§22καὶ γάρ τοι τῶν ἔργων οὐδενός, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν τότʼ ἀπεστέρησαν αὑτούς, οὐδʼ ἔστʼ οὐδεὶς ὅστις ἂν εἴποι τὴν ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ναυμαχίαν Θεμιστοκλέους, ἀλλʼ Ἀθηναίων, οὐδὲ τὴν Μαραθῶνι μάχην Μιλτιάδου, ἀλλὰ τῆς πόλεως.
Indeed, O men of Athens, they did not deprive themselves of any of those deeds of that time, nor is there anyone who would say that the sea-fight at Salamis belonged to Themistocles, but to the Athenians, nor the battle at Marathon to Miltiades, but to the city.
νῦν δὲ πολλοὶ τοῦτο λέγουσιν, ὡς Κέρκυραν εἷλε Τιμόθεος καὶ τὴν μόραν κατέκοψεν Ἰφικράτης καὶ τὴν περὶ Νάξον ναυμαχίαν ἐνίκα Χαβρίας· δοκεῖτε γὰρ αὐτοὶ τῶν ἔργων τούτων παραχωρεῖν τῶν τιμῶν ταῖς ὑπερβολαῖς αἷς δεδώκατʼ ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ἑκάστῳ τούτων.
But now many say this: that Timotheus took Corcyra, and Iphicrates cut off the mora, and Chabrias won the sea-fight at Naxos; for you yourselves seem to surrender the glory of these deeds by the excesses of honors which you have given for them to each of these men.
§23τὰς μὲν δὴ πολιτικὰς δωρεὰς οὕτως ἐκεῖνοί τε καλῶς καὶ ὑμεῖς οὐκ ὀρθῶς· τὰς δὲ τῶν ξένων πῶς;
In this way, then, they managed civic gifts well, and you not rightly; but how did they treat those of foreigners?
ἐκεῖνοι Μένωνι τῷ Φαρσαλίῳ δώδεκα μὲν τάλαντʼ ἀργυρίου δόντι πρὸς τὸν ἐπʼ Ἠιόνι τῇ πρὸς Ἀμφιπόλει πόλεμον, διακοσίοις δʼ ἱππεῦσι πενέσταις ἰδίοις βοηθήσαντι, οὐκ ἐψηφίσαντο πολιτείαν, ἀλλʼ ἀτέλειαν ἔδωκαν μόνον.
To Menon of Pharsalus, who gave twelve talents of silver for the war at Eion near Amphipolis, and aided with two hundred cavalrymen who were his own penestae, they did not vote citizenship, but gave only immunity from taxes.
§24καὶ πρότερον τούτου Περδίκκᾳ τῷ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ βαρβάρου ποτʼ ἐπιστρατείαν βασιλεύοντι Μακεδονίας, τοὺς ἀναχωροῦντας ἐκ Πλαταιῶν τῶν βαρβάρων ἀπὸ τῆς ἥττης διαφθείραντι καὶ τέλειον τἀτύχημα ποιήσαντι τῷ βασιλεῖ, οὐκ ἐψηφίσαντο πολιτείαν, ἀλλʼ ἀτέλειαν ἔδωκαν μόνον, μεγάλην καὶ τιμίαν, οἶμαι, καὶ σεμνὴν τὴν αὑτῶν πατρίδʼ ἡγούμενοι καὶ πάσης μείζονʼ εὐεργεσίας.
And before this, to Perdiccas, who was king of Macedonia at the time of the barbarian’s invasion, who destroyed the barbarians retreating from Plataea after their defeat and made the disaster complete for the King, they did not vote citizenship, but gave only immunity from taxes, because, I suppose, they considered their own country great, honorable, and august, and superior to any benefit.
νῦν δʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, φθόρους ἀνθρώπους οἰκοτρίβων οἰκότριβας, τιμὴν ὥσπερ ἄλλου του τῶν ὠνίων λαμβάνοντες, ποιεῖσθε πολίτας.
But now, O men of Athens, you make citizens of the ruinous outcasts, the servants of servants, receiving a price for it as if it were any other saleable goods.
§25ταῦτα δʼ ὑμῖν ἐπελήλυθε πράττειν, οὐχ ὅτι τὰς φύσεις χείρους ἐστὲ τῶν προγόνων, ἀλλʼ ὅτι τοῖς μὲν ἐφʼ αὑτοῖς παρειστήκει μέγα φρονεῖν, ὑμῶν δʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, περιῄρηται τοῦτο.
And it has come upon you to do these things, not because you are worse in nature than your ancestors, but because to them, on their own account, it was natural to think highly of themselves, whereas from you, O men of Athens, this has been taken away.
ἔστι δʼ οὐδέποτʼ, οἶμαι, δυνατὸν μικρὰ καὶ φαῦλα πράττοντας μέγα καὶ νεανικὸν φρόνημα λαβεῖν, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ λαμπρὰ καὶ καλὰ πράττοντας μικρὸν καὶ ταπεινὸν φρονεῖν· ὁποῖʼ ἄττα γὰρ ἂν τἀπιτηδεύματα τῶν ἀνθρώπων ᾖ, τοιοῦτον ἀνάγκη καὶ τὸ φρόνημʼ ἔχειν.
For it is never possible, I think, for those who do small and mean things to acquire a great and manly spirit, just as it is not possible for those who do glorious and noble things to think small and humble thoughts; for whatever the pursuits of men may be, such must their spirit also necessarily be.
§26σκέψασθε δʼ ἅ τις κεφάλαιʼ ἂν ἔχοι εἰπεῖν τῶν τʼ ἐκείνοις πεπραγμένων καὶ τῶν ὑμῖν, ἂν ἄρʼ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἀλλʼ ἐκ τούτων γε δύνησθε γενέσθαι.
And consider what summary one might be able to give of the deeds performed by them and by you, if indeed from these things at least you can become your own masters again.
πέντε μὲν καὶ τετταράκοντʼ ἔτη τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἦρξαν ἑκόντων ἐκεῖνοι, πλείω δʼ ἢ μύρια τάλαντʼ εἰς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἀνήγαγον, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ καλὰ καὶ πεζῇ καὶ ναυμαχοῦντες ἔστησαν τρόπαια, ἐφʼ οἷς ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἡμεῖς φιλοτιμούμεθα.
For forty-five years they ruled over the Greeks with their consent, and they carried up more than ten thousand talents to the Acropolis, and they set up many and noble trophies both on land and at sea, in which we still take pride even now.
καίτοι νομίζετʼ αὐτοὺς ταῦτα στῆσαι, οὐχ ἵνα θαυμάζωμεν ἡμεῖς θεωροῦντες αὐτά, ἀλλʼ ἵνα καὶ μιμώμεθα τὰς τῶν ἀναθέντων ἀρετάς.
And yet, believe that they set these up, not that we might wonder as we look upon them, but that we might also imitate the virtues of those who dedicated them.
§27ἐκεῖνοι μὲν δὴ ταῦτα· ἡμεῖς δʼ, ὅσης ἅπαντες ὁρᾶτʼ ἐρημίας ἐπειλημμένοι, σκέψασθʼ εἰ παραπλήσια.
Those things, indeed, they did; but as for us, consider whether our situation is similar, seized as we all see we are by such great isolation.
οὐ πλείω μὲν ἢ χίλια καὶ πεντακόσια τάλαντʼ ἀνήλωται μάτην εἰς τοὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀπόρους, ἐξανήλωνται δʼ οἵ τʼ ἴδιοι πάντες οἶκοι καὶ τὰ κοινὰ τῇ πόλει καὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν συμμάχων, οὓς δʼ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ συμμάχους ἐκτησάμεθα, οὗτοι νῦν ἐν τῇ εἰρήνῃ ἀπολώλασιν;
Have not more than fifteen hundred talents been spent in vain on the needy among the Greeks, and are not all private estates, the public funds of the city, and the contributions from the allies exhausted, and those whom we acquired as allies in war, have these not now perished in peace?
§28ἀλλὰ νὴ Δία ταῦτα μόνον τότʼ εἶχε βέλτιον ἢ νῦν, τὰ δʼ ἄλλα χεῖρον.
But, by Zeus, some might say that only these things were better then than now, and other things worse.
πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ, ἀλλʼ ὅ τι βούλεσθʼ ἐξετάσωμεν.
Far from it! But let us examine whatever you wish.
οἰκοδομήματα μέν γε καὶ κόσμον τῆς πόλεως, ἱερῶν καὶ λιμένων καὶ τῶν ἀκολούθων τούτοις, τοιοῦτον καὶ τοσοῦτον κατέλιπον ἐκεῖνοι ὥστε μηδενὶ τῶν ἐπιγιγνομένων ὑπερβολὴν λελεῖφθαι, προπύλαια ταῦτα, νεώσοικοι, στοαί, τἄλλα, οἷς ἐκεῖνοι κοσμήσαντες τὴν πόλιν ἡμῖν παρέδωκαν·
For indeed, as for the buildings and the adornment of the city, of temples, harbors, and their accompaniments, they left behind things of such a kind and size that no possibility of surpassing them is left to any of their successors—these Propylaea, the ship-houses, the porticoes, and the other things with which they adorned the city and handed it down to us;