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Εἶδον· ἀνθρώπους ὑπὸ τῆς σωμασκίας βεβαρημένους καὶ φορτίον τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς κρεῶν περιφέροντας, οἷς ἔπαθλα καὶ στέφανοι πρόκεινται, παρακαλουμένων αὐτοὺς τῶν ἀγωνοθετῶν, οὐκ ἐπ ἀνδραγαθίᾳ, ὕβρεως δὲ καὶ στάσεως φιλονεικίᾳ, καὶ τὸν μᾶλλον πλήκτην στεφανούμενον. Καὶ ταῦτα μέν ἐστι τῶν κακῶν τὰ ἐλάττονα· τὰ δὲ μείζονα τίς οὐκ ἂν ἐξειπεῖν ὀκνήσειεν; Ἀργίαν τινὲς ἐπανῃρημένοι διὰ τὴν ἀσωτίαν ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὸ φονευθῆναι πιπράσκουσι· καὶ πωλεῖ μὲν ἑαυτὸν ὁ πονῶν, ὁ δὲ πλουτῶν ὠνεῖται τοὺς φονεύοντας. Καὶ τούτοις οἱ μαρτυροῦντες καθίζονται, μονομαχοῦσί τε οἱ πυκτεύοντες περὶ οὐδενός, καὶ ὁ βοηθήσων οὐ κάτεισιν. Ἆρα γε τὰ τοιαῦτα ὑφ ὑμῶν καλῶς ἐπιτελεῖται; Τὸ μὲν γὰρ στρατόπεδον τῶν μιαιφονούντων ὁ προὔχων ἐν ὑμῖν συναγείρει, λῃστοτροφεῖν ἐπαγγελλόμενος· οἱ δὲ λῃστεύοντες ἀπ αὐτοῦ προΐασι, καὶ πάντες ἐπὶ τὴν θέαν συνίετε κριταὶ γινόμενοι, τοῦτο μὲν πονηρίας ἀγωνοθέτου, τοῦτο δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν μονομαχούντων.Ὁ δὲ τῷ φόνῳ μὴ περιτυχὼν λυπεῖται, διότι μὴ κατεκρίθη πονηρῶν καὶ ἀθέων καὶ μιαρῶν ἔργων θεατὴς γενέσθαι. Θύετε ζῶα διὰ τὴν κρεωφαγίαν, καὶ ἀνθρώπους ὠνεῖσθε τῇ ψυχῇ τὴν ἀνθρωποφαγίαν παρεχόμενοι, τρέφοντες αὐτὴν αἱματεκχυσίαις ἀθεωτάταις.Ὁ μὲν οὖν λῃστεύων φονεύει χάριν τοῦ λαβεῖν, ὁ δὲ πλουτῶν μονομάχους ὠνεῖται χάριν τοῦ φονεύεσθαι
I have seen men weighed down by bodily exercise and carrying about a burden of the flesh upon them, for whom prizes and crowns are set forth, the presidents of the games urging them on—not for noble manliness, but in rivalry of insolence and faction, and the one who is the harder hitter is crowned. And these indeed are among the lesser of the evils; but who would not shrink from declaring the greater? Some, having taken up idleness on account of their dissoluteness, sell themselves to be slaughtered; and the needy man sells himself, while the rich man buys the slayers. And the spectators sit by these, and the boxers fight in single combat over nothing, and no one comes down to help. Are such things, then, nobly carried out by you? For the foremost man among you gathers an army of murderers, promising to maintain bandits; and the bandits come forth from him, and you all come together to the spectacle, becoming judges—partly of the wickedness of the games-master, and partly of the gladiators themselves. And the man who has not chanced upon a killing is grieved, because he was not condemned to become a spectator of wicked and godless and abominable deeds. You sacrifice animals for the eating of flesh, and you buy men, furnishing to the soul cannibalism, nourishing it with most godless effusions of blood. So then, the bandit murders for the sake of taking, but the rich man buys gladiators for the sake of their being slaughtered.
我曾見人因身體鍛鍊而身軀沉重，把一身的肥肉作擔子馱著，眾人為他們陳設獎品與冠冕，賽會主席在旁催促——卻不是為高尚的勇武，乃是為傲慢與爭鬥的較勁，那下手更狠的便得冠冕。這些還算是諸惡中較輕的；那更大的惡，誰不畏於宣之於口呢？有人因放蕩而懶於營生，竟把自己賣去任人宰殺；貧窮人賣了自己，富人卻買下那些殺戮者。眾人坐著旁觀這些事，拳手為著毫無價值之事彼此搏命，卻無人下場相救。這等事在你們看來竟是「美好地」舉辦的嗎？因為你們當中為首的人，召聚了一群殺人者，揚言要供養匪徒；匪徒便從他那裡出來，你們眾人一同前來觀看，成了審判官——一面評斷那賽會主席的邪惡，一面評斷那些角鬥士。那沒能碰上一場殺戮的人還心懷不滿，因為他未被「判定」去作那邪惡、無神、可憎之事的觀眾。你們為著吃肉而宰殺牲畜，又買人，給魂供應「吃人之事」，用最無神的流血來餵養它。如此說來，匪徒殺人是為要奪取，富人買角鬥士卻是為要他們被宰殺。