Chapter 3

He continued: I desire to make known to you, Simonides, (1) those divers pleasures which were mine whilst I was still a private citizen, but of which to-day, nay, from the moment I became a tyrant, I find myself deprived. In those days I consorted with my friends and fellows, to our mutual delectation; (2) or, if I craved for quietude, (3) I chose myself for my companion. Gaily the hours flitted at our drinking-parties, ofttimes till we had drowned such cares and troubles as are common to the life of man in Lethe's bowl; (4) or ofttimes till we had steeped our souls in song and dance (5) and revelry; ofttimes till the flame of passion kindled in the breasts of my companions and my own. (6) But now, welladay, I am deprived of those who took delight in me, because I have slaves instead of friends as my companions; I am robbed of my once delightful intercourse with them, because I discern no vestige of goodwill towards me in their looks. And as to the wine-cup and slumber--these I guard against, even as a man might guard against an ambuscade. Think only! to dread a crowd, to dread solitude, to dread the absence of a guard, to dread the very guards that guard, to shrink from having those about one's self unarmed, and yet to hate the sight of armed attendants. Can you conceive a more troublesome circumstance? (7) But that is not all. To place more confidence in foreigners than in your fellow-citizens, nay, in barbarians than in Hellenes, to be consumed with a desire to keep freemen slaves and yet to be driven, will he nill he, to make slaves free, are not all these the symptoms of a mind distracted and amazed with terror?

(1) Or, "I wish I could disclose to you (he added) those heart-easing joys." For {euphrosunas} cf. "Od." vi. 156; Aesch. "P. V." 540; Eur. "Bacch." 376. A favourite word with our author; see "Ages." ix. 4; "Cyrop." passim; "Mem." III. viii. 10; "Econ." ix. 12.

(2) Lit. "delighting I in them and they in me."

(3) Or, "when I sought tranquility I was my own companion."

(4) Or, "in sheer forgetfulness."

(5) Or, "absorbed our souls in song and festal cheer and dance." Cf. "Od." viii. 248, 249, {aiei d' emin dais te phile kitharis te khoroi te} | {eimata t' exemoiba loetra te therma kau eunai}, "and dear to us ever is the banquet and the harp and the dance, and changes of raiment, and the warm bath, and love and sleep" (Butcher and Lang).

(6) Reading as vulg. {epithumias}. Breit. cf. "Mem." III. ix. 7; Plat. "Phaed." 116 E, "he has eaten and drunk and enjoyed the society of his beloved" (Jowett). See "Symp." the finale; or if, after Weiske and Cobet, {euthumias}, transl. "to the general hilarity of myself and the whole company" (cf. "Cyrop." I. iii. 12, IV. v. 7), but this is surely a bathos rhetorically.

(7) Or, "a worse perplexity." See "Hell." VII. iii. 8.

For terror, you know, not only is a source of pain indwelling in the breast itself, but, ever in close attendance, shadowing the path, (8) becomes the destroyer of all sweet joys.

(8) Reading {sumparakolouthon lumeon}. Stob. gives {sumparomarton lumanter}. For the sentiment cf. "Cyrop." III. i. 25.

And if you know anything of war, Simonides, and war's alarms; if it was your fortune ever to be posted close to the enemy's lines, (9) try to recall to mind what sort of meals you made at those times, with what sort of slumber you courted rest. Be assured, there are no pains you then experienced, no horrors to compare with those that crowd upon the despot, who sees or seems to see fierce eyes of enemies glare at him, not face to face alone, but from every side.

(9) Or, "in the van of battle, opposite the hostile lines."

He had spoken so far, when Simonides took up the thread of the discourse, replying: Excellently put. A part I must admit, of what you say; since war is terrible. Yet, Hiero, you forget. When we, at any rate, are out campaigning, we have a custom; we place sentinels at the outposts, and when the watch is set, we take our suppers and turn in undauntedly.

And Hiero answered: Yes, I can well believe you, for the laws are the true outposts, (10) who guard the sentinels, keeping their fears alive both for themselves and in behalf of you. Whereas the tyrant hires his guards for pay like harvest labourers. (11) Now of all functions, all abilities, none, I presume, is more required of a guard than that of faithfulness; and yet one faithful man is a commodity more hard to find than scores of workmen for any sort of work you like to name; (12) and the more so, when the guards in question are not forthcoming except for money's sake; (13) and when they have it in their power to get far more in far less time by murdering the despot than they can hope to earn by lengthened service in protecting him.

(10) Or, "beyond the sentinels themselves is set the outpost of the laws, who watch the watch."

(11) Or, "ten-day labourers in harvest-time."

(12) Or, "but to discover one single faithful man is far more difficult than scores of labourers in any field of work you please."

(13) Or, "are merely hirelings for filthy lucre's sake."

And as to that which roused your envy--our ability, as you call it, to benefit our friends most largely, and beyond all else, to triumph over our foes--here, again, matters are not as you suppose.

How, for instance, can you hope to benefit your friends, when you may rest assured the very friend whom you have made most your debtor will be the happiest to quit your sight as fast as may be? since nobody believes that anything a tyrant gives him is indeed his own, until he is well beyond the donor's jurisdiction.

So much for friends, and as to enemies conversely. How can you say "most power of triumphing over our enemies," when every tyrant knows full well they are all his enemies, every man of them, who are despotically ruled by him? And to put the whole of them to death or to imprison them is hardly possible; or who will be his subjects presently? Not so, but knowing they are his enemies, he must perform this dexterous feat: (14) he must keep them at arm's length, and yet be compelled to lean upon them.

(14) Lit. "he must at one and the same moment guard against them, and yet be driven also to depend upon them."

But be assured, Simonides, that when a tyrant fears any of his citizens, he is in a strait; it is ill work to see them living and ill work to put them to the death. Just as might happen with a horse; a noble beast, but there is that in him makes one fear he will do some mischief presently past curing. (15) His very virtue makes it hard to kill the creature, and yet to turn him to account alive is also hard; so careful must one be, he does not choose the thick of danger to work irreparable harm. And this, further, doubtless holds of all goods and chattels, which are at once a trouble and a benefit. If painful to their owners to possess, they are none the less a source of pain to part with.

(15) Lit. "good but fearful (i.e. he makes one fear), he will some day do some desperate mischief."

VII

Now when he had heard these reasonings, Simonides replied: O Hiero, there is a potent force, it would appear, the name of which is honour, so attractive that human beings strain to grasp it, (1) and in the effort they will undergo all pains, endure all perils. It would further seem that even you, you tyrants, in spite of all that sea of trouble which a tyranny involves, rush headlong in pursuit of it. You must be honoured. All the world shall be your ministers; they shall carry out your every injunction with unhesitating zeal. (2) You shall be the cynosure of neighbouring eyes; men shall rise from their seats at your approach; they shall step aside to yield you passage in the streets. (3) All present shall at all times magnify you, (4) and shall pay homage to you both with words and deeds. Those, I take it, are ever the kind of things which subjects do to please the monarch, (5) and thus they treat each hero of the moment, whom they strive to honour. (6)

(1) Lit. "that human beings will abide all risks and undergo all pains to clutch the bait."

(2) Cf. "Cyrop." II. iii. 8; VIII. i. 29.

(3) Cf. "Mem." II. iii. 16; "Cyrop." VII. v. 20.

(4) {gerairosi}, poetic. Cf. "Cyrop." VIII. i. 39; "Hell." I. vii. 33; "Econ." iv. 8; "Herod." v. 67; Pind. "O." iii. 3, v. 11; "N." v. 15; "Od." xiv. 437, 441; "Il." vii. 321; Plat. "Rep." 468 D, quoting "Il." vii. 321.

(5) Reading {tois turannois}, or if {tous turannous}, after Cobet, "That is how they treat crowned heads."

(6) Cf. Tennyson, "Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington":

With honour, honour, honour to him, Eternal honour to his name.

Yes, Hiero, and herein precisely lies the difference between a man and other animals, in this outstretching after honour. (7) Since, it would seem, all living creatures alike take pleasure in meats and drinks, in sleep and sexual joys. Only the love of honour is implanted neither in unreasoning brutes (8) nor universally in man. But they in whose hearts the passion for honour and fair fame has fallen like a seed, these unmistakably (9) are separated most widely from the brutes. These may claim to be called men, (10) not human beings merely. So that, in my poor judgment, it is but reasonable you should submit to bear the pains and penalties of royalty, since you are honoured far beyond all other mortal men. And indeed no pleasure known to man would seem to be nearer that of gods than the delight (11) which centres in proud attributes.

(7) Or, "in this strong aspiration after honour." Holden aptly cf. "Spectator," No. 467: "The love of praise is a passion deeply fixed in the mind of every extraordinary person; and those who are most affected with it seem most to partake of that particle of the divinity which distinguishes mankind from the inferior creation."

(8) {alogous}, i.e. "without speech and reason"; cf. modern Greek {o alogos} = the horse (sc. the animal par excellence). See "Horsemanship," viii. 14.

(9) {ede}, "ipso facto."

(10) See "Anab." I. vii. 4; Frotscher ap. Breit. cf. Cic. "ad Fam." v. 17. 5, "ut et hominem te et virum esse meminisses."

(11) Or, "joyance."

To these arguments Hiero replied: Nay, but, Simonides, the honours and proud attributes bestowed on tyrants have much in common with their love-makings, as I described them. Like honours like loves, the pair are of a piece.

For just as the ministrations won from loveless hearts (12) are felt to be devoid of grace, and embraces forcibly procured are sweet no longer, so the obsequious cringings of alarm are hardly honours. Since how shall we assert that people who are forced to rise from their seats do really rise to honour those whom they regard as malefactors? or that these others who step aside to let their betters pass them in the street, desire thus to show respect to miscreants? (13) And as to gifts, it is notorious, people commonly bestow them largely upon those they hate, and that too when their fears are gravest, hoping to avert impending evil. Nay, these are nothing more nor less than acts of slavery, and they may fairly be set down as such.

(12) Or, "the compliance of cold lips where love is not reciprocated is..."

(13) Or, "to rank injustice."

But honours have a very different origin, (14) as different to my mind as are the sentiments to which they give expression. See how, for instance, men of common mould will single out a man, who is a man, (15) they feel, and competent to be their benefactor; one from whom they hope to reap rich blessings. His name lives upon their lips in praise. As they gaze at him, each one among them sees in him a private treasure. Spontaneously they yield him passage in the streets. They rise from their seats to do him honour, out of love not fear; they crown him for his public (16) virtue's sake and benefactions. They shower gifts upon him of their own free choice. These same are they who, if my definition holds, may well be said to render honour to their hero by such service, whilst he that is held worthy of these services is truly honoured. And for my part I can but offer my congratulations to him. "God bless him," say I, perceiving that so far from being the butt of foul conspiracy, he is an object of anxiety to all, lest evil should betide him; and so he pursues the even tenour of his days in happiness exempt from fears and jealousy (17) and risk. But the current of the tyrant's life runs differently. Day and night, I do assure you, Simonides, he lives like one condemned by the general verdict of mankind to die for his iniquity.

(14) Lit. "Honours would seem to be the outcome and expression of conditions utterly remote from these, in fact their very opposites."

(15) Cf. Napoleon's accost of Goethe, "Vous etes un homme," and "as Goethe left the room, Napoleon repeated to Berthier and Daru, 'Voila un homme!'" ("The Life of Goethe," Lewes, p. 500).

(16) Reading {koines}, which ought to mean "common to them and him"; if with Cobet {koine}, "in public crown him for his virtue's sake, a benefactor."

(17) Or, "without reproach."

Now when Simonides had listened to these reasonings to the end, (18) he answered: How is it, Hiero, if to play the tyrant is a thing so villainous, (19) and that is your final judgment, how comes it you are not quit of so monstrous an evil? Neither you, nor, for that matter, any monarch else I ever heard of, having once possessed the power, did ever of his own free will divest himself of sovereignty. How is that, Hiero?

(18) Cf. "Econ." xi. 1.

(19) Or, "if to monarchise and play the despot."

For one simple reason (the tyrant answered), and herein lies the supreme misery of despotic power; it is not possible even to be quit of it. (20) How could the life of any single tyrant suffice to square the account? How should he pay in full to the last farthing all the moneys of all whom he has robbed? with what chains laid upon him make requital to all those he has thrust into felons' quarters? (21) how proffer lives enough to die in compensation of the dead men he has slain? how die a thousand deaths?

(20) Holden aptly cf. Plut. "Sol." 14, {kalon men einai ten torannida khorion, ouk ekhein de apobasin}, "it was true a tyrrany was a very fair spot, but it had no way down from it" (Clough, i. p. 181).

(21) Or, "how undergo in his own person the imprisonments he has inflicted?" Reading {antipaskhoi}, or if {antiparaskhoi}, transl. "how could he replace in his own person the exact number of imprisonments which he has inflicted on others?"

Ah, no! Simonides (he added), if to hang one's self outright be ever gainful to pour mortal soul, then, take my word for it, that is the tyrant's remedy: there's none better suited (22) to his case, since he alone of all men is in this dilemma, that neither to keep nor lay aside his troubles profits him.

(22) Or, "nought more profitable to meet the case." The author plays on {lusitelei} according to his wont.

VIII

Here Simonides took up the thread of the discourse (1) as follows: That for the moment, Hiero, you should be out of heart regarding tyranny (2) I do not wonder, since you have a strong desire to be loved by human beings, and you are persuaded that it is your office which balks the realisation of your dream.

(1) Al. "took up the speaker thus."

(2) "In reference to despotic rule."

Now, however, I am no less certain I can prove to you that government (3) implies no obstacle to being loved, but rather holds the advantage over private life so far. And whilst investigating if this be really so, let us not embarrass the inquiry by asking whether in proportion to his greater power the ruler is able to do kindness on a grander scale. But put it thus: Two human beings, the one in humble circumstances, (4) the other a despotic ruler, perform a common act; which of these twain will, under like conditions, (5) win the larger thanks? I will begin with the most trifling (6) examples; and first a simple friendly salutation, "Good day," "Good evening," dropped at sight of some one from the lips of here a ruler, there a private citizen. In such a case, whose salutation will sound the pleasanter to him accosted?

(3) {to arkhein}. Cf. "Cyrop." passim.

(4) "A private person."

(5) Lit. "by like expenditure of power."

(6) {arkhomai soi}. Lit. "I'll begin you with quite commonplace examples." Holden cf. Shakesp. "Merry Wives," i. 4. 97, "I'll do you your master what good I can"; "Much Ado," ii. 3. 115, "She will sit you." For the distinction between {paradeigmaton} = examples and {upodeigmata} = suggestions see "Horsem." ii. 2.

Or again, (7) let us suppose that both should have occasion to pronounce a panegyric. Whose compliments will carry farther, in the way of delectation, think you? Or on occasion of a solemn sacrifice, suppose they do a friend the honour of an invitation. (8) In either case it is an honour, but which will be regarded with the greater gratitude, the monarch's or the lesser man's?

(7) "Come now."

(8) Cf. "Mem." II. iii. 11 as to "sacrifices as a means of social enjoyment." Dr. Holden cf. Aristot. "Nic. Eth." VIII. ix. 160, "And hence it is that these clan communities and hundreds solemnise sacrifices, in connection with which they hold large gatherings, and thereby not only pay honour to the gods, but also provide for themselves holiday and amusement" (R. Williams). Thuc. ii. 38, "And we have not forgotten to provide for our weary spirits many relaxations from toil; we have regular games and sacrifices throughout the year" (Jowett). Plut. "Them." v., {kai gar philothuten onta kai lampron en tais peri tous xenous dapanais ...} "For loving to sacrifice often, and to be splendid in his entertainment of strangers, he required a plentiful revenue" (Clough, i. 236). To which add Theophr. "Char." xv. 2, "The Shameless Man": {eita thusas tois theois autos men deipnein par' etero, ta de krea apotithenai alsi pasas, k.t.l.}, "then when he has been sacrificing to the gods, he will put away the salted remains, and will himself dine out" (Jebb).

Or let a sick man be attended with a like solicitude by both. It is plain, the kind attentions of the mighty potentate (9) arouse in the patient's heart immense delight. (10)

(9) "Their mightinesses," or as we might say, "their serene highnesses." Cf. Thuc. ii. 65.

(10) "The greatest jubilance."

Or say, they are the givers of two gifts which shall be like in all respects. It is plain enough in this case also that "the gracious favour" of his royal highness, even if halved, would more than counterbalance the whole value of the commoner's "donation." (11)

(11) Or, "half the great man's 'bounty' more than outweighs the small man's present." For {dorema} cf. Aristot. "N. E." I. ix. 2, "happiness... a free gift of God to men."

Nay, as it seems to me, an honour from the gods, a grace divine, is shed about the path of him the hero-ruler. (12) Not only does command itself ennoble manhood, but we gaze on him with other eyes and find the fair within him yet more fair who is to-day a prince and was but yesterday a private citizen. (13) Again, it is a prouder satisfaction doubtless to hold debate with those who are preferred to us in honour than with people on an equal footing with ourselves.

(12) Lit. "attends the footsteps of the princely ruler." Cf. "Cyrop." II. i. 23, Plat. "Laws," 667 B, for a similar metaphorical use of the word.

(13) {to arkhein}, "his princely power makes him more noble as a man, and we behold him fairer exercising rule than when he functioned as a common citizen." Reading {kallio}, or if {edion}, transl. "we feast our eyes more greedily upon him."

Why, the minion (with regard to whom you had the gravest fault to find with tyranny), the favourite of a ruler, is least apt to quarrel (14) with gray hairs: the very blemishes of one who is a prince soon cease to be discounted in their intercourse. (15)

(14) Lit. "feels least disgust at age"; i.e. his patron's years and wrinkles.

(15) Cf. Plat. "Phaedr." 231 B.

The fact is, to have reached the zenith of distinction in itself lends ornament, (16) nay, a lustre effacing what is harsh and featureless and rude, and making true beauty yet more splendid.

(16) Or, "The mere prestige of highest worship helps to adorn." See Aristot. "N. E." xi. 17. As to {auto to tetimesthai m. s.} I think it is the {arkhon} who is honoured by the rest of men, which {time} helps to adorn him. Others seem to think it is the {paidika} who is honoured by the {arkhon}. If so, transl.: "The mere distinction, the privilege alone of being highly honoured, lends embellishment," etc.

Since then, by aid of equal ministrations, you are privileged to win not equal but far deeper gratitude: it would seem to follow, considering the vastly wider sphere of helpfulness which lies before you as administrators, and the far grander scale of your largesses, I say it naturally pertains to you to find yourselves much more beloved than ordinary mortals; or if not, why not?

Hiero took up the challenge and without demur made answer: For this good reason, best of poets, necessity constrains us, far more than ordinary people, to be busybodies. We are forced to meddle with concerns which are the very fount and springhead of half the hatreds of mankind.

We have moneys to exact if we would meet our necessary expenses. Guards must be impressed and sentinels posted wherever there is need of watch and ward. We have to chastise evil-doers; we must put a stop to those who would wax insolent. (17) And when the season for swift action comes, and it is imperative to expedite a force by land or sea, at such a crisis it will not do for us to entrust the affair to easy-goers.

(17) Or, "curb the over-proud in sap and blood."

Further than that, the man who is a tyrant must have mercenaries, and of all the burdens which the citizens are called upon to bear there is none more onerous than this, since nothing will induce them to believe these people are supported by the tyrant to add to his and their prestige, (18) but rather for the sake of his own selfishness and greed.

(18) Reading with Breit. {eis timas}, or if the vulg. {isotimous}, transl. "as equal merely to themselves in privilege"; or if with Schenkl (and Holden, ed. 3) {isotimias}, transl. "their firm persuasion is these hirelings are not supported by the tyrant in the interests of equality but of undue influence."

IX

To these arguments Simonides in turn made answer: Nay, Hiero, I am far from stating that you have not all these divers matters to attend to. They are serious duties, (1) I admit. But still, what strikes me is, if half these grave responsibilities do lend themselves undoubtedly to hatred, (2) the remaining half are altogether gratifying. Thus, to teach others (3) arts of highest virtue, and to praise and honour each most fair performance of the same, that is a type of duty not to be discharged save graciously. Whilst, on the other hand, to scold at people guilty of remissness, to drive and fine and chasten, these are proceedings doubtless which go hand in hand with hate and bitterness.

(1) Cf. "Econ." vii. 41.

(2) Or, "tend indisputably to enmity."

(3) Or, "people," "the learner."

What I would say then to the hero-ruler is: Wherever force is needed, the duty of inflicting chastisement should be assigned to others, but the distribution of rewards and prizes must be kept in his own hands. (4)

(4) Cf. "Cyrop." VIII. ii. 27; ib. i. 18; "Hipparch," i. 26.