te? Do you imagine that you may be
robbed of the power of life and death over whom you please, should you
condescend to a legal trial? but that you are safe if you take shelter
behind an illegality, like the illegality of Callixenus, when he worked
upon the senate to propose to this assembly to deal with the accused by
a single vote? But consider, you may actually put to death an innocent
man, and then repentance will one day visit you too late. Bethink you
how painful and unavailing remorse will then be, and more particularly
if your error has cost a fellow-creature his life. What a travesty of
justice it would be if in the case of a man like Aristarchus, (11) who
first tried to destroy the democracy and then betrayed Oenoe to our
enemy the Thebans, you granted him a day for his defence, consulting his
wishes, and conceded to him all the other benefits of the law; whereas
now you are proposing to deprive of these same privileges your own
generals, who in every way conformed to your views and defeated your
enemies. Do not you, of all men, I implore you, men of Athens, act thus.
Why, these laws are your own, to them, beyond all else you owe your
greatness. Guard them jealously; in nothing, I implore you, act without
their sanction.

(11) See below, II. iii; also cf. Thuc. viii. 90, 98.

"But now, turn for a moment and consider with me the actual occurrences
which have created the suspicion of misconduct on the part of our late
generals. The sea-fight had been fought and won, and the ships had
returned to land, when Diomedon urged that the whole squadron should
sail out in line and pick up the wrecks and floating crews. Erasinides
was in favour of all the vessels sailing as fast as possible to deal
with the enemy's forces at Mitylene. And Thrasylus represented that both
objects could be effected, by leaving one division of the fleet there,
and with the rest sailing against the enemy; and if this resolution were
agreed to, he advised that each of the eight generals should leave three
ships of his own division with the ten vessels of the taxiarchs, the
ten Samian vessels, and the three belonging to the navarchs. These added
together make forty-seven, four for each of the lost vessels, twelve
in number. Among the taxiarchs left behind, two were Thrasybulus and
Theramenes, the men who in the late meeting of this assembly undertook
to accuse the generals. With the remainder of the fleet they were to
sail to attack the enemy'