[365] Ἡμῶν γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἀγρὸν οὐδὲ κῆπον ἐπρίατο παρ᾽ ὑμῖν οὐδὲ οἰκίαν ᾠκοδόμησεν οὐδ᾽ ἔγημε παρ᾽ ὑμῶν οὐδ᾽ ἐξέδωκεν εἰς ὑμᾶς οὐδὲ ἠράσθημεν τῶν παρ᾽ ὑμῖν καλῶν, οὐδ᾽ ἐζηλώσαμεν Ἀσσύριον πλοῦτον οὐδ᾽ ἐνειμάμεθα τὰς προστασίας οὐδὲ παραδυναστεύειν ἡμῖν ἠνεσχόμεθά τινας τῶν ἐν τέλει οὐδ᾽ ἐπείσαμεν τὸν δῆμον εἰς παρασκευὰς δείπνων ἢ θεάτρων, ὃν οὕτως ἐποιήσαμεν τρυφᾶν, ὥστε ἄγων σχολὴν [B] ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνδείας τοὺς ἀναπαίστους εἰς τοὺς αἰτίους αὑτῷ τῆς εὐθηνίας ξυνέθηκεν, οὐδ᾽ ἐπεγράψαμεν χρυσίον οὐδὲ ᾐτήσαμεν ἀργύριον οὐδὲ ηὐξήσαμεν φόρους· ἀλλὰ πρὸς τοῖς ἐλλείμμασιν ἀνεῖται πᾶσι τῶν εἰθισμένων εἰσφορῶν τὸ πέμπτον. οὐκ οἶμαι δ᾽ ἐξαρκεῖν τὸ σωφρονεῖν ἐμέ, ἀλλὰ καὶ(778) μέτριον ἔχω ναὶ μὰ Δία καὶ θεούς, ὡς ἐμαυτὸν πείθω, τὸν εἰσαγγελέα, καλῶς ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν ἐπιτιμηθέντα, διότι γέρων ὢν καὶ φαλακρὸς ἠρέμα τὰ πρόσω διὰ δυστροπίαν [C] αἰσχύνεται κομᾶν ἐξόπισθεν, ὥσπερ Ὅμηρος ἐποίησε τοὺς Ἄβαντας, οὐδὲν δ᾽ ἐκείνου φαυλοτέρους ἄνδρας οἴκοι παρ᾽ ἐμαυτῷ δύο καὶ τρεῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τέτταρας, εἰ βούλεσθε δὲ νυνὶ καὶ πέμπτον. (For not one of us has bought a field or garden in your city or built a house or married or given in marriage among you, or fallen in love with any of your handsome youths, or coveted the wealth of Assyria, or awarded court patronage;(779) nor have we allowed any of those in office to exercise influence over us, or induced the populace to get up banquets or theatrical shows; nay rather we have procured for them such luxurious ease that, since they have respite from want, they have had leisure to compose their anapaests against the very author of their well‐being. Again, I have not levied gold money or demanded silver money or increased the tribute; but in addition to the arrears, one‐fifth of the regular taxes has been in all cases remitted. Moreover I do not think it enough that I myself practise self‐restraint, but I have also an usher who, by Zeus and the other gods, is moderate indeed, as I believe, though he has been finely scolded by you, because, being an old man and slightly bald in front, in his perversity he is too modest to wear his hair long behind, as Homer made the Abantes wear theirs.(780) And I have with me at my court two or three men also who are not at all inferior to him, nay four or even five now, if you please.)