§62ταῖς αὑτῶν ψυχαῖς κοινὴν τὴν πόλιν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις κτησόμενοι, θάνατον μετʼ ἐλευθερίας αἱρούμενοι ἢ βίον μετὰ δουλείας, οὐχ ἧττον ταῖς συμφοραῖς αἰσχυνόμενοι ἢ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ὀργιζόμενοι, μᾶλλον βουληθέντες ἐν τῇ αὑτῶν ἀποθνῄσκειν ἢ ζῆν τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν οἰκοῦντες, συμμάχους μὲν ὅρκους καὶ συνθήκας ἔχοντες, πολεμίους δὲ τοὺς πρότερον ὑπάρχοντας καὶ τοὺς πολίτας τοὺς ἑαυτῶν. §63ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὐ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐναντίων φοβηθέντες, ἀλλʼ ἐν τοῖς σώμασι τοῖς ἑαυτῶν κινδυνεύσαντες, τρόπαιον μὲν τῶν πολεμίων ἔστησαν, μάρτυρας δὲ τῆς αὑτῶν ἀρετῆς ἐγγὺς ὄντας τοῦδε τοῦ μνήματος τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίων τάφους παρέχονται.
seeking to acquire the city as common also to the others by means of their own souls, choosing death with freedom rather than life with slavery, being no less ashamed of their misfortunes than angry at their enemies, wishing rather to die in their own land than to live dwelling in a foreign one, having oaths and treaties as allies, but those who were previously established and their own citizens as enemies. But nevertheless, not fearing the multitude of their opponents, but risking their own bodies, they erected a trophy over their enemies, and present the tombs of the Lacedaemonians near this monument as witnesses of their own virtue.
καὶ γάρ τοι μεγάλην μὲν ἀντὶ μικρᾶς ἀπέδειξαν τὴν πόλιν, ὁμονοοῦσαν δὲ ἀντὶ στασιαζούσης ἀπέφηναν, τείχη δὲ ἀντὶ τῶν καθῃρημένων ἀνέστησαν. §64οἱ δὲ κατελθόντες αὐτῶν, ἀδελφὰ τὰ βουλεύματα τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν ἐνθάδε κειμένων ἐπιδεικνύντες, οὐκ ἐπὶ τιμωρίαν τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ σωτηρίαν τῆς πόλεως ἐτράποντο, καὶ οὔτε ἐλαττοῦσθαι δυνάμενοι οὔτʼ αὐτοὶ πλέον ἔχειν δεόμενοι τῆς μὲν αὑτῶν ἐλευθερίας καὶ τοῖς βουλομένοις δουλεύειν μετέδοσαν, τῆς δʼ ἐκείνων δουλείας αὐτοὶ μετέχειν οὐκ ἠξίωσαν.
For indeed, they demonstrated their city to be great instead of small, and revealed it to be in harmony instead of in faction, and raised up walls instead of those that had been demolished. And those of them who returned, showing their counsels to be sister to the deeds of those who lie here, turned not to the punishment of their enemies but to the salvation of the city; and being neither capable of being diminished nor themselves needing to have more, they shared their own freedom even with those who wished to be slaves, and did not deign to share themselves in the slavery of those men.
ἔργοις δὲ μεγίστοις καὶ καλλίστοις ἀπελογήσαντο, §65ὅτι οὐ κακίᾳ τῇ αὑτῶν οὐδʼ ἀρετῇ τῇ τῶν πολεμίων πρότερον ἐδυστύχησεν ἡ πόλις· εἰ γὰρ στασιάσαντες πρὸς ἀλλήλους βίᾳ παρόντων Πελοποννησίων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐχθρῶν εἰς τὴν αὑτῶν οἷοί τε ἐγένοντο κατελθεῖν, δῆλον ὅτι ῥαδίως ἂν ὁμονοοῦντες πολεμεῖν αὐτοῖς ἐδύναντο. §66ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν διὰ τοὺς ἐν Πειραιεῖ κινδύνους ὑπὸ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ζηλοῦνται· ἄξιον δὲ καὶ τοὺς ξένους τοὺς ἐνθάδε κειμένους ἐπαινέσαι, οἳ τῷ πλήθει βοηθήσαντες καὶ περὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας σωτηρίας μαχόμενοι, πατρίδα τὴν ἀρετὴν ἡγησάμενοι, τοιαύτην τοῦ βίου τελευτὴν ἐποιήσαντο·
And with the greatest and finest deeds they made their defense, that it was not by their own cowardice nor by the virtue of their enemies that the city had previously met with misfortune; for if, when in faction against one another, and with the Peloponnesians and their other enemies present by force, they were able to return to their own land, it is clear that if they had been in harmony, they could easily have fought against them. Those men, therefore, because of the dangers in the Peiraeus, are envied by all mankind; but it is fitting to praise also the foreigners who lie here, who, having helped the multitude and fought for our salvation, regarding virtue as their fatherland, made such an end to their lives.
ἀνθʼ ὧν ἡ πόλις αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐπένθησε καὶ ἔθαψε δημοσίᾳ, καὶ ἔδωκεν ἔχειν αὐτοῖς τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον τὰς αὐτὰς τιμὰς τοῖς ἀστοῖς. §67οἱ δὲ νῦν θαπτόμενοι, βοηθήσαντες Κορινθίοις ὑπὸ παλαιῶν φίλων ἀδικουμένοις καινοὶ σύμμαχοι γενόμενοι, οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην Λακεδαιμονίοις ἔχοντες (οἱ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἀγαθῶν αὐτοῖς ἐφθόνουν, οἱ δὲ ἀδικουμένους αὐτοὺς ἠλέουν, οὐ τῆς προτέρας ἔχθρας μεμνημένοι, ἀλλὰ τὴν παροῦσαν φιλίαν περὶ πολλοῦ ποιούμενοι) πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις φανερὰν τὴν αὑτῶν ἀρετὴν ἐπεδείξαντο. §68ἐτόλμησαν γὰρ μεγάλην ποιοῦντες τὴν Ἑλλάδα οὐ μόνον ὑπὲρ τῆς αὑτῶν σωτηρίας κινδυνεύειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν πολεμίων ἐλευθερίας ἀποθνῄσκειν·
In return for which, the city both mourned them and buried them publicly, and granted them to have the same honors as the citizens for all time. And those who are now being buried, having helped the Corinthians who were being wronged by their ancient friends, and having become new allies, not holding the same mind as the Lacedaemonians (for the latter envied them their good things, while the former pitied them when they were being wronged, not remembering their former enmity, but making much of their present friendship), demonstrated their own virtue manifest to all mankind. For they ventured, while making Greece great, not only to risk danger for their own salvation, but also to die for the freedom of their enemies; for they fought against the allies of the Lacedaemonians for the freedom of those very people.
τοῖς γὰρ Λακεδαιμονίων συμμάχοις περὶ τῆς ἐκείνων ἐλευθερίας ἐμάχοντο. νικήσαντες μὲν γὰρ ἐκείνους τῶν αὐτῶν ἠξίουν, δυστυχήσαντες δὲ βέβαιον τὴν δουλείαν τοῖς ἐν τῇ Πελοποννήσῳ κατέλιπον. §69ἐκείνοις μὲν οὖν οὕτω διακειμένοις ὁ βίος οἰκτρὸς καὶ ὁ θάνατος εὐκτός· οὗτοι δὲ καὶ ζῶντες καὶ ἀποθανόντες ζηλωτοί, παιδευθέντες μὲν ἐν τοῖς τῶν προγόνων ἀγαθοῖς, ἄνδρες δὲ γενόμενοι τήν τε ἐκείνων δόξαν διασώσαντες καὶ τὴν αὑτῶν ἀρετὴν ἐπιδείξαντες. §70πολλῶν μὲν γὰρ καὶ καλῶν αἴτιοι γεγένηνται τῇ ἑαυτῶν πατρίδι, ἐπηνώρθωσαν δὲ τὰ ὑφʼ ἑτέρων δυστυχηθέντα, πόρρω δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς αὑτῶν τὸν πόλεμον κατέστησαν.
For if they conquered, they deemed them worthy of the same things, but if they met with misfortune, they left behind secure slavery for those in the Peloponnese. Therefore, for those who are in such a condition, life is pitiable and death is to be prayed for; but these men, both living and dead, are to be envied, having been educated in the virtues of their ancestors, and having become men, having preserved their glory and demonstrated their own virtue. For they have become the cause of many fine things for their own fatherland, and they corrected the misfortunes suffered through others, and established the war far from their own land.
ἐτελεύτησαν δὲ τὸν βίον, ὥσπερ χρὴ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς ἀποθνῄσκειν, τῇ μὲν πατρίδι τὰ τροφεῖα ἀποδόντες, τοῖς δὲ θρέψασι λύπας καταλιπόντες. §71ὥστε ἄξιον τοῖς ζῶσι τούτους ποθεῖν καὶ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ὀλοφύρεσθαι καὶ τοὺς προσήκοντας αὐτῶν ἐλεεῖν τοῦ ἐπιλοίπου βίου.
And they ended their lives as good men ought to die, paying back the cost of their nurture to their fatherland, and leaving behind griefs to those who reared them. So that it is fitting for the living to long for these men, and to lament themselves, and to pity their relatives for the remainder of their lives.
τίς γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἔτι ἡδονὴ καταλείπεται τοιούτων ἀνδρῶν θαπτομένων, οἳ πάντα περὶ ἐλάττονος τῆς ἀρετῆς ἡγούμενοι αὑτοὺς μὲν ἀπεστέρησαν βίου, χήρας δὲ γυναῖκας ἐποίησαν, ὀρφανοὺς δὲ τοὺς αὑτῶν παῖδας ἀπέλιπον, ἐρήμους δʼ ἀδελφοὺς καὶ πατέρας καὶ μητέρας κατέστησαν;
For what pleasure is left for them now that such men are being buried, who, regarding everything as of less account than virtue, deprived themselves of life, made their wives widows, left their children orphans, and rendered their brothers, fathers, and mothers desolate?