Kitap 1
1
Men of Delphi, we have been sent by our ruler Phalaris to bring your god this bull, and to say to you what should be said about Phalaris himself and about his gift. That is why we are here, then; and what he told us to tell you is this: ‘For my part, men of Delphi, to have all the Greeks think me the sort of man I am, and not the sort that rumour, coming from those who hate and envy me, has made me out to the ears of strangers, would please me better than anything else in the world; above all, to have you think me what I am, as you are priests and associates of Apollo, and (one might almost say) live in his house and under his roof-tree. I feel that if I clear myself before you and convince you that there was no reason to think me cruel, I shall have cleared myself through you before the rest of the Greeks. And I call your god. himself to witness what I am about to say. Of course he cannot be tripped by fallacies and misled by falsehoods: for although mere men are no doubt easy to cheat, a god (and above all this god) cannot be hoodwinked.
2
‘I was not one of the common people in Acragas, but was as well-born, as delicately brought up and as thoroughly educated as anyone. Never at any time did I fail to display public spirit toward the city, and discretion and moderation toward my fellow-citizens; and no one ever charged me with a single violent, tude, insolent, or overbearing action in the early period of my life. But when I saw that the men of the opposite party were plotting against me and trying in every way to get rid of me—our city was split into factions at the time—I found only one means of escape and safety, in which lay also the salvation of the city: it was to put myself at the head of the state, curb those men and check their plotting, and force the city to be reasonable. As there were not a few who commended this plan, men of sense and patriotism who understood my purpose and the necessity of the coup, I made use of their assistance and easily succeeded.
