14.1.1All men, perhaps naturally, are disinclined to listen to obloquies that are uttered against them. Indeed even those whose evil-doing is in every respect so manifest that it cannot even be denied, none the less deeply resent it when they are the objects of censure and endeavour to make a reply to the accusation. Consequently all men should take every possible care not to commit any evil deed, and those especially who aspire to leadership or have been favoured by some striking gift of Fortune;
14.1.2for since the life of such men is in all things an open book because of their distinction, it cannot conceal its own unwisdom. Let no man, therefore, who has gained some kind of pre-eminence, cherish the hope that, if he commits great crimes, he will for all time escape notice and go uncensured. For even if during his own lifetime he eludes the sentence of rebuke, let him expect that at a later time Truth will find him out, frankly proclaiming abroad matters long hidden from mention.
14.1.3It is, therefore, a hard fate for wicked men that at their death they leave to posterity an undying image, so to speak, of their entire life; for even if those things that follow after death do not concern us, as certain philosophers keep chanting, nevertheless the life which has preceded death becomes far worse throughout all time for the evil memory that it enjoys. Manifest examples of this may be found by those who read the detailed story contained in this Book.
ch. 2
14.2.1Among the Athenians, for example, thirty men who became tyrants from their own lust of gain, not only involved their native land in great misfortunes but themselves soon lost their power and have bequeathed a deathless memorial of their own disgrace. The Lacedaemonians, after winning for themselves the undisputed sovereignty of Greece, were shorn of it from the moment when they sought to carry out unjust projects at the expense of their allies. For the superiority of those who enjoy leadership is maintained by goodwill and justice, and is overthrown by acts of injustice and by the hatred of their subjects.
14.2.2Similarly Dionysius, the tyrant of the Syracusans, although he has been the most fortunate of such rulers, was incessantly plotted against while alive, was compelled by fear to wear an iron corselet under his tunic, and has bequeathed since his death his own life as an outstanding example unto all ages for the maledictions of men.
14.2.3But we shall record each one of these illustrations with more detail in connection with the appropriate period of time; for the present we shall take up the continuation of our account, pausing only to define our dates.
14.2.4In the preceding Books we have set down a record of events from the capture of Troy to the end of the Peloponnesian War and of the Athenian Empire, covering a period of seven hundred and seventy-nine years. note In this Book, as we add to our narrative the events next succeeding, we shall commence with the establishment of the thirty tyrants and stop with the capture of Rome by the Gauls, embracing a period of eighteen years.
ch. 3 note
14.3.1There was no archon in Athens because of the overthrow of the government, note it being the seven hundred and eightieth year from the capture of Troy, and in Rome four military tribunes succeeded to the consular magistracy, Gaius Fulvius, Gaius Servilius, Gaius Valerius, and Numerius Fabius; and in this year the Ninety-fourth Olympiad was celebrated, that in which Corcinas note of Larisa was victor. note
14.3.2At this time the Athenians, completely reduced by exhaustion, made a treaty with the Lacedaemonians whereby they were bound to demolish the walls of their city and to employ the polity of their fathers. They demolished the walls, but were unable to agree among themselves regarding the form of government.
14.3.3For those who were bent on oligarchy asserted that the ancient constitution should be revived, in which only a very few represented the state, whereas the greatest number, who were partisans of democracy, made the government of their fathers their platform and declared that this was by common consent a democracy.
14.3.4After a controversy over this had continued for some days, the oligarchic party sent an embassy to Lysander the Spartan, who, at the end of the war, had been dispatched to administer the governments of the cities and had established oligarchies in the greater number of them, for they hoped that, as well he might, he would support them in their design. Accordingly they sailed across to Samos, for it happened that Lysander was tarrying there, having just seized the city.
14.3.5He gave his assent to their pleas for his co-operation, appointed Thorax the Spartan harmost note of Samos, and put in himself at the Peiraeus with one hundred ships. Calling an assembly of the Athenians, he advised them to choose thirty men to head the government and to manage all the affairs of the state.
14.3.6And when Theramenes opposed him and read to him the terms of the peace, which agreed that they should enjoy the government of their fathers, and declared that it would be a terrible thing if they should be robbed of their freedom contrary to the oaths, Lysander stated that the terms of peace had been broken by the Athenians, since, he asserted, they had destroyed the walls later than the days of grace agreed upon. He also invoked the direst threats against Theramenes, saying that he would have him put to death if he did not stop opposing the Lacedaemonians.
