων ἐμπορευόμενος, ἵνα τὴν κακίαν ἐξ ὀλιγανδρίας ὠχυρωμένος 4.5.7 ἀθάνατα τὰ τῆς τυραννίδος ἀποκληρώσηται. παίδων γνώμης ἐστὶ διαιτητὴς ὁ μὴ ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ πράξεσι δεδικακὼς τὰ συμφέροντα. ἄπαγε τῆς ἀτοπίας, ῾Ορμίσδα. οὐ σοφιστεύουσι μετὰ καθαίρεσιν τύραννοι· οὐ νομοθετοῦσι γεγονότες ὑπήκοοι· 4.5.8 οὐ συμβουλεύουσι κατακριθέντες τὸν θάνατον. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν τῶν ὑπηκόων οὐ πρόσεστί σοι τὸ λοιπὸν τυραννεῖν, ἐπήρειαν κατὰ τῶν παίδων ὁ δείλαιος ἐμμελετήσας ἀδικεῖν τῷ νεωτέρῳ τὸν πρεσβύτερον εἵλου, ἵνα μὴ σχοίη ποτὲ τὰ τῆς σῆς ἀδικίας 4.5. ἀνάπαυλαν. τὸ Τουρκικὸν ὑποφόρους τελεῖ· ἀλλ' οὐ τῆς σῆς ἀγχινοίας ταῦτα πέφυκε μελετήματα· ταῦτα προνοίας ἔργα καὶ θανατῶντες Πέρσαι ἀρεταί τε στρατηγῶν καλῶς 4.5.10 ἐτεκτήναντο. πόλεις καὶ ἄστεα τὸ ῾Ρωμαϊκὸν