ising to add a third obol to
the sum. Both of these persons were subsequently condemned to death;
for the people, even if they are deceived for a time, in the end
generally come to detest those who have beguiled them into any unworthy
action. After Cleophon the popular leadership was occupied successively
by the men who chose to talk the biggest and pander the most to the
tastes of the majority, with their eyes fixed only on the interests of
the moment. The best statesmen at Athens, after those of early times,
seem to have been Nicias, Thucydides, and Theramenes. As to Nicias and
Thucydides, nearly every one agrees that they were not merely men of
birth and character, but also statesmen, and that they ruled the state
with paternal care. On the merits of Theramenes opinion is divided,
because it so happened that in his time public affairs were in a very
stormy state. But those who give their opinion deliberately find him,
not, as his critics falsely assert, overthrowing every kind of
constitution, but supporting every kind so long as it did not
transgress laws; thus showing that he was able, as every good citizen
should be, to live under any form of constitution, while he refused to
countenance illegality and was its constant enemy.

Part 29

So long as the fortune of the war continued even, the Athenians
preserved the democracy; but after the disaster in Sicily, when the
Lacedaemonians had gained the upper hand through their alliance with
the king of Persia, they were compelled to abolish the democracy and
establish in its place the constitution of the Four Hundred. The speech
recommending this course before the vote was made by Melobius, and the
motion was proposed by Pythodorus of Anaphlystus; but the real argument
which persuaded the majority was the belief that the king of Persia was
more likely to form an alliance with them if the constitution were on
an oligarchical basis. The motion of Pythodorus was to the following
effect. The popular Assembly was to elect twenty persons, over forty
years of age, who, in conjunction with the existing ten members of the
Committee of Public Safety, after taking an oath that they would frame
such measures as they thought best for the state, should then prepare
proposals for the public safety. In addition, any other person might
make proposals, so that of all the schemes before them the people might
choose the best. Cleitophon concurred with the motion of Pythodorus,
but mov