The Works of the Emperor Julian, Vol. 2Julian, Emperor of Rome
Philosophy
The Works of the Emperor Julian, Vol. 2
Julian, Emperor of Rome
Speeches, addresses, etc., Greek -- Translations into English
Οὕτω μὲν οὖν ἐγὼ καὶ ἐν Κελτοῖς κατὰ τὸν τοῦ Μενάνδρου Δύσκολον αὐτὸς
ἐμαυτῷ πόνους προσετίθην. ἀλλ᾽ ἡ Κελτῶν μὲν ταῦτα ῥᾷον ἔφερεν ἀγροικία,
πόλις δ᾽ εὐδαίμων καὶ μακαρία καὶ πολυάνθρωπος εἰκότως ἄχθεται, [B] ἐν ᾗ
πολλοὶ μὲν ὀρχησταί, πολλοὶ δ᾽ αὐληταί, μῖμοι δὲ πλείους τῶν πολιτῶν,
αἰδὼς δ᾽ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀρχόντων. ἐρυθριᾶν γὰρ πρέπει τοῖς ἀνάνδροις, ἐπεὶ τοῖς
γε ἀνδρείοις, ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς, ἕωθεν κωμάζειν, νύκτωρ ἡδυπαθεῖν, ὅτι τῶν νόμων
ὑπερορᾶτε μὴ λόγῳ διδάσκειν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἔργοις ἐνδείκνυσθαι. καὶ γὰρ οἱ
νόμοι φοβεροὶ διὰ τοὺς ἄρχοντας· ὥστε ὅστις ἄρχοντα ὕβρισεν οὗτος ἐκ
περιουσίας τοὺς νόμους κατεπάτησεν· [C] ὡς δ᾽ ἐπὶ τούτοις εὐφραινόμενοι
δῆλον ποιεῖτε πολλαχοῦ μέν, οὐχ ἥκιστα δ᾽ ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς καὶ ἐν τοῖς
θεάτροις, ἀπὸ μὲν τῶν κρότων καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς βοῆς ὁ δῆμος, οἱ δ᾽ ἐν τέλει τῷ
γνωριμώτεροι μᾶλλον εἶναι καὶ ὀνομάζεσθαι παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀφ᾽ ὧν εἰς τὰς
τοιαύτας ἑορτὰς ἐδαπάνησαν ἢ Σόλων ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς Κροῖσον τὸν
Λυδῶν βασιλέα συνουσίας. καλοὶ δὲ πάντες καὶ μεγάλοι καὶ λεῖοι καὶ
ἀγένειοι, [D] νέοι τε ὁμοίως καὶ πρεσβύτεροι ζηλωταὶ τῆς εὐδαιμονίας τῶν
Φαιάκων,
(After this fashion then, even when I was among the Celts, like the ill‐
tempered man in Menander,(700) “I myself kept heaping troubles on my own
head.” But whereas the boorish Celts used easily to put up with these ways
of mine, they are naturally resented by a prosperous and gay and crowded
city in which there are numerous dancers and flute players and more mimes
than ordinary citizens, and no respect at all for those who govern. For
the blush of modesty befits the unmanly, but manly fellows like you it
befits to begin your revels at dawn, to spend your nights in pleasure, and
to show not only by your words but by your deeds also that you despise the
laws. For indeed it is only by means of those in authority that the laws
inspire fear in men; so that he who insults one who is in authority, over
and above this tramples on the laws. And that you take pleasure in this
sort of behaviour you show clearly on many occasions, but especially in
the market‐places and theatres; the mass of the people by their clapping
and shouting, while those in office show it by the fact that, on account
of the sums they have spent on such entertainments, they are more widely
known and more talked about by all men than Solon the Athenian ever was on
account of his interview with Croesus the king of the Lydians.(701) And
all of you are handsome and tall and smooth‐skinned and beardless; for
young and old alike you are emulous of the happiness of the Phaeacians,
and rather than righteousness you prefer)
Εἵματα τ᾽ ἐξημοιβὰ λοετρά τε θερμὰ καὶ εὐνὰς
(“changes of raiment and warm baths and beds.”(702))
ἀντὶ τῆς ὁσίας ἀποδεχόμενοι.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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