And during the forty years Roughly speaking the period of
 the rule of Pisistratus and his sons, 560-510
 B.C. 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 Cf. Hdt. 5.71 . ; 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 Cleisthenes was the reformer of the Athenian constitution and founder of the
 democracy. —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 Marathon, 490 B.C. 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 Cf. Isoc. 15.299 . 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 Cleinias. died in battle at Coronea A
 town in Boeotia where the Athenians were defeated by the Boeotians in 466 B.C. ) 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 A famous
 Athenian general. led a thousand of the flower of Athenian soldiers to
 Thrace, Expedition to recover the city of Potidaea in
 439 B.C. Thucydides ( Thuc.
 1.64.2 ) speaks of 1600 hoplites. Cf. Plat. Sym.
 220 for the award of valor given to Alcibiades. 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.