§13.29.1πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἄτοπον, ἄνδρες Συρακόσιοι, τοὺς μὲν τετελευτηκότας ἑκούσιον ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἑλέσθαι θάνατον, ὑμᾶς δὲ ὑπὲρ ἐκείνων μηδὲ παρὰ τῶν πολεμιωτάτων λαβεῖν τιμωρίαν, καὶ ἐπαινεῖν μὲν τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς κοινῆς ἐλευθερίας τοὺς ἰδίους ἀναλώσαντας βίους, περὶ πλείονος δὲ τὴν τῶν φονέων ποιεῖσθαι σωτηρίαν τῆς ἐκείνων τιμῆς;
How, then, is it not absurd, men of Syracuse, that those who died chose a voluntary death on your behalf, while you do not even exact punishment for them from their greatest enemies, and that, while you praise on the one hand those who spent their own lives for the common liberty, you value on the other hand the safety of their murderers more than the honor of those men?
§13.29.2κοσμεῖν ἐψηφίσασθε δημοσίᾳ τοὺς τάφους τῶν μετηλλαχότων· καὶ τίνα καλλίονα κόσμον εὑρήσετε τοῦ κολάσαι τοὺς ἐκείνων αὐτόχειρας;
You voted to decorate the graves of the deceased at public expense; and what finer decoration will you find than punishing those who killed them with their own hands?
εἰ μὴ νὴ Δία πολιτογραφήσαντες αὐτοὺς βούλεσθε καταλιπεῖν ἔμψυχα τρόπαια τῶν μετηλλαχότων.
Unless, by Zeus, you wish to register them as citizens and leave them behind as living trophies of the deceased.
§13.29.3ἀλλὰ μεταβαλόντες τὴν τῶν πολεμίων προσηγορίαν γεγόνασιν ἱκέται·
But, you say, having changed the title of enemies, they have become suppliants.
πόθεν αὐτοῖς ταύτης τῆς φιλανθρωπίας συγκεχωρημένης;
From where has this humanity been granted to them?
οἱ γὰρ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς τὰ περὶ τούτων νόμιμα διατάξαντες τοῖς μὲν δυστυχοῦσι τὸν ἔλεον, τοῖς δὲ διὰ πονηρίαν ἀδικοῦσιν ἔταξαν τιμωρίαν.
For those who from the beginning established the customs concerning these matters ordained pity for those who are unfortunate, but punishment for those who do wrong through wickedness.
§13.29.4ἐν ποτέρᾳ δὴ τάξει θῶμεν τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους;
In which class, indeed, should we place the captives?
ἐν τῇ τῶν ἠτυχηκότων;
In that of those who have met with misfortune?
καὶ τίς αὐτοὺς τύχη μὴ προαδικηθέντας ἐβιάσατο πολεμεῖν Συρακοσίοις καὶ τὴν παρὰ πᾶσιν ἐπαινουμένην εἰρήνην ἀφέντας ἐπὶ κατασκαφῇ παρεῖναι τῆς ὑμετέρας πόλεως;
And what fortune forced them, who had not been previously wronged, to make war on the Syracusans, and, leaving the peace that is praised among all, to be present for the demolition of your city?
§13.29.5διόπερ ἑκουσίως ἑλόμενοι πόλεμον ἄδικον εὐψύχως ὑπομενόντων τὰ τούτου δεινά, καὶ μή, κρατοῦντες μέν, ἀπαραίτητον ἐχόντων τὴν καθʼ ὑμῶν ὠμότητα, σφαλέντες δέ, τοῖς τῆς ἱκεσίας φιλανθρώποις παραιτείσθων τὴν τιμωρίαν.
Therefore, having voluntarily chosen an unjust war, let them endure its terrors with courage; and let them not, when they were prevailing, hold an unappeasable cruelty against you, but when they have tripped, beg off their punishment by the humane rights of supplication.
§13.29.6εἰ δʼ ἐλέγχονται διὰ πονηρίαν καὶ πλεονεξίαν τοιούτοις ἐλαττώμασι περιπεπτωκότες, μὴ καταμεμφέσθων τὴν τύχην, μηδʼ ἐπικαλείσθων τὸ τῆς ἱκεσίας ὄνομα.
And if they are proved, because of wickedness and greed, to have fallen into such misfortunes, let them not blame fortune, nor appeal to the name of supplication.
τοῦτο γὰρ παρʼ ἀνθρώποις φυλάττεται τοῖς καθαρὰν μὲν τὴν ψυχήν, ἀγνώμονα δὲ τὴν τύχην ἐσχηκόσιν.
For this privilege is preserved among men for those who have had a pure soul but an unfeeling fortune.
§13.29.7οὗτοι δʼ ἁπάντων τῶν ἀδικημάτων πλήρη τὸν βίον ἔχοντες οὐδένα τόπον αὐτοῖς βάσιμον εἰς ἔλεον καὶ καταφυγὴν ἀπολελοίπασι.
But these men, having their lives full of all wrongdoings, have left for themselves no accessible place for pity and refuge.