Ath. Next, we must pass in review the government of Attica in likemanner, and from this show that entire freedom and the absence ofall superior authority is not by any means so good as government byothers when properly limited, which was our ancient Athenianconstitution at the time when the Persians made their attack onHellas, or, speaking more correctly, on the whole continent of Europe.
There were four classes, arranged according to a property census,and reverence was our queen and mistress, and made us willing tolive in obedience to the laws which then prevailed. Also thevastness of the Persian armament, both by sea and on land, caused ahelpless terror, which made us more and more the servants of ourrulers and of the laws; and for all these reasons an exceeding harmonyprevailed among us. About ten years before the naval engagement atSalamis, Datis came, leading a Persian host by command of Darius,which was expressly directed against the Athenians and Eretrians,having orders to carry them away captive; and these orders he was toexecute under pain of death. Now Datis and his myriads soon becamecomplete masters of Eretria, and he sent a fearful report to Athensthat no Eretrian had escaped him; for the soldiers of Datis had joinedhands and netted the whole of Eretria. And this report, whether wellor ill founded, was terrible to all the Hellenes, and above all to theAthenians, and they dispatched embassies in all directions, but no onewas willing to come to their relief, with the exception of theLacedaemonians; and they, either because they were detained by theMessenian war, which was then going on, or for some other reason ofwhich we are not told, came a day too late for the battle of Marathon.
After a while, the news arrived of mighty preparations being made, andinnumerable threats came from the king. Then, as time went on, arumour reached us that Darius had died, and that his son, who wasyoung and hot-headed, had come to the throne and was persisting in hisdesign. The Athenians were under the impression that the wholeexpedition was directed against them, in consequence of the battleof Marathon; and hearing of the bridge over the Hellespont, and thecanal of Athos, and the host of ships, considering that there was nosalvation for them either by land or by sea, for there was no one tohelp them, and remembering that in the first expedition, when thePersians destroyed Eretria, no one came to their help, or would riskthe danger of an alliance with them, they thought that this wouldhappen again, at least on land; nor, when they looked to the sea,could they descry any hope of salvation; for they were attacked by athousand vessels and more. One chance of safety remained, slightindeed and desperate, but their only one. They saw that on theformer occasion they had gained a seemingly impossible victory, andborne up by this hope, they found that their only refuge was inthemselves and in the Gods. All these things created in them thespirit of friendship; there was the fear of the moment, and therewas that higher fear, which they had acquired by obedience to theirancient laws, and which I have several times in the precedingdiscourse called reverence, of which the good man ought to be awilling servant, and of which the coward is independent andfearless. If this fear had not possessed them, they would never havemet the enemy, or defended their temples and sepulchres and theircountry, and everything that was near and dear to them, as they did;but little by little they would have been all scattered and dispersed.
Meg. Your words, Athenian, are quite true, and worthy of yourselfand of your country.
Ath. They are true, Megillus; and to you, who have inherited thevirtues of your ancestors, I may properly speak of the actions of thatday. And I would wish you and Cleinias to consider whether my wordshave not also a bearing on legislation; for I am not discoursingonly for the pleasure of talking, but for the argument"s sake.
Please to remark that the experience both of ourselves and thePersians was, in a certain sense, the same; for as they led theirpeople into utter servitude, so we too led ours into all freedom.
And now, how shall we proceed? for I would like you to observe thatour previous arguments have good deal to say for themselves.
Meg. True; but I wish that you would give us a fuller explanation.
Ath. I will. Under the ancient laws, my friends, the people wasnot as now the master, but rather the willing servant of the laws.
Meg. What laws do you mean?