το τέλος θυμίζει λίγο Λέωνα αιγαιομακεδόνα αλλά είναι συγκινητικός γαμώτο. Ούτε για απόγονοι Μυσών δεν περνιέστε τους λέει, πόσο μάλλον για Έλληνεςκαὶ λέγω ταῦτα μὰ τὸν Δία οὐκ ἀπεχθάνεσθαι βουλόμενος ὑμῖν οὐδὲ διασύρων τὴν πόλιν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅπως μηδὲν ἀνάξιον ἑαυτῆς μηδὲ ἀλλότριον τῆς ἄλλης εὐκοσμίας καὶ τῆς πολιτείας φαίνηται ποιοῦσα. καί μοι δοκεῖ τις ἂν εἰκότως προαχθῆναι διὰ τὴν πρὸσἅπαντας εὔνοιαν τοὺς Ἕλληνας, οὐ μόνον διὰ τὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, εἴ τι ἄρα ἐνθάδε ἔχοι μὴ καλῶς, εἰπεῖν καὶ μηνῦσαι. πρότερον μὲν γὰρ ἐκ πολλῶν συνειστήκει τὸ κοινὸν ἀξίωμα καὶ πολλοὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ηὖξον, ὑμεῖς, Ἀθηναῖοι, Λακεδαιμόνιοι, Θηβαῖοι, χρόνον τινὰ Κορίνθιοι, τὸ παλαιὸν Ἀργεῖοι. νυνὶ δὲ τὸ μὲν τῶν ἄλλωνοὐθέν ἐστιν.
[158] οἱ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ὅλως ἀνῄρηνται καὶ ἀπολώλασιν, οἱ δὲ ἀσχημονοῦσι πράττοντες οἷα ἀκούετε καὶ πάντα τρόπον τὴν παλαιὰν δόξαν ἀφανίζοντες, οἰόμενοι τρυφᾶν οἱ ἀνόητοι καὶ κέρδος ἀριθμοῦντες τὸ μηθένα κωλύειν αὐτοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας. λοιποὶ δὲ ὑμεῖς ἐστε: καὶ γὰρ μόνοις ὑμῖν ὑπάρχει τὸ δοκεῖν ὄντως τινὰσγεγονέναι καὶ μὴ τελέως καταπεφρονῆσθαι. διὰ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς οὕτω χρωμένους ταῖς ἑαυτῶν πατρίσιν, ὡς ἀληθεύοντες ἔνιοι λέγουσιν, οὐθὲν ἐκώλυε πάλαι Φρυγῶν πάντας ἢ Θρᾳκῶν ἀτιμοτέρους γεγονέναι τοὺς Ἕλληνας.
[159] ὥσπερ οὖν οἰκίας ἠρημωμένης εὐδαίμονος καὶ μεγάλης, ὅταν εἷς ἔτι λοιπὸς ᾖ διάδοχος, ἐν ἐκείνῳπάντα ἐστί, κἂν οὗτος ἁμαρτάνῃ τι καὶ ἀκούῃ κακῶς, τὴν ὅλην δόξαν ἀφανίζει τῆς οἰκίας καὶ πάντας καταισχύνει τοὺς πρότερον: [p. 265] οὕτως τὰ ὑμέτερα νῦν ἔχει πρὸς τὴν Ἑλλάδα. μὴ γὰρ οἴεσθε πρωτεύειν αὐτῆς, ἄνδρες Ῥόδιοι, μὴ οἴεσθε. τῶν γὰρ ζώντων ἔτι καὶ τῶν αἰσθανομένων τιμῆς ἢ ἀδοξίας ἔστι πρώτους εἶναι. τὰ δὲ ἐκείνης οἴχεται καὶ πάντα τρόπον αἰσχρῶς καὶ ἐλεεινῶς διέφθαρται: καὶ οὐδὲ ἐπινοῆσαι λοιπὸν ἔστι τὴν ὑπεροχὴν καὶ τὴν λαμπρότητα τῶν πόλεων εἴς γε τοὺς ἄνδρας ὁρῶντα.
[160] ἀλλ᾽ οἱ λίθοι μᾶλλον ἐμφαίνουσι τὴν σεμνότητα καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς Ἑλλάδος καὶ τὰ ἐρείπια τῶν οἰκοδομημάτων: ἐπεὶ αὐτούς γε τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας καὶ τοὺς πολιτευομένους οὐκ ἂν εἴποι τις οὐδὲ Μυσῶν ἀπογόνους: ὥστε ἔμοιγε δοκοῦσι τῶν οὕτως οἰκουμένων αἱ τελέως ἀνῃρημέναι πόλεις κρεῖττον ἀπαλλάττειν. ὑγιὴς γὰρ ἡ τούτων μνήμη μένει, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα δι᾽ οὐθὲν ὑβρίζεται τῶν πρότερον καλῶν: ὥσπερ οἶμαι καὶ τῶν τεθνεώτων τῷ παντὶ βέλτιον τὰ σώματα ἀνῃρῆσθαι καὶ μηδένα ὁρᾶν ἢ φαίνεσθαι σηπόμενα.
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... tion%3D157
αγγλική μετάφραση για ευκολία:
Spoiler
157 Now I say all this, I assure you, with no desire to incur your hatred or to disparage your city, but in order to prevent its being found doing anything unworthy of itself or alien to the general decorum of its public life. And it seems to me that anyone would have good reason for being moved, by his good will toward all the Hellenes, and not alone toward you, if in fact there should be any practice here in Rhodes that is not as it should be, to mention it and p161 make it known to you. For in the past, indeed, many elements contributed to the high standing in which we all share, and many peoples exalted Hellas — you, the Athenians, the Spartans, the Thebans, the Corinthians for a while, and in ancient times the Argives; 158 but at the present time all the rest count for naught.132 For while some of them have been utterly destroyed and have perished, others disgrace themselves by doing the sort of things of which you hear and in every way blotting out their ancient glory, thinking that they are having an easy life, fools that they are, and counting it gain that there is no one to keep them from erring. But you are left, for you alone still are believed to have proved yourselves to be in truth a people of consequence and not utterly despised. In fact, because of those who treat as they do their native countries, there was nothing to prevent the Hellenic race from having become long since — as some men are saying with perfect truth — more despised than the Phrygians or Thracians. 159 Therefore, just as, when a prosperous and great family has been left desolate and only one male descendant survives, everything depends upon him, and if he errs in any way and bears a bad name, he destroys all the glory of his family and puts shame upon all who preceded him, so too is your position now in respect to Hellas. For you must not take it for granted, Rhodians, that you hold first place in Hellas, nay you must not. For it is only those Hellenes who still live and are sensible of the difference between honour and dishonour of whom it is possible for any to be first. But all the former are past and gone, have perished in an utterly shameful p163 and pitiable way; and as to the rest,133 it is no longer possible to form a conception of the pre-eminence and splendour of their deeds and, as well, their sufferings, by looking at the men of the present time. 160 Nay, it is rather the stones which reveal the grandeur and the greatness of Hellas, and the ruins of her buildings; her inhabitants themselves and those who conduct her governments would not be called descendants of even the Mysians.134 So to me, at least, it seems that the cities which have been utterly destroyed have come off better than those which are inhabited as they are now. For the memory of those men remains unimpaired, and the fame of those noble men of the past suffers insult for naught; just as it is true, methinks, with the bodies of the dead — it is in every way better that they should have been utterly destroyed and that no man should see them any more, than that they should rot in the sight of all!
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/R ... s/31*.html
πως και ο Πλούταρχος αφήνει να φανεί εδώ μια πατριωτική πίκρα όταν μιλάει για την πορεία των Λακεδαιμονίων.
Ο Διώνας ήταν και λίγο προσωπικά πικραμένος με τους Ρωμαίους, γιατί η οικογένειά του ξέπεσε και ο ίδιος έχασε την περιουσία του, αλλά και πάλι, δεν ήταν αρκετό για να τον οδηγήσει σε κάποιο βήμα παραπάνω. Το έβαλα στο άλλο νήμα: οι ρωμαίοι λέει μας προσφέρουν ειρήνη και δουλεία
ο Διώνας κατηγορεί τους Ρόδιους γιατί σβήνουν τις επιγραφές απο τα αγάλματα των προγόνων τους και γράφουν πάνω τα ονόματα των ρωμαίων διοικητών που θέλουν να γλείψουν
