Stobaeus, Volume II

Name: Stobaeus, Volume II
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek and English with an introduction and explanatory footnotes.

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Stobaeus, Volume IIBook II Chapter 7 · II.7.11i.5–II.7.11i.6

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English Page · Branch 167 of 516

Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.11i.5–II.7.11i.6

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Ancient Greek

p. 330

Νόμιμος καὶ νομικός

II.7.11i.5

Τοῦ δὲ νόμου ὄντος σπουδαίου, καθάπερ εἴπομεν, ἐπειδὴ λόγος ὀρθός ἐστι προστακτικὸς μὲν ὧν ποιητέον, ἀπαγορευτικὸς δὲ ὧν οὐ ποιητέον, μόνον τὸν σοφὸν εἶναι λέγουσι νόμιμον, πρακτικὸν ὄντα τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου προσταττομένων καὶ μόνον ἐξηγητικὸν τούτου, δι’ ὃ καὶ νομικὸν εἶναι· τοὺς δ’ ἠλιθίους ἐναντίους ἔχειν.

Ἀρχὴ καὶ πειθαρχία

II.7.11i.6

Ἀστείοις δ’ ἔτι καὶ τὴν ἀρχικὴν κατανέμουσιν ἐπιστασίαν καὶ τὰ ταύτης εἴδη, βασιλείαν, στρατηγίαν, ναυαρχίαν καὶ τὰς ταύταις παραπλησίους. Κατὰ τοῦτο δὴ καὶ μόνος ὁ σπουδαῖος ἄρχει καὶ εἰ μὴ πάντως κατ’ ἐνέργειαν, κατὰ διάθεσιν δὲ καὶ πάντως. Καὶ πειθαρχικὸς μόνος ὁ σπουδαῖός ἐστιν, ἀκολουθητικὸς ὢν ἄρχοντι. Τῶν δ’ ἀφρόνων οὐδεὶς τοιοῦτος· οὔτε γὰρ ἄρχειν οὔτ’ ἄρχεσθαι οἷός ⟨τ’⟩ ἐστιν ὁ ἄφρων, αὐθάδης τις ὢν καὶ ἀνάγωγος.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 331

Lawful and Skilled in Law

II.7.11i.5

Since law is virtuous, as we said, being right reason that commands what is to be done and forbids what is not to be done, they say that only the wise person is lawful: he carries out what the law commands and alone can interpret it, which is why he is also skilled in law. Stupid people have the opposite qualities.⁴³²

Rule and Obedience

II.7.11i.6

They also assign to the morally excellent the oversight belonging to rule and its kinds: kingship, generalship, naval command, and similar offices. In this respect only the virtuous person rules—even if not necessarily in actual exercise, certainly in disposition.⁴³³ Only the virtuous person is also obedient, being capable of following a ruler. No foolish person is like this: the fool is capable neither of ruling nor of being ruled, being self-willed and undisciplined.⁴³⁴

432.The definition resumes II.7.11d.6, Wachsmuth p. 96, lines 10–12; the editor’s parenthetical reference is transferred here. Νόμιμος, “lawful,” and νομικός, “skilled in law,” remain distinct. The definition of law as right reason governs the claim; it is not simply an assertion of obedience to every existing enactment. The source changes its designation of the unwise here to ἠλίθιοι, “stupid people.”

433.Ἀστεῖοι retains “the morally excellent.” The explicit distinction between ἐνέργεια, actual exercise, and διάθεσις, disposition, explains the claim to rule without requiring the wise person to hold office. The kinds named include ναυαρχία, command of a fleet.

434.The capacity to follow a ruler accompanies, rather than excludes, the capacity to rule. The Greek supplies τ’ to complete οἷός τε, “capable”; the supplement is expressed in the English construction. The final ἀνάγωγος describes lack of discipline or training, paired with self-will.

About This Reading Edition

The complete surviving text of Stobaeus’s second book, through II.46.22, in Ancient Greek and English, with an introduction and 1,541 explanatory notes. All forty-six chapter headings remain, including the notices for chapters whose texts are missing.

Historical Text and Translation

Greek: Curt Wachsmuth, Ioannis Stobaei Anthologii libri duo priores, volumen II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1884), printed p. 1 and pp. 3–264. The supplied edition preserves consequential editorial signs, reconstructed joins, qualified attributions, and missing-text notices. English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes: Diotimos Editions, 2026.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

Stobaeus’s ancient Greek work and Wachsmuth’s 1884 edition are in the public domain. The supplied English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes are published with the site owner’s authorization.