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and scourgings and various kinds of slaughter; "For in the world," He said, "you have tribulation," and, "Blessed are you, when they revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake; rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in the 9.67 heavens." And He pointed out the toils and dangers, but promised to bestow the prizes and the crowns after the end of life. And in another place He says: "If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will also keep yours." And again: "If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household." 9.68 Such, then, are the laws; but it is truly worthy to marvel at both those divine men and those who believed them. For hearing such words and receiving neither wealth nor power nor bodily strength from Him who called them, but having believed long-term and unseen promises, they both embraced the toils and endured the dangers and, traveling throughout the inhabited world, brought the teachings to the nations. 9.69 But it is no less fitting to praise those who received them, because seeing nothing distinguished or remarkable about the preachers, but the tongues of fishermen and leather-workers and extreme poverty—for they did not even have an abundance of necessary food; for whence would they have it, who were forbidden by law even to be anxious for the morrow?—they not only believed what was said, but also despised the laws by which they were governed and departed from the customs of their fathers, and they themselves also lived the rest of their time with dangers, preaching in the same way as their teachers, and in the same way being treated with insolence and insulted and journeying through the same 9.70 tempests. And so great a reverence did those men have for those who had faced danger even to death, and indeed all still have, as to consider their tombs to be treasuries that supply all kinds of goods. 9.71 Consider, then, O men, the power of these laws. For both Romans and Persians and those who live outside their dominion, having striven greatly to abolish them, showed their own weakness, and rendered the strength of these laws more manifest. But no one made war on the laws of Lycurgus and Solon, but they were abolished on their own. And neither the Pythian 9.72 nor the Polias strengthened the laws laid down by them, but as soon as the Romans gave the command, they were extinguished. Let any one of you, O men, show at least one Spartan who endured to die for the laws of Lycurgus, or one Athenian for those of Solon, or a Locrian for those of Zaleucus, or a Cretan for those of Minos; but none of you could show this; but we show myriads of both men and women who endured to die for the laws of fishermen and leather-workers; and witnesses are the shrines of the martyrs which make cities illustrious and countries bright, offering their benefit to foreigners and natives alike. 9.73 Since, therefore, the difference both of the laws and of the lawgivers has become manifest from a comparison, and the one set were seen to be the inventions of human reasoning, while the others are God-given and saving, accept, O men, the divine gifts and do not dishonor the great-giving and gift-loving Giver. And you will know their divine character more accurately, if you encounter them having driven out the wicked prejudice of your souls.

10.t CONCERNING ORACLES BOTH TRUE AND FALSE.

10.1 Those who love tyranny seize power that in no way belongs to them, but while they put on the outward form of royalty—the purple robe, the crown, the throne, the chariot, the bodyguards—they are unwilling to emulate the royal manner. For they do not desire to be called gentle fathers, but harsh masters,

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καὶ μάστι γας καὶ διαφόρους σφαγάς· "Ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ" γὰρ ἔφη "θλίψιν ἔχετε" καί· "Μακάριοί ἐστε, ὅταν ὀνειδίσωσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ διώξωσι καὶ εἴπωσι πᾶν πονηρὸν ῥῆμα καθ' ὑμῶν ψευδόμενοι ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ· χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε, ὅτι ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τοῖς 9.67 οὐρανοῖς." Καὶ τοὺς μὲν πόνους καὶ κινδύνους ἐπέδειξε, τὰ δὲ βραβεῖα καὶ τοὺς στεφάνους μετὰ τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος ἀποδώσειν ὑπέσχετο. Καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ δὲ χωρίῳ φησίν· "Εἰ ἐμὲ ἐδίωξαν, καὶ ὑμᾶς διώξουσιν· εἰ τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον ἐτήρησαν, καὶ τὸν ὑμέτερον τηρήσουσιν." Καὶ πάλιν· "Εἰ τὸν οἰκοδεσπότην Βεελζεβοὺλ ἐπεκάλεσαν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τοὺς οἰκιακοὺς αὐτοῦ." 9.68 Οἱ μὲν δὴ νόμοι τοιοῦτοι· ἄξιον δὲ ἀληθῶς καὶ τοὺς θεσπε σίους ἄνδρας ἐκείνους θαυμάσαι καὶ τοὺς ἐκείνοις πεπιστευκότας. Τοιῶνδε γὰρ λόγων ἀκούοντες καὶ οὔτε πλοῦτον οὔτε δυναστείαν οὔτε σώματος ῥώμην παρὰ τοῦ κεκληκότος δεξάμενοι, ἀλλὰ μακραῖς καὶ ταύταις οὐ φαινομέναις ἐπαγγελίαις πεπιστευκότες, καὶ τοὺς πόνους ἠσπάσαντο καὶ τῶν κινδύνων ἠνέσχοντο καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην περινοστήσαντες τοῖς ἔθνεσι προσήνεγκαν τὰ μαθή 9.69 ματα. Οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον καὶ τοὺς δεξαμένους εὐφημῆσαι προσήκει, ὅτι παρὰ τοῖς κήρυξιν οὐδὲν περιφανὲς ὁρῶντες οὐδὲ περίβλεπτον, ἀλλὰ γλώττας ἁλιευτικάς τε καὶ σκυτοτομικὰς καὶ πενίαν ἐσχάτην -οὐδὲ γὰρ τῆς ἀναγκαίας ηὐπόρουν τροφῆς· πόθεν γὰρ ἂν ταύτην εἶχον, οἵ γε καὶ τὸ μεριμνᾶν περὶ τῆς αὔριον νόμῳ κεκω λυμένοι; -οὐ μόνον τοῖς λεγομένοις ἐπίστευσαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν παρ' αὐτοῖς πολιτευομένων κατεφρόνησαν νόμων καὶ τῶν ἐθῶν τῶν πατρῴων ἐξέστησαν καὶ μετὰ κινδύνων καὶ αὐτοὶ τὸν λοιπὸν ἐβίωσαν χρόνον, ὁμοίως μὲν τοῖς διδασκάλοις κηρύττοντες, ὁμοίως δὲ παροινούμενοι καὶ προπηλακιζόμενοι καὶ διὰ τῶν ἴσων 9.70 κλυδωνίων ὁδεύοντες. Τοσοῦτο δὲ σέβας τῶν μέχρι θανάτου κεκινδυνευκότων καὶ εἶχον ἐκεῖνοι, καὶ μὲν δὴ καὶ ἔχουσιν ἅπαντες, ὡς τὰς ἐκείνων γε θήκας θησαυροὺς ὑπολαμβάνειν ἀγαθῶν παντοδαπῶν χορηγούς. 9.71 Ἀθρήσατε δὴ οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες, τῶνδε τῶν νόμων τὴν δύναμιν. Τούτους γὰρ καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ Πέρσαι καὶ οἱ τῆς τούτων ἡγεμονίας ἔξω τελοῦντες καταλῦσαι λίαν ἐσπουδακότες, τὴν μὲν οἰκείαν ἀσθένειαν ἔδειξαν, τὴν δὲ τούτων ἰσχὺν ἐκδηλοτέραν ἀπέφηναν. Τοῖς δὲ Λυκούργου καὶ Σόλωνος οὐδεὶς ἐπολέμησε νόμοις, ἀλλ' αὐτόματοι κατελύθησαν. Καὶ οὔτε ὁ Πύθιος οὔτε 9.72 ἡ Πολιὰς τοὺς ὑπὸ σφῶν τεθέντας ἐκράτυναν νόμους, εὐθὺς δέ γε Ῥωμαίων προστεταχότων ἐσβέσθησαν. ∆ειξάτω τις ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἕνα γοῦν Σπαρτιάτην ὑπὲρ τῶν Λυκούργου νόμων ἀπο θανεῖν ἀνασχόμενον, ἢ ἕνα Ἀθηναῖον ὑπὲρ τῶν Σόλωνος, ἢ ὑπὲρ τῶν Ζαλεύκου Λοκρόν, ἢ Κρῆτα ὑπὲρ τῶν Μίνωος· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἄν τις ὑμῶν τοῦτό γε δείξειεν· ἡμεῖς δὲ δείκνυμεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁλιευτικῶν καὶ σκυτοτομικῶν νόμων πολλὰς καὶ ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν ἀνασχομένας ἀποθανεῖν μυριάδας· καὶ μάρτυρες οἱ τῶν μαρτύρων σηκοὶ παὶ πόλεις λαμπρύνοντες καὶ χώρας φαιδρύ νοντες καὶ ξένοις ὁμοῦ καὶ ἐγχωρίοις τὴν ὠφέλειαν προσφέροντες. 9.73 Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν καὶ τῶν νόμων καὶ τῶν νομοθετῶν κατάδηλον ἐκ ξυγκρίσεως γεγένηται τὸ διάφορον, καὶ τὰ μὲν ὤφθη λογισμῶν ἀνθρωπίνων εὑρήματα, τὰ δὲ θεόσδοτα καὶ σωτήρια, δέξασθε, ὦ ἄνδρες, τὰ θεσπέσια δῶρα καὶ τὸν μεγαλόδωρον καὶ φιλόδωρον μὴ ἀτιμάσητε χορηγόν. Εἴσεσθε δὲ αὐτῶν τὸ θεοπρεπὲς ἀκρι βέστερον, εἰ τούτοις ἐντύχητε τὴν πονηρὰν τῶν ψυχῶν ἐξελά σαντες πρόληψιν.

10.t ΠΕΡΙ ΧΡΗΣΜΩΝ ΑΛΗΘΩΝ ΤΕ ΚΑΙ ΨΕΥ∆ΩΝ.

10.1 Οἱ τυραννίδος ἐρῶντες τὴν οὐδαμόθεν αὐτοῖς προσήκουσαν ἁρπάζουσι δυναστείαν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν τῆς βασιλείας περιτίθενται σχῆμα, τὴν ἁλουργίδα, τὸν στέφανον, τὸν θρόνον, τὸ ζεῦγος, τοὺς δορυφόρους, τὸν δὲ βασιλικὸν ζηλοῦν οὐκ ἐθέλουσι τρόπον. Οὐ γὰρ ἤπιοι ποθοῦσι καλεῖσθαι πατέρες, ἀλλὰ δεσπόται πικροί,