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Do, in the name of the gods, make a full enquiry, if you like, from beginning to end, and see whether anything that affects the law has been left undone, and whether any qualification is wanting that a tyrant-slayer ought to have. In the first place, one must have at the outset a will that is valiant, patriotic, disposed to run risks for the common weal, and ready to purchase by its own extinction the deliverance of the people. Then did I fall short of that, play the weakling, or, my purpose formed, shrink from any of the risks that lay ahead? You cannot say so. Then confine your attention for a moment to this point, and imagine that simply on account of my willing and planning all this, even if the result had not been favourable, I presented myself and demanded that in consequence of the intention itself I should receive a guerdon as a benefactor. Because I myself had not the power and someone else, coming after me, had slain the tyrant, would it be unreasonable, tell me, or absurd to give it me? Above all, if I said: “Gentlemen, I wanted it, willed it, undertook it, essayed it; simply for my intention I deserve to be honoured,” what answer would you have made in that case?
