The Orations of Lysias | Page 5

ships, nor would the Isthmian wall help the Peloponnesians. For the control of the sea would be the king's without trouble. 46. And they were convinced and realized they were doing wrong and making poor plans, and that the Athenians spoke fairly and were giving them the best advice, and so they sent aid to Plataea. And when most of the allies under cover of night fled from the ranks because of the numbers of the enemy, the Lacedaemonians and the Tegeans put the barbarians to flight, and the Athenians and the Plataeans conquered in the fight all the Greeks who had despaired of freedom and submitted to slavery. 47. And on that day they brought about the most glorious conclusion of all their trials, and secured freedom for Europe, and in all times of danger they are acknowledged by all, both those with whom and against whom they fought, to have proved their own valor, both alone and with others, both on land and on sea, against barbarians and Greeks, and to have become the leaders of Greece.
48. Later, when the Greek war broke out through jealousy as to the past and envy of what was done, while all were envious and each needed but small grievances, when a naval battle was fought by the Athenians against the Aeginetans and their allies, they took seventy triremes. 49. And while they were struggling with Egypt and Aegina at the same time, and while the men of military age were away on sea and in the army, the Corinthians and their allies, thinking they would either attack a deserted country or they (_the Athenians_) would withdraw from Aegina, marched out and took Gereneia. 50. And the Athenians, some being at a distance and some near, did not dare to summon either, but trusting their own spirits and despising the invaders, the old men and the boys thought they alone could face the danger, (51) the former gaining courage from experience and the latter from their natures. And they in themselves became brave and the boys imitated them, the older men knowing how to command and the boys being able to obey commands. 52. Under the leadership of Myronides they set out for Megaris and conquered in battle all the forces (of the enemy), by those past service and those not yet ready for it, going into a foreign country to meet those who presumed to invade theirs. 53. And they set up a trophy for this glorious deed of theirs, and shameful act of the enemy, and the men, some no longer strong in body, the rest not yet strong, became greater in spirit and went back home with great renown, the latter to their teachers, the former to meditate on the future.
54. It is no easy task for one man to enumerate the brave deeds of so many, nor to tell in a single day the acts of all time. For what speech or time or orator could adequately testify to the valor of these men lying here? 55. For after countless struggles and signal contests and glorious encounters they have made Greece free, and proved their country the greatest, which ruled the sea for seventy years, kept the allies from revolt, (56) not permitting the many to be enslaved by the few, but forcing all to share alike, nor weakening the allies, but establishing them, so that the great king no longer longed for others' goods, but yielded up some of his own possessions and trembled for the future. 57. No ships sailed for Asia in that time, nor was a tyrant established among the Greeks, nor was a Greek city enslaved by the barbarians. Such was the moderation and fear their valor produced on all men. For this reason they alone must be the champions of the Greeks and leaders of the cities.
56. And also in adversity they showed their valor. For when the ships were lost in the Hellespont, either through the fault of the commander or by the will of the gods, and when that great disaster resulted to us and all the Greeks, they showed not long after that the power of the city was the safety of Greece. 59. For under the leadership of others those conquered the Greeks in naval battle who formerly had not embarked upon the sea, and they sailed to Europe, and enslaved Greek cities and established tyrannies, some after our disaster, and some after the victory of the barbarians. 60. So it would be fitting for Greece to grieve at his tomb, and bewail those who lie there, as if her freedom were buried with their valor, so unfortunate is Greece in being bereft of such men, and so fortunate is the king of Asia in meeting other leaders;