Antidosis

But reflect upon the glory and the greatness of the deeds wrought by our city and our ancestors, review them in your minds and consider what kind of man was he, what was his birth and what the character of his education, who expelled the tyrants, brought the people into their own, and established our democratic state;[*](Cleisthenes.) what sort was he who conquered the barbarians in the battle at Marathon and won for the city the glory which has come to Athens from this victory;[*](Miltiades.)

what was he who after him liberated the Hellenes and led our forefathers forth to the leadership and power which they achieved, and who, besides, appreciating the natural advantage of the Piraeus, girded the city with walls in despite of the Lacedaemonians;[*](At the close of the Persian Wars, the Athenians returned to their city and, under the leadership of Themistocles, against the protest of the Lacedaemonians, built strong walls around Athens and around the harbor-town, the Piraeus. Later these two walled towns were connected by the building of the “long walls.”) and what manner of man was he who after him filled the Acropolis with gold and silver and made the homes of the Athenians to overflow with prosperity and wealth:[*](Pericles. See 232-234, where all these, except Miltiades, are eulogized by name.)

for you will find if you review the career of each of these, that it was not those who lived unscrupulously or negligently nor those who did not stand out from the multitude who accomplished these things, but that it was men who were superior and pre-eminent, not only in birth and reputation, but in wisdom and eloquence, who have been the authors of all our blessings.