296 ARISTIDES.

indignant at the claim, Aristides came forward ; " To con^ tend with the Tegeatans," said he, " for noble descent and valor, the present time permits not : but this we say to yon, you Spartans, and you the rest of the Greeks, that place neither takes away nor contributes courage : we shall endeavor by crediting and maintaining the post you assign us, to reflect no dishonor on our former per- formances. For we are come, not to diflfer with our friends, but to fight our enemies ; not to extol our ances- tors, but ourselves to behave as valiant men. This battle will manifest how much each city, captain, and private soldier is worth to Greece." The council of war, upon this address, decided for the Athenians, and gave them the other wing of the battle. All Greece being in suspense, and especially the affairs of the Athenians unsettled, certain persons of great fam- ilies and possessions having been impoverished by the war, and seeing all their authority and reputation in the city vanished with their wealth, and others in possession of their honors and places, convened privately at a house in Plataea, and conspired for the dissolution of the demo- cratic government ; and, if the plot should not succeed, to ruin the cause and betray all to the barbarians. These matters being in agitation in the camp, and many persons already corrupted, Aristides, perceiving the design, and dreading the present juncture of time, determined neither to let the business pass unanimadverted upon, nor yet altogether to expose it ; not knowing how many the accu- sation might reach, and willing to set bounds to his justice with a view to the public convenience. Therefore, of many that were concerned, he apprehended eight only, two of whom, who were first proceeded against and most guilty, .^schines of Lampra, and Agesias of Acharnae, made their escape out of the camp. The rest he dis- missed ; giving opportunity to such as thought themselves