1. But now, Simonides, he continued, I want to show you all those delights that were mine when I was a private citizen, but which I now find are withheld from me since the day I became a despot.
1. βούλομαι δέ σοι, ἔφη, ὦ Σιμωνίδη, κἀκείνας τὰς εὐφροσύνας δηλῶσαι ὅσαις ἐγὼ χρώμενος ὅτʼ ἦν ἰδιώτης, νῦν ἐπειδὴ τύραννος ἐγενόμην, αἰσθάνομαι στερόμενος αὐτῶν.
2. I communed with my fellows then: they pleased me and I pleased them. I communed with myself whenever I desired rest. I passed the time in carousing, often till I forgot all the troubles of mortal life, often till my soul was absorbed in songs and revels and dances, often till the desire of sleep fell on me and all the company.
2. ἐγὼ γὰρ ξυνῆν μὲν ἡλικιώταις ἡδόμενος ἡδομένοις ἐμοί, συνῆν δὲ ἐμαυτῷ, ὁπότε ἡσυχίας ἐπιθυμήσαιμι, διῆγον δʼ ἐν συμποσίοις πολλάκις μὲν μέχρι τοῦ ἐπιλαθέσθαι πάντων εἴ τι χαλεπὸν ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῳ βίῳ ἦν, πολλάκις δὲ μέχρι τοῦ ᾠδαῖς τε καὶ θαλίαις καὶ χοροῖς τὴν ψυχὴν συγκαταμιγνύναι, πολλάκις δὲ μέχρι κοίτης ἐπιθυμίας ἐμῆς τε καὶ τῶν παρόντων.
3. But now I am cut off from those who had pleasure in me, since slaves instead of friends are my comrades; I am cut off from my pleasant intercourse with them, since I see in them no sign of good-will towards me. Drink and sleep I avoid as a snare.
3. νῦν δὲ ἀπεστέρημαι μὲν τῶν ἡδομένων ἐμοὶ διὰ τὸ δούλους ἀντὶ φίλων ἔχειν τοὺς ἑταίρους, ἀπεστέρημαι δʼ αὖ τοῦ ἡδέως ἐκείνοις ὁμιλεῖν διὰ τὸ μηδεμίαν ἐνορᾶν εὔνοιαν ἐμοὶ παρʼ αὐτῶν· μέθην δὲ καὶ ὕπνον ὁμοίως ἐνέδρᾳ φυλάττομαι.
4. To fear a crowd, and yet fear solitude, to fear to go unguarded, and yet fear the very men who guard you, to recoil from attendants unarmed and yet dislike to see them armed—surely that is a cruel predicament!
4. τὸ δὲ φοβεῖσθαι μὲν ὄχλον, φοβεῖσθαι δʼ ἐρημίαν, φοβεῖσθαι δὲ ἀφυλαξίαν, φοβεῖσθαι δὲ καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς φυλάττοντας, καὶ μήτʼ ἀόπλους ἔχειν ἐθέλειν περὶ αὑτὸν μήθʼ ὡπλισμένους ἡδέως θεᾶσθαι, πῶς οὐκ ἀργαλέον ἐστὶ πρᾶγμα;
5. And then, to trust foreigners more than citizens, strangers more than Greeks, to long to keep free men slaves, and yet be forced to make slaves free—do you not think that all these are sure tokens of a soul that is crushed with fear?
5. ἔτι δὲ ξένοις μὲν μᾶλλον ἢ πολίταις πιστεύειν, βαρβάροις δὲ μᾶλλον ἢ Ἕλλησιν, ἐπιθυμεῖν δὲ τοὺς μὲν ἐλευθέρους δούλους ἔχειν, τοὺς δὲ δούλους ἀναγκάζεσθαι ποιεῖν ἐλευθέρους, οὐ πάντα σοι ταῦτα δοκεῖ ψυχῆς ὑπὸ φόβων καταπεπληγμένης τεκμήρια εἶναι;
6. Fear, you know, is not only painful in itself by reason of its presence in the soul, but by haunting us even in our pleasures it spoils them utterly.
6. ὅ γέ τοι φόβος οὐ μόνον αὐτὸς ἐνὼν ταῖς ψυχαῖς λυπηρός ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἡδέων συμπαρακολουθῶν λυμεὼν γίγνεται.
7. If, like me, you are acquainted with war, Simonides, and ever had the enemy’s battle-line close in front of you, call to mind what sort of food you ate at that time, and what sort of sleep you slept.
7. εἰ δὲ καὶ σὺ πολεμικῶν ἔμπειρος εἶ, ὦ Σιμωνίδη, καὶ ἤδη ποτὲ πολεμίᾳ φάλαγγι πλησίον ἀντετάξω, ἀναμνήσθητι ποῖον μέν τινα σῖτον ᾑροῦ ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ χρόνῳ, ποῖον δέ τινα ὕπνον ἐκοιμῶ.
8. I tell you, the pains that despots suffer are such as you suffered then. Nay, they are still more terrible; for despots believe that they see enemies not in front alone, but all around them. To this Simonides made answer:
8. οἷα μέντοι σοὶ τότʼ ἦν τὰ λυπηρά, τοιαῦτά ἐστι τὰ τῶν τυράννων καὶ ἔτι δεινότερα· οὐ γὰρ ἐξ ἐναντίας μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντοθεν πολεμίους ὁρᾶν νομίζουσιν οἱ τύραννοι.
9. Excellent words in part, I grant! War is indeed a fearsome thing: nevertheless, Hiero, our way, when we are on active service, is this: we post sentries to guard us, and sup and sleep with a good courage. Then Hiero answered:
9. ταῦτα δʼ ἀκούσας ὁ Σιμωνίδης ὑπολαβὼν εἶπεν· ὑπέρευ μοι δοκεῖς ἔνια λέγειν. ὁ γὰρ πόλεμος φοβερὸν μέν, ἀλλʼ ὅμως, ὦ Ἱέρων, ἡμεῖς γε ὅταν ὦμεν ἐν στρατείᾳ, φύλακας προκαθιστάμενοι θαρραλέως δείπνου τε καὶ ὕπνου λαγχάνομεν.
10. No doubt you do, Simonides! For your sentries have sentries in front of them—the laws,—and so they fear for their own skins and relieve you of fear. But despots hire their guards like harvesters.
10. καὶ ὁ Ἱέρων ἔφη· ναὶ μὰ Δία, ὦ Σιμωνίδη· αὐτῶν μὲν γὰρ προφυλάττουσιν οἱ νόμοι, ὥστε περὶ ἑαυτῶν φοβοῦνται καὶ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν· οἱ δὲ τύραννοι μισθοῦ φύλακας ἔχουσιν ὥσπερ θεριστάς.
11. Now the chief qualification required in the guards, I presume, is faithfulness. But it is far harder to find one faithful guard than hundreds of workmen for any kind of work, especially when money supplies the guards, and they have it in their power to get far more in a moment by assassinating the despot than they receive from him for years of service among his guards.
11. καὶ δεῖ μὲν δήπου τοὺς φύλακας μηδὲν οὕτω ποιεῖν δύνασθαι ὡς πιστοὺς εἶναι· πιστὸν δὲ ἕνα πολὺ χαλεπώτερον εὑρεῖν ἢ πάνυ πολλοὺς ἐργάτας ὁποίου βούλει ἔργου, ἄλλως τε καὶ ὁπόταν χρημάτων μὲν ἕνεκα παρῶσιν οἱ φυλάττοντες, ἐξῇ δʼ αὐτοῖς ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ πολὺ πλείω λαβεῖν ἀποκτείνασι τὸν τύραννον ἢ ὅσα πολὺν χρόνον φυλάττοντες παρὰ τοῦ τυράννου λαμβάνουσιν.
12. You said that you envy us our unrivalled power to confer benefits on our friends, and our unrivalled success in crushing our enemies. But that is another delusion.
12. ὃ δʼ ἐζήλωσας ἡμᾶς ὡς τοὺς μὲν φίλους μάλιστα εὖ ποιεῖν δυνάμεθα, τοὺς δὲ ἐχθροὺς πάντων μάλιστα χειρούμεθα, οὐδὲ ταῦθʼ οὕτως ἔχει.
13. For how can you possibly feel that you benefit friends when you know well that he who receives most from you would be delighted to get out of your sight as quickly as possible? For, no matter what a man has received from a despot, nobody regards it as his own, until he is outside the giver’s dominion.
13. φίλους μὲν γὰρ πῶς ἂν νομίσαις ποτὲ εὖ ποιεῖν, ὅταν εὖ εἰδῇς ὅτι ὁ τὰ πλεῖστα λαμβάνων παρὰ σοῦ ἥδιστʼ ἂν ὡς τάχιστα ἐξ ὀφθαλμῶν σου γένοιτο; ὅ τι γὰρ ἄν τις λάβῃ παρὰ τυράννου, οὐδεὶς οὐδὲν ἑαυτοῦ νομίζει πρὶν ἂν ἔξω τῆς τούτου ἐπικρατείας γένηται.
14. Or again, how can you say that despots more than others are able to crush enemies, when they know well that all who are subject to their despotism are their enemies and that it is impossible to put them all to death or imprison them—else who will be left for the despot to rule over?—and, knowing them to be their enemies, they must beware of them, and, nevertheless, must needs make use of them?
14. ἐχθροὺς δʼ αὖ πῶς ἂν φαίης μάλιστα τοῖς τυράννοις ἐξεῖναι χειροῦσθαι, ὅταν εὖ εἰδῶσιν ὅτι ἐχθροὶ αὐτῶν εἰσι πάντες οἱ τυραννούμενοι, τούτους δὲ μήτε κατακαίνειν ἅπαντας μήτε δεσμεύειν οἷόν τε ᾖ (τίνων γὰρ ἔτι ἄρξει;) ἀλλʼ εἰδότα ὅτι ἐχθροί εἰσι, τούτους ἅμα μὲν φυλάττεσθαι δέῃ, καὶ χρῆσθαι δʼ αὐτοῖς ἀναγκάζηται;
15. And I can assure you of this, Simonides: when a despot fears any citizen, he is reluctant to see him alive, and yet reluctant to put him to death. To illustrate my point, suppose that a good horse makes his master afraid that he will do him some fatal mischief: the man will feel reluctant to slaughter him on account of his good qualities, and yet his anxiety lest the animal may work some fatal mischief in a moment of danger will make him reluctant to keep him alive and use him. Yes, and this is equally true of all possessions that are troublesome as well as useful: it is painful to possess them, and painful to get rid of them.
15. εὖ δʼ ἴσθι καὶ τοῦτο, ὦ Σιμωνίδη, ὅτι καὶ οὓς τῶν πολιτῶν δεδίασι χαλεπῶς μὲν αὐτοὺς ζῶντας ὁρῶσι, χαλεπῶς δʼ ἀποκτείνουσιν· ὥσπερ γε καὶ ἵππος εἰ ἀγαθὸς μὲν εἴη, φοβερὸς δὲ μὴ ἀνήκεστόν τι ποιήσῃ, χαλεπῶς μὲν ἄν τις αὐτὸν ἀποκτείναι διὰ τὴν ἀρετήν, χαλεπῶς δὲ ζῶντι χρῷτο, εὐλαβούμενος μή τι ἀνήκεστον ἐν τοῖς κινδύνοις ἐργάσηται, καὶ τἆλλά γε κτήματα ὅσα χαλεπὰ μὲν χρήσιμα δʼ ἐστίν, ὁμοίως ἅπαντα λυπεῖ μὲν τοὺς κεκτημένους, λυπεῖ δὲ ἀπαλλαττομένους.