(It is our duty to adore not only the images of the gods, but also their temples and sacred precincts and altars. And it is reasonable to honour the priests also as officials and servants of the gods; and because they minister to us what concerns the gods, and they lend strength to the gods’ gift of good things to us; for they sacrifice and pray on behalf of all men. It is therefore right that we should pay them all not less, if not indeed more, than the honours that we pay to the magistrates of the state. And if any one thinks that we ought to assign equal honours to them and to the magistrates of the state, since the latter also are in some sort dedicated to the service of the gods, as being guardians of the laws, nevertheless we ought at any rate to give the priests a far greater share of our good will. The Achaeans, for instance, enjoined on their king(511) to reverence the priest, though he was one of the enemy, whereas we do not even reverence the priests who are our friends, and who pray and sacrifice on our behalf.) Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπείπερ ὁ λόγος εἰς τὴν πάλαι ποθουμένην ἀρχὴν ἐλήλυθεν, ἄξιον εἶναί μοι δοκεῖ διελθεῖν ἐφεξῆς, ὁποῖός τις ὢν ὁ ἱερεὺς αὐτός τε δικαίως τιμηθήσεται καὶ τοὺς θεοὺς τιμᾶσθαι ποιήσει.(512) τὸ γὰρ ἡμέτερον οὐ χρὴ σκοπεῖν οὐδὲ ἐξετάζειν, [297] ἀλλὰ ἕως ἂν ἱερεύς τις ὀνομάζηται, τιμᾶν αὐτὸν χρὴ καὶ θεραπεύειν, εἰ δὲ εἴη πονηρός, ἀφαιρεθέντα τὴν ἱερωσύνην ὡς ἀνάξιον ἀποφανθέντα περιορᾶν· ἕως δὲ προθύει καὶ κατάρχεται καὶ παρίσταται τοῖς θεοῖς, ὡς τὸ τιμιώτατον τῶν θεῶν κτῆμα προσβλεπτέος ἐστὶν ἡμῖν μετὰ αἰδοῦς καὶ εὐλαβείας. ἄτοπον γάρ, εἰ τοὺς μὲν λίθους, ἐξ ὧν οἱ βωμοὶ πεποίηνται, διὰ τὸ καθιερῶσθαι τοῖς θεοῖς ἀγαπῶμεν,(513) ὅτι μορφὴν ἔχουσι καὶ σχῆμα πρέπον, εἰς [B] ἥν εἰσι κατεσκευασμένοι λειτουργίαν, ἄνδρα δὲ καθωσιωμένον τοῖς θεοῖς οὐκ οἰησόμεθα χρῆναι τιμᾶν. ἴσως ὑπολήψεταί τις· ἀλλὰ ἀδικοῦντα καὶ ἐξαμαρτάνοντα πολλὰ τῶν πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς ὁσίων; ἐγὼ δή φημι χρῆναι τὸν μὲν τοιοῦτον ἐξελέγχειν, ἵνα μὴ πονηρὸς ὢν ἐνοχλῇ τοὺς θεούς, ἕως δ᾽ ἂν ἐξελέγξῃ(514) τις, μὴ ἀτιμάζειν. οὐδὲ γὰρ [C] εὔλογον ἐπιλαβομένους ταύτης τῆς ἀφορμῆς οὐ τούτων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων τιμᾶσθαι τὴν τιμὴν προσαφαιρεῖσθαι. ἔστω τοίνυν ὥσπερ ἄρχων, οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἱερεὺς πᾶς αἰδέσιμος, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἀπόφασίς ἐστι θεοῦ τοῦ Διδυμαίου τοιαύτη·