22
If reverence for the gods has been removed by Macedonian insolence, what fate must we conclude would have befallen the rules of conduct towards man? Would they not have been utterly discounted? The more terrible therefore we think the consequences would have been, the greater must be the praise which we believe the dead have earned.
23
For no campaign has better shown the courage of the soldiers than this last, when they had daily to be arrayed for combat, to fight, on but one expedition, more battles than the combats which any soldier of the past endured,The exaggeration of this remark has led some editors to doubt the reading. and face extreme severities of weather and many hard privations in the daily needs of life with an endurance almost beyond description.
24
Such trials Leosthenes induced the citizens to brave undaunted, and they gave up their persons gladly to share the struggle with so great a leader. Should they not then be counted fortunate in their display of valor rather than unfortunate in their sacrifice of life? For in exchange for a mortal body they gained undying glory, safeguarding by their personal courage the universal liberty of GreeceThe Greek words which follow here cannot be translated as they stand. Fritzsche’s emendation probably restores the correct sense, namely: Nothing brings complete happiness without self-government. But the Greek wording is uncertain.
