On The Estate of Apollodorus

As a result of these principles, what public service did he fail perfectly to discharge? To what war-tax was he not among the first to contribute? What duty has he ever failed to perform? When he undertook the provision of a choir of boys, he was victorious in the competition, and the well-known tripod still stands as a memorial of his honorable ambition. And what is the duty of a respectable citizen? Was it not his duty, while others were trying to take by force what did not belong to him, to do no such thing himself but to try and preserve what was his own? Is it not his duty, when the state needs money, to be among the first to contribute and not to conceal any part of his fortune?

Such then was Apollodorus; and you would make a just return for his services if you ratified his intentions as to the disposal of his own property. As for myself, you will find me, as far as my youth allows, neither a bad nor a useless citizen. I have served on your military expeditions, I perform all the duties which are laid upon me; for this is the function of men of my age.