§3.58.1‘καίτοι ἀξιοῦμέν γε καὶ θεῶν ἕνεκα τῶν ξυμμαχικῶν ποτὲ γενομένων καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς τῆς ἐς τοὺς Ἕλληνας καμφθῆναι ὑμᾶς καὶ μεταγνῶναι εἴ τι ὑπὸ Θηβαίων ἐπείσθητε, τήν τε δωρεὰν ἀνταπαιτῆσαι αὐτοὺς μὴ κτείνειν οὓς μὴ ὑμῖν πρέπει, σώφρονά τε ἀντὶ αἰσχρᾶς κομίσασθαι χάριν, καὶ μὴ ἡδονὴν δόντας ἄλλοις κακίαν αὐτοὺς ἀντιλαβεῖν·
‘Yet we at least claim that, both for the sake of the gods who were once our common allies and because of our virtue towards the Greeks, you should be moved and change your mind if you have been at all persuaded by the Thebans, and that you should demand from them in return the favor of not killing those whom it is not fitting for you to kill, and thus win a wise reputation instead of a shameful one, and not, by giving pleasure to others, receive infamy for yourselves.
§3.58.2βραχὺ γὰρ τὸ τὰ ἡμέτερα σώματα διαφθεῖραι, ἐπίπονον δὲ τὴν δύσκλειαν αὐτοῦ ἀφανίσαι.
For it is an easy thing to destroy our bodies, but it is difficult to wipe out the infamy resulting from it.
οὐκ ἐχθροὺς γὰρ ἡμᾶς εἰκότως τιμωρήσεσθε, ἀλλ’ εὔνους, κατ’ ἀνάγκην πολεμήσαντας.
For you will not justly punish us as enemies, but as well-wishers who fought only by necessity.
§3.58.3ὥστε καὶ τῶν σωμάτων ἄδειαν ποιοῦντες ὅσια ἂν δικάζοιτε καὶ προνοοῦντες ὅτι ἑκόντας τε ἐλάβετε καὶ χεῖρας προϊσχομένους (ὁ δὲ νόμος τοῖς Ἕλλησι μὴ κτείνειν τούτους), ἔτι δὲ καὶ εὐεργέτας γεγενημένους διὰ παντός.
Therefore, by granting safety to our bodies, you would pass a pious judgment, especially if you consider that you received us when we surrendered voluntarily and holding out our hands (and the law among the Greeks is not to kill such persons), and furthermore that we have been your benefactors throughout.
§3.58.4ἀποβλέψατε γὰρ ἐς πατέρων τῶν ὑμετέρων θήκας, οὓς ἀποθανόντας ὑπὸ Μήδων καὶ ταφέντας ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ἐτιμῶμεν κατὰ ἔτος ἕκαστον δημοσίᾳ ἐσθήμασί τε καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις νομίμοις, ὅσα τε ἡ γῆ ἡμῶν ἀνεδίδου ὡραῖα, πάντων ἀπαρχὰς ἐπιφέροντες, εὖνοι μὲν ἐκ φιλίας χώρας, ξύμμαχοι δὲ ὁμαίχμοις ποτὲ γενομένοις.
For look at the tombs of your fathers, who, having died at the hands of the Medes and been buried in our land, have been honored by us year by year publicly with garments and other customary offerings, and by bringing the first-fruits of all that our land produced, as well-wishers from a friendly country, and as allies to those who were once our comrades-in-arms.
ὧν ὑμεῖς τοὐναντίον ἂν δράσαιτε μὴ ὀρθῶς γνόντες.
You would do the very opposite of this if you should decide incorrectly.
§3.58.5σκέψασθέ τε· Παυσανίας μὲν γὰρ ἔθαπτεν αὐτοὺς νομίζων ἐν γῇ τε φιλίᾳ τιθέναι καὶ παρ᾽ ἀνδράσι τοιούτοις· ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰ κτενεῖτε ἡμᾶς καὶ χώραν τὴν Πλαταιίδα Θηβαΐδα ποιήσετε, τί ἄλλο ἢ ἐν πολεμίᾳ τε καὶ παρὰ τοῖς αὐθένταις πατέρας τοὺς ὑμετέρους καὶ ξυγγενεῖς ἀτίμους γερῶν ὧν νῦν ἴσχουσι καταλείψετε;
And consider: Pausanias buried them thinking that he was placing them in a friendly land and among men of such character; but if you kill us and make the Plataean territory Theban, what else will you do than leave your fathers and kinsmen in a hostile land and in the power of their murderers, deprived of the honors they now enjoy?
πρὸς δὲ καὶ γῆν ἐν ᾗ ἠλευθερώθησαν οἱ Ἕλληνες δουλώσετε, ἱερά τε θεῶν οἷς εὐξάμενοι Μήδων ἐκράτησαν ἐρημοῦτε καὶ θυσίας τὰς πατρίους τῶν ἑσσαμένων καὶ κτισάντων ἀφαιρήσεσθε.
And besides, you will enslave the land in which the Greeks were made free, desolate the temples of the gods to whom they prayed when they conquered the Medes, and abolish the ancestral sacrifices of those who established them.’