So then, concerning the team of
 horses —that my father was in possession of them, not by having taken them
 away from Teisias, but by having purchased them from the Argive state—you have heard both
 the Argive ambassadors and the others conversant with the facts testify. But in just this
 same fashion all are accustomed maliciously to accuse me.

For they obtain leave to bring actions against me on private complaints, but make their
 accusations on behalf of the interests of the state, and they spend more time in
 slandering my father than they do in informing you with respect to their sworn charges;
 and so great is their contempt of the law that they claim personal satisfaction from me
 for the wrongs which, as they say, you suffered at my father's hands.

But it is my opinion that charges involving the public interest have nothing to do with
 private suits; but as Teisias often reproaches me with my father's banishment, and is more
 zealous concerning your affairs than he is regarding his own, I must address my defense to
 these matters. Certainly I should be ashamed, if I were to seem to any of my
 fellow-citizens to have less concern for my father's good name than for my own peril.

Now so far as the older men are concerned, a brief statement could have sufficed: for
 they all know that the same men were responsible for the destruction of the democracy and
 for my father's exile; but for the benefit of the younger men, who have lived after the
 events and have often heard the slanderers, I will begin my exposition from an earlier
 time.

Now the persons who first plotted against the democracy and established the Four
 Hundred, inasmuch as my father, although he was repeatedly invited to join them
 would not do so, seeing that he was a vigorous opponent of their activities and a loyal
 supporter of the people, judged that they were powerless to upset the established order
 until he was removed out of their way.

And since they knew that in matters pertaining to the gods the city would be most enraged
 if any man should be shown to be violating the Mysteries, and that in other
 matters if any man should dare to attempt the overthrow of the democracy, they combined
 both these charges and tried to bring an action of impeachment before the senate. They
 asserted that my father was holding meetings of his political club with a view to
 revolution, and that these members of the club, when dining together in the house of
 Pulytion, had given a performance of the Mysteries.

The city was greatly excited by reason of the gravity of the charges, and a meeting of
 the Assembly was hastily called at which my father so clearly proved that the accusers
 were lying that the people would have been glad to punish them, and furthermore elected
 him general for the Sicilian expedition. 
 Thereupon he sailed away, judging that he had been already cleared of their calumnies; but
 his accusers, having united the Council and having made the public speakers subservient to
 themselves, again revived the matter and suborned informers.

Why need I say more? They did not cease until they had recalled my father from the
 expedition and had put to death some of his friends and had banished others from the city.
 But when he had learned the power of his enemies and the misfortunes of his friends,
 although he was of opinion that he was being grossly wronged because they would not try
 him when he was in Athens but were for condemning him in his absence, not even in these
 circumstances did my father see fit to desert to the enemy;

on the contrary, even in exile he was so scrupulous to avoid injuring his city that he
 went to Argos and remained quietly there. But his enemies reached such a pitch of
 insolence that they persuaded you to banish him from Greece entirely, to inscribe his name
 on a column as a traitor, and to send envoys to demand his surrender by the Argives. And
 he, being at a loss to know what to do in the misfortunes which encompassed him and
 everywhere hemmed him in, as he saw no other means of safety, was compelled at last to
 take refuge with the Lacedaemonians.

These are the actual facts; but such an excess of insolence have my father's enemies
 that they accuse him, who was exiled in so illegal a manner as if he had committed
 outrageous crimes, and try to ruin his reputation by saying that he caused the
 fortification of Decelea, and the revolt of the islands, and that
 he became the enemy's counsellor.

And sometimes they pretend to despise him, saying that in no respect did he excel his
 contemporaries; yet at the present time they blame him for all that has happened and say
 that the Lacedaemonians have learned from him the art of war—they who can teach the rest
 of the world this accomplishment! As for me, if I had sufficient time, I could easily
 prove that some of those things he did justly, but that others are unjustly imputed to
 him. Yet the most shocking thing that could happen would be this—if, while after his exile
 my father was recompensed, I, because he was exiled, should be penalized.

I think, however, that in justice he should obtain from you a full pardon; for you, when
 banished by the Thirty Tyrants, experienced the same
 misfortunes as he. Wherefore you should reflect how each of you was affected, what
 thoughts you each had, and what peril each would not have undergone so as to bring his own
 banishment to an end and to return to his native land, and to be avenged on those who
 banished him.

To what city, or friend, or stranger did you not apply, to entreat them to help you to
 get back to your country? From what effort did you abstain in your endeavors to be
 restored? Did you not seize the Piraeus and destroy the crops in the fields and harry the
 land and set fire to the suburbs and finally assault the walls?

And so vehemently did you believe that these actions were justifiable that you were more
 indignant with those of your fellow-exiles who were inactive than with those who had been
 the authors of your misfortunes. It is not fair, therefore, to censure those who wanted
 the same things which you desired, nor yet to regard all those men as base who, when they
 were exiles, sought to return, but much more should you condemn those oligarchs who,
 remaining in Athens, did deeds which deserved the penalty of exile; nor is it fair that
 you, in judging what sort of citizen my father was, should begin at the time when he had
 no art in the city's affairs;

on the contrary, you should look to that earlier time and observe how he served the
 people before his exile, and call to mind that with two hundred heavy-armed soldiers he
 caused the most powerful cities in the Peloponnesus to revolt from the
 Lacedaemonians, and brought them into alliance with
 you, and in what perils he involved the Lacedaemonians themselves, and how he behaved as
 general in Sicily. For these services he is deserving of your gratitude; but for that
 which happened when he was in misfortune it is those who banished him whom you would
 justly hold responsible.

Remember, too, I beg you, the many benefits he conferred upon the city after his return
 from exile, and, even before that time, the state of affairs here when you received him
 back: the democracy had been overthrown, the citizens were in a state of civil war, the army was
 disaffected toward the government established here, and both parties had reached such a
 state of madness that neither had any hope of salvation.

For the one party regarded those who were in
 possession of the city as greater enemies than the Lacedaemonians and the other were making overtures to the
 Spartan forces in Decelea, judging that it was preferable to hand over their country to
 its enemies rather than to give a share in the rights of citizenship to those who were
 fighting for the city.

Such was the state of mind of the citizens: the enemy was in control of land and sea;
 your financial resources were exhausted, while the Persian king was supplying them with
 funds; furthermore, ninety ships had come from Phoenicia to
 Aspendus and were prepared to aid the Lacedaemonians.
 By so many misfortunes and such perils was the city beset

when the army summoned my father, and he did not treat them with disdain in their plight,
 nor did he rebuke them for the past, nor did he deliberate about the future; on the
 contrary, he chose at once to suffer any misfortune with his country rather than to enjoy
 prosperity with the Lacedaemonians, and he made it manifest to all that he was warring on
 those who had banished him and not on you, and that his heart was set on a return to
 Athens and not on her ruin.

Having thrown in his lot with you, he persuaded Tissaphernes not to furnish the Lacedaemonians with money, checked the defection
 of your allies, distributed pay from his own resources to the soldiers, restored political
 power to the people, reconciled the citizens, and turned back the Phoenician fleet.

As to his later services, it would be an arduous task to enumerate them one by one—all
 the ships of war that he subsequently captured, or the battles that he won, or the cities
 he took by storm or by persuasion made your friends. But although innumerable dangers
 beset the city at that time, never did the enemy erect a trophy of victory over you while
 my father was your leader.

I am aware that I am omitting many of my father's exploits as your general; I have not
 recounted them in detail because nearly all of you recall the facts. But my father's
 private life they revile with excessive indecency and audacity, and they are not ashamed,
 now that he is dead, to use a license of speech concerning him which they would have
 feared to employ while he lived.

Nay, they have come to such a pitch of folly that they think they will win repute with
 both you and with the world at large if they indulge in the wildest possible abuse of him;
 as if all did not know that it is in the power of the vilest of men to abuse with
 insulting words, not only the best of men, but even the gods.

Perhaps it is foolish for me to take to heart all that has been said; nevertheless, I
 desire very much to recount to you my father's private pursuits, going back a little to
 make mention of his ancestors, that you may know that from early times our standing and
 services have been the greatest and most honorable among the citizens of Athens.

My father on the male side belonged to the Eupatrids, whose noble birth is apparent from the very name. On the female side he was
 of the Alcmeonidae, who left behind a glorious memorial of their wealth; for
 Alcmeon was the first Athenian to
 win at Olympia with a team of horses, and the goodwill which they had toward the people
 they displayed in the time of the tyrants. For they were kinsmen of Pisistratus and before he came to power were closest to him of all the citizens, but
 they refused to share his tyranny; on the contrary, they preferred exile rather than to
 see their fellow-citizens enslaved.

And during the forty years of civic discord the Alcmeonidae were hated so much more
 bitterly than all other Athenians by the tyrants that whenever the tyrants had the upper
 hand they not only razed their dwellings, but even dug up their tombs ; and so completely were the
 Alcmeonidae trusted by their fellow-exiles that they continued during all that time to be
 leaders of the people. At last, Alcibiades and Cleisthenes —the former my great-grandfather on my father's side, the latter my
 father's maternal great-grandfather—assuming the leadership of those in exile, restored
 the people to their country, and drove out the tyrants.

And they established that democratic form of government which so effectively trained the
 citizens in bravery that single-handed they conquered in battle the barbarians who had
 attacked all Greece and they won so great renown for justice that the Greeks voluntarily
 put in their hands the dominion of the sea; and they made Athens so great in her power and
 her other resources that those who allege that she is the capital of Greece and
 habitually apply to her similar exaggerated expressions appear to be speaking the truth.

Now this friendship with the people, which was, as I have shown, so ancient, genuine,
 and based upon services of the greatest importance, my father inherited from his
 ancestors. My father himself was left an orphan (for his father died in battle at Coronea ) and became the ward of Pericles, whom all would acknowledge
 to have been the most moderate, the most just, and the wisest of the citizens. For I count
 this also among his blessings that, being of such origin, he was fostered, reared, and
 educated under the guardianship of a man of such character.

When he was admitted to citizenship, he showed himself not inferior to those whom I have
 mentioned, nor did he think it fitting that he should lead a life of ease, pluming himself
 upon the brave deeds of his ancestors; on the contrary, from the beginning he was so fired
 with ambition that he thought that even their great deeds should be held in remembrance
 through his own. And first of all, when Phormio led a thousand of the flower of Athenian soldiers to
 Thrace, my father served with
 this expedition, and so distinguished himself in the perilous actions of the campaign that
 he was crowned and received a full suit of armour from his general.

Really what is required of the man who is thought worthy of the highest praise? Should he
 not, when serving with the bravest of the citizens, be thought worthy of the prize of
 valor, and when leading an army against the best of the Greeks in all the battles show his
 superiority to them? My father, then, in his youth did win that prize of valor and in
 later life did achieve the latter.

After this he married my mother ; and I
 believe that in her he also won a glorious prize of valor. For her father was
 Hipponicus, 
 first in wealth of all the Greeks and second in birth to none of the citizens, most
 honored and admired of his contemporaries. The richest dowry and fairest reputation went
 with his daughter's hand; and although all coveted union with her, and only the greatest
 thought themselves worthy, it was my father whom Hipponicus chose from among them all and
 desired to make his son-in-law.

About the same time my father, seeing that the festival assembly at Olympia was beloved
 and admired by the whole world and that in it the Greeks made display of their wealth,
 strength of body, and training, and that not only the athletes were the objects of envy
 but that also the cities of the victors became renowned, and believing moreover that while
 the public services performed in Athens redound to the prestige, in the eyes of his
 fellow-citizens, of the person who renders them, expenditures in the Olympian Festival,
 however, enhance the city's reputation throughout all Greece,

reflecting upon these things, I say, although in natural gifts and in strength of body he
 was inferior to none, he disdained the gymnastic contests, for he knew that some of the
 athletes were of low birth, inhabitants of petty states, and of mean education, but turned
 to the breeding of race-horses, which is possible only for those most blest by Fortune and
 not to be pursued by one of low estate, and not only did he surpass his rivals, but also
 all who had ever before won the victory.

For he entered a larger number of teams in competition than even the mightiest cities had
 done, and they were of such excellence that he came out first, second, and third. Besides this, his generosity in the sacrifices and in the other
 expenses connected with the festival was so lavish and magnificent that the public funds
 of all the others were clearly less than the
 private means of Alcibiades alone. And when he brought his mission to an end he had caused
 the successes of his predecessors to seem petty in comparison with his own and those who
 in his own day had been victors to be no longer objects of emulation, and to future
 breeders of racing-steeds he left behind no possibility of surpassing him.

With regard to my father's services here in Athens as choregus and gymnasiarch and
 trierarch I am ashamed
 to speak; for so greatly did he excel in all the other public duties that, although those
 who have served the state in less splendid fashion sing their own praises therefor, if
 anyone should on my father's behalf ask for a vote of thanks even in recognition of
 services as great as his, he would seem to be talking about petty things.

As regards his behavior as a citizen—for neither should this be passed over in
 silence—just as he on his part did not neglect his civic duties, but on the contrary, to
 so great a degree had proved himself a more loyal friend of the people than those who had
 gained the highest repute, that while, as you will find, the others stirred up sedition
 for selfish advantage, he was incurring danger on your behalf. For his devotion to the
 democracy was not that of one who was excluded from the oligarchy, but of one who was
 invited to join it: indeed, time and again when it was in his power as one of a small
 group, not only to rule the rest, but even to dominate them, he refused, choosing rather
 to suffer the city's unjust penalties rather than to be traitor to our form of government.

Of the truth of these statements no one would have convinced you as long as you still
 continued to be governed as a democracy; but as it was, the civil conflicts which arose
 clearly showed who were the democrats and who the oligarchs, as well as those who desired
 neither rgime, and those who laid claim to a share in both. In these uprisings your
 enemies twice exiled my father: on the first occasion, no sooner had they got him out of
 the way than they abolished the democracy; on the second, hardly had they reduced you to
 servitude than they condemned him to exile before any other citizen;

so exactly did my father's misfortunes affect the city and he share in her disasters. And
 yet many of the citizens were ill disposed toward him in the belief that he was plotting a
 tyranny; they held this opinion, not on the basis of his deeds, but in the thought that
 all men aspire to this power and that he would have the best chance of attaining it.
 Wherefore you would justly feel the greater gratitude to him because, while he alone of
 the citizens was powerful enough to have this charge brought against him, he was of opinion that as
 regards political power he should be on an equality with his fellow-citizens.

Because of the multitude of things that might be said on my father's behalf I am at a
 loss which of them it is appropriate to mention on the present occasion and which should
 be omitted. For always the plea that has not yet been spoken seems to me of greater
 importance than the arguments which have already been presented to you. And I believe that
 it is obvious to everyone that he must needs be most devoted to the welfare of the city
 who has the greatest share in her evil fortunes as well as in her good.

Well then, when Athens was prosperous, who of the citizens was more prosperous, more
 admired, or more envied than my father? And when she suffered ill-fortune, who was
 deprived of brighter hopes, or of greater wealth, or of fairer repute? Finally, when the
 Thirty Tyrants established their rule, while the others merely suffered exile from Athens,
 was he not banished from all Greece? Did not the Lacedaemonians and Lysander exert themselves as much to cause his
 death as to bring about the downfall of your dominion, in the belief that they could not
 be sure of the city's loyalty if they demolished her walls unless they should also destroy the man who
 could rebuild them?

Thus it is not only from his services to you, but also from what he suffered on your
 account, that you may easily recognize his loyalty. For it is self-evident that it was the
 people he was aiding, that he desired the same form of government as yourselves, that he
 suffered at the hands of the same persons, that he was unfortunate when the state was
 unfortunate, that he considered the same persons as you his enemies and friends, that in
 every way he exposed himself to danger either at your hands, or on your account,

or on your behalf, or in partnership with you, being as a citizen quite unlike
 Charicles, my opponent's brother-in-law, who chose to be a slave
 to the enemy, yet claimed the right to rule his fellow-citizens; who, when in exile, was
 inactive, but on his return was ever injuring the city. And yet how could one prove
 himself to be a baser friend or a viler enemy?

And then do you, Teisias, his brother-in-law and a member of the Council in the time of
 the Thirty Tyrants, have the hardihood to rake up old grudges against those of the other
 side, and are you not ashamed to be violating the terms of the amnesty which permits you
 to reside in the city, nor do you even reflect that, whenever the decision shall be made
 to exact punishment for past crimes, it is you who are menaced by danger more speedy and
 greater than mine?

For surely they will not inflict punishment on me for my father's acts and at the same
 time pardon you for the crimes you yourself have committed! No, assuredly it will not be
 found that your pleas in extenuation are anything like his! For you were not banished from
 your native land, but on the contrary you were a member of the government; you did not act
 under compulsion, but you were a willing agent; it was not in self-defense, but on our own
 initiative, that you were wronging your fellow-citizens, so that it is not fitting that
 you should be permitted by them even to enter a plea in your defense.

But on the subject of the political misdeeds of Teisias, very likely some day at his
 trial I shall have the opportunity of speaking at greater length. But as for you, men of
 the jury, I beg you not to abandon me to my enemies nor entangle me in the net of
 irremediable misfortunes. For even now I have had sufficient experience of evils, since at
 my birth I was left an orphan through my father's exile and my mother's death; and I was
 not yet four years of age when I was brought into peril of my life owing to my father's
 exile;

and while still a boy I was banished from the city by the Thirty. And when the men of the
 Piraeus were restored, and all the rest recovered their possessions, I
 alone by the influence of my personal enemies was deprived of the of the land which the
 people gave us as compensation for the confiscated property. And after having already suffered so many misfortunes
 and having twice lost my property, I am now the defendant in an
 action involving five talents. And although the complaint involves money, the real issue is my right
 to continue to enjoy citizenship.

For although the same penalties are prescribed for all by our laws, yet the legal risk is
 not the same for all; on the contrary, the wealthy risk a fine, but those who are in
 straitened circumstances, as is the case with me, are in danger of disfranchisement, and
 this is a misfortune greater, in my opinion, than exile; for it is a far more wretched
 fate to live among one's fellow-citizens deprived of civic rights than to dwell an alien
 among foreigners.

I entreat you, therefore, to aid me and not to suffer me to be despitefully treated by my
 personal enemies, or to be deprived of my fatherland, or to be made notorious by such
 misfortunes. The facts in the case would of themselves justly win for me your pity, even
 if I have not the power by my words to evoke it, since pity truly should be felt for those
 who are unjustly brought to trial, who are fighting for the greatest stakes, whose present
 condition is not in accordance with their own worth or with that of their ancestors,
 seeing that they have been deprived of immense wealth and have experienced life's greatest
 vicissitudes.

Although I have many reasons for lamenting my fate, I am especially indignant for these
 reasons: first, if I must be punished by this man, who should justly be punished by me;
 second, if I shall lose my civic rights by reason of my father's victory at Olympia, when
 I see other men richly rewarded for such a victory ;

and, in addition, if Teisias, a man who never did the city any good, is to remain
 powerful in the democracy just as he was in the oligarchy, whereas I, who injured neither
 party, am to be ill-treated by both; and finally, if, while in all other matters your
 actions are to be the opposite of those of the Thirty, you shall in regard to me show the
 same spirit as they, and if I, who then lost my fatherland in company with you, shall now
 be deprived of it by you.