Panathenaicus (61-65)

which put an end to the insolence of the barbarians and the poverty of the Hellenes, and which, besides, waged war in her own cause more capably than that city which is famed for her skill in warfare, and extricated herself from her misfortunes more quickly than these same Lacedaemonians—does not this city, I say, deserve to be praised and honored more than the state which has been outdistanced by her in all these respects? This, then, is what I had in mind to say on this occasion in comparing the achievements of Athens and Lacedaemon and the wars which they fought at the same time and against the same adversaries.

But I think that, while those who find these words distasteful to listen to will not deny that what I have said is the truth nor, again, will they be able to cite other activities of the Lacedaemonians through which they brought to pass many blessings to the Hellenes, yet they will attempt—

as is ever their habit—to denounce our city, to recount the most offensive acts which transpired while she held the empire of the sea, to present in a false light the adjudication of lawsuits in Athens for the allies[*] and her collection of tribute[*] from them, and above all to dwell on the cruelties suffered at her hands by the Melians and the Scionians and the Toronians,[*] thinking by these reproaches to sully the benefactions of Athens which I have just described.

Now I, for my part, could not gainsay all the things which might justly be said against our city, nor would I attempt to do so; for I should be ashamed, as I have already said in another place,[*] when all other men are of the opinion that not even the gods are free from guilt, were I to strain my conscience and attempt to persuade you that our commonwealth has never erred in any instance whatsoever.

Nevertheless, I think I shall do one thing, namely, show that the city of the Spartans, in handling situations such as I have mentioned, has been much more harsh and severe than Athens, and that those who seek to promote the reputation of the Spartans by calumniating us are short-sighted in the extreme and are themselves to blame for the bad repute which their own friends[*] incur at our hands.