---
title: "Against Leocrates · Κατὰ Λεωκράτους"
author: "Lycurgus"
translator: "J. O. Burtt"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 3 of 3
url: https://scriptura.si/works/lycurgus-against-leocrates/3/
cite: "Lycurgus, tr. J. O. Burtt, Against Leocrates · Κατὰ Λεωκράτους, section 3. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/lycurgus-against-leocrates/3/"
---

# Against Leocrates · Κατὰ Λεωκράτους

*Lycurgus, tr. J. O. Burtt*

Lycurgus prosecutes a man who fled Athens after Chaeronea, with long passages of poetry about duty to one’s country.

> Greek: ed. J. O. Burtt, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0034.tlg001, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: J. O. Burtt, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0034.tlg001.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 3. Sections 104–150

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lycurgus-against-leocrates/3/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lycurgus-against-leocrates/3/#p-N

[¶0] 104. These are the lines, gentlemen, to which your forefathers listened, and such are the deeds which they emulated. Thus they developed such courage that they were ready to die, not for their country alone, but for the whole of Greece as a land in whose heritage they shared. Certainly those who confronted the barbarians at Marathon, by defeating an army from the whole of Asia, won, at their own peril, security for every Greek alike. They gave themselves no credit for glory but valued rather conduct deserving of it, whereby they made themselves the champions of the Greeks and lords of the barbarians. Their pursuit of valor was no idle boast; they displayed it in action to the world.

> Greek: 104. τούτων τῶν ἐπῶν ἀκούοντες, ὦ ἄνδρες, οἱ πρόγονοι ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν ἔργων ζηλοῦντες οὕτως ἔσχον πρὸς ἀρετὴν ὥστʼ οὐ μόνον ὑπὲρ τῆς αὑτῶν πατρίδος, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσης ⟨τῆς⟩ Ἑλλάδος ὡς κοινῆς ἤθελον ἀποθνῄσκειν. οἱ γοῦν [ἐν] Μαραθῶνι παραταξάμενοι τοῖς βαρβάροις τὸν ἐξ ἁπάσης τῆς Ἀσίας στόλον ἐκράτησαν, τοῖς ἰδίοις κινδύνοις κοινὴν ἄδειαν ἅπασι τοῖς Ἕλλησι κτώμενοι, οὐκ ἐπὶ τῇ δόξῃ μέγα φρονοῦντες ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τῷ ταύτης ἄξια πράττειν, τῶν μὲν Ἑλλήνων προστάτας, τῶν δὲ βαρβάρων δεσπότας ἑαυτοὺς καθιστάντες· οὐ γὰρ λόγῳ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐπετήδευον ἀλλʼ ἔργῳ πᾶσιν ἐνεδείκνυντο.

[¶1] 105. Mark how the men who lived at Athens then excelled in public, and in private life; so greatly that when in days gone by the Spartans, so renowned for courage, were at war with the Messenians the god advised them to take a leader from us; for so they would defeat their enemies. And yet if the god decided that the leaders sent from Athens were better than the two descendants of Heracles who in succession reign at Sparta, must we not conclude that nothing could surpass the valor of our ancestors?

> Greek: 105. τοιγαροῦν οὕτως ἦσαν ἄνδρες σπουδαῖοι καὶ κοινῇ καὶ ἰδίᾳ οἱ τότε τὴν πόλιν οἰκοῦντες ὥστε τοῖς ἀνδρειοτάτοις Λακεδαιμονίοις ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν χρόνοις πολεμοῦσι πρὸς Μεσσηνίους ἀνεῖλεν ὁ θεός, παρʼ ἡμῶν ἡγεμόνα λαβεῖν καὶ νικήσειν τοὺς ἐναντίους. καίτοι εἰ τοῖν ἀφʼ Ἡρακλέους γεγενημένοιν, οἳ ἀεὶ βασιλεύουσιν ἐν Σπάρτῃ, τοὺς παρʼ ἡμῶν ἡγεμόνας ἀμείνους ὁ θεὸς ἔκρινε, πῶς οὐκ ἀνυπέρβλητον χρὴ τὴν ἐκείνων ἀρετὴν νομίζειν;

[¶2] 106. Does any Greek not know that they took Tyrtaeus from our city to be their leader and with him defeated their enemies and established their system of training for the young, thus wisely providing for the immediate danger and for their whole future too? For Tyrtaeus left them elegiac poems by his own hand, and through listening to these they are trained to be brave.

> Greek: 106. τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδε τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὅτι Τυρταῖον στρατηγὸν ἔλαβον παρὰ τῆς πόλεως, μεθʼ οὗ καὶ τῶν πολεμίων ἐκράτησαν καὶ τὴν περὶ τοὺς νέους ἐπιμέλειαν συνετάξαντο, οὐ μόνον εἰς τὸν παρόντα κίνδυνον ἀλλʼ εἰς ἅπαντα τὸν αἰῶνα βουλευσάμενοι καλῶς; κατέλιπε γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐλεγεῖα ποιήσας, ὧν ἀκούοντες παιδεύονται πρὸς ἀνδρείαν·

[¶3] 107. Though they have no regard for other poets, they valued his works so highly that they passed a law which provides that their men, after taking the field, shall be summoned to the king’s tent to hear the verses of Tyrtaeus all together, holding that this of all things would make them most ready to die for their country. It will be profitable for you to hear these elegiac verses too, that you may know what sort of conduct brought men fame among the Spartans.
Nobly comes death to him who in the van
Fighting for fatherland has made his stand.
Shame and despite attend the coward’s flight,
Who, leaving native town and fruitful land,
Wanders, a homeless beggar, with his kin,
True wife, old father, mother, tender child.
Unwelcome will he be where’er he goes,
Bowed dawn with hardship and by want defiled.
Bringing his house dishonor, he belies
His noble mien, a prey to fear and shame.
Thus roams the waif unpitied and unloved,
He and the line that after bears his name.
Be stalwart then. Think not of life or limb;
Shielding our land and children let us die.
Youths, brave the fight together. Be not first
To yield to craven cowardice and fly.
Make large your hearts within you. Undismayed
Engage in battle with grown men. Be bold;
And standing fast forsake not those whose feet
No longer keep their swiftness. Guard the old.
For shame it is to see an elder fall,
Down in the forefront, smitten in the strife,
Before the youths, with grey beard, hair grown white,
To breathe out in the dust his valiant life,
Clasping his bloody groin with clinging hands,
(Fit sight indeed to kindle wrath and shame!)
His body bared. But those whom youth’s sweet flower
Adorns unfaded nothing can defame.
Honor of men is theirs, in life, and women’s love;
Fair are they too when in the van laid low.
Then clench your teeth and, with both feet astride,
Firm planted on the ground withstand the foe.

> Greek: 107. καὶ περὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ποιητὰς οὐδένα λόγον ἔχοντες περὶ τούτου οὕτω σφόδρα ἐσπουδάκασιν ὥστε νόμον ἔθεντο, ὅταν ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις ἐξεστρατευμένοι ὦσι, καλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως σκηνὴν ἀκουσομένους τῶν Τυρταίου ποιημάτων ἅπαντας, νομίζοντες οὕτως ἂν αὐτοὺς μάλιστα πρὸ τῆς πατρίδος ἐθέλειν ἀποθνῄσκειν. χρήσιμον δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ τούτων ἀκοῦσαι τῶν ἐλεγείων, ἵνʼ ἐπίστησθε οἷα ποιοῦντες εὐδοκίμουν παρʼ ἐκείνοις.
τεθνάμεναι γὰρ καλὸν ἐνὶ προμάχοισι πεσόντα
ἄνδρʼ ἀγαθόν, περὶ ᾗ πατρίδι μαρνάμενον.
τὴν δʼ αὐτοῦ προλιπόντα πόλιν καὶ πίονας ἀγροὺς
πτωχεύειν πάντων ἔστʼ ἀνιηρότατον,
πλαζόμενον σὺν μητρὶ φίλῃ καὶ πατρὶ γέροντι
παισί τε σὺν μικροῖς κουριδίῃ τʼ ἀλόχῳ.
ἐχθρὸς μὲν γὰρ τοῖσι μετέσσεται, οὕς κεν ἵκηται
χρημοσύνῃ τʼ εἴκων καὶ στυγερῇ πενίῃ,
αἰσχύνει δὲ γένος, κατὰ δʼ ἀγλαὸν εἶδος ἐλέγχει,
πᾶσα δʼ ἀτιμίη καὶ κακότης ἕπεται.
εἰ δʼ οὕτως ἀνδρός τοι ἀλωμένου οὐδεμίʼ ὤρη
γίγνεται οὐδʼ αἰδώς, οὔτʼ ὀπίσω γένεος,
θυμῷ γῆς περὶ τῆσδε μαχώμεθα, καὶ περὶ παίδων
θνῄσκωμεν ψυχέων μηκέτι φειδόμενοι.
ὦ νέοι, ἀλλὰ μάχεσθε παρʼ ἀλλήλοισι μένοντες,
μηδὲ φυγῆς αἰσχρῆς ἄρχετε μηδὲ φόβου,
ἀλλὰ μέγαν ποιεῖσθε καὶ ἄλκιμον ἐν φρεσὶ θυμόν,
μηδὲ φιλοψυχεῖτʼ ἀνδράσι μαρνάμενοι·
τοὺς δὲ παλαιοτέρους, ὧν οὐκέτι γούνατʼ ἐλαφρά,
μὴ καταλείποντες φεύγετε, τοὺς γεραιούς.
αἰσχρὸν γὰρ δὴ τοῦτο, μετὰ προμάχοισι πεσόντα
κεῖσθαι πρόσθε νέων ἄνδρα παλαιότερον,
ἤδη λευκὸν ἔχοντα κάρη πολιόν τε γένειον,
θυμὸν ἀποπνείοντʼ ἄλκιμον ἐν κονίῃ,
αἱματόεντʼ αἰδοῖα φίλαις ἐν χερσὶν ἔχοντα
(αἰσχρὰ τά γʼ ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ νεμεσητὸν ἰδεῖν)
καὶ χρόα γυμνωθέντα. νέοισι δὲ πάντʼ ἐπέοικεν,
ὄφρʼ ἐρατῆς ἥβης ἀγλαὸν ἄνθος ἔχῃ·
ἀνδράσι μὲν θηητὸς ἰδεῖν, ἐρατὸς δὲ γυναιξὶν
ζωὸς ἐών, καλὸς δʼ ἐν προμάχοισι πεσών.
ἀλλά τις εὖ διαβὰς μενέτω ποσὶν ἀμφοτέροισιν
στηριχθεὶς ἐπὶ γῆς, χεῖλος ὀδοῦσι δακών.

[¶4] 108. They are fine lines, gentlemen, and a lesson too for those who wish to heed them. Such was the courage of the men who used to hear them that they disputed with our city for supremacy; no matter for surprise, since the most gallant feats had been performed by either people. Your ancestors defeated the barbarians who first set foot in Attica, demonstrating clearly the superiority of valor over wealth and courage over numbers. The Spartans took the field at Thermopylae, and, though their fortune was less happy, in bravery they far surpassed all rivals.

> Greek: 108. καλά γʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες, καὶ χρήσιμα τοῖς βουλομένοις προσέχειν. οὕτω τοίνυν εἶχον πρὸς ἀνδρείαν οἱ τούτων ἀκούοντες ὥστε πρὸς τὴν πόλιν ἡμῶν περὶ τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἀμφισβητεῖν, εἰκότως· τὰ γὰρ κάλλιστα τῶν ἔργων ἀμφοτέροις ἦν κατειργασμένα. οἱ μὲν γὰρ πρόγονοι τοὺς βαρβάρους ἐνίκησαν, οἳ πρῶτοι τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐπέβησαν, καὶ καταφανῆ ἐποίησαν τὴν ἀνδρείαν τοῦ πλούτου καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ πλήθους περιγιγνομένην· Λακεδαιμόνιοι δʼ ἐν Θερμοπύλαις παραταξάμενοι ταῖς μὲν τύχαις οὐχ ὁμοίαις ἐχρήσαντο, τῇ δʼ ἀνδρείᾳ πολὺ πάντων διήνεγκαν.

[¶5] 109. And so over their graves a testimony to their courage can be seen, faithfully engraved for every Greek to read: to the Spartans:
Go tell the Spartans, thou who passest by,
That here obedient to their laws we lie.
And to your ancestors:
Athenians, guarding Greece, subdued in fight
At Marathon the gilded Persians’ might.
i. 42):
Dic, hospes, Spartae nos te hic vidisse iacentes
dum sanctis patriae legibus obsequimur.

> Greek: 109. τοιγαροῦν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἠρίοις μαρτύρια ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τῆς ἀρετῆς αὐτῶν ἀναγεγραμμένα ἀληθῆ πρὸς ἅπαντας τοὺς Ἕλληνας, ἐκείνοις μέν·
ὦ ξεῖνʼ, ἄγγειλον Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε
κείμεθα τοῖς κείνων πειθόμενοι νομίμοις,
τοῖς δʼ ὑμετέροις προγόνοις·
Ἑλλήνων προμαχοῦντες Ἀθηναῖοι Μαραθῶνι
χρυσοφόρων Μήδων ἐστόρεσαν δύναμιν.

[¶6] 110. These are noble lines for us to remember, Athenians; they are a tribute to those whose deeds they record and an undying glory to the city. But Leocrates has not acted thus. Deliberately he sullied that honor which the city has accumulated from the earliest times. Therefore if you kill him all Greeks will believe that you too hate such acts as his. If not, you will rob your forbears of their long-lived renown, and will do grievous harm to your fellow citizens. For those who do not admire our ancestors will try to imitate Leocrates believing, that although among men of the past the old virtues had a place of honor, in your eyes shamelessness, treachery and cowardice are held in most esteem.

> Greek: 110. ταῦτα, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ μνημονεύεσθαι καλὰ καὶ τοῖς πράξασιν ἔπαινος καὶ τῇ πόλει δόξα ἀείμνηστος. ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὃ Λεωκράτης πεποίηκεν, ἀλλʼ ἑκὼν τὴν ἐξ ἅπαντος τοῦ αἰῶνος συνηθροισμένην τῇ πόλει δόξαν κατῄσχυνεν. ἐὰν μὲν οὖν αὐτὸν ἀποκτείνητε, δόξετε πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησι καὶ ὑμεῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν ἔργων μισεῖν· εἰ δὲ μή, καὶ τοὺς προγόνους τῆς παλαιᾶς δόξης ἀποστερήσετε καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους πολίτας μεγάλα βλάψετε. οἱ γὰρ ἐκείνους μὴ θαυμάζοντες τοῦτον πειράσονται μιμεῖσθαι, νομίζοντες ἐκεῖνα μὲν παρὰ τοῖς παλαιοῖς εὐδοκιμεῖν, παρʼ ὑμῖν δʼ ἀναίδειαν καὶ προδοσίαν καὶ δειλίαν κεκρίσθαι κάλλιστον.

[¶7] 111. If I am unable to show you what your attitude towards such men should be, remember your ancestors and the methods of punishment which they employed against them. Capable as they were of the noblest actions, they were no less ready to punish what was base. Think of them, gentlemen; think how enraged they were with traitors and how they looked on them as common enemies of the city.

> Greek: 111. εἰ ⟨δὲ⟩ μὴ δύνασθε ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ διδαχθῆναι ὃν τρόπον δεῖ πρὸς τοὺς τοιούτους ἔχειν, σκέψασθε ἐκείνους τίνα τρόπον ἐλάμβανον παρʼ αὐτῶν τὴν τιμωρίαν· ὥσπερ γὰρ τὰ καλὰ τῶν ἔργων ἠπίσταντο ἐπιτηδεύειν, οὕτω καὶ τὰ πονηρὰ προῃροῦντο κολάζειν. ἐκεῖνοι γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες, θεωρήσατε ὡς ὠργίζοντο τοῖς προδόταις καὶ κοινοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἐνόμιζον εἶναι τῆς πόλεως.

[¶8] 112. You remember when Phrynichus was murdered at night beside the fountain in the osier beds by Apollodorus and Thrasybulus, who were later caught and put in the prison by the friends of Phrynichus. The people noted what had happened and, releasing the prisoners, held an inquiry after torture. On investigation they found that Phrynichus had been trying to betray the city and that his murderers had been unjustly imprisoned.

> Greek: 112. Φρυνίχου γὰρ ἀποσφαγέντος νύκτωρ παρὰ τὴν κρήνην τὴν ἐν τοῖς οἰσύοις ὑπὸ Ἀπολλοδώρου καὶ Θρασυβούλου, καὶ τούτων ληφθέντων καὶ εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον ἀποτεθέντων ὑπὸ τῶν τοῦ Φρυνίχου φίλων, αἰσθόμενος ὁ δῆμος τὸ γεγονὸς τούς τε εἱρχθέντας ἐξήγαγε, καὶ βασάνων γενομένων ἀνέκρινε, καὶ ζητῶν τὸ πρᾶγμα εὗρε τὸν μὲν Φρύνιχον προδιδόντα τὴν πόλιν, τοὺς δʼ ἀποκτείναντας αὐτὸν ἀδίκως εἱρχθέντας·

[¶9] 113. They decreed publicly, on the motion of Critias, that the dead man should be tried for treason, and that if it were found that this was a tratior who had been buried in the country, his bones should be dug up and removed from Attica, so that the land should not have lying in it even the bones of one who had betrayed his country and his city.

> Greek: 113. καὶ ψηφίζεται ὁ δῆμος Κριτίου εἰπόντος τὸν μὲν νεκρὸν κρίνειν προδοσίας, κἂν δόξῃ προδότης ὢν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τεθάφθαι, τά τε ὀστᾶ αὐτοῦ ἀνορύξαι καὶ ἐξορίσαι ἔξω τῆς Ἀττικῆς, ὅπως ἂν μὴ κέηται ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ μηδὲ τὰ ὀστᾶ τοῦ τὴν χώραν καὶ τὴν πόλιν προδιδόντος. ἐψηφίσαντο δὲ καὶ ἐὰν ἀπολογῶνταί τινες ὑπὲρ τοῦ τετελευτηκότος, ἐὰν ἁλῷ ὁ τεθνηκώς, ἐνόχους εἶναι καὶ τούτους τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐπιτιμίοις·

[¶10] 114. They decreed also that if any persons defended the dead man and he were found guilty, they should be liable to the same punishment as he. Thus, in their view, it was wrong even to assist men who had deserted others; and to try to save the traitor would be to betray the city no less than he. In this way then, by hating wrongdoers and by passing such measures against them, they brought themselves safely out of dangers. Produce the decree for them, clerk, and read it.

> Greek: 114. οὕτως οὐδὲ βοηθεῖν τοῖς τοὺς ἄλλους ἐγκαταλείπουσιν ἡγοῦντο δίκαιον εἶναι, ἀλλʼ ὁμοίως ἂν προδοῦναι τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸν διασῴζοντα τὸν προδότην. τοιγαροῦν οὕτω μισοῦντες τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα κατʼ αὐτῶν ψηφιζόμενοι ἀσφαλῶς ἐκ τῶν κινδύνων ἀπηλλάττοντο. λαβὲ δʼ αὐτοῖς τὸ ψήφισμα, γραμματεῦ, καὶ ἀνάγνωθι.

[¶11] 115. Decree You hear this decree, gentlemen. After it was passed your ancestors dug up the traitor’s bones and cast them out of Attica; they killed his defenders, Aristarchus and Alexicles, and even refused them burial in the country. Will you then, who have the very person who has betrayed the city alive and at the mercy of your vote, let him go unpunished?

> Greek: 115. Ψήφισμα ἀκούετε, ὦ ἄνδρες, τούτου τοῦ ψηφίσματος. ἔπειτα ἐκεῖνοι μὲν τὰ τοῦ προδότου ὀστᾶ ἀνορύξαντες ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐξώρισαν καὶ τοὺς ἀπολογουμένους ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ Ἀρίσταρχον καὶ Ἀλεξικλέα ἀπέκτειναν καὶ οὐδʼ ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ ταφῆναι ἐπέτρεψαν· ὑμεῖς δʼ αὐτὸ τὸ σῶμα τὸ προδεδωκὸς τὴν πόλιν ζῶν καὶ ὑποχείριον ἔχοντες τῇ ψήφῳ, ἀτιμώρητον ἐάσετε;

[¶12] 116. Your ancestors inflicted the extreme penalty on men who simply lent the traitor verbal help. Will you fall so short of their example as to let go as innocent the man who abandoned the state in deed as well as word? Do not do it, gentlemen of the jury. Do not give a verdict unworthy of yourselves; for it would be both impious and contrary to your traditions. If only one such decree were recorded, we might have said that anger rather than real conviction had prompted it. But when the same punishment was meted out by them to all alike it is surely plain that our ancestors were by nature bound to make war an all such crimes.

> Greek: 116. καὶ τοσοῦτόν γʼ ἔσεσθε τῶν προγόνων χείρους ὅσον ἐκεῖνοι μὲν τοὺς λόγῳ μόνον τῷ προδότῃ βοηθήσαντας ταῖς ἐσχάταις τιμωρίαις μετῆλθον, ὑμεῖς δὲ αὐτὸν τὸν ἔργῳ καὶ οὐ λόγῳ τὸν δῆμον ἐγκαταλιπόντα ὡς οὐδὲν ἀδικοῦντα ἀφήσετε; μὴ δῆτα, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ⟨οὔτε γὰρ ὅσιον⟩ ὑμῖν οὔτε πάτριον, ἀναξίως ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ψηφίζεσθε. καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὲν ἕν τι τοιοῦτον γεγονὸς ἦν ψήφισμα, εἶχεν ἄν τις εἰπεῖν ὡς διʼ ὀργὴν μᾶλλον ἢ διʼ ἀλήθειαν ἐποιήσαντο· ὅταν δὲ παρὰ πάντων ὁμοίως εἰληφότες ὦσι τὴν αὐτὴν τιμωρίαν, πῶς οὐκ εὔδηλον ὅτι φύσει πᾶσι τοῖς τοιούτοις ἔργοις ἐπολέμουν;

[¶13] 117. When Hipparchus, the son of Charmus, did not stand his trial for treason before the people but let the case go by default, they sentenced him to death. Then, as they did not secure his person to answer for the crime, they took down his statue from the Acropolis and, melting it down, made a pillar of it, on which they decreed that the names of sinners and traitors should be inscribed. Hipparchus himself has his name recorded on this pillar and all other traitors too.

> Greek: 117. ἵππαρχον γὰρ τὸν Χάρμου, οὐχ ὑπομείναντα τὴν περὶ τῆς προδοσίας ἐν τῷ δήμῳ κρίσιν ἀλλʼ ἔρημον τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐάσαντα, θανάτῳ τοῦτον ζημιώσαντες, ἐπειδὴ τῆς ἀδικίας οὐκ ἔλαβον τὸ σῶμα ὅμηρον, τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ ἐξ ἀκροπόλεως καθελόντες καὶ συγχωνεύσαντες καὶ ποιήσαντες στήλην, ἐψηφίσαντο εἰς ταύτην ἀναγράφειν τοὺς ἀλιτηρίους καὶ τοὺς προδότας· καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἵππαρχος ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ στήλῃ ἀναγέγραπται, καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι δὲ προδόται.

[¶14] 118. Clerk, please take the decree which authorized the statue of Hipparchus to be taken down from the Acropolis and then the inscription at the base of the pillar with the names of the traitors later engraved upon it and read them out.

> Greek: 118. καί μοι λαβὲ πρῶτον μὲν τὸ ψήφισμα, καθʼ ὃ ἡ εἰκὼν τοῦ Ἱππάρχου τοῦ προδότου ἐξ ἀκροπόλεως καθῃρέθη, ἔπειτα τῆς στήλης τὸ ὑπόγραμμα καὶ τοὺς ὕστερον προσαναγραφέντας προδότας εἰς ταύτην τὴν στήλην, καὶ ἀναγίγνωσκε, γραμματεῦ.

[¶15] 119. Decree and Text of Inscription on the Pillar What is your impression of them, gentlemen? Had they the same attitude as yourselves towards wrongdoers? Or did they, by obliterating the memorial of the traitor, since they could not command his person, punish him with all the means at their disposal? The simple fact of melting down the bronze statue was not enough for them; they wished to leave to their successors a lasting memorial of their attitude to traitors.

> Greek: 119. Ψήφισμα καὶ Ὑπόγραμμα τῆς Στήλης τί δοκοῦσιν ὑμῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες; ἆρά γʼ ὁμοίως ὑμῖν περὶ τῶν ἀδικούντων γιγνώσκειν, καὶ οὐκ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὸ σῶμα οὐκ ἐδύναντο ὑποχείριον [τοῦ προδότου] λαβεῖν, τὸ μνημεῖον τοῦ προδότου ἀνελόντες ταῖς ἐνδεχομέναις τιμωρίαις ἐκόλασαν; οὐχ ὅπως τὸν χαλκοῦν ἀνδριάντα συγχωνεύσειαν, ἀλλʼ ἵνα τοῖς ἐπιγιγνομένοις παράδειγμα εἰς τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον ὡς εἶχον πρὸς τοὺς προδότας καταλίποιεν.

[¶16] 120. Let the jury hear the other decree, clerk, relating to the men who withdrew to Decelea when the people were besieged by the Spartans, so that they will realize that the punishments inflicted by our ancestors on traitors were uniform and self-consistent. Read it.

> Greek: 120. λαβὲ δʼ αὐτοῖς καὶ τὸ ἕτερον ψήφισμα ⟨τὸ⟩ περὶ τῶν εἰς Δεκέλειαν μεταστάντων, ὅτε ὁ δῆμος ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων ἐπολιορκεῖτο, ὅπως εἰδῶσιν ὅτι περὶ τῶν προδοτῶν οἱ πρόγονοι ὁμοίας καὶ ἀκολούθους ἀλλήλαις τὰς τιμωρίας ἐποιοῦντο. ἀναγίγνωσκε, γραμματεῦ.

[¶17] 121. Decree You hear this decree too, gentlemen. It says that they condemned any who moved to Decelea in war-time and laid it down that those who were caught returning should be led by any Athenian who cared to do so to the Thesmothetae who should take them into custody and hand them over to the executioner. If they dealt thus with men who merely changed their place in Attica, how will you treat Leocrates who in wartime fled from his city and his country to Rhodes and deserted the state? Will you not kill him? If you do not, how can you pass as the descendants of those men?

> Greek: 121. Ψήφισμα ἀκούετε, ὦ ἄνδρες, καὶ τούτου τοῦ ψηφίσματος, ὅτι τῶν ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ μεταστάντων εἰς Δεκέλειαν κατέγνωσαν, καὶ ἐψηφίσαντο, ἐάν τις αὐτῶν ἐπανιὼν ἁλίσκηται, ἀπαγαγεῖν Ἀθηναίων τὸν βουλόμενον πρὸς τοὺς θεσμοθέτας, παραλαβόντας δὲ παραδοῦναι τῷ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὀρύγματος. ἔπειτα ἐκεῖνοι μὲν τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ χώρᾳ μεταστάντας οὕτως ἐκόλαζον, ὑμεῖς δὲ τὸν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῆς χώρας ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ φυγόντα εἰς Ῥόδον καὶ προδόντα τὸν δῆμον οὐκ ἀποκτενεῖτε; πῶς οὖν δόξετε ἀπόγονοι εἶναι ἐκείνων τῶν ἀνδρῶν;

[¶18] 122. You ought also to hear the decree relating to the man executed in Salamis. Though he had only attempted to speak treason against the city, the Council, after removing their crowns, killed him with their own hands. It is an admirable decree, gentlemen, and well worthy of your ancestors. Their nobility, revealed in their characters, was shown too in their punishment of criminals.

> Greek: 122. ἄξιον τοίνυν ἀκοῦσαι καὶ ⟨τοῦ⟩ περὶ τοῦ ἐν Σαλαμῖνι τελευτήσαντος γενομένου ψηφίσματος, ὃν ἡ βουλή, ὅτι λόγῳ μόνον ἐνεχείρει προδιδόναι τὴν πόλιν, περιελομένη τοὺς στεφάνους αὐτοχειρὶ ἀπέκτεινεν. γενναῖον δʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες, τὸ ψήφισμα καὶ ἄξιον τῶν ὑμετέρων προγόνων, δικαίως· εὐγενεῖς γὰρ οὐ μόνον τὰς ψυχὰς ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς τῶν ἀδικούντων τιμωρίας ἐκέκτηντο.

[¶19] 123. Decree What is your view, gentlemen? Do you think that if you wish to emulate your forefathers, it is in keeping to allow Leacrates to live? When they dispatched like that one who merely betrayed with his lips a city already desolate, how ought you, whose city prospered at the time, to treat the man who did in very fact desert it? Ought you not to outdo them in severity? When they chastised so sternly those who tried to rob them of the security which the people offered, how ought you to treat a traitor to the people’s own safety? And if they, from considerations of honor only, took vengeance on criminals in this way, how should you react when your country is at stake?

> Greek: 123. Ψήφισμα τί οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες; ἆρά γʼ ὑμῖν δοκεῖ βουλομένοις μιμεῖσθαι τοὺς προγόνους πάτριον εἶναι Λεωκράτην μὴ οὐκ ἀποκτεῖναι; ὁπότε γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι ἀνάστατον τὴν πόλιν οὖσαν τὸν λόγῳ μόνον προδιδόντα οὕτως ἀπέκτειναν, τί ὑμᾶς προσήκει τὸν ἔργῳ καὶ οὐ λόγῳ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐκλιπόντα ποιῆσαι; ἆρʼ οὐχ ὑπερβαλέσθαι ἐκείνους ταῖς τιμωρίαις; καὶ ὅτʼ ἐκεῖνοι τοὺς ἐπιχειρήσαντας τῆς παρὰ τοῦ δήμου σωτηρίας ἀποστερεῖν οὕτως ἐκόλασαν, τί ὑμᾶς προσήκει τὸν αὐτοῦ τοῦ δήμου τὴν σωτηρίαν προδόντα ποιῆσαι; καὶ ὅτε ὑπὲρ τῆς δόξης ἐκεῖνοι τοὺς αἰτίους ἐτιμωροῦντο, τί ὑμᾶς ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος προσήκει ποιεῖν;

[¶20] 124. These instances suffice to show you the attitude of our ancestors towards those who broke the city’s laws. Nevertheless I want also to remind you of the pillar in the Council Chamber which commemorates traitors and enemies of democracy. For if my point is backed by frequent illustrations, I am rendering your verdict easy. After the rule of the Thirty, your fathers, who had suffered from citizens what no other Greek had ever thought fit to inflict and had barely managed to return to their country, barred all the paths to crime, having learnt by experience the principles and methods followed by men who wished to overthrow democracy.

> Greek: 124. ἱκανὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ ταῦτα τὴν τῶν προγόνων γνῶναι διάνοιαν, ὡς εἶχον πρὸς τοὺς παρανομοῦντας εἰς τὴν πόλιν· οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἔτι βούλομαι τῆς στήλης ἀκοῦσαι ὑμᾶς τῆς ἐν τῷ βουλευτηρίῳ περὶ τῶν προδοτῶν καὶ τῶν τὸν δῆμον καταλυόντων· τὸ γὰρ μετὰ πολλῶν παραδειγμάτων διδάσκειν ῥᾳδίαν ὑμῖν τὴν κρίσιν καθίστησι. μετὰ γὰρ τοὺς τριάκοντα οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν, πεπονθότες ὑπὸ τῶν πολιτῶν οἷα οὐδεὶς πώποτε τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἠξίωσε, καὶ μόλις εἰς τὴν ἑαυτῶν κατεληλυθότες, ἁπάσας τὰς ὁδοὺς τῶν ἀδικημάτων ἐνέφραξαν, πεπειραμένοι καὶ εἰδότες τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐφόδους τῶν τὸν δῆμον προδιδόντων.

[¶21] 125. For they established it by decree and oath that anyone who found a person aspiring to tyranny or attempting to betray the city or overthrow the democracy should be guiltless if he killed him. They thought it better that imagined culprits should perish than that they themselves should have a real experience of slavery, holding that citizens must simply live in such a manner as to avoid the very suspicion of any of these crimes. Please take the decree.

> Greek: 125. ἐψηφίσαντο γὰρ καὶ ὤμοσαν, ἐάν τις τυραννίδι ἐπιτιθῆται ἢ τὴν πόλιν προδιδῷ ἢ τὸν δῆμον καταλύῃ, τὸν αἰσθανόμενον καθαρὸν εἶναι ἀποκτείναντα, καὶ κρεῖττον ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς τοὺς τὴν αἰτίαν ἔχοντας τεθνάναι μᾶλλον ἢ πειραθέντας μετὰ ἀληθείας αὐτοὺς δουλεύειν· ἀρχὴν γὰρ οὕτως ᾤοντο δεῖν ζῆν τοὺς πολίτας, ὥστε μηδʼ εἰς ὑποψίαν ἐλθεῖν μηδένα τούτων τῶν ἀδικημάτων. καὶ μοι λαβὲ τὸ ψήφισμα.

[¶22] 126. Decree These words, gentlemen, they inscribed on the pillar, erecting it in the Council Chamber as a reminder to those who daily met in council over affairs of state what their attitude to men like this should be, and hence they swore a common oath to kill them if they saw them even contemplating such conduct. Naturally enough. For where other offences are concerned, the punishment should follow on the crime; but in cases of treason or the overthrow of a democracy it should precede it. If you let slip the moment when the criminals are contemplating some treasonable act against their country, you cannot afterwards bring them to justice for their crimes, since by then they are too powerful to be punished by those whom they have wronged.

> Greek: 126. Ψήφισμα ταῦτα, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἔγραψαν εἰς τὴν στήλην, κα ταύτην ἔστησαν εἰς τὸ βουλευτήριον, ὑπόμνημα τοῖς καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν συνιοῦσι καὶ βουλευομένοις ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος, ὡς δεῖ πρὸς τοὺς τοιούτους ἔχειν. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἄν τις αἴσθηται μόνον μέλλοντας αὐτοὺς τούτων τι ποιεῖν, ἀποκτενεῖν συνώμοσαν, εἰκότως· τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἄλλων ἀδικημάτων ὑστέρας δεῖ τετάχθαι τὰς τιμωρίας, προδοσίας δὲ καὶ δήμου καταλύσεως προτέρας. εἰ γὰρ προήσεσθε τοῦτον τὸν καιρόν, ἐν ᾧ μέλλουσιν ἐκεῖνοι κατὰ τῆς πατρίδος φαῦλόν τι πράττειν, οὐκ ἔστιν ὑμῖν μετὰ ταῦτα δίκην παρʼ αὐτῶν ἀδικούντων λαβεῖν· κρείττους γὰρ ἤδη γίγνονται τῆς παρὰ τῶν ἀδικουμένων τιμωρίας.

[¶23] 127. Let this foresight, gentlemen, and these actions be the inspiration to you that they should. Remember, when you vote, the temper of your forbears, and urge each other to bring in today, before you leave the court, a verdict modelled to their pattern. You have memorials, you have examples of the punishments they meted out, embodied in the decrees concerning criminals. You have sworn in the decree of Demophantus to kill the man who betrays his country, whether by word or deed, hand or vote. I say “you”; for you must not think that, as heirs to the riches bequeathed by your ancestors, you can yet renounce your share in their oaths or in the pledge your fathers gave as a security to the gods, thereby enjoying the prosperity of their city.

> Greek: 127. ἐνθυμεῖσθε τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες, τῆς προνοίας ταύτης καὶ τῶν ἔργων ἀξίως, καὶ μὴ ἐπιλανθάνεσθε ἐν τῇ ψήφῳ οἵων ἀνδρῶν ἔκγονοί ἐστε, ἀλλὰ παρακελεύεσθε ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς, ὅπως ὅμοια ἐκείνοις καὶ ἀκόλουθα ἐν τῇ τήμερον ἡμέρᾳ ἐψηφισμένοι ἐκ τοῦ δικαστηρίου ἐξίητε. ὑπομνήματα δʼ ἔχετε καὶ παραδείγματα τῆς ἐκείνων τιμωρίας τὰ ἐν τοῖς περὶ τῶν ἀδικούντων ψηφίσμασιν ὡρισμένα· διομωμόκατε δʼ ἐν τῷ ψηφίσματι τῷ Δημοφάντου κτενεῖν τὸν τὴν πατρίδα προδιδόντα καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ καὶ χειρὶ καὶ ψήφῳ. μὴ γὰρ οἴεσθε τῶν μὲν οὐσιῶν, ἃς ἄν οἱ πρόγονοι καταλίπωσι, κληρονόμοι εἶναι, τῶν δʼ ὅρκων καὶ τῆς πίστεως, ἣν δόντες οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν ὅμηρον τοῖς θεοῖς τῆς κοινῆς εὐδαιμονίας τῆς πόλεως μετεῖχον, ταύτης δὲ μὴ κληρονομεῖν.

[¶24] 128. Your city was not alone in dealing thus with traitors. The Spartans were the same. Please do not think me tedious, gentlemen, if I allude often to these men. We shall be well advised to take examples of just conduct from a city which has good laws, and so be surer that each of you will give a just verdict in keeping with his oath. The Spartans, you remember, caught their king Pausanias trying to betray Greece to the Persians. He escaped in time into the temple of the Brazen House, but they walled up the door, took off the roof and mounted guard in a circle round it, remaining at their posts until they had starved him to death and made his punishment a proof to all that even divine assistance is not vouchsafed to traitors.

> Greek: 128. οὐ μόνον τοίνυν ἡ πόλις ὑμῶν οὕτως ἔσχε πρὸς τοὺς προδιδόντας ἀλλὰ καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι. Καὶ μή μοι ἀχθεσθῆτε, ὦ ἄνδρες, εἰ πολλάκις μέμνημαι τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων· καλὸν γάρ ἐστʼ ἐκ πόλεως εὐνομουμένης περὶ τῶν δικαίων παραδείγματα λαμβάνειν, ἵνʼ ἀσφαλέστερον ἕκαστος ὑμῶν τὴν δικαίαν καὶ τὴν εὔορκον ψῆφον θῆται. Παυσανίαν γὰρ τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῶν προδιδόντα τῷ Πέρσῃ τὴν Ἑλλάδα λαβόντες, ἐπειδὴ ἔφθασε καταφυγὼν εἰς τὸ τῆς Χαλκιοίκου ἱερόν, τὴν θύραν ἀποικοδομήσαντες, καὶ τὴν ὀροφὴν ἀποσκευάσαντες, καὶ κύκλῳ περιστρατοπεδεύσαντες, οὐ πρότερον ἀπῆλθον πρὶν ἢ τῷ λιμῷ ἀπέκτειναν, καὶ πᾶσιν ἐπίσημον ἐποίησαν τὴν τιμωρίαν, ὅτι οὐδʼ αἱ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ἐπικουρίαι τοῖς προδόταις βοηθοῦσιν, εἰκότως·

[¶25] 129. And it is right that it should not be; for impiety towards the gods is the first crime by which they show their wickedness, since they deprive them of their traditional cults. But I have yet to give you the best illustration of the prevailing practice at Sparta. They passed a law, covering all who refused to risk their lives for their country, which expressly stated that they should be put to death. Thus the punishment which they laid down was the very fate which traitors most fear; survival after war was to be subject to a scrutiny which might involve disgrace and death. Let me convince you that what I have said can be proved and that my examples are genuine. Produce the law for them.

> Greek: 129. οὐδὲν γὰρ πρότερον ἀδικοῦσιν ἢ περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς ἀσεβοῦσι τῶν πατρίων νομίμων αὐτοὺς ἀποστεροῦντες. μέγιστον δὲ τῶν ἐκεῖ γεγενημένων τεκμήριόν ἐστιν ὃ μέλλω λέγειν· νόμον γὰρ ἔθεντο περὶ ἁπάντων τῶν μὴ ʼθελόντων ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος κινδυνεύειν, διαρρήδην λέγοντα ἀποθνῄσκειν, εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὴν τιμωρίαν τάξαντες, εἰς ὃ μάλιστα φοβούμενοι τυγχάνουσι, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου σωτηρίαν ὑπεύθυνον ἐποίησαν κινδύνῳ μετʼ αἰσχύνης. ἵνα δʼ εἰδῆτε ὅτι οὐ λόγον ἀναπόδεικτον εἴρηκα, ἀλλὰ μετʼ ἀληθείας παραδείγματα, φέρε αὐτοῖς τὸν νόμον.

[¶26] 130. The Law of the Spartans See what an admirable law this is, gentlemen, and how expedient it would be for other peoples too besides the Spartans. The fear of one’s own community is a strong thing and will compel men to face danger against an enemy; no one will forsake his country in times of peril when he sees that a traitor is punished with death. No one will turn coward when his city needs him, if he knows that the punishment in store for him is this. For death is the one fitting penalty for cowardice; since, when men know that there are two alternative dangers of which they must face one, they will choose to meet the enemy far rather than stand out against the law and their fellow citizens.

> Greek: 130. Νόμος Λακεδαιμονίων ἐνθυμεῖσθε δὴ ὡς καλὸς ὁ νόμος, ὦ ἄνδρες, καὶ σύμφορος οὐ μόνον ἐκείνοις ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις. ὁ γὰρ παρὰ τῶν πολιτῶν φόβος ἰσχυρὸς ὢν ἀναγκάσει τοὺς πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους κινδύνους ὑπομένειν· τίς γὰρ ὁρῶν θανάτῳ ζημιούμενον τὸν προδότην ἐν τοῖς κινδύνοις ἐκλείψει τὴν πατρίδα; ἢ τίς παρὰ τὸ συμφέρον τῆς πόλεως φιλοψυχήσει, εἰδὼς ὑποκειμένην αὑτῷ ⟨ταύτην⟩ τιμωρίαν; οὐδεμίαν γὰρ ἄλλην δεῖ ζημίαν εἶναι τῆς δειλίας ἢ θάνατον· εἰδότες γὰρ ὅτι δυοῖν κινδύνοιν ὑποκειμένοιν ἀναγκαῖον ἔσται θατέρου μετασχεῖν, πολὺ μᾶλλον αἱρήσονται τὸν πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους ἢ τὸν πρὸς τοὺς νόμους καὶ τοὺς πολίτας.

[¶27] 131. Leocrates is much more deserving of death than deserters from the army. They return to the city ready to defend it or to meet disaster in company with their fellow citizens, while he fled from his country and provided for his own safety, not daring to protect his hearth and home. He alone of men has betrayed even the natural ties of kinship and blood which the unthinking beasts themselves hold dearest and most sacred.

> Greek: 131. τοσούτῳ δʼ ἂν δικαιότερον οὗτος ἀποθάνοι τῶν ἐκ τῶν στρατοπέδων φευγόντων, ὅσον οἱ μὲν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἥκουσιν ὡς ὑπὲρ ταύτης μαχούμενοι ἢ κοινῇ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν συνατυχήσοντες, οὑτοσὶ δʼ ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος ἔφυγεν, ἰδίᾳ τὴν σωτηρίαν ποριζόμενος, οὐδʼ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἰδίας ἑστίας ἀμύνεσθαι τολμήσας, ἀλλὰ μόνος οὗτος τῶν πάντων ἀνθρώπων καὶ τὰ τῆς φύσεως οἰκεῖα καὶ ἀναγκαῖα προδέδωκεν, ἃ καὶ τοῖς ἀλόγοις ζῴοις μέγιστα καὶ σπουδαιότατα διείληπται.

[¶28] 132. Birds at least, which by nature are best fitted for a swift escape, can be seen accepting death in defence of their brood. Hence the words of the old poets:
Nor does the wild fowl let another’s brood
Be laid within the nest that she has built.
But the cowardice of Leocrates has so passed all bounds that he left his country to the enemy.

> Greek: 132. τὰ γοῦν πετεινά, ἃ μάλιστα πέφυκε πρὸς τάχος, ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς αὑτῶν νεοττιᾶς ἐθέλοντα ἀποθνῄσκειν· ὅθεν καὶ τῶν ποιητῶν τινες εἰρήκασιν·
οὐδʼ ἀγρία γὰρ ὄρνις, ἢν πλάσῃ δόμον,
ἄλλην νεοσσοὺς ἠξίωσεν ἐντεκεῖν.
ἀλλὰ Λεωκράτης τοσοῦτον ὑπερβέβληκε δειλίᾳ ὥστε τὴν πατρίδα τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐγκατέλιπε.

[¶29] 133. That is why no city let him reside within it as an alien. He was naturally expelled more quickly than a murderer. Exiles for murder who move into another city do not meet with enmity among their hosts; but what city could admit Leocrates? One who refused to help his own country would indeed be likely to face danger for another’s! Such men are bad, whether as citizens, guests, or personal friends; for they will enjoy the advantages offered by the state but will not consent to assist it too, in times of difficulty.

> Greek: 133. τοιγαροῦν οὐδεμία πόλις αὐτὸν εἴασε παρʼ αὑτῇ μετοικεῖν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τῶν ἀνδροφόνων ἤλαυνεν, εἰκότως· οἱ μὲν γὰρ φόνου φεύγοντες εἰς ἑτέραν πόλιν μεταστάντες οὐκ ἔχουσιν ἐχθροὺς τοὺς ὑποδεξαμένους, τοῦτον δὲ τίς ἂν ὑποδέξαιτο πόλις; ὃς γὰρ ὑπὲρ τῆς αὑτοῦ πατρίδος οὐκ ἐβοήθησε, ταχύ γʼ ἂν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀλλοτρίας κίνδυνόν τινʼ ὑπομείνειεν. κακοὶ γὰρ καὶ πολῖται καὶ ξένοι καὶ ἰδίᾳ φίλοι οἱ τοιοῦτοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰσίν, οἳ τῶν μὲν ἀγαθῶν τῶν τῆς πόλεως μεθέξουσιν, ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἀτυχίαις οὐδὲ βοηθείας ἀξιώσουσι.

[¶30] 134. Consider: he is hated and expelled by those without a reason to resent him; what treatment should he get from you who have had the utmost provocation? Should it not be the extreme penalty? Indeed, gentlemen, if there were any punishment worse than death, Leocrates of all the traitors that have ever been would most deserve to undergo it. For other traitors are punished, though, when they are caught, their crime has yet to be committed. The defendant, alone of all men, by deserting the city, has, at the time of his trial, accomplished what he undertook to do.

> Greek: 134. καίτοι τὸν ὑπὸ τῶν μηδὲν ἀδικουμένων μισούμενον καὶ ἐξελαυνόμενον τί δεῖ παθεῖν ὑφʼ ὑμῶν τῶν τὰ δεινότατα πεπονθότων; ἆρʼ οὐ τῆς ἐσχάτης τιμωρίας τυγχάνειν; καὶ μήν, ὦ ἄνδρες, τῶν πώποτε προδοτῶν δικαιότατʼ ἂν Λεωκράτης, εἴ τις μείζων εἴη τιμωρία θανάτου, ταύτην ὑπόσχοι. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι προδόται, μέλλοντες ἀδικεῖν ὅταν ληφθῶσι, τιμωρίαν ὑπέχουσιν· οὗτος δὲ μόνος διαπεπραγμένος ἕπερ ἐπεχείρησε, τὴν πόλιν ἐγκαταλιπὼν κρίνεται.

[¶31] 135. I am amazed at the advocates who are going to defend him. Whatever justification, I wonder, will they find for his acquittal? Will it be his friendship with themselves? In my own view they are not entitled to indulgence but deserve to die for daring to be intimate with him. Though their attitude was not obvious, before Leocrates acted as he did, it is clear to everyone now, since they maintain their friendship with him, that they uphold the same principles as he does and should therefore far rather be required to plead their own defence than be allowed to win your pardon for him.

> Greek: 135. θαυμάζω δὲ καὶ τῶν συνηγορεῖν αὐτῷ μελλόντων, διὰ τι ποτε τοῦτον ἀξιώσουσιν ἀποφυγεῖν. πότερον διὰ τὴν πρὸς αὑτοὺς φιλίαν; ἀλλʼ ἔμοιγε δοκοῦσι δικαίως οὐκ ἂν χάριτος τυχεῖν ἀλλʼ ἀποθανεῖν, ὅτι χρῆσθαι τούτῳ τολμῶσι. πρὶν μὲν γὰρ τοῦτο πρᾶξαι Λεωκράτην ἄδηλον ἦν ὁποῖοί τινες ὄντες ἐτύγχανον, νῦν δὲ πᾶσι φανερὸν ὅτι τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἤθεσι χρώμενοι τὴν πρὸς τοῦτον φιλίαν διαφυλάττουσιν, ὥστε πολὺ πρότερον ὑπὲρ αὑτῶν αὐτοῖς ἐστιν ἀπολογητέον ἢ τοῦτον παρʼ ὑμῶν ἐξαιτητέον.

[¶32] 136. I believe myself that if the dead really do have any knowledge of earthly affairs, his own father, now no more, would be a sterner judge than any other; since he it was whose bronze statue Leocrates left behind him in the temple of Zeus the Savior, abandoned to the enemy for them to steal or mutilate. He turned that statue, which his father erected as a memorial of his own uprightness, into an object of reproach, since it commemorates a man now famed as father of a son like this.

> Greek: 136. ἡγοῦμαι δʼ ἔγωγε καὶ τὸν πατέρα αὐτῷ τὸν τετελευτηκότα, εἴ τις ἄρʼ ἔστιν αἴσθησις τοῖς ἐκεῖ περὶ τῶν ἐνθάδε γιγνομένων, ἁπάντων ἂν χαλεπώτατον γενέσθαι δικαστήν, οὗ τὴν χαλκῆν εἰκόνα ἔκδοτον κατέλιπε τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐν τῷ τοῦ Διὸς ⟨τοῦ⟩ σωτῆρος ἱεροσυλῆσαι καὶ αἰκίσασθαι, καὶ ἣν ἐκεῖνος ἔστησε μνημεῖον τῆς αὑτοῦ μετριότητος, ταύτην αὐτὸς ἐπονείδιστον ἐποίησε· τοιούτου γὰρ υἱοῦ πατὴρ προσαγορεύεται.

[¶33] 137. It is with this in mind, gentlemen, that many have approached me and asked why I did not include in the indictment the charge that he had betrayed his father’s statue, dedicated in the temple of Zeus the Savior. Gentlemen, I fully realized that this offence called for the most severe punishment, but I did not think it right, when prosecuting the defendant for treason, to add the name of Zeus the Savior to the bill of indictment.

> Greek: 137. διὸ καὶ πολλοί μοι προσεληλύθασιν, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἐρωτῶντες διὰ τί οὐκ ἐνέγραψα τοῦτο εἰς τὴν εἰσαγγελίαν, προδεδωκέναι τὴν εἰκόνα τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς τὴν ἐν τῷ τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἀνακειμένην. ἐγὼ δʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες, οὐκ ἠγνόουν τοῦτο τἀδίκημʼ ἄξιον ⟨ὂν⟩ τῆς μεγίστης τιμωρίας, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ἡγούμην δεῖν περὶ προδοσίας τοῦτον κρίνων ὄνομα Διὸς σωτῆρος ἐπιγράψαι πρὸς τὴν εἰσαγγελίαν.

[¶34] 138. What astounds me most of all is, that though you are dealing with men who have no ties of blood or friendship with him but who always champion defendants for a fee, you do not realize that they deserve to feel your anger in its fullest violence. If they and their kind defend the criminals it is proof that they would associate themselves with the actual crimes. It is to defend you, in the interests of democracy and law, not to oppose you, that a speaker should have acquired his skill.

> Greek: 138. ἐκπέπληγμαι δὲ μάλιστα ἐπὶ τοῖς μήτε γένει μήτε φιλίᾳ μηδὲν προσήκουσι, μισθοῦ δὲ συναπολογουμένοις ἀεὶ τοῖς κρινομένοις, εἰ λελήθασιν ὑμᾶς τῆς ἐσχάτης ὀργῆς δικαίως ἂν τυγχάνοντες. τὸ γὰρ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδικησάντων ἀπολογεῖσθαι τεκμήριόν ἐστιν ὅτι καὶ τῶν πεπραγμένων οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἂν μετάσχοιεν. οὐ γὰρ δεῖ καθʼ ὑμῶν γεγενῆσθαι δεινὸν ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν νόμων καὶ τῆς δημοκρατίας.

[¶35] 139. Some of them indeed are no longer using arguments to try to deceive you; they will even cite their own public services in favor of the defendants. These I particularly resent. For having performed the services for the advancement of their own families, they are now asking you for public token of thanks. Horsebreeding, a handsome payment for a chorus, and other expensive gestures, do not entitle a man to any such recognition from you, since for these acts he alone is crowned, conferring no benefit on others. To earn your gratitude he must, instead, have been distinguished as a trierarch, or built walls to protect his city, or subscribed generously from his own property for the public safety. These are services to the state:

> Greek: 139. καίτοι τινὲς αὐτῶν οὐκέτι τοῖς λόγοις ὑμᾶς παρακρούσασθαι ζητοῦσιν, ἀλλʼ ἤδη ταῖς αὑτῶν λῃτουργίαις ἐξαιτεῖσθαι τοὺς κρινομένους ἀξιώσουσιν· ἐφʼ οἷς ἔγωγε καὶ μάλιστʼ ἀγανακτῶ. εἰς γὰρ τὸν ἴδιον οἶκον αὐτὰς περιποιησάμενοι, κοινὰς χάριτας ὑμᾶς ἀπαιτοῦσιν. οὐ γὰρ εἴ τις ἱπποτρόφηκεν ἢ κεχορήγηκε λαμπρῶς ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν τοιούτων τι δεδαπάνηκεν, ἄξιός ἐστι παρʼ ὑμῶν τοιαύτης χάριτος (ἐπὶ τούτοις γὰρ αὐτὸς μόνος στεφανοῦται, τοὺς ἄλλους οὐδὲν ὠφελῶν), ἀλλʼ εἴ τις τετριηράρχηκε λαμπρῶς ἢ τείχη τῇ πατρίδι περιέβαλεν ἢ πρὸς τὴν κοινὴν σωτηρίαν ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων συνευπόρησε·

[¶36] 140. they affect the welfare of you all and prove the loyalty of the donors, while the others are evidence of nothing but the wealth of those who have spent the money. I do not believe that anyone has done the city so great a service that he can claim the acquittal of traitors as a special privilege for himself; nor do I believe that anyone, with ambitions for the city’s honor, is so unthinking as to help Leocrates, by whom he, first and foremost, had those ambitions frustrated; unless indeed such people have interests other than their country’s.

> Greek: 140. ταῦτα γάρ ἐστι κοινῶς ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἁπάντων, καὶ ἐν μὲν τούτοις ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τὴν ἀρετὴν τῶν ἐπιδεδωκότων, ἐν ἐκείνοις δὲ τὴν εὐπορίαν μόνον τῶν δεδαπανηκότων. ἡγοῦμαι δʼ ἔγωγε οὐδένʼ οὕτω μεγάλα τὴν πόλιν εὐηργετηκέναι, ὥστʼ ἐξαίρετον ἀξιοῦν λαμβάνειν χάριν τὴν κατὰ τῶν προδιδόντων τιμωρίαν, οὐδʼ οὕτως ἀνόητον ὥστε φιλοτιμεῖσθαι μὲν πρὸς τὴν πόλιν, τούτῳ δὲ βοηθεῖν ὃς αὐτοῦ πρώτου τὰς φιλοτιμίας ἠφάνισεν· εἰ μὴ νὴ Δία μὴ ταὐτὰ τῇ πατρίδι καὶ τούτοις ἐστὶ συμφέροντα. Ἐχρῆν μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες, εἰ καὶ περὶ οὐδενὸς ἄλλου νόμιμόν ἐστι παῖδας καὶ γυναῖκας παρακαθισαμένους ἑαυτοῖς τοὺς δικαστὰς δικάζειν, ἀλλʼ οὖν γε περὶ προδοσίας κρίνοντας οὕτως ὅσιον εἶναι τοῦτο πράττειν, ὅπως ὁπόσοι τοῦ κινδύνου μετεῖχον ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὄντες, καὶ ὁρώμενοι καὶ ἀναμιμνῄσκοντες ὅτι τοῦ κοινοῦ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἐλέου οὐκ ἠξιώθησαν, πικροτέρας τὰς γνώσεις κατὰ τοῦ ἀδικοῦντος παρεσκεύαζον.

[¶37] 141. Though it may not be customary at any other time for members of the jury to set their wives and children beside them in the court, at least in a trial for treason this practice ought to have been sanctioned, so as to bring into full view all those who shared in the danger, as a reminder that they had not been thought deserving of the pity which is their universal right, and make the jury reach a sterner verdict on the man who wronged them. Since, however, custom and tradition have not sanctioned this and you must act on their behalf, at least avenge yourselves upon Leocrates by putting him to death, and so report to your own wives and children that when you had their betrayer in your power you took vengeance upon him. It is an outrageous scandal for Leocrates to think that he, the runaway, should take his place in the city of those who stood their ground, the deserter among men who fought in battle, the one who left his post among those who saved their country; it is outrageous that he is returnIng to have access to your cults and sacrifices, to your market, your laws and constitution, when to save these from destruction a thousand of your citizens fell at Chaeronea and received public burial from the city. Yet Leocrates, on his way back to Athens, even braved the epitaphs engraved on their memorials, shamelessly presuming to exhibit himself, in the way he does, before the eyes of those who mourn their loss.

> Greek: 141. ἐπειδὴ δʼ οὐ νόμιμον οὐδʼ εἰθισμένον ἐστίν, ἀλλʼ ἀναγκαῖον ὑμᾶς ὑπὲρ ἐκείνων δικάζειν, τιμωρησάμενοι γοῦν Λεωκράτη καὶ ἀποκτείναντες αὐτὸν ἀπαγγείλατε τοῖς ὑμετέροις αὐτῶν παισὶ καὶ γυναιξὶν ὅτι ὑποχείριον λαβόντες τὸν προδότην αὐτῶν ἐτιμωρήσασθε. καὶ γὰρ δεινὸν καὶ σχέτλιον, ὅταν νομίζῃ δεῖν Λεωκράτης ἴσον ἔχειν ὁ φυγὼν ἐν τῇ τῶν μεινάντων πόλει, καὶ ὁ μὴ κινδυνεύσας ἐν τῇ τῶν παραταξαμένων, καὶ ὁ μὴ διαφυλάξας ἐν τῇ τῶν σωσάντων, ἀλλʼ ἥκῃ ἱερῶν θυσιῶν ἀγορᾶς νόμων πολιτείας μεθέξων, ὑπὲρ ὧν τοῦ μὴ καταλυθῆναι χίλιοι τῶν ὑμετέρων πολιτῶν ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ ἐτελεύτησαν καὶ δημοσίᾳ αὐτοὺς ἡ πόλις ἔθαψαν· ὧν οὗτος οὐδὲ τὰ ἐλεγεῖα τὰ ἐπιγεγραμμένα τοῖς μνημείοις ἐπανιὼν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ᾐδέσθη, ἀλλʼ οὕτως ἀναιδῶς ἐν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τῶν πενθησάντων τὰς ἐκείνων συμφορὰς ἡγεῖται δεῖν ἀναστρέφεσθαι.

[¶38] 143. He will shortly beg you to hear him plead his defence according to the laws. Ask him what laws. The ones he deserted in his flight. He will beg you to let him live within the walls of his native city. Which walls? Those which he, alone of Athenians, did not help to defend. He will call on the gods to save him from danger. Who are they? Are they not the gods whose temples, altars and precincts he betrayed? He will beg and pray you to pity him. To whom is this prayer addressed if not to men who made a contribution to safety which he had not the courage to make? Let him make his plea to the Rhodians, since he thought their city safer than his own country.

> Greek: 143. καὶ αὐτίκα μάλʼ ὑμᾶς ἀξιώσει ἀκούειν αὐτοῦ ἀπολογουμένου κατὰ τοὺς νόμους· ὑμεῖς δʼ ἐρωτᾶτε αὐτὸν ποίους; οὓς ἐγκαταλιπὼν ᾤχετο. καὶ ἐᾶσαι αὐτὸν οἰκεῖν ἐν τοῖς τείχεσι τῆς πατρίδος· ποίοις; ἃ μόνος τῶν πολιτῶν οὐ συνδιεφύλαξε. καὶ ἐπικαλεῖται τοὺς θεοὺς σώσοντας αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν κινδύνων· τίνας; οὐχ ὧν τοὺς νεὼς καὶ τὰ ἕδη καὶ τὰ τεμένη προὔδωκε; καὶ δεήσεται καὶ ἱκετεύσει ἐλεῆσαι αὐτόν· τίνων; οὐχ οἷς τὸν αὐτὸν ἔρανον εἰς τὴν σωτηρίαν εἰσενεγκεῖν οὐκ ἐτόλμησε; Ῥοδίους ἱκετευέτω· τὴν γὰρ ἀσφάλειαν ἐν τῇ ἐκείνων πόλει μᾶλλον ἢ ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ πατρίδι ἐνόμισεν εἶναι.

[¶39] 144. Would any men, no matter what their age, be justified in pitying him? Take the older generation. He did his best to deny them so much as a safe old age or even a grave in the free soil of their native land. What of the younger men? Would any of them, remembering their contemporaries, comrades in arms at Chaeronea who shared the same dangers, absolve the man who has betrayed the graves they lie in? Would they, in the same vote, denounce as mad those who died for freedom and let Leocrates who deserted his country go unpunished as a sane man?

> Greek: 144. ποία δʼ ἡλικία δικαίως ἂν τοῦτον ἐλεήσειε; πότερον ἡ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων; ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ γηροτροφηθῆναι οὐδʼ ἐν ἐλευθέρῳ ⟨τῷ⟩ ἐδάφει τῆς πατρίδος αὐτοῖς ταφῆναι τὸ καθʼ αὑτὸν μέρος παρέδωκεν. ἀλλʼ ἡ τῶν νεωτέρων; καὶ τίς ⟨ἂν⟩ ἀναμνησθεὶς τῶν ἡλικιωτῶν τῶν ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ ἑαυτῷ συμπαραταξαμένων καὶ τῶν κινδύνων τῶν αὐτῶν μετασχόντων, σώσειε τὸν τὰς ἐκείνων θήκας προδεδωκότα, καὶ τῇ αὐτῇ ψήφῳ τῶν μὲν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐλευθερίας τελευτησάντων παράνοιαν καταγνοίη, τὸν δʼ ἐγκαταλιπόντα τὴν πατρίδα ὡς εὖ φρονοῦντα ἀθῷον ἀφείη;

[¶40] 145. By such means you will grant to all who wish it the power to injure the state and yourselves whether by word or deed. This is no simple matter of an exile’s coming back; the deserter of his city, who condemned himself to banishment and lived for more than five or six years in Megara with a sponsor, is now at large in Attica and in the city. It means that one who openly gave his vote for abandoning Attica to be a sheep-walk is in this country resident among you.

> Greek: 145. ἐξουσίαν ἄρα δώσετε τῷ βουλομένῳ καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ τὸν δῆμον καὶ ὑμᾶς κακῶς ποιεῖν. οὐ γὰρ μόνον νῦν οἱ φεύγοντες κατέρχονται, ὅταν ὁ ἐγκαταλιπὼν τὴν πόλιν καὶ φυγὴν αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ καταγνοὺς καὶ οἰκήσας ἐν Μεγάροις ἐπὶ προστάτου πλείω πέντʼ ἢ ἓξ ἔτη ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ καὶ ἐν τῇ πόλει ἀναστρέφηται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ μηλόβοτον τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἀνεῖναι φανερᾷ τῇ ψήφῳ καταψηφισάμενος, οὗτος ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ χώρᾳ σύνοικος ὑμῶν γίγνεται.

[¶41] 146. Before I leave the platform I want to add a few remarks and to read you the decree relating to piety which the people drew up. It has a message for you who are on the point of giving your verdict. Please read it. Decree My part consists in exposing one who is doing away with all these principles, to you who are empowered to chastise him it remains for you, as a service to yourselves and Heaven, to take vengeance on Leocrates. For while crimes remain untried the guilt rests with those who committed them, but once the trial has taken place it falls on all who did not mete out justice. Do not forget, gentlemen, that each of you now, though giving his vote in secret, will openly proclaim his attitude to the gods.

> Greek: 146. βούλομαι δʼ ἔτι βραχέα πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰπὼν καταβῆναι, καὶ τὸ ψήφισμα τοῦ δήμου παρασχόμενος, ὃ περὶ εὐσεβείας ἐποιήσατο· χρήσιμον γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐστι τοῖς μέλλουσι τὴν ψῆφον φέρειν. καί μοι λέγε αὐτό. Ψήφισμα ἐγὼ τοίνυν μηνύω τὸν ἀφανίζοντα ταῦτα πάντα πρὸς ὑμᾶς τοὺς κυρίους ὄντας κολάσαι, ὑμέτερον δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν θεῶν τιμωρήσασθαι Λεωκράτην. τὰ γὰρ ἀδικήματα, ἕως μὲν ἂν ᾖ ἄκριτα, παρὰ τοῖς πράξασίν ἐστιν, ἐπειδὰν δὲ κρίσις γένηται, παρὰ τοῖς μὴ δικαίως ἐπεξελθοῦσιν. εὖ δʼ ἴστε, ὦ ἄνδρες, ὅτι νῦν κρύβδην ψηφιζόμενος ἕκαστος ὑμῶν φανερὰν ποιήσει τὴν αὑτοῦ διάνοιαν τοῖς θεοῖς.

[¶42] 147. I believe, gentlemen, that all the greatest and most atrocious crimes are today included within the scope of your single verdict; for Leocrates can be shown to have committed them all. He is guilty of treason, since he left the city and surrendered it to the enemy; guilty of overthrowing the democracy, because he did not face the danger which is the price of freedom; guilty of impiety, because he has done all in his power to have the sacred precincts ravaged and the temples destroyed. He is guilty too of injuring his forbears, for he effaced their memorials and deprived them of their rites, and guilty of desertion and refusal to serve, since he did not submit his person to the leaders for enrollment.

> Greek: 147. ἡγοῦμαι δʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες, ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων τῶν μεγίστων καὶ δεινοτάτων ἀδικημάτων μίαν ὑμᾶς ψῆφον ἐν τῇ τήμερον ἡμέρᾳ φέρειν, οἷς ἅπασιν ἔνοχον ὄντα Λεωκράτην ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, προδοσίας μὲν ὅτι τὴν πόλιν ἐγκαταλιπὼν τοῖς πολεμίοις ὑποχείριον ἐποίησε, δήμου δὲ καταλύσεως ὅτι οὐχ ὑπέμεινε τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐλευθερίας κίνδυνον, ἀσεβείας δʼ ὅτι τοῦ τὰ τεμένη τέμνεσθαι καὶ τοὺς νεὼς κατασκάπτεσθαι τὸ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν γέγονεν αἴτιος, τοκέων δὲ κακώσεως τὰ μνημεῖα αὐτῶν ἀφανίζων καὶ τῶν νομίμων ἀποστερῶν, λιποταξίου δὲ καὶ ἀστρατείας οὐ παρασχὼν τὸ σῶμα τάξαι τοῖς στρατηγοῖς.

[¶43] 148. Shall this man then find someone to acquit him or pardon his deliberate misdeeds? Who is so senseless as to choose to save Leocrates at the cost of leaving his own security at the mercy of men who wish to be deserters, to choose to pity him at the cost of being killed himself without pity by his enemies, or to grant a favor to the betrayer of his country and so expose himself to the vengeance of the gods?

> Greek: 148. ἔπειτα τούτου τις ἀποψηφιεῖται, καὶ συγγνώμην ἕξει τῶν κατὰ προαίρεσιν ἀδικημάτων; καὶ τίς οὕτως ἐστὶν ἀνόητος ὥστε τοῦτον σῴζων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σωτηρίαν προέσθαι τοῖς ἐγκαταλιπεῖν βουλομένοις, καὶ τοῦτον ἐλεήσας αὐτὸς ἀνηλέητος ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἀπολέσθαι προαιρήσεται, καὶ τῷ προδότῃ τῆς πατρίδος χάριν θέμενος ὑπεύθυνος εἶναι τῇ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν τιμωρίᾳ;

[¶44] 149. My task has been to assist my country, its temples and its laws. I have conducted the trial rightly and justly without slandering the private life of the defendant or digressing from the subject of my indictment. It is now for each of you to reflect that the absolver of Leocrates condemns his country to death and slavery, that of the two caskets before you one stands for treason and the other for deliverance, that the votes cast into one are given for the destruction of your country and the rest for safety and prosperity in Athens.

> Greek: 149. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν καὶ τῇ πατρίδι βοηθῶν καὶ τοῖς ἱεροῖς καὶ τοῖς νόμοις ἀποδέδωκα τὸν ἀγῶνα ὀρθῶς καὶ δικαίως, οὔτε τὸν ἄλλον τούτου βίον διαβαλὼν οὔτʼ ἔξω τοῦ πράγματος οὐδὲν κατηγορήσας· ὑμῶν δʼ ἕκαστον χρὴ νομίζειν τὸν Λεωκράτους ἀποψηφιζόμενον θάνατον τῆς πατρίδος καὶ ἀνδραποδισμὸν καταψηφίζεσθαι, καὶ δυοῖν καδίσκοιν κειμένοιν τὸν μὲν προδοσίας, τὸν δὲ σωτηρίας εἶναι, καὶ τὰς ψήφους φέρεσθαι τὰς μὲν ὑπὲρ ἀναστάσεως τῆς πατρίδος, τὰς δʼ ὑπὲρ ἀσφαλείας καὶ τῆς ἐν τῇ πόλει εὐδαιμονίας.

[¶45] 150. If you acquit Leocrates, you will vote for the betrayal of the city, of its temples and its fleet. But if you kill him, you will be encouraging others to preserve your country with its revenues and its prosperity. Imagine then, Athenians, that the country and its trees are appealing to you, that the harbors, dockyards and walls of the city are begging you for protection, yes, and the temples and sanctuaries too. Bear in mind the charges brought and make of Leocrates a proof that with you tears and compassion have not more weight than the salvation of the laws and people.

> Greek: 150. ἐὰν μὲν Λεωκράτην ἀπολύσητε, προδιδόναι τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ καὶ τὰς ναῦς ψηφιεῖσθε· ἐὰν δὲ τοῦτον ἀποκτείνητε, διαφυλάττειν καὶ σῴζειν τὴν πατρίδα καὶ τὰς προσόδους καὶ τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν παρακελεύσεσθε. νομίζοντες οὖν, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, ἱκετεύειν ὑμῶν τὴν χώραν καὶ τὰ δένδρα, δεῖσθαι τοὺς λιμένας ⟨καὶ⟩ τὰ νεώρια καὶ τὰ τείχη τῆς πόλεως, ἀξιοῦν δὲ καὶ τοὺς νεὼς καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ βοηθεῖν αὐτοῖς, παράδειγμα ποιήσατε Λεωκράτη, ἀναμνησθέντες τῶν κατηγορημένων, ὅτι οὐ πλέον ἰσχύει παρʼ ὑμῖν ἔλεος οὐδὲ δάκρυα τῆς ὑπὲρ τῶν νόμων καὶ τοῦ δήμου σωτηρίας.