Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng3
22.1
22.1
The Younger Dionysius used to say that he gave bed and board to many learned men, not because he felt any admiration for them, but because he wished through them to gain admiration for himself.
22.2
22.2
When Polyxenus,
22.2
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22.2
who was skilled in argumentation, asserted that he had confuted the king, the latter said,
22.2
Yes, very likely by your words, but by your deeds I confute you; for you forsake your own affairs, and pay court to me and mine.
22.3
22.3
He was compelled to abdicate, and when a man said to him,
22.3
What help have Plato and philosophy given to you ?
22.3
his answer was:
22.3
The power to submit to so great a change of fortune without repining. Cf. Plutarch, Life of Timoleon, chap. xv. (243 A).
22.4
22.4
On being asked how his father, who was a poor man and a private citizen, had gained control over the Syracusans, and how he, who held control, and was the son of a despot, had come to lose it, he said, My father embarked upon his venture at a time when democracy was hated, but I at a time when despotism was odious.
22.5
22.5
Being asked this same question by another man,
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22.5
he said,
22.5
My father bequeathed to me his kingdom, but not his luck.