Dio's Rome, Volume 2 - An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek During - the Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, - Elagabalus and Alexander Severus; and Now Presented in English - Form. Second Volume Extant Books 36-44 ( by Cassius Dio
page 107 of 382 (28%)
page 107 of 382 (28%)
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wantonly expelled.
[-26-] "Moreover, the story as I heard it was that you did not depart unwillingly nor after conviction, but of your own accord; that you hated to live with them, seeing that you could not make them better and would not endure to perish with them, and that you were exiled not from your country but from those who were plotting against her. Consequently they would be the ones dishonored and banished, having cast out all that is good from their souls, but you would be honored and fortunate, as being nobody's slave in unseemly fashion and possessing all fitting qualities, whether you choose to live in Sicily, in Macedonia, or anywhere else in the world. Surely it is not localities that give either good fortune or unhappiness of any sort, but each man makes for himself both country and happiness always and everywhere. This is what Camillus had in mind when he was glad to dwell in Ardea; this is the way Scipio reckoned when he lived his life out without grieving in Liternum. What need is there to mention Aristides or to cite Themistocles, men whom exile rendered more esteemed, or Anni[44] ... or Solon, who of his own accord left home for ten years? "Therefore do you likewise cease to consider irksome any such thing as pertains neither to our physical nor to our spiritual nature, and do not vex yourself at what has happened. For to us belongs no choice as I told you, of living as we please, but it is quite requisite for us to endure what the Divinity determines. If we do this voluntarily, we shall not be grieved: if involuntarily, we shall not escape at all what is fated and we shall lay upon ourselves besides the greatest of ills,--distressing our hearts to no purpose. The proof of it is that men who bear good-naturedly the most outrageous fortunes do not regard themselves as being in any very dreadful circumstances, while those that are disturbed |
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