Ταῦτά γε ἄξιον ἐπιτηδεύειν καὶ εὔχεσθαι πολλάκις τοῖς θεοῖς ἰδίᾳ καὶ δημοσίᾳ, μάλιστα μὲν τρὶς τῆς ἡμέρας, εἰ δὲ μή, πάντως ὄρθρου γε(526) καὶ δείλης· οὐδὲ γὰρ εὔλογον ἄθυτον ἄγειν ἡμέραν ἢ νύκτα τὸν ἱερωμένον· [B] ἀρχὴ δὲ ὄρθρος μὲν ἡμέρας, ὀψία δὲ νυκτός. εὔλογον δὲ ἀμφοτέρων τοῖς θεοῖς ἀπάρχεσθαι τῶν διαστημάτων, ὅταν ἔξωθεν τῆς ἱερατικῆς ὄντες τυγχάνωμεν, λειτουργίας· ὡς τά γε ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς, ὅσα πάτριος διαγορεύει νόμος, φυλάττειν πρέπει, καὶ οὔτε πλέον οὔτε ἔλαττόν τι ποιητέον αὐτῶν· ἀίδια γάρ ἐστι τὰ τῶν θεῶν· ὥστε καὶ ἡμᾶς χρὴ μιμεῖσθαι τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτῶν, [C] ἵν᾽ αὐτοὺς ἱλασκώμεθα διὰ τοῦτο πλέον. (All this, at least, we ought to study to do, and we ought also to pray often to the gods, both in private and in public, if possible three times a day, but if not so often, certainly at dawn and in the evening. For it is not meet that a consecrated priest should pass a day or a night without sacrifice; and dawn is the beginning of the day as twilight is of the night. And it is proper to begin both periods with sacrifice to the gods, even when we happen not to be assigned to perform the service. For it is our duty to maintain all the ritual of the temples that the law of our fathers prescribes, and we ought to perform neither more nor less than that ritual; for eternal are the gods, so that we too ought to imitate their essential nature in order that thereby we may make them propitious.) Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἦμεν αὐτοψυχαὶ μόναι τὸ σῶμα δὲ πρὸς μηδὲν ἡμῖν διώχλει, καλῶς ἂν εἶχεν ἕνα τινὰ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἀφορέζειν βίον· ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐχ ἱερεῦσιν ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ(527) ἱερεῖ προσήκει μόνον, ὃ δὴ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς λειτουργίας ἐπιτηδευτέον, τί δὲ τῷ(528) ἱερατεύειν ἀνθρώπῳ λαχόντι συγχωρητέον, ὅταν ἐκτὸς ᾖ τῆς ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς λειτουργίας; οἶμαι δὲ χρῆναι [D] τὸν ἱερέα πάντων ἁγνεύσαντα νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν, εἶτα ἄλλην ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ νύκτα καθηράμενον οἷς διαγορεύουσιν οἱ θεσμοὶ καθαρμοῖς οὕτως εἴσω φοιτῶντα τοῦ ἱεροῦ μένειν ὅσας ἂν ἡμέρας ὁ νόμος κελεύῃ. τριάκοντα μὲν γὰρ αἱ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν εἰσιν ἐν Ῥώμῃ, παρ᾽ ἄλλοις δὲ ἄλλως. εὔλογον οὖν οἶμαι μένειν ἁπάσας ταύτας τὰς ἡμέρας ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς φιλοσοφοῦντα, καὶ μήτε εἰς οἰκίαν βαδίζειν μήτε εἰς ἀγοράν, [303] ἀλλὰ μηδὲ ἄρχοντα πλὴν ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς ὁρᾶν, ἐπιμελεῖσθαι δὲ τῆς περὶ τὸ θεῖον θεραπείας αὐτὸν ἐφορῶντα πάντα καὶ διατάττοντα, πληρώσαντα δὲ τὰς ἡμέρας εἶτα ἑτέρῳ παραχωρεῖν τῆς λειτουργίας. ἐπὶ δὲ τὸν ἀνθρώπινον τρεπομένῳ βίον ἐξέστω καὶ βαδίζειν εἰς οἰκίαν φίλου καὶ εἰς ἑστίασιν ἀπαντᾶν παρακληθέντα, [B] μὴ πάντων, ἀλλὰ τῶν βελτίστων· ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καὶ εἰς ἀγορὰν παρελθεῖν οὐκ ἄτοπον ὀλιγάκις, ἡγεμόνα τε προσειπεῖν καὶ ἔθνους ἄρχοντα, καὶ τοῖς εὐλόγως δεομένοις ὅσα ἐνδέχεται βοηθῆσαι.