the second place, Socrates had rendered himself obnoxious to the
Athenian democracy. He was no aristocrat in feeling, nor was he a
supporter of the vested interests and privileges of the few. But he
could not accommodate himself to the mob-rule which then went by the
name of democracy. The government of the State, he believed, should be
in the hands of the wise, the just, and the good, those competent and
trained to govern, and these are necessarily the few. He himself had
taken no part in the political life of the time, preferring to guide
by his influence and advice the young men on whom some day the duties
of the State would devolve. On two occasions only did he take an
active part in politics, and on both occasions his conduct gave great
offence. Both these incidents are recounted in a passage in Plato's
"Apology," which I will quote. The {134} first incident refers to the
aftermath of the battle of Arginusae. The Athenian fleet had gained a
victory here, but lost twenty-five ships of war, and the whole of the
crews of these ships were drowned. This was attributed to the
carelessness of the generals, and there was great indignation in
Athens, upon their return whither the generals were put upon their
trial. According to the law of Athens each accused had to be given a
separate trial, but in their eagerness to have the generals condemned,
the judges in this instance decided to try them all in a body. "You
know, men of Athens," says Socrates in the "Apology," "that I have
never held any other office in the State, but I did serve on the
Council. And it happened that my tribe, Antiochis, had the Presidency
at the time you decided to try the ten generals who had not taken up
the dead after the fight at sea. You decided to try them in one body,
contrary to law, as you all felt afterwards. On that occasion I was
the only one of the Presidents who opposed you, and told you not to
break the law; and I gave my vote against you; and when the orators
were ready to impeach and arrest me, and you encouraged them and
hooted me, I thought then that I ought to take all the risks on the
side of law and justice, rather than side with you, when your
decisions were unjust, through fear of imprisonment or death. That was
while the city was still under the democracy. When the oligarchy came
into power, the Thirty, in their turn, summoned me with four others to
the Rotunda, and commanded us to fetch Leon of Salamis from that
island, in or