Plutarch, Ad principem ineruditum, Harold North Fowler (Translator), 3

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[3] Who, then, shall rule the ruler? The

Law, the king of all,

Both mortals and immortals,

as Pindar¹ says - not law written outside him in books or on wooden tablets² or the like, but reason endowed with life within him, always abiding with him and watching over him and never leaving his soul without its leadership. For example, the King of the Persians had one of his chamberlains assigned to the special duty of entering his chamber in the morning and saying to him: Arise, O King, and consider matters which the great Oromasdes³ wished you to consider. But the educated and wise ruler has within him the voice which always thus speaks to him and exhorts him. Indeed Polemo said that love was the service of the gods for the care and preservation of the young; one might more truly say that rulers serve god for the care and preservation of men, in order that of the glorious gifts which the gods give to men they may distribute some and safeguard others.

Dost thou behold this lofty, boundless sky

Which holds the earth enwrapped in soft embrace?⁴

The sky sends down the beginnings of the appropriate seeds, and the earth causes them to sprout up; some are made to grow by showers and some by winds, and some by the warmth of stars and moon; but it is the sun which adorns all things and mingles in all things what men call the love charm which is derived from himself. But these gifts and blessings, so excellent and so great, which the gods bestow cannot be rightly enjoyed nor used without law and justice and a ruler. Now justice is the aim and end of law, but law is the work of the ruler, and the ruler is the image of God who orders all things. Such a ruler needs no Pheidias nor Polycleitus nor Myron to model him, but by his virtue he forms himself in the likeness of God and thus creates a statue most delightful of all to behold and most worthy of divinity. Now just as in the heavens God has established as a most beautiful image of himself the sun and the moon, so in states a ruler

who in God’s likeness

Righteous decisions upholds,⁵

that is to say, one who, possessing god’s wisdom, establishes, as his likeness and luminary, intelligence in place of sceptre or thunderbolt or trident, with which attributes some rulers represent themselves in sculpture and painting, thus causing their folly to arouse hostile feelings, because they claim what they cannot attain. For God visits his wrath upon those who imitate his thunders, lightnings, and sunbeams, but with those who emulate his virtue and make themselves like unto his goodness and mercy he is well pleased and therefore causes them to prosper and gives them a share of his own equity, justice, truth, and gentleness, than which nothing is more divine, - nor fire, nor light, nor the course of the sun, nor the risings and settings of the stars, nor eternity and immortality. For God enjoys felicity, not through the length of his life, but through the ruling quality of his virtue; for this is divine; and excellent also is that part of virtue which submits to rule.

Ad principem ineruditum. Plutarch. Harold North Fowler (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1936.

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Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

To an Uneducated Ruler (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. X. Fowler, Harold North, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Πρὸς ἡγεμόνα ἀπαίδευτον Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol. V. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1893.) — 3 focus

[3] τίς οὖν ἄρξει τοῦ ἄρχοντος; ὁ νόμος ὁ 10 πάντων βασιλεὺς; θνατῶν¹ τε καὶ ἀθανάτων· ὡς ἔφη Πίνδαρος, οὐκ ἐν βιβλίοις ἔξω γεγραμμένος² οὐδέ τισι ξύλοις, ἀλλʼ ἔμψυχος ὢν ἐν αὐτῷ³ λόγος, ἀεὶ συνοικῶν καὶ παραφυλάττων καὶ μηδέποτε τὴν ψυχὴν ἐῶν ἔρημον ἡγεμονίας. ὁ μὲν γὰρ Περσῶν βασιλεὺς 15 ἕνα τῶν κατευναστῶν εἶχε πρὸς τοῦτο τεταγμένον, ὥσθʼ ἕωθεν εἰσιόντα λέγειν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀνάστα, ὦ βασιλεῦ, καὶ φρόντιζε πραγμάτων, ὧν 780d σε φροντίζειν ὁ μέγας Ὠρομάσδης⁴ ἠθέλησε· τοῦ δὲ πεπαιδευμένου καὶ σωφρονοῦντος ἄρχοντος ἐντός 20 ἐστιν ὁ τοῦτο φθεγγόμενος ἀεὶ καὶ παρακελευόμενος Πολέμων γὰρ ἔλεγε τὸν ἔρωτα εἶναι θεῶν ὑπηρεσίαν εἰς νέων ἐπιμέλειαν καὶ σωτηρίαν⁵. ἀληθέστερον δʼ ἄν τις εἴποι τοὺς ἄρχοντας ὑπηρετεῖν θεῷ πρὸς ἀνθρώπων ἐπιμέλειαν καὶ σωτηρίαν; ὅπως ὧν θεὸς δίδωσιν ἀνθρώποις καλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν τὰ μὲν νέμωσι τὰ δὲ φυλάττωσιν.

ὁρᾷς τὸν ὑψοῦ τόνδʼ ἄπειρον αἰθέρα,

⁶

καὶ γῆν πέριξ ἔχονθʼ ὑγραῖς ἐν ἀγκάλαις⁷;

5 ὁ μὲν καθίησιν ἀρχὰς σπερμάτων προσηκόντων γῆ δʼ ἀναδίδωσιν, αὔξεται δὲ τὰ μὲν ὄμβροις τὰ δʼ ἀνέμοις τὰ δʼ ἄστροις ἐπιθαλπόμενα καὶ σελήνῃ, 780e κοσμεῖ δʼ ἥλιος ἅπαντα καὶ πᾶσι τοῦτο δὴ τὸ παρʼ αὑτοῦ⁸ φίλτρον ἐγκεράννυσιν. ἀλλὰ τῶν τοιούτων⁹ 10 καὶ τηλικούτων ἃ θεοὶ χαρίζονται δώρων καὶ ἀγαθῶν οὐκ ἔστιν ἀπόλαυσις οὐδὲ χρῆσις ὀρθὴ δίχα νόμου καὶ δίκης καὶ ἄρχοντος. δίκη μὲν οὖν νόμου τέλος ἐστί, νόμος δʼ ἄρχοντος ἔργον, ἄρχων δʼ εἰκὼν θεοῦ τοῦ πάντα κοσμοῦντος, οὐ Φειδίου δεόμενος 15 πλάττοντος οὐδὲ Πολυκλείτου καὶ Μύρωνος, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς αὑτὸν εἰς ὁμοιότητα θεῷ διʼ ἀρετῆς καθιστὰς; 780f καὶ δημιουργῶν ἀγαλμάτων τὸ ἣδιστον ὀφθῆναι καὶ θεοπρεπέστατον. οἷον δʼ ἣλιον ἐν οὐρανῷ περικαλλὲς εἴδωλον ἑαυτοῦ καὶ σελήνην ὁ. θεὸς 20 ἐνίδρυσε, τοιοῦτον ἐν πόλεσι μίμημα καὶ φέγγος ἄρχων ὅστε θεουδὴς εὐδικίας; ἀνέχῃσι¹⁰, τουτέστι θεοῦ λόγον ἔχων διάνοιαν¹¹, οὐ σκῆπτρον οὐδὲ κεραυνὸν οὐδὲ τρίαιναν, ὡς ἔνιοι πλάττουσιν ἑαυτοὺς καὶ γράφουσι τῷ ἀνεφίκτῳ ποιοῦντες ἐπίφθονον 25 τὸ ἀνόητον νεμεσᾷ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τοῖς ἀπομιμουμένοις βροντὰς καὶ κεραυνοὺς καὶ ἀκτινοβολίας, 781a τοὺς δὲ τὴν ἀρετὴν ζηλοῦντας αὐτοῦ καὶ πρὸς τὸ καλὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον ἀφομοιοῦντας ἑαυτοὺς ἡδόμενος αὔξει καὶ μεταδίδωσι τῆς περὶ αὐτὸν εὐνομίας 5 καὶ δίκης καὶ ἀληθείας καὶ πραότητος· ὧν θειότερον οὐ πῦρ ἐστιν οὐ φῶς οὐχ ἡλίου δρόμος οὐκ ἀνατολαὶ καὶ δύσεις ἄστρων οὐ τὸ ἀίδιον καὶ ἀθάνατον. οὐ γὰρ χρόνῳ ζωῆς ὁ θεὸς εὐδαίμων ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς τῷ ἄρχοντι τοῦτο γὰρ θεῖόν ἐστι, 10 καλὸν δʼ αὐτῆς καὶ τὸ ἀρχόμενον.

Translations (1)

A discourse to an unlearned prince Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. IV. Goodwin, William W., editor; Kersey, John, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 3 focus

[3] Who then shall have power to govern a prince? The law, without doubt; which (as Pindar saith) is the king of mortal and immortal beings; which is not written without in books nor engraven on wood or stone, but is a clear reason imprinted in the heart, always residing and watching therein, and never suffering the mind to be without government. The king of Persia indeed commanded one of his lords that lay in the same chamber to attend him every morning, and to sound these words in his ears: Arise, O king! and take care of those affairs and duties that Oromasdes requires of thee. But a wise and prudent. prince hath such a monitor within his breast as always prompts and admonishes him to the same effect. It was a saying of Polemon, that Love was the minister of the Gods, appointed to take care of the education of youth; but it might be more truly affirmed, that princes are the administrators of the divine power, for the safety and protection of mankind, to distribute part of those goods that God bestows on men, and to reserve part for themselves.

Dost thou behold the vast and azure sky,

How in its liquid arms the earth doth lie?

The air indeed disperses the first principles of convenient seeds, but the earth causeth them to spring forth; some grow and thrive by the means of moderate and refreshing showers, some delight in gentle breezes of wind, and some are cherished by the influences of the moon and stars; but it is the sun that perfects and beautifies all, inspiring them with the principle of mutual sympathy and love. Nevertheless, all these so many and so great benefits, that are the effects of the divine munificence and liberality, cannot be enjoyed or duly made use of, without a law, justice, and a prince; for justice is the end of the law, the law is the prince’s work, and the prince is the image of God, that disposeth all things. He doth not stand in need of a Phidias, a Polycletus, or a Myro; but by the practice of virtue makes himself most like the divine nature, and becomes a most delectable object to God and man. For as God hath placed the sun and moon in heaven, as manifest tokens of his power and glory, so the majesty of a prince is resplendent on earth, as he is his representative and vicegerent, Who doth like God most righteous laws dispense.² I mean such a one as believes that the likeness of God is found in wisdom and understanding, not in the sceptre, the thunderbolt, or the trident, with which symbols of Deity some have vainly caused themselves to be carved or painted, thereby exposing their egregious folly to the world, in affecting that which they are not able to attain to. For God cannot but be incensed against those that presume to imitate him in producing thunder, lightnings, and sunbeams; but if any strive to emulate his goodness and mercy, being well pleased with their endeavors, he will assist them, and will endue them with his order, justice, truth, and gentleness, than which nothing can be more sacred and pure,—not fire, not light, nor the course of the sun, not the rising and setting of the stars, nor even eternity and immortality itself. For God is not only happy by reason of the duration of his being, but because of the excellency of his virtue; this is properly divine and transcendent, and that is also good which is governed by it.

Notes on the current edition

To an Uneducated Ruler

1. Bergk-Schroeder, p. 458, no. 169 [151]; Sandys, p. 602, no. 169 (L.C.L.). Quoted by Plato, Gorg. 484 b, Laws, 690 b.

2. A reference to the original tablets of Solon’s laws. See Moralia, 779 b and note b, p. 46 above.

3. Oromasdes is the Greek form of Ormaszd, Auramasda, or Ahura Mazda, the great god of the Persians.

4. Euripides, unknown drama, Nauck, Trag. Graec. Frag. p. 663. The following line is τοῦτον νόμιζε Ζῆνα, τὀνδ’ ἡγοῦ Θεόν, Believe that this is Zeus, consider this thy God. Cicero translates this line in De Natura Deorum, ii. 25. 65.

5. Homer, Od. xix. 109 and 111.

Plutarch Ad principem ineruditum 3

Harold North Fowler (Translator)

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