§4.1Hoc crimine in contione ab inimicis compellabatur.
On this charge, he was accused in the assembly by his enemies.
sed instabat tempus ad bellum proficiscendi.
But the time for setting out to war was pressing.
id ille intuens neque ignorans civium suorum consuetudinem postulabat, si quid de se agi vellent, potius de praesente quaestio haberetur, quam absens invidiae crimine accusaretur.
Realizing this, and not being ignorant of the character of his fellow citizens, he demanded that, if they wished to take any action against him, an investigation should be held while he was present, rather than that he should be accused in his absence on a charge born of envy.
§4.2inimici vero eius quiescenduin in praesenti, quia noceri ei non posse intellegebant, et illud tempus exspectandum decreverunt, quo classis exisset, ut absentem aggrederentur, itaque fecerunt.
But his enemies, understanding that he could not be harmed at present, decided to remain quiet for the time being and to wait for that moment when the fleet should have departed, so that they might attack him in his absence; and so they did.
§4.3nam postquam in Siciliam eum pervenisse crediderunt, absentem, quod sacra violasset, reum fecerunt.
For after they believed that he had arrived in Sicily, they prosecuted him in his absence for having violated the sacred mysteries.
qua de re cum ei nuntius a magistratu in Siciliam missus esset, ut domum ad causam dicendam rediret, essetque in magna spe provinciae bene administrandae, non parere noluit et in triremem, quae ad eum erat deportandum missa, ascendit.
When, on this account, a messenger was sent to him in Sicily by the magistrate, ordering him to return home to plead his cause, although he was in great hope of managing his province well, he did not wish to disobey, and went on board the trireme which had been sent to bring him back.
§4.4hac Thurios in Italiam pervectus, multa secum reputans de immoderata civium suorum licentia crudelitateque erga nobiles, utilissimum ratus impendentem evitare tempestatem, clam se ab custodibus subduxit et inde primum Elidem, dein Thebas venit.
Carried by this vessel to Thurii in Italy, reflecting much with himself on the unrestrained lawlessness of his fellow citizens and their cruelty toward the nobles, and thinking it most advantageous to avoid the impending storm, he secretly withdrew himself from his guards and went thence first to Elis, and then to Thebes.
§4.5postquam autem se capitis damnatum bonis publicatis audivit, et, id quod numquam antea usu venerat, Eumolpidas sacerdotes a populo coactos ut se devoverent, eiusque devotionis quo testatior esset memoria, exemplum in pila lapidea incisum esse positum in publico, Lacedaemonem demigravit.
But when he heard that he had been condemned to death and his property confiscated, and—what had never happened before—that the Eumolpidae priests had been forced by the people to curse him, and that, in order to make the memory of that curse more attested, a copy of it, engraved on a stone pillar, had been set up in public, he removed to Lacedaemon.
§4.6ibi, ut ipse praedicare consuerat, non adversus patriam, sed inimicos suos bellum gessit, qui eidem hostes essent civitati: nam cum intellegerent se plurimum prodesse posse rei publicae, ex ea eiecisse plusque irae suae quam utilitati communi paruisse.
There, as he himself was accustomed to declare, he waged war not against his country, but against his enemies, who were enemies to the same state; for although they knew that he could be of the greatest service to the republic, they had cast him out of it, and had consulted their own anger rather than the common utility.
§4.7itaque huius consilio Lacedaemonii cum Perse rege amicitiam fecerunt, dein Deceleam in Attica munierunt praesidioque ibi perpetuo posito in obsidione Athenas tenuerunt.
Therefore, by his advice, the Lacedaemonians made an alliance with the Persian king, then fortified Decelea in Attica, and by placing a permanent garrison there, kept Athens in a state of siege.
eiusdem opera Ioniam a societate averterunt Atheniensium. quo facto multo superiores bello esse coeperunt.
By the assistance of the same man, they detached Ionia from its alliance with the Athenians; which being done, they began to be far superior in the war.