“Let us not delay then, Toxaris,” said Anacharsis,
“take me with you to him, though I’m afraid of one thing, that he may be difficult to approach and not consider your representations on my behalf as of any importance.” “Hush now,” replied Toxaris, “I fancy I shall be showing him a great kindness by giving him the chance to show good-will to a stranger. You just follow on. You’ll see his reverence for Zeus the God of Strangers as well as his general goodness and kindness. Well, that’s a piece of luck! Here he is coming in our direction, that fellow deep in thought, the one muttering to himself.” He addressed Solon at once: “I’ve come,” he said, “with the greatest of gifts for you, a stranger in need of your friendship. He is one of our Scythian nobility, but that hasn’t prevented him from leaving all his possessions there to visit you men of Greece and to see the fairest things that Greece can offer, I’ve discovered a short way of enabling him to see everything easily in person and to become known to the cream of your nation: this was to bring him to you. If I know Solon, you’ll do this and look after him and make him a true son of Greece. Anacharsis, as I told you just now, having seen Solon you have seen everything: here is Athens, here is Greece; you’re no longer a stranger, everybody knows you, everybody



 

loves you. Such is the quality of this old man. In his company you will forget everything you left in Scythia. Here is the reward of your voyaging abroad, the end of your passionate longing. Here for you is the measure of Greece, here a specimen of Attic philosophy. Just realise how blessed you are to meet Solon, and to meet him as a friend.”
 It would be a long business to tell how Solon was pleased by the gift, what he said, and how they kept company afterwards, Solon, the educator, instilling the noblest lessons, making Anacharsis friends with everyone, introducing him to the noblest Greeks, and looking after him in every way, so that his time in Greece might pass most pleasantly, and Anacharsis, in admiration of Solon’s wisdom, unwilling to leave his side for a moment. So just as Toxaris had promised him, from one person, Solon, he quickly learnt everything, became known to everyone, and won respect through him. For Solon’s praise carried no small weight, and in this too men obeyed him as a lawgiver, and they made friends with those to whom he showed respect, accepting them as men of worth. In the end, if we are to believe Theoxenus, who tells this story as well about him, Anacharsis alone of barbarians was even initiated into the mysteries after being made an Athenian citizen; nor I fancy would he have returned to Scythia, had not Solon died.
 Would you like me to complete my story so that it should not roam about in a headless condition? It’s high time to find out what Anacharsis and Toxaris from Scythia are still doing here at this time in Macedon bringing old Solon with them from Athens.

 

Well, my own situation is like that of Anacharsis—and please do not resent my likening myself to a man of regal stature, for he too was a barbarian, and no one could say that we Syrians are inferior to Scythians. It isn’t on grounds of royalty that I compare my situation with his, but rather because we are both barbarians. For when I first came to live in your city, I was utterly terrified as soon as I saw its size, its beauty, its high population, its power and general splendour. For a long time I was struck with wonder at these things and could not take in the spectacle—just
as when the young man from the islands
 Telemachus: Homer, Od . iv, 71. 
 came to the house of Menelaus. How could I help feeling like this when I saw the city at such a peak of excellence and, as the poet says,
 “Blossoming with all good things whereby a city flourisheth.” 
 In this plight then I was already considering what steps I should take next. I had some time since decided to show you something of my oratory, for who else would deserve it if I had passed by such a city in silence? To tell the truth, I enquired who were the leading citizens and who might be approached and enlisted as patrons and general supporters. My case was better than that of Anacharsis—he had but one patron, Toxaris, and that one a barbarian, while I have many, and what is more they have all told me the same thing in about the same words:
“There are many good and knowledgeable persons in our city, friend—nowhere else will you find such quality—, but we have two men of outstanding merit,




 

pre-eminent in birth and reputation, and in culture and oratorical power comparable to the Ten Attic Orators. They enjoy the devoted respect of the people, and their word is law. They wish whatever is best for the city. Their goodness, their kindness towards strangers, their freedom from censure, eminent though they be, their kindly courtesy, their gentleness and ease of access, these qualities you yourself will tell to others when you have presently made trial of them.