---
title: "Against the Subversion of the Ancestral Constitution · Περὶ τοῦ μὴ καταλῦσαι τὴν πάτριον πολιτείαν Αθήνησι"
author: "Lysias"
translator: "W. R. M. Lamb"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/lysias-against-the-subversion-of-the-ancestral-constitution/
cite: "Lysias, tr. W. R. M. Lamb, Against the Subversion of the Ancestral Constitution · Περὶ τοῦ μὴ καταλῦσαι τὴν πάτριον πολιτείαν Αθήνησι. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/lysias-against-the-subversion-of-the-ancestral-constitution/"
---

# Against the Subversion of the Ancestral Constitution · Περὶ τοῦ μὴ καταλῦσαι τὴν πάτριον πολιτείαν Αθήνησι

*Lysias, tr. W. R. M. Lamb*

Against limiting citizenship to landowners after the democracy was restored in 403 BC.

> Greek: ed. W.R.M. Lamb, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0540.tlg034, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: W. R. M. Lamb, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0540.tlg034.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.

## Contents

1. [Sections 1–11](https://scriptura.si/works/lysias-against-the-subversion-of-the-ancestral-constitution/1.md)

## 1. Sections 1–11

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lysias-against-the-subversion-of-the-ancestral-constitution/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lysias-against-the-subversion-of-the-ancestral-constitution/1/#p-N

[¶0] 1. At the very moment when we were supposing, men of Athens, that the disasters that have befallen her have left behind them sufficient reminders to the city to prevent even our descendants from desiring a change of constitution, these men are seeking to deceive us, after our grievous sufferings and our experience of both systems, with the selfsame decrees with which they have tricked us twice before.

> Greek: 1. ὅτε ἐνομίζομεν, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, τὰς γεγενημένας συμφορὰς ἱκανὰ μνημεῖα τῇ πόλει καταλελεῖφθαι, ὥστε μηδʼ ἂν τοὺς ἐπιγιγνομένους ἑτέρας πολιτείας ἐπιθυμεῖν, τότε δὴ οὗτοι τοὺς κακῶς πεπονθότας καὶ ἀμφοτέρων πεπειραμένους ἐξαπατῆσαι ζητοῦσι τοῖς αὐτοῖς ψηφίσμασιν, οἷσπερ καὶ πρότερον δὶς ἤδη.

[¶1] 2. It is not at them that I wonder, but at you who listen to them, for being the most forgetful of mankind, or the readiest to suffer injury from such men as these; who shared by mere chance in the operations at the Peiraeus, but whose feelings were with the party of the town. What, I ask, was the object of returning from your exile, if by your votes you are to enslave yourselves?

> Greek: 2. καὶ τούτων μὲν οὐ θαυμάζω, ὑμῶν δὲ τῶν ἀκροωμένων, ὅτι πάντων ἐστὲ ἐπιλησμονέστατοι ἢ πάσχειν ἑτοιμότατοι κακῶς ὑπὸ τοιούτων ἀνδρῶν, οἳ τῇ μὲν τύχῃ τῶν Πειραιοῖ πραγμάτων μετέσχον, τῇ δὲ γνώμῃ τῶν ἐξ ἄστεως. καίτοι τί ἔδει φεύγοντας κατελθεῖν, εἰ χειροτονοῦντες ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς καταδουλώσεσθε;

[¶2] 3. Now I, men of Athens, am not debarred on account either of means or of birth, but in both respects have the advantage of my opponents; and I consider that the only deliverance for the city is to let all Athenians share the citizenship. For when we possessed our walls, our ships, and money and allies, far from proposing to exclude any Athenian, we actually granted the right of marriage to the Euboeans. Shall we debar today even our existing citizens?

> Greek: 3. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, ⟨οὔτε οὐσίᾳ⟩ οὔτε γένει ἀπελαυνόμενος, ἀλλʼ ἀμφότερα τῶν ἀντιλεγόντων πρότερος ὤν, ἡγοῦμαι ταύτην μόνην σωτηρίαν εἶναι τῇ πόλει, ἅπασιν Ἀθηναίοις τῆς πολιτείας μετεῖναι, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὅτε τὰ τείχη καὶ τὰς ναῦς καὶ [τὰ] χρήματα καὶ συμμάχους ἐκτησάμεθα, οὐχ ὅπως τινὰ Ἀθηναῖον ἀπώσομεν διενοούμεθα, ἀλλὰ καὶ Εὐβοεῦσιν ἐπιγαμίαν ἐποιούμεθα· ⟨νῦν δὲ⟩ καὶ τοὺς ὑπάρχοντας πολίτας ἀπελῶμεν;

[¶3] 4. No, if you will be advised by me; nor, after losing our walls, shall we denude ourselves of our forces,—large numbers of our infantry, our cavalry and our archers: for, if you hold fast to these, you will make your democracy secure, will be more victorious over your enemies, and will be more useful to your allies. You are well aware that in the previous oligarchies of our time it was not the possessors of land who controlled the city: many of them were put to death, and many were expelled from the city;

> Greek: 4. οὔκ, ἐὰν ἔμοιγε πείθησθε, οὐδὲ μετὰ τῶν τειχῶν καὶ ταῦτα ἡμῶν αὐτῶν περιαιρησόμεθα, ὁπλίτας πολλοὺς καὶ ἱππέας καὶ τοξότας, ὧν ὑμεῖς ἀντεχόμενοι βεβαίως δημοκρατήσεσθε, τῶν δὲ ἐχθρῶν πλέον ἐπικρατήσετε, ὠφελιμώτεροι δὲ τοῖς συμμάχοις ἔσεσθε· ἐπίστασθε γὰρ ⟨ἐν⟩ ταῖς ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ὀλιγαρχίαις γεγενημέναις [καὶ] οὐ τοὺς γῆν κεκτημένους ἔχοντας τὴν πόλιν, ἀλλὰ πολλοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν ἀποθανόντας, πολλοὺς δʼ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἐκπεσόντας, οὓς ὁ δῆμος καταγαγὼν ὑμῖν μὲν τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀπέδωκεν, αὐτὸς δὲ ταύτης οὐκ ἐτόλμησε μετασχεῖν.

[¶4] 5. and the people, after recalling them, restored your city to you, but did not venture to participate in it themselves. Thus, if you take my advice, you will not be depriving your benefactors, so far as you may, of their native land, nor be placing more confidence in words than in deeds, in the future than in the past, especially if you remember the champions of oligarchy, who in speech make war on the people, but in fact are aiming at your property; and this they will acquire when they find you destitute of allies.

> Greek: 5. ὥστʼ, ἐὰν ἔμοιγε πείθησθε, οὐ τοὺς εὐεργέτας, καθὸ δύνασθε, τῆς πατρίδος ἀποστερήσετε, οὐδὲ τοὺς λόγους πιστοτέρους τῶν ἔργων οὐδὲ τὰ μέλλοντα τῶν γεγενημένων νομιεῖτε, ἄλλως τε καὶ μεμνημένοι τῶν περὶ τῆς ὀλιγαρχίας μαχομένων, οἳ τῷ μὲν λόγῳ τῷ δήμῳ πολεμοῦσι, τῷ δὲ ἔργῳ τῶν ὑμετέρων ἐπιθυμοῦσιν· ἅπερ κτήσονται, ὅταν ὑμᾶς ἐρήμους συμμάχων λάβωσιν.

[¶5] 6. And then they ask us, when such is our plight, what deliverance there can be for the city, unless we do as the Lacedaemonians demand. But I call upon them to tell us what profit will accrue to the people if we obey their orders. If we do not, it will be far nobler to die fighting than to pass a manifest sentence of death upon ourselves.

> Greek: 6. εἶτα τοιούτων ἡμῖν ὑπαρχόντων ἐρωτῶσι τίς ἔσται σωτηρία τῇ πόλει, εἰ μὴ ποιήσομεν ⟨ἃ⟩ Λακεδαιμόνιοι κελεύουσιν; ἐγὼ δὲ τούτους εἰπεῖν ἀξιῶ, τίς τῷ πλήθει περιγενήσεται, εἰ ποιήσομεν ἃ ἐκεῖνοι προστάττουσιν; εἰ δὲ μή, πολὺ κάλλιον μαχομένοις ἀποθνῄσκειν ἢ φανερῶς ἡμῶν αὐτῶν θάνατον καταψηφίσασθαι.

[¶6] 7. For I believe that if I can persuade you, the danger will be common to both sides … And I observe the same attitude in both the Argives and the Mantineans, each inhabiting their own land,—the former bordering on the Lacedaemonians, the latter dwelling near them; in the one case, their number is no greater than ours, in the other it is less than three thousand.

> Greek: 7. ἡγοῦμαι γάρ, ἐὰν μὲν πείσω, ἀμφοτέροις κοινὸν εἶναι ⟨τὸν⟩ κίνδυνον … ὁρῶ δὲ καὶ Ἀργείους καὶ Μαντινέας τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχοντας γνώμην τὴν αὑτῶν οἰκοῦντας, τοὺς μὲν ὁμόρους ὄντας Λακεδαιμονίοις, τοὺς δʼ ἐγγὺς οἰκοῦντας, καὶ τοὺς μὲν οὐδὲν ἡμῶν πλείους, τοὺς δὲ οὐδὲ τρισχιλίους ὄντας.

[¶7] 8. For their enemies know that, often as they may invade the territories of these peoples, as often will they march out to oppose them under arms, so that they see no glory in the venture: if they should be victorious, they could not enslave them, and if they should be defeated, they must deprive themselves of the advantages that they already possess. The more they prosper, the less is their appetite for risk.

> Greek: 8. ἴσασι γὰρ ⟨ἐκεῖνοι⟩ ὅτι, κἂν πολλάκις εἰς τὴν τούτων ἐμβάλλωσι, πολλάκις αὐτοῖς ἀπαντήσονται ὅπλα λαβόντες, ὥστε οὐ καλὸς αὐτοῖς ὁ κίνδυνος δοκεῖ εἶναι, ἐὰν μὲν νικήσωσι, τούτους ⟨μὴ⟩ καταδουλώσασθαί γε, ἐὰν δὲ ἡττηθῶσι, σφᾶς αὐτοὺς τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἀγαθῶν ἀποστερῆσαι. ὅσῳ δʼ ἂν ἄμεινον πράττωσι, τοσούτῳ ⟨ἧττον⟩ ἐπιθυμοῦσι κινδυνεύειν.

[¶8] 9. We also, men of Athens, held these views, when we had command over the Greeks; and we deemed it a wise course to suffer our land to be ravaged without feeling obliged to fight in its defence. For our interest lay in neglecting a few things in order to conserve many advantages. But today, when the fortune of battle has deprived us of all these, and our native land is all that is left to us, we know that only this venture holds out hopes of our deliverance.

> Greek: 9. εἴχομεν δέ, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ ἡμεῖς ταύτην τὴν γνώμην, ὅτε τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἤρχομεν, καὶ ἐδοκοῦμεν καλῶς βουλεύεσθαι περιορῶντες μὲν τὴν χώραν τεμνομένην, οὐ νομίζοντες δὲ χρῆναι περὶ αὐτῆς διαμάχεσθαι· ἄξιον γὰρ ἦν ὀλίγων ἀμελοῦντας πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν φείσασθαι. νῦν δέ, ἐπεὶ ἐκείνων μὲν ἁπάντων μάχῃ ἐστερήμεθα, ἡ δὲ πατρὶς ἡμῖν λέλειπται, ἴσμεν ὅτι ὁ κίνδυνος οὗτος μόνος ἔχει τὰς ἐλπίδας τῆς σωτηρίας.

[¶9] 10. But surely we ought to remember that heretofore, when we have gone to the support of others who were victims of injury, we have set up many a trophy over our foes on alien soil, and so ought now to act as valiant defenders of our country and of ourselves: let us trust in the gods, and hope that they will stand for justice on the side of the injured.

> Greek: 10. ἀλλὰ γὰρ χρὴ ἀναμνησθέντας ὅτι ἤδη καὶ ἑτέροις ἀδικουμένοις βοηθήσαντες ἐν τῇ ἀλλοτρίᾳ πολλὰ τρόπαια τῶν πολεμίων ἐστήσαμεν, ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς περὶ τῆς πατρίδος καὶ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν γίγνεσθαι, πιστεύοντας μὲν τοῖς θεοῖς, ἐλπίζοντας δὲ ἔτι τὸ δίκαιον μετὰ τῶν ἀδικουμένων ἔσεσθαι.

[¶10] 11. Strange indeed would it be, men of Athens, if after fighting the Lacedaemonians, in the time of our exile, to achieve our return, we should take to flight, when we have returned, to avoid fighting! And will it not be shameful if we sink to such a depth of baseness that, whereas our ancestors risked their all merely for the freedom of their neighbors, you do not dare even to make war for your own? …

> Greek: 11. δεινὸν γὰρ ἂν εἴη, ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, εἰ, ὅτε μὲν ἐφεύγομεν, ἐμαχόμεθα Λακεδαιμονίοις, ἵνα κατέλθωμεν, κατελθόντες δὲ φευξόμεθα, ἵνα μὴ μαχώμεθα. οὐκ οὖν αἰσχρὸν εἰ εἰς τοῦτο κακίας ἥξομεν, ὥστε οἱ μὲν πρόγονοι καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν ἄλλων ἐλευθερίας διεκινδύνευον, ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμετέρας αὐτῶν τολμᾶτε πολεμεῖν; …