s; and that his disposition was to keep his friends,
and not to be soon tired of them, nor yet to be extravagant in his
affection; and to be satisfied on all occasions, and cheerful; and to
foresee things a long way off, and to provide for the smallest without
display; and to check immediately popular applause and all flattery; and
to be ever watchful over the things which were necessary for the
administration of the empire, and to be a good manager of the
expenditure, and patiently to endure the blame which he got for such
conduct; and he was neither superstitious with respect to the gods, nor
did he court men by gifts or by trying to please them, or by flattering
the populace; but he showed sobriety in all things, and firmness, and
never any mean thoughts or action, nor love of novelty. And the things
which conduce in any way to the commodity of life, and of which fortune
gives an abundant supply, he used without arrogance and without excusing
himself; so that when he had them, he enjoyed them without affectation,
and when he had them not, he did not want them. No one could ever say of
him that he was either a sophist or a [home-bred] flippant slave or a
pedant; but every one acknowledged him to be a man ripe, perfect, above
flattery, able to manage his own and other men's affairs. Besides this,
he honored those who were true philosophers, and he did not reproach
those who pretended to be philosophers, nor yet was he easily led by
them. He was also easy in conversation, and he made himself agreeable
without any offensive affectation. He took a reasonable care of his
body's health, not as one who was greatly attached to life, nor out of
regard to personal appearance, nor yet in a careless way, but so that
through his own attention he very seldom stood in need of the
physician's art or of medicine or external applications. He was most
ready to give without envy to those who possessed any particular
faculty, such as that of eloquence or knowledge of the law or of morals,
or of anything else; and he gave them his help, that each might enjoy
reputation according to his deserts; and he always acted conformably to
the institutions of his country, without showing any affectation of
doing so. Further, he was not fond of change nor unsteady, but he loved
to stay in the same places, and to employ himself about the same things;
and after his paroxysms of headache he came immediately fresh and
vigorous to his usual occupations. His