History of the Peloponnesian War

But beset as we are with perplexities on every hand, we are forced, as indeed seems to be the safer course, to say something and take the risk; for to men in our condition not to have spoken would cause us afterwards to reproach ourselves with the thought that, had the word been spoken, it would have saved us.

A further difficulty in our position is the task of convincing you. For if we were strangers to each other, we might find it to our advantage to introduce evidence on matters with which you were unacquainted; but as it is, anything that we shall say is already known to you, and what we fear is, not that you have already judged our virtues[*](Referring to the achievement of the Plataeans in the Persian wars.) to be inferior to your own and now make that a charge against us, but that in order to gratify others[*](ie. the Thebans. With bitter irony the Plataeans ascribe to themselves the evident purpose of the Lacedaemonians—by standing trial before a prejudiced court they will “do a favour to the Thebans.”) we are to appear before a court that has already decided against us.

"Nevertheless, we shall present whatever just claims we have, both as regards our quarrel with the Thebans and as touching you and the rest of the Hellenes, and thus, by reminding you of our public services, shall try to persuade you.

In reply to the curt inquiry of yours, whether we have rendered any good service to the Lacedaemonians and their allies in this war, if you ask us as enemies, we say that you are not wronged if you did not receive benefit at our hands; but if in asking it you regard us as friends, we reply that you yourselves rather than we are at fault, in that you made war upon us.

But in the war against the Persians and during the peace which followed we have proved ourselves good and true men; we have not now been the first to break the peace, and then we were the only Boeotians[*](Rhetorical inaccuracy, for the Thespians did the same (Hdt. 7.132; Hdt. 7.202).) who rallied to defend the freedom of Hellas.