The young man conceded the honour to him by right of age and abstained from the name of sovereignty, but only from that; he was the substance and the mainspring of the tyranny. He gave the government its assurance and security, and he alone reaped the profit of its crimes. It was he who kept their guardsmen together, who maintained their defences in strength, who terrorised their subjects and extirpated conspirators; it was he who plucked lads from their homes, who made a mockery of marriages; it was for him that maids were carried off; and whatever deeds of blood there were, whatever banishments, confiscations of property, applications of torture, and outrages—all these were a young man’s emprises. The old man followed him and shared his wrongdoing, and had but praise for his son’s misdeeds. So the thing became unendurable to us; for when the desires of the will acquire the licence of sovereignty, they recognise no limit to wrongdoing.

What hurt us most was to know that our slavery would be long, nay unending, that our city would be handed down by succession from despot to despot, and that our folk would be the heritage of villains. To other peoples it is no slight comfort to think, and to tell one another, “But it will stop soon,” “But he will die soon, and in a little while we shall be free.’ In their case, however, there was no such comfort; we saw the successor to the sovereignty already at hand. Therefore not one of the brave men who entertained the same purpose as myself even ventured to make an attempt. Liberty was wholly despaired of, and the tyranny was thought invincible, because any attempt would be directed against so many.

This, however, did not frighten me; I did not draw back when I estimated the difficulty of the achievement, nor play the coward in the face of danger. Alone, alone, I climbed the hill to front the tyranny that was so strong and many-headed—yet, not alone but with my sword that shared the fray with me and in its turn was tyrant-slayer too. I had my death in prospect, but sought to purchase our common liberty with the shedding of my own blood. I met the first guard-post, routed the guardsmen with no little difficulty, slew whomsoever I encountered, destroyed whatsoever blocked my path. Then I assailed the very forefront of my tasks, the sole strength of the tyranny, the cause of our calamities. I came upon the warden of the citadel, I saw him offer a brave defence and hold out against many wounds; and yet I slew him.

The tyranny, therefore, had at last been overthrown, my undertaking had attained fulfilment, and from that moment we all were free. Only an old man still remained, unarmed, his guards lost, that mighty henchman of his gone, deserted, no longer even worthy of a valiant arm.

Thereupon, gentlemen of the jury, I thus reasoned with myself; “All has gone well for me, everything is accomplished, my success is complete. How shall the survivor be punished? Of me and my right hand he is unworthy, particularly if his slaying were to follow a glorious, daring, valiant deed, dishonouring that other mortal thrust. He must seek a fitting executioner, a change of fate, and not profit by having the same one. Let him behold, suffer his punishment, have the sword lying at hand; I commit the rest to him.” This plan formed, I myself withdrew, and he, as I had presaged, carried through with it, slew the tyrant, supplied the ending to my lay.

I am here, then, to bring you democracy, to notify all that they may now take heart, and to herald the glad tidings of liberty. Even now you are enjoying the results of my achievements. The acropolis, as you see, is empty of malefactors, and nobody issues orders; you may bestow honours, sit in judgement, and plead your cases in accordance with the laws. All this has come about for you through me and my bold deed, and in consequence of slaying that one man, after which his father could no longer continue in life. Therefore I request that you give me the reward which is my due, not because I am greedy or avaricious, or because it was my purpose to benefit my native land for hire, but because I wish that my achievements should be confirmed by the donative and that my undertaking should escape misrepresentation and loss of glory on the ground that it was not fully executed and has been pronounced unworthy of a reward.