Lycurgus, Against Leocrates, ed. J. O. Burtt, 129

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[129] and made his punishment a proof to all that even divine assistance is not vouchsafed to traitors.¹ And it is right that it should not be; for impiety towards the gods is the first crime by which they show their wickedness, since they deprive them of their traditional cults. But I have yet to give you the best illustration of the prevailing practice at Sparta . They passed a law, covering all who refused to risk their lives for their country, which expressly stated that they should be put to death. Thus the punishment which they laid down was the very fate which traitors most fear; survival after war was to be subject to a scrutiny which might involve disgrace and death. Let me convince you that what I have said can be proved and that my examples are genuine. Produce the law for them.

Against Leocrates. Lycurgus. ed. J. O. Burtt. London. 1954.

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Current edition Perseus

Against Leocrates (Greek) (Lycurgus. Minor Attic Orators, Vol. 2. Burtt, J. O., translator. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1954 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Κατὰ Λεωκράτους Perseus (Lycurgus. Minor Attic Orators, Vol. 2. Burtt, J. O., editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1954 (printing).) — 129 focus

[129] καὶ πᾶσιν ἐπίσημον ἐποίησαν τὴν τιμωρίαν,¹ ὅτι οὐδʼ αἱ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ἐπικουρίαι τοῖς προδόταις βοηθοῦσιν, εἰκότως· οὐδὲν γὰρ πρότερον ἀδικοῦσιν² ἢ περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς ἀσεβοῦσι τῶν πατρίων³ νομίμων αὐτοὺς⁴ ἀποστεροῦντες. μέγιστον δὲ τῶν ἐκεῖ γεγενημένων τεκμήριόν ἐστιν ὃ μέλλω λέγειν· νόμον γὰρ ἔθεντο περὶ ἁπάντων τῶν μὴ ʼθελόντων ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος κινδυνεύειν, διαρρήδην λέγοντα ἀποθνῄσκειν, εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὴν τιμωρίαν τάξαντες, εἰς ὃ μάλιστα φοβούμενοι τυγχάνουσι, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου σωτηρίαν ὑπεύθυνον ἐποίησαν κινδύνῳ μετʼ αἰσχύνης. ἵνα δʼ εἰδῆτε ὅτι οὐ λόγον ἀναπόδεικτον εἴρηκα, ἀλλὰ μετʼ ἀληθείας⁵ παραδείγματα, φέρε αὐτοῖς τὸν νόμον.

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Against Leocrates

1. Pausanias was, in actual fact, regent for Pleistarchus, not king ( Hdt. 9.10 ). Though he led the Greeks at Plataea and was afterwards commander of the allied fleet he was later deposed an a charge of Medism and attempted subversion of the Spartan constitution. For the full story of his last days see Thuc. 1.94-134 .

Lycurgus Against Leocrates 129

ed. J. O. Burtt

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