§19μεταπεμψαμένων αὐτὸν τῶν στρατιωτῶν οὐκ ἐσεμνύνατʼ ἐπὶ τοῖς παροῦσιν, οὐδʼ ἐμέμψατο περὶ τῶν γεγενημένων, οὐδʼ ἐβουλεύσατο περὶ τῶν μελλόντων, ἀλλʼ εὐθὺς εἵλετο μετὰ τῆς πόλεως ὁτιοῦν πάσχειν μᾶλλον ἢ μετὰ Λακεδαιμονίων εὐτυχεῖν, καὶ πᾶσι φανερὸν ἐποίησεν ὅτι τοῖς ἐκβαλοῦσιν ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὑμῖν ἐπολέμει, καὶ ὅτι κατελθεῖν ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀπολέσαι τὴν πόλιν ἐπεθύμει.
When the soldiers summoned him, he did not pride himself on his present circumstances, nor did he complain about what had happened, nor did he hesitate about the future, but immediately chose to suffer anything with the city rather than to prosper with the Lacedaemonians, and made it clear to all that he was waging war against those who had expelled him and not against you, and that he desired to return and not to destroy the city.
§20γενόμενος δὲ μεθʼ ὑμῶν ἔπεισε μὲν Τισσαφέρνην μὴ παρέχειν χρήματα Λακεδαιμονίοις, ἔπαυσε δὲ τοὺς συμμάχους ὑμῶν ἀφισταμένους, διέδωκε δὲ παρʼ αὑτοῦ μισθὸν τοῖς στρατιώταις, ἀπέδωκε δὲ τῷ δήμῳ τὴν πολιτείαν, διήλλαξε δὲ τοὺς πολίτας, ἀπέστρεψε δὲ τὰς ναῦς τὰς Φοινίσσας.
And having joined you, he persuaded Tissaphernes not to provide money to the Lacedaemonians, stopped your allies from revolting, distributed pay to the soldiers from his own resources, restored the constitution to the democracy, reconciled the citizens, and turned back the Phoenician ships.
§21καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα καθʼ ἕκαστον μέν, ὅσας τριήρεις ἔλαβεν ἢ μάχας ἐνίκησεν ἢ πόλεις κατὰ κράτος εἷλεν ἢ λόγῳ πείσας φίλας ὑμῖν ἐποίησε, πολὺ ἂν ἔργον εἴη λέγειν· πλείστων δὲ κινδύνων τῇ πόλει κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν γενομένων οὐδεπώποτε τοῦ πατρὸς ἡγουμένου τρόπαιον ὑμῶν ἔστησαν οἱ πολέμιοι.
And after this, it would be a tedious task to relate in detail how many triremes he captured, or how many battles he won, or how many cities he took by force, or made friendly to you by persuasive speech; but though very many dangers befell the city at that time, never, while my father was leader, did the enemy erect a trophy over you.
§22περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἐστρατηγημένων οἶδα μὲν ὅτι πολλὰ παραλείπω, διὰ τοῦτο δʼ οὐκ ἀκριβῶς εἴρηκα περὶ αὐτῶν, ὅτι σχεδὸν ἅπαντες μνημονεύετε τὰ πραχθέντα.
Now, concerning his campaigns, I know that I am omitting many things, and for this reason I have not spoken of them with precision, because almost all of you remember the deeds.
λοιδοροῦσι δὲ λίαν ἀσελγῶς καὶ θρασέως καὶ τὸν ἄλλον βίον τὸν τοῦ πατρός, καὶ οὐκ αἰσχύνονται τοιαύτῃ παρρησίᾳ χρώμενοι περὶ τοῦ τεθνεῶτος, ἣν ἔδεισαν ἂν ποιήσασθαι περὶ ζῶντος, ἀλλʼ εἰς τοσοῦτον ἀνοίας ἐληλύθασιν, §23ὥστʼ οἴονται καὶ παρʼ ὑμῖν καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις εὐδοκιμήσειν, ἢν ὡς ἂν δύνωνται πλεῖστα περὶ αὐτοῦ βλασφημήσωσιν, ὥσπερ οὐ πάντας εἰδότας ὅτι καὶ τοῖς φαυλοτάτοις τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔξεστιν οὐ μόνον περὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν ἀρίστων ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν θεῶν ὑβριστικοὺς λόγους εἰπεῖν.
But they slander too indecently and boldly the rest of my father's life as well, and are not ashamed to use such freedom of speech concerning the dead as they would have feared to use concerning the living; rather, they have arrived at such a pitch of folly, as to think they will win high repute both among you and among others if they utter as many slanders as possible against him, as if everyone did not know that even the most worthless of men are permitted to speak abusive words not only about the best of men but even about the gods.
§24ἴσως μὲν οὖν ἀνόητόν ἐστιν ἁπάντων τῶν εἰρημένων φροντίζειν· ὅμως δʼ οὐχ ἥκιστʼ ἐπιθυμῶ περὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων τῶν τοῦ πατρὸς διελθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, μικρὸν προλαβὼν καὶ τῶν προγόνων ἐπιμνησθείς, ἵνʼ ἐπίστησθʼ ὅτι πόρρωθεν ἡμῖν ὑπάρχει μέγιστα καὶ κάλλιστα τῶν πολιτῶν.
Perhaps, then, it is foolish to care about all that has been said; nevertheless, I desire above all to discourse to you about my father's pursuits, going back a little and mentioning his ancestors, so that you may know that from of old we possess the greatest and most honorable status among the citizens.
§25ὁ γὰρ πατὴρ πρὸς μὲν ἀνδρῶν ἦν Εὐπατριδῶν, ὧν τὴν εὐγένειαν ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς ἐπωνυμίας ῥᾴδιον γνῶναι, πρὸς γυναικῶν δʼ Ἀλκμεωνιδῶν, οἳ τοῦ μὲν πλούτου μέγιστον μνημεῖον κατέλιπον, ἵππων γὰρ ζεύγει πρῶτος Ἀλκμέων τῶν πολιτῶν Ὀλυμπίασιν ἐνίκησε, τὴν δʼ εὔνοιαν ἣν εἶχον εἰς τὸ πλῆθος, ἐν τοῖς τυραννικοῖς ἐπεδείξαντο· συγγενεῖς γὰρ ὄντες Πεισιστράτου καὶ πρὶν εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν καταστῆναι μάλιστʼ αὐτῷ χρώμενοι τῶν πολιτῶν, οὐκ ἠξίωσαν μετασχεῖν τῆς ἐκείνου τυραννίδος, ἀλλʼ εἵλοντο φυγεῖν μᾶλλον ἢ τοὺς πολίτας ἰδεῖν δουλεύοντας.
For on his father's side my father was of the Eupatridae, whose noble birth is easy to recognize from the very name itself, and on his mother's side of the Alcmeonidae, who left behind the greatest monument of their wealth, for Alcmeon was the first of the citizens to win at Olympia with a chariot of horses; and the goodwill which they felt toward the multitude, they demonstrated in the times of the tyrants; for although they were kinsmen of Peisistratus and associated with him more than any other citizens before he established his rule, they did not deign to share in his tyranny, but chose to go into exile rather than see the citizens enslaved.
§26τετταράκοντα δʼ ἔτη τῆς στάσεως γενομένης ὑπὸ μὲν τῶν τυράννων τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον τῶν ἄλλων ἐμισήθησαν, ὥσθʼ ὁπότε τἀκείνων κρατήσειεν, οὐ μόνον τὰς οἰκίας αὐτῶν κατέσκαπτον ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς τάφους ἀνώρυττον, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν συμφυγάδων οὕτω σφόδρʼ ἐπιστεύθησαν, ὥσθʼ ἅπαντα τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἡγούμενοι τοῦ δήμου διετέλεσαν.
And during forty years of factional strife, they were hated by the tyrants so much more than the others that, whenever the tyrants' party prevailed, they not only razed their houses but also dug up their graves; on the other hand, they were so strongly trusted by their fellow-exiles that they continued to lead the people throughout all this time.
καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον Ἀλκιβιάδης καὶ Κλεισθένης, ὁ μὲν πρὸς πατρός, ὁ δὲ πρὸς μητρὸς ὢν πρόπαππος τοῦ πατρὸς τοὐμοῦ, στρατηγήσαντες τῆς φυγῆς κατήγαγον τὸν δῆμον καὶ τοὺς τυράννους ἐξέβαλον, §27καὶ κατέστησαν ἐκείνην τὴν δημοκρατίαν, ἐξ ἧς οἱ πολῖται πρὸς μὲν ἀνδρίαν οὕτως ἐπαιδεύθησαν ὥστε τοὺς βαρβάρους τοὺς ἐπὶ πᾶσαν ἐλθόντας τὴν Ἑλλάδα μόνοι νικᾶν μαχόμενοι, περὶ δὲ δικαιοσύνης τοσαύτην δόξαν ἔλαβον ὥσθʼ ἑκόντας αὐτοῖς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐγχειρίσαι τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς θαλάττης, τὴν δὲ πόλιν τηλικαύτην τὸ μέγεθος ἐποίησαν καὶ τῇ δυνάμει καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις κατασκευαῖς ὥστε τοὺς φάσκοντας αὐτὴν ἄστυ τῆς Ἑλλάδος εἶναι καὶ τοιαύταις ὑπερβολαῖς εἰθισμένους χρῆσθαι δοκεῖν ἀληθῆ λέγειν.
And finally, Alcibiades and Cleisthenes—the former being the great-grandfather of my father on his father's side, and the latter on his mother's side—having led the exile forces, restored the people and expelled the tyrants, and established that democracy, by which the citizens were so educated in courage that they alone, by fighting, conquered the barbarians who had come against all of Greece; and concerning justice they obtained such a reputation that the Greeks voluntarily entrusted them with the empire of the sea; and they made the city so great in size, power, and other resources that those who call it the capital of Greece, and are accustomed to using such hyperboles, seem to speak the truth.