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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 44 of 879
Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.36a–I.1.36b
Ancient Greek
p. 8436 Ἀριστοτέλους πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον (αʹ)
Καθόλου δὲ ὅπερ ἐν νηῒ μὲν κυβερνήτης, ἐν ἅρματι δὲ ἡνίοχος, ἐν χορῷ δὲ κορυφαῖος, [ἐν πόλει δὲ νόμος,] ἐν στρατοπέδῳ δὲ ἡγεμών, τοῦτο θεὸς ἐν κόσμῳ, πλὴν καθόσον τοῖς μὲν καματηρὸν τὸ ἄρχειν πολυκίνητόν τε καὶ πολυμέριμνον, τῷ δὲ ἄλυπον ἄπονόν τε πάσης κεχωρισμένῳ σωματικῆς ἀσθενείας· ἐν ἀκινήτῳ ⟨γὰρ⟩ ἱδρυμένος δυνάμει πάντα κινεῖ καὶ περιάγει, ὅπου βούλεται καὶ ὅπως, ἐν διαφόροις ἰδέαις καὶ φύσεσιν· ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ ὁ τῆς πόλεως νόμος ἀκίνητος ὢν ἐν ταῖς τῶν χρωμένων ψυχαῖς πάντα οἰκονομεῖ τὰ κατὰ τὴν πολιτείαν.
36 Ἀριστοτέλους πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον (βʹ)
Ἐφεπόμενοι γὰρ αὐτῷ δηλονότι ἐξίασιν ἄρχοντες μὲν εἰς τὰ ἀρχεῖα, θεσμοθέται δὲ εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα δικαστήρια, βουλευταὶ δὲ καὶ ἐκκλησιασταὶ εἰς συνέδρια τὰ προσήκοντα· καὶ ὁ μὲν εἰς τὸ πρυτανεῖον βαδίζει διαιτησόμενος, ⟨ὁ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς δικαστὰς ἀπολογησόμενος, ὁ δὲ εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον ἀποθανούμενος⟩. Γίνονται δὲ καὶ δημοθοινίαι νόμιμοι καὶ πανηγύρεις ἐνιαύσιαι, θεῶν τε θυσίαι καὶ ἡρώων θεραπεῖαι καὶ χοαὶ κεκμηκότων. Ἄλλα δ’ ἄλλως ἐνεργούμενα κατὰ μίαν πρόσταξιν ἢ νόμιμον ἐξουσίαν σῴζει τὸ τοῦ ποιήσαντος, ὅτι
πόλις ⟨δ’⟩ ὁμοῦ μὲν θυμιαμάτων γέμει, ὁμοῦ δὲ παιάνων τε καὶ στεναγμάτων.Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 1
p. 8536 Aristotle, from the letter to Alexander (1)
In general, what a helmsman is in a ship, a charioteer in a chariot, a leader in a chorus, [law in a city,] and a commander in an army, God is in the cosmos—with this difference: for them, ruling is wearisome, full of movement and anxiety; for him it is painless and effortless, since he is free from every bodily weakness. ⟨For⟩ established in unmoving power, he moves and guides everything wherever and however he wishes, in diverse forms and natures.85
So too the law of a city, itself unmoving in the souls of those who live by it, orders all the affairs of the constitution.
36 Aristotle, from the letter to Alexander (2)
In obedience to it, magistrates go to their offices, judicial magistrates to their proper courts, and councilors and members of the assembly to the appropriate meetings. One man goes to the prytaneum to dine; ⟨another goes before the judges to defend himself, another to prison to die⟩. There are also lawful public banquets and annual festivals, sacrifices to gods, rites for heroes, and libations for the dead.
These varied activities, carried out under one ordinance or lawful authority, bear out the poet’s saying:
“⟨And⟩ the city is filled at once with incense, and at once with paeans and lamentations.”86
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.36a–I.1.36b
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Stobaeus gathered Greek philosophy and poetry for his son Septimius. Volume I presents the dedication testimony, On Arithmetic, Book I through chapter 60, and the ancient contents of all four books. This complete bilingual edition includes an introduction and 2,117 explanatory notes.
Historical Text and Translation
The Greek follows Curt Wachsmuth’s 1884 Volume I, checked against the supplied scan. Gaps, lost-chapter headings, and uncertain attributions remain visible. Chapter 2 includes a labeled proposed reconstruction. The appendix outlines Books I–IV; the full texts of Books II–IV are outside this volume. Reader pages preserve the companion PDF’s numbering.
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Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the Greek. Prose and verse retain their distinct forms, with mixed passages preserving their quoted verse. Every passage is paired with its Greek and identified by the edition’s reference number. All 2,117 notes remain linked to their passages, with continuous numbering across the introduction and text.
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