to reinforce their
armament. You must fortify Decelea in Attica, the blow of which the
Athenians are always most afraid and the only one that they think they
have not experienced in the present war; the surest method of harming an
enemy being to find out what he most fears, and to choose this means of
attacking him, since every one naturally knows best his own weak points
and fears accordingly. The fortification in question, while it benefits
you, will create difficulties for your adversaries, of which I shall
pass over many, and shall only mention the chief. Whatever property
there is in the country will most of it become yours, either by capture
or surrender; and the Athenians will at once be deprived of their
revenues from the silver mines at Laurium, of their present gains from
their land and from the law courts, and above all of the revenue from
their allies, which will be paid less regularly, as they lose their awe
of Athens and see you addressing yourselves with vigour to the war.
The zeal and speed with which all this shall be done depends,
Lacedaemonians, upon yourselves; as to its possibility, I am quite
confident, and I have little fear of being mistaken.

"Meanwhile I hope that none of you will think any the worse of me if,
after having hitherto passed as a lover of my country, I now actively
join its worst enemies in attacking it, or will suspect what I say as
the fruit of an outlaw's enthusiasm. I am an outlaw from the iniquity
of those who drove me forth, not, if you will be guided by me, from your
service; my worst enemies are not you who only harmed your foes, but
they who forced their friends to become enemies; and love of country is
what I do not feel when I am wronged, but what I felt when secure in my
rights as a citizen. Indeed I do not consider that I am now attacking
a country that is still mine; I am rather trying to recover one that is
mine no longer; and the true lover of his country is not he who consents
to lose it unjustly rather than attack it, but he who longs for it so
much that he will go all lengths to recover it. For myself, therefore,
Lacedaemonians, I beg you to use me without scruple for danger and
trouble of every kind, and to remember the argument in every one's
mouth, that if I did you great harm as an enemy, I could likewise do you
good service as a friend, inasmuch as I know the plans of the Athenians,
while I only guessed yours. For yourselves I entreat you to believe that
y