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For they alone of those who dwelt outside of the Peloponnesus, although they saw that the strength of the barbarians was irresistible, did not think it honorable to consider the terms imposed upon them,These terms were to give earth and water, in token of submission, to the heralds of the Great King. Hdt. 7.133. but straightway chose to see their city ravaged rather than enslaved. Leaving their own country,Cf. Isoc. 4.96. and adopting Freedom as their fatherland, they shared the dangers of war with us, and wrought such a change in their fortunes that, after being deprived of their own possessions for but a few days, they became for many years masters of the rest of the world.Cf. Isoc. 4.72.
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Athens, however, is not the only instance by which one might show how great are the advantages of daring to resist one’s enemies. There is also the case of the tyrant Dionysius, who, when he was besieged by the Carthaginians, seeing not a glimmer of hope for deliverance, but being hard pressed both by the war and by the disaffection of his citizens, was, for his part, on the point of sailing away, when one of his companions made bold to declare that “royalty is a glorious shroud.”That is, it is a glorious thing to die a king. For the event, 396 B.C., See Dio. Sic. 14.58, and for the anecdote, Dio. Sic. 14.8.5 and Ael. Var. Hist. 4.8.
