Panathenaicus (36-40)

But I do not fail to appreciate how great an undertaking this is for me at my time of life; on the contrary, I know full well, and have often said,[*] that while it is easy to magnify little things by means of discourse, it is difficult to find terms of praise to match deeds of surpassing magnitude and excellence.

Nevertheless, I may not desist on that account from my task, but must carry it through to the end, if indeed I am enabled to live to do so, especially since many considerations impel me to write upon this theme myself: first, is the fact that some are in the habit of recklessly denouncing our city; second, that while some have praised her gracefully, they have lacked appreciation of their theme and treated it inadequately;

furthermore, that others have not scrupled rather to glorify her, not in human terms, but so extravagantly as to arouse the hostility of many against them; and, lastly, there is the fact of my present age, which is such as to deter others from such an undertaking. For I am hopeful that if I succeed I shall obtain a greater reputation than that which I now have, whereas if it turns out that I speak indifferently well, my hearers will make generous allowance for my years.

I have now finished what I wished to say by way of prelude[*] about myself and others, like a chorus, as it were, before the contest. But I think that those who wish to be exact and just in praising any given state ought not to confine themselves alone to the state which they single out, but even as we examine purple and gold and test them by placing them side by side with articles of similar appearance and of the same estimated value,

so also in the case of states one should compare, not those which are small with those which are great, nor those which are always subject to others with those which are wont to dominate others, nor those which stand in need of succor with those which are able to give it, but rather those which have similar powers, and have engaged in the same deeds and enjoyed a like freedom of action. For thus one may best arrive at the truth.