24.4
Now Lysander belonged to one of these families, and when he had risen to great fame for his deeds, and had acquired many friends and great power, he was vexed to see the city increased in power by his efforts, but ruled by others who were of no better birth than himself. He therefore planned to take the government away from the two houses, and restore it to all the Heracleidae in common,
24.5
or, as some say, not to the Heracleidae, but to the Spartans in general,Cf. Plut. Ages. 8.3 in order that its high prerogatives might not belong to those only who were descended from Heracles, but to those who, like Heracles, were selected for superior excellence, since it was this which raised him to divine honors. And he hoped that when the kingdom was awarded on this principle, no Spartan would be chosen before himself.
25.1
In the first place, then, he undertook and made preparations to persuade the citizens by his own efforts, and committed to memory a speech written by Cleon, the Halicarnassian, for the purpose. In the second place, seeing that the novelty and magnitude of his innovation demanded a more audacious support, he brought stage machinery to bear upon the citizens,In the Greek theater, gods were swung into view, above the plane of the action, by means of a huge crane. Cf. Plut. Them. 10.1. as it were,
