Episode 5

This, then, was the advice which Dion and I gave to Dionysios,since, owing to bringing up which he had received from his father,he had had no advantages in the way of education or of suitablelessons, in the first place...; and, in the second place, that,after starting in this way, he should make friends of others among hisconnections who were of the same age and were in sympathy with hispursuit of virtue, but above all that he should be in harmony withhimself; for this it was of which he was remarkably in need. This wedid not say in plain words, for that would not have been safe; butin covert language we maintained that every man in this way would saveboth himself and those whom he was leading, and if he did not followthis path, he would do just the opposite of this. And after proceedingon the course which we described, and making himself a wise andtemperate man, if he were then to found again the cities of Sicilywhich had been laid waste, and bind them together by laws andconstitutions, so as to be loyal to him and to one another in theirresistance to the attacks of the barbarians, he would, we told him,make his father's empire not merely double what it was but manytimes greater. For, if these things were done, his way would beclear to a more complete subjugation of the Carthaginians than thatwhich befell them in Gelon's time, whereas in our own day his fatherhad followed the opposite course of levying attribute for thebarbarians. This was the language and these the exhortations givenby us, the conspirators against Dionysios according to the chargescirculated from various sources-charges which, prevailing as theydid with Dionysios, caused the expulsion of Dion and reduced me to astate of apprehension. But when-to summarise great events whichhappened in no great time-Dion returned from the Peloponnese andAthens, his advice to Dionysios took the form of action.

To proceed-when Dion had twice over delivered the city andrestored it to the citizens, the Syracusans went through the samechanges of feeling towards him as Dionysios had gone through, whenDion attempted first to educate him and train him to be a sovereignworthy of supreme power and, when that was done, to be his coadjutorin all the details of his career. Dionysios listened to those whocirculated slanders to the effect that Dion was aiming at thetyranny in all the steps which he took at that time his intentionbeing that Dionysios, when his mind had fallen under the spell ofculture, should neglect the government and leave it in his hands,and that he should then appropriate it for himself and treacherouslydepose Dionysios. These slanders were victorious on that occasion;they were so once more when circulated among the Syracusans, winning avictory which took an extraordinary course and proved disgraceful toits authors. The story of what then took place is one which deservescareful attention on the part of those who are inviting me to dealwith the present situation.

I, an Athenian and friend of Dion, came as his ally to the courtof Dionysios, in order that I might create good will in place of astate war; in my conflict with the authors of these slanders I wasworsted. When Dionysios tried to persuade me by offers of honoursand wealth to attach myself to him, and with a view to giving a decentcolour to Dion's expulsion a witness and friend on his side, he failedcompletely in his attempt. Later on, when Dion returned from exile, hetook with him from Athens two brothers, who had been his friends,not from community in philosophic study, but with the ordinarycompanionship common among most friends, which they form as the resultof relations of hospitality and the intercourse which occurs whenone man initiates the other in the mysteries. It was from this kind ofintercourse and from services connected with his return that these twohelpers in his restoration became his companions. Having come toSicily, when they perceived that Dion had been misrepresented to theSicilian Greeks, whom he had liberated, as one that plotted tobecome monarch, they not only betrayed their companion and friend, butshared personally in the guilt of his murder, standing by hismurderers as supporters with weapons in their hands. The guilt andimpiety of their conduct I neither excuse nor do I dwell upon it.

For many others make it their business to harp upon it, and willmake it their business in the future. But I do take exception to thestatement that, because they were Athenians, they have brought shameupon this city. For I say that he too is an Athenian who refused tobetray this same Dion, when he had the offer of riches and manyother honours. For his was no common or vulgar friendship, butrested on community in liberal education, and this is the one thing inwhich a wise man will put his trust, far more than in ties of personaland bodily kinship. So the two murderers of Dion were not ofsufficient importance to be causes of disgrace to this city, as thoughthey had been men of any note.

All this has been said with a view to counselling the friends andfamily of Dion. And in addition to this I give for the third time toyou the same advice and counsel which I have given twice before toothers-not to enslave Sicily or any other State to despots-this mycounsel but-to put it under the rule of laws-for the other course isbetter neither for the enslavers nor for the enslaved, for themselves,their children's children and descendants; the attempt is in every wayfraught with disaster. It is only small and mean natures that are bentupon seizing such gains for themselves, natures that know nothing ofgoodness and justice, divine as well as human, in this life and in thenext.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***