94
these we must avoid, but first and foremost we should be careful that we are never found doing any cowardly deed or making any unjust concessions to the foe; for it would be shameful if we, who onceSpartan supremacy lasted, theoretically, more than thirty years, from the end of the Peloponnesian War (404 B.C.) to the battle of Leuctra. Meantime, however, the Athenians secured for a short period their second naval empire (378 B.C.). were thought worthy to rule the Hellenes, should be seen carrying out their commands, and should fall so far below our forefathers that, while they were willing to die in order that they might dictate to others,Thucydides, i. 140, puts in the mouth of Pericles the assertion that the Spartans prefer to resolve their complaints by war and not by words, dictating terms instead of bringing charges. we would not dare to hazard a battle in order that we might prevent others from dictating to us.
95
We may well be ashamed when we think of the Olympian and the other national assemblies, where every one of us used to be more envied and more admired than the athletes who carry off victories in the games. But who would dare attend them now, when instead of being honored he would be scorned, when instead of being sought out by all because of his valor, he would be conspicuous among all for his cowardice,
96
and when, more than all this, he would see our slaves bringing from the land which our fathers bequeathed to us first-fruits of the harvest and sacrifices greater than our own, and would hear from their lips such taunts as you would expect from men who once were subjected to the strictest bondage but now have made a treaty with their masters on terms of equality? How keenly every one of us would smart under these insults no man alive could set forth in words.
