And this end is not attained if a man gets riches for
himself, his supporters and his country, by forming plots and
getting together conspirators, being all the while a poor creature,
not master of himself, overcome by the cowardice which fears to
fight against pleasures; nor is it attained if he goes on to kill
the men of substance, whom he speaks of as the enemy, and to plunder
their possessions, and invites his confederates and supporters to do
the same, with the object that no one shall say that it is his
fault, if he complains of being poor. The same is true if anyone
renders services of this kind to the State and receives honours from
her for distributing by decrees the property of the few among the
many-or if, being in charge the affairs of a great State which rules
over many small ones, he unjustly appropriates to his own State the
possessions of the small ones. For neither a Dion nor any other man
will, with his eyes open, make his way by steps like these to a
power which will be fraught with destruction to himself and his
descendants for all time; but he will advance towards constitutional
government and the framing of the justest and best laws, reaching
these ends without executions and murders even on the smallest scale.
This course Dion actually followed, thinking it preferable to suffer
iniquitous deeds rather than to do them; but, while taking precautions
against them, he nevertheless, when he had reached the climax of
victory over his enemies, took a false step and fell, a catastrophe
not at all surprising.
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