Oration on the merit of laws

It is the custom, on this occasion and in these ceremonies, to say something about the merit of the laws, and it is surely most useful to incite men to respect them. I, too, wish to speak about the same topic, but the more frequently I think about realms, about the management of life and about laws and judgements, which are the nerves of government, peace and discipline, the more difficult it is for me to choose what to say from such a multitude of things. For, first of all, how difficult is it to respond to the belief of Cyclopes and Centaurs, who say, amidst such turmoil of human affairs, that all that we call law and political wisdom is just an empty name, for as long as it is understood that realms are ravaged by force of arms, and ruled by the whims of the mighty. Without mentioning ancient examples, does the ferocity of the Turks care for any laws? They advance as they can, and command the oppressed by force as they wish. One hundred years ago there was a most flourishing school of our laws in Constantinople; now that teaching has been driven far away, and everything is ruled by the nod of one tyrant or of some barbarous ruler. Thus, when the world was torn apart by the retinue of Alexander was the voice of laws or political teaching ever heard?