84
Even more should we deserve the ridicule of men if, having before us the example of the Phocaeans who, to escape the tyranny of the Great King, left Asia and founded a new settlement at Massilia,The first party of the Phocaeans left Asia about 524 B.C. Besieged by Harpalus, they swore that never would they return to their city until the iron which they had cast into the sea should rise and float on the water. See Horace, Epode. xvi., and Hdt. 1.165. A second group came to Marseilles later. See Paus. 10.8.4. we should sink into such abjectness of spirit as to submit to the dictates of those whose masters we have always been throughout our history.
85
But we must not let our minds dwell on the day when we shall have to send away from us those who are nearest and dearest to us; no, we must at once begin to look forward to that good time when, victorious over our foes, we shall restore our city, bring back our own people, and prove to the world that while we now have experienced reverses unjustly, in times past we justly claimed precedence over all others.
86
This, then, is how matters stand: I have made this proposal, not with the thought that we must put it into effect forthwith, nor that there is in our circumstances no other means of deliverance, but because I wish to urge your minds to the conviction that we must endure, not only these, but even much worse misfortunes before conceding such terms regarding Messene as are being urged upon us.