It seemed
impossible to shake so well established a greatness. Yet by the charms
and force of my eloquence, which exceeded that of all orators
contemporary with me; by the integrity of my life, my moderation, and my
prudence; but, above all, by my artful management of the people, whose
power I increased that I might render it the basis and support of my own,
I gained such an ascendant over all my opponents that, having first
procured the banishment of Cimon by ostracism, and then of Thucydides,
another formidable antagonist set up by the nobles against my authority,
I became the unrivalled chief, or rather the monarch, of the Athenian
Republic, without ever putting to death, in above forty years that my
administration continued, one of my fellow-citizens; a circumstance which
I declared, when I lay on my death-bed, to be, in my own judgment, more
honourable to me than all my prosperity in the government of the State,
or the nine trophies erected for so many victories obtained by my
conduct.
_Cosmo_.--I had also the same happiness to boast of at my death. And
some additions were made to the territories of Florence under my
government; but I myself was no soldier, and the Commonwealth I directed
was never either so warlike or so powerful as Athens.
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