Well then, that Lochites struck me and was the aggressor all who were present when the
 event occurred have testified to you. But this offense should not be regarded as similar
 to other breaches of the law, nor should the penalty imposed for injury to the person be
 no greater than that which is inflicted for cheating a man of money; for you know that
 one's person is of nearest concern to all men, and that it is for the protection of the
 person that we have established laws, that we fight for freedom, that we have our hearts
 set on the democratic form of government, and that all the activities of our lives are
 directed to this end. And so it is reasonable to expect you to punish with the greatest
 severity those who do wrong to you in respect to that which you prize most dearly.

You will find that our legislators also have had the greatest concern for our persons.
 For, in the first place, it is for this one kind of misdemeanor only that they have
 instituted public and private actions that require no preliminary court-deposit, with the
 intent that each of us, according to what may happen to be within his power and agreeable
 to his wish, may be able to exact punishment from those who wrong him. In the next place,
 in the case of other charges, the culprit may be prosecuted by the injured party only; but
 where assault and battery is involved, as the public interest is affected, any citizen who
 so desires may give notice of a public suit to the Thesmothetes and appear before your court.

And our lawgivers regarded the giving of blows as an offense of such gravity that even
 for abusive language they made a law to the effect that those who used any of the
 forbidden opprobrious terms should pay a fine of five hundred drachmas. And yet how severe
 should the penalty be on behalf of those who have actually suffered bodily injury, when
 you show yourselves so angry for the protection of those who have merely suffered verbal
 injury?

It would be astonishing if, while you judge to be worthy of death those who were guilty
 of battery under the oligarchy, you shall allow to go unpunished those who, under the
 democracy, are guilty of the same practices. And yet the latter would justly meet with a
 more severe punishment; for they reveal more conspicuously their real baseness. This is
 what I mean: if anyone has the effrontery to transgress the law now, when it is not
 permissible, what would he have done, I ask you, when the government in power actually was
 grateful to such malefactors?

It may be that Lochites will attempt to belittle the importance of the affair, and
 ridiculing my accusation will say that I suffered no injury from his blows and that I am
 unduly exaggerating the gravity of what occurred. My reply to this is, that if no assault
 and battery had been connected with the affair, I should never have come before you; but
 as it is, it is not because of the mere injury inflicted by his blows that I am seeking
 satisfaction from him, but for the humiliation and the indignity;

and it is that sort of thing which free men should especially resent and for which they
 should obtain the greatest requital. I observe that you, when you find anyone guilty of
 the robbery of a temple or of theft, do not assess the fine according to the value of what
 is stolen, but that you condemn all alike to death, and that you consider it just that
 those who attempt to commit the same crimes should pay the same penalty.

You should, therefore, be of the same mind with respect to those who commit battery, and
 not consider whether they did not maul their victims thoroughly, but whether they
 transgressed the law, and you should punish them, not merely for the chance outcome of the
 attack, but for their character as a whole, reflecting that often ere now petty causes
 have been responsible for great evils,

and that, because there are persons who have the effrontery to beat others, there have
 been cases where men have become so enraged that wounds, death, exile, and the greatest
 calamities have resulted. That no one of these consequences happened in my case is not due
 to the defendant; on the contrary, so far as he is concerned they have all taken place,
 and it was only by the grace of fortune and my character that no irreparable harm has been
 done.

I think that you would be as indignant as the circumstances merit if you should reflect
 how much more reprehensible this misdemeanor is than any others. For you will find that
 while the other unjust acts impair life only partially, malicious assault vitiates all our
 concerns, since it has destroyed many households and rendered desolate many cities.

And yet why need I waste time in speaking of the calamities of the other states? For we
 ourselves have twice seen the democracy overthrown and twice we have been deprived of
 freedom, not by those who were guilty of other crimes, but by persons who contemned the
 laws and were willing to be slaves of the enemy while wantonly outraging their
 fellow-citizens.

Lochites is one of these persons. For even though he was too young to have belonged to
 the oligarchy established at that time, yet his character at any rate is in harmony with
 their regime. For it was men of like disposition who betrayed our power to the enemy,
 razed the walls of the fatherland, and put to death without a trial fifteen hundred
 citizens.

We may reasonably expect that you, remembering the past, will punish, not only those who
 then did us harm, but also those who wish now to bring our city into the same condition as
 then; and you should punish potential criminals with greater severity than the malefactors
 of the past in so far as it is better to find how to avert future evils than to exact the
 penalty for past misdeeds.

Do not wait for the time when these enemies shall unite, seize an opportune moment, and
 bring ruin upon the whole city, but whenever on any pretext they are delivered into your
 hands, punish them, thinking it a stroke of luck when you catch a man who in petty
 derelictions reveals his complete depravity.

It would indeed have been best, if only some distinguishing mark were borne by men of
 base nature, that we might punish them before any fellow-citizen has been
 injured by them. But since it is impossible to perceive who such men are before a victim
 has suffered at their hands, at any rate as soon as their character is recognized, it is
 the duty of all men to hate them and to regard them as enemies of all mankind.

Remember, too, that while the poor have no share in the danger of loss of property, yet
 fear of injury to our persons is common to all alike; in consequence, whenever you punish
 thieves and cheats you benefit only the rich, but whenever you chastise those who commit
 mayhem, you give aid to yourselves.

You should therefore treat trials such as this as of the highest importance; and while in
 suits involving private contracts you should assess the plaintiff's damages at only what
 it is fitting that he should receive, when the case is assault and battery the defendant
 should be required to pay so large a sum that he will in future refrain from his present
 unbridled wantonness.

If, then, you deprive of their property those who conduct themselves with wanton violence
 toward their fellow-citizens and regard no fine as severe enough to punish those who do
 injury to the persons of others and have to pay the penalty with their money, you will
 then have discharged in full measure the duty of conscientious judges.

Indeed in the present case you will thus render the correct judgement, will cause our
 other citizens to be more decorous in conduct, and will make your own lives more secure.
 And it is the part of intelligent judges, while casting their votes for justice in causes
 not their own, at the same time to safeguard their own interests also.

Let no one of you think, just because he observes that I am a poor man and a man of the
 people, that the amount I claim should be reduced. For it is unjust that you should reckon
 the indemnification to be given to plaintiffs who are obscure as of less importance than
 that which men of distinction are to receive, and that the poor be thought inferior to the
 rich. For you would be lowering your own civic status if you should reach any such
 decisions where the many are concerned.

Besides, it would be a most shocking state of affairs if in a democratic state we should
 not all enjoy equal rights; and if, while judging ourselves worthy of holding office, yet
 we deprive ourselves of our legal rights; and if in battle we should all be willing to die
 for our democratic form of government and yet, in our votes as judges, especially favor
 men of property.

No, if you will be advised by me, you will not assume that position toward your own
 selves. You will not teach the young men to have contempt for the mass of our citizens,
 nor consider that trials of this character are of no concern to you; on the contrary, each
 one of you will cast his ballot as if he were judging his own case. In truth, those who
 dare to transgress the law that protects your persons do injury to all alike.

And so, if you are wise, exhort one another, and reveal to Lochites your own wrath, for
 you know that all individuals of his kind despise the established laws, but regard as law
 the decisions rendered here. I have spoken as well as I could about the matter at issue;
 if anyone present has anything to say on my behalf, let him mount the platform and address
 you.