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‘διὰ τί τοῖς ἱερεῦσι τούτοις ἀρχὴν οὐκ ἐφεῖτο λαβεῖν οὐδὲ μετελθεῖν, ἀλλὰ ῥαβδούχῳ τε χρῶνται καὶ δίφρον ἡγεμονικὸν ἐπὶ τιμῇ καὶ
παραμυθίᾳ τοῦ μὴ ἄρχειν ἔχουσι;’
πότερον, ὡς ἐνιαχοῦ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀντίρροπον
ἦν τὸ τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἀξίωμα πρὸς τὸ τῆς βασιλείας,
καὶ μὴ τοὺς τυχόντας ἱερεῖς ἀπεδείκνυσαν;
ἢ μᾶλλον ὅτι τῶν μὲν ἱερέων ὡρισμένας πράξεις
ἐχόντων τῶν δ᾽ ἀρχόντων ἀτάκτους καὶ ἀορίστους
οὐκ ἦν δυνατὸν εἰς ἓν ἅμα τῶν καιρῶν συμπεσόντων ἑκατέρῳ παρεῖναι τὸν αὐτόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἔδει θάτερα
πολλάκις ἀμφοτέρων ἐπειγόντων ἀπολείποντα νῦν μὲν ἀσεβεῖν τοὺς θεούς, νῦν δὲ βλάπτειν τοὺς πολίτας;
ἢ ταῖς ἀνθρωπίναις ἐνορῶντες ἀρχαῖς οὐκ
ἐλάττονα τῆς ἐξουσίας τὴν ἀνάγκην προσοῦσαν, καὶ τὸν ἄρχοντα δήμου, καθάπερ Ἱπποκράτης ἔφη τὸν
[p. 170]
ἰατρόν, δεινὰ μὲν ὁρῶντα δεινῶν δ᾽
ἁπτόμενον,
ἐπ᾽ ἀλλοτρίοις δὲ κακοῖς ἰδίας λύπας καρπούμενον, οὐχ
ὅσιον ἡγοῦντο θύειν θεοῖς καὶ ἱερῶν κατάρχεσθαι γενόμενον ἐν καταδίκαις καὶ θανατώσεσι πολιτῶν,
πολλάκις δὲ καὶ συγγενῶν καὶ οἰκείων, οἷα καὶ Βρούτῳ συνέτυχε;
Plutarch. Moralia. with an English Translation by. Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1936. 4.
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