to those subject to others, passing by those possessed of greater power, especially on affairs not of private but of public interest, the care of which would naturally fall upon those who claimed to stand at the head of Hellas? Further, they are shown not to have been disappointed of the hopes which caused them to take refuge with our forefathers. For they took up arms, first on behalf of those who had fallen in battle against the Thebans, and secondly on behalf of the sons of Heracles against the power of Eurystheus, and by an attack on the former forced them to give up the dead to their kindred for burial, and, when the Peloponnesian followers of Eurystheus invaded our territory, they went out against them and conquered them in battle, and made him to cease from his insolence. Now these deeds added a fresh glory to the reputation they had already won by their previous achievements. For they did not act half-heartedly, but so revolutionized the fortunes of each of these monarchs, that the one who thought fit to supplicate us went away, having in the teeth of his foes achieved all that he wanted, while Eurystheus, expecting to prevail by force, was taken captive and himself compelled to become a suppliant; and, although on one who transcended human nature, who though begotten of Zeus was still mortal, but had the strength of a god, he had spent all his life in casting commands and insults, yet, when he offended against us, he met with such a reverse of fortune that he came into the power of his own sons and ended his days in contumely.1

Now many as are the services we have rendered to Lacedaemon, there is only one of which it has fallen to me to speak; seizing as an opportunity the deliverance which was won for them by us, the ancestors of those who now reign in Lacedae

1 Alcmene, the mother of Heracles, is said to have dug out his eyes. 2 During the Second Messenian War (B.c. 685-668), the Spartans, by command of the Delphic Oracle, applied to Athens for a leader. She sent them Tyrtaeus, a lame man and a schoolmaster, who so inspirited them by his martial songs, that they renewed the war, and in the end completely subjugated the Messenians. On another occasion, when the Spartans were besieging the ancient Messenian stronghold of Methone (B.C. 464), Cimon prevailed upon the Athenians to send himself with a large force to assist in the siege.

mon,1 and descendants of Heracles, went down into Peloponnesus, occupied Argos and Lacedaemon and Messene, became the founders of Sparta, and were the originators of all their present greatness. These things they should have remembered and never have invaded this country,2 from which their forefathers set out and won such prosperity, nor have brought into danger the state which bore the brunt of battle in the cause of the sons of Heracles, nor, while bestowing the crown upon his posterity, should they have thought fit to enslave the state3 which brought deliverance to his race. Now if we must leave out of consideration gratitude and courtesy and, returning to the original question, consider the matter strictly, it is surely not an ancestral custom that aliens should rule over the children of the soil, the recipients of kindness over their benefactors, suppliants over those who gave them welcome.

But I have yet a shorter way of proving my contention. Of the Hellenic states, with the exception of ours, Argos, Thebes, and Lacedaemon were the greatest in former times. and still continue to be so. Now so great was the manifest superiority of our ancestors over all others, that on behalf of the defeated Argives they dictated terms to Thebes in the height of her pride, and on behalf of the sons of Heracles they conquered in battle the Argives and the rest of the Peloponnesians, and rescued the founders of Sparta and the leaders of the Lacedaemonians from the dangers of their contest against Eurystheus. So that I do not know what clearer demonstration could be made of their sovereign power in Hellas.

Now I ought, I think, to speak also of the achievements of Athens against the barbarians, especially as the leadership of Hellas against them was the original subject of my speech. Now if I were to enumerate all the perils we went through I should be telling too long a tale; but in dealing with the greatest of them I will try to adopt the same method of narration

1 The descendants of Eurystheus and Proclus.

2 As they frequently did during the Peloponnesian war.

8 Referring to the rule of the Thirty Tyrants set up at Athens, with the co-operation of the Spartan Lysander, after the final defeat of the Athenians at Aegospotami (B.C. 405).

that I followed just now.

For the races best fitted for rule and the possessors of the widest imperial power are the Scythians, the Thracians, and the Persians, and it happens that all these have had hostile designs against us, and that our state has fought decisively against all of them. Now what argument will be left for my opponents, if I can prove that, if any of the Hellenes were unable to get justice, it was to Athens that they directed their petitions, and that, when barbarians wished to enslave Hellas, Athens was the first object of their attacks?

Now although the Persian war is the most famous that has taken place, yet ancient events are equally good evidence in a dispute about ancestral claims. For, when Hellas was still of low estate, there came into our country Thracians1 under Eumolpus, the son of Poseidon, and Scythians under the Amazons, the daughters of Ares, not at the same time, but at the times when their rule extended as far as Europe; hating as they did the whole race of the Hellenes, they directed their complaints against us in particular, thinking that in this way they would encounter one state only and yet at the same time become masters of all. They did not, however, succeed, but in conflict with our ancestors alone they were destroyed as utterly as if they had made war against all mankind. Now the magnitude of the disasters which befell them is perfectly clear; for the traditions on this subject would never have lasted for so long, had not the actual events been unparalleled. It is said of the Amazons that, of those who came, not one went back again, and that those who were left behind were driven from power on account of the disaster which had happened

1 These Thracians of the mythical period are said to have been an entirely different race from the later historical Thracians. According to the legend, Eumolpus, son of Poseidon, invaded Attica with a band. of Thracians to assert his claim to the country as the property of his father Poseidon, but was defeated and slain together with his two sons. 2 The Amazons were a warlike tribe of women, dwelling at Thermodon, on the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea). In consequence of their queen Hippolyte having been carried off by Theseus they invaded Attica, but were defeated.

here, and of the Thracians that, whereas in previous times they had been living as our immediate neighbours,1 owing to the campaign which then took place they fell back so far, that in the intervening territory many nations and various races and great cities were established.

Now honourable indeed are these deeds, and befitting those who dispute for the leadership; but akin to those which I have mentioned, and such as were to be expected from the descendants of men so great, were the achievements of those who made war against Darius and Xerxes. For although that was the greatest war ever set on foot, and never had so many perilous struggles taken place at one and the same timeagainst enemies who fancied themselves irresistible on account of their numbers, and allies who considered their valour unsurpassable—our ancestors conquered both, in the way that was suitable in each case, and proving superior in the face of every danger, earned as an immediate reward the meed of valour, and not long afterwards obtained the dominion of the sea, at the gift of the rest of the Hellenes, and without dispute from those who now seek to rob us of it.3

Now let no one think me ignorant that the Lacedaemonians, too, in those critical times deserved credit for many good services to Hellas; but on this account I have even more reason to praise our state, in that, in conflict with such great competitors, she proved so far superior to them. But I wish to speak a little more at length about these two states, and not to skim over the subject too quickly, that it may be to us a memorial, both of the valour of our ancestors and of the hatred of the barbarians. And yet I am not unaware that it is difficult for one who comes latest to the task to speak of a subject long ago occupied by previous speakers, and on which those citizens

1 In Eleusis.

2 After the battles of Artemisium and Salamis (both in B.C. 480). After the latter engagement the palm of individual merit was almost unanimously awarded to the Aeginetans.

* At the time of the formation of the Confederacy of Delos (B.C. 477), when the allies, disgusted at the insolence of the Spartan Pausanias, begged Aristides to assume the command of the combined fleet.

best able to speak have often spoken on the occasion of public funerals; for it follows that the chief part must have been already used up, and only a few unimportant points omitted. Nevertheless, starting from what still remains to be said, since it is convenient for my purpose, I must not shrink from making mention concerning them.

Now I think that the greatest services have been rendered and the greatest praises deserved by those who exposed their persons in the forefront of danger for the sake of Hellas; yet it is not fair either to forget those who lived before this war and held power in these two states respectively. For they it was who trained beforehand those coming after them, inclined the multitude to virtue, and created formidable antagonists for the barbarians. For they did not despise the public interests, nor enjoy the resources of the state as their own, while neglecting her interests as no concern of theirs; but they were as solicitous for the common welfare as for their own domestic happiness, and at the same time properly stood aloof from matters which did not affect them. They did not estimate happiness by the standard of money, but they thought that the surest and best wealth was possessed by the man who pursued such conduct as would enable him to gain the best reputation for himself and leave behind the greatest fame for his children. They did not emulate one another's shameless audacity, nor cultivate effrontery in their own persons, but deemed it more terrible to be ill-spoken of by their fellowcitizens than to die nobly for the state, and were more ashamed of public errors than they are now of their own personal faults. The reason of this was that they took care that their laws should be exact and good, those concerned with the relations of every-day life even more than those that had to do with private contracts. For they knew that good men and true will have no need of many written documents, but, whether on private or public matters, will easily come to an agreement by the aid of a few recognised principles. Such was their public spirit, that the object of their political parties was to dispute, not which should destroy the other and rule over the rest, but which should be first in doing some service to the state; and they organized their clubs, not for their private in