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After the second invasion of the Peloponnesians
there had been a change in the spirit of
the Athenians. Their land had been twice
devastated, and they had to contend with
the war and the plague at the same time.
Now they began to blame Pericles for having
persuaded them to go to war and to hold him
responsible for all the misfortunes which
had overtaken them. They became eager to
make peace with Sparta, and actually sent
ambassadors there, though they failed to
achieve anything. They were then in a state
of utter hopelessness, and all their angry
feelings turned against Pericles. Pericles
himself saw well enough how bitterly they
felt at the situation in which they found
themselves. He saw, in fact, that they were
behaving exactly as he had expected that
they would. He therefore, since he was still
strategos, summoned an assembly, with the
aim of putting fresh courage into them and
of guiding their embittered spirits so as
to leave them in a calmer and more confident
frame of mind.
Coming before them, he made the following
speech:
‘I expected this outbreak of anger on your
part against me, since I understand the reasons
for it; and I have called an assembly with
this object in view: to remind you of your
previous resolutions and to put forward my
own case against you, if we find that there
is anything unreasonable in your anger against
me and in your giving way to your misfortunes.
My own opinion is that when the whole State
is on the right course it is a better thing
for each separate individual than when private
interests are satisfied but the State as
a whole is going down hill. However well
off a man may be in his private life, he
will still be involved in the general ruin
if his country is destroyed. On the other
hand, so long as the state itself is secure,
individuals have a much greater chance of
recovering from their personal misfortunes.
Therefore, since a State can support individuals
in their suffering, but no one person by
himself can bear the load that rests upon
the State, is it not right for us all to
rally to her defense? Is it not wrong to
act as you are doing now? For you have been
so dismayed by disaster in your homes that
you are losing your grip on the common safety;
you are attacking me for having spoken in
favor of war and yourselves for having voted
for it. ‘So far as I am concerned, if you
are angry with me, you are angry with one
who has, I think, at least as much ability
as anyone to see what ought to be done, and
to explain what he sees, one who loves his
city and one who is above being influenced
by money. A man who has the knowledge but
lacks the power to express it clearly is
no better off than if he never had any ideas
at all. A man who has both these qualities,
but lacks patriotism, could scarcely speak
for his own people as he should. And even
if he is patriotic as well, but not able
to resist a bribe, then this one fault will
expose everything to the risk of being bought
and sold. So, if at the time when you took
my advice and went to war you considered
that my record with regard to these qualities
was even slightly better than that of others,
then now surely, it is quite unreasonable
for me to be accused of having done wrong....’
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