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And they established that democratic form of government which so effectively trained the citizens in bravery that single-handed they conquered in battleMarathon, 490 B.C. the barbarians who had attacked all Greece and they won so great renown for justice that the Greeks voluntarily put in their hands the dominion of the sea; and they made Athens so great in her power and her other resources that those who allege that she is the capital of GreeceCf. Isoc. 15.299. and habitually apply to her similar exaggerated expressions appear to be speaking the truth.
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Now this friendship with the people, which was, as I have shown, so ancient, genuine, and based upon services of the greatest importance, my father inherited from his ancestors. My father himself was left an orphan (for his fatherCleinias. died in battle at CoroneaA town in Boeotia where the Athenians were defeated by the Boeotians in 466 B.C.) and became the ward of Pericles, whom all would acknowledge to have been the most moderate, the most just, and the wisest of the citizens. For I count this also among his blessings that, being of such origin, he was fostered, reared, and educated under the guardianship of a man of such character.
