112. If, however, they attempt anything of the sort, all intelligent men should condemn them as speaking beside the point. For I undertook my subject with the avowed purpose, not of discussing polities, but of proving that our city has been of much greater service to the Hellenes than has the city of the Lacedaemonians. If, then, they can overthrow any of these proofs or cite other achievements common to both these cities in which the Spartans have shown themselves superior to us, naturally they should be commended. But if they attempt to bring in matters of which I have made no mention, they will deserve the censure of all for their lack of perception.
112. ἢν δὴ τοιοῦτον ἐπιχειρῶσί τι ποιεῖν, προσήκει τοὺς εὖ φρονοῦντας ληρεῖν νομίζειν αὐτούς. ἐγὼ γὰρ ὑπεθέμην οὐχ ὡς περὶ τῶν πολιτειῶν διαλεξόμενος, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐπιδείξων τὴν πόλιν ἡμῶν πολὺ πλείονος ἀξίαν Λακεδαιμονίων περὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας γεγενημένην. ἢν μὲν οὖν ἀναιρῶσί τι τούτων, ἢ πράξεις ἑτέρας κοινὰς λέγωσι περὶ ἃς ἐκεῖνοι βελτίους ἡμῶν γεγόνασιν, εἰκότως ἂν ἐπαίνου τυγχάνοιεν· ἢν δὲ λέγειν ἐπιχειρῶσι περὶ ὧν ἐγὼ μηδεμίαν μνείαν ποιησαίμην, δικαίως ἂν ἅπασιν ἀναισθήτως ἔχειν δοκοῖεν.
113. Nevertheless, since I anticipate that they will inject the question of polities into the debate, I shall not shirk from discussing it. For I think that I shall prove that in this very matter our city has excelled more than in those which I have already mentioned.
113. οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἐπειδή περ αὐτοὺς οἴομαι τὸν λόγον τὸν περὶ τῶν πολιτειῶν εἰς τὸ μέσον ἐμβαλεῖν, οὐκ ὀκνήσω διαλεχθῆναι περὶ αὐτῶν· οἶμαι γὰρ ἐν αὐτοῖς τούτοις τὴν πόλιν ἡμῶν ἐπιδείξειν πλέον διενεγκοῦσαν ἢ τοῖς ἤδη προειρημένοις.
114. And let no one suppose that I have said these things with reference to our present polity, which we were forced by circumstances to adopt, but rather with reference to the polity of our ancestors, from which our fathers changed over to that which is now in force, not because they condemned the older polity—on the contrary, for the other activities of the state they preferred it as much superior—, but because they considered that for the exercise of supremacy by sea this polity was more expedient by adopting which and wisely administering it they were able to fend off both the plots of the Spartans and the armed forces of all the Peloponnesians, over whom it was of vital import to Athens, especially at that time, to have the upper hand in war.
114. καὶ μηδεὶς ὑπολάβῃ με ταῦτʼ εἰρηκέναι περὶ ταύτης, ἣν ἀναγκασθέντες μετελάβομεν, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῆς τῶν προγόνων, ἧς οὐ καταφρονήσαντες οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τὴν νῦν καθεστῶσαν ὥρμησαν, ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τὰς ἄλλας πράξεις πολὺ σπουδαιοτέραν ἐκείνην προκρίναντες, περὶ δὲ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν κατὰ θάλατταν ταύτην χρησιμωτέραν εἶναι νομίζοντες, ἣν λαβόντες καὶ καλῶς ἐπιμεληθέντες οἷοί τʼ ἐγένοντο καὶ τὰς ἐπιβουλὰς τὰς Σπαρτιατῶν ἀμύνασθαι καὶ τὴν Πελοποννησίων ἁπάντων ῥώμην, ὧν κατήπειγε τὴν πόλιν περὶ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον μάλιστα περιγενέσθαι πολεμοῦσαν.
115. So that no one could justly condemn those who chose our present polity. For they were not disappointed in their expectations, nor were they at all blind to both the good and the bad features attached to either form of rule, but, on the contrary, saw clearly that while a land-power is fostered by order and sobriety and discipline and other like qualities, a sea-power is not augmented by these but by the crafts which have to do with the building of ships and by men who are able to row them—men who have lost their own possessions and are accustomed to derive their livelihood from the possessions of others.
115. ὥστʼ οὐδεὶς ἂν δικαίως ἐπιτιμήσειε τοῖς ἑλομένοις αὐτήν· οὐ γὰρ διήμαρτον τῶν ἐλπίδων, οὐδʼ ἠγνόησαν οὐδὲν οὔτε τῶν ἀγαθῶν οὔτε τῶν κακῶν τῶν προσόντων ἑκατέρᾳ τῶν δυνάμεων, ἀλλʼ ἀκριβῶς ᾔδεσαν τὴν μὲν κατὰ γῆν ἡγεμονίαν ὑπʼ εὐταξίας καὶ σωφροσύνης καὶ πειθαρχίας καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν τοιούτων μελετωμένην, τὴν δὲ κατὰ θάλατταν δύναμιν οὐκ ἐκ τούτων αὐξανομένην, ἀλλʼ ἔκ τε τῶν τεχνῶν τῶν περὶ τὰς ναῦς καὶ τῶν ἐλαύνειν αὐτὰς δυναμένων καὶ τῶν τὰ σφέτερα μὲν αὐτῶν ἀπολωλεκότων, ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων πορίζεσθαι τὸν βίον εἰθισμένων·
116. Our fathers did not fail to foresee that with the introduction of these elements into the state the order and discipline of the former polity would be relaxed and that the good will of our allies would soon undergo a change when the Athenians should compel the Hellenes, to whom they had previously given lands and cities, to pay contributions and tribute to Athens in order that she might have the means to pay the kind of men whom I mentioned a moment ago.
116. ὧν εἰσπεσόντων εἰς τὴν πόλιν οὐκ ἄδηλος ἦν ὅ τε κόσμος ὁ τῆς πολιτείας τῆς πρότερον ὑπαρχούσης λυθησόμενος, ἥ τε τῶν συμμάχων εὔνοια ταχέως ληψομένη μεταβολήν, ὅταν οἷς πρότερον χώρας ἐδίδοσαν καὶ πόλεις, τούτους ἀναγκάζωσι συντάξεις καὶ φόρους ὑποτελεῖν, ἵνʼ ἔχωσι μισθὸν διδόναι τοῖς τοιούτοις οἵους ὀλίγῳ πρότερον εἶπον.
117. Nevertheless, although they were not blind to any of the things which I have mentioned, they considered that it was both advantageous and becoming to a state so great in size and reputation to bear with all difficulties rather than with the rule of the Lacedaemonians. For having the choice between two policies, neither of them ideal, they considered it better to choose to do injury to others rather than to suffer injury themselves and to rule without justice over others rather than, by seeking to escape that reproach, to be subject unjustly to the Lacedaemonians— a course which all sensible men would prefer and desire for themselves, albeit a certain few of those who claim to be wise men, were the question put to them, would not accept this view.
117. ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὐδὲν ἀγνοοῦντες τῶν προειρημένων ἐνόμιζον τῇ πόλει τῇ τηλικαύτῃ μὲν τὸ μέγεθος, τοιαύτην δʼ ἐχούσῃ δόξαν, λυσιτελεῖν καὶ πρέπειν ἁπάσας ὑπομεῖναι τὰς δυσχερείας μᾶλλον ἢ τὴν Λακεδαιμονίων ἀρχήν· δυοῖν γὰρ πραγμάτοιν προτεινομένοιν μὴ σπουδαίοιν, κρείττω τὴν αἵρεσιν εἶναι τοῦ δεινὰ ποιεῖν ἑτέρους ἢ πάσχειν αὐτοὺς καὶ τοῦ μὴ δικαίως τῶν ἄλλων ἄρχειν μᾶλλον ἢ φεύγοντας τὴν αἰτίαν ταύτην ἀδίκως Λακεδαιμονίοις δουλεύειν.
118. These, then, are the reasons—I have perhaps gone into them at undue length—but, in any case, these are the reasons why they adopted the polity which is criticized by some in place of the polity which is commended by all.
118. ἅπερ ἅπαντες μὲν ἂν οἱ νοῦν ἔχοντες ἕλοιντο καὶ βουληθεῖεν, ὀλίγοι δʼ ἄν τινες τῶν προσποιουμένων εἶναι σοφῶν ἐρωτηθέντες οὐκ ἂν φήσαιεν. αἱ μὲν οὖν αἰτίαι διʼ ἃς μετέλαβον τὴν πολιτείαν τὴν ὑπό τινων ψεγομένην ἀντὶ τῆς ὑπὸ πάντων ἐπαινουμένης, διὰ μακροτέρων μὲν αὐτὰς διῆλθον, αὗται δʼ οὖν ἦσαν.
119. I shall now proceed to speak about the polity which I took for my subject and about our ancestors, going back to the early times when neither the word oligarchy nor the word democracy was as yet in our speech, but when monarchies governed both the barbaric races and all the Hellenic states.
119. ἤδη δὲ περὶ ἧς τε ὑπεθέμην καὶ τῶν προγόνων ποιήσομαι τοὺς λόγους, ἐκείνων τῶν χρόνων ἐπιλαβόμενος ὅτʼ οὐκ ἦν οὔτʼ ὀλιγαρχίας οὔτε δημοκρατίας ὄνομά πω λεγόμενον, ἀλλὰ μοναρχίαι καὶ τὰ γένη τὰ τῶν βαρβάρων καὶ τὰς πόλεις τὰς Ἑλληνίδας ἁπάσας διῴκουν.
120. I have chosen to begin with a period rather remote for these reasons: first, because I consider that those who lay claim to superior excellence ought from the very beginning of their race to be distinguished above all others, and, second, because I should be ashamed if, having spoken at undue length of men who, though noble, are nowise akin to me, I should not even briefly mention those of our ancestors who most excellently governed our city, since they were as much superior to those who rule with absolute power as the wisest and gentlest of mankind may be said to excel the wildest and the most savage of the beasts.
120. διὰ τοῦτο δὲ προειλόμην πορρωτέρωθεν ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἀρχήν, πρῶτον μὲν ἡγούμενος προσήκειν τοῖς ἀμφισβητοῦσιν ἀρετῆς εὐθὺς ἀπὸ γενεᾶς διαφέροντας εἶναι τῶν ἄλλων, ἔπειτʼ αἰσχυνόμενος εἰ περὶ ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν μὲν οὐδὲν δέ μοι προσηκόντων πλείω διαλεχθεὶς τῶν μετρίων περὶ τῶν προγόνων τῶν τὴν πόλιν κάλλιστα διοικησάντων μηδὲ μικρὰν ποιήσομαι μνείαν, οἳ τοσοῦτον βελτίους ἐγένοντο τῶν τοιαύτας δυναστείας ἐχόντων, ὅσον περ ἄνδρες οἱ φρονιμώτατοι καὶ πραότατοι διενέγκοιεν ἂν θηρίων τῶν ἀγριωτάτων καὶ πλείστης ὠμότητος μεστῶν.
121. For what among crimes that are unparalleled in their wickedness and cruelty shall we not find to have been perpetrated in the other states and especially in those which at the time of which I am speaking were considered the greatest and even now are so reputed? Has there not abounded in them murder of brothers and fathers and guest-friends;
121. τί γὰρ οὐκ ἂν εὕροιμεν τῶν ὑπερβαλλόντων ἀνοσιότητι καὶ δεινότητι πεπραγμένον ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις πόλεσι, καὶ μάλιστʼ ἐν ταῖς μεγίσταις καὶ τότε νομιζομέναις καὶ νῦν εἶναι δοκούσαις; οὐ φόνους ἀδελφῶν καὶ πατέρων καὶ ξένων παμπληθεῖς γεγενημένους;
122. matricide and incest and begetting of children by sons with their own mothers; feasting of a father on the flesh of his own sons, plotted by those nearest of kin; exposure of infants by parents, and drownings and blindings and other iniquities so many in number that no lack of material has ever been felt by those who are wont each year to present in the theatre the miseries which transpired in those days?
122. οὐ σφαγὰς μητέρων καὶ μίξεις καὶ παιδοποιίας ἐξ ὧν ἐτύγχανον αὐτοὶ πεφυκότες; οὐ παίδων βρῶσιν ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκειοτάτων ἐπιβεβουλευμένην; οὐκ ἐκβολὰς ὧν ἐγέννησαν, καὶ καταποντισμοὺς καὶ τυφλώσεις καὶ τοσαύτας τὸ πλῆθος κακοποιίας, ὥστε μηδένα πώποτε ἀπορῆσαι τῶν εἰθισμένων καθʼ ἕκαστον τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν εἰσφέρειν εἰς τὸ θέατρον τὰς τότε γεγενημένας συμφοράς;
123. I have recounted these atrocities with the desire, not of maligning these states, but of showing not only that nothing of the sort happened among the Athenians—for this would be a proof, not of their superior excellence, but merely that they were not of the same character as those who have proved themselves the most godless of men. However, those who undertake to praise any people in superlative terms must show, not only that they were not depraved, but that they excelled in all the virtues both those who lived at that time and those who are now living—which is the very claim that one may make for our ancestors.
123. ταῦτα δὲ διῆλθον οὐκ ἐκείνους λοιδορῆσαι βουλόμενος, ἀλλʼ ἐπιδεῖξαι παρὰ τοῖς ἡμετέροις οὐ μόνον οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον γεγενημένον· τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ ἂν σημεῖον ἦν οὐκ ἀρετῆς ἀλλʼ ὡς οὐχ ὅμοιοι τὰς φύσεις ἦσαν τοῖς ἀνοσιωτάτοις γεγενημένοις· δεῖ δὲ τοὺς ἐπιχειροῦντας καθʼ ὑπερβολήν τινας ἐπαινεῖν μὴ τοῦτο μόνον ἐπιδεικνύναι, μὴ πονηροὺς ὄντας αὐτούς, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἁπάσαις ταῖς ἀρεταῖς καὶ τῶν τότε καὶ τῶν νῦν διήνεγκαν. ἅπερ ἔχοι τις ἂν καὶ περὶ τῶν προγόνων τῶν ἡμετέρων εἰπεῖν.
124. For they administered both the affairs of the state and their own affairs as righteously and honorably as was to be expected of men who were descended from the gods, who were the first to found a city and to make use of laws, who at all times had practised reverence in relation to the gods and justice in relation to mankind, who were neither of mixed origin nor invaders of a foreign territory but were, on the contrary, alone among the Hellenes, sprung from the soil itself, possessing in this land the nurse of their very existence and cherishing it as fondly as the best of children cherish their fathers and mothers, and who, furthermore, were so beloved of the gods that—what is of all things in the world the most difficult and rare, namely, to find examples of royal houses or houses of absolute rulers remaining in power through four or five generations—
124. οὕτω γὰρ ὁσίως καὶ καλῶς καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰ περὶ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς διῴκησαν, ὥσπερ προσῆκον ἦν τοὺς ἀπὸ θεῶν μὲν γεγονότας, πρώτους δὲ καὶ πόλιν οἰκήσαντας καὶ νόμοις χρησαμένους, ἅπαντα δὲ τὸν χρόνον ἠσκηκότας εὐσέβειαν μὲν περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς δικαιοσύνην δὲ περὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ὄντας δὲ μήτε μιγάδας μήτʼ ἐπήλυδας, ἀλλὰ μόνους αὐτόχθονας τῶν Ἑλλήνων, καὶ ταύτην ἔχοντας τὴν χώραν τροφὸν ἐξ ἧς περ ἔφυσαν, καὶ στέργοντας αὐτὴν ὁμοίως ὥσπερ οἱ βέλτιστοι τοὺς πατέρας καὶ τὰς μητέρας τὰς αὑτῶν, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις οὕτω θεοφιλεῖς ὄντας, ὥσθʼ ὃ δοκεῖ χαλεπώτατον εἶναι καὶ σπανιώτατον, εὑρεῖν τινας τῶν οἴκων τῶν τυραννικῶν καὶ βασιλικῶν ἐπὶ τέτταρας ἢ πέντε γενεὰς διαμείναντας,
126. this too transpired among our ancestors alone. For Erichthonius, the son of Hephaestus and Earth, took over from Cecrops, who was without male descent, his house and kingdom; and beginning with this time all those who came after him—not a few in number—handed down their possessions and their powers to their sons until the reign of Theseus. I would give much not to have spoken about the virtue and the achievements of Theseus on a former occasion, for it would have been more appropriate to discuss this topic in my discourse about our city.
126. καὶ τοῦτο συμβῆναι μόνοις ἐκείνοις. Ἐριχθόνιος μὲν γὰρ ὁ φὺς ἐξ Ἡφαίστου καὶ Γῆς παρὰ Κέκροπος ἄπαιδος ὄντος ἀρρένων παίδων τὸν οἶκον καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν παρέλαβεν· ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἀρξάμενοι πάντες οἱ γενόμενοι μετʼ ἐκεῖνον, ὄντες οὐκ ὀλίγοι, τὰς κτήσεις τὰς αὑτῶν καὶ τὰς δυναστείας τοῖς αὑτῶν παισὶ παρέδοσαν μέχρι Θησέως. περὶ οὗ πρὸ πολλοῦ ἂν ἐποιησάμην μὴ διειλέχθαι πρότερον περὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς καὶ τῶν πεπραγμένων αὐτῷ· πολὺ γὰρ ἂν μᾶλλον ἥρμοσεν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ περὶ τῆς πόλεως διελθεῖν περὶ αὐτῶν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ χαλεπὸν ἦν, μᾶλλον δʼ ἀδύνατον, τὰ κατʼ ἐκεῖνον ἐπελθόντα τὸν χρόνον εἰς τοῦτον ἀποθέσθαι τὸν καιρόν, ὃν οὐ προῄδειν ἐσόμενον.
127. But it was difficult, or rather impossible, to postpone the things which at that time occurred to me to say to the present occasion, which I could not foresee would come to me. Therefore I shall pass over this topic, since I have already exhausted it for my present purpose, and shall mention only a single course of action which, as it happens, has neither been discussed by anyone before nor been achieved by any other man but Theseus, and which is a signal proof of his virtue and wisdom.
127. ἐκεῖνα μὲν οὖν ἐάσομεν, ἐπειδὴ πρὸς τὸ παρὸν αὐτοῖς κατεχρησάμην, μιᾶς δὲ μόνον μνησθήσομαι πράξεως, ᾗ συμβέβηκε μήτʼ εἰρῆσθαι πρότερον μήτε πεπρᾶχθαι μηδʼ ὑφʼ ἑνὸς ἄλλου πλὴν ὑπὸ Θησέως, σημεῖον δʼ εἶναι μέγιστον τῆς ἀρετῆς τῆς ἐκείνου καὶ φρονήσεως.
128. For although he ruled over the securest and greatest of kingdoms and in the exercise of this power had accomplished many excellent things both in war and in the administration of the state, he disdained all this and chose the glory which, in consequence of his labours and his struggles, would be remembered for all time in preference to the ease and felicity which, because of his royal power, were at his command for the term of his life.
128. ἔχων γὰρ βασιλείαν ἀσφαλεστάτην καὶ μεγίστην, ἐν ᾗ πολλὰ καὶ καλὰ διαπεπραγμένος ἦν καὶ κατὰ πόλεμον καὶ περὶ διοίκησιν τῆς πόλεως, ἅπαντα ταῦθʼ ὑπερεῖδεν, καὶ μᾶλλον εἵλετο τὴν δόξαν τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν πόνων καὶ τῶν ἀγώνων εἰς ἅπαντα τὸν χρόνον μνημονευθησομένην ἢ τὴν ῥᾳθυμίαν καὶ τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν τὴν διὰ τὴν βασιλείαν ἐν τῷ παρόντι γιγνομένην.
129. And he did this, not after he had grown old and had taken his pleasure in the good things at hand, but in the prime of his manhood, it is said, he gave over the state to the people to govern, while he himself risked his life without ceasing for the benefit of Athens and of the rest of the Hellenes.
129. καὶ ταῦτʼ ἔπραξεν οὐκ ἐπειδὴ πρεσβύτερος γενόμενος ἀπολελαυκὼς ἦν τῶν ἀγαθῶν τῶν παρόντων, ἀλλʼ ἀκμάζων, ὡς λέγεται, τὴν μὲν πόλιν διοικεῖν τῷ πλήθει παρέδωκεν, αὐτὸς δʼ ὑπὲρ ταύτης τε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων διετέλει κινδυνεύων.
130. I have now touched upon the nobility of Theseus so far as I could on the present occasion, having formerly with some pains detailed his whole career. But as to those who took over the administration of the state, which he gave over to them, I am at a loss to know by what terms of praise I can adequately extol the genius of those men who, having no experience of governments, did not err in their choice of that polity which all the world would acknowledge to be not only the most impartial and the most just, but also the most profitable to all and the most agreeable to those who lived under it.
130. περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς Θησέως ἀρετῆς νῦν μὲν ὡς οἷόν τʼ ἦν ἀνεμνήσαμεν, πρότερον δʼ ἁπάσας αὐτοῦ τὰς πράξεις οὐκ ἀμελῶς διήλθομεν· περὶ δὲ τῶν παραλαβόντων τὴν τῆς πόλεως διοίκησιν, ἣν ἐκεῖνος παρέδωκεν, οὐκ ἔχω τίνας ἐπαίνους εἰπὼν ἀξίους ἂν εἴην εἰρηκὼς τῆς ἐκείνων διανοίας. οἵτινες ἄπειροι πολιτειῶν ὄντες, οὐ διήμαρτον αἱρούμενοι τῆς ὑπὸ πάντων ἂν ὁμολογηθείσης οὐ μόνον εἶναι κοινοτάτης καὶ δικαιοτάτης, ἀλλὰ καὶ συμφορωτάτης ἅπασι καὶ τοῖς χρωμένοις ἡδίστης.
131. For they established government by the people, not the kind which operates at haphazard, mistaking licence for liberty and freedom to do what one likes for happiness, but the kind which frowns upon such excesses and makes use of the rule of the best. Now the majority count the rule of the best, which is the most advantageous of governments (just as they do government based upon a property qualification ), among the distinct kinds of polity, being mistaken, not because of ignorance, but because they have never taken any interest in the things which should claim their attention.
131. κατεστήσαντο γὰρ δημοκρατίαν οὐ τὴν εἰκῇ πολιτευομένην, καὶ νομίζουσαν τὴν μὲν ἀκολασίαν ἐλευθερίαν εἶναι, τὴν δʼ ἐξουσίαν ὅ τι βούλεταί τις ποιεῖν εὐδαιμονίαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν τοῖς τοιούτοις μὲν ἐπιτιμῶσαν, ἀριστοκρατίᾳ δὲ χρωμένην· ἣν οἱ μὲν πολλοὶ χρησιμωτάτην οὖσαν ὥσπερ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν τιμημάτων ἐν ταῖς πολιτείαις ἀριθμοῦσιν, οὐ διʼ ἀμαθίαν ἀγνοοῦντες, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ μηδὲν πώποτʼ αὐτοῖς μελῆσαι τῶν δεόντων.
132. But I, for my part, hold that there are three types of polity and three only: oligarchy, democracy, and monarchy, and that of the people who live under these all who are wont to place in charge of their offices and of their affairs in general those of their fellow-citizens who are most competent and who will most ably and justly direct the affairs of state—all these, I hold, will govern well, under any type of polity, both in their domestic relations and in their relations to the rest of the world.
132. ἐγὼ δὲ φημὶ τὰς μὲν ἰδέας τῶν πολιτειῶν τρεῖς εἶναι μόνας, ὀλιγαρχίαν, δημοκρατίαν, μοναρχίαν, τῶν δʼ ἐν ταύταις οἰκούντων ὅσοι μὲν εἰώθασιν ἐπὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς καθιστάναι καὶ τὰς ἄλλας πράξεις τοὺς ἱκανωτάτους τῶν πολιτῶν καὶ τοὺς μέλλοντας ἄριστα καὶ δικαιότατα τῶν πραγμάτων ἐπιστατήσειν, τούτους μὲν ἐν ἁπάσαις ταῖς πολιτείαις καλῶς οἰκήσειν καὶ πρὸς σφᾶς αὐτοὺς καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους·
133. On the other hand, when men employ in these positions of leadership those of their citizens who are the most brazen and the most depraved and who take no thought for the things which are advantageous to the commonwealth but are ready to go to any extreme to further their personal advantage, the character of their government will correspond to the depravity of the men at the head of their affairs. Again, all who are not of the latter class nor of that which I mentioned previously, but who, when they feel secure, honor before others those who speak for the gratification of the public and, when they are afraid, seek refuge in the best and wisest of their citizens—such men will fare now worse now better as the case may be.
133. τοὺς δὲ τοῖς θρασυτάτοις καὶ πονηροτάτοις ἐπὶ ταῦτα χρωμένους, καὶ τῶν μὲν τῇ πόλει συμφερόντων μηδὲν φροντίζουσιν, ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς αὑτῶν πλεονεξίας ἑτοίμοις οὖσιν ὁτιοῦν πάσχειν, τὰς δὲ τούτων πόλεις ὁμοίως οἰκήσεσθαι ταῖς τῶν προεστώτων πονηρίαις· τοὺς δὲ μήθʼ οὕτω μήθʼ ὡς πρότερον εἶπον, ἀλλʼ ὅταν μὲν θαρρῶσι, τούτους μάλιστα τιμῶντας, τοὺς πρὸς χάριν λέγοντας, ὅταν δὲ δείσωσιν, ἐπὶ τοὺς βελτίστους καὶ φρονιμωτάτους καταφεύγοντας, τοὺς δὲ τοιούτους ἐναλλὰξ τοτὲ μὲν χεῖρον τοτὲ δὲ βέλτιον πράξειν.
134. This, then, is the truth regarding the natures and powers of the several polities—a theme which will, I think, furnish to others material for much more extended discussion, although I must not speak further on the general subject but must confine myself to the polity of our ancestors. For I undertook to prove that this has been of greater worth and the source of greater benefits than the polity which obtains in Sparta.
134. αἱ μὲν οὖν φύσεις καὶ δυνάμεις τῶν πολιτειῶν οὕτως ἔχουσιν, ἡγοῦμαι δὲ ταῦτα μὲν ἑτέροις πολὺ πλείους λόγους παρέξειν τῶν νῦν εἰρημένων, ἐμοὶ δʼ οὐκέτι περὶ ἁπασῶν αὐτῶν εἶναι διαλεκτέον, ἀλλὰ περὶ μόνης τῆς τῶν προγόνων· ταύτην γὰρ ὑπεσχόμην ἐπιδείξειν σπουδαιοτέραν καὶ πλειόνων ἀγαθῶν αἰτίαν οὖσαν τῆς ἐν Σπάρτῃ καθεστηκυίας.
135. And what I say on this head will prove, for those who would gladly hear me discuss an excellent polity, neither burdensome nor untimely but of due measure and in keeping with what I have said before; those, however, who take pleasure, not in the things which have been spoken in deep seriousness, but rather in the orators who rail at each other most of all at the public assemblies, or, if the speakers refrain from this madness, in those who deliver encomiums on the most trivial things or on the most lawless men who have ever lived—to these, I think, what I say will seem much longer than it should be.
135. ἔσται δʼ ὁ λόγος τοῖς μὲν ἡδέως ἂν ἀκούσασι πολιτείαν χρηστὴν ἐμοῦ διεξιόντος οὔτʼ ὀχληρὸς οὔτʼ ἄκαιρος, ἀλλὰ σύμμετρος καὶ προσήκων τοῖς πρότερον εἰρημένοις, τοῖς δὲ μὴ χαίρουσι τοῖς μετὰ πολλῆς σπουδῆς εἰρημένοις, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἐν ταῖς πανηγύρεσι μάλιστα μὲν λοιδορουμένοις, ἢν δʼ ἀπόσχωνται τῆς μανίας ταύτης, ἐγκωμιάζουσιν ἢ τὰ φαυλότατα τῶν ὄντων ἢ τοὺς παρανομωτάτους τῶν γεγενημένων, τούτοις δʼ αὐτὸν οἶμαι δόξειν πολὺ μακρότερον εἶναι τοῦ δέοντος.
136. I, however, have never concerned myself in the least with such auditors, any more than do other sensible men, but rather with those who will keep in mind what I said in preface to my whole discourse and at the same time will not frown upon the length of my speech, even though it extend through thousands upon thousands of words, but will realize that it lies in their power to read and peruse only such portion of it as they themselves desire; and most of all am I concerned with those who, in preference to any other, will gladly listen to a discourse which celebrates the virtues of men and the ways of a well-governed state.
136. ἐμοὶ δὲ τῶν μὲν τοιούτων ἀκροατῶν οὐδὲν πώποτʼ ἐμέλησεν, οὐδὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς εὖ φρονοῦσιν, ἐκείνων δὲ τῶν ἅ τε προεῖπον πρὸ ἅπαντος τοῦ λόγου μνημονευσόντων, τῷ τε πλήθει τῶν λεγομένων οὐκ ἐπιτιμησόντων, οὐδʼ ἢν μυρίων ἐπῶν ᾖ τὸ μῆκος, ἀλλʼ ἐφʼ αὑτοῖς εἶναι νομιούντων τοσοῦτον ἀναγνῶναι μέρος καὶ διελθεῖν ὁπόσον ἂν αὐτοὶ βουληθῶσιν, πάντων δὲ μάλιστα τῶν οὐδενὸς ἂν ἥδιον ἀκουόντων ἢ λόγου διεξιόντος ἀνδρῶν ἀρετὰς καὶ πόλεως τρόπον καλῶς οἰκουμένης, ἅπερ εἰ μιμήσασθαί τινες βουληθεῖεν καὶ δυνηθεῖεν, αὐτοί τʼ ἂν ἐν μεγάλῃ δόξῃ τὸν βίον διαγάγοιεν καὶ τὰς πόλεις τὰς αὑτῶν εὐδαίμονας ποιήσειαν.
137. For if any should have the wish and the power to pattern their lives upon such examples, they might themselves pass their days in the enjoyment of high repute and render their own countries happy and prosperous. Now I have expressed myself as to the kind of auditors I would pray that I might have for what I shall say, but I am afraid that were I given such an audience I might fall far below the subject upon which I am to speak. Nevertheless, in such manner as I can I shall attempt to discourse upon it.
137. οἵους μὲν οὖν εὐξαίμην ἂν εἶναι τοὺς ἀκουσομένους τῶν ἐμῶν, εἴρηκα, δέδοικα δὲ μὴ τοιούτων γενομένων πολὺ καταδεέστερον εἴπω τῶν πραγμάτων περὶ ὧν μέλλω ποιεῖσθαι τοὺς λόγους. ὅμως δʼ οὕτως ὅπως ἂν οἷός τʼ ὦ πειράσομαι διαλεχθῆναι περὶ αὐτῶν.
138. The fact, then, that our city was governed in those times better than the rest of the world I would justly credit to her kings, of whom I spoke a moment ago. For it was they who trained the multitude in the ways of virtue and justice and great sobriety and who taught through the manner of their rule the very truth which I shall be seen to have expressed in words after they had expressed it in their deeds, namely, that every polity is the soul of the state, having as much power over it as the mind over the body. For it is this which deliberates on all questions, seeking to preserve what is good and to avoid what is disastrous, and is the cause of all the things which transpire in states.
138. τοῦ μὲν οὖν διαφερόντως τῶν ἄλλων οἰκεῖσθαι τὴν πόλιν ἡμῶν κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον δικαίως ἂν ἐπενέγκοιμεν τὴν αἰτίαν τοῖς βασιλεύσασιν αὐτῆς, περὶ ὧν ὀλίγῳ πρότερον διελέχθην. ἐκεῖνοι γὰρ ἦσαν οἱ παιδεύσαντες τὸ πλῆθος ἐν ἀρετῇ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ πολλῇ σωφροσύνῃ, καὶ διδάξαντες ἐξ ὧν διῴκουν, ἅπερ ἐγὼ φανείην ἂν ὕστερον εἰρηκὼς ἢ κεῖνοι πράξαντες, ὅτι πᾶσα πολιτεία ψυχὴ πόλεώς ἐστι, τοσαύτην ἔχουσα δύναμιν ὅσην περ ἐν σώματι φρόνησις· αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ βουλευομένη περὶ ἁπάντων, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀγαθὰ διαφυλάττουσα, τὰς δὲ συμφορὰς διαφεύγουσα, καὶ πάντων αἰτία τῶν ταῖς πόλεσι συμβαινόντων.
139. Having learned this truth, the people did not forget it on account of the change in the constitution, but rather gave their minds to this one endeavor before all others: to obtain as their leaders men who were in sympathy with democracy, but were possessed of the same character as those who were formerly at the head of the state; and not unwittingly to place in charge of the whole commonwealth men to whom no one would entrust a single detail of his private interests; and not to permit men to approach positions of public trust who are notoriously depraved; and not even to suffer men to be heard who lend their own persons to base practices but deem themselves worthy to advise others how they should govern the state in order to advance in sobriety and well-being, or who have squandered what they inherited from their fathers on shameful pleasures but seek to repair their own fortunes from the public treasury, or who strive always to speak for the gratification of their audience but plunge those who are persuaded by them into many distresses and hardships;
139. ἃ μαθὼν ὁ δῆμος οὐκ ἐπελάθετο διὰ τὴν μεταβολήν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τούτῳ προσεῖχεν ἢ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ὅπως λήψεται τοὺς ἡγεμόνας δημοκρατίας μὲν ἐπιθυμοῦντας, τὸ δʼ ἦθος τοιοῦτον ἔχοντας οἷόν περ οἱ πρότερον ἐπιστατοῦντες αὐτῶν, καὶ μὴ λήσουσι σφᾶς αὐτοὺς κυρίους ἁπάντων τῶν κοινῶν καταστήσαντες οἷς οὐδεὶς ἂν οὐδὲν τῶν ἰδίων ἐπιτρέψειεν, μηδὲ περιόψονται πρὸς τὰ τῆς πόλεως προσιόντας τοὺς ὁμολογουμένως ὄντας πονηρούς, μηδʼ ἀνέξονται τὴν φωνὴν τῶν τὰ μὲν σώματα τὰ σφέτερʼ αὐτῶν ἐπονειδίστως διατιθεμένων, συμβουλεύειν δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀξιούντων ὃν τρόπον τὴν πόλιν διοικοῦντες σωφρονοῖεν ἂν καὶ βέλτιον πράττομεν, μηδὲ τῶν ἃ μὲν παρὰ τῶν πατέρων παρέλαβον εἰς αἰσχρὰς ἡδονὰς ἀνηλωκότων, ἐκ δὲ τῶν κοινῶν ταῖς ἰδίαις ἀπορίαις βοηθεῖν ζητούντων, μηδὲ τῶν πρὸς χάριν μὲν ἀεὶ λέγειν γλιχομένων, εἰς πολλὰς δʼ ἀηδίας καὶ λύπας τοὺς πειθομένους ἐμβαλλόντων,
141. on the contrary, they saw to it that each and everyone should look upon it as his duty to debar all such men from giving counsel to the public, and not only such men, but those also who assert that the possessions of the rest of the world belong to the state but do not scruple to plunder and rob the state of its legitimate property, who pretend to love the people but cause them to be hated by all the rest of mankind, and who in words express anxiety for the welfare of the Hellenes but in fact outrage and blackmail and make them so bitter against us that some of our states when pressed by war would sooner and more gladly open their gates to the besiegers than to a relief force from Athens.
141. ἀλλὰ τούς τε τοιούτους ἅπαντας ἀπείργειν ἀπὸ τοῦ συμβουλεύειν ἕκαστος οἰήσεται δεῖν, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἐκείνους, τοὺς τὰ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων κτήματα τῆς πόλεως εἶναι φάσκοντας, τὰ δὲ ταύτης ἴδια κλέπτειν καὶ διαρπάζειν τολμῶντας, καὶ φιλεῖν μὲν τὸν δῆμον προσποιουμένους, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων αὐτὸν μισεῖσθαι ποιοῦντας, καὶ λόγῳ μὲν δεδιότας ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἔργῳ δὲ λυμαινομένους καὶ συκοφαντοῦντας καὶ διατιθέντας αὐτοὺς οὕτω πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὥστε τῶν πόλεων τὰς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον καθισταμένας ἥδιον ἂν καὶ θᾶττον ἐνίας εἰσδέξασθαι τοὺς πολιορκοῦντας ἢ τὴν παρʼ ἡμῶν βοήθειαν.
142. But one would grow weary of writing were he to attempt to go through the whole catalogue of iniquities and depravities.
142. ἀπείποι δʼ ἄν τις γράφων, εἰ πάσας τὰς κακοηθείας καὶ πονηρίας ἐξαριθμεῖν ἐπιχειρήσειεν.
143. Abhorring these iniquities and the men who practise them, our forefathers set up as counsellors and leaders of the state, not any and everyone, but those who were the wisest and the best and who had lived the noblest lives among them, and they chose these same men as their generals in the field and sent them forth as ambassadors, wherever any need arose, and they gave over to them the entire guidance of the state, believing that those who desired and were able to give the best counsel from the platform would, when by themselves, no matter in what regions of the world or on what enterprise engaged, be of the same way of thinking.
143. ἃς ἐκεῖνοι μισήσαντες καὶ τοὺς ἔχοντας αὐτάς, ἐποιοῦντο συμβούλους καὶ προστάτας οὐ τοὺς τυχόντας ἀλλὰ τοὺς βελτίστους καὶ φρονιμωτάτους καὶ κάλλιστα βεβιωκότας, καὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς τούτους στρατηγοὺς ᾑροῦντο καὶ πρέσβεις, εἴ που δεήσειεν, ἔπεμπον, καὶ πάσας τὰς ἡγεμονίας τὰς τῆς πόλεως αὐτοῖς παρεδίδοσαν, νομίζοντες τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος βουλομένους καὶ δυναμένους τὰ βέλτιστα συμβουλεύειν, τούτους καὶ καθʼ αὑτοὺς γενομένους ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς τόποις καὶ περὶ ἁπάσας τὰς πράξεις τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην ἕξειν· ἅπερ αὐτοῖς συνέβαινεν.
144. And in this they were justified by events. For because they followed this principle they saw their code of laws completely written down in a few days—laws, not like those which are established to-day, nor full of so much confusion and of so many contradictions that no one can distinguish between the useful and the useless, but, in the first place, few in number, though adequate for those who were to use them and easy to comprehend; and, in the next place, just and profitable and consonant with each other; those laws, moreover, which had to do with their common ways of life having been thought out with greater pains than those which had to do with private contracts, as indeed they should be in well regulated states.
144. διὰ γὰρ τὸ ταῦτα γιγνώσκειν ἐν ὀλίγαις ἡμέραις ἑώρων τούς τε νόμους ἀναγεγραμμένους, οὐχ ὁμοίους τοῖς νῦν κειμένοις, οὐδὲ τοσαύτης ταραχῆς καὶ τοσούτων ἐναντιώσεων μεστοὺς ὥστε μηδέν ἂν δυνηθῆναι συνιδεῖν μήτε τοὺς χρησίμους μήτε τοὺς ἀχρήστους αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν ὀλίγους, ἱκανοὺς δὲ τοῖς χρῆσθαι μέλλουσι καὶ ῥᾳδίους συνιδεῖν, ἔπειτα δικαίους καὶ συμφέροντας καὶ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ὁμολογουμένους, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐσπουδασμένους τοὺς περὶ τῶν κοινῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἢ τοὺς περὶ τῶν ἰδίων συμβολαίων, οἵους περ εἶναι χρὴ παρὰ τοῖς καλῶς πολιτευομένοις.
145. At the same time they appointed to the magistracies those who had been selected beforehand by the members of their respective tribes and townships, having made of the offices, not prizes to fight for or to tempt ambition, but responsibilities much more comparable to the liturgies, which are burdensome to those to whom they are assigned, although conferring upon them a kind of distinction. For the men who had been elected to office were required to neglect their own possessions and at the same time to abstain no less from the gratuities which are wont to be given to the offices than from the treasures of the gods. (Who under the present dispensation would submit to such restrictions?)
145. περὶ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους καθίστασαν ἐπὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς τοὺς προκριθέντας ὑπὸ τῶν φυλετῶν καὶ δημοτῶν, οὐ περιμαχήτους αὐτὰς ποιήσαντες οὐδʼ ἐπιθυμίας ἀξίας, ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον λειτουργίαις ὁμοίας ταῖς ἐνοχλούσαις μὲν οἷς ἂν προσταχθῶσι, τιμὴν δέ τινα περιτιθείσαις αὐτοῖς· ἔδει γὰρ τοὺς ἄρχειν αἱρεθέντας τῶν τε κτημάτων τῶν ἰδίων ἀμελεῖν, καὶ τῶν λημμάτων τῶν εἰθισμένων δίδοσθαι ταῖς ἀρχαῖς ἀπέχεσθαι μηδὲν ἧττον ἢ τῶν ἱερῶν ʽἃ τίς ἂν ἐν τοῖς νῦν καθεστῶσιν ὑπομείνειεν;ʼ, καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀκριβεῖς περὶ ταύτας γιγνομένους μετρίως ἐπαινεθέντας ἐφʼ ἑτέραν ἐπιμέλειαν τάττεσθαι τοιαύτην, τοὺς δὲ καὶ μικρὸν παραβάντας ταῖς ἐσχάταις αἰσχύναις καὶ μεγίσταις ζημίαις περιπίπτειν·
146. Furthermore, those who proved conscientious in the performance of these duties, were moderately praised and then assigned to another similar responsibility, whereas those who were guilty of the slightest dereliction were involved in the deepest disgrace and the severest punishment. So that no one of the citizens felt about the offices as they now do, but they then sought to escape from them much more than they now seek to obtain them, and all men were agreed that no truer democracy could be found, nor one more stable or more beneficial to the multitude, than that which gave to the people at the same time exemption from such cares and sovereign power to fill the offices and bring to justice those who offended in them —exactly the position which is enjoyed also by the most fortunate among despots.
146. ὥστε μηδένα τῶν πολιτῶν ὥσπερ νῦν διακεῖσθαι πρὸς τὰς ἀρχάς, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τότε ταύτας φεύγειν ἢ νῦν διώκειν, καὶ πάντας νομίζειν μηδέποτʼ ἂν γενέσθαι δημοκρατίαν ἀληθεστέραν μηδὲ βεβαιοτέραν μηδὲ μᾶλλον τῷ πλήθει συμφέρουσαν τῆς τῶν μὲν τοιούτων πραγματειῶν ἀτέλειαν τῷ δήμῳ διδούσης, τοῦ δὲ τὰς ἀρχὰς καταστῆσαι καὶ λαβεῖν δίκην παρὰ τῶν ἐξαμαρτόντων κύριον ποιούσης, ἅπερ ὑπάρχει καὶ τῶν τυράννων τοῖς εὐδαιμονεστάτοις.
148. And the greatest proof that they were even better satisfied with this regime than I say is this: we see the people at war with other polities which fail to please them, overturning them and slaying those at their head, but continuing to enjoy this polity for not less than a thousand years, remaining loyal to it from the time when they received it down to the age of Solon and the tyranny of Pisistratus, who, after he had placed himself at the head of the people and done much harm to the city and driven out the best of her citizens as being partizans of oligarchy, brought an end to the rule of the people and set himself up as their master.
148. σημεῖον δὲ μέγιστον ὅτι ταῦτʼ ἠγάπων μᾶλλον ἢ ʼγὼ λέγω· φαίνεται γὰρ ὁ δῆμος ταῖς μὲν ἄλλαις πολιτείαις ταῖς οὐκ ἀρεσκούσαις μαχόμενος καὶ καταλύων καὶ τοὺς προεστῶτας αὐτῶν ἀποκτείνων, ταύτῃ δὲ χρώμενος οὐκ ἐλάττω χιλίων ἐτῶν, ἀλλʼ ἐμμείνας ἀφʼ οὗ περ ἔλαβε μέχρι τῆς Σόλωνος μὲν ἡλικίας Πεισιστράτου δὲ δυναστείας, ὃς δημαγωγὸς γενόμενος καὶ πολλὰ τὴν πόλιν λυμηνάμενος καὶ τοὺς βελτίστους τῶν πολιτῶν ὡς ὀλιγαρχικοὺς ὄντας ἐκβαλών, τελευτῶν τόν τε δῆμον κατέλυσε καὶ τύραννον αὑτὸν κατέστησεν.
149. But perhaps some may object—for nothing prevents breaking into my discourse—that it is absurd for me to presume to speak as though I had exact knowledge of events at which I was not present when they transpired. I, however, do not see anything unreasonable in this. I grant that if I were alone in relying on traditions regarding what happened long ago or upon records which have been handed down to us from those times I should with good reason be open to attack. But in fact many men—and men of discernment, too—will be seen to be in the same case with me.
149. τάχʼ οὖν ἄν τινες ἄτοπον εἶναί με φήσειαν, οὐδὲν γὰρ κωλύει διαλαβεῖν τὸν λόγον, ὅτι τολμῶ λέγειν ὡς ἀκριβῶς εἰδὼς περὶ πραγμάτων οἷς οὐ παρῆν πραττομένοις. ἐγὼ δʼ οὐδὲν τούτων ἄλογον οἶμαι ποιεῖν. εἰ μὲν γὰρ μόνος ἐπίστευον τοῖς τε λεγομένοις περὶ τῶν παλαιῶν καὶ τοῖς γράμμασι τοῖς ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦ χρόνου παραδεδομένοις ἡμῖν, εἰκότως ἂν ἐπιτιμῴμην· νῦν δὲ πολλοὶ καὶ νοῦν ἔχοντες ταὐτὸν ἐμοὶ φανεῖεν ἂν πεπονθότες. χωρὶς δὲ τούτων, εἰ κατασταίην εἰς ἔλεγχον καὶ λόγον, δυνηθείην ἂν ἐπιδεῖξαι πάντας ἀνθρώπους πλείους ἐπιστήμας ἔχοντας διὰ τῆς ἀκοῆς ἢ τῆς ὄψεως, καὶ μείζους πράξεις καὶ καλλίους εἰδότας ἃς παρʼ ἑτέρων ἀκηκόασιν ἢ ʼκείνας αἷς αὐτοὶ παραγεγενημένοι τυγχάνουσιν.
150. But apart from this, were I put to the test and the proof I could show that all men are possessed of more truth gained through hearing than through seeing and that they have knowledge of greater and nobler deeds which they have heard from others than those which they have witnessed themselves. Nevertheless it is wise for a speaker neither to ignore such false assumptions—for they might perhaps confuse the truth were no one to gainsay them—nor again to spend too much time refuting them, but only enough to indicate to the rest of the audience the arguments by which they might prove that the critics speak beside the mark, and then to go back and proceed with the speech from the point where he left off. And this is what I shall do.
150. ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὔτʼ ἀμελεῖν καλῶς ἔχει τῶν τοιούτων ὑπολήψεων, τυχὸν γὰρ μηδενὸς ἀντειπόντος λυμήναιντʼ ἂν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, οὔτʼ αὖ πολὺν χρόνον ἀντιλέγοντας διατρίβειν ἐν αὐταῖς, ἀλλʼ ὅσον ὑποδείξαντας μόνον τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐξ ὧν ληροῦντας ἂν αὐτοὺς ἐπιδείξαιεν, πάλιν ἐπανελθόντας περαίνειν καὶ λέγειν ὅθεν ἀπέλιπον· ὅπερ ἐγὼ ποιήσω.
151. I have now sufficiently discussed the form of the polity as it was in those days and the length of time during which our people continued to enjoy it. But it remains for me to recount the actions which have resulted from the excellence of their government. For from these it will be possible to see still more clearly that our ancestors not only had a better and sounder polity than the rest of the world but also employed the kind of leaders and advisers which men of intelligence ought to select.
151. τὸ μὲν οὖν σύνταγμα τῆς τότε πολιτείας, καὶ τὸν χρόνον ὅσον αὐτῇ χρώμενοι διετέλεσαν, ἐξαρκούντως δεδηλώκαμεν· λοιπὸν δʼ ἡμῖν τὰς πράξεις τὰς ἐκ τοῦ καλῶς πολιτεύεσθαι γεγενημένας διελθεῖν. ἐκ τούτων γὰρ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἔσται καταμαθεῖν ὅτι καὶ τὴν πολιτείαν εἶχον ἡμῶν οἱ πρόγονοι βελτίω τῶν ἄλλων καὶ σωφρονεστέραν, καὶ προστάταις καὶ συμβούλοις ἐχρῶντο τοιούτοις οἵοις χρὴ τοὺς εὖ φρονοῦντας.
152. Yet I must not go on speaking even on this point, without first prefacing it with a word of explanation. For if, disdaining to take notice of the criticisms of people who are able to do nothing but find fault, I were to review one after the other not only the other achievements of our ancestors but also the ways and practices in warfare by which they prevailed over the barbarians and attained to glory among the Hellenes, inevitably some will say that I am really speaking of the ordinances which Lycurgus laid down and the Spartans follow.
152. οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ταῦτά μοι πρότερον λεκτέον ἐστί, πρὶν ἂν μικρὰ προείπω περὶ αὐτῶν. ἢν γὰρ ὑπεριδὼν τὰς ἐπιτιμήσεις τὰς τῶν οὐδὲν ἄλλο ποιεῖν ἢ τοῦτο δυναμένων ἐφεξῆς διηγῶμαι περί τε τῶν ἄλλων τῶν πεπραγμένων καὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων τῶν περὶ τὸν πόλεμον, οἷς οἱ πρόγονοι χρώμενοι τῶν τε βαρβάρων περιεγένοντο καὶ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν εὐδοκίμησαν, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως οὐ φήσουσί τινές με διεξιέναι τοὺς νόμους οὓς Λυκοῦργος μὲν ἔθηκε, Σπαρτιᾶται δʼ αὐτοῖς χρώμενοι τυγχάνουσιν.
153. I acknowledge that I am going to speak at length of the institutions of Sparta, not taking the view, however, that Lycurgus invented or conceived any of them, but that he imitated as well as he could the government of our ancestors, establishing among the Spartans a democracy tempered with aristocracy—even such as existed in Athens—, enacting that the offices be filled, not by lot, but by election, ordaining that the election of the Elders, who were to supervise all public affairs, should be conducted with the very same care as, they say, our ancestors also exercised with regard to those who were to have seats in the Areopagus, and, furthermore, conferring upon the Elders the very same power which he knew that the Council of the Areopagus also had in Athens.
153. ἐγὼ δʼ ὁμολογῶ μὲν ἐρεῖν πολλὰ τῶν ἐκεῖ καθεστώτων, οὐχ ὡς Λυκούργου τι τούτων εὑρόντος ἢ διανοηθέντος, ἀλλʼ ὡς μιμησαμένου τὴν διοίκησιν ὡς δυνατὸν ἄριστα τὴν τῶν προγόνων τῶν ἡμετέρων, καὶ τήν τε δημοκρατίαν καταστήσαντος παρʼ αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀριστοκρατίᾳ μεμιγμένην, ἥπερ ἦν παρʼ ἡμῖν, καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς οὐ κληρωτὰς ἀλλʼ αἱρετὰς ποιήσαντος, καὶ τῶν γερόντων αἵρεσιν τῶν ἐπιστατούντων ἅπασι τοῖς πράγμασι μετὰ τοσαύτης σπουδῆς ποιεῖσθαι νομοθετήσαντος, μεθʼ ὅσης πέρ φασι καὶ τοὺς ἡμετέρους περὶ τῶν εἰς Ἄρειον πάγον ἀναβήσεσθαι μελλόντων, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῖς περιθέντος τὴν αὐτήν, ἥνπερ ᾔδει καὶ τὴν βουλὴν ἔχουσαν τὴν παρʼ ἡμῖν.
155. Now that the institutions of Sparta were established after the manner of our own as they were in ancient times may be learned from many sources by those who desire to know the truth. But that skill in warfare is something which the Spartans did not practise earlier than our ancestors or employ to better advantage than they I think I can show so clearly from the struggles and the wars which are acknowledged to have taken place in those days that none will be able to contradict what I say—neither those who are blind worshippers of Sparta nor those who at once admire and envy and strive to imitate the ways of Athens.
155. ὅτι μὲν οὖν τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον τἀκεῖ καθέστηκεν ὥσπερ εἶχε τὸ παλαιὸν καὶ τὰ παρʼ ἡμῖν, παρὰ πολλῶν ἔσται πυθέσθαι τοῖς εἰδέναι βουλομένοις· ὡς δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐμπειρίαν τὴν περὶ τὸν πόλεμον οὐ πρότερον ἤσκησαν οὐδʼ ἄμεινον ἐχρήσαντο Σπαρτιᾶται τῶν ἡμετέρων, ἐκ τῶν ἀγώνων καὶ τῶν πολέμων τῶν ὁμολογουμένων γενέσθαι κατʼ ἐκεῖνοι τὸν χρόνον οὕτως οἶμαι σαφῶς ἐπιδείξειν, ὥστε μήτε τοὺς ἀνοήτως λακωνίζοντας ἀντειπεῖν δυνήσεσθαι τοῖς ῥηθεῖσι, μήτε τοὺς τὰ ἡμέτερα ἅμα τε θαυμάζοντας καὶ βασκαίνοντας καὶ μιμεῖσθαι γλιχομένους.
156. I am going to begin what I shall say on this topic with a statement which will perhaps be unpleasant for some to hear, although it will not be without profit to have it said. For if anyone were to assert that Athens and Sparta had been the causes both of the greatest benefits and, after the expedition of Xerxes, of the greatest injuries to the Hellenes, without doubt he would be thought by those who know anything about the history of those times to speak the truth.
156. ποιήσομαι δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν λεχθησομένων ἀκοῦσαι μὲν ἴσως τισὶν ἀηδῆ, ῥηθῆναι δʼ οὐκ ἀσύμφορον. εἰ γάρ τις φαίη τὼ πόλεε τούτω πλείστων ἀγαθῶν αἰτίας γεγενῆσθαι τοῖς Ἕλλησι καὶ μεγίστων κακῶν μετὰ τὴν Ξέρξου στρατείαν, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως οὐκ ἀληθῆ δόξειεν ἂν λέγειν τοῖς εἰδόσι τι περὶ τῶν τότε γεγενημένων.
157. For they contended with the utmost possible bravery against the power of that King, but, having done this, although they ought then to have adopted sound measures also for the tasks which followed upon that achievement, they fell into such a degree, not of folly, but of madness, that they made peace with the man who had led an army against them and who had purposed to annihilate both these cities utterly and to enslave the rest of the Hellenes— with such a man, I repeat, although they could easily have conquered him on both land and sea, they drew up a peace for all time, as though he had been their benefactor, whereas, having grown jealous of each other’s merits and fallen into mutual warfare and rivalry, they did not cease attempting to destroy each other and the rest of the Hellenes until they had placed their common enemy in a position to reduce Athens, through the power of the Lacedaemonians, and again Sparta, through the power of Athens, to a state of the utmost peril.
157. ἠγωνίσαντό τε γὰρ ὡς δυνατὸν ἄριστα πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνου δύναμιν, ταῦτά τε πράξασαι, προσῆκον αὐταῖς καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐχομένων βουλεύσασθαι καλῶς, εἰς τοῦτʼ ἦλθον οὐκ ἀνοίας ἀλλὰ μανίας, ὥστε πρὸς μὲν τὸν ἐπιστρατεύσαντα καὶ βουληθέντα τὼ μὲν πόλεε τούτω παντάπασιν ἀνελεῖν, τοὺς δʼ ἄλλους Ἕλληνας καταδουλώσασθαι, πρὸς μὲν τὸν τοιοῦτον, κρατήσασαι ῥᾳδίως ἂν αὐτοῦ καὶ κατὰ γῆν καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν, εἰρήνην εἰς ἅπαντα συνεγράψαντο τὸν χρόνον ὥσπερ πρὸς εὐεργέτην γεγενημένον, φθονήσασαι δὲ ταῖς ἀρεταῖς ταῖς αὑτῶν, εἰς πόλεμον καταστᾶσαι πρὸς ἀλλήλας καὶ φιλονεικίαν, οὐ πρότερον ἐπαύσαντο σφᾶς τε αὐτὰς ἀπολλύουσαι καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους Ἕλληνας, πρὶν κύριον ἐποίησαν τὸν κοινὸν ἐχθρὸν τὴν τε πόλιν τὴν ἡμετέραν εἰς τοὺς ἐσχάτους καταστῆσαι κινδύνους διὰ τῆς δυνάμεως τῆς Λακεδαιμονίων, καὶ πάλιν τὴν ἐκείνων διὰ τῆς πόλεως τῆς ἡμετέρας.
159. And although they were so far outstripped in shrewdness by the barbarian, they then experienced no such resentment as the things which they suffered should have provoked nor such as it behoved them to feel; nor at the present time are the greatest of the states of Hellas ashamed to vie with each other in fawning upon the wealth of the King; nay, Argos and Thebes joined forces with him in the conquest of Egypt in order that he might be possessed of the greatest possible power to plot against the Hellenes, while we and the Spartans, although allied together, feel more hostile to each other than to those with whom we are each openly at war.
159. καὶ τοσοῦτον ἀπολειφθέντες τῆς τοῦ βαρβάρου φρονήσεως, οὔτʼ ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς χρόνοις ἤλγησαν ἀξίως ὧν ἔπαθον οὐδʼ ὡς προσῆκεν αὐτούς, οὔτε νῦν αἱ μέγισται τῶν Ἑλληνίδων πόλεων αἰσχύνονται διακολακευόμεναι πρὸς τὸν ἐκείνου πλοῦτον, ἀλλʼ ἡ μὲν Ἀργείων καὶ Θηβαίων Αἴγυπτον αὐτῷ συγκατεπολέμησεν, ἵνʼ ὡς μεγίστην ἔχων δύναμιν ἐπιβουλεύῃ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ Σπαρτιᾶται, συμμαχίας ἡμῖν ὑπαρχούσης, ἀλλοτριώτερον ἔχομεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἢ πρὸς οὓς ἑκάτεροι πολεμοῦντες τυγχάνομεν.
160. And of this we have a not insignificant proof. For in common we deliberate about nothing whatsoever, but independently we each send ambassadors to the King, expecting that the one of these two states to which he inclines in friendship will be invested with the place of advantage among the Hellenes, little realizing that those who court his favour he is wont to treat insolently while with those who oppose themselves to him and hold his power in contempt he endeavors by every means to come to terms.
160. σημεῖον δʼ οὐ μικρόν· κοινῇ μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲ περὶ ἑνὸς πράγματος βουλευόμεθα, χωρὶς δʼ ἑκάτεροι πρέσβεις πέμπομεν ὡς ἐκεῖνον, ἐλπίζοντες, ὁποτέροις ἂν οἰκειότερον διατεθῇ, κυρίους τούτους γενήσεσθαι τῆς ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι πλεονεξίας, κακῶς εἰδότες ὡς τοὺς μὲν θεραπεύοντας αὑτὸν ὑβρίζειν εἴθισται, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἀντιταττομένους καὶ καταφρονοῦντας τῆς ἐκείνου δυνάμεως ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου διαλύεσθαι πειρᾶται τὰς διαφοράς.
161. I have gone into these matters, not without realizing that some will dare to say that I have here used an argument which lies beyond the scope of my subject. I, however, hold that never has an argument been advanced more pertinent than this to the foregoing discussion, neither is there any by which one can show more clearly that our ancestors were wiser in dealing with the greatest questions than were those who governed our city and the city of the Spartans after the war against Xerxes.
161. ταῦτα δὲ διῆλθον οὐκ ἀγνοῶν ὅτι λέγειν τινὲς τολμήσουσιν ὡς ἔξω τῆς ὑποθέσεως τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις ἐχρησάμην. ἐγὼ δʼ οὐδέποτʼ ἂν οἶμαι τοῖς προειρημένοις οἰκειοτέρους λόγους ῥηθῆναι τούτων, οὐδʼ ἐξ ὧν ἄν τις σαφέστερον ἐπιδείξειε τοὺς προγόνους ἡμῶν φρονιμωτέρους ὄντας περὶ τὰ μέγιστα τῶν τήν τε πόλιν τὴν ἡμετέραν καὶ τὴν Σπαρτιατῶν μετὰ τὸν πόλεμον τὸν πρὸς Ξέρξην διοικησάντων.
162. For it will be seen that these states in the times following that war made peace with the barbarians, that they were bent on destroying each other and the other Hellenic states, that at the present time they think themselves worthy to rule over the Hellenes, albeit they are sending ambassadors to the King, courting his friendship and alliance; whereas those who governed Athens before that time did nothing of the sort, but entirely the opposite;
162. αὗται μὲν γὰρ ἂν φανεῖεν ἐν ἐκείνοις τε τοῖς χρόνοις πρὸς μὲν τοὺς βαρβάρους εἰρήνην ποιησάμεναι, σφᾶς δʼ αὐτὰς καὶ τὰς ἄλλας πόλεις ἀπολλύουσαι νῦν τε τῶν μὲν Ἑλλήνων ἄρχειν ἀξιοῦσαι, πρὸς δὲ τὸν βασιλέα πρέσβεις πέμπουσαι περὶ φιλίας καὶ συμμαχίας· οἱ δὲ τότε τὴν πόλιν οἰκοῦντες οὐδὲν τούτων ἔπραττον, ἀλλὰ πᾶν τοὐναντίον·
163. for they were as firmly resolved to keep their hands off the states of Hellas as were the devout to abstain from the treasures stored up in the temples of the gods, conceiving that, second only to the war which we carry on in alliance with all mankind against the savagery of the beasts, that war is the most necessary and the most righteous which we wage in alliance with the Hellenes against the barbarians, who are by nature our foes and are eternally plotting against us.
163. τῶν μὲν γὰρ Ἑλληνίδων πόλεων οὕτως αὐτοῖς ἀπέχεσθαι σφόδρα δεδογμένον ἦν ὥσπερ τοῖς εὐσεβέσι τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀνακειμένων, τῶν δὲ πολέμων ὑπελάμβανον ἀναγκαιότατον μὲν εἶναι καὶ δικαιότατον τὸν μετὰ πάντων ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὴν ἀγριότητα τῶν θηρίων γιγνόμενον, δεύτερον δὲ τὸν μετὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους τοὺς καὶ φύσει πολεμίους ὄντας καὶ πάντα τὸν χρόνον ἐπιβουλεύοντας ἡμῖν.