11
Besides, had he qualified for the Council, he would have held his seat as one in a body of five hundred, for a year only; so that, if in that period he had wished to commit an offence, he would have been easily prevented by the others. But, if he is approved for this office, he will hold it all by himself, and as a member of the Council of the Areopagus he will obtain control over the most important matters for an unlimited time.The gravest criminal charges, and cases of sacrilege, were brought before the ancient court of the Areopagus.
12
It therefore behoves you to be stricter in your scrutiny for this office than for any other one. Else, what do you suppose will be the attitude of the great body of the citizens, when they become aware that the man who ought to have been punished for his offences has been approved by you for this high post; when they find a man judging murder cases who should have been tried himself by the Council of the Areopagus; and when, moreover, they see him crowned and established in control of heiresses and orphans, whose bereavement, in some cases, he has himself brought about?
13
Do you not think they will show a resentful temper, and will hold you responsible for it all, when they put themselves back in those former times, in which many of them were hauled to prison and destroyed without trial by these men, or compelled to flee their own country; and when they further reflect that this same person, who has brought about the rejection of Leodamas, has caused this man to qualify, by acting as accuser of the former and undertaking the defence of the latter? And what is the attitude of Evandros towards the city? How many troubles has he brought upon her?
