As to Socrates, he was the very opposite of all this--he was plainly a lover of the people, and indeed of all mankind. Though he had many ardent admirers among citizens and strangers alike, he never demanded any fee for his society from any one, (34) but bestowed abundantly upon all alike of the riches of his soul--good things, indeed, of which fragments accepted gratis at his hands were taken and sold at high prices to the rest of the community by some, (35) who were not, as he was, lovers of the people, since with those who had not money to give in return they refused to discourse. But of Socrates be it said that in the eyes of the whole world he reflected more honour on the state and a richer lustre than ever Lichas, (36) whose fame is proverbial, shed on Lacedaemon. Lichas feasted and entertained the foreign residents in Lacedaemon at the Gymnopaediae most handsomely. Socrates gave a lifetime to the outpouring of his substance in the shape of the greatest benefits bestowed on all who cared to receive them. In other words, he made those who lived in his society better men, and sent them on their way rejoicing. (34) See "Symp." iv. 43; Plat. "Hipp. maj." 300 D; "Apol." 19 E. (35) See Diog. Laert. II. viii. 1. (36) See "Hell." III. ii. 21; Thuc. v. 50; Plut. "Cim." 284 C. For the Gymnopaediae, see Paus. III. xi. 9; Athen. xiv. p. 631. To no other conclusion, therefore, can I come but that, being so good a man, Socrates was worthier to have received honour from the state than death. And this I take to be the strictly legal view of the case, for what does the law require? (37) "If a man be proved to be a thief, a filcher of clothes, a cut-purse, a housebreaker, a man-stealer, a robber of temples, the penalty is death." Even so; and of all men Socrates stood most aloof from such crimes. (37) See "Symp." iv. 36; Plat. "Rep." 575 B; "Gorg." 508 E. To the state he was never the cause of any evil--neither disaster in war, nor faction, nor treason, nor any other mischief whatsoever. And if his public life was free from all offence, so was his private. He never hurt a single soul either by deprivation of good or infliction of evil, nor did he ever lie under the imputation of any of those misdoings. where then is his liability to the indictment to be found? Who, so far from disbelieving in the gods, as set forth in the indictment, was conspicuous beyond all men for service to heaven; so far from corrupting the young--a charge alleged with insistence by the prosecutor--was notorious for the zeal with which he strove not only to stay his associates from evil desires, but to foster in them a passionate desire for that loveliest and queenliest of virtues without which states and families crumble to decay. (38) Such being his conduct, was he not worthy of high honour from the state of Athens? (38) Or, "the noblest and proudest virtue by means of which states and families are prosperously directed." III