On the Scrutiny of Evandros

​not even thinking that they will now conduct a strict scrutiny because of the lapse of time, since you are conscious of having committed many dreadful wrongs against them, some of which you believe they have forgotten and will not even remember. This is indeed what I am indignant at, if he has come to you trusting in this hope, as if those who were wronged were some other people, and those who will vote on these matters were different, and not both belonging to the same people who have suffered and will hear the case.

​And you are responsible for this; for you do not bear in mind that these men, when the city was ruled by the Lacedaemonians, did not even deign to share the same slavery with you, but even drove you out of the city; whereas you, having made it free, shared with them not only freedom but also the right to act as judges and to attend the assembly concerning public affairs, so that they naturally condemn this simplicity of yours.

​And this man, being one of them, is not content if someone allows him to participate in these things, but even before paying the penalty for those deeds, he demands to rule again. And now I hear that, concerning the charges brought against him, he will make a brief defense, brushing over the matters and smuggling away the accusation with his defense, and that he will say they have spent much on the city, performed public liturgies with public spirit, and won many glorious victories under the democracy, and that he himself is orderly and is not seen doing what others here dare to do, but demands only to mind his own business.

​But against these arguments, I think it is not difficult to reply. Regarding the liturgies, his father would have been better off not performing them, rather than spending so much of his own property; for having been trusted by the people because of these very things, he overthrew the democracy, so that these deeds are more unforgettably remembered than the votive offerings he dedicated from his liturgies.

​And against his quietness, that we must not examine now whether he is self-controlled, when he is not permitted to act outrageously, but we must consider that time when, although it was allowed to live in whichever way he wished, he chose to behave lawlessly in public life. For of his committing no wrong now, those who prevent him are the cause, but of what happened then, his own character and those who chose to permit him are responsible. So, if he demands to be approved based on these things, you must understand these points, lest you seem to him to be fools.

​And if they turn to such an argument, that the time does not allow for another to be chosen by lot, but it is necessary, if you reject him, that the ancestral sacrifices remain unperformed, bear this in mind: that the time has already long since passed. For tomorrow is the only day left of the year, and on it the sacrifice to Zeus the Savior takes place, and it is impossible for a court to be impaneled contrary to the laws.

​And if this man has managed all these things so that they would happen, what must we expect him to do once he has passed the scrutiny, if for his own sake he has persuaded the outgoing magistrates to break the law? Would he perform only a few such deeds during the year? For I, indeed, do not think so.

​And you must consider not only this, but also whether it is more pious for the King and his fellow magistrates to offer the sacrifices on behalf of the one who is about to rule, as has indeed happened before, or even this man, whose hands those who know have testified are not even clean; and whether you swore to establish an unscrutinized person into the office, or, after scrutinizing, to crown the one who is worthy of the office. For consider these things, and bear that other point in mind...