Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 2.djvu/249

 81-83] SPEECH OF EUPHEMVS 24I necessary for us to vindicate our title to empire". Ho himself bore the strongest witness in True^tvcarclouians^ our favour when he said that Dorians and the emnity of Dor-, r ■ • , . • ian and Ionian is the and lonians are inveterate enemies. j,„fif„„tion 0/ cm em- And so they are. We lonians dwelling p{,c. IVe had to dc- in the neighbourhood of the Pelopon- /^"^^ ourselves, and if ,. T~v • 1 ^'^ enslaved our kins- nesians (who are Dorians and more ,,,,.,,^ ^/,^^ ^^^.^ ^/^,,,, numerous than ourselves) have had to already, and would consider the best way of securing our have made slaves of us. independence. After the Persian War we were delivered by the help of our newly-acquired navy from the rule and supremacy of Lacedaemon ; they had no more right to domineer over us than we over them, except the right of the stronger, which at the time they possessed. We then assumed the leadership of the King's former subjects, which we still retain ; if we were not to be the slaves of the Peloponnesians we thought that we must have the means of self-defence. And what if we did subjugate those kinsmen of ours whom the Syracusans say that we have enslaved, the lonians and the islanders? On the strictest principles, where was the injustice? For we were their mother-city, and they joined in the Persian invasion. They had not the courage to revolt from him and to destroy their homes, as we did when we left our city. But they chose slavery for their own portion, and would have imposed it upon us. 'We rule then, in the first place, because we deserve to 83 rule ; for we provided the largest navy ' "^ .... We come hither for and showed the most patriotic alacrity q,,,. q^^,,, 5,,^,^, ^^, ^^,^,Jl in the cause of Hellas •'^; while those as for yours; and for who became our subjects were willing yours as well as for our OZVft slaves to the Persian, and were doing us mischief. And secondly, we were anxious to gain additional strength against the Peloponnesians. We use no fine words : we do not tell you that we have a right to » Cp. i. 37 init. ; i. 73 init. " Cp. i. 74 init.