89
But Leocrates, whether alive or dead, would have no claim to a portion in it; he of all men deserves to be cast out from the country which he abandoned to the enemy by his flight. For it is unfitting that the same ground should cover heroes and the most cowardly of mankind.
90
Yet he contended (and perhaps he will say this to you now also) that he would not have faced this trial if he had been conscious of committing a crime like this. As if all thieves and temple-robbers did not use this argument! It is an argument which goes to prove their shamelessness rather than the fact of their innocence. That is not the point at issue; we need the assurance that he did not sail, that he did not leave the city or settle at Megara.
91
These are the facts by which the truth can be established. As for his appearance in court: surely some god brought him specially for punishment, so that, after shirking an honorable danger, he might meet a death of disgrace and shame and place himself at the mercy of the men he betrayed. If misfortune befalls him in some other place it is hardly clear if this is the crime for which he is being punished. But here, among the men whom he betrayed, it is obvious that his own transgressions of the law have brought upon him this reward.