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18“You have heard recently, Conscript Fathers, when I made a statement to you about the matter, why I made preparations for my departure, thinking that I should be absent from the city for a long time, and then hastily returned, with the idea that I should benefit you greatly. 2For I could not, on the one hand, endure to live under a monarchy or a tyranny, since under such a government I cannot live rightly as a free citizen nor speak my mind safely nor die in a way that would be of service to you; and yet, on the other hand, if opportunity should be afforded to perform any necessary service, I would not shrink from doing it, though it involved danger. 3For I deem it the business of an upright man equally to keep himself safe in his country’s interest, taking care that he may not perish uselessly, and at the same time not to fail in any duty either of speech or of action, even if it be necessary to suffer some harm while saving his country.
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